USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > History of the town of Middleboro, Massachusetts > Part 29
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Oliver Hall was built after the style of an old English mansion, with steep roof and deep, jutting eaves, with walls of white plaster and portico of oak, over which grew a rose not only celebrated for its beauty, but valued as a present to Madam Oliver from England. The doors and much of the inside fur- nishings were sent from London. The house contained the usual drawing-room of that period, the entrance-hall, the din- ing-room, a large and valuable library, and other apartments, with kitchen and extensive quarters for servants. The large hall opened on the river ; the lower part of the wall was wain- scoted with English oak, and the upper part was decorated with rich hangings of birds and flowers. When the house was on fire, some of the townspeople tore these off and preserved them as mementos of the days when "George was king, and Oliver was judge." The oaken floor was polished daily by the ser- vants until it fairly shone, and was so slippery that it is said one of the maids slipped and fell, spilling the hot tea and cream over the beautiful gown of one of the ladies and stain- ing her white satin slipper, whereupon the enraged guest from Boston " drew off the slipper and spanked her soundly, in high dudgeon." The furnishings of the hall were elegant and costly ; there were high crownback tapestry-cushioned chairs, with a Turkish carpet on the floor. The library was built sepa- rate, facing the north and connected with the hall by a lattice
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JUDEA OLIVER'S ESTATE .
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PLAN OF JUDGE OLIVER'S ESTATE AND WORKS
I. Shovel Shop. 2. Blacksmith Shop. 3. Finishing Shop. 4. Finishing Shop. 5. Fishing-Weir. 6. Fishing Place. 7. Coal House. 8. Coal House. 9. Hammer Shop. 10. Grist-Mill. 11. Slitting- Mill. 12. Forge. 13. Iron House for Forge. 14. Coal House for Forge. 15. Sawmill. 16. Site of old Wood House for Judge Oliver's Furnace. 17. Site of Judge Oliver's Furnace before the Revo- lution. 18. Andrew Leach's Store. 19. Residence of Andrew Oliver. 20. Entrance to Oliver Hall. 21. Oliver Hall. 22. Site of Sachem's Wigwam. 23. Summer Pavilion.
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gallery ; in it were portraits of the family, the celebrated coat of arms, and a bust of George III with the banner of England over it in loyal tory style.
The dining-room was spacious, with a large, heavy, claw-foot table of English oak in the centre, with high straight-back chairs of the same wood, the royal arms carved at the top. It is said that FIDE AM in 1762, when news was brought of an heir to the Crown, Peters Olivero R eters a notable company gathered there, the sound of re- joicing rang high, PETER OLIVER'S BOOK-PLATE and many were overcome with the excitement and revelry. Within this dining-room companies, including distinguished men from abroad as well as the most prominent men of the colony, often partook of the sumptuous entertainment provided.
In the hollow between two of the highest hills on Oliver's Walk, and overlooking the pond, was a small house, called by the family the banqueting-house, the site of which may still be seen. Guests at the hall often wandered about the grounds to this place, where they were not infrequently served with such refreshment as the generous hospitality of the judge never failed to provide. The spring adjoining this banqueting-house was reached by a flight of steps a few feet from the entrance, and was used to cool the wine during the long and hot summer
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days. Many years ago bottles were found bearing Oliver's ini- tials printed on the side.
At the Hall was held the wedding reception of Peter Oliver, Jr., and Sarah, daughter of Governor Hutchinson. The mar- riage took place in Boston,1 and later the party, distinguished by guests from home and abroad, were here entertained. The display of magnificent costumes was most brilliant. Ladies wore rich silks and satins with long trains, and their hair, puffed and powdered, was rolled high on their heads. This required so much care that it is said one of them sat up all night that the work of her hairdresser might not be dis- arranged, and another slept with her hands and arms tied over her head that they might appear white for the approaching reception. Gentlemen were there in gay colored suits of velvet with dainty satin vests, knee breeches, silk stockings with sil- ver knee and shoe buckles, their coats decorated with old lace ruffles at the neck and sleeves, others in full military and court dress; but the ladies and gentlemen from the town, although not attired in the brilliant dress then worn by the fashionable people of Boston, received the same consideration and atten- tion from the judge and his wife as were shown to the titled personages from England. The hall was profusely decorated with plants and flowers taken from the gardens and grounds. Tables in the dining-room and banqueting-hall were laden with every variety of meats, pastry, fruits, and flowers, and wines and cider flowed freely. The guests from abroad remained four days, enjoying their lavish entertainment. The reception was regarded as one of the most brilliant affairs which had ever occurred outside of Boston.
The estate contained a large variety of fruit, ornamental, and forest trees, which grew luxuriantly over the hills, but
1 In the diary of Dr. Oliver we find this amusing note of the "end of the hap- piest time : " --
"Feb. 1, 1770. I was married by Dr. Pemberton to Mrs. [abbreviation for Mistress] S. Hutchinson ; exceedingly private, of a Thursday Evg., according to the Old Charter. Thus ended the happiest time of my life, as it was freest from cares and solicitudes, which now hastened apace. I was at this time in the latter part of my 29th year, and Mrs. Hutchinson in the 26th year of her age."
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only a few large oaks at the side of the hill, and the pear-tree near the edge of the pond not far from the bridge, are now standing. There were numerous walks about the grounds and the garden, celebrated for its choice flowers. In their diaries Judge Sewall and John Adams speak of the beauty of the place and the pleasure they had in visiting the Hall.
On the breaking out of the Revolution, Judge Oliver con- scientiously adhered to his sovereign, and his great wealth, his official position and influence, made him extremely obnoxious to the patriots, and in the troublesome time following the bat- tle of Lexington, notwithstanding his high character and the universal respect in which he was held, he was impeached for receiving a salary from the Crown, and compelled to leave the country, with many other tories. After the mob had attacked the house of his brother in Boston and destroyed its contents, he rode on horseback, unattended, from Boston to Middleboro, and arrived there in the edge of the evening, travel-stained and weary. He immediately entered the Hall, where he had spent so many happy years, went to a secret drawer, took out a box of valuables, cast a longing glance about, bade the faith- ful housekeeper good-by, and mounting his horse, galloped out into the night. The next day, with his family, he embarked with Governor Gage for London, never again to return to the home which he had enjoyed so much and where he had received such honor 1 and distinction. The last years of his life were
1 Judge Oliver's Diary from the time he left Boston until the time of his death was published in the second volume of the Diary and Letters of His Ex- cellency Thomas Hutchinson, Esq. The following are extracts of the same, under date of 1776 :-
After having retired to Boston, under the protection of the King's troops, for the security of my person against the fury of the most unnatural, ungratefull, wanton, and cruel rebellion that ever existed, and after having been confined to the limits of that town for eighteen months, the rebels, who had for many months surrounded the town with strong intrenchments, began to bombard and cannonade it on the 2ª of March 1776, which held for three nights successively, but with very little damage.
General Howe, the Commander-in-Chief, thought proper to abandon the town, and gave publick notice to the inhabitants, that such of them who inclined to quit the place, should have transports provided for them.
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spent in England in literary pursuits and in the society of his friends. He received an honorary degree from Oxford, and died in 1782, beloved by all who knew him.
March 10th. - Accordingly, on the tenth day of March I embarked on board the Pacific, Indiaman, Capt James Dun, which lay in King Road, it being a very commodious vessell, which General Howe was so polite as to appropriate to the accommodation of my friends and me.
IIth. - There was an hot cannonading to and from Boston and Dorchester Neck, and also to and from Castle William and Dorchester Neck, which con- tinued from 8 o'clock at night untill the next morning.
12th. - Some firing at Boston in the night.
16th. - A hot firing at Boston abt II o'clock at night, till 9 o'clock next morning.
17th. - The troops at Boston embarked, and about 20 sail fell down into King Road by II o'clock this morning.
18th. - The King's troops began to blow up the Castle William.
19th. - I dined on board the Chatham with Admiral Shuldham. The south Blockhouse of the Castle was burnt at night, and some of the walls of it blown up.
20th. - The blowing up of the Castle Walls continued : and at night all the combustible part of the Castle was fired. The conflagration was the most pleasingly dreadful that I ever beheld : sometimes it appeared like the eruption of Mount Etna ; and then a deluge of fire opened to the view; that nothing could reconcile the horror to the mind, but the prevention of such a fortress fall- ing into the hands of rebels, who had already spread such a conflagration of diabolical fury throughout America, which scarce anything can quench but the -metu tremefacit Olympum.
2Ist. - The fleet fell down from King Road into Nantasket Harbour, which afforded a grand prospect, there being at least 150 sail of vessells at anchor.
22d. - A high N. W. wind.
23d. - Do.
24th. - A high N. W. and very cold at night, so that the vessell's bows and cables were loaded with ice.
25th. - The first Division sailed from Nantasket to Hallifax, as also the Lord Hyde Packet, Cap" Jeffries for London, with M' Thomas Hutchinson and my son Peter, and their families, as passengers.
26th. - I dined on board the Renown, Commodore Banks.
27th. - I sailed from Nantasket, abt 70 sail, for Hallifax, under convoy of the Chatham, Admiral Shuldham, and of the Centurion, Cap" Braithwaite.
here I took my leave of that once happy country, where peace and plenty reigned uncontrouled, till that infernal Hydra Rebellion, with its hundred Heads, had devoured its happiness, spread desolation over its fertile fields, and ravaged the peacefull mansions of its inhabitants, to whom late, very late if ever, will return that security and repose which once surrounded them ; and if in part re- stored, will be attended with the disagreeable recollection of the savage barbari-
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On November 4, 1778, after reports had reached the colony of the disasters to the patriot army, an unusual number of people gathered in Muttock. In the night, flames were seen issuing from one portion of the house ; no attempt was made to extinguish them. The neighbors rushed in, took away the remaining furniture and hangings and many of the doors,1 and in a few hours nothing was left of the beauty and splen- dor of Oliver Hall. Some of these doors were afterwards carried to the old Ward house in Lakeville, where they were placed to form the walls and ceiling of one of the chambers. The shrubbery, trees, and outbuildings were destroyed in the next generation, so that the grounds, once so beautiful, were desolate.
Mrs. Mary Norcutt, when a young woman, was the house- keeper at Oliver Hall, and later in life she lived in the family of Judge Weston. She was very fond of giving a description
ties, and diabolical cruelties which had been perpetrated to support rebellion, and which were instigated by ambition and malice, and infernal in their dictates. Here I drop the filial tear into the Urn of my Country.
" O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint - Nov-Anglicanos."
And here I bid A Dieu to that shore, which I never wish to tread again till that greatest of social blessings, a firm established British Government, precedes or accompanies me thither.
The Diary gives a detailed account of the events of his voyage, and upon his arrival a detailed account of how his time was occupied. It seems to have been largely in travel, with calls made and received from the prominent public men in England at that time. He mentions his visit at Lord Edgcumbe's seat as fol- lows : -
7th .- This morning visited Lord Edgcumbe's seat. ... We then descended the walks around the sea shore, which were varied with taste, and yet seemed formed on the plan of nature, with seats to rest on, and with hermitages ; pro- montories on one side, and the sea opening through trees on the other, - filled the mind with pleasure. But I was in one walk deprived of pleasure for a moment, it being so like a serpentine walk of mine on the banks of the river Namasket, which so lately had been wrenched from me by the Harpy claws of Rebellion, that I was snatched from where I now was to the loss of where I had so late been in the arms of contentment. . . .
1 Most of the personal property of Judge Oliver had been removed and an inventory made which is now in the Probate Court, Plymouth.
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of the place, the parties, incidents, and prominent men who were accustomed to visit there. These incidents were often told to the father of the writer, and an account of the burn- ing of the hall as she used to relate it was written by the late Granville T. Sproat and published in the "Middleboro Gazette," a copy of which is here inserted.
" We had long expected that the Hall would be burned - the people were so enraged ; especially after we heard how they had sacked Governor Hutchinson's house in Boston, and had brought out and burned all his fine library of books in the street. We never went to bed at night without thinking that we should be aroused before morning by the Hall being on fire. And it was so. One night, a little past midnight, we were awakened by a loud knocking at the door, and a cry, ' Get up! get up ! the Hall is on fire !' We sprang up; we could see the Hall from our windows ; the main building was not then on fire ; it was the library which was connected with the Hall by a latticed gallery, that was all in a blaze. We ran out to the Hall ; a good many people had got there ; they had broken in the doors and were running through the building with the hopes of finding something to lay their hands on. But there was nothing there ; everything had been carried off months before. I ran up into the servants' room above the great guest parlor. This parlor was very high in its walls - higher than the other rooms of the house ; and the servants' chambers were above it -quite low, under the roof. There was nothing there; everything had been carried off. I then ran into the great parlor, to the money closet. It stood open. I put my hand in on one corner of a shelf ; there was a piece of money about the size of a dollar. I took it home with me and kept it for years afterwards. I kept it as a keepsake, for it always reminded me of Judge Oliver and that last visit of his, and his looks - so pale and careworn - when he came into the house, the last time he ever entered it.
"The Hall was a long time burning. It was covered with plaster of some kind on the outside, and did not burn very fast. The roof kept falling in, one part after another. It was a long time before the great guest parlor was burnt out. That was the most famous room in the house. It was wainscoted with oak below the windows; above, it was hung with gor- geous paper hangings, all gilt and velvet. The women who were there tore off the paper and took it home with them.
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They used to wear the sprigs of gold leaf in their hair, when they went to a dance in the town, for years afterward. I could not bear to see it, for I felt bad when I thought of the fate of the old Hall.
" I tried to save the rose-bush - a present to Madam Oliver from London, which trailed over the east end of the house, but I could not do it. The fire was too hot and drove me away. All the elms and locusts around the Hall were burned. Nothing was left. Oh ! what a sight it presented the next morning ! I sat down and cried as if my heart would break ; for I never ex- pected to see Oliver's Hall brought to a pile of ruins like that.
" After the Hall was burned everything went to ruin. The walk, so famous in the old times, and where the ladies of the Hall used to walk so much, grew up to bushes ; the benches on the sides rotted down, and the way to the summer house was all choked up. The summer house stood a good many years ; the tables grew black and mouldy, but they did not fall away very fast ; and the spring, close by, where they used to store their wine to keep it cool, was kept open for a long time afterward. I used to go and sit there and think of the merry times they used to have there. Well do I remember the day when an heir was born to his Majesty, George the Third, and Queen Charlotte -how a messenger came riding all the way from Boston to bring the news - how he rode up the hill, swinging his hat and shouting ' Long live the King ! A prince has been born to the royal family of England !' There was feasting that night at the Hall; and a great party assembled to drink wine and give toasts in honor of the occasion. Gov- ernor Hutchinson was there at the time; and, that day, Lieu- tenant-Governor Oliver, with some ladies, came out from Boston. He wore a suit of scarlet silk velvet, with gilt or gold buttons, and lace ruffles for the sleeves and bosom. He wore short breeches, as was the fashion at that day. White silk long stockings, with gold shoe and knee buckles, made up his suit. Governor Hutchinson was dressed in nearly the same way ; only his suit of velvet was blue trimmed with gold lace. They had a dance at the Hall that night, and there was music and wine in abundance.
" After about ten years there was but little left to mark the spot where Oliver's Hall had once stood. The seats of the walk were all gone; the roof of the summer house had fallen in; the tables had rotted down and lay scattered on the ground ; only the spring remained, and the spot where the summer house stood. After that the trees were cut down or
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gradually decayed with age, and it was hard to tell where the walk once was. It was the same with the spot where the Hall once stood. The trees around it had all been destroyed by the fire, and only the cellar remained to mark the spot. That, too, gradually filled up, so that I hardly knew the place where we used to store our winter supplies at the Hall; and now the stranger can with difficulty find the place where the great Hall once stood. Oh, the change that a few short years have made in one of the loveliest spots that my eyes have ever beheld ! I remember, one day, hearing Governor Hutchinson say to Judge Oliver, as they were walking in the garden together, ' Judge Oliver, you have here one of the loveliest spots in all his Ma- jesty's colony ;' and I think he told the truth."
Judge Oliver's son William married a sister of Captain John Fuller, and lived in the Haskins neighborhood near his wife's father. Andrew Oliver, another son, is said to have been remarkably fine looking ; he married Phœbe, a daughter of Ebenezer Spooner. She died at an advanced age in the old Morton house, and was known the latter years of her life as Madam Oliver.1 Her husband, who died before the war, was of intemperate habits. At the time of the marriage, Mr. Spooner was much opposed to it and disinherited his daughter, but the judge provided for her, and is said to have built a house for them in Muttock. This was afterwards occupied by Jesse Bryant, Judge Oliver's foreman in the forge and slitting-mill, and was taken down by the late Henry Arnold. An account of his other sons, Daniel and Dr. Peter Oliver, is given in the chapter on Loyalists.
Dr. Oliver lived in the house which his father built for him in 1762, now known as the Sproat house. In 1794 this, was
STAIRS IN SPROAT HOUSE
1 June 29, 1776, Phœbe Oliver, wife of Andrew Oliver, and daughter-in-law of Judge Oliver, petitioned the General Court for relief, as the selectmen of the town had taken the house which she had occupied for seven years, rent free, and two cows and firewood from her, and petitioned to the court that she would be destitute unless the court granted her relief. The petition was referred to a committee, but it is not reported what action was taken upon it.
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purchased by Judge Weston, and was his home for nearly forty years until his death. During Dr. Oliver's time the slaves occupied the attic, but these rooms have long since been removed. This house is famous for the men whose lives are associated with its hospitable halls. Governor Hutchinson was accustomed to spend part of the summer here, and one of the cham- bers was afterwards known as the Hutchinson chamber.
RESIDENCE OF PETER OLIVER, JR.
James Bowdoin, also a fre- quent guest of the house,1 spent parts of two years here, while governor. He was a large land-owner2 in Middleboro, although
1 Peter Orlando Hutchinson, in his Diary and Letters of His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Esq., vol. i, p. 463, says : " James Bowdoin had better have had Judge Oliver's house as that might have protected it from being burnt, a fate to which it soon arrived."
2 The following parcels of land were owned by Governor Bowdoin, in Middle- · boro : --
April 17, 1777, he received a conveyance of 80 acres of land in the Twenty- six Men's Purchase and 34 acres of meadow land which was formerly owned by John Adams, one of the original purchasers.
June 17, 1729, Lemuel Bosworth conveyed a tract of land in the 5 Men's Purchase.
In October 7, 1729, Benjamin Durfey conveyed to him 40 acres of land in the West Precinct.
In 1740 Thomas Crode conveyed to him } of the 29th lot in the first allot-, ment of the Sixteen Shilling Purchase, containing 44 acres.
July 12, 1742, Elkanah Leonard conveyed to him 185 acres of land in the Six- teen Shilling Purchase.
August 20, 1744, Peter Thacher's estate conveyed to him four and one-half sixteenth part of the slitting-mill utensils, forge, grist-mill on the dam across the Namasket River and 5 acres of land on the south side of the river and I acre of land on the north of the river, also a dwelling-house.
In 1757 Robert Brown conveyed to him 72 acres of land.
Another tract from Deacon Shaw containing 16 acres and another from Icha- bod Sampson containing 6 acres which was the 11th lot in the first allotment of the Twenty-six Men's Purchase.
The works and land at Muttock were conveyed to Peter Oliver and Jeremiah Gridley June 12, 1745.
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never a voter, and some of his official papers bear the mark and date from here. He was born August 8, 1727, died in Boston November 6, 1790, and was buried in the Bowdoin vault in the Old Granary Burying-ground. In 1779 he was president of the convention to frame a constitution for Massachusetts, was gov- ernor 1785-86, and in 1788 a member of the State Convention to ratify the Constitution of the United States. His estate on Beacon Street, Boston, extended back as far as Ashburton Place, and contained one of the finest gardens in town. At the beginning of the insurrection, when in Cambridge to review the troops (he was then about fifty-eight years old), he is described as wearing a gray wig, a cocked hat, white broadcloth coat
and waistcoat, red small - clothes, and black silk stockings.1.
As a public man he was firm and coura- geous, moderate in his opinions, and al- though an earnest friend of the patriot cause from the be- ginning, he was more conservative than many of his com- panions, an attitude which led some of the more zealous sup- James Bowdon porters to question his sincerity. During his administration the famous Shays's Rebellion occurred, and it was largely owing to his firmness and decision that it did not assume greater proportions. After it had been suppressed, he was defeated in his third term, mainly by the voters from the western part of the state, who were in sympathy with the insurgents, and John Hancock was chosen in his place.
1 Memorial History of Boston, vol. iii, p. 194.
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He was the founder of the college which bears his name, an accomplished scholar, with an extended reputation for scien- tific studies and love of literature.
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