USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > History of the town of Middleboro, Massachusetts > Part 4
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1 Young's Chronicles of the Pilgrims, p. 212.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1621
urged to spend the night, but in spite of the weather they passed on, and reached home in safety.
A month later startling news came to New Plymouth. Mas- sasoit, their friend and ally, had been driven from the country by the Narragansetts, and one of his sachems, Corbitant, chief of the Pocassets, was in command. He was known to be hostile to the white men, and did all in his power to break the treaty made between Massasoit and the settlers. At this time Ne- masket again became the scene of a meeting between the Indians and the English ; for this sachem lived here, and in his chieftain's absence sought by every means to weaken Massa- soit's influence, destroy his new allies, and raise himself to power.
As soon as the colonists heard the news, they sent Hobomok and Squanto to ascertain Massasoit's whereabouts, and to ob- serve carefully the plans and actions of Corbitant and his fol- lowers. These emissaries proceeded as secretly as possible to "Namaschet," planning to spend the night there, but Corbi- tant, discovering their hiding-place, attacked the house, seized Squanto and his companion, and threatened them with death on account of their friendship with the white men. He had said that if Squanto were dead, "the English had lost their tongue," and was about to kill them both, when Hobomok, owing to his great strength, escaped from them, and dashed past the guard out of the wigwam. Making his way as rapidly as possible toward Plymouth, he related his experience and the manner of his escape, as well as his fears for Squanto's life.
On hearing this news, realizing the hatred and fury of their enemy, the governor called a council to consider what was best for them to do. They took it for granted that Squanto had been killed, and appointed Miles Standish, with a little company of men, to avenge his death at Nemasket and quell the insurrec- tion against their ally, Massasoit. Standish and his men, with Hobomok as guide, set out for the "kingdom of Namaschet" on the 24th of August. They marched through the woods, in spite of a heavy rain, to within three or four miles of Ne- masket. Here they had been ordered to wait until night, that they might approach the town unobserved. While they rested,
25
AS FIRST KNOWN TO THE ENGLISH
1621]
Standish called them together to plan their method of attack and to give each man his orders. His instructions had been to surprise the town at night and take all who had been con- cerned in the seizure of Squanto. If it was found that he had been killed, Corbitant was to be beheaded at once, and his assistant, Nepeof, a sachem, who had joined in the rebellion, was to be held as hostage until Massasoit was heard from.
Midnight seemed the best time for the attack. They had not advanced far on the march when they discovered that the guide had lost his way. They were weary and drenched with the rain, and well-nigh discouraged, but one of the party, who had been to the place before, was able to lead them in the right direction. Before they reached there, they ate what food they had, threw away their knapsacks and baggage, and advanced to the house where they knew Corbitant had been staying. The sound of the wind and rain completely concealed the coming of Standish and his men, the Indians at this time having no thought of the pursuit of one of their chieftains. In the middle of the night they surrounded what was supposed to be the wigwam of Cor- bitant. It was filled with a large number of his braves, and Standish, with his known courage, suddenly burst open the door and rushed in among them. As they awoke at the sound of his voice and footsteps, they were paralyzed with fear and terror, and some endeavored to conceal themselves by hiding under the skins of the wigwam. Others attempted to escape through the door, but were intercepted. Some of the Indians, having heard that Standish never made war upon their squaws, most piteously cried out, "Don't hurt me, I am a squaw, I am a squaw !" While they were making a fire and searching the wigwam, Hobomok climbed to the roof and called for Squanto and Tockamahamon, who came with many others, some having weapons, which were taken from them, to be returned later, and the object of the journey was explained to them. Standish then released all the savages whom they had seized, after hear- ing of Corbitant's departure. The next day they took breakfast with Squanto, while all of the friendly Indians gathered near, and again they spoke of their intentions against the hostile
26
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1622
Indians, threatening to destroy Corbitant and his followers if they continued to instigate trouble against them and against their friend and ally, Massasoit, or if he should not return in safety from Narragansett, or if Squanto or any other of Massa- soit's subjects should be killed.
After renewing their offers of friendship, even agreeing to take with them those who had been wounded, that Dr. Fuller, their physician, might dress their wounds and care for them, they returned home the next day, accompanied by Squanto and other friendly Indians with the three who were hurt, having so impressed the natives with their bravery that ever afterward Standish was an object of especial terror. This first warlike expedition of the pilgrims in New England thus becomes the first event of importance in Middleboro history.
In January of the next year Governor Bradford found it necessary to buy corn, and an expedition was sent to Mano- met and to Nemasket. The Indian women were prevented by sickness from carrying all the corn from Nemasket, and the remainder was taken by the pilgrims to Plymouth.
In March news came to Plymouth that Massasoit was on his death-bed. In accordance with the Indian custom of friends visiting the sick one before his death, the pilgrims decided to send one of their number to the chief's home, and Edward Winslow was chosen. He was accompanied by an Englishman desirous of seeing the country, Hampden by name, and by Hobomok as guide. With numerous medicines and cordials for the chief, they set out, and spent the first night at Nemasket. After visiting Massasoit, they remained a night with Corbitant at "Mattapuyet," and then proceeded to Nemasket, where they again stayed over night.
In the year 1633 Sir Christopher Gardner lived on the banks of the Nemasket, after his departure from England in disgrace. He had sent a petition to the king alleging various charges against the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, which were denied by the governors, and the petition was dismissed by the king. In England he had been a gentleman of influ- ence, a knight of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, and a
27
AS FIRST KNOWN TO THE ENGLISH
1633]
connection of the Bishop of Winchester, but a zealous papist in disguise. When he came into the colony he was accompa- nied by one or two servants, and it was understood that he had given up all worldly pursuits and would live a godly life in hum- ble circumstances. He had applied for admission to several churches, but was refused on account of his questionable char- acter. The authorities of Massachusetts Bay had attempted to arrest him, but he had eluded their pursuit, and was living with the Indians at Nemasket. Becoming suspicious, they gave information to the governor, who authorized his seizure, and directed that he be brought uninjured to Boston. The Indians saw him near the river and attempted to capture him, but he escaped in a canoe. Armed with a musket and rapier, he kept them at bay until the canoe was upset upon a rock and his weapons lost. He continued to defend himself with a small dagger, which they finally succeeded in knocking from his hands, and he was made prisoner. He was taken to Governor Winthrop, in Boston, who afterwards sent him to England to meet the criminal charges there pending against him.
The settlers in Plymouth undoubtedly passed through Mid- dleboro on expeditions to Taunton and elsewhere, but until about ten years before the Twenty-six Men's Purchase there were probably no permanent residents.
John Winthrop, Jr., who accompanied an expedition from the Narragansett Bay up the Taunton River in 1636, sailed up the river as far as Titicut, as appears by the following letter to his father : -
SAYBROOK, PASBESHUKE, April 7, 1636.
FROM JOHN WINTHROP, TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL AND MUCH HONORED FATHER, JOHN WINTHROP, WHO DWELLS IN BOSTON.
Sir :- My humble duty remembered to yourself and my mother, with love to my brothers and all of our friends with you. I suppose you have heard of our arrival at Titiquet, an opportune meeting with our vessels. Concerning that place I conceive it is about 22 or 23 miles from Waliston. Very fer- tile and rich land and so far as we went down it grew wide into Sachems Harbor and a ship of 500 tons may go up to about ten or twelve miles. There is no meadow or salt marsh all the way. The first of the month we set sail from Naragan-
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1637
set and in the evening about six o'clock arrived there. Thus craving your prayers and blessings I commend you to the Almighty and rest,
Your obedient son,
JOHN WINTHROP.
He evidently sailed up the river as far as the wading-place at Pratt's Bridge, as the river is navigable for small ships of not more than five hundred tons up to that point. There is no record, however, that he and his party did more than make a temporary landing at this place.
In 1637 a settlement was made at Titicut, bordering on the westerly side of Middleboro, by Miss Elizabeth Poole and her associates. She was the daughter of Sir William Poole, a knight of Colcombe, in the parish of Coliton, Devon, England. The records of the parish say that she was baptized August 25, 1588. This land was sometimes called the Titicut purchase, not because it was bought of the Indians residing there, but from the fact that it was within the original Indian reserva- tion, which had been conveyed to her and her associates be- fore it had been reserved for the exclusive use of the Indians. Her purchase was between the bounds of Cohanett (the former name of Taunton) and the Titicut weir, and bordered upon what subsequently became the western boundary line of Mid- dleboro between Poquoy Brook and Baiting Brook. Those who settled here about the time of Miss Poole's purchase were her brother, William Poole, Mr. John Gilbert, Sr., Mr. Henry Andrews, John Strong, John Dean, Walter Dean, and Edward Case, who, the next year, were made freemen in Plymouth Colony. The territory which she purchased was known for some time as Littleworth farm and Shute farm, and the re- cords state that it was here Miss Poole lost many cattle. The original purchase of Miss Poole ultimately became a portion of Taunton, and other farms purchased by her and her associates were often referred to in the early records as Meerneed, Bare- need, Cotley, and Pondsbrook, in accordance with the English custom. Bareneed was given to the farm of Edward Case and Pondsbrook to that of John Gilbert.
CHAPTER IV
EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
A LTHOUGH Middleboro was only fifteen miles from Plymouth and halfway on the Indian Path to the Taunton settlement, it was more than forty years after the landing of the pilgrims before the whites came to dwell there in large numbers. There were from fifteen to twenty thousand Indians within forty miles of Plymouth, and probably more in Middleboro than in any other part of the colony.
For fifteen years after the early settlers came here to live, the territory was a part of Plymouth, and they were described as residents of that town ; but after its incorporation in 1669, they were known as "residing in Middleberry." They were mostly the sons or the grandsons of the pilgrims, and united their sturdy virtues and habits of industry with their enter- prise and courage. Their fathers had conquered many of the difficulties attending the first coming, and had become ac- customed to the new life on these western shores.
Many of them had not only engaged in trading with the Indians in different parts of the country, but had purchased large tracts of land, which were being occupied, and there were not a few among their number who had already acquired a competence. The colony had been settled long enough for the people to begin to be attached to the place where they had been born and reared ; this younger generation knew no- thing of the luxuries, turmoil, and political distractions of the Old World, except what they had learned from their fathers and grandfathers.
The population was increasing, although not as rapidly as that of Salem and of the Bay. The settlement of Middleboro was unlike that of other places, in that these men supposed
30
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1669
that the town was to be occupied in common with the abo- rigines, who were then the owners of much of the land. We can but note what must have been their heroism in thus choos- ing homes among the red men of the forest, well knowing, as they did, their characteristics, and the inevitable dangers which would continually confront them.
Their manner of living is of interest. Although many frame houses had been built in Plymouth and the older parts of the colony, all houses in Middleboro prior to the breaking out of King Philip's War were of hewn logs. The doors were made of plank, either sawed by hand or hewn, and logs were hewn upon three sides to form a level floor in the house. The fireplaces were usually built of stone laid in clay, and some of the chimneys were of green oak logs plastered with clay. The latches and hinges of the doors were made of wood ; the former were raised by a string extending through the door outside. The windows were usually small and placed high up from the ground. Oiled paper 1 set in a wooden frame admitted light into the windows, although in the better class of houses in Plymouth they had commenced using window-glass in small diamond shapes set in lead.
For generations they obtained from their farms all that was necessary for the support of their families. Most of their clothing was made of flax and of wool from the sheep, the women being skilled in spinning and weaving, and the men often wore trousers made from skins of sheep, deer, or bear, which they tanned.
Their simple food was served from the table, a long, nar- row board on standards not unlike sawhorses, called a table board, and the linen covering was called a " board cover," not a table cover till later. Napkins were many and necessary, as they had no forks. The food was frequently " spoon meat," i. e. soups, hashes, etc., which could be easily managed with spoons and knives. The pewter platters usually contained the
1 Edward Winslow in his letter to George Morton, writing from Plymouth under date of December 11, 1621, says, " Bring paper and linseed oil for your windows, with cotton yarn for your lamps." Young's Chronicle of the Pilgrims, p. 237.
3I
1669]
EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
meat and vegetables, and this metal was used for drinking- cups and porringers. One of the most important articles for the table was a trencher, a block of wood ten or twelve inches square, hollowed out three or four inches. A man and his wife ate from one trencher ; an old Connecticut deacon made a trencher for each of his children, but was condemned by his neighbors as extravagant. Myles Standish and others of the "first comers" used trenchers in their homes. In the centre of the table was placed the salt-cellar, and guests were seated " above the salt," near the host, who sat by his wife. No china 1 and but very little silver was used in the colony. The native corn meal became a staple article of food ; the morn- ing and evening meals for one hundred and fifty years were commonly of boiled Indian meal, "ye Indian porridge," with milk or molasses. The Indians taught them how to plant and raise the corn, and how to grind it between stones, or with the pestle and mortar. This method gave way to rude hand-mills, called quernes, and grist-mills. Corn was so highly regarded that it was often used for ballots in voting. Suppawn, a coarse porridge of corn and milk, samp, and succotash, an Indian dish, were favorite foods. Roger Williams wrote that " suts- quttahhash was corn seethed like beans."
Squashes and beans were native vegetables. The former was spelled in various ways, "squanter-squashes," " squontor- squashes," "isquonker-squashes." They had not been accus- tomed to drinking much water, and at first feared it might be dangerous. Home-brewed ale and beer were drunk freely, and liquors and wines were brought to the town from Taunton and Plymouth ; later, as the orchards grew, cider became a popular drink, and Middleboro cider was famous. In spite of the free use of all these, a writer from Massachusetts in 1641 said, "Drunkenness and profane swearing are but rare in this country." For coffee they used a substitute, made either from barley or from crusts of brown bread. For sugar they used
1 " As tea and coffee were unknown to the Forefathers, the many Delft-ware tea and coffee pots and cups preserved as Pilgrim relics are to be regarded as anachronisms." Goodwin's Pilgrim Republic, p. 588.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1669
sweet apples and the syrup obtained from beets and pump- kins. Herring, or alewives, were always abundant, and largely took the place of meat at their family meals.
Although there were no schools in town until after the Indian War, the children were taught to "read, write and cipher ; " the Bible and a volume of Sternhold and Hopkins's Hymns, with the Bay Psalm Book and a few other books, could be found in almost every family. A study of their old primers well repays one interested in old books. At first the " good King Charles " was referred to, but after the Revo- lution we find books for children with the statement, "Kings and Queens are gaudy things." The New England Primer and their other books were as severe in binding as was the dress of the colonists, without decoration or ornament.
Nearly all travel was on horseback. Women and children rode seated on a pillion behind a man. If several people were to make a journey, the ride-and-tie system was used. Certain ones would ride a distance, then tie the horse and walk on. The others would then take the horse and ride ahead, again leaving the horse for the two who were afoot.
Many of the settlers brought with them from Plymouth articles of furniture which had either been made there or brought by their fathers from the old country. The bureaus, chests of drawers, etc., were on legs, so no dust could accumu- late underneath. Their homes were comfortable, neat, and tidy, although in the forests with savage surroundings.
They often attended church at Plymouth, a distance of six- teen or more miles, going and returning the same day, until Samuel Fuller settled among them as preacher. They were honest, God-fearing men and women, having a clear know- ledge of the teachings of the scriptures, and a strong, abiding faith in the religion for which their fathers had suffered, leav- ing comforts and luxuries of the Old World. (See chapter on Social Customs.)
In our review of these times we are never to forget the hardships which these men and women endured, without mur- mur or complaint, for more than a generation. The nearest
33
EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
1669]
settlements were Plymouth, Bridgewater, Taunton, and Dart- mouth, reached only by the narrow Indian paths for the most part through dense forests. Their houses were remote from neighbors and distant from friends, the usual communication being only by foot ; they were liable at any time to unexpected visits from the savages, who might not be friendly and who were addicted to thieving ; they had neither medical skill nor scientific knowledge, when sickness, as a result of hardship and exposure, so often entered their dwellings ; they had none of the luxuries, or what we consider to-day comforts, of life ; there was also the extreme danger from hostile Indians before King Philip's War, and the constant annoyance and depreda- tions from wolves and bears, which attacked not only their crops, but sometimes the settlers themselves. They were con- tented and happy in their simple habits and mode of living ; honest and industrious, frugal and thoughtful, many of them. men of character and enterprise, whom their posterity, remem- bering their virtues, ever do well to honor.
By the laws of the colony " none shall vote in town meetings but freemen or freeholders of 20 pounds ratable estate and of good conversation, having taken the oath of fidelitie."1 Those who had taken the oath of fidelity in town up to the uniting of the colonies in 1692 were but few, so that many of the expendi- tures and public acts were undertaken by the voters in connec- tion with the proprietors of the "liberties of the town," as the owners of land were then called, who were not all of them resi- dents. In 1677, after the return, a meeting was held, at which sixty-five of the proprietors and residents were present.2
As the town records were destroyed in the war, it is impos- sible to give an exact list of men living in Middleboro before 1675. The number has heretofore been variously stated as sixteen, twenty, and twenty-six, but it is hardly probable that the court at Plymouth would have incorporated a town unless there had been a larger number of inhabitants. We give
1 Plymouth Colony Records, Laws, vol. ii, Part III, p. 223.
2 Old Middleboro Records, copy, p. 17. See also chapter on Civil History for list of names.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1670
below a list of forty-one who are known to have lived here, as the names are to be found in Plymouth records, in deeds, as office-holders and freemen, from records of births and deaths, as well as from reliable family note-books, and seven who were here according to generally accepted tradition.
Samuel Barrows
John Nelson o
Edward Bump
William Nelson x
John Bump
Samuel Pratt
Joseph Bump
Andrew Ring
Gershom Cobb o
John Shaw
Francis Coombs: x 0
David Thomas
William Clark
David Thomas, Jr.
George Dawson
Ephraim Tinkham o
Samuel Eaton x
Ebenezer Tinkham
Obadiah Eddy o
John Tomson, Jr.
John Haskall
Joseph Vaughn
William Hoskins o
Francis Walker
Isaac Howland o
Adam Wright
John Irish o
Henry Wood x
Francis Miller
Jonathan Wood
John Morton, Jr. x
x Freemen in 1670.
o Office-holders before 1675.
Of the seven following, four were in the fort, and are men- tioned in the "History of the First Church " in the list of those "who were here when the war broke out and who probably returned after the war : " -
Francis Billington
John Cobb
Jabez Warren Joseph Warren David Wood
John Holmes William Nelson, Jr.
Samuel Wood o
John Morton o
Joseph Wood
John Dunham x o
Ephraim Tinkham, Jr.
Zachariah Eddy
John Tomson o
Samuel Fuller
George Vaughn o
John Miller
The following list of men in the fort was obtained from an old Eddy note-book quoted from Mercy Bennett, " whose grand- father was on the list and she had her information from him. This was confirmed from other sources :" -
35
1670]
EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
John Tomson, Commandant Isaac Howland Francis Coombs Samuel Fuller
Commandant's Council
John Morton
Nathaniel Southworth 1
Ephraim Tinkham Henry Wood 2
William Nelson
David Thomas
John Cobb
Jabez Warren
1192494
Edward Bump
Moses Simmons 1
Samuel Barrows
Eaton (Samuel ?)
Francis Billington
George Soule 1
Obadiah Eddy
Samuel Pratt
George Vaughan
John Shaw
Jacob Tomson
Francis Miller
Holmes (John ?) John Alden 1
This list differs slightly from that given in the "History of the First Church :" Samuel Eddy 1 is mentioned in place of Obadiah, and John Howland 1 in place of John Holmes.
SAMUEL BARROWS was one of the early settlers of Middleboro, and before the breaking out of the war had built a dam across
1 We find no record that these men were permanent residents of Middleboro. They were extensive land-owners and probably in town at that time. George Soule, Samuel Eddy, and John Howland had children living here, and John Alden had a son in Bridgewater adjoining the Twenty-six Men's Purchase. For a . sketch of their lives, see chapter on Early Purchases.
Not a few of the inhabitants of the different towns of the colony lived for a longer or shorter time in other places without changing their legal residence, and this may account for some of the early settlers being in Middleboro before King Philip's War who at that time were citizens of other towns.
2 As Henry Wood was not living, this probably refers to one of his sons.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1665
the Nemasket River some fifty rods above the present Star Mills, and erected a grist-mill, in which he worked. On the morning of the attack upon the town, after the Indian had been shot, he saw a band approaching the mill and fled to the fort uninjured. The records of the First Church of Middle- boro show that he had acquired a share in the Twenty-six Men's Purchase before the breaking out of the war.
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