USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Middleborough > History of the town of Middleboro, Massachusetts > Part 5
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The pilgrim ancestor of the Barrows families in this country was John Borowe, or Barrow, from Yarmouth,1 England, who came to Salem in 1637, at the age of twenty-eight years, with his wife Anne. In 1665 his name appears in the Plymouth records, in which town he resided from that time, and perhaps earlier, until his death in 1692. The Samuel Barrows above referred to was probably his son. Although his name does not appear in any of the published genealogies which we have examined, it has come down in so many ways that there can be no doubt that he resided in Middleboro at this time, and was among those who returned from Plymouth on the re-settle- ment of the town.
Robert, the oldest son of John, married, in 1666, Ruth Bo- num, and later married Lydia, daughter of John Dunham. He had a son Samuel, born in 1672, who about the year 1700 Lamul Barrows built a garrison house which is still standing and known as the old Barrows house. He was elected deacon of the First Church in 1725. He married first, Mercy Coombs, who died in 1718, and then he married Joanna Smith. He died December 30, 1755, aged eighty-three.2
EDWARD BUMPUS. This name was originally spelled Bom- passe, now spelled Bumpas or Bump. He arrived at Plymouth in the Fortune, November 10, 1621, and moved to Duxbury, where he bought land of Mr. Palmer at Eagle Nest Creek and
1 Maine Hist. and Gen. Register, vol. vii, pp. 136, 199.
2 History of the First Church of Middleboro, P. 53.
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EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
1669]
built a house and palisado, which he sold in 1634, and moved to Marshfield. He resided in Middleboro in the latter part of his life, and was in the fort at the breaking out of King Philip's War. He was the father of several of this name who became permanent settlers in Middleboro. He was one of the original owners in the Twenty-six Men's Purchase and in the Purchade Purchase, and was among the proprietors of the liberties of Middleboro in 1677. He died February 3, 1693, and was then called " old Edward Bumpas." He married Hannah - while living in Duxbury. His children, as far as can now be ascer- tained, were Faith, born 1631; Sarah -; John, born 1636; Edward, born 1638; Joseph, born 1639; Jacob, born 1644; Hannah, born 1646; Philip -; Thomas, born 1660.1
JOHN BUMPUS, the oldest son of Edward, was born in 1636. Few facts are given concerning him. In Church's "Enter- taining Passages Relating to King Philip's War," 2 an Indian by this name is mentioned as killing horses with Tispequin, and in a note we find, " There are respectable white people in Middleboro by this name from the ancestors of whom he may have derived his name." His children born in Middleboro were Mary, born 1671 ; John, born 1673 ; Samuel, born 1676; James, born 1678. Other children were born in Rochester, where he lived later.
JOSEPH BUMPUS, son of Edward, was born in 1639, and lived in Middleboro later as "a principal settler." His wife Weibra was one of the ori- ginal members of the First Church in 1694. Their chil- Joseph bump dren were Lydia, born 1669 ; Weibra, born 1672; Joseph, born 1674; Rebecca, born 1677; James, born 1679; Penelope, born 1681; Mary, born 1684; Mehitable, born 1691-92. He died February 10, 1704.3
1 Barnstable Families, pp. 85, 86.
3 Barnstable Families, p. 86.
2 Page 144.
38
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1669
WILLIAM CLARK. Few facts are known concerning him. The Eddy note-book says his house,1 with that of Mr. Coombs, was burned in 1675, and that William Hoskins lived with him as keeper of the records.
There was a William Clark whose name appears on the treasurer's account for Plymouth Colony in 1660 and 1667, and there was a person by that name capable of bearing arms in 1643 in Duxbury and Plymouth ; he was on a committee to take the treasurer's account of the colony, June 7, 1674. He died in 1687. In 1655 a William Clark was constable of Dux- bury, surveyor of highways in 1659, admitted as a freeman in 1658, and was a constable in Plymouth in 1669. This may have been the Clark who subsequently moved to and lived in Middleboro in 1675, one of those for whom the Five Men's Purchase was made.
GERSHOM COBB, a son of Elder Henry Cobb of Barnstable, was born the Ioth of January, 1644-45, and at one time lived in Plymouth. He married Hannah Davis and became a resi- dent of Middleboro, but the date of his settling here is uncer- tain. He was constable in the year 1671, and a member of the Grand Inquest in 1674. He was one of the settlers for whom the Sixteen Shilling Purchase was made. He was in Swansea at the first attack of the Indians upon that town at the begin- ning of King Philip's War, where he was killed with eight others, and was buried with them June 24, 1675. His brother John administered his estate, which was divided in equal por- tions to the children of Mr. Henry Cobb of Barnstable, except- ing John, the elder son, who had a double portion.2
FRANCIS COOMBS was the son of John Coombs, who was in Plymouth in 1633 with his wife Sarah, a daughter of Cuthbert-
1 In the records of the General Court in 1734, we find a petition of Cornelius Bennett and Lydia Miller, where it is stated " That about the year 1675 the dwelling house of the said Coombs and also the house where the keeper of the records in Middleboro lived was burned and the Indian deed was and is sup- posed to be burned also." Massachusetts Archives.
2 Barnstable Families, p. 171, Cobb Genealogy.
39
1670]
EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
son. They had other children, but probably Francis was the oldest. He was in Middleboro as early as 1670, and was one of the men who took the inventory of the estate of Henry Wood. On July 1, 1674,1 he exchanged four acres of land on the south of the Indian Path "which goeth from Namasket to Munhutehet Brook at the southerly end of land which he sold to Benjamin Church with Samuel Wood for the 16th lot on the west side of Namasket River, near the wading-place which was formerly Henry Wood's land, deceased."
After the close of the war, he probably did not return for a year or two, but in 1678, when he was in Plymouth, he bought of Edward Gray for thirty-six pounds the 18th, 19th, and 20th lots on the west side of the Nemasket River between the stone weir and the wading-place.
He also owned the 185th and 186th lots in the South Pur- chase and the 169th lot in the Sixteen Shilling Purchase. His inventory, which was taken January 5, 1682, by Isaac Howland and Samuel Wood, shows that he owned considerable real estate in town.
He was a man of influence in Middleboro, and was a free- man in 1670. He was a selectman of the town in 1674, 1675, and 1680. In 1676 and 1677 he and Isaac Howland were ap- pointed commissioners to distribute charities from Ireland to such as were impoverished during King Philip's War. He was married twice ; his first wife was Deborah Morton ; his second wife was Mary Barker of Duxbury, who, upon the decease of Francis Coombs, married David Wood of Middleboro, in 1685. She was living in 1711. He died in Middleboro, December 31, 1682, leaving a wife and several children.
The license to Francis Coombs to keep an ordinary or an inn was granted in 1678, and after his death was renewed to his wife, Mrs. Mary Coombs, July 1, 1684. It was probably the same tavern which was kept seventy-five years ago or more by Captain Abner Barrows, and it is said that part of that house was perhaps a portion of the identical building of the Coombs tavern.2
1 Eddy Note-Book.
2 History of Plymouth County, p. 947.
40
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1674
June 5, 1666, " liberty is granted by the General Court unto Francis Coombs as by right of his father who was an ancient freeman, to look out for land for his accommodation and to make report thereof to the court that so a competency thereof may be allowed unto him answerable unto other ancient freemen." 1
His children were Deborah, born 1673; Mercy, born 1674; Lydia, born 1679; Ruth, born 1681; Francis, born 1682.
GEORGE DANSON lived in that part of Middleboro known as Thompson Road, somewhere between Danson Brook and the home of John Tomson.2
At one time he was "fined forty shillings 3 for doing servill work on the Lord's Day."
He was one of the original proprietors of the Sixteen Shil- ling Purchase. There is some uncertainty about his name. Hubbard speaks of him as Robert Dawson or Danson. In Plymouth County Records he is called George Danson of Middleboro.4 In the Thompson book he is called William Danson. In Middleboro Records he is called George. The references are probably all to the same person.5
He was the owner of the 6th lot in the apportionment of the Twenty-six Men's Purchase before the breaking out of the war, as appears in the early records of the town, although his name is not among the owners of this land in the "History of the First Church of Middleboro." His name also appears on the list of proprietors who met, June 28, 1677, to take measures for the resettlement of the town. The clerk of that meeting evidently failed to record his death, and probably no administration had been taken upon his estate.
He was shot by the Indians upon the breaking out of King Philip's War, at the brook which bears his name. He had been urged by John Tomson the night before to go to the garrison, but waited until morning. After starting, he stopped for his horse to drink, when he was shot.
1 Plymouth Colony Records, vol. iv, p. 127.
3 Plymouth Colony Records, vol. v, p. 156.
5 Hubbard's Indian Wars, vol. ii, p. 41.
2 Thompson Genealogy. p. 7.
4 Ibid. vol. vi, p. 70.
41
EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
1655]
JOHN, or JONATHAN, DUNHAM, JR., was a son of Deacon John Dunham (generally spelled Donham) of Plymouth, who was a deputy to the General Court, and served in various offices in the colony 1 of Plymouth ; he died March 2, 1669, at the age of eighty. His will bears date January 25, 1668.
The son John, or Jonathan, bought into the Twenty-six Men's. Purchase, and was a resident in 1670, his name appearing on the list of freemen of Middleboro for that year ; he was one of the Grand Inquest in 1671, and often served as one of the jurors in the trial of causes. He represented the town at the General Court "holden at Plymouth " in the month of Sep- tember, 1673, and was a constable of the town the same year ; he was one of the selectmen in 1674-75. In 1671 he was appointed as an inspector of ordinances in Middleboro "to prevent selling of powder to Indians and extensive drinking and report violence of this to the General Court, and to take notice of any abuse as may arise in reference to the premises or otherwise and make report thereof to the court."
In 1656 he, with John Morton, Richard Wright, Samuel Eddy, and Francis Billington, "desired some portion of land to accommodate them for their posterity, and the court gave lib- erty unto them for that purpose. If found convenient, it shall be confirmed unto them for the ends aforesaid."
He had a share of thirty acres of land on the western side of Nemasket River assigned to him by order of the court, June 7, 1665. He owned land in different places in the Twelve Men's, Five Men's, Little Lotmen's, and Sixteen Shilling Pur- chases. In 1671 his lands at Nemasket were laid out by Wil- liam Nelson and William Crow.
His first wife was Mary, a daughter of Philip Delano, whom he married November 29, 1655.2 His second wife was Mary, a daughter of Elder Henry Cobb, and a sister of Gershom and John Cobb.
Some time after the resettlement of the town, he probably moved to Plymouth, where he became a minister to the In- dians, and afterwards to Edgartown, previous to 1684. He was.
1 Savage, vol. ii, p. 81. 2 Barnstable Families, p. 171. .
42
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1650
not installed over the church there until October 11, 1694, when,1 it is said, he came from Plymouth, and the pastor of that town, with a delegate, was present at his installation. His salary was thirty pounds per annum, in addition to which the town made him various grants of land for his cattle, and half share on the common land. He was highly esteemed for his piety and his personal qualities, and died December 17, 1718, at the age of eighty-five years. On his tombstone behind Tower Hill are these quaint lines : -
" With toil and pains at first he tilled the ground ; Called to God's Vineyard, and was faithful found; Full thirty years, the Gospel he did dispense, His work being done, Christ Jesus called him hence." 2
SAMUEL EATON was a son of Francis Eaton, a passenger in the Mayflower, a carpenter by trade, who moved from Plymouth to Duxbury, where he died in 1633, insolvent.
Samuel was born in England or Holland in 1620, and was one of the two passengers in the May- flower who became residents of Middleboro. Governor Bradford, in the appendix of his "History of the Plimoth Plantation," in a note concerning Francis Eaton, THE MAYFLOWER thus speaks of Samuel : "His sone Samuell who came over a suckling child is allso maried and hath a child." He was ap- prenticed for seven years to John Cook the younger. Before moving to Middleboro he resided for some time in Duxbury. He was a resident of the town before the breaking out of King Philip's War, and returned after its close .. He was admit- ted as a freeman in 1670, and was among the purchasers of the town of Dartmouth in 1652, and of Bridgewater. In 1651 " the court admonished Samuel Eaton and Goodwife Hall
1 Barber, Hist. Coll. p. 152.
2 Historical Discourse, by Rev. John H. Hall, November 6, 1878 ; Barber, Hist. Coll. p. 152.
43
EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
1665]
of Duxbury for mixed dancing."1 He died at Middleboro in 1684. His estate was appraised at thirty-seven pounds, eleven shillings.2 He was twice married ; his second wife was Mar- tha Billington, a daughter of Francis Billington; his son, Samuel Eaton, was one of the original members of the First Church, and married a daughter of the first pastor, Rev. Sam- uel Fuller.
ZACHARIAH EDDY 3 was the second son of Samuel, born in 1639. He married Alice Paddock, May 7, 1663, and for his second wife, Abigail Smith. During his boyhood he was apprenticed to Mr. John Brown, a shipwright of Rehoboth, until he was twenty-one years of age. He was propounded for admission as a freeman by the court at Plymouth, June 16, 1681, but there is no record of his ever having been admitted. He was living in Middleboro in 1665. His house stood on the twelve acres granted him by the court near what was known as Eddy's Furnace.4 This house afterwards came into possession of Dr. Palmer's family. In 1670 his name appears with fifty- four others upon an instrument by which they consented to become inhabitants of Swansea, according to the terms pre- viously agreed upon between the church and Captain Thomas Willett, the original patentee of the land included in the town- ship, and in the allotment of this land under the peculiar plan the settlers there adopted, his name appears under the second rank entitled to receive two acres of land, but when he removed his residence to that town is unknown. He died in Swansea, September 4, 1718, at the age of seventy-eight years.
1 Goodwin, Pilgrim Republic, p. 598.
Eddy Genealogy, p. 115.
2 Eddy Note-Book.
4 " June the 7th, 1665. The Court haue graunted vnto Sachariah Eedey a smale gussett of land lying betwixt his land and the brooke from his house below the path to Namassakett vnto the aforsaid brooke vnto a bridge or way neare vnto Willam Nelsons house ; the said psell of land soe bounded as aforsaid is graunted vnto the said Sachariah Eedey, to him and his heires and assignes for euer, with all the appurtenances belonging thervnto, on condition that the said Sachariah Eedey doe continew a bridge neare his house, in the place where it is needed, for horse and cart, for the vse of the country, for the full tearme of twenty years from the date heerof." Plymouth Colony Records, vol. v, p. 128.
44
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1670
OBADIAH EDDY, a son of Samuel Eddy,1 inherited that por- tion of his father's land assigned from the Twenty-six Men's Purchase, where he was living at the breaking out of the war. He with his children took refuge in the fort, and when the garrison was abandoned, moved to Plymouth, where he remained for a short time. He was one of the first settlers to return, and rebuilt his house near the site of the first house (in that part of Middleboro now Halifax, near Winnetuxet River, in the field of Nathan Fuller), the cellar of which can be seen. He was admitted a freeman, June 3, 1683 ; was a constable in 1679, 1681, 1683, and 1689. In 1673, 1679, and 1681 he was a member of the Grand Inquest ; in 1692 was a surveyor of highways, and in 1690 one of the selectmen. He was one of the jurors to lay out a road from Middleboro, Bridgewater, and other places toward Boston in 1683.
He died in 1722, aged seventy-seven years, and divided his estate among his seven children.
SAMUEL FULLER. - See chapter on Ecclesiastical History.
JOHN HASKELL was born about 1640, and married Patience, a daughter of George Soule, in January, 1666. In the will of George Soule, bearing date August II, 1677, it is stated : " I have formerly given to my daughters, Elizabeth and Patience, all of my lands in the township of Middleberry," and in a cod- icil, bearing date the 20th day of September, he refers to the lands he had given "his daughter Patience at Namasket allies Middleberry." Some portion of the estate of George Soule was evidently owned in common with Francis Walker, who had married his daughter Elizabeth.
He lived in Middleboro before the year 1670, as the town records show birth of children between that time and the year 1684. He was one of twelve who were freemen before the
1 There is a tradition that the name Eddy originated in the fact that a person by the name of John lived near the eddy of a river and was familiarly known as John of the eddy or John by the eddy. The name occurs in the early records of the colony spelled variously, as Edy, Edye, Eddie, Edie, and Eedey.
45
EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
1675]
year 1689, and was a large owner of real estate in the Twenty- six Men's Purchase and other purchases. At one time he owned, with his brother-in-law, Francis Walker, a tract of land bounded by Raven Brook and the Indian Path, which included the pasture land and swamp later owned by Joshua Eddy, Esq.1
He died May 15, 1706, aged sixty-six years. His wife, Pa- tience, bought the old meeting-house in 1701. She died March 15, 1705.
WILLIAM HOSKINS came from England about 1633, and was one of the freemen that year. He married Sarah Cush- man, and as a second wife, Ann Hynes, or Hinds.
There is but little doubt that upon the incorporation of Middleboro as a town, in 1669, he was chosen town clerk, and continued in that office until 1693, although there is no official record of his election before May 24, 1681.2 At that time he was unanimously chosen to that office. His first election can- not be verified, as all of the town records were destroyed dur- ing the Indian War. He lived in Middleboro before the Indian War, in the house of William Clark, and kept the original deed and records of the Prince and Coombs Purchase, and probably the records of the town. He is one of the soldiers " from Middleboro" who took part in the war, and was pro- mised a grant of land for his services at Narragansett.
His name is on the list of those who, on June 3, 1662, applied to the General Court at Plymouth in reference to a grant to be made to them as being the first-born children of this government, and for disposing of two several tracts of land lately purchased, the one by Major Winslow and the other by Captain Southworth. He was on the jury with John Tomson and Sergeant Ephraim Tinkham to try an Indian for murder in 1674. February 6, 1665, he was appointed administrator of the estate of Nicholas Hodgis, alias Miller, deceased. He had received a grant of land in Lakenham.
1 Eddy Note-Book.
2 Eddy Note-Book says he was town clerk, 1674-75.
46
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1670
He was one of the men in the Twenty-six Men's Purchase and also in the Purchade Purchase, but at the breaking out of the war he does not appear to have been an owner in any portion of that land. His name is among the former proprie- tors of the liberties of Middleboro, but before 1677 his interest therein passed to George Vaughan, Sr. He lived in Scituate, Plymouth, and Taunton, and in 1680 was "grown old and feeble."
His children were Sarah, born September 16, 1636; William, born November 30, 1647 ; Samuel, born August 8, 1654.
ISAAC HOWLAND, the youngest son of John Howland of the Mayflower, lived on the western side of the road, opposite the house of the late Thomas Isaac How land fen? Pratt. He was a leader of public affairs, and town meet- ings were often held at his home. He owned land on which the present town house stands, and also in the Sixteen Shilling and Twenty-six Men's Purchases. When the families moved to the fort, Isaac How- land was ordered by Lieutenant Tomson to shoot the Indian who appeared upon the rock on the other side of the river. He was the first in the commandant's council, probably the man upon whom Lieutenant Tomson chiefly relied for advice when the garrison were in the fort, and he served with great bravery under Captain Church during the war.
He married Elizabeth, daughter of George Vaughan, and in 1684 kept an inn.1 His name is one of the most prominent in the early history as holding many offices. He was representative in 1689, 1690, and 1691. He died March 9, 1724, aged seventy- four.2
His children were Seth, born November 28, 1677; Isaac, born March 6, 1678 ; Priscilla, born August 22, 1681 ; Eliza- beth, born December 2, 1682; Nathan, born January 17, 1687 ; Jael, born October 13, 1688 ; Susanna, born October 14, 1690; Hannah, born October 16, 1694.
1 Savage, vol. ii, p. 479.
2 Eddy Memoranda.
47
1670] EARLY SETTLERS BEFORE KING PHILIP'S WAR
JOHN IRISH, the son of John and Elizabeth Irish, in his youth lived in Duxbury, and was the servant mentioned in the last will of Captain Myles Standish. In 1640 his father had a " mear- stead "1 granted to him, and in 1641 a tract of land at Stony Brook. In the Pequot War he was a volunteer, but was not called into active service. His business seems to have been that of a roper. As one of the proprietors of Bridgewater and an owner in the Sixteen Shilling and Eight Men's Purchases, he was a resident of Middleboro as early as 1671, and con- stable of the town in 1672. He lived on land now known as- the Sturtevant Place, and in the division of the Twenty-six Men's Purchase he was assigned the IIth lot, which was on the north side of Taunton Path. In May, 1708, he married a sister of Captain Church.2 He passed the later years of his. life in Little Compton.
FRANCIS MILLER is mentioned as one of the men who were in town when King Philip's War began, and in the garrison, but we find no trace of his history before or after that, except- ing that he was killed by the Indians, probably during the war. There is a monument erected to his memory at the Green Cemetery, on which is written : -
" Francis Miller was one of the householders driven back to Plymouth from Middleborough by the Indians in 1675."
JOHN MILLER was born in England, in 1624, and died May II, 1720, in the ninety-seventh year of his age. His monu- ment is at the Green Cemetery. He was a member of the Grand Inquest in 1672, and was among the proprietors of the Twenty-six Men's Purchase at their meeting in 1677. He bought a house-lot of Edward Gray previous to April 29, 1678 ; he owned lot 154 in the South Purchase, and was one: of the owners in the Sixteen Shilling Purchase. He lived on Thompson Street, not far from the brook, near the house of the late Elijah Shaw; the site of his house is still pointed out ..
1 Winsor's History of Duxbury, p. 273.
2 Savage, vol. ii, p. 525.
48
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF MIDDLEBORO
[1670
John miller Jun2.
John Miller married 1 Mercy -. Their son John was born in 1669, in Middleboro, and died in 1727. He mar- ried Lydia Coombs.
JOHN MORTON was the second son of George Morton, who lived in Austerfield, Yorkshire, the home of Governor Bradford. George early joined the pilgrims at Leyden, and came to America in the Anne, landing at Plymouth in 1623 ; he mar- ried Juliana Carpenter,2 a sister-in-law of Governor Bradford, and died in Plymouth, June, 1624. His eldest son, Nathaniel, was a secretary of Plymouth Colony for more than forty years, John Morton until his death in 1685. John, his third child and second son, was born at Leyden, 1616-17, and came with his parents in the Anne. He was admitted a freeman of the Colony June 7, 1648, was a constable in Plymouth in 1654, a member of the Grand Inquest in 1660, a deputy of the General Court from Plymouth in 1662, assessor in 1664, selectman in 1666, and a collector of taxes in 1668.3 He was a freeman of Middleboro in 1670.
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