USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Oxford > History of the town of Oxford, Massachusetts with genealogies and notes on persons and estates > Part 96
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A Huguenot Magistrate and Representative. Isaac Bertrand Du Tuffeau was commissioned " a Justice of the Peace within the town of New Oxford the french plantation," Dec. 5, 1693. [Gen. Court Rec., Lib. Series, VI. 299.] It is believed that he was also elected as the representative from New Oxford the same year. Mr. A. C. Goodell, Jr., Commissioner for the publica- tion of Province Laws, writes in relation to the subject : " He subscribed the qualifying oaths with the representatives chosen to the Court which convened Nov. 8, 1693; and on the strength of that, I included him in the list of depu- ties to that Court. It is not, however, absolutely certain that he was a depu- ty, since this subscription may have been made in qualifying " for the office of justice of the peace. " I have given the town the benefit of the doubt, since no other deputy from Oxford appears that year, - Daniel Allin of Bos- ton, who represented Oxford the previous year having this year been chosen by the inhabitants of Marblehead."
Du Tuffeau's name therefore stands in the printed list, Province Laws, vol. VII., page 29.
Mr. Church's Contract to build a Grist-mill. PAGE 12.
" contract De Mr Cherch pour Le Moulin de New-oxford."]
42
ARTICI RTICLES of Agreement had made concluded and agreed upon by and Between Caleb Church of Watertown Millright and Gabriel Bernon of Boston Merct this Day of March Anno Domini One Thousand six hundred Eight Eight Nine.
"Imps The said Caleb Church doth Covenant and Agree with the sd Gabriel Bernon that he shall and vill att his own Proper Costs and Charges Erect Build and ffinish a Corn or Grist mill in all Poynts workemanlike in Such Place in the Village of Oxford as shall by the sd Bernon be Directed the sd
758
HISTORY OF OXFORD.
Mill House to be Twenty two foot Long and Eighteen foot Broad and Eleven foot stud Substantially and Sufficiently cov- ered with a Jett to Cover the Wheele and a Chamber fitt for the Laying and Disposing Corn Bags or other Utensills Neces- sary for the sd Mill and the sd Church doth Covenant to find att his Own Proper Costs all the Iron Worke Necessary for the sd Mill and all other Things Except what is hereafter Expressed
" Item, The said Gabriel Bernon doth Covenant and Agree with the said Caleb Church that hee will bee att the Charge of searhing Preparing and bringing to Place the Mill Stones for the sd mill and that he will by the Oversight and Direction of the sd Church Make Erect and finish the Earth of the Dame that shall bee by the sd Church adjudged necessary for the sd Mill and also will dig and Prepare the Place where the Mill shall be Erected and also will allow to the sd Church five hundred foot of Boards and Persons to help for the Cutting Down of the Timber and will bee att the Charge of Bringing the Timber to Place and further doth Covenant to Pay to the sª Church for his Labor and Pains herein the Sume of forty Pounds two thirds thereof in money the Other Third in goods att money price in Three Equall Payments One Third att the ffalling the Timber One Third att the Raising and the Last att the finishing the sd mill
"Lastly The sd Church doth Covenant and promies to finish the sd Mill all sufficient and workemanlike and Sett her to Worke by the Last day of Augt next after the Day of the Date hereof In Wittness whereof they have hereunto sett their hands and seals the day and Year first above written
" CALEB CHURCH, [Seal.]
" Sealed and Delivered "in Presence of
"I. BERTRAND DUTUFFEAU
" THO DUDLEY."
Endorsed on the back of the original paper is the following :-
" Within named Caleb Church do ingage and promis to find the stones and laye them on to make mele at my one costs and charge for the which m' Bernon doth ingage and promis to paye for the same one and twenty pounds in corent money for the same to be concluded when the mile grinds
" Boston May : ye 20: 1689 " RICHARD WILKINS
CALEB CHURCH
"EDMOND BROWNE
GABRIEL BERNON." . [Seal.]
Next follows this statement :-
£ s: d
" ffor the mill in first the sum of forty pounds 40:00 :
secondly for the stones of the said one and twenty pounds 21 :00 :
forthely for an addition to the house six pounds 6: 00 :
67:00 :"
Then follow two receipts from Mr. Church :-
759
NOTES, ETC.
"Received one third Part of the within mentioned sume of forty wch is Thirteen Pounds six shillings and Eight Pence two thirds in money and one third in Goods by me
" CALEB CHURCH."
" More I have received fifty three pounds tirteen shillings wich the above said sum are in all the sum of sixty and seven pounds in full following our sd bargain Boston : 4 february 1689-90 received by my
"CALEB CHURCH."
" PETER BASSETT in witness
"GABRIEL DEPONT present."
[Bernon Papers. ]
Answer to Sigourney's Petition. PAGE 13.
"In answer to the petition of the Constable of Oxford, Voted, That the Treasurer suspend the Calling in the last Tax laid on sd town of Eight pound Six shillings tell may court next." [Acts of 1694-5, Chap. 31.]
The Johnson House. PAGE 14. This house being near the Woodstock road or " Connecticut Patlı," was kept as a tavern. [Mayo's manuscript.] The Chimney stone now stands in front of Memorial Hall.
Huguenot Industries. PAGE 24. Glove-leather in addition to furs, was an important production of the " chamoiserie," and this commodity was shipped hence in quantities to the Boston and Newport glove makers. But more than in any other respect in the line of industries our country is indebted to the Huguenots for their skill in agriculture and horticulture. Smiles says, "They were acknowledged to be the best agriculturists, wine growers, mer- chants and manufacturers in France. No heavier crops were grown in France than on the Huguenot farms in Bearn and the southwest provinces. The slopes of the Aigoul and the Epernon were covered with their flocks and herds .... The diligence, skill and labor with which they subdued the stub- born soil and made it yield its increase of flowers and fruits and corn and wine, bore witness in all quarters to the toil and energy of the men of the Religion."
Disosway says, " the different parts of the country were greatly benefitted by the introduction of their superior modes of cultivation, and of different valuable fruits which they brought from France."
Signal Station. PAGE 25. There must have been, during the Huguenot occupation in those days of peril and alarms, means of communication be- tween the fort and the valley below. As the shoulder of Bondet Hill ob- structed the view from the fort at the lower and most thickly settled portion of the village, near the " old mill," it became necessary to establish some con- veniences for transmitting intelligence from the latter eminence. There now exists at that locality a considerable earthwork or mound which was, as is supposed, the site of a watch-tower or signal-station for this purpose. As this spot is in full view of Woodstock Hill, probably communications were here also exchanged with that place.
French Road. PAGE 9. On a plan of land granted to Jethro Coffin in Northbridge in 1713, is laid down a road east and west entitled " The French
760
HISTORY OF OXFORD.
Road;" from which it is inferred that the Oxford settlers had abandoned the old route through Grafton and Marlboro' to Boston, and chosen a more direct course, further south.
Location of the French Chapel. PAGE 11. According to the recollection of Mrs. Huldah Daniels, familiar with the locality from childhood, the large stones, said to have been the foundation of this building, were near the present road, a few rods east of the house now standing at the top of the hill, on the Humphrey farm. The late Willis H. Humphrey, born on the farm and who in boyhood heard Dea. Ebenezer Humphrey discourse on these mat- ters, was of the same opinion, as to its location.
Richard Moore's Legislative Bill. PAGE 48. In 1721, Mr. Moore being Oxford's representative, probably elected chiefly for this purpose, presented to the General Court a request for a law to oblige the larger land proprietors to aid in building a Meeting-house. On this favorable action was taken but was not consummated until March session 1722, when, as supposed, was enacted a bill the title of which follows :-
" An Act to enable the town of Oxford to lay a tax on the resident and non- resident proprietors towards building their Meeting-house." [Prov. Laws II., 234.]
It is a very singular fact that the title only of this bill appears on the official records at Boston. The bill itself cannot be found in any department of the State Archives. The records of Oxford give no light on the subject, and whether the town was benefited by it can only be conjectured.
"Land Bank." PAGE 46. In the session of 1743 the General Court passed an act " for the more speedy finishing of the Land Bank or Manufacturing Scheme." The preamble runs-" Whereas notwithstanding the Directors and Partners of the late Land Bank Company have in general publickly renounced their Scheme, and great Numbers of them have redeemed their just Propor- tions of the late Company's Bills and delivered them to be consumed, yet many of the Partners still neglect to do it, by means whereof those who have paid a due Obedience to the Law . still remain exposed to the Actions of the Possessors of the late said Company's Bills, etc.
Now for the more speedy finishing of the said Scheme . .. . and pre- venting such of the Directors and Partners as have complied with the Law from suffering Ruin or Dammage thro' the Obstinacy or Neglect of their delin- quent Partners,-
Be it enacted . . .. that John Jeffries, Samuel Danforth, and John Chandler, Esqrs., be commissioners," etc., for the purpose aforesaid.
Charlton District. PAGE 40. When Charlton was first detached from Ox- ford it was made a District, with power to elect officers, levy taxes, etc., but was not allowed representation in the Legislature. From 1770 to 1774 in- clusive her voters joined with Oxford in the choice of a representative. In 1775 Charlton elected its first member of the General Court, indicating that the privileges of a township had then been granted.
Rev. John Campbell's Decease. PAGE 55. On 25 May, 1761, the day of Mr. Campbell's decease, the town authorities issued precepts to both north and south constables ordering the warning of a town meeting to be held on the 26th to make preparations for the funeral. The meeting was holden but no recorded action appears excepting a vote appropriating £10 to pay ex- penses. The funeral was on the 27th.
761
NOTES, ETC.
The following is in the town archives :-
" Received in full by the hands of Josiah Wolcott Town Treasurer the sum of Sixty Pounds Salary and also the sum of Thirty Seven Pounds nine Shil- lings for Bearers, Preaching, and also for a ten pound grant by said Town for Funeral Charges, it being in full of all Demands the Heirs of Rev. Mr. Camp- bell has against the Town.
Subscribitures ALEXANDER CAMPBELL ( Executors WILLIAM CAMPBELL to sd Will."
Action of Provincial Congress. PAGE 126. The following printed resolve is in the town archives :-
IN PROVINCIAL CONGRESS. WATERTOWN, MAY 5, 1775.
WHEREAS his Excellency General Gage, since his Arrival into this Colony, hath conducted as an Instrument in the Hands of an Arbitrary Ministry, to enslave this People; and a Detachment of the Troops under his Command, has of late been by him ordered to the Town of Concord to destroy the public Stores, deposited in that Place for the Use of the Colony : And whereas by this clan- destine and perfidious Measure, a Number of respectable Inhab- itants of this Colony, without any provocation given by them, have been illegally, wantonly, and inhumanly slaughtered by his Troops :
Therefore RESOLVED,
THAT the said Gage, hath by these and many other Means ut- terly disqualified himself to serve this Colony as a Governor, and in every other Capacity, and that no obedience ought in future to be paid by the several Towns and Districts in this Colony to his Writs, for calling an Assembly, or to his Proclamations, or any other of his Acts or Doings: but that on the other Hand he ought to be considered and guarded against, as an unnatural and inveterate Enemy to the Country.
JOSEPH WARREN, President, P. T. Attest SAMUEL FREEMAN, Secr'y, P. T.
It is evident from various papers in the town archives that much of the patriotic action of the town in the Revolutionary crisis was suggested and stimulated by Boston influence. The order that "the Publick Money for 1773 be paid to Henry Gardner, Esq." (page 128), was in response to a per- emptory demand of the Provincial Congress that such action be taken. In the Council at Watertown 23 Aug., 1775, it was resolved that each Town and District in the Colony be required to exhibit . ... the sum total of their assessments . .. . from 1769 to 1774 inclusively, and to whom they were de- livered, also that each Constable or Collector, report the sums total committed
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HISTORY OF OXFORD.
to him to collect for the same time, and their payments with receipts .- Also, that Sheriff's or their deputies be required forthwith to pay to Henry Gardner [Receiver General] all monies they have received still remaining in their hands, etc., indicating that a scrupulous supervision over the towns was maintained by the authorities.
Army Supplies. PAGE 128. Soon after our soldiers had gone into camp at Roxbury, a call was sent to the town for arms :-
" Oxford May ye 8th 1775 upon a Request Made by Col Eben Learned & Capt Wil. Campbell & Thoms Fish for Fire Armes : there was Sent to them at Roxbury One Gun by Mr. Eben' Humpherey by estimation Worth £1. 8s. L. M. and one Gun by Mr. Newcomb worth £1. 16s. Mr. Stephen Pratt one gun at £1. 4s. and A Blanket at 7s. Ed Davis Esq. gun £1. 13s. Cap. Eli Davis gun £1. 16 Ens John Willson Gun, Lt Daniel Hovey Gun, Mr. David Millen Gun, Mr Smith Johnson Gun."
Another memorandum without date, but later is as follows :-
" An Account of the Cloathing which is prepared to send to the Armey to be Delivered at Watertown.
Mr Joseph Pratt
one pair of shirts £0. 10. 8.
one pair of Breeches 0. 2. 8.
two pair of Yarn Stockings 0. 6. 8.
Mr. Peter Shumway
one pair of yarn Stockings 0. 4. 0.
Mrs Sarah Humpherey three pair of Yarn Stocking, & 0. 11. 0.
one pair of Breeches 0.
2.
8.
Sam Harris
three pair of Breeches 0.
8. 0.
Abijah Harris
one pair of Yarn Stockings 0. 3. 8.
another pair of Stockings 0.
3. 8.
Edward Davis Esq.
Three Shirts
at 6 Shil Each Shirt
0. 18. 0.
Mrs Lydia Kize
one pair of Yarn Stockings 0. 4. 0.
Mrs Patch
one pair Stockings 0. 2. 6.
the other Pair white Stockings. 0. 5. 1."
[Town Archives.]
Method of raising Soldiers in the Revolution. PAGE 131. In 1777, a tax was assessed on the town at large for the sum of £1014. 14s. 11d. for paying soldiers, indicating that classing had not then been adopted. The receipt of Seth Washburn 30 Aug., 1781 (page 131), shows that in that year that plan had been pursued. As to the year 1782, the evidence is conclusive. In the town archives appears the order of Henry Gardner, Treasurer and Receiver General of the Province, for the assessment of the sum of £296. 6s. 8d. " being the average Price of the Cost of raising the Men." Four soldiers were re- required, the sum per head was therefore about £75. The heading of one of the tax lists under this order follows :
" The following persons are hereby Classed to Raise one Soldier for the Con- tinental Army for three years or during the War agreeable to a Resolve of the General Court of March [8], 1782."
Class one embraced the southeasterly part of the town extending to the Plain, 54 names, Capt. Jeremiah Kingsbury, Chairman; class two, the south- westerly part also extending to the Centre, 58 names, Peter Shumway, Chair- man ; class three, the north part of the Plain and northwest part of the town, 59 names, Capt. Sylvanus Town, Chairman; class four, the northeast part of the town, 55 names, Capt. Elias Pratt, Chairman.
763
NOTES, ETC.
Receipt. " Oxford Sept. 23d, 1775.
Then received of Edward Davis Esqr. Seventeen Shillings Lawful money towards the things he found in Shirts britches and Stockings for the army I say received by me. JOSEPH PRATT."
Rev. Joseph Bowman's Letter. Oct. 23, 1777, Mr. Bowman wrote a friendly letter to General Learned a part of which follows :- " The most particular account that we have had of affairs in your quarter, that we can depend upon, have been in your letters to Mrs. Learned : one of which was published in the Worcester paper: viz. that which gave an account of the action of the 19th of Sept. I do not know how it is, but it seems that our printers have no correspondents in the Army, and consequently we have but few particulars, and those collected from one, and another, are vague and un- certain & sometimes unintelligible, & some accounts contradicted by others so that we know not what to believe. . ... there is a strange spirit of lying that prevails in the Country . . I hope that you will continue to give us as circumstantial an account of things as you can .
It has been remarkably healthy with us the Summer past . . . . the season has been good & very fruitful, we have plentiful crops (thro' Divine Good- ness) tho' every thing is excessive dear-our privateers bring in many prizes, tho' not so many as they did last year; . . . . I was about to add something further, but having just now received authentick intelligence of a most im- portant event, viz. the surrender of the whole British Army commanded by Gen. Burgoyne to the American force, I therefore stop short to congratulate you on this most singular, important and happy event [etc., etc. ] Your affec- tionate friend & very humble servant. JOSEPH BOWMAN."
Gen. Learned's letter alluded to, follows :-
" STILLWATER, Sept. 25, 1777. 1
" On Thursday the 18th instant marched about 4 miles at 5 o'clock A. M. in order to attack the enemy on the right flank on their march; but they not marching according to expectation prevented our doing anything of consid- erable consequence.
" We attacked a small party about 60 or 70 rods from the enemy's front, killed some, said to be five or six, took and sent in that day, as I was in- formed after my return, 36 prisoners. We all returned about sunset, without the loss of one man killed or wounded.
" The next day (September 19th), we were early alarmed, being informed the enemy were on their march towards our Camp. Agreeable to a result of Council of War, the Riflemen and Infantry from the left of our army went and attacked the Enemy's right Wing, or rather their front guard about 5 min- utes before one o'clock. The enemy gave way, we took some prisoners. The enemy reinforced, which caused us to do the same; which was alternately done by the enemy and on our part of the Army till the battle became almost General between the Enemy and our Division.
"I was ordered to send out one Regiment at first, and the rest in suc- cession, except the last .- I then received orders to march to the attack. We marched on briskly and came up to the Enemy's right wing, which was en- deavoring to surround our left. A most severe fire lasted till the cover of the night prevented further action. We went back to our camp, and the enemy have encamped near the ground where the battle was fought. We are near neighbors. Our lines and those of the enemy are but about a mile and a quarter from each other. Both armies are fortifying, but time only can deter-
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764
HISTORY OF OXFORD.
mine the further event. The effect of this battle is that we have lost two Lieut .- Colonels killed, with a number of other officers of different ranks. In the whole our killed, wounded and missing are about 318. By the best accounts the enemy's loss, killed and wounded, amounts to a thousand. These are facts. Capt. Wiley is wounded. Our army are in high spirits. We took eighty on the day of battle.
"P. S. On the day of battle, and since, two of our Captains were taken Prisoners, also one Lieut. and 27 privates. This is an exact account of the Prisoners sent by Burgoyne to Gen. Gates, each man's name specified in the list."
General Learned in the Revolution. PAGE 141. The story of the Ameri- can Revolution will never cease to be interesting and instructive, and any new light which may be thrown on Learned's contemporaries is specially to be welcomed in this connection. A very able work on the great contest from the pen of Prof. John Fiske has recently been issued, of whichi a review appeared in the New York Tribune, June, 1891, which contains in substance the following :-
In most old histories the truth was obscured by a mistaken feeling of patriotism which ignored or belittled all that was discreditable in the men of the Revolution. Happily history is no longer written in that way. Under the new methods-in which the whole truth is told-we encounter abundance of error and frailty, no little vice, corruption, malice, treachery and incom- petence. Some long-held reputations fade and wither, some shine out even more resplendently than before. The fact of all others to be rejoiced over is the undiminished brilliancy with which the character and cause of George Washington emerge from the fiercest scrutiny. We see and know now better than was possible fifty years ago how greatly Washington was the Revolu- tion, how indispensable to the achievement of American Independence. He was constantly engaged in a struggle against political perversities and inca- pacities. Congress was the most discreditable feature of the Revolution . . . a body of meddlers and muddlers, which, it may well be surmised would have paralyzed any other man than Washington. Its most disgraceful record was the treatment of the Army, which it seemed to consider a necessary evil, withholding from it food, clothing, munitions and pay. Corruption was not wanting, political adventurers grew fat while the soldiers starved and froze at Valley Forge.
And to cap the climax cabals existed in the Army itself aimed at Washing- ton. Mr. Fiske has brought out with special prominence the concern in one such intrigue of a man who for a long time Americans delighted to honor- General Gates, the so-called "hero of Saratoga." . . . The surrender of Burgoyne was brought about by the splendid gallantry and the initiation of Arnold and Morgan, Gates having opposed the movement and done nothing to support it. Yet he coolly appropriated all the honors of the day.
Mr. Fiske emphasizes the continued ill-treatment of Arnold by Congress ; an ill-treatment which while it cannot excuse or condone his treason certainly makes it less difficult to understand why he played the traitor .. While he was still faithful no general in the field was more distinguished both for valor and military judgment. He fell "like Lucifer, never to rise again," but he had a career before his fall the contemplation of which must in every candid mind temper execration with regret.
Oxford may take an honorable pride in the fact that a son of hers so efficiently seconded this man in a crisis the issue of which was of such vast import to the country.
765
NOTES, ETC.
Depreciation of the Currency. The value in silver of one pound, at the dates designated.
1777.
1778.
1779.
1780.
8. d. far.
s. d. far.
s. d. far. 2. 8. 1.
Jan. 8. 0.
Feb. 18. 8. 3.
Feb.
Jan. 1. 6. 5. 8. 2.
1.
2. 3. 2.
Feb. 7. 1.
Mar. 18. 4. 0. Mar. 5. 4. 0. Mar.
2. 0.
3.
Apr. 6. 0.
May
17. 5.
3. May 5. 0. 0. May 1. 7.
1. 5.
3.
June July 3.
1.
Sept. 11. 5. 0. Sept. 4. 2. 2.
Sept. 3. 1.
Oct. 7. 3. 0. Oct. Nov. 3.
4.
0. Oct. Nov.
1. 1. 11. 10. 3.
Nov. 3.
1.
Dec. 6. 5. 1.
Dec.
1. 3. 0. 8. 0. 3. 1. 3. Jan. Feb.
Dec.
9.
1.
Dec. 3.
1.
A memorandum in the town archives is endorsed " Return of the Old Con- tinental Money ;" its contents are :- 1
£.
£.
S.
Rev. Mr. JOSEPH BOWMAN
33.
6. ABIJAH DAVIS
42.
ASA CONANT
35.
10.
EBENEZER DAVIS, Jr. 24. 6.
CHARLES DABNEY
61.
10. EPHRAIM AMIDOWN
8.
8.
Capt JOHN TOWN
31.
JONAS COLLER AARON PARKER 72.
36.
19.
Rev. Mr. HILL
75.
DAVID NEWCOMB
1306.
16. DANIEL KINGSBURY
18. 16.
SAMUEL HARRIS
18.
18. RICHARD MOORE . 3. 12.
DAVID MELLEN
21.
18. NATHANIEL HAMLEN 44. 36.
7.
JAMES MERIAM 45.
67.
16.
Dea. JOHN DAVIS
3.
EBENR MERIAM
37. 244.
5. Doc. DANIEL FISK
15. 13.
18.
WILLIAM EDDY 90.
DANIEL GLEASON
28.
1. EDWARD DAVIS, Esq. 12.
8.
REUBEN LAMB
144. 88.
3. JOHN CAMPBELL 301.
16.
JOHN WOLCOTT 78. JOSEPH HURD 15.
6.
JOSHUA MERIAM
4.
16. WILM NICHOLS 358. 16.
Capt JOHN LARNED 242.
JOHN MARVEN .
19. 10.
EPHRAIM RUSSELL
34.
16. JONATHAN HARRIS
9.
A total of about 4230 pounds.
Case of Alexander Nichols. PAGE 133. In the latter part of 1776 a draft of men for the army was made "at the meeting house at the Parish," so called, [Ward], and Alexander Nichols was drafted.
A petition from him appears as follows :- " The petitioner was drafted . . . and being unable to march myself or do a soldier's duty I exerted my- self to procure money to pay the penalty and did in 24 hours after being drafted tender to the Captain of the Company £10 which he refused to take, then your petitioner repaired to the subaltern officers and made tender of the
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