USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > History of the town of Plymouth, from its first settlement in 1620, to the present time : with a concise history of the aborigines of New England, and their wars with the English, &c. > Part 23
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In 1788, Capt. Sampson disposed of his mansion in Middle street, Plymouth, and purchased a farm in Plympton, where he terminated his earthly career by an apoplexy, June 22d, 1789, at the age of 53 years. He was buried upon his own farm, and afterwards his body was removed to the burying hill in Plymouth, where his grave is marked by an appropriate head stone.
Few naval officers stood higher in public estimation, and few citizens were more respected for domestic virtues, hospitality, and generous friendship.
In 1759, Capt. Sampson married Deborah Cushing, daughter of Seth Cushing, of Hingham, who survived him many years. She died at Homer, New York, in 1830, at the advanced age of 90 years.
The ancestors of Captain Sampson will be found among those who were distinguished in the Old Colony. His father was Peleg Sampson, a principal owner of the iron works at Middle- borough, which were suppressed by the Crown. He was born in 1700, was a son of Isaac Sampson, who was born in 1660, and died in 1726. He married Lydia Standish, daughter of Alexander, and grand-daughter of Capt. Miles Standish and John Alden, two of the Mayflower pilgrims. The descendants of Capt. Sampson are not numerous. He left 5 children: 1. Lydia, the wife of William Goodwin, Esq., who died 1815; 2, Deborah, the wife first of Rev. E. Briggs, afterwards the sec- ond wife of William Goodwin, Esq., died December, 1833; 3, Mercy, wife of Major Levi Bradford; 4, George W. Sampson; 5, Maria, wife of Rev. Mr. Johnson. The three last still sur- vive, and reside in the western part of the state of New York.
1793 .- The inhabitants of this town celebrated the victories of the French republic over their invaders, by a grand civic festival. An animating address was delivered on the occasion by Rev. Dr. C. Robbins, which was published.
This year the town acted in accordance with the town of Boston, respecting the measures of neutrality, as recommended by President Washington.
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
1794-1800]
1794 .- Mrs. Elizabeth Russell, the lady of Hon. Thomas Russell, merchant of Boston, presented a bell to the town of Plymouth, the place of her nativity; on which occasion a vote of thanks was passed, and presented in handsome terms. This bell was imported from England, was finely toned, and weighed about five hundred and sixty-four pounds. It was unfortunate- ly broken in the year 1801, when another was purchased by the town, of Col. Revere's manufacture, weighing about eight hundred pounds, which is still in use. The first notice of a bell in Plymouth is in 1679, probably the first used in New England.
1799 .- In 1799 a singular accident occurred in town, which gave me considerable employment. The frame of a house be- longing to Capt. John Paty, was erected, two stories high in front and three back, the ground falling away considerably in the rear. When the frame was put together, and from thirty to forty men were, most of them, on the highest floor and the roof, from some cause the whole frame fell to the ground on the lower side. This accident might have been fatal to num- bers, but it is remarkable that no one was killed, and but one bone fractured; twenty-one were wounded, more or less severe- ly, but all recovered.
1800 .- Death of Washington. The reader may here be re- minded that on the 14th December, 1799, the illustrious and be- loved Washington paid the debt of nature, and that throughout the United States all classes of people mourned the event, as a great national calamity. It was recommended by the public authorities that the 22d of February, 1800, his birth-day, be consecrated, by the whole community, to the remembrance of the saviour of our country. Our town authorities directed the appropriate arrangements. All business was suspended, stores and shops were closed, the shipping in the harbor displayed em- blems of mourning, divine service was performed in the sanc- tuary, where Rev. Mr. Kendall delivered a well-adapted sermon, which was published. Grief and sorrow were depicted on every countenance, and the whole people appeared unitedly, as one family, bewailing the death of its common father.
December 13 .- Died in this town, Col. George Watson. ' The lives and deaths of but few men are more truly enviable than Col. Watson's. By an uniform dignity of manners and uprightness of conduct, he preserved the respectability of his family unsullied to the grave. From early life he entertained an invincible abhorrence of those excesses, which, while they enfeeble the constitution, make destructive inroads in the order of families, and harmony of society. In the meridian of his
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[1802
days, and amidst the multifarious concerns and solicitudes of commercial business, he formed a just estimate of the scenes fleeting before him, and looked forward to an inheritance eternal in the heavens. Becoming a member of the most ancient church of Christ in New England, he was exemplary in his observance of all the institutions of its primitive founders. Blessed with affluence, he was always ready to indulge benevolent propensi- ties of his nature in affording relief to the necessitous. But the best eulogy is the spontaneous tribute of respect paid to his remains by the inhabitants of Plymouth, at a town-meeting con- vened in consequence of his death. By a recommendation in town-meeting the bell was tolled three hours on the day of his interment, the inhabitants suspended'their usual business, by closing their shops and stores, and the shipping in the harbor displayed their flags half-mast high.
The lamented subject of the above eulogium was of an an- cient and honorable family; he died at the advanced age of 83 years. Rev. Mr. Kendall preached a sermon on the occasion of his death, which was printed.
In person, Col. Watson was portly and well-proportioned, his countenance noble and placid, and his whole mien truly digni- fied. His urbanity and courtesy will long be remembered by all who enjoyed his acquaintance. He owned, and resided in the house on the south side of North street, now belonging to Mr. Abraham Jackson. The beautiful range of linden trees in front and rear of his house, he cultivated with peculiar pleasure, and delighted himself under their refreshing shade.
His children were three daughters. Mary married Elisha Hutchinson, Esq., son of the governor of Massachusetts, and died in England before her father; Sarah, who married Martin Brimmer, Esq., merchant, in Boston, and died in August, 1832; and Elizabeth, who married Hon. Thomas Russell, Esq., mer- chant, in Boston. After his decease, she married Sir Grenville Temple, and died at Rome about 1806, leaving three children.
1802 .- William Thomas, a physician of extensive practice in Plymouth for more than half a century, was born in Boston in the year 1718, and died in 1802. He was a descendant in the sixth generation from William Thomas, of Welsh extract, who arrived in the colony, and settled in Marshfield, about 1630. He was in the medical staff in the hazardous and successful enterprise against Louisburg in 1745, and at Crown Point in 1758. Dr. Thomas took a very zealous part in the disputes with the mother country, that issued finally in independence. After the first blow was struck in the battle of Lexington, in 1775, he immediately joined himself and his family, consisting
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1803-5]
of four sons, viz. Joshua, Joseph, John and Nathaniel, to the first formed revolutionary corps. The first named of his sons was aid de camp to Gen. Thomas, in the expedition to Canada in 1776, and after the peace judge of probate for the county of Plymouth. Joseph and John continued in the service during the war, the first, captain of artillery, and the last in the medical staff. On the peace, John established himself at Poughkeepsie in the state of New York, in the practice of his profession, and died in 1818, leaving a son and daughter. The other sons were settled in Plymouth-besides these there was a daughter, who married a gentleman by the name of Brick, and settled in Charlestown, N. Hampshire. Dr. Wm. Thomas was thrice married. The children named above were by the second wife, whose maiden name was Bridgham.
December 22. This anniversary of the landing of our Pil- grim fathers on our shore was celebrated in appropriate style, by an oration by Hon. John Quincy Adams, Esq. The inter- esting occasion and the celebrity of the orator drew together an immense assembly. The firing of cannon and the military parade preceded the assemblage of the people. The oration by Mr. Adams was a masterly piece of composition, rarely ex- ceeded, and the eloquence displayed by the speaker impressed the audience with sensations of delight. An elegant public din- ner was provided, and was followed by songs and toasts, and a ball closed the evening.
1803 .- A committee was chosen by the town to inquire into the circumstances of the Indian lands in this town. They re- ported that the number of acres is 2,683, valued at $14,140. The number of Indians in town were fourteen males and thirty- five females, with about 15 children under age. This land lies on the borders of Sandwich, at a place called Herring Pond.
1805 .- The ship Hibernia, Captain Andrew Farrall, owner and commander, was wrecked on our beach January 28th. She sailed from Boston on the 26th instant, and being over- taken by a violent cold storm, was driven on the beach in the night. The captain and five of the seven seamen perished, and were buried together on our burial hill, where a stone is erected with a suitable inscription. Captain Farrall was aged 38 years, and was of respectable connexions in Ireland.
January 21st .- Died in Boston, Hon. Thomas Davis, Esq. He was born in Plymouth, 1756, and was the son of Capt. Thomas Davis. He received a good school education, which he completed under Alexander Scammell. Destined for com- merce, while, a youth, important concerns devolved upon him, in whose management he discovered that intelligence, integrity
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[1805
and assiduity, which promised and secured success in enter- prise. He mingled with the engagements of his busy avoca- tion, inquiries into practical science, and became well versed in the history and principles of commerce, and the sound max- ims and rational theories of government. The derangement of the municipal concerns of his native town, first induced him to engage in public affairs. Impoverished by the war, and em- barrassed by the perplexities, which as often result from futile expedients as real distress, it required an intelligent, active, and persevering mind, to restore harmony, hope and enterprise. Mr. Davis effected it by his natural arrangements. He insisted on simplicity, order and punctuality. The result was credit and prosperity. His exertions and success acquired him the confidence of his townsmen, and produced an attachment which has ever been reciprocated. At an early age he was elected a representative of his native town to the general- court, and for many years was continued in that station. From this period his whole life has been devoted to public concerns. In 1789, he was a member of the Convention to decide on the Federal Constitution. In 1792, he was elected a senator of this Commonwealth, by the county of Plymouth, and the same year was chosen the treasurer of the state, in which office he was continued during the constitutional term. On retiring from the treasury, he was twice elected a senator for the" county of Suffolk, when he was unanimously chosen the first president of the Boston Marine Insurance Company, in 1799, which office he held until his death. Always in public life, Mr. Davis retired from the notoriety of a public character. He did not take the post of honor for public observation, but for the public good.
The treasury of the Commonwealth, at the time of the ap- pointment of Mr. Davis to its direction, owing to our state debt, the emission of paper, our national depression after the peace, and the deficits in the collectors, was in a most chaotic state. The importance of public credit to our peace, honor, and prosperity, induced him to undertake the arduous task of bringing order out of confusion. His comprehensive mind embraced the whole extent of national obligation and national resource. Our debt was funded on his system, in which there are some of the peculiarities of genius which knows how to apply general principles with their exceptions. A sinking fund was established for its gradual discharge, which has been suc- cessful in its operations. A methodical arrangement was adopted in the treasury, and a strict punctuality faithfully ob- served and rigidly exacted. Our credit revived, our finances
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1805]
proved adequate to our demands, which in the infancy of a civil establishment is not always proportionate to its ability; and at the close of Mr. Davis's constitutional term, his report of the state of the treasury secured him the thanks and approbation of those who best knew the extent of his services, while his successors, by pursuing his plans, afford additional evidence of their excellence.
As President of the Boston Marine Insurance Company he displayed the whole of his character. His prudence and judg- ment in the investment of their capital, his knowledge of the princples which applied to his office, and his justice and liber- ality in the adjustment of controversies, rendered him a direc- tor, counsellor and judge. As an evidence of almost unex- ampled confidence in his judgment and integrity, notwithstand- ing his interest in this corporation, most of the disputes that originated in the office were referred to his sole decision. He exerted here his usual assiduity, investigation and persever- ance, and from a studious inquiry into the laws of insurance in all countries and ages, his opinions on this most intricate and perplexing branch of jurisprudence were respected, not only by the mercantile world, but by advocates of professional emi- nence.
His intellectual and moral career was endeared by his social and generous feelings. Through the silence of thought and the reserve of prudence, were visible the affections of his soul; and the irrefragable evidence of his amiable and friendly dispo- sition is found in the warmest attachment of a numerous ac- quaintance. His charity was as diffusive as his mind was ac- tive, and his friends knew that he was a man who denied the sufferer ' nothing but his name.' When it is added to this that religion was the base and crown of his virtue, we must readily admit that his friends have not been too partial, and the world but just in their affection, confidence and praise.
In the year 1805, the New England Society of the city and state of New York was founded in that city. The prime object of this society was charity, as well as the formation of a bond of union and good fellowship among the descendants of New ' England. The numerous instances of charitable relief afforded from the ample funds of this highly respectable association re- dounds greatly to its honor. The indigent descendants of New England are exclusively the objects of this charity.
The anniversary of the landing of our pilgrim fathers is cele- brated annually in New York, and the present number of mem- bers amounts to about one thousand. The presidents of the society have been-
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
[1806-8
James Watson, Ebenezer Nevens,
Oliver Wolcott, Lynde Catlin,
Amasa Jackson,
For the present year 1335, the board of officers are Henry R. Storrs, President ;
Samuel A. Foote, 1st. vice President ;
William Burns, 2d. vice President ;
Robert Buloid, Treasurer.
Counsellors.
Elijah Mead, Samuel T. Tisdale,
Thomas Fessenden, Shephard Knapp.
There is also a New England society in Charleston, S. C. by which the anniversary is annually celebrated. The presi- dent is Daniel Crocker.
1806 .- December 22. This was the 186th anniversary of · the first landing of our puritan fathers. The inhabitants of this town, and those from neighboring towns entered into the appropriate religious solemnities of the occasion, with hearts glowing with gratitude to unite in the merited tribute of re- spect to our renowned sires. The discourse was delivered by Rev. Abiel Holmes, D. D., of Cambridge. A discourse com- ing from a learned divine whose soul is imbued with the spirit of the puritans, was exceedingly animating; interesting asso- ciations were revived, and a due sense of duty to God and gratitude to our fathers awakened and illustrated. A hymn, composed by Dr. Holmes for the occasion, was sung to the tune of Old Hundred, being read line by line by Deacon Spooner .* The services being closed, the company retired to a public social festival. A respectable number of ladies of this town, accompanied by strangers, associated together to partake of a dinner prepared for them in the hall over the Ply- mouth bank.
1808 .- The enforcement of the embargo law occasioned great suffering throughout our commercial community. Navi- gation was entirely suspended, our harbors were crowded with dismantled vessels, and our seamen were deprived of employ- ment, and the means of supporting their families.
* This alternate reading and singing in the tune of Old Hundred, by the venerable Deacon Spooner, in his peculiarly grave and plaintive manner, while in his brown wig and antique costume, formed one of the most striking parts of the perfomances, which can never be forgotten. A respectable southern lady present was so impressed with the scene, that her mind was excited to a high, state of delight.
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1808]
April .- The town passed a by-law, as follows, that if any person should be found smoking a cigar or pipe in any of the streets, lanes, wharves, yards or barns in this town, he or they shall forfeit and pay the sum of $1 for every such offence, to be recovered by the firewards, or any other person, that shall prosecute and sue for the same, before any justice of the peace · for the county of Plymouth, to be applied to the use of the poor of said town; and that parents and guardians, and mas- ters of minors, shall be liable to pay the fine above said for their children, wards, or apprentices, who shall offend in this particular.
August .- A meeting of the town was called, by the request of 163 inhabitants, to present a petition to President Jefferson to take off the embargo. It was not uncommon to see seamen thronging the wharves, cursing the embargo, and the authors of it. They petitioned Mr. Jefferson that it might be taken off, if in his power, or that congress might be called together for the purpose. The petition expressed the deplorable situation to which the town was reduced, deprecating the policy of the measure and the horrid consequences of it, and closing thus; -' Prohibitory laws that subject the citizens to grievous priva- tions and sufferings, the policy of which is at least questiona- ble, and the temptations to the violations of which from the nature of man, are almost irresistible, will gradually under- mine the morals of society, and introduce a laxity of principle and contempt of the laws, more to be deplored than even the useless waste of property.
'From these, and other weighty considerations, your memo- rialists pray the president, wholly or partially to suspend the embargo laws, if his powers are competent to that object, and if not, to convene Congress at an early period, that an imme- diate repeal of them may be obtained.'
To the above manly and decided petition, Mr. Jefferson re- turned an answer, the purport of which is: 'To have submitted our rightful commerce to prohibitions and tributary exactions from others, would have been to surrender our independence. To resist them by arms was war, without consulting the state of things or the choice of the nation. The alternative pre- ferred by the legislature, of suspending a commerce placed under such unexampled difficulties, besides saving to our citi- zens their property and our mariners to their country, has the peculiar advantage of giving time to the belligerent nations to revise a conduct, as contrary to their interest as it is to our own rights. In the event of such peace, or suspension of hostili- ties, between the belligerent powers of Europe, or of such
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[1808
change in their measures affecting neutral commerce, as may render that of the United States sufficiently safe, in the judg- ment of the president, he is authorised to suspend the embargo; but no peace, or suspension of hostilities, no change of mea- sures affecting neutral commerce, is known to have taken place. In fact, we have no information on which prudence would un- dertake a hasty change in our policy, even were the authority of " the executive competent to such a decision. I should with great willingness have executed the wish of the inhabitants of Plymouth, had peace, or a repeal of the obnoxious edicts, or other changes produced the cause in which alone the laws have given me the authority, and so many motives of justice and in- terest lead to such changes, that we ought continually to ex- pect them; but while these edicts remain, the legislature alone can prescribe the course to be pursued.'
July 25 .- Died Isaac Lothrop, Esq., aged 73 years. He was born at Plymouth, December 11, 1736, and was the eldest of five children of Isaac Lothrop, Esq., mentioned in page 171. He was educated a merchant, but from the year 1778 he con- fined himself to his official duties as register of probate for the county, which office he retained till his death. The unbending uprightness that marked his conduct in this office, the ability and gentlemanly manner with which he discharged the duties of it, will long be remembered with affectionate respect. He cherished with lively ardor a natural fondness for antiquity ; and so exalted was his veneration for the pious planters in New England, who first landed in this town, that he delighted in tracing their every footstep, and the minutest circumstances of their history were treasured in his mind. Hence, soon after the institution of the Historical Society, he was elected a mem- ber, and among the earliest members of the Humane Society he enrolled his name. In 'his friendships he was steady, ar- dent, sincere; undisguised in his feelings, and removed from the least tincture of duplicity, his bosom was the sacred depos- itory of confidential intercourse. If his prejudices were strong, they were invariably pointed at what he devoutly believed to be profligacy in principle, or dishonesty in practice. Such in fine was Mr. Lothrop's scrupulous integrity, such his thorough de- testation of every species of iniquitous, or even temporising procedure, that the inscription on the tombstone of his beloved father, would be an appropriate one for his own. (See page 171.)
Hon. James Warren .- This gentleman, a lineal descendant of Richard Warren, who came over in the Mayflower, was born in Plymouth in the year 1726, and was the son of James Warren, who held the office of sheriff of the county of Ply- mouth, under the royal government. Having graduated at
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
1808]
Harvard College, in 1745, he directed his attention to commer- cial affairs, and became a respectable merchant ; after the death of his father, who left him a handsome estate, he was appointed to the office of sheriff, which he retained until the commencement of the war with Great Britain. In May, 1766, he was chosen a member of the general court from Plymouth, and he uniformly supported the rights of his country against the pretensions of Parliament. His education, abilities, and integrity, eminently qualified him to stand forth at a crisis when talent, principle, and energy were required to devise and execute measures of resistance with unshaken firmness. He has the reputation of originating, in conjunction with Samuel Adams, the plan of committes of safety and correspondence in the various towns and counties. He was, in 1775, chosen a member of the provincial congress, and, immediately after the death of Gen. Joseph Warren, he was appointed as his succes- sor, as president of that honorable body. While the army lay at Cambridge, in 1775, he was made paymaster general, but in the following year, when the troops marched to New York, he resigned. In 1776, he was appointed Major General of the militia of Massachusetts, but never acted in that capacity. After the formation of the constitution of this state, he was, for many years, speaker of the house of representatives. He was elected lieut. governor under Hancock, in 1780, but declined the office, as he did, also, that of judge of the supreme court, to which he had been appointed. He accepted, however, from congress, the appointment of commissioner of the navy board, at that time an arduous and responsible office, in which he served for some time.
At the close of the war, General Warren retired from public employment to enjoy domestic ease and leisure, and devoted the remainder of his life principally to agricultural improve- ments on his farm, and to the cultivation of the virtues best becoming an exemplary and respected private citizen. He was drawn from his retirement, however, for a short period, to ac- cept a seat in the council, and again, in 1804, when he perform- ed the last act of his long labors for the public, in the dis- charge of the duty of an elector of president, giving his vote for Mr. Jefferson.
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