USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Shrewsbury > History of the town of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1717 to 1829, with other matter relating thereto not before published, including an extensive family register > Part 9
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Committees from some of the neighboring towns, and many of the prominent members of the conventions, assembled with the military leaders, on Thursday, the 6th of December. Their de-
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liberations were perplexed and discordant. The inclemency of the weather had prevented the arrival of the large force expect- ed. The impossibility of retaining the men who had assembled, without „munitions, subsistence, or stores, compelled them to abandon the meditated attack on Boston, then put in a posture of defence, and more pacific measures were finally adopted. A pe- tition was prepared for circulation, remonstrating against the sus- pension of the habeas corpus writ; asking for the pardon and release of the prisoners; a new act of amnesty ; the adjourn- ment of courts until the session of the new Legislature in May ; and expressing their readiness to lay down their arms on compli- ance with these demands. In the afternoon, Shays's men and part of Wheeler's, to the number of 500, began their march for Paxton, on their way to the barracks in Rutland. About a hundred more retired to the north part of the town.
Friday was spent in consultation. Aware that public senti- ment was setting against them with strong reaction, the mercy which had been rejected was now supplicated. Letters were ad- dressed to each town of the county, inviting the inhabitants to unite in their petitions. Shays himself, in a private conference with an acquaintance, made use of these expressions : "For God's sake, have matters settled peaceably ; it was against my inclinations I undertook this business; importunity was used which I could not withstand ; but I heartily wish it was well over."
In the evening, the Court House was abandoned, but sentries were posted at almost every door of the outside and interior of the public house, where the leaders remained in consultation.
Another snow storm commenced on Saturday morning. Luke Day, with 150 men from Hampshire, reached Leicester, but was unable to proceed in the tempest. About noon, all the insur- gents in Worcester paraded before their head quarters, and were dismissed. The companies of Ward, Holden, Spencer, Rut- land, Barre, and Petersham, after moving slowly through Main Street, in distinct bodies, took up the line of march for their re- spective homes, through roads choked with drifts.
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The condition of these deluded men during their stay here, was such as to excite compassion rather than fear. Destitute of almost every necessary of life, in an inclement season, without money to purchase the food which their friends could not supply, un welcome guests in the quarters they occupied, pride restrained the exposure of their wants. Many must have endured the gnawings of hunger in our streets : yet, standing with arms in their hands, enduring privations in the midst of plenty, they took nothing by force, and trespassed on no man's rights by violence : some declared they had not tasted bread for twenty-four hours ; all who made known their situation, were relieved by our citizens with liberal charity.
The forlorn condition of the insurgents was deepened by the distresses of their retreat. Their course was amid the wildest revelry of storm and wind, in a night of intense cold. Some were frozen to death by the way : others, exhausted with strug- gling through the deep and drifted snow, sunk down, and would have perished but for the aid of their stouter comrades : when relief was sought among the farm houses, every door was opened at the call of misery, and the wrongs done by the rebel were for- gotten in the sufferings of him who claimed hospitality as a stranger.
The whole number assembled at Worcester never exceeded a thousand. The spirit animating the first movements had grown cold, and Shays expressed to an acquaintance here, the impres- sion that the cause had become gloomy and hopeless. In con- versation with an officer of government, he disclaimed being at the head of the rebellion ; declared he had come to the resolu- tion to have nothing more to do with stopping courts : that if he could not obtain pardon, he would gather the whole force he could command, and fight to the last extremity, rather than be hanged. When asked if he would accept pardon were it offered, and abandon the insurgents, he replied, " Yes, in a moment." *
* The retreat of Shays not only afforded the friends of order occasion for tri- umph, but sport for wit. An Epigram, from one of the prints, affords a specimen of the poetry and jest of the time, The name of the common carriage, the chaise, and that of the insurgent leader, had then the same spelling as well as sound.
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The delay of government, while it afforded time to circulate correct information among the people, left the insurgents at lib- erty to pursue their measures. The Court at Springfield, on the 26th of December, was resisted, and intelligence was received of active exertions to prevent the session of the Common Pleas, at Worcester, on the 23d of January. Longer forbearance would have been weakness, and vigorous measures were adopted for sustaining the Judiciary. An army of 4400 men was raised from the Counties of Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, Hampshire and Worcester, for thirty days service. General Benjamin Lincoln, whose prudence, and military skill peculiarly qualified him for the important trust, received the command. Voluntary loans were made by individuals for the armament, pay, and subsistence of the troops.
On the 21st of January, the army took up the line of march from Roxbury. The inclemency of the weather, and the con- dition of the roads rendered a halt necessary at Marlborough. The next day the troops reached Worcester, notwithstanding the effects of sudden thaw on the deep snow, and were quartered on the inhabitants, the houses being thrown open for their shelter and comfort. Here they were joined by the regiments of the county. The town contributed its quota liberally. In the com- pany under Capt. Joel Howe, were twenty-seven non-commis- sioned officers and privates. In the artillery, under Capt. Wil- liam Treadwell, were enrolled forty-three of our citizens. Nine- teen served under Capt. Phinehas Jones. Seven dragoons were embodied in a legionary corps. Lt. Daniel Goulding was at the head of a troop of cavalry. The late Judge Edward Bangs, Timothy Bigelow, afterwards Speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives of Massachusetts, and Theophilus Wheeler, Esq., served as volunteers.
Detachments of insurgents collected at Rutland, New Brain-
"Says sober Will, well Shays has fled, And peace returns to bless our days. Indeed! cries Ned, I always said, He'd prove at last a fall back Shays ; And those turned over and undone, Call him a worthless Shays to run."
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tree, Princeton, Sterling and Sutton, but, intimidated by the mili- tary, hovered at a distance, while the Courts proceeded. On the 25th of January, Gen. Lincoln hastened westward for the relief of Shepard, and of the arsenal at Springfield, invested by Shays and Day.
Major General Warner was left in command at Worcester, with a regiment of infantry, a corps of artillery, including Capt. Treadwell's company, two field pieces, and a party from the legionary battalion of volunteer cavalry. Information having been given that a body of about two hundred insurgents had assembled at New Braintree, intercepting travellers and insulting the friends of government, twenty horsemen, supported by about 150 in- fantry in sleighs, were sent out on the night of the 2d of Febru- ary, to capture or disperse the disaffected. Upon approaching the place of their destination, the cavalry were ordered to ad- vance at full speed to surprise the enemy. The insurgents, ap- prised of the expedition, had abandoned their quarters at the house of Moses Hamilton, and taken post behind the walls of the road side, and having fired a volley of musketry upon the de- tachment, fled to the woods : Mr. Jonathan Rice of Worcester, a deputy sheriff, was shot through the arm and hand : Doct. David Young was severely wounded in the knee : * the bridle rein of Theophilus Wheeler, Esq., was cut by a ball. Without halt- ing, the soldiers rapidly pursued their way to the deserted head quarters, where they liberated Messrs. Samuel Flagg and John Stanton of Worcester, who had been seized the day previous, while transacting private business at Leicester. Having dis- persed those who occupied the barracks at Rutland, the next day, the companies returned with four prisoners.
The career of Shays was fast drawing to its close. Driven from post to post, he suddenly retired from Pelham to Peters- ham, where he expected to concentrate the forces of expiring rebellion, and make his final stand. Intelligence of this change of position reached Gen. Lincoln at Hadley, February 3d, and
* Dr. Young afterwards recovered £1000, in a civil action, against those by whom he was wounded.
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he determined, by prompt and decisive action, to terminate the warfare. When the troops took up the line of march, at 8 o'clock, the evening was bright and mild. Before morning the cold be- came intense : the dry and light snow, whirled before a violent north wind, filled the paths and rendered them almost impassable. The severity of the cold prevented any halt for rest or refresh- ment. At a distance from shelter, without defence against the inclemency of the weather, it became necessary to press on, without pausing, to the camp occupied by men possessing all martial advantages, except courage and a good cause. The heavy sufferings of the night were terminated by the arrival of the troops in the very centre of Petersham. The followers of Shays, trusting to the violence of the storm and the obstruction of the highways, rested in careless security. The first warning of danger was from the appearance of the advanced guard of the forces of government, after a journey of thirty miles, in the midst of their cantonment. Had an army dropped from the clouds upon the hill, the consternation could not have been greater. Panic struck, the insurgents fled, without firing a gun, or offering resistance to soldiers exhausted by fatigue, with frozen limbs, and almost sinking under the privations and hardships of the severe service.
Thirty of the citizens of Worcester were in this expedition, and shared in the movement, called by Minot "one of the most indefatigable marches that ever was performed in America." Gen. Lincoln writes from Petersham, Feb. 4, " We arrived here about nine o'clock, exceedingly fatigued by a march of thirty miles, part of it in a deep snow, and in a most violent storm. When this abated, the cold increased, and a great part of our men were frozen in some part or other ; but I hope none of them dangerously so, and that most of them will be able to march again in a short time." The insurgents never again collected in force : independent parties appeared in different parts of the western counties : but they were soon compelled to seek safety by submission, or flight into the neighboring States. Two or three only, of our townsmen, bore arms with Shays.
15
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The rebellion being terminated, the infliction of some punish- ment for the highest political crime was deemed expedient. Some of those who had been in arms against the laws, were brought to trial, convicted of treason, and sentenced to deatlı. Henry Gale, of Princeton, was the only insurgent found guilty of capital offence, in this county .* On the 23d day of June, at the hour fixed for his execution, by the warrant, he was led out to the gallows, erected on the common, with all the solemn cere- mony of such exhibitions. A reprieve was there read to him, and afterwards full pardon was given.t Proceedings for seditious practices, pending against several prisoners, were suspended. The mercy of government was finally extended to all who had been involved in the difficulties and disorders of the time, upon taking the oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth, after some temporary civil disqualifications.
* The Court assigned as his counsel, Levi Lincoln, Sen., and James Sullivan. The warm support of government by the former had rendered him obnoxious to the insurgents. During their occupation of the town, they sent parties to seize his person, who surrounded and searched his house. Seasonably informed of their in- tentions, he was able to disappoint them.
t Six were convicted of treason in the county of Berkshire, six in Hampshire, one in Worcester, and one in Middlesex, all of whom received sentence of death, but were subsequently pardoned. The only public punishment actually inflicted, except limited disqualification from civil or military office, was on a member of the House of Representatives, guilty of seditious words and practices, who was sentenced to sit on the gallows with a rope about his neck, pay a fine of £50, and to be bound to keep the peace and be of good behavior for five years.
# The facts stated in the foregoing chapter have been derived from the Worcester Magazine, published by Isaiah Thomas, 1786, 1787, Independent Chronicle, Co- lumbian Centinel, Minot's History of the Insurrection, Files in the office of the Secretary of State, Correspondence of Levi Lincoln, Sen., American Antiquarian Society's MSS.
NOTICE OF DANIEL SHAYS.
FROM THE SAME.
THIS individual acquired an unenviable notariety, which im- parts some degree of interest to the incidents of his life. He was born in Hopkinton, in 1747 ; the son of parents not in af- fluent circumstances, he worked with Mr. Brinley, a respectable farmer of Framingham. The activity and energy of his youth promised at maturity more desirable elevation than he attained. That his education was neglected, is apparent from his official letters, bidding defiance alike to government, grammar and good spelling. Just before the revolution, he removed to one of the towns beyond Connecticut River, and afterwards resided in Pel- ham. When the war commenced, he entered the army, at the age of twenty-eight, with the rank of Ensign, in Capt. Dickin- son's company, in Col. Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge's regi- ment. His ambition, activity, and the plausible manners covering the want of acquirements, joined with personal intrepidity, ob- tained promotion, and in 1776, he was appointed lieutenant in Col. Varnum's regiment. At a time when the line peculiarly needed reinforcement, he was detached on the recruiting service, with the promise of some suitable reward for the enlistment of twenty men. For this purpose he visited his native state, and his unwearied exertions were crowned with ample success. When the complement assigned to him was filled, a plan suggested itself for grasping honor and pay at once. Finding the pulse of patri- otism beat high, and the young men of New England were ready
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to devote themselves for their country, he continued his enlist- ments. Insinuating address and bold representations, produced impressions of his ability and influence, easily turned to his own advantage, and by holding out expectations of indulgence to those who should serve under his command, a company was raised, on the condition that he should be their captain. With these men he returned to the camp, where they were mustered. When the inspector was about to distribute them to different corps, Shays produced the enlistment papers ; pointed to the condition which held them to serve under himself alone; and requested the ap- pointment of Captain. The necessity of the times prevented the sacrifice of so many recruits, and after indignant remon- strances, it was deemed expedient to yield to his demands. The commission was promised, and issued after long delay, in Sept. 1779, to relate back to Jan. 1, 1777. Such is the account tra- dition gives of his military rank. The honors, ill won, were not long worn. He was discharged Oct. 14, 1780, at Newark, in New Jersey, from Col. Rufus Putnam's regiment.
The deficiency of honorable sentiment in his mental constitu- tion, may be inferred from a characteristic ineident. Lafayette had presented, in 1780, to each of the American officers under his immediate command, an elegant sword. Such pledge of re- gard from the patriot chief, a soldier with a spark of generous feeling, would have cherished as his dearest possession, and trans- mitted to his posterity as an heirloom of inestimable value. Shays sold the gift of his commander for a few dollars.
After being disbanded, he retired to Pelham, and lived in ob- scurity. Bankrupt in fortune and in fame, Shays was ready to embark on the flood of any desperate adventure. Without the energetic decision or enlarged conceptions, the strong spirit or the bold daring, which befit a leader, by some accident, he was ele- vated to the command of the insurgents. Of capacity too hum- ble to direct the movements of an army in those moments when the force of talent makes itself felt by triumphant results, and turns even obstructions into encouragements, he was weak, vacil- lating and irresolute. It was providential that the physical power of the arm of rebellion had so feeble a head to direct its blow.
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DANIEL SHAYS.
With the first shade of adversity, he made indirect overtures to the agents of government, to abandon his comrades to their fate, on assurance of personal safety : and when his base propo- sitions were rejected, and promises of indemnity and pardon, were offered to his followers, his persuasions induced them to re -. ject the proffered mercy and retain the arms of hopeless contro -. versy, to purchase by their sacrifice security for himself.
When the insurrection was crushed, he retired to Vermont. After the lapse of a few years, the general of the rebellion passed through the streets of Worcester, which he once entered at the head of an army, and received assistance from those whose homes he had threatened with desolation.
At length he removed to Sparta, in New York. As a pen- sioner of the United States, he derived his daily bread from the government whose forces he had encountered in arms. Declara- tions filed in the department of war, by himself, show that his family consisted of an aged wife, and that he lived in extreme poverty. He died, Sept. 29, 1825, aged 84 .*
However much the honor and integrity of Daniel Shays were questioned, his courage was never disputed. He was in the bat- tle of Bunker's Hill, at the capture of Burgoyne, and at the storming of Stony Point : was under Lafayette, and did good service in many bloody encounters. A severe wound, received during the revolution, was honorary testimonial of intrepidity.
* He married Nancy Haven, a widow. The schedule of his property in 1820, filed in the pension office, exhibits a condition of almost utter destitution. It is as: follows :
1 mare, $25 : 1 old saddle, $2,50 : 1 bridle, 50 cts. : 1 old cutter, $5: 1 old axe, 62} cts. : 1 hoe, 62} cts. : 1 table, $3 : 3 chairs, $1,12} : 1 old scythe and snath, $1,12}: 1 old pail, 12} cts. : 1 large Bible, SI : amounting to $40,62}.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
'THE Proprietors, having erected a meeting house "on Rocky Plain, near the Pines," procceded, in the month of April, 1723, to select a person to be their minister. Of the 38 votes cast, Mr. Job Cushing, of Hingham, (a graduate of Harvard University, 1714,) had 18.
At an adjourned meeting, holden on the 15th May, Mr. Cush- ing was chosen, "by a full vote." His ordination took place on the 4th of December, 1723. The church records give no par- ticulars respecting this interesting event. They do not inform us what churches were represented by their pastors and delegates on that occasion, or by whom the ordination sermon was preached. They begin with " the names of the persons embodied into a church state at Shrewsbury, at the time of their ordination, Dec. 4, 1723."
They adopted a covenant, a copy of which follows, and sev- erally signed it in the order their names here appear.
" A COPY OF THE CHURCH COVENANT."
We, whose names are subscribed, inhabitants of the Town of Shrewsbury, being sensible of the inconstancy of our hearts with the Lord, and proneness of spirit to go astray from him, for which we desire to be unfeignedly humbled in the sight of God - and now, desiring to be joined forever unto the Lord Jesus, as members of him, our blessed Head, and to cleave unto him in spiritual love and communion, according to his blessed institutions, that so we might enjoy more of himself, in his own holy and blessed appointments, and might walk more close with the Lord, and not give way to the sinful liberty of our own hearts,
We do, therefore, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the help of his all-sufficient grace, before all his people here assem- bled, enter into covenant with the Lord.
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Ist. To take and choose the Lord to be our God; and therefore to love, fear and serve him with all our hearts and might and strength, and also to give up ourselves unto the Lord to be his people, to be at his disposal, to be guided and directed by his own good Spirit, in all the ways of his revealed will through Jesus Christ - [whom we believe to be God, equal with the Father and the Holy Ghost.]
2d. We also bind ourselves, by his gracious assistance, to bring up our children and servants in the knowledge and fear of the Lord, by catechism and holy instruction, according to our best abilities ; that so the true religion and knowledge of God may be maintained in our families, and a seed may serve him of such who do survive when we are dead and gone.
3d. And we do further promise, by his help, to keep close to the truth of Christ, which he revealeth to us by his holy word, and therefore to endeavor the keeping of it alive in our hearts, and to defend it against all opposers of it, when God calls us so to do by his providence at any time, and that we may so do, we resolve to make the blessed Scriptures our platform, whereby we may discern the blessed mind of Christ, and not the new framed inventions of men - [and yet we are of the judg- ment, that the whole of the well known Westminster Catechism, as explained by Calvinistic divines, contains a just summary of Christian doctrines, as revealed in God's holy Word.]
4thly. We engage ourselves, through his blessed presence with us, to have a careful inspection over our own hearts, viz., to endeavor the mortification of all our sinful passions and cor- rupt distempers, by the virtue of the blood and death of Christ, together with all worldly frames and disorderly affections, whereby our hearts may be withdrawn from the living God.
5thly. We are resolved, through his grace, to observe the Lord in all his blessed institutions, which he hath appointed in his church; as to give reverent attention unto the word of God; to pray with God's saints; to sing his praise ; to attend the blessed seals with submission to the holy discipline God hath appointed for offenders, according to what he hath revealed in his word.
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
Lastly. We promise to obey such who rule over us in the Lord, and to walk in love one to another, and unto mutual edifi- cation ; visiting, comforting, exhorting and warning any brother or sister that offendeth, with much love and tenderness ; not di- vulging private offences irregularly, but first going to the party ourselves alone, and if he will not hear, to take one or two more, and then to bring it to the church, if need be, according to the rules of Christ, willingly forgiving all such who give satifaction.
And now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work to do his will, working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
" JOB CUSHING, SAMUEL BENNETT, JOHN KEYES, SEN., SAMUEL WHEELOCK, JOHN KEYES, THOMAS HALL,
NAHUM WARD,
PETER SMITH, EDWARD GODDARD,
SIMON MAYNARD,
DANIEL RAND, SAMUEL CROSBY,
JOSEPH SHERMAN, JOHN CROSBY, WILLIAM TAYLOR, ELIAS KEYES." [16]
NOTE .- After the decease of the Rev. Mr. Cushing, and be- fore the settlement of his successor, viz: "on the 13th day of April, 1761, the church voted an addition to the first and third articles of the foregoing covenant, which additions are now in- cluded in brackets, at the end of those articles. "All the
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brethren," say the records, " that were present, voted for the ad- ditions aforesaid, save Daniel Hemenway, Joseph Sherman and Job Cushing."
The next year, 1724, were admitted to the church,-
MERCY, the wife of Peter Smith,
SARAH, the wife of Simon Maynard,
from the church in Westboro'.
MARY, the wife of Capt. John Keyes, In 1725, ABIGAIL, wife of Thomas Hall, BATHSHEBA, wife of John Crosby.
In 1727, MARY, wife of Rev. Job Cushing, MARTHA, wife of Nahum Ward, MARY, wife of Daniel Rand.
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