USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Whately > History of the town of Whately, Mass., including a narrative of leading events from the first planting of Hatfield, 1660-1871 : with family genealogies > Part 13
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Jona. Smith.
Sam'l G. Morton.
Philo Bacon.
Levi Handy.
Ezra Turner.
Nathan Graves, Jr.
David Ingraham.
Joel Wait.
The above all appear to be of Whately.
In Capt. Seth Murray's company, expedition to Saratoga, Sept. 20, to Oct. 14, were, David Morton, Zenas Field, Seth Frary. In Capt. Thomas French's company, expedition to Sara- toga, Sept. 23, to Oct. 18, were, James Sanderson, Elisha Smith, Caleb Beals, John Sanderson, Lucius Allis, Julius Allis, Simeon Graves, Timothy Shattuck, Abel Allis. Other Whately men in the army at the surrender of Burgoyne, were, William Brown, Abraham Parker, Ebenezer Bardwell, Jr., Stephen Keyes, (then of Charlemont. )
1778. January 8, the town voted to raise £90 for four men to engage in the service of the United States. The names are included in the list of three years' men already published.
An order of the General Court was issued April 20, for a levy of nine months' men to complete the fifteen battalions required of Massachusetts. Under this call, Whately is credited with the following men : - Nathaniel Dickinson and Jonathan Edson, service not designated ; Abel Scott, sergeant, and Samuel Car- ley, corporal, in Capt. Abner Pomeroy's company, Col. Ezra Wood's regiment. Nathaniel Sartle was lieutenant in Captain Joseph Storrow's company, same regiment. This regiment had headquarters. at Peekskill, N. Y., October to February. One return is dated " Soldier's Fortune," N. Y. Philo Bacon was in Capt. Woodbridge's company of new levies, for service in Rhode Island after June 8. Benjamin Parker, Isaac Sanderson, David Ingraham, Seth Wright, served in a detachment from General Danielson's brigade, under General Stark, from July 1, to Oct. 31, 1778.
1779. During this year no less than six levies of men were ordered by the General Court. The term of enlistment in most
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cases was nine months. The fine for refusing to go when drafted was from £ 45 to £ 50. The pay of a soldier was £ 16 per month, in addition to the regular continental pay, with allowance of $ 6 for blanket and 6d. per mile travel. In the requisition for two thousand men to co-operate with the French allies, a bounty of € 30, and 28, mileage, were allowed,-the bounty to be paid by the town. This town voted, "To allow three men, that will engage nine months in the continental army, 40s. per month, -equal to wheat at 4s. per bushel,-with addition of the bounty and mileage allowed by the Court." The men who enlisted were Samuel G. Morton, Gardner Marcy, aged seven- teen, Simeon Wells. At the same time Joseph Scott enlisted in the Hatfield quota, and Abijah Harding and Allen Faxon in that of Deerfield.
In Capt. Joseph Cook's company, in service at New London, from July 20, to August 27, were,-
Abel Scott, Sergt. Asa Sanderson, Corp. Jona. Edson.
Philo Bacon. Selah Graves. Bezaleel Smith.
Isaiah Brown.
Perez Wells. Consider Wait.
Elisha Frary.
Seth Frary.
Dr. Perez Chapin was surgeon's mate in Col. Elisha Porter's regiment, at New London, from July 19, to August 27. Jona. Spafford was in the same service to August 31. Aaron Pratt, and Rufus Smith, were in the same service, in Capt. Abel Dins- more's company, to August 31.
Oct. 19. The town voted, " To raise two thousand four hun- dred pounds for soldiers gone and going into the army."
The condition of public affairs at the close of this and the opening of the next year was gloomy and disheartening. The season's campaign was remarkable mainly for the feebleness of the American efforts and the indecision of the British. The latter did little in this vicinity but plunder, and ravage, and burn the defenceless towns on the sea coast. Rhode Island remained in the hands of the enemy, and, since the failure of the French Heet, no effort had been made to get possession. Draft followed draft in rapid succession. The soldiers received their bounties in State bills and town notes, and their pay in continental money, which, at the end of their term of service, would hardly meet the
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expenses of their outfit. If the father enlisted, his family must suffer, or depend on the town's charity ; if the son enlisted, his wages would hardly suffice to pay the State taxes.
Perhaps the burden that weighed heaviest just now in our community was the depreciation of the currency, and the uncer- tainty and distress which it occasioned. The first emission of bills of credit by Congress was made in June, 1775 ; the amount first authorized was two millions of dollars. At the expiration of eighteen months twenty millions had been issued. And near the close of 1779, near two hundred millions were in circu- lation. As their redemption depended on the ultimate result of the war, these bills began to depreciate at an early period. By the end of '77, the depreciation was two or three for one ; in '78, it was six for one; in '79, twenty-eight for one; in '80, sixty for one. An extract from Mr. Wells's account book, and some votes copied from the records, will best give an idea of the con- dition of things in this town.
1779. Whately Town Treasurer, To Rufus Wells, Dr.
To one year's salary, from March ye 1st, 1779, to March ye 1st, 1780, in hard money, £ 71
To providing my fire wood, -£ 77 6
This year the town voted me sixteen-fold in continental money, which when I received it, was depreciated seventy-five for one.
Balanced, and settled by a note from ye town for the depreciation of the paper currency.
To one year's salary, from March ye 1st, 1780 to March ye 1st, 1781, in hard money,
£ 73 To providing my fire wood,
6
-- £ 79
For this year's salary and fire wood ye town voted me the nominal sum in State emission, which, when I received it, was depreciated six for one in part, and three for one in part.
Balanced, and settled by a note from yo town for the depreciation of the paper currency.
1780, Jan. 6. The town chose a committee to settle with the men that went in the service to New London, and those that went to Claverack.
May 11. Voted, To give notes on interest to those soldiers to whom the town is indebted.
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Voted, To raise a bounty of three hundred and thirty pounds to be paid to each soldier that shall engage in the army ; also to give each sollier three pounds per month in silver or gold, to be paid at the expiration of his term of service of six months. Benjamin Scott, Jr., offered to get seven hundred dollars to give gratis to seven soldiers that should enlist.
July 3. Voted, To make the two continental men that will enlist in the army equal to the seven before raised, which is, eleven hundred dollars bounty, and three pounds per month, in silver money. The seven men who enlisted, as above, were; Abel Seott, aged 29; Oliver Graves, 19: Graves Crafts. 20 ;* Philo Bacon, 22; Salmon White, Jr., 19; Amasa Edson, 16; Abijah Brown, 28. The two were William Giles, aged 18, Stephen Oreutt. July 3, Voted, To give five hundred and fifty dollars in hand, and three pounds per month, in gold or silver, to soldiers that will enlist for three months. Paul Harvey, aged 18; Bezaleel Smith, 19; Elijah Smith, 18; enlisted on these terms, and served three months at West Point.
August. An order was passed by the General Court, author- izing the selectmen of towns to purchase blankets and clothing for the soldiers then in the field ; and the town voted to procure the needed supply. In response to another order of the Court, the town voted to raise three thousand six hundred pounds to provide beef for the use of the army. Committee to purchase the beef : Lieut. Elisha Frary, Capt. Salmon White, Dr. Perez Chapin.
Sept. 14. Voted "to raise one hundred and seventy-seven pounds in silver money, to pay the soldiers that the town is indebted to, for service done or doing in the army." To whom this vote applies is not known ; but the following Whately men, in addition to those already named, were in the service during this year : Reuben Crafts and Reuben Graves, in Capt. Eben'r Sheldon's company, from July 23, to Oct. 10; John Walls or Wallis, aged 17; Samuel MeIntire, 17 ; and Moses Crafts, (all credited to Whately,) detached for three months' service, from Col. Israel Chapin's regiment ; John Brown and Jona. Bacon,
He was one of the detail that stood sentry over Maj. Andre the night before he was hung.
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in Capt. Adams Bailey's company, from Jan. 1, 1780, to Jan. 19, '81. Henry Green enlisted, but who he was, and whether he was mustered in, does not appear.
1781. In response to the requisition of the General Court, for four men to enlist in the continental army for three years, the town paid two hundred and ninety-three pounds seven shil- lings, in silver, bounty money, as follows :-
April, to Jonathan Bacon, sixty pounds.
May 6, to Bernice Snow, eighty-one pounds seven shillings.
June 14, to Stephen Keyes, sixty pounds.
June 14, to Gerrish Keyes, sixty pounds.
In answer to another requisition, the town voted to raise £6 in silver money to purchase horses for the army.
Sergt. Abel Scott was in service this year from July 6, to Dec. 14.
Elisha Belding was a member of Capt. John Carpenter's com- pany of guards, stationed at Springfield, and was detached for field duty from May 1, to Sept. 30.
In a company of militia, under command of Lient .- Col. Bar- nabas Sears, in service from July 17, to Nov. 8, were Oliver Shattuck, Captain ; Abial Harding, Sergeant ; Abel Bacon and Abraham Parker, privates.
The surrender of Cornwallis, October 19, virtually closed the war.
Some Revolutionary soldiers afterwards settled in Whately. Among them was Josiah Gilbert, who enlisted from Murrayfield, now Chester, at the age of 18, in Capt. Jos. McNiell's company, for service in Rhode Island ; was also in Capt. William Scott's company, of six months men, from July 22, 1780.
Dr. Francis Harwood, then of Windsor, Mass., went out first in his father's company, probably at the age of 14. He enlisted in Capt. Hezekiah Green's company for service at Saratoga, in 1781. [Ilis father, Capt. Nathan Harwood, was born in Ux- bridge, 1737 ; enlisted for service in the French war, 1756; was Lieutenant in Capt. William Ward's company, 1777; Captain in command of a company that marched from Windsor to Man- chester, Vt., and was out from July 19 to 31, 1777; was at Saratoga at the surrender of Burgoyne.]
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Joseph Barnard is credited with service at " the castle," Bos- ton harbor, from April 1, to June 30, 1783.
When the colonies threw off the yoke of British rule, they . found themselves without an acknowledged central government ; and in the emergency, the leading spirits organized themselves into a. " Committee of Safety," and called upon the towns throughout the Province to elect corresponding local committees. This measure was prompted by necessity, and proved a wise expedient. These committees were composed of the best and most patriotic citizens. But the responsibility was new ; and neither its advantages nor dangers were fully comprehended ; and it is not strange that having been entrusted with power, they found it easy to magnify their office, and hard to persuade themselves that they could err on the side of patriotism and per- sonal liberty. The same spirit of devotion to the country's wel- fare, which prompted the order to the constables by our town's committee, dated May 4, 1775, (already quoted,) also prompted other similar measures equally significant, and vital in their char- acter. And so after the failure of the expedition against Canada in '76, the committees of safety of thirty-eight towns in Hamp- shire County met in convention at Northampton, Feb. 5, 1777, "for the purpose of taking into consideration the suffering con- dition of the Northern Army." AAmong other things, the con- vention advised the committee of supplies to forward at onee whatever was necessary for the comfort of the army, " not doubt- ing that the General Court will approve thereof." It commended the action of the Legislature in setting up courts of the general sessions of the Peace in the country ; recommended to all inn- holders that they refuse to entertain persons traveling unnecessa- rily on the Sabbath ; and set forth a plan for securing uniform- ity of prices .. In a petition to the General Court, the conduct of " inimical persons " in the country is severely censured, -in that they sympathize with the British, cast reflections on the honorable Court, pay no regard to the committees of safety, use their utmost endeavors to destroy the currency of our paper money, and to prevent the raising of new levies of men.
The doings of this Convention are thus set forth in detail for the purpose of showing how wide a range of subjects it acted
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upon, and the authority it claimed for the general and local committees of safety. The record is important also, as fore- shadowing the part which conventions of these committees, and other delegate conventions copied from them, were to play in succeeding years. These committees of safety became a power in the State, whose authority in local matters was sometimes greater than that of the Legislature, and their action was recog- nized as binding by the courts.
The reference above made to "inimical persons " in the county deserves notice in this connection. At the time the war broke out, all military and civil officers held commissions granted in the name of the King. This official relation, added to the attachment which had always been cherished for the mother country, was a strong bond, especially to men who were by nature conservative. The men of good estate plainly foresaw that, in any event, their pecuniary interests must suffer from the war ; and human nature is always sensitive under such a prospect.
Men differ in methods of reasoning and in judgment as much as in character. One consults the Past for his guide ; another looks at the signs of the Present; and another, of sanguine temperament, watches the promise of the Future, and rushes to mect it. Under the circumstances which existed in 1775, entire unanimity of thought and action on the part of the American people, would have been an anomaly in the world's history. Actuated by the usual variety of motives it is not strange that there were persons in almost every town who, from personal interest, or through regard to the established government, or fear of the failure of the attempt of the Colonies for indepen- dence, stood aloof, or entered with faint hearts into the struggle. It is not strange that there were some who were ready to sell themselves to the highest bidder, or who waited for some decisive battle before taking sides. And it is not strange that the ardent patriots, who had accepted the issue and had staked their all, should make small allowance for difference of motives and ten- perament, and reckon all who did not keep pace with their bold aggressive movements as inimical to the country.
A few of our town's people were at one time suspected of being loyalists at heart ; and the town required certain specific
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declarations, or test oaths, of them, which they all, it is believed, freely took.
An incident which occurred about the middle of the war will show the temper of the town. A man by the name of John Trask, came to Whately, and built a hut on the river bank near the outlet of Hopewell brook. No one knew his business or intentions ; and he generally kept himself aloof from society. But in an unguarded moment he boasted that he had helped to hang some Yankees who were captured by the British. The next day, when he returned from a stroll, he found a paper nailed to his door on which was written, "Death to the hang- man !" He took the hint, and left for parts unknown.
The expenses of the war, the depreciation of the paper issues of money, the heavy taxation, and the extent of town and indi- vidual debts, began, two or three years before the close of the war, to awaken a spirit of popular discontent in Massachusetts. Every body was behindhand. Real estate was unsalable ; pro- visions and clothing were scarce and dear ; the hard money had gone for public uses, and the paper bills had lost their credit. The soldiers came home poor, and were urgent that the town should redeem its pledges, on the strength of which they had enlisted. Very likely the soldiers' creditors were not disposed to grant them unusual indulgence, and wait for the tardy action of the town. The State levied taxes ; and the town levied taxes ; and the real estate owners were called to bear the chief burden of this direct taxation. The commercial interest was the first to feel the pressure of the war ; and the landed interest suffered less : but now it was reversed; commerce began to revive at once with the success of our arms ; but the heavy taxes, and scarcity of help, and high wages, swallowed up all the farmer's resources. He could not conceal his farm from the assessor, or the tax-gatherer, or the sheriff. And this pressure upon the agricultural industry accounts for the distress, and dis- orders, and opposition to State taxes, which showed itself in the central and western counties, and ripened into open resistance. Every body pleaded poverty, and put off the payment of his debts. Legal prosecutions became frequent and oppressive. The courts were the means relied on to compel settlements, and
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not unnaturally incurred odium, and became the objects of pop- ular vengeance.
A calm review of the situation will not find reason for surprise that disturbances arose ; but the wonder is that the new State, -crippled in its resources, loaded down with debts, weakened by conflicting interests, and with a financial system to adjust, if not to devise, and a form of government to establish on the basis of equal rights,-the wonder is that the new State survived the perils of its birth.
The success of the earlier conventions of the committees of safety, indicated the most direct way of carrying out schemes for opposing, as well as supporting, the constituted authorities. Conventions " to consult upon the subject of grievances "-a word quick to catch the popular sympathy-began to be held in Hampshire county as early as 1781. They were made up of delegates chosen by the several towns ; and thus had a semi-offi- cial character. For a time these delegates were men of the highest respectability and influence ; and the meetings were moderate in their counsels, while firm in the determination to secure what they held to be their just rights. But prudence and wisdom were not always in the ascendant. These delegate con- ventions degenerated ; and irregular conventions were held, which became the instruments of faction and mob rule, and cul- minated in the Shays rebellion.
The history of one of these earlier uprisings must serve as a sample of all ; and is selected because a Whately man played an important part in it. In April, 1782, one Samuel Ely, a deposed preacher, of Somers, Conn., got together a so-called convention at Northampton, at the time when the Supreme Judicial Court and the Court of Common Pleas were holding sessions there. For an attempt to prevent the sitting of the Court of Common Pleas, and for disturbing the peace generally, Ely was arrested, and, pleading guilty to the indictment against him, was condemned to a term of imprisonment at Springfield. It seems that he was an artful demagogue,-though at the time a favorite with a considerable portion of the people, - and, watching their opportunity, a band of his friends attacked the jail and released him. Three persons, believed to be ringleaders in the rescue, were arrested and committed to jail in Northamp-
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ton. These were, Capt. Abel Dinsmore, Lieut. Paul King, and Lieut. Perez Bardwell. And it was proclaimed that they would be held as hostages till the body of Ely. was delivered to the sheriff. The three arrested were military men, who had seen large service in the war, and the spirit of their old comrades in arms was aroused, and about three hundred of their friends assembled at Hatfield, under Capt. Reuben Diekinson, as leader. Sheriff Porter, of Hadley, called out twelve hundred of the militia for the protection of the jail. After maturing his plans, Capt. Dickinson sent three messengers, June 15th, to North- ampton, with a proposition that the sheriff should send a com- mittee to meet him at a place one mile from the jail, in two and a half hours from the delivery of the message. The sheriff declined acceding to the demand ; and the next morning Cap- tain Dickinson sent the following pretty explicit note :- " The demands of our body are as follows :- that you bring the pris- oners that are now in jail : viz.,-Capt. Dinsmore, Lieut. King, and Lieut. Bardwell, forthwrith. That you deliver up Deacon Wells's bonds, and any other that may be given in consequence of the recent disturbance. The above men to be delivered on the parade, now in our possession ; the return to be made in half an hour." For reasons which are not known, but from motives which were approved by the State authorities, this demand was complied with ; and the three men were released on their parole of honor, agreeing to deliver up the body of Samuel Ely to the sheriff', or in default thereof, their own bodies, on the order of the General Court. In after years, General Porter was greatly blamed for his conduct in this matter. But the General Court, at its session in November, emphatically endorsed it, and granted a pardon to all concerned in the affair, except Ely. It is to be borne in mind that this outbreak was wholly an irregular pro- ceeding, in which the towns as such were not concerned.
In the autumn following, (Sept. 29, 1782,) a meeting of the committees of seven of the northerly towns in the county was held at Deerfield, "to take into consideration the deplorable sit- uation that the people of the county and the Commonwealth are in, and the more deplorable situation they are soon like to be in, by reason of the great scarcity of a cirenlating medinm." The question was also raised of dividing the county, or fixing upon
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Northampton as the single county seat, -the courts being held up to this time at Springfield and Northampton alternately. The latter question seemed to make a convention of the whole county necessary ; and this meeting issued a call for delegates from the several towns to meet at Hatfield, on the 20th of Octo- ber, at the house of Seth Marsh. In response to this call, del- egates from twenty-seven towns in the county met, and discussed the matter of a county seat, and the subject of both National and State debts ; also the matter of the commutation of officers' pay,-the half-pay for life, first offered, having been by resolve of Congress commuted to a sum equal to five years' full pay. This body was moderate in the expression of opinions, and judi- cious in its recommendations. It admitted the necessity of the full payment of all public as well as private debts ; and urged the good people of the county, by industry in their general callings, to acquire the means for the prompt payment of all taxes, etc., but at the same time intimated that in its opinion such prompt payment was impossible, at the rate then demanded by the Government. Whately sent three delegates to this con- vention : viz.,-Salmon White, Noah Wells, and Benj. Smith. This may be taken as a sample of the numerous delegate con- ventions held in the next two years. They were the combined efforts of the people, struggling to maintain their dearly bought liberties, under burdens of taxation, and the uncertain bearing of well meant but crude legislation. The State debt, at this time, amounted to near £ 1,300,000. There was due the Mas- sachusetts troops alone not less than £ 250,000. The proportion of the Federal debt, for which this State was responsible, was over £ 1,500,000. The conflict of opinion between the landed interest and the commercial interest, already alluded to, made the adjustment of impost duties, and taxation, extremely difficult.
The "Tender Act," of July, 1782, passed in the interest of private debtors, which made neat cattle and other articles a legal tender, rather increased the evil it was intended to cure. By its ex post facto operation, and its suspension of existing lawsuits, it complicated all questions of debt and credit.
A convention was held at the house of widow Lucy Hubbard, in Hatfield, March 19, 1783. This town voted to send as del- egates, Nathaniel Coleman and Joseph Nash.
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April 7, 1783. The town voted to send Noah Wells delegate to a convention to be holden at Hadley the third Wednesday of the current month.
June 9, 1783. The town chose Capt. Henry Stiles and Nathaniel Coleman delegates to a convention to be holden at Springfield on the second Wednesday of June instant.
October 16, 1783. Chose Oliver Graves and John Smith delegates to a convention to meet at the Inn of Col. Seth Murray, in Hatfield, on Monday, the 20th instant.
It might well be supposed that in times of such excitement and conflicting interests, the citizens would attend in a body all town meetings, and take part in the election of State officers. But it appears to have been the reverse in Whately. Only a small minority took part in the popular elections. The following statistics are given, for the study of those who are curious to trace out political causes and effects. The number of legal voters in town, at the time under consideration, could not have been less than ninety. Perhaps twenty of these were in the army, leaving seventy at home. At the first State election, Sept. 4, 1780, the whole number of ballots cast for Governor was seven- teen. The same number of ballots was cast in '82 and '83. In 1784, the total number was fourteen; in '85, seven; in '86, eight ; in '87, nine ; in '88, twenty-four.
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