USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Athol > Home of the ancient dead restored; an address delivered at Athol, Mass. July 4, 1859; at the consecration of the ancient cemetery of Athol, and the erection of a monument thereon > Part 2
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Indian tribes that feared and hated the white man. Indi- viduals are now before me, who remember the remains of the forts then erected for the protection of the settlers. Upon the street near the house of Mrs. Betsey Humphrey, was one of these ; there where the village hotel now stands, we suppose was another, while on yonder hill was the third; and in each of these, night after night, an anxious, often a sleepless company was assembled for mutual comfort and protection. Eleven years had elapsed from the settlement before the first victim fell, and yonder hill was the scene of the tragedy. Ezekiel Wallingford, contrary, it is said, to the advice of his friends, ventured one night from that fort to protect his cornfield, as he supposed from the bears, when a ball from the gun of an Indian fractured his thigh and he was quickly dispatched by the murderous tomahawk. Oth- er scene's scarcely less tragic followed, for the enemy was crafty and merciless, and there was no security for the whites till the red tribes had melted away and disappeared before the onward march of civilization. No records of acts of in- justice towards the Indians, so far as I know, tarnish the good name of the first settlers of Pequoig, but notwithstand- ing this, their lives were daily and hourly in peril, and they found but little rest, till one by one, they were borne by their companions to this home of the dead.
The part which the people of this place performed amid the stirring events of the Revolution, many of you know, was greatly to their credit. As early as 1770, the coming strife was foreseen, and measures to meet it in the spirit of freedom, began to be inaugerated. July 7, 1774, the inhabitants of this town entered into " a solemn league or covenant," with- out a dissenting voice, to cripple the power of Great Brit- ain by the non-consumption of her articles of manufacture and trade. Fifty days later, seven patriotic resolutions were unanimously passed.
The 1st of these points to a closer and firmer bond of union between the colonies.
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The 2d acknowledges the loyalty of the people to King George the Third, so long, but only so long as he shall gov- ern according to the English Constitution, and the charter- ed rights of the people.
The 3d condemns the blockade and plunder of Boston.
The 4th complains of the injustice involved in the prac- tical repeal of the charters of the colonies.
The 5th is a pledge of resistance to the unjust measures pursued by the British Government.
The 6th provides for a representation in a county meet- ing that was soon to be holden at Worcester.
The 7th is as follows : "Resolved, That if any person shall accept any commission or post of office to serve under the new Establishment, (that is, British regulations then go- ing into force,) he ought to be looked upon and treated as an enemy to his country ; as he thereby is joining with, and lending a helping hand to those who are endeavoring to en- slave us."
The seventh Resolve just read, shows how exceedingly jealous the people of Athol were with reference to what were then called Tory influences. "Upon the west side of the street south of the house of Lucius B. Simonds, near a barn now standing, you will find the remains of a dwelling- house. That was the ancient tavern of Athol; and it was .
kept in the revolutionary times by a gentleman of the name of Ward. He and his family, tradition asserts, were sus- pected, whether justly or not, I cannot say, of too much loyalty to their Sovereign across the ocean ; and so a guard was stationed upon the road leading from near this spot to the tavern, and also upon the causeway east of the tavern, for then the road from the street to Boston passed from the tavern east across the swamp now covered by the mill pond of Mr. Edwin Ellis. The object of this guard was to dis- cover, if possible, whether there was any communication be-
*This anecdote having been given substantially by Col. Townsend in his opening remarks, was omitted in the delivery of the address.
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tween the Ward family and the enemy. That any discov- ery was made we have no information ; but the whole goes to show how jealous, three generations ago, Athol was of civil liberty. May this jealousy never be less.
Then came the enlisting of a company of soldiers and the provision for their pay ; and I hold in my hands an ancient document which will throw light upon the scenes that fol- lowed. Here are the marching orders that were sent to an Athol Captain, which will explain themselves.
TO CAPT. EPH'M STOCKWELL.
SIR :- By virtue of an express from Genr'l Warner in which i am Directed to detach Every Sixth man out of my Regiment to go to the releaf of our Distressed Breatheren at the westward,
I do Hearby Direct and Order you forth-with with-out the Least Delay and with the utmost Despatch to Detach Every Sixth man out of the Training Band and alarm List of your Company for the purpose affores'd and See that they are acquipt according to Law with armes ammunition also with Kittles and Cooking utensils. The Selectmen are Directed to acquip those that are not acquiped, you are also to Detach one Corporal. And when you have so Done you are to march them to Petersham on monday the Twen- ty Eight day of this Instant July to meet on the Paraid near the Meeting House in said Town at nine o'clock in the forenoon, you are also to take the command of the men De- tached from captains Nye, Henery and Lord's Companeys' Together with your own Detachment. And from sd. Peter- sham you are to make your Route By the way of Benning- ton where you are to receive further orders from Colo. Cushing, you are to Return me a List of the names of those men Detached from your Company Immediately.
Barre July 26th 1777.
NATHAN SPARHAWK, Col.
This document was kindly furnished me by Mr. George
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Sprague who is a grandson of Capt. Stockwell. The histo- ry of this military company is intensely interesting. Its Lieutenant was Benj. Townsend, grandfather of Col. Thom- as Townsend, our Chief Marshal to-day. This Company was in the Battle of Bennington and afterward captured in New Jersey, a British detachment, one less in number, with- out firing a shot. In the terrible conflict of White Plains two of its men were killed, who bore the Athol names of Morse and Goddard. The first Pastor of Athol, Rev. James Humphrey has left this record respecting them. "Mr. Earl Cutting, their townsman and messmate, was between them when they fell." Tradition adds that one of them, when wounded, leaped over a fence and died without uttering a word.
'Thirty pounds sterling were offered by the town to each man who would enlist for three years ; and as the war pro- gressed, great quantities of food and clothing were furnished by this town for the suffering armies of Freedom. All was generous, all was noble, all was patriotic, as the blessings we enjoy testify ; but in our admiration of the spirited men and women that made Athol what it was in 1476, let us not for- get the virtues of the generation that preceded them ; the strong common sense, the courage, the lofty aims and un- wavering faith in God that characterized their fathers and mothers, whose dust is mingled with the earth beneath us.
THE OBJECT OF OUR ASSEMBLING
Also gives interest to the present occasion. This beauti- ful and sacred spot, this ancient home of the dead, has been long neglected, but not through the fault of its late owners. It came into their possession with the other parts of their es- tates adjoining,and most gladly do we acknowledge their gen- erosity in the gift that secures for all time to come this plot of ground to the sacred purpose of its original consecration. What ceremonies were here performed when the first grave was opened under your feet, I have no means of knowing ;
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perhaps the sighs and tears and silent prayer to God of some bereaved husband, some heart stricken wife or some child- less father and mother, constituted the whole. Be this as it may, the place has been consecrated, and we stand, my friends, upon holy ground. Perhaps no act of ours can render this spot more sacred ; but as we come here to-day to do all in our power to make amends for the neglect of of the past, by erecting, at the expense of the town and un- der the supervision of their Agents this Granite Shaft " Sa- cred to the memory of the First Settlers of Pequoig" the un- known dead who here were buried, you will all admit the propriety of the re-consecration which we now make. The Committee of the Town of Athol, Thomas Townsend, George Sprague and Amos L. Cheney, having procured for their constituents the legal title to this plot of ground, do now in the presence of this assembly commit the same to Na- thaniel Richardson, Calvin Kelton and Jolm Kendall, the Selectmen and to James I. Goulding the Clerk of Athol, to be transmitted by them to their successors, that all men may know that this land is restored and re-appropriated as a burial place, as the quiet home of the dead. [The deed was here passed by Col. Thomas Townsend to Calvin Kel- ton, Esq., who received the same and committed it to James I. Goulding, in the presence of the assembled multi- ยท tude.] This act having been performed, we say to the in- habitants of Athol assembled this day for this unusual pur- pose, this ground is yours, so long as you comply with the conditions annexed to their deed by the donors thereof, so long as your care shall keep it suitably fenced and preserve the Monument this day erected. And we would have you feel that this is a sacred deposit which you are bound to de- fend and hand down to your children not only intact but still more beautified. Suitable care and labor will render this the most attractive spot in this town that is so celebra- ted for its charming scenery ; and in the name of this Com- mittee and these guardians of our civil and social interests, I
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call upon every Athol man, woman and child, to regard'your- self as pledged to carry out to the full the happy design of this re-consecration. Ye who are now the pillars of society bearing the burden and heat of the day, I charge you in the name of the aged before me, and in the name of hu- manity also, preserve this spot and transmit it to your chil- dren, adorned by a refined taste, and if it may be, by still oth- er monuments of art. And to the young in this vast assem- blage, I would say, you have an interest here, that we trust you will never be disposed to overlook. Soon we, your fathers and mothers, shall pass away, and this sacred spot will be in your keeping. The impressive scenes of this hour you will never forget and we charge you to tell them to the generations that shall at length succeed to your priv- ileges and responsibilities. Concert of action on your part, my young friends, will greatly increase the value of this leg- acy which it is our purpose to leave you ; and may I be permitted to express the hope that as years shall come and go, these stately trees shall still adorn this spot, and that rare shrubs and blooming flowers shall serve to render this scene still more pleasant to the eye, yea, one of surpassing loveliness. I know of no other town that has such a place to watch over and beautify ; and in the name of civilization, patriotism and religion, in the name of the dead who were here gathered to their fathers, I charge you, children and youth of Athol, make this place your care. Hallowed associ- ations cluster here; come to this spot with areverent regard for the manly virtues and noble deeds of the men and wo- men that were buried here; and as you shall stand upon this holy ground, may kind Heaven strengthen you, to deal justly with the past and to meet with a becoming spirit all the responsibilities of the present and the future.
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To one or two of the solemn lessons of this place and hour I may be permitted for a few moments to advert, in bringing my remarks to a close.
The fading nature of all things earthly, this scene is well
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calculated to impress upon our minds ; for the earnest, the gifted and the good were buried here, and now after a little more than a century has passed their graves we cannot dis- tinguish and most of their names are forgotten. It is so substantially the world over. Within the memory of many before me one hundred thousand people of the French na- tion in the darkest days of her existence followed the remains of a noted military commander to their quiet resting place in that most beautiful and, I may add, gorgeous cemetery Pere La Chaise, and two millions united in the memorial that perpetuates his worth, but how few of this assemblage ever knew that France had a Gen. Foy to love and idolize ! And as it has been in the past and is now, so it will be in the future; time will obliterate from earth the memory of honored names and great exploits, but the deeds of the self- denying and good are all recorded in Heaven ; and that rec- ord, like the treasures of the holy, the moth shall not cor- rupt, and thieves shall not steal.
This scene and hour remind us of our obligations to the manly rirtues of the generations that hare preceded us ; for the foundations of our prosperity were laid in the courage, self- sacrifice and noble endurance of the first settlers of Pequoig. Their industry, honesty and piety gave tone to the intellec- tual and moral pulse of this community as it has been beat- ing for more than four generations; and we to-day would do something to show our gratitude, to let the world know that in the cager pursuit of wealth and honor, we are not so selfish as to be insensible to the obligations that have been laid upon us by the heroism and virtue of former days. This monument shall tell to our contemporaries and to those who shall come after us that the memory of those into whose labor we have entered is precious in our sight ; and as generation after generation shall come up to this sacred spot, they shall learn that the men, women and children of Athol, in the year of our Lord 1859, would do justice to the past ; that they estecmed this birth-day of Freedom
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honored by associating it with the memories of the hardy and honest pioneers of civilization and christianity, along the beautiful banks of the Pequoig. And the stran- ger that shall visit this consecrated place, shall learn the same lesson and go away with a firmer love for his country and a holier zeal for duty, and so our act shall live and bless the world long after these tongues shall be silent in death.
My friends, I have done; and all that remains to perfect the work of the hour, other hands will accomplish. The longer I gaze upon it the scene before me becomes more and more impressive; for here the past, the present, and the future seem wonderfully, I may say almost supernaturally, combined. Another such scene, neither you nor I will ever behold ; and I bid you look and think till the whole shall be daguerreotyped in fadeless colors and with imperishable distinctness upon your memories. And then I charge you to tell the story of this day to your children and children's children, and to enjoin it upon them to repeat it to the gen- erations following ; that age after age may honor the memory of the men and women, who, amid privation and peril, turn- ed this wilderness into a fruitful field, and here in the heart of the primeval forest, erected and consecrated their first Temple to God.
The Band now played a funeral dirge, when F. F. Fay, Esq. read a list of the articles to be deposited in the cavity of the Monument, as follows :
Rev. S. F. Clarke's Centennial Discourse, 1850.
Rev. J. F. Norton's Address just given, in manuscript.
The Athol Directory and Advertiser for 1858.
The Valuation of Athol, 1856.
Athol School Reports for 1858 and 1859. Also,
The records of the meetings of the citizens and commit- tees with reference to the Re-consecration of the Old Bury- ing Ground, and the erection of the Monument; the whole comprising more than three hundred pages of printed mat-
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ter, and about twenty-five pages in manuscript. These were then inserted in a glass jar which was carefully seal- ed. The deposit in the shaft was made at the request of the chairman of the Committee of the town, by the old- est Athol citizen present, Mr. Moses Chase, aged 88. The cavity was now scaled, and under the direction of J. S. Drury, an Athol citizen, who wrought the Monument from Athol Granite, the shaft was placed in position. This was done by hundreds of the children and youth of Athol, a long rope having been attached to the monument for this purpose. Some of these children may have the privilege of examining the contents of this shaft, when in future years they shall have become the " Fathers of the Town." The Band now played " Hail Columbia."
The Monument is a beautiful specimen of Athol work, the lettering having been in like manner, executed by Mr. Enoch T. Lewis of the Athol Marble Works. The shaft is eighteen inches square at the base, twelve at the top, and seven feet in height. The base is twenty-eight inches square and eighteen inches in thickness.
The inscriptions upon the Monument are as follows :
Upon the front, "Sacred to the Memory of the First Set- tlers of Pequoig, 1735."
On the reverse, "Erected by the Inhabitants of Athol, July 4, 1859.
On the right, " The First Church organized 1750."
On the left, " The First Meeting House in Athol was erected a few rods north-cast of this spot, and was burned by the Indians."
Short addresses followed from Mr. H. W. Carter, Dr. G. D. Colony, Rev. Mr. Hambleton, Rev. Mr. Bradburn of Boston, G. H. Hoyt, Esq., James Oliver, Jr., of the 7th generation from one of the first settlers, Mr. Henry H. Sprague, Mr. J. D. Miller and Mr. Wm. La Roy Haven, the last three of the High School.
The closing prayer was offered by Rev. A. Harding who
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seemed almost overpowered by his interest in the occasion. " Old Hundred" was then sung by the great congregation. The Benediction by Rev. Mr. Harding closed the exercises.
Allusion is made in these addresses that are now given to the public, to the perils of the First Settlers of Athol arising from the jealousy and cruelty of the Indians; and it may be proper to remark that the rich meadows upon the banks of the Pequoig in this town were a favorite haunt of the red tribes for a considerable period after they had de- serted the neighboring regions. Here were their corn lands, that were unusually productive ; and the place was, more- over, easy of access, being upon the Indian high road from the south-castern sections of New England to the Canadas. There were two Indian crossings of the Pequoig within the limits of this town, one a little above Lewis' Bridge and the other not far from the house of James Lamb. The remains of these are still to be seen. Mrs. Mary Rowlandson of Lancaster, (the death of whose daughter Grace is said to to have given the name to Mt. Grace in Warwick) was tak- en captive by the Indians in Lancaster, Feb. 10, 1675. She was brought to this place as it appears from her narrative, and here crossed the "Payquage" or the "Bacquag" River upon a kind of raft constructed by her captors. And it is understood that the breaking up of this favorite haunt, where some of the most cruel and perfidious Indian tribes congregated, was one of the objects of the Colonial Govern- ment in the votes that were passed in 1732 with reference to the settlement of this region.
F 8440.30
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