USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Mattapoisett > Mattapoisett and Old Rochester, Massachusetts : being a history of these towns and also in part of Marion and a portion of Wareham. > Part 8
USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Rochester > Mattapoisett and Old Rochester, Massachusetts : being a history of these towns and also in part of Marion and a portion of Wareham. > Part 8
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Writing of himself in the third person, Mr. Holmes says:
"No public school was kept in that part of the town then. ... He never had the benefit of a spelling book till after he was a man grown. However, by the assiduity of his parents and his sisters he was learned to read well, very well. He then took a fancy to writing, but it was with difficulty he could procure paper for the purpose, but he was indefatigable in attempting the formation of letters when he could obtain paper. ... In 1766 Mr. Wil- liams taught a public school in that Quarter of the Town, to that he went, being the first time he was ever in a school. Writing was his object then; he went a fortnight, but made no proficiency."
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The school system of Rochester continued to be of the itinerary type for many years. Lots for the order of the terms are recorded as late as 1766. In 1770 a vote was passed about maintaining a grammar school. In 1789 the law of the State allowing towns to divide themselves into school districts was passed, and in 1799 the district system was adopted in Rochester.
An office that was held in much respect in New England during the eighteenth century was that of Justice of the Peace. Justices were appointed for seven years and had jurisdiction over minor claims and offences. Justices' courts were often held in Rochester. A justice had the title Esquire, and was given power to administer oaths and perform marriages. Many of the marriages recorded in Rochester were by Justices of the Peace, although by the middle of the eighteenth century it was becoming common for ministers also to perform this duty. The following Justices are named as performing marriages in Rochester:
Peleg Whitridge, Abraham Holmes, Joseph Meigs, John Martin, Elisha Ruggles, Nathan Willis, Elijah Willis, James Ruggles, Noah Sprague, David Wing, Nathaniel Sprague.
The following persons held the office of town clerk in Old Rochester, several of them serving for many years:
Mark Haskell, Peter Blackmer, Samuel Sprague, Samuel Wing, William Raymond, Noah Sprague, James Foster, Seth Dexter, David Wing, Aaron Norton, Nathan Willis, Micah H. Ruggles, Abra'm Holmes, James Rug- gles, Rogers L. Barstow, W. N. Ellis, Nahum Leonard, Jr., Theophilus King.
The names of the selectmen of Rochester before 1697
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have not been fully preserved. During 160 years, from 1697 to 1857, the following persons served on the Board of Selectmen for the old town:
Increase Clap, John Hammond, Benjamin Dexter, Aaron Barlow, John Summers, Elisha Wing, Timo Davis, John Randall, Peter Blackmer, Samuel Hammond, John Wing, John Benson, John White, John Briggs, Benjamin Dexter, William Griffeth, Joshua Lawrence, Benjamin Hammond, Edward Winslow, Samuel Sprague, John Dexter, John Cowing, Jeremiah Lout, Roger Haskell, Caleb Blakwell, Elisha Wing, Joseph Blackmer, Nicholas Snow, John Freeman, Samuel Wing, Noah Sprague, James Whitcomb, C- Briggs, James Foster, Silas Briggs, Elisha Barrows, Elisha Freeman, Barzillai Ham- mond, Seth Hiller, Antipas Hammond, Seth Dexter, Nathaniel Hammond, David Wing, Nathaniel Ruggles, John Hammond, Samuel Sprague, Enoch Hammond, Samuel Ruggles, John Doty, Jabez Cottle, Melatiah White, John Burges, Stephen Wing, Nathaniel Sprague, Abra- ham Holmes, Aaron Norton, G. B. Nye, Joseph Gifford, Charles Sturtevant, Nicholas Davis, Harper Delano, Bisbe, Nathan Willis, Wilson Barstow, N. Hammond, Gideon Barstow, Caleb Briggs, Timothy Hiller, Timothy Davis, Nathan Jenne, Joshua Pierce, John Church, Stephen Hammond, Stephen Delano, Charles J. Holmes, George King, Benjamin Barstow, Jr., Thomas Bassett, Peleg Whitridge, Philip Crandon, Eben Holmes, Elijah Willis, Noble E. Bates, Butler Wing, Amittai B. Ham- mond, Theophilus King.
In the early part of the eighteenth century, the question of sending a representative to the General Court of the province seems to have been optional with the towns.
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Later, this became a requirement, and in 1773 thirty towns of Massachusetts were fined for neglect of this duty. Rochester from an early date showed a stronger public spirit than some of the other towns in the neighborhood, and usually was represented in the province, though occa- sionally the vote to send a representative was passed in the negative.
The representatives from Rochester to the General Court before the Revolution include the following names :
Samuel Prince, John Hammond, Thomas Dexter, Jo- seph Benson, Thomas Turner, Benjamin Hammond, John Freeman, Timothy Ruggles, Jr., Noah Sprague, Elisha Barrows, Samuel Wing, Nathaniel Ruggles, Samuel Sprague.
In 1720, owing to the scarcity of money in New Eng- land, the province made a grant of 50,000 pounds to be loaned in the towns. In 1721 Rochester voted to act on the town's part of this loan (which was 365 pounds), John Briggs and Benjamin Dexter being sent as agents to fetch the money into the town. Each person who borrowed money was to give bonds with a personal (not "real") security, and to pay a small interest to the town, and fourpence a pound to the agents for their services. The money could be held for four years, unless the town drew it in. The sum that could be loaned was divided into fifteen parts, and the persons who might draw were decided by lot. The fortunate citizens who drew the lot were Capt. Isaac Holmes, Nathan Hammond, James Steward, John Randall, Samuel Griffith, Samuel Sprague, Moses Barlow, William Raymond, Eben Holmes, Samuel Shearman, Joseph Haskell, John Dexter, Joseph Prince, William Noyes, Thomas Randall.
THE "DEXTER ELM" AND MILL, MATTAPOISETT
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In 1749 the currency of the colony was regulated. Two kinds of paper money had been in circulation, in which a shilling of the new tenor was equal in value to three shillings of the old tenor. Both kinds were now redeemed by the Spanish milled dollar, and after March, 1750, all debts were payable in coined silver under a law which made a shilling a sixth part of the Spanish dollar or sixteen and two thirds cents, so that the colonial pound equalled $3.33} in silver. Money reckonings on this basis continued in use in Massachusetts for several gen- erations. During the Revolution the whole money system became again greatly demoralized.
There is in existence an old tax roll of Rochester, made out in 1776, Nathaniel Hammond, David Wing, and John Doty being the assessors.
This early tax list contains a mysterious set of entries regarding a "faculty tax." Thus in addition to his poll tax and tax for real and personal estate, a man might be called on to pay perhaps five shillings twopence as a "faculty tax." As we read the quaint record, together with the later information that "The tailor was taxed for his faculty," there comes over us an amused sense of shrewdness in these hard-headed old New Englanders in thus levying taxes on the well-known Yankee "faculty " or "knack at doing things." But a moment later, " Web- ster" takes the force out of this interesting suggestion by informing us that a "faculty " was a "license" or per- mission giving a "right to act."
Between 1735 and the Revolution, a large number of families from Rochester and some from Dartmouth emi- grated to the town of Hardwick in Worcester County.
The father of Minister Ruggles, Samuel Ruggles of
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Roxbury, had for some years held proprietary rights in the lands at Hardwick, which was called the Elbows, and was still mostly unsettled. About 1732, his father having died, Rev. Timothy Ruggles made a visit to the Elbows, and after this undertook to promote its settlement. The names of Dexter, Sprague, Wing, Foster, Winslow, and Haskell are among the Rochester names that became repre- sented at Hardwick. Joseph Haskell, the youngest son of Mark Haskell, became an active agent in securing settlers for Hardwick, though he never moved there himself.
In Mr. Ruggles's own large family of twelve children, six of the sons found homes finally in Hardwick. A family of nephews of Mr. Ruggles by the name of Robin- son were also among the Hardwick pilgrims; also a son- in-law, Paul Mendell from Dartmouth, who became prominent in the affairs of the new town. The best known of these Hardwick emigrants was Timothy Rug- gles, Jr., who, after practising law for some years in Roches- ter, moved in 1753 to Hardwick, the most noted events of his life being subsequent to that period. He served with distinction in the French War of 1755, attaining the rank of Brigadier-General. In 1765, Ruggles, Partridge, and Otis were sent as the three delegates from Massa- chusetts to the Stamp Act Congress in New York, Ruggles being chosen President of the body. But his rulings gave dissatisfaction to the Whigs, and Ruggles was repri- manded publicly. In 1774 he accepted the office of Mandamus Councillor under direct appointment by the crown. The members of this Council were held in greater odium than any other class of officers, and their appoint- ment greatly hastened the acts of rebellion in Boston. General Ruggles now became an open Tory. His coun-
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trymen turned against him, his home in Hardwick was mobbed, and in 1776, after the evacuation of Boston, General Ruggles with most of the other Tories of New England moved to Nova Scotia.
The French wars that preceded the Revolution made heavy demands on the towns of the old colony. In 1755 General Winslow of Marshfield was sent with a body of Massachusetts troops to remove the inhabitants of Acadia, Nova Scotia. These people were of French descent, and though they were called "Neutrals " they were suspected of giving secret aid to the French. Gen- eral Winslow declared that the order was disagreeable to his natural make and temper, and that his principles of implicit obedience as a soldier were put to a severe test, but the order was carried out.
In the rolls of soldiers in this Acadian (or Eastern) expedition, the towns from which the soldiers came are not named, but it seems certain that men from Rochester were in this expedition. On the return of the expedition one thousand of these unhappy French exiles were brought to Massachusetts and parceled out to the different towns, a number being apportioned to Rochester. They were strangers and exiles among people speaking a strange tongue. For some years they were a public charge, and various bills for "Cloath for the french," and for "keep- ing the old french" appear on the town books. Several petitions for relief on account of the "nutural french" were sent to the General Court. Some of the Acadian people, however, became assimilated later among New Englanders, and some of the family names of French origin that are found in New England to-day may be traced to this Acadian source.
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In the later campaigns of the French and Indian War at Crown Point, Ticonderoga, and in Canada, there were many soldiers from Rochester. Captain Bradford's com- pany in Col. Thomas Dotey's regiment in service in Canada, 1758-1760, was composed largely of Rochester men. Captain Pratt's company in the same regiment, and Capt. Abel Keen's company in another regiment, also had some Rochester men. In the hospital records at Crown Point, Rochester names may be found. In Col. Timothy Ruggles's regiment, among many Hardwick names, one may find some that were evidently from Rochester originally. Between 1760 and 1763 also a considerable number of new recruits from Rochester were gathered.
With the fall of Quebec the power of the French in America was broken, and in 1763 a treaty of peace was signed at Paris. The Colonial armies were kept up, however, and continued to contain men enrolled from Rochester for some years longer.
Near the middle of the eighteenth century there were several epidemics of illness that were distressing and fatal. Mr. Holmes makes mention of a "throat dis- temper," which raged in Rochester in 1754, and proved fatal to almost all who were seized with it. He himself, an infant less than a year old, was attacked, but his father, having heard of a remedy known to an Indian named Nathan Hope, and to three white men, and called by them "Cold water root," procured some for his child, who quickly recovered. In the powdered medicine there was one piece of root which was not pulverized. The father planted it in his garden to see if it would grow. It did so,
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and developed into a wild herb common to all the region. The remedy thus became known, and from this time for- ward the " distemper" was no longer to be greatly dreaded.
Minister Le Baron writes: "In 1758 a slow, putrid fever raged in Second Precinct, and proved mortal to thirty in about three months, population 250. It is observable that the inhabitants of a few houses which are situated on the East side of extensive flat swamps have been peculiarly subject to bilious acute diseases and con- sumptions and sudden deaths have in a remarkable man- ner been the Lot of those who have indulged themselves in the use of distilled spirituous liquors."
In times of public distress, whether from illness or from drought, fast-days were appointed and services were held in the churches to pray for relief.
Under the head of "Remarkable Providences," the old First Church Book records some signal answers to prayers for rain in this and neighboring parishes, among which are the following :
"August 12th a fast Day was kept at Wareham on account of a great" Drought and that Day before night there was a good plentifull rain over the town and none in the next, the very dividing line of the Towns Divided (as it were) the clouds. Also, the next day. fast day was kept at Middleborough new precinct and a plentifull rain fell the same night. At which time the Rev'd. Mr. Peter Thatcher of Middleborough gave us an account of two more parishes that kept a fast day on ye account of ye Drought within a fortnight of the time above expressed who had an immediate answer of prayer by rain and it extended only over the parish who kept sd day and no elsewhere."
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June 24, 1741, "a fast day was kept at Dartmouth on acct. of the Drought and it was known before, so the Quakers gave out word as they Desired it may not rain next day (tho much needed) for if it Did the ministers and people who attended would say It was owing to sd prayers, but God in his Justice Goodness & mercy was pleased to give a gracious answer & it began to rain before the forenoon service was over & continued till night. It was much the same in Rochester."
In the records of the First Church occurs also the fol- lowing :
"Rochester, Aug. 9, 1770 Being a day set apart by ye chh for prayer & fasting on account of a severe drought ye chh were stayed after public service & voted that ye Scriptures should be read as part of ye Public worship on Lord's Day."
With the long sermons and prayers that were the rule in the churches, and the length of time it took to sing a Psalm, one need scarcely wonder that Scripture reading had been neglected as a feature of public worship.
The Psalm, "turned into meter," was lined off, or "deaconed" by some appointed person, and when sung to the slow tunes then in vogue, the singing was a work of time. The Bay Psalm Book was everywhere in use in this region at the middle of the eighteenth century. Two generations later, "Watts and Select" had almost the same universal distinction. In the early years only a few church tunes were known, two or three for each meter offering the usual range of choice.
In 1748 the First Parish voted that "Whereas some- times Deacon Elisha Freeman is absent who is appointed to set the Psalm, it is voted in his absence that Josephus
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Hammond do it, and in his absence Mr. Joseph Lovel, and in his Mr. Seth Dexter do it."
During the eighteenth century all over New England a contest arose between the advocates of "singing by rote " and "singing by rule." The feeling of those who opposed "singing by rule" was thus expressed by one writer of the age: "If they sing by rule they will also pray by rule and preach by rule, and then comes popery." But the "singing by rule " party finally tri- umphed. Near the time of the Revolution many books of tunes were published. Some of them had marked in- novations in the style of tunes, and included some tunes with a strong accent and a triple time movement instead of the long uniform notes of the olden tunes. "Fuguing " also came into fashion, though at first strongly discountenanced by persons of sober mind. The New England Singing School became a marked feature of New England village life for two generations. The "taught" singers were also gathered into choirs, and "part singing" was developed.
The emphasis in the music agitations before the begin- ning of the nineteenth century had shifted to the question of musical instruments in the churches. Pitch pipes were first introduced, then the bass viol, after that the violin, and various other instruments. Among the churches in this vicinity, that of Wareham seems to have been most strongly agitated by the bass viol question; and here a compromise was for a time arranged, giving leave to the bass viol to be " played every other Sunday, and not to Pitch the Tunes on the Sabbath that it don't play." The churches in Rochester did not escape these music dissensions, but the orchestral instruments made their way into use, retaining
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their place until the advent of the melodeon, followed by that of the church organ, near the middle of the nineteenth century.
During the eighteenth century the tithing-man was a regular parish officer, his duty being to prevent Sabbath desecration, or, as was recorded in the books of the First Parish, to "Inspect the Youth on the Lord's Day to pre- vent the profanation of the Lord's Day and to bring them to punishment if they don't reform."
In 1748, at the First Precinct, it took ten of these tithing- men to "keep good orders on the Sabbath Day," three for the galleries, three for the body of the house, and four to take their turns in the Intermission of Divine Ser- vice."
Tithing-men were on duty in Rochester for many years. From a letter by Henry B. Worth, Esq., of New Bedford, the following paragraph is (in substance) quoted :
"The following advertisement appeared in the New Bedford Mercury May 15, 1815.
"' The Tythingmen of Rochester gave notice that they should enforce the law.
JONATHEN KING,
JOHN CLAP,
JOSEPH WHITREDGE,
SETH HASKELL,
WM. SMITH,
JESSE HASKELL,
ALLEN MARSHALL,
NOAH DEXTER,
GEORGE B. NYE,
EZEKIEL CUSHMAN,
SHERMAN LINCOLN, JONATHAN CHURCH.'
"But one wonders why it was inserted. If aimed at Rochester Sabbath-breakers, the notice might not reach them. Perhaps the warning was intended for young
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people who might drive for pleasure from New Bedford to Rochester, and the purpose was to keep away from the town an element that might create disorder. In a sea- faring community like New Bedford there were many such spirits, and I have no doubt that the villages of Sippican were fully as attractive on Sunday in 1815 as now. Hence, the good Sunday constables were deter- mined to rid the town of a nuisance. But the number of tithing-men is large for a town of the population of Rochester, - twelve."
Cases of church discipline were very common, both for suspected lapses in morals, and also for absenting oneself from the Sacrament and attending the meetings of the two chief "heretical" sects of the region, the Quakers and the " Anabaptists." But with the widening lines of thought that came in after the Revolution, a larger toleration in church and religious matters begins to be manifest.
From Mr. Holmes's Chronicle, other glimpses of the town life at the middle of the eighteenth century may be gained :
"There was not a wagon of any kind in town, there were ox-carts and horse-carts, add to these two old riding- chairs. . : . Such a thing as a chaise was never heard of. The first that came through Rochester made as much of a wonderment as a Baloon would have done. ... No person could tell what to call it, at last it was concluded that it was a calash.
"The horses were generally poor creatures. In the summer they lived on grass, in the winter on hay only, except when they were going on a journey when on the evening previous they would have a mess of bran wet. It was a high priced horse that was valued at $40. A horse
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more than nine years old was considered of little value.
"There was no such thing as a clock in town. There were three ministers in Town and each had a watch. I believe there were no others in Rochester. ... Not a single pair of silver Buckles were then in Rochester, and an umbrella or a parasol would have made a wonderment. ... Very few gloves were worn unless when a man was to be marryed.
"Good dancing was considered a very important ac- complishment. Other diversions among the young people were a number of plays, such as breaking the Pope's neck, the Button, - and among the Quakers who did not allow dancing Blindfold was a very popular amusement.
" As for the Bill of fare at the Table they generally had a boiled dish, the first course was a Bowl of broth then called porridge, generally some beans in it and some dry summer savery sprinkled in. Then came an Indian pud- ding with sauce with it, then some beef pork and round turnips and a few small potatoes. The quantity of pota- toes was very small, three bushels was considered a mon- strous crop and these very small. I was a considerable Lad before I ever saw a potato as big as a hen's egg."
From old writings like these, dealing with things that in themselves seem trivial, we get a vivid picture of a phase of human life that is not only interesting in itself (especially to the descendants of the men and women who are described), but it was also important in its effects on American life and history. It was a very human life that was lived by these forbears of ours of a hundred and fifty years ago. There are elements in the picture that seem
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to us crude and unjustifiable as well as amusing. But underlying the narrow eccentricities we find the rugged and homely virtues that made New England the power that she was in shaping the character and destinies of the American nation.
CHAPTER VII
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
W ITH the breaking out of the Revolution, the town of Rochester entered on a special phase of history, one that is peculiar to New England. The Middle and Southern Colonies played a large rĂ´le in Revolutionary affairs, but they did not have the town meeting. At this period the little town democracy was lifted above the petty anxieties attending its own local affairs and stood face to face with political questions of the largest moment. The story of one town is in a sense the story of all.
In September, 1768, at the request of the Boston Com- mittee, Rochester sent delegates to the Convention at Faneuil Hall, which passed resolutions protesting against the taxing of the colonies. In Plymouth Colony as a whole, there was at first much apathy toward the spirit that was arising in Boston. There were many who took pride in being British-born subjects and felt a good deal of loyalty to the King. James Warren declared to Samuel Adams that Plymouth County towns could not be raised except by a power that would wake the dead. Rochester, however, responded more readily to the appeal of Boston than most of the towns in the neighborhood.
In December, 1772, after another letter of correspond- ence from Boston, a spirited set of resolutions was passed, endorsing the plans of the Boston Committee.
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The Revolutionary War
Samuel Sprague, who had been the town's representa- tive since 1768, was suspected of holding Tory sentiments. So the town voted :
"That if our representative or any other person in this Town that either has or shall hereafter basely Desert the Cause of Liberty for the Sake of being promoted to a Post of Honour or profit or for any other Mean View to Self Intrust shall be looked upon as an Enemy to his Country & be treated with that Neglect & Contempt that he Justly Deserves."
The next year Samuel Sprague was not re-elected. He was succeeded by Ebenezer White, who was afterwards Lieutenant Colonel of a militia regiment. Lieutenant- Colonel White held the office of representative for many years, during the first fourteen of which he was unani- mously elected, and during this difficult Revolutionary period the town intrusted him with many important duties.
With the advent of the tea question in 1773, a letter was received from Boston asking the advice of the towns, as to what was to be done. At the town meeting then held the usual moderator was absent, and David Wing, - the careful town clerk, whose copious records in minute printed letters awaken the admiration of the reader - thought it prudent to remain at home. Yet after some delays and embarrassments, the meeting at last became very free and spirited. Energetic resolutions were passed, and "the citizens subscribed a solemn league and covenant to abstain from the use of tea, and to transact no business with those who would not become parties to the Covenant."
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