USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Barre > Memorial of the one hundredth anniversary of the Incorporation of the town of Barre, June 17, 1874 ... > Part 7
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the prosecution of the war. It was a period of de- pression and difficulty; and there were diversities of opinion in respect to the matter of equalizing the bur- dens of the citizens and the pay of their soldiers. But these were happily overcome, and when the day of Peace dawned there was but one mind and one heart in the triumphant acclaim.
The treaty was arranged and provisional articles were signed November 30th, 1782. These articles were brought before Parliament in the January fol- lowing; but the definitive Treaty was not signed till September 3d, 1783. Meantime, a representative was chosen to the General Court which met in June, and to him the town gave the following pithy instruc- tions : -
" NATHAN SPARHAWK, EsQ.
"Sir, - Having made choice of you to represent the town in General Court the year ensuing, we confide in your integrity and good understanding to conduct the public affairs in our behalf in such a manner as to promote the interest and safety of the Com- monwealth at large and of this town in particular. It is neverthe- less our unalienable right to communicate to you our sentiments when we shall judge it necessary or convenient and to give you our instructions on any special matters, and we expect you will hold yourself bound at all times to attend to and observe them. You will constantly bear it on your mind that this Commonwealth is free, sovereign, and independent, and that it retains every power, jurisdiction, and right which is not by the Confederation or may not hereafter by the people be expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled. You will therefore conceive it to be your bounden duty in your legislative capacity to exercise the powers of the Commonwealth vested in you with your utmost wisdom, to guard its rights with all possible vigilance, and take
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care that its sovereign jurisdiction be not impaired or unreason- ably delegated to other persons beside those in whom the Consti- tution has vested it, on any pretence whatever. Self-preservation is said to be the first law of nature. It holds good equally with societies and individuals. You will carefully advert to those prin- ciples which are essential to the preservation of a free Common- wealth ; in this you will be greatly aided by our excellent frame of government and the Declaration of Rights which we recommend to your frequent perusal. There we find it to be the express sen- timent of the body of this people, that the preservation of good government essentially depends upon Piety, religion, and morality ; and that these cannot be generally infused among a community but by the institution of the public worship of God ; that Wisdom and Knowledge as well as Virtue are necessary to the preservation of the Rights and Liberties of the people ; that piety, justice, moderation, temperance, industry, and frugality, are absolutely necessary to preserve the advantages of liberty. These are the principles of our Constitution which it was incumbent on us very particularly to attend to, in our choice of you to represent us ; and we require of you the strict observance of them in the part you shall take in the formation of all laws necessary for the good administration of the affairs of the Commonwealth. We shall always submit cheerfully to laws formed on those principles, and wish for as powerful a system as human wisdom can contrive. At the same time as faithful citizens we must enjoin it upon you to use your utmost influence that the Act of the Commonwealth entitled an Act for the due observance of the Lord's day and other penal laws may be carefully considered, that such of them as are repugnant to the rights and liberties contained in the Constitution may be altered and amended or repealed. Moreover, in the aforesaid Declaration of Rights the impartial interpretation of the law and administration of justice are expressly held to be essential to the preservation of the rights of every individual, his life, lib- erty, property, and character. You will also take care that the three great powers of government, the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial, be kept distinct, agreeable to the letter of our Con- stitution and the spirit of our free government. This we more especially remind you of inasmuch as we believe there has been an interference in the exercise of these several powers which leads
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to a fatal change of a free commonwealth for tyranny or anarchy and confusion.
" We cannot" too warmly express our gratitude to Almighty God who hath smiled on the virtuous struggles of the United States and crowned the conflict with so happy a conclusion. Our Independence is confirmed, - a blessing for which patriots have long toiled and heroes fought and bled. Posterity can never justly charge us with tamely surrendering their rights. We and they shall be free so long as we desire freedom. It will depend upon our virtue.
" But while we contemplate the Treaty in general with pleas- ure, we cannot help feeling anxious for the event of the fifth arti- cle,* which respects those men who fled from their country when its liberties were invaded and took refuge in the dominions of the invader. Congress can only recommend. They will not obtrude citizens in any of the States, much less declared traitors. Agree- able to the Treaty of Peace the town wishes for no recollection of past disputes with Great Britain, no repetition of past injuries,
* " By the fifth article it is agreed that the Congress shall earnestly recom- mend it to the legislatures of the respective States, to provide for the resti- tution of all estates, rights and properties which have been confiscated belonging to real British subjects, and also of the estates, rights, and properties of persons resident in districts in the possession of his majesty's arms and who have not borne arms against the said United States; and that persons of any other description shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of any of the Thirteen United States and therein to remain twelve months unmolested in their endeavors to obtain the restitution of such of their estates, rights and properties as may have been confiscated : and that Congress shall earnestly recommend to the several States a recon- sideration and revision of all acts or laws regarding the premises, so as to render the said laws and acts perfectly consistent not only with justice and equity but with that spirit of conciliation which on the return of the blessings of peace should universally prevail. And that Congress shall also recommend to the several States that the estates, rights and properties of such last-mentioned persons shall be restored to them, they refunding to any persons who may be now in possession the bona fide price (when any has been given) such persons may have paid on purchasing any of the said lands, rights or properties since the confiscation. And it is agreed that all persons who have any interest in confiscated lands, either by debts, marriage settlements or otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in the prosecution of their just rights."
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but, the seeds of discord being excluded, that a beneficial inter- course may be established between the two countries so as to pro- mote and serve to perpetuate peace and harmony, which would be extremely difficult were these persons to reside among us whom this country regards as the occasion of interrupting that intercourse formerly, and the cause of all this suffering ; especially as these wretched beings have already begun quarrels with that peace, and those who made it, which terminates a long, bloody, unnatural war. Therefore, in the opinion of this town, the happi- ness, the liberties, interests, and safety of these States forbid us to suffer persons of the above description to become the subjects of and to reside in this government. It would not only be danger- ous but inconsistent with Justice, Policy, our past Laws, the public Faith, and the Principles of a Free and Independent State, to admit them ourselves or have them forced upon us without our consent.
" As every transaction of the respectable body of which you are a part concerns the public at large as well as us particularly, constant and unremitted attention to business is strictly recom- mended and enjoined upon you.
JOHN WILLIAMS, ANDREW PARKER, BENJAMIN LEE,
Committee.
" BARRE, March 26, 1783."
John Williams is a new name in our annals. He was a popular physician, and married a daughter of Captain Ezra Jones. He removed before the end of the century to Providence, R. I., and thence in 1806 to Cambridgeport, where he is still remembered as an amiable and courteous " gentleman of the old school," with powdered hair and a queue, always dressed in drab-colored clothes, busy in his garden, experi- menting and compounding medicines in his chemical laboratory, a constant and devout attendant on the public worship of the Unitarian church, erect and
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active at the age of ninety years, an obliging neigh- bor, and useful citizen.
Other new names will soon follow. "Your fathers, · where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? "
During the thirty years preceding peace little or nothing had been done in the way of repairing and preserving the meeting-house, and it was beginning to show signs of decay. The question whether to repair the old or to build a new one, became a matter of general discussion. As the result of the discussion, a committee was appointed by the town, January 3, 1783, to consider the subject. In their report they say: "Taking into consideration the intimations we have of late of a peace which, if we are favored with so great a blessing, will make a very considerable alteration in the circumstances of men and things, we recommend a postponement till September." Noth- ing more appears to have been done until two years later, when the business was taken up in earnest, and at the same time a considerable addition was made by purchase to the common or meeting-house lot. The committee to whom was entrusted the plans and arrangements for building were Lieut. John Patrick, Deacon Isaac Tobey, a native of Berkley, Capt. Joel Bent, Benjamin Jenkins, Jr., Deacon Andrew Parker, Mr. Francis Nurss, Dr. Ephraim Brooks. It was first decided that " the size of the house should be sixty- eight by fifty-four feet." The committee hit upon a novel way of ascertaining the cost and providing for
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it. They estimated the number and value of each stick of timber from bottom to top, the roof, rafters, shingles, boards, and mouldings; and before a blow was struck they sold pews at auction for enough to cover the whole expense. They then allowed each man who had bought a pew to bring into the com- mittee such material as he might, to be used and allowed for at a stipulated rate. This was excellent economy, and gave to every contributor a sense of responsibility in the matter. There were eighty-six pews. The amount realized by their sale was £1184. 6s.
But, after all, there came a hitch. What caused it does not exactly appear; but it is evident that when good progress had been made in collecting the mate- rials some disagreement arose about the pews, and at an adjourned meeting, March 19, 1787, it was voted " to reconsider all former votes and postpone the building a year." Meanwhile the committee was instructed " to get what more was needed, make the best arrangement they can to collect the fifteen per cent forfeited by those who decline to take the pews they had bid off, and build the meeting-house accord- ing to their best discretion." No further difficulty occurred. When the house was ready to be raised, May 12, 1788, the town voted, "That the committee make suitable provisions as to victuals and Drink for the raising of the new meeting-house. Drink only for spectators! " It was probably not considered safe for those engaged in the complicated and hazard-
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ous business of lifting up the heavy framework and putting the numerous pieces in the mortises, which required a steady head and steady legs, to taste the liquor, at least till the last pin had been driven, and the rounds of cheers from the spectators had greeted the ears of the workmen and rung through the village. A raising in those days of even a dwell- ing-house or barn was an important affair, and drew together not only the residents of the neighborhood but persons from all parts of the town. The con- course was often large. When they were assembled, and the workmen were at their posts, at a signal all uncovered; and the minister, standing on the founda- tion, lifted up his voice in prayer, praying that the work in hand might be carried forward without acci- dent; that the building might be completed to the satisfaction of the owner; that it might be saved from the ravages of fire; and (if a dwelling-house) that it might long be an abode of hospitality, love, and piety. My own recollection recalls such prayers. After the prayer, the toddy was passed round among the thirsty spectators !
Nothing more is related of this undertaking until October of the next year, when there was an article in the warrant for a town meeting, "to see if the town will meet for the public worship of God for the time to come in the new meeting-house." At the meeting which followed, it was voted, "To meet the Sunday after next, it being the seventh day of Novem- ber, 1790, for the public worship of God in the new
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meeting-house, for the time to come." It was also voted, "To choose a committee to settle with the town-committee for building, to report at an adjourned meeting." At the adjournment, they reported the cost of the meeting-house to be £1201 1 6 Due from individuals for pews . 29 12 73
Amount received for sale of pews in
£1230 14 1}
notes
1182 18 6
£47 15 7}
The old meeting-house sold for 37 14 2
Balance £10 1 52
The committee also reported that the building committee " deserve the thanks of the town for their faithfulness in executing of their trust." And the " Thanks were voted."
It is worthy of notice that the town would not agree to go into their new house for worship till all accounts were made up and debts discharged. If any remained, as it appears, from a report of the commit- tee two years later, a few did, they were very small. That excellent report is worth preserving. It is as follows: -
"TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF BARRE, IN TOWN MEETING ASSEMBLED.
" Gentlemen, - We, your committee for building the new meeting-house, ask leave to report, viz : We have made a final settlement with every man who worked at said House or was any way concerned in finding provisions or by boarding. workmen, or any other way concerned in said work being performed, and we find there is yet due to Capt. Joel Bent One pound Four shillings £1. 4.
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And we find that on settlement with Mr. Samuel Low there is yet due to him his pay for three days work which through mistake was not allowed to William Forbes which is
0. 12.
Furthermore, there is yet due to your committee for their trouble in performing a number of small and trouble- some matters which they have now completed by set- tling with every man, and the said committee think they ought to receive for their above-mentioned trouble six shillings each which is One Pound, ten Shillings . £1. 10. JOHN BLACK, JOHN PATRICK, Committee. BENJ. JENKINS, JOEL BENT,
"SEPT. 3, 1792."
Not far from the meeting-house and in every re- mote neighborhood was a burying-ground; and when- ever a death occurred the remains were borne on a . bier to their final resting-place." Often the distance was long and the service of the bearers wearisome. For greater ease and convenience, the town voted, March, 1789, "to procure a carriage to carry the corpse from any distressed house to the burying- ground."
As far as the inference may be drawn from the entries in the Records, the church, during this period of its history, had a good degree of prosperity and peace. One case of church discipline only, growing out of the alleged complicity of a member in Shay's rebellion, occurred. It is a little curious, particularly
* The location of the first meeting-house was nearly opposite the present post-office; that of the second at the east side of the Park; while the meeting-house lot in the Proprietors' plan was a little south of the house of Samuel Hamilton.
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in the manner of its termination. After many prayers and conferences between the aggrieved church and the offending brother, he at last came to his knees in the following rather Pickwickian apology: -
" Whereas there has been long difficulties in this church occa- sioned by the part I took in the winter of 1786-7, and many things that have been said and done since have increased the difficulties between me and the church -I now say that I would wish to do any thing in my power to prevent further trouble to the church or myself and to heal the difficulties among us. And I am willing to confess that in matters of government of a civil nature I have acted under too great a degree of zeal, as I should not do if I should act the part again. And I am sorry that my overt acts have given offence, and wish my brethren to forgive me. And as to my statement of facts wherein my veracity is concerned, if I have made any error I now declare that it was without design, and ask my brethren to pass by my faults and restore me to their charity.
(Signed) " RICHARD MILLS. " BARRE, Aug. 17, 1791."
" Voted satisfactory; " and the church " had rest."
Here we turn again from the church to the in- terests of education, next in importance. The first settlers of this town, before school-houses could be built, opened rooms in their own houses, as we have seen, where the children could be gathered for in- struction, and whenever they appropriated money for the support of religion they did the same for the schools. The annual appropriations were liberal for their circumstances; and all through the war they were continued without material diminution.
In the year 1790, it was voted "to assess the in- habitants £400 to build eight school-houses," having previously divided the town into eight school-districts.
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It was also voted, that " a committee be appointed to ascertain each man's proportion, and to assign to each man an equal lot in providing materials as near as may be, according to their best judgment." And, to make all sure, a standing committee of three was chosen, 1792, "to examine the several school-houses now building and to be built by the town, and to report, as fast as completed, respecting the goodness of the several buildings, and the economy of the re- spective committees in laying out the town's money; and lay the several accounts before the town at the time or times the said meetings may be adjourned to." In an interesting table of statistics, prepared with great care and labor by our respected townsman, Dr. Rus- sell, are found the sums annually appropriated for the support of schools from the forty pounds of 1776 to the four thousand nine hundred dollars of 1873.
The first mention of a school-committee occurs un- der date of 1799, when the Rev. Josiah Dana, Major Caldwell, and Deacon Jonas Eaton were chosen "a committee to visit schools."
Though much is left untold, the story of the Barre of the eighteenth century here closes. "The little one has become a thousand." On every hand are evidences of thrift and plenty. The valleys shine with golden grain, and the hills are clothed with verd- ure. The cattle find rich and ample pasture. The shelves of the dairies glisten with well kept pans of creamy milk or bend with long rows of finest cheese,
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pride of the laborious housewife. Orchards make a part of every homestead, the forty apple-trees brought by good Mr. Allen on the back of his horse from Lexington having multiplied to forty hundred; while their fruit, ground and pressed, sets cider running at every man's door. Handsome houses rise on the eminences near the village, and within them healthy children laugh and play. In the farm-houses, women " seek wool and flax, and work diligently with their hands;" and there is heard, morning and evening, the whizz of the little wheel for flax and the buzz of the big wheel for wool, and the clatter and thump of the hand-loom weaving fabrics for family wear. The mother " rises up while it is yet dark and gives meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens."
During the last quarter of the century many new heads of families came in to replace those who had finished their course. Near every little settlement were small inclosures of grass-grown graves by the side of which mourners had stood in pensive silence, over which they had bent with streaming eyes.
" Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe hath broke ; How jocund did they drive their team a-field ! How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke !"
Brave, strong, all-enduring men and women of our small beginnings! you knew that you were building well, but you "built better than you knew." With
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pious affection we take leave of you, and bid farewell to the Barre of the century which is gone, while with hearts of hope we cry, All hail! to the morning glory of that which succeeds. Welcome the new faces which appear, the new men in the management of affairs, the new names whose intelligence, industry, and virtue are to impress themselves on the character of the town. Thanks to the towns which gave to us these worthy additions, - the Harwoods and Sibleys, the Hollands and Howlands, the Broads and Hard- ings, the Robinsons and Adamses, and others whose coming was for help and strength and honor.
To that part of Boylston which is now Shrewsbury we are indebted for the Hollands, who, as a corre- spondent writes, "have made a mark in the community as straightforward, honorable men, prompt and ener- getic in discharge of all public duties, and truly valu- able citizens." Certainly the record of their official service is most creditable to them, some one of the family having filled important posts in the town for more than sixty years. Thanks to the town of Sutton from whom we received the first Daniel Harwood, who came in the opening of the century bringing ten children, of a tough stock and remarkable for lon- gevity. The father died at the age of eighty-seven years; and the aggregate age of the ten children was seven hundred and ninety-nine; making an average of a fraction less than eighty years." The sons all
* A still more remarkable example of longevity is that in the family of Allen previously mentioned. Jonathan Allen lived on the same place
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settled here, possessing themselves of some of the best land in the town, and becoming foremost among its agriculturists. Many of the descendants are still excellent citizens. One of them, Daniel Harwood, M. D., of Boston, reflects particular honor upon his birthplace by the eminence he has attained in his profession, having stood for years confessedly at the head of it in his chosen department. When a chair of instruction in it was established at Harvard Univer- sity, he was selected by the government to fill the professorship, but felt compelled to decline the honor and service. Thanks to the same affluent town - rich in men- for the Sibleys, Samuel and Job, who came a few years before the close of the last century and settled in the easterly part of the town. The for- mer brought with him four sons, all remarkable for muscular development and strength; and it was true here in that day as when David composed his Psalms, that "a man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees." One of the sons, Capt. Lyman Sibley, began early to take an active part in town affairs. More than forty years he was the accu- rate and popular town-clerk. Those of the generation now passing away will recall the interest with which, after the benediction, at the close of the afternoon ser-
with the same wife over sixty years; died at 92, his wife at 87; had six children, three sons and three daughters, whose average age at death was just 80 years. Nehemiah Allen, his brother, had ten children, four sons and six daughters, who reached at death these ages respectively ; viz., 96, 96, 951/2, 9212, 92, 84, 82, 80, 80, 78, - making an average of 87! We chal- lenge any town in New England to exhibit a parallel to this instance of family longevity.
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vice on Sunday, his clear ringing voice proclaimed, above the clatter of the pew-seats as they came down, "the intention of marriage" between sundry parties about to enter the bands of wedlock. In winter for many years he was a successful teacher. His disci- pline was of the rigorous kind. The way he plied the ferule "was a caution" to all offending boys, as this uplifted hand tremblingly attests. In later life he was the prompt and courteous landlord of our princi- pal inn. Mr. Sibley was the father of a numerous family. - Two of his sons are respected citizens of Boston; one a merchant and an esteemed officer of " Hollis Street church; " the other well known in the Bunker Hill district, a citizen of merit, distinguished for his military services in our late civil war, and since its close a commander of the Grand Army of the Republic for Massachusetts.
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