USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Shrewsbury > Old times in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Gleanings from history and tradition > Part 2
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OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY
do the work of a whole fire department, so it cannot be considered strange that the flames became uncontrol- able, and she so bewildered that as the song says, "All that she saved was her tea-kettle lid." After this misfor- tune Tombolin built another habitation for himself on land that is still called "The Tombolin" and is owned by Wm. Rice and Geo. W. Lyon of Chicago, the latter (widely known in musical circles) receiving it from his father, Captain Thomas Lyon, who was formerly a large land owner in Clinton and built the mills on the Assabet in Northboro, where Milo Hildreth now manufactures shell jewelry and, combs, after which he took up his residence in Shrewsbury for some years. The songs about old Tombolin are nearly extinct, only a few frag- ments remain in the memories of elderly people and the writer of this memorial has not been able to ascertain if there is a printed copy in existence. One of the rhymes ran something in this wise and shows what manner of literature delighted the hard-working, fun-loving, un- trained heroes of those rough, "good old times."
THE SONG OF TOMBOLIN.
Tombolin was a Scotchman born, His shoes were out and his stocking torn, The calf of his leg came down to his shin ; I'm a nice good figure, says Tombolin. Tombolin had no breeches to wear, So he got his mother to make him a pair, Flesh side out and the wool side in ; They're warmer so, says Tombolin.
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THE EARLIEST TIMES.
Tombolin wanted new stockings to wear, So he got his old grandmarm to knit him a pair ; For want of a needle she knit with a pin ; They're delicate wearing, says Tombolin.
Tombolin, his wife and her mother All went over the bridge together ; The bridge broke down, they all fell in ; "The deuce go with you," said Tombolin.
Leather breeches were by no means uncommon then, and not only breeches but aprons and coats were also made from the undressed leather as it came from the tanning. If the Shrewsbury school boys of to-day in their collars and neckties and fine cloth suits, could look into the school-room of Dennis Smith in 1770, they" would be greatly astonished at seeing the boys clad in leather breeches and aprons. There is a story that a Scotchman visiting in town called at the school and was so surprised at the leather clothes of the boys, that he asked the teacher if they were all the sons of black- smiths, or why it was that they wore leather aprons ! This amused the children, for leather clothing was quite the fashion then in America.
THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES.
A LTHOUGH the first meeting-house was raised in 1721 there was no settled minister in Shrewsbury until the Rev. Job Cushing was ordained here De- cember 4th, 1723, and the church consisting of sixteen persons then gathered for the first time in the new building. Mr. Cushing was a grandson of Matthew Cushing and his wife Nazareth Pitcher, who came from Norfolk, England, with five children and arrived in Bos- ton on the Ioth of August, 1638, on the ship Diligent, John Martin of Ipswich, Master, and settted in Hing- ham, where fifty-six years after, the future minister of the Shrewsbury church was born. At the age of twenty he was graduated from Harvard College. After being settled here he received a grant of land, "house lot No. 22, granted to the first minister, which with other grants made to him contained some of the best land in town." He built a parsonage on his land and married in 1727 Mary, daughter of Rev. John Prentice of Lan- caster. This house stood on the spot east from the Town Hall, where now stands the house owned by Mrs.
THE CUSHING HOUSE, OR FIRST PARSONAGE.
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THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES
Arunah Harlow and which was built by the Rev. George Allen, who lived there during his pastorate in town. Mr. Cushing's house was a fine one for the times and stood one hundred years. Mr. Josiah G. Stone, a great- grandson of Mr. Cushing, was born there and has fur- nished from memory suggestions for the drawing of the house, which was done by his son Henry J. Stone and from which the engraving was made. It will be seen that the architect departed somewhat from the common rule of building. There was the great stone chimney with a brick top, which most houses had, but the rooms were higher and the windows larger, and the house had an appearance of dignity quite proper, as belonging to the minister, the man who held the highest office in the town. Mr. Cushing received sixty pounds settlement and sixty pounds per year for two years ; after that, four pounds ad- ditional each year until it should rise to eighty pounds. He remained the minister here until the year 1760, when, in the heat of an August day, while he was binding sheaves in the field, he suddenly fell to the earth and died before aid could reach him. The spot where he fell is pointed out in the field behind Mr. Josiah Stone's house.
The communion service purchased at the time of the organization of the church in 1723 was of highly pol- ished pewter. The pieces shown in the engraving are upon the original communion cloth, which was pre- sented to the church by Madam Cushing. In Dr. Sum- ner's time, it being somewhat worn, the ladies of the
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OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY
church presented it to Mrs. Sumner and purchased a new one. The old one, which is still in the Sumner family, is of fine damask, into which is curiously woven a representation of the Old Testament story of Caleb and Joshua and those who went with them to search the land of Canaan to see whether the Israelites would be
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FIRST COMMUNION SERVICE.
able to go up and possess it. The portion of the cloth yet remaining contains, it is evident, the whole design, as the edges show that it was repeated. At the top of the pattern are the two men returning with the huge bunch of grapes suspended from a pole borne upon their shoulders. High above the pole reaches the great stem
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THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES
showing where it was cut from the vine, the grapes hang down to the knees of the men and the leaves and tendrils compare with them in size. One hand of each man is upon the pole, while in the other he carries a basket containing the figs and pomegranates which he had brought from "The land that floweth with milk and
honey." Below these figures is the Tabernacle with its curtains. Moses and Aaron are prostrate before it. Above is a representation of God in a cloud with up- lifted hands pronouncing judgment upon the people for their distrust and rebellion. At one side, referring to the portion of Scripture where the story may be found, are the words-NVMER XIII CAP MOYES. Below these are depicted the walled cities of the giants, their tem- ples, birds on the wing, and trees loaded with fruit. Still further down and completing the design are the fig- ures of two men in armor, one hand of each holding a long spear which rests upon the ground-and the words CALEP-IOSVE. (Caleb, Joshua). Between them is a tall growing vine, showing even its branching roots and bearing large clusters of grapes. On either side is the word NEHEL, which signifies a possession. The word PHARAN also occurs in the design and is the same as Paran. The story is contained in the 13th and 14th chapters of Numbers. The ancient spelling of the words proves the cloth to be very ancient and the tradition is that it was brought from the old country in the May- flower, in 1620.
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OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY
Col. Job Cushing was a son of the minister, and was chosen Captain of a military company raised in Shrews- bury in 1774 and with it started for Lexington at the first announcement of war. We hear of him next at Cambridge with his men, at the time of the battle of Bunker Hill. After his promotion as Colonel of the ' Sixth Regiment he was in that part of the army to which Gen. Burgoyne with four thousand seven hundred men 1 surrendered on the 17th of October, 1777, when they made him march to the then derisive tune of "Yankee Doodle." After the war Col. Cushing built a tavern near the common. Gen. Washington once stopped here for refreshment and it is said that Jerome Bonaparte and his suit halted here in passing through town, and after dinner went swimming in Wyman's mill-pond. Samuel Haven bought the tavern of Colonel Cushing and in 1808 added a store, for many years keeping the house open to the public. From time to time other additions were made until it presented quite an imposing appear- ance and afforded ample accommodations for the travel- ling public. It was a popular stopping-place for team- sters, and the corral near the road was usually filled with horses at night, the stamping of their hoofs being heard at all hours. After a succession of many landlords, the tavern was removed in 1871 to give place to the present Town Hall. Detached parts of it still stand in different places, three dwelling houses having been made of it; the largest and oldest part is nearly opposite its
THE HAVEN TAVERN.
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THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES
old situation, and its ancient date is shown by the fash- ion of its architectural finishings. Dr. Flint's journal says : "April 1808-Col. Cushing returned from Canada and attended lecture, at meeting on Sunday, at Sacre- ment, at Town Meeting on Monday and deceased the 16th." The following paper shows his faithfulness in attending to his public duties :
1195036
"Samuel Jenison, Wm. Jenison & Tylor Curtis all of Worcester Drove their Teams Loaded by my Dwelling House on Sunday Morning about 5 minutes past 6 o'clock on 7 day of April 1782
Job Cushing, Warden To Artemas Ward Esqr"
" Honorable Thomas Flint came from Matlock in Der- byshire England, to Concord in 1638, possessed of wealth, talents, and a christian character." His great grandson Dr Edward Flint came here from Concord in 1756 and took the practice left by Dr. Joshua Smith, who died early that year. Patriotism burning in his veins he joined the army and went as chief "chirurgeon" in Col. Ruggle's regiment in the expedition against Canada. He remained but a short time in the service and returned home to resume his practice, which we read, was "ex- tensive and abundant," and that he added efficacy to his medicine by administering at the same time cheerful stories, which rarely failed to revive the spirits of his de- sponding patients. His son Austin was born in 1760
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OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY
and received his education at the grammar school of Mr. Nathan Goddard, a graduate of Harvard College and. native of this town, who kept a school here many years. The remuneration that he received for his labors with the Shrewsbury youths may be judged by the following bill signed by himself :
"Shrewsbury, March 3d-1777
Then recd. of Artemas Ward Esqr. Eighteen Pounds Lawful Money in full for Schooling his son Artemas forty weeks.
Resd. P. Nathan Goddard."
Austin Flint's medical education was received from his father. In . 1777, when on the 16th of August a call came to Worcester County for men to march to the re- lief of Gen. Stark at Bennington, Austin Flint then only seventeen years of age, joined a large company of mounted militia and started immediately for Vermont. They rode the first day nearly sixty miles and reached. Hadley the next morning before breakfast. To their disappointment they there found counter-orders ; the bat- tle with Burgoyne's troops was over, and the Americans victorious, having put the British to flight. Nothing was left for the Shrewsbury boys to do but to march home again. Having come so near to being in a fight with the enemy, young Flint determined to try again ; the next month he enlisted as private in Col. Job Cushing's. regiment and had the gratification of being present at
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THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES
the surrender of Burgoyne. Asa Wheelock, another Shrewsbury boy one year older than Austin, was his companion through the campaign and shared with him its hardships and glories. Austin was taken sick in con- sequence of the fatigues and unaccustomed hardships he was obliged to endure and was sent home ; however, after his recovery he once more entered the Army, at the age of twenty-one, as surgeon in Colonel Drury's regiment and served at West Point.
We hear of him again in 1786 when the troops were called out to quell the Shays rebellion, and he was with General Lincoln in his memorable night march from Hadley to Petersham through the trackless drifts of a blinding snow storm. At the age of twenty-three Austin Flint settled in Leicester as medical practitioner, and married Elizabeth Henshaw, daughter of Colonel William Henshaw of that town. He became an emi- nent physician and noted far and wide for his skill in his profession. In looking through a package of papers now yellow with age, though the ink is as black is ever, the writer of this came across one, of which the following is a copy :
"To the Honorable the Board of Counsellors for the State of the Massachusetts Bay."
"Whereas there is no Justice of the Peace resident in the Town of Shrewsbury, The inhabitants at their An- nual Town meeting the Third of this Instant, (Agreeable to an article in the warrant) Voted to recommend to
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OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY
your Honours Mr. Edward Flint, as a Gentleman Well. Qualified to officiate in the capacity of a Justice of the Peace. We the Subscribers think it incumbent on us as select men of the Town to Certify that we think the Town have made a wise Choice. - And Pray that if your Honours Please the above named Mr. Edward Flint may be commissioned for a Justice of the Peace in the County of Worcester.
DANIEL HEMINWAY CHARLES BOUKER DAVID TAYLOR. Select men of Shrewsbury.
Shrewsbury, March 8, 1777."
One of the first tanners in the town of Shrewsbury was: Nathaniel Whittemore, who, if we judge by his account book, was doing a good business here in 1754. The precise location of his house and currier shop is not known, but his tan vats were in the lot where the old. cider mill now stands on the Ward Homestead, and the lot is to this day called the "tan vat." An immense number of calf skins were tanned by Whittemore to be made into aprons for the Shrewsbury men and boys, as well as skins of all kinds for various uses. In Septem- ber, 1760, Silas Heminway of Framingham came to work one year for him, and for his labor he was to receive sixteen pounds. Whittemore died in 1764, and in his- last sickness was attended by four physicians, Edward. Flint, Samuel Crosby, Ebenezer Morse and John Honey-
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THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES
wood, the latter being from Worcester, and it appears that the united efforts of these four eminent and skillful men failed to save him from an untimely end. Their entire charges for services, amounted to eight pounds. ten shillings.
Daniel Harris was his nurse and also his grave-digger ; for these combined services he charged two pounds and six shillings. Nathaniel Allen furnished the articles for the mourning : his bill was sixteen pounds, seventeen shillings. Jotham How's bill for shoes for the widow Sarah was "Two shillings & fourpence, three farthings & three Fifteenths In full for one pair of Shoes made for ye sd Nathaniel's widow as mourning shoes
Recd Jotham How."
The judge allowed her sundry articles from her hus- band's estate for housekeeping amounting "in ye whole to thirteen pounds eleven shillings and seven pence " also twelve pounds in money. The cost of settling the estate was twenty.six pounds, eleven shillings four pence, three farthings and three tenths." The house, barn, currier shop and bark house were all sold at pub- lic vendue the year after Whittemore's death.
Not long after the incorporation of the town, the Knowltons settled here, Joseph and Ezekiel; the latter came from Manchester with his family and made a home in the south part of the town, on the place now owned by Thomas Henry Knowlton. Deacon Ezekiel married Susanna, daughter of Captain Morgan and his wife, Su-
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OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY
sanna Pitts, from England. There is a family tradition that this Susanna Pitts married beneath her station in accepting Captain Morgan. He died on the voyage hither, and she found herself not only a widow in a strange land but alienated from her family beyond the
sea. She landed friendless and homeless, with her little child, and while wandering upon the shore wringing her hands in despair, she was found by a certain Mr. Clark, who was moved with pity for her sad condition and proved that "pity is akin to love," for he wooed and won her from her grief and gave her a happy home. The little fatherless Susanna Morgan became the wife of Deacon Knowlton, and their youngest child Thomas in- herited their home, a two story house which was burnt in 1776 during the War of the Revolution. Nails were so scarce at that period that it was with difficulty enough were procured to build a small one-and-a-half story house on the old site.
In this little home he reared his family of nine children; the two who were born before the destructive fire died in consequence of the inevitable exposure. Kind neighbors furnished the seeds with which to plant a garden from their own scanty store ; many of them were carefully tied in bits of cotton cloth, and these small pieces were so precious to the family who had lost everything, that the thrifty mother sewed them together for a dish-cloth, necessity then as ever being the "mother of invention."
The story of Captain Thomas' dog has feasted the ears
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THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES
of his descendants unto the third and fourth generations. Sheep were mysteriously slaughtered in the south-east part of Grafton. In due time evidence pointed to the Captain's dog "Ranger " as the perpetrator of the mis- chief ; his master was interviewed on the subject but thought it impossible that Ranger could be guilty, espe- cially as he lay nightly before the hearth in his master's sleeping room, and was always in his place in the morn- ing. So confident were the accusers that he was the culprit, that the captain promised to watch the following night. He retired but not to sleep. The dog who was in his accustomed place arose and crept to an open win- dow beneath which there was a sloping shed roof ; crawl- ing out on this roof he easily reached the ground and disappeared ; some hours after the dog returned by the same way and again camped before the fire, his wakeful master with sorrow and consternation in his tones said "Ranger you must die for this," and gave himself up to his needed sleep. The next morning the dog was gone and was never seen or heard of again.
The Captain had a talent for music and for a long pe- riod led the church choir. The grandson who still owns and occupies the homestead has so renovated and added to the little home of Revolutionary times that it would hardly be recognized now by its former occupants. Next to this homestead in the southeast corner of the town, lies what is known as the Witherby farm.
Captain Silas Witherby was the first person known to
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OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY
have owned and occupied this land, having come to Shrewsbury from Marlboro. Since his day five genera- tions have played in its brooks and drank of its cool and refreshing springs. Ward's "History of Shrewsbury" says that Captain Silas married Thankful, probably the daughter of Maj. John Keyes; this is confirmed by old records which have more recently come into the posses- sion of the family. They were married in 1728. At a later date it is recorded that they were dismissed to the church in Grafton; this, however, does not necessitate a change of residence and none appears to have been made. It is thought that at one time this tract of land may have belonged to the township of Grafton. Across the valley on the opposite hill was the John Brooks farm, now known as Kimballville. The then prevalent and much dreaded disease small-pox had attacked the inmates of the farm-house there, when their cat inconsiderately came over, as was its wont, to have a tilt with the With- erby cat. Mrs. Thankful in trying to rescue her favorite, caught the other cat and thus took the dread disease, which to her proved fatal, and she was laid to rest in a remote nook of the home farm. Early the following year Captain Silas died and at his own request was laid beside his wife. Their third child, Lt. Thomas Witherby, although a wanderer for a time, returned to the home- stead with his family from New Hampshire and died there in 1827 aged 81. The name "Thomas " seems to have been handed down in the family from an early date,
THE WITHERBY PLACE.
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THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES
for we learn by ancient records that one Thomas Wither- by just escaped martyrdom by burning at the stake, through the death of "Bloody Mary" Nov. 17th, 1558, which was three days before the time fixed upon for his execution. In his life he exemplified the motto of his coat of Arms "Tenex in Fides." Again it fell to the lot of the third child, Thomas Witherby, Jr., to keep the homestead. Perhaps the lodestone which held him was the lovely daughter of his nearest neighbor, Captain Thomas Knowlton, for she came to grace his home and there dispensed an open-handed hospitality for sixty-six. years ; there, too, she gathered to her loving heart the "mitherless bairns " of more than one generation. The
joys and sorrows, the festivities and merry-makings here witnessed are past recording. It is related that at one time when the Rev. Dr. Sumner came to make a pasto- ral call, the family rum bottle was found to be empty, a most mortifying occurrence in those days, and one of the boys was called to go in haste to the nearest neighbors, to borrow the needful, such friendly accommodation be- ing not infrequent then. A great tumbler was filled with sweetened water and rum; a toasted cracker on the top gave this a delicious flavor. The beverage was passed first to the honored guest, who taking the glass in his hand, told a story, took a draught and passed it to the other guest, Captain Thomas Knowlton, who in turn told his story, drank a portion and passed it to "mine host," who followed the example of the others. Three times it
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OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY
travelled round the circle, and who can doubt that each time more zest was infused into the story telling through the exhilarating influence of the toddy.
When Susanna Knowlton came into the family John Keyes Witherby, son of Silas, was still living. In his youth he was very bright and athletic, and often amused his friends by telling their fortunes with cards. One day being sent to the pasture to catch a horse he took out his cards to learn if he was going to the ball which was soon to be given. The fates were against him ; he was not to go. Before the day was over he cut his foot so badly as to become disabled, and he determined he would never touch another card. A few years later he met with an accident which laid him on his bed for the rest of his life, thirty years. His astute mind was given to the study of the Bible and he became a most intelligent and godly man.
THE PEASE TAVERN.
T HE king's highway in Shrewsbury was well sup- plied with taverns for the entertainment of trav- ellers, and in 1784 there were three noted inns here, -Farrar's, Baldwin's and Howe's. On the corner formed by the junction of the "great road" with the road to Westboro, about one mile from the Northboro line, stands an old house of the last century, conspicuous for its weather-beaten appearance and its substantial look which speaks of better days long since past. This is the "Farrar Tavern" or, as it has more recently been called, the "Pease Tavern." Maj. John' Farrar, an army officer of good report, kept a public house here during the Revolutionary war, and entertained the military companies as they passed through the town. He was born in Concord and descended from Walkeline de Fer- rariis, a Norman of distinction, attached to the suite of William, Duke of Normandy, before the invasion of 1066. A horseshoe is the emblem on the Farrar coat of arms. In 1789, when on his way to Boston, Gen. Washington honored the Farrar Tavern with his presence and we are
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OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY
shown the place in the east front room where he sat and drank his wine while his inferiors took theirs at the bar.
When it became known that the hero of the Revolu- tion was to pass this way, the school-children received an extra lesson in making their manners, that they might greet the chieftain with proper respect. And so it hap- pened, that as Gen. Washington was riding by in his carriage drawn by two bay horses, preceded by his guard on dapple gray horses, his attention was attracted to a row of children on each side of the road, the boys
THE PEASE TAVERN.
on one side making their bows and the girls sweeping their graceful courtesies on the other. The outriders in their uniforms bright with scarlet cloth and gold lace, were so splendid that the children hardly noticed the stopping of the carriage, until a gentleman in plain brown dress alighted and Washington himself stood be- fore them, speaking to every child and shaking hands with the older ones. John Farrar's little daughter Han-
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