USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Shrewsbury > Old times in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Gleanings from history and tradition > Part 6
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OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY
Shrewsbury's absent ones must often turn, for it was here that the people met for instruction, for business and for pleasure. From this place the prayers of the church have gone up ; here the Sunday School has been taught almost since its commencement.
Until the town hall was built, in 1872, the town meet- ings were held here, and bakers sold buns and ginger- bread to the hungry voters. Such fairs were never held in town as we have known in that vestry ; and long ago the Lyceum meetings were held here, and deep and important questions considered settled by Shrewsbury's youthful brains. One needs but to mention singing schools, spelling schools and choir rehearsals, to bring up a troop of pleasant memories to many minds. This, too, was the place for lectures and some eminent men have made the walls resound with their eloquence.
It was in this vestry that John B. Gough gave his first temperance lecture and the people turned out in large numbers to hear him. It was then and there that he first saw the young lady who afterward became his, wife. Years after, when he had become the most noted temperance lecturer in the world; he told this story to an audience gathered in the same room, this time at a banquet given in his honor when he had delivered a lecture for the benefit of the Public Library.
Another renowned man also honored this room with his first speech. In 1850 Mr. George F. Hoar, then a young man just entering public life, was requested to
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THE CHURCH IN 1892.
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DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH
address the Shrewsbury people upon the "Fugitive Slave Law," the great topic that was then being agi- tated. He came and made his first political speech, and he says that when he had finished, Mr. Ward told him that he "handled that subject very well." No one can doubt the truth of that remark, for it is an undis- puted fact that the Honorable George F. Hoar handles all subjects well.
Of the recent alterations and renovations in the old church some other pen must tell. Could the men who raised the frame in 1766 stand within it in 1892, they would look with some surprise upon the neatly frescoed walls and the organ sounding out the tunes they used to hold in too great reverence to be touched by any mere machine. More astonished still would they be to feel the heat coming up through holes in the floor upon a cold winter day. Yet not more strange would it seem to them than it would to the Shrewsbury people of to-day, could they be carried back a century or more and see the quaint picture of Doctor Sumner in his long, black gown and full, white wig, preaching in the great, white pulpit with the sounding-board overhead.
OTHER PEOPLE AND INCIDENTS.
T HE town was all astir one morning in April, 1786, when the news flew abroad that a burglary had been committed in the night in three different houses. The penalty for this crime was death by hang- ing ; and a deed so bold as this, done in the usually quiet village, caused no little excitement. The burglar, who proved to be a negro by the name of Johnson Green, was arrested the next day after a search in the surrounding woods by several parties of men, and was brought before General Ward to whom he confessed his crime and he was committed to the Worcester "Gaol." The spoils he obtained that night are thus recorded- " He stole from Mr. Baldwin I pair of shoes one pair of silver Buckles I furstin jaccot two all wool Do. one shirt cotton and linnen, one Bottle of New England rum, two Cakes of Gingerbread, 21 coat and jaccot Buttons and four or five shillings in cash-from Mr. Farrar one pair of boots one pair of Shoes, I pair of Shoe Buckles silver one pair of Sizars 20 or 30 Coppers a remnant of black Sattin lasting one linnen pocket handkerchief-from Mr.
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Wyman about fifteen or Sixteen Shillings in Cash part Silver & part Copper. He confessed he broak up and Stole all the above articles except the bottle of Ginn- The three above houses he broak up in one night."
Strong and Lincoln acted as his counsel at the trial in Worcester, April 18, 1786, Benjamin Heywood of Shrews- bury being one of the jury. At the trial he gave an account of his wicked deeds; he was then twenty-nine years of age but began to steal when only twelve years old, his first theft being four cakes of gingerbread and six biscuits. Not being discovered in this, he was en- couraged to go on until at last he met his doom. His confession was as follows :
" I Johnson Green having brought myself to a shame- ful and ignominious death by my wicked conduct, and as I am a dying man I leave to the world the following history of my birth, education and various practices, hoping that all people will take warning by my evil example and shun vice and follow virtue." Then fol- lows a minute account of his career ending with the Shrewsbury burglary, and said that he also "stole one pair of thread stockings at Lyons just beyond said Wymans and then hid myself in the woods where I lay till the next day, and at evening set off toward Boston, was arrested by a guard placed by a bridge in the edge of Westboro."
He was sentenced to be executed the next June, but breaking Gaol he escaped and followed for a short time
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his favorite pastime, of house-breaking, when he was again arrested and again escaped, practiced still further his unlawful pursuits, and was again arrested on the very day originally set for his execution. On the 17th of August, 1786, he was hung in Worcester for the " atrocious crime of burglary."
Captain Nathan Howe used to relate a story which is supposed to refer to this same Green. . When the Cap- tain was at West Point there was a negro there who was sentenced by a court-martial to be whipped for stealing officers' rations. When the punishment was about to be inflicted, the officer having charge of it told the negro, after he had been tied up by his thumbs to a post, that if he would ask pardon of the gentlemen offi- cers present they would forgive him, and the punish- ment might be remitted. The culprit peeked out under his arms to the right and left and said "I don't see any gentlemen officers here," and in truth there were no officers present except the Captain of the provost guard who from the very nature of his duties was not a favorite with the soldiers, certainly not with such of them as he most had to do with. "Then," said the Captain to the man who was to do the whipping, "lay on to the rascal," and the poor fellow got a much severer punish- ment than he would but for his witty reply to the offer of pardon. As Green himself told in the story of his life of having been in the Revolutionary War and at. West Point, he is undoubtedly the one who was whipped.
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When Ross Wyman came here in 1749, he purchased of Abram Eager one hundred and sixty acres of land with the buildings thereon. The farm contains a pretty sheet of water where he built a dam and a mill. Being a gun maker and a blacksmith by trade he built his shops near the mill and practiced his various callings as occasion required. On the opposite side of the road from these buildings and the old house, he erected a new house which still stands, occupied by his descend- ants, and is in excellent repair, being no mean represen- tation of the architecture of those times. It seems to have been more carefully put together, more pains taken to have the beams that show in the rooms, nicely fin- ished and laid straight and even at both ends, than the "scribe and tumble rule" usually demanded. This house, though not called a tavern, had its bar-room and was kept open to the public.
Ross Wyman was a zealous patriot and in league with every scheme that was for the good of the col- onists. At a convention of blacksmiths held in Wor- cester September 21st, 1774, he was chosen chairman. They resolved that they would not do any blacksmith work for the Tories nor for any one in their employ, nor for any one who had not signed the non-consumptive agreement, and requested all denominations of artificers to call meetings of their craftsmen and adopt like measures. "The recommendations and resolves of this and other like conventions, were received as laws duly
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enacted and were enforced with a promptitude and zeal that nothing could withstand." The non-consumptive agreement referred to was a resolution adopted by the Ist Provincial Congress assembled in Cambridge on October 21st, 1774, and was recommending "the total disuse of India teas in this Province, and to the several towns to choose Committees to post in some public place the names of all such in their respective towns who shall sell or consume so extravagant and unnecessary an article of luxury." We are told that it was in Ross Wyman's bar-room that some of the young men gathered one night and burned all the tea they could collect in town, to show how they felt about the tea tax.
At the commencement of the Revolutionary War, Gen. Ward requested this patriotic blacksmith to make a gun for him of sufficient strength to pitch an Englishman over his head. He made it to order and of horse nail stubs, a real kings-arm and an excellent weapon. . It disappeared many years ago and its whereabouts is now unknown. Ross Wyman had a clear head and a strong arm, and a story is told of him in this wise :
Being at one time in Boston and ready to start for home with a load of provisions, he came near being seized and carried off by a press gang from a British man-of-war. Resolutely defending himself, he at length snatched up a cod-fish, and, with both hands in the gills, he beat them off by slapping their faces with its slimy tail. Being more than a match for them with his cod-
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fish he tried the same weapon at another time. He was again returning from Boston and on Saturday stopped at Wayland to spend the night and the Sabbath. It was winter time, and he was with his sleigh; the weather grew warm in the night and the early morning showed that the sleighing would not last until Monday. Fearing delay would be dangerous he started at daylight and drove on without interruption until he came to Sudbury, when in passing the house of a magistrate, he, in the dignity of his office came out with two other men to stop him according to the law and custom of the times that no one should travel on the Lord's day. Then the cod-fish came into use again, and again was victorious and Ross reached home triumphant ! His patriotic and daring spirit was doubtless inherited from his father, Seth Wyman of Woburn, who distinguished himself in the famous "Lovewell's fight." This event took a greater hold on the feelings of the people than any con- flict with the Indians since King Philip's war, and fur- nished a theme for fireside tales and heroic songs, until the Battle of Bunker Hill and the war that followed gave rise to stories that eclipsed those of Capt. Lovewell and his men fighting against the dusky Paugus and his savage warriors.
Ross Wyman lived to be quite an old man. In Dr. Flint's journal we find this entry. "Nov. 3d, 1807. Mr. Ross Wyman visited our belfry, heard the bell ring, went to the long pond, viewed the bridge and the new
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road, and was highly gratified. In his gist year, at- tended by eight men."
"July 13, 1808, Mr. Wyman buried."
" Dec. 8, 1808, Mrs. Wyman buried."
On this same farm and a few rods up the hill by the roadside, half a mile from the Northboro line, is a spot where a few years ago stood a small one-story house which was also of Revolutionary date, and has been known as the " old Alexander house." James Alexander was a Scotchman, and a deserter from Burgoyne's army when the army marched through this town in 1786 on its way to Boston. He strolled away from his company and found his way into Dr. Sumner's barn, where he slept on the hay-mow and was discovered by the Rev. Dr. in the morning, who took him into the house, gave him a breakfast, and admiring his intelligence and evident desire for other employment than that of march- ing with a defeated army, gave him an opportunity of working at his trade and making shoes for his family, offering the amount of his salary in paper money, if he would keep them well shod.
Later he moved into the small house where his family grew up and there he made shoes for the neighborhood, doing the nicest work. He proved to be a good citizen and lived until 1841 in the house on the Wyman farm, making all kinds of foot covering from the heaviest boot to the lightest dancing slippers.
A brief account of the Lovewell fight may be of in-
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terest here as the event is so intimately connected with a Shrewsbury family and with the early history of the country.
In the Autumn of 1724 the inhabitants of the frontier towns on the Merrimac river, being dissatisfied with the manner of carrying on the War with the Indians, wished to adopt offensive measures. Accordingly a company of 87 soldiers was organized, of which John Lovewell was Captain. A petition was sent to the Legislature in which they say-" That if said company may be allowed five shillings per day in case they kill any enemy Indians, and possesse their Scalp they will employ in Indian Hunting one whole year, and if they do not within that time kill any, they are content to be allowed nothing for their wages, time and trouble." This petition was granted, changing the bounty into £1oo for every scalp taken during one year. "Capt. Lovewell was a brave and adventurous officer, and stimulated by this offer, he immediately took the field and led his company on towards the dwelling-place of the Pequaketts, who resided within the territory now forming the towns of Fryeburg, Maine, and Conway, N. H."
On the 29th of January, 1724, they mustered and started on their expedition from Dunstable, travelling a few miles each day and camping where night found them, sending out scouts and sometimes seeing and killing an Indian. Through the cold months and in the snow they marched, until the men became footsore,
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and coming in the latter part of February to Newington, Maine, they went on board a sloop bound for Boston, where they arrived March Ioth. About the middle of April they started out again, this time with only 46 men and marched to Saweco river, then to Pigwacket, where they found Paugus and his men and had the famous battle. It was on the 8th of May, and the killing of an Indian early in the day brought out numbers from Ambush and 10 o'clock the attack was made. At the first volley Capt. Lovewell and Ensign Robbins were mortally wounded, but supporting themselves by trees they fired upon the enemy until their strength failed and "Capt. Lovewell's gun was cocked and presented when he was past speaking." With the fall of the brave Cap- tain, Ensign Wyman took command and "through the rest of that eventful day, by his prudent management and courageous example he was doubtless under God instrumental in preserving so many from being cut off, the enemy being more than double their number." "Seeing them become dispirited, he animated them to action, assuring them that the day would be theirs if their spirits did not flag, which so encouraged them that several discharged their muskets between twenty and thirty times apiece." Thirty-three men entered the engagement in the morning and at night twenty-one were left.
For his valor Ensign Wyman was commissioned Captain by Lt. Gov. Dumner and was presented with a
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silver hilted sword as an assurance of the public ap- probation. He soon started out again with a company under his command, but the heat of summer carried sickness into his camp which resulted in the death of many, among them brave Captain Wyman himself. He died on the fifth of September, 1725, at the age of thirty-nine.
Shrewsbury never suffered from Indian invasion and depredation like the earlier and frontier towns and con- sequently has no tales of Indian warfare connected with its history and no romantic legendary lore, but among the families whose ancestors struggled with the foe and lost their lives in the defence of their liberties we find the name of Hapgood, originally Habgood. The earliest Habgood in this country came from England in 1656, arriving in Boston in July of that year. This Shadrach Habgood married in Sudbury, 1664, Elizabeth Tread- way, daughter of the landowner Nathaniel Treadway, whose name was attached to the Shrewsbury grants long before the land received its present name. He was living in Sudbury when the war with King Philip came on and was one of the company of twenty mounted men sent by the government to treat with the Indians and prevent the war if possible. They proceeded to visit Brookfield, here fell into an ambush and were sud- denly surrounded by two or three hundred Indians who killed eight of their number and mortally wounded three others. Among the murdered was Shadrach Hapgood.
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This was in 1675. Captain Thomas Hapgood, who was son of Shadrach, Nov. 12, 1703, petitioned the General Court for an allowance, alleging that "he having in 1690 been detached into the service against the Indian enemy, was engaged in the bloody fight near Oyster River, N. H., wherein Capt. Noah Wiswell and divers others were slain and wounded : that he there had his left arm broken and his right hand much shot so that he endured great pain and narrowly escaped with his life; that he was thereby very much disabled for labour and getting his livelihood : forced to sell what stock he had acquired before being wounded, to maintain himself since, and that in the fight he was necessitated to leave and lose his arms with which he was well furnished at his own charge. The Court granted him £5." He and his brother Nathaniel began life with considerable means, and became owners of large tracts of land, in Marl- bro; and eighty acres of the land granted to Isaac Johnson, lying within the present limits of Shrews- bury ; were purchased by Thomas, who bequeathed the same to his son Captain Thomas, who settled thereon in 1725; he became a leading man here and served as selectman seven years. He married Damaris Hutchins, and from them descended all of the name in Shrews- bury.
Daniel Heminway was a famous church builder ; he framed the Shrewsbury meeting-house, the old South in Worcester and the one in Northboro where the Rev.
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Peter Whitney long officiated, besides many other pub- lic buildings. "He was a warm patriot in the time of the Revolution, one of the strong men of the town," and a member of the third Provincial Congress, where he did important work on various committees, one of which was to purchase arms for the use of the army, for which service he received £4 8s. Another was to "procure stores for depositing fish for the use of the Colony." He was also a delegate from this town to the Convention that framed the Constitution of the Com- monwealth. He came here from Framingham and died in 1794 aged 75.
Vashni Heminway son of Daniel, was a joiner by trade. He was a representative to the General Court several years and for twenty-two years held the office of town clerk.
One of the duties of the town clerk was to publish the marriage bans. This was required by law, that any person might object if he knew just cause why the marriage should not be. There were two ways of pub- lishing the bans, those concerned choosing the one which they preferred. A written notice of the matrimo- nial intention was posted in some public place, or they must be "cried off" in church; the latter was con- sidered in best style. The Sabbath service being over, as the congregation was dispersing, the town clerk called the attention of the people by his loud "Oyez ! Oyez ! Oyez !" and read the notice. This was done three Sundays
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in succession, and if there were no objections offered, there was a wedding soon. If the more quiet way was preferred, the notice was posted beside the church door in a conspicuous place where it would not fail to be observed by all who entered. As it was a matter of some curiosity to know who was to be married in the village, few passed in without reading. Three weeks was the allotted time for this also. One spirited Shrews- bury girl who was published to marry a townsman, heard just in time that the family of her intended did not desire her as an addition to their circle. The next Sunday when she entered the south porch, she quickly stepped aside to the place where the notice was posted, tore it down and crumpling it in her hands threw it on the floor, crushing it still more with the high heel of her shoe, and then with sparkling eyes and a toss of her head went on and took her seat. It is needless to say that the wedding did not take place. When Vashni Heminway was to be married he outwitted all the gos- sips. He posted his own intentions at the proper time and usual place in the south porch, covering it with a notice to those who had dogs to take care of them dur- ing the church service and not let them get troublesome.
His bans were published in this way for three weeks and no one was the wiser but himself and a certain girl who was spinning for Mrs. Sumner. When the three weeks were over Vashni walked into Dr. Sumner's house one day, in his working clothes, not even remov-
Marrage Is Intended Beingem. Keeps,, 18 skilland.
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+
Sorun-Clash
FACSIMILE OF MARRIAGE NOTICE.
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ing his leather apron, and told the Rev. Doctor that he had come to be married to the girl spinning in his kitchen. She was called in and the ceremony per- formed forthwith-after a satisfactory explanation had been made.
The following was copied from a genuine marriage notice that was posted more than a century ago, the torn ends of the paper showing where the nails held it :
Marriage is intended between Timothy Keyes of Rut- land & Prudence Wilder of Shrewsbury.
Shrewsbury
Artemas Ward,
Jany' ye 17 1755 Town Clerk.
One of Shrewsbury's noted men was Capt. Luther Goddard, who was born in 1762. In middle life he withdrew from the church and faith of his forefathers and joined the Baptists, becoming a preacher and itiner- ant minister.
The way he became famous was by making watches, and it is said that he made the first watch that was ever made in America. He had his shop here, and besides cleaning and repairing the watches of the Shrewsbury people he also took care that those in the surrounding towns were kept in good order. Every other Sunday he. preached in Lancaster, and the service being over he would collect all the disordered watches, take them home and return them in perfect order the next preach- ing day. Thus did he combine his different callings and made his various talents of service on all occasions.
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He was instrumental in forming a Baptist Society in Shrewsbury, and by his enterprise a meeting-house was built and services sustained through his lifetime. The meeting-house was afterward transformed into a dwell- ing-house by Mr. Lyman Howe and is now occupied by Mr. George Dow. It is on the Worcester road about half a mile west of the post-office, and has been re- modelled and changed in appearance within a few 1 -
years.
One of the eminent physicians here was Dr. Seth Knowlton, who was born in 1781 and was grandson of Deacon Ezekiel. Harlow's History says, "He was a man of strong intellect and great influence in the town, and he was noted as much for his positive opinions and his ability to maintain them against all opposers, as he was for his skill as a surgeon and physician." There are some elderly persons now, who are not likely to ever forget the jolly Doctor who sweetened his medicine with merry stories and jokes, though the jokes were not always agreeable to the suffering patient. He was not very tall, but so fleshy as not to wish to mount a horse and always carried his saddle-bags in his sulky.
The children knew by woeful experience that those saddle-bags contained mixtures of inconceivable bitter- ness, and to the pains of sickness was added the horrible thought of the nauseous doses they must swallow when the Doctor came. One lady recalls her pleasure at the Doctor's visits, when he always took from his pocket a
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great copper cent to compensate her for the bitter spoon- ful which came after it and which she must take. His doses of dissolved fishworms, dried and powdered frogs, hog lice steeped in brandy and other delectable compounds seem to have had not a bad effect upon those who lived to grow up under his treatment, their vigorous constitutions holding out to a good old age. He was foremost in forming the Restoration Society here and gathered the children for the first Sabbath School in Dr. Sumner's church about 1810.
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