USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Our country and its people; a descriptive and biographical record of Bristol County, Massachusetts > Part 34
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The fishing interest in early years was very important and its regu- lation was a subject requiring frequent attention from the authorities. For example, on the 21st of May, 1771, it was voted "to lay a duty of two shillings Lawful Money per Barrel on all fish Seigned within the harbors or coves of this Town this present year and the duty rased thereby to be paid to the Town Treasurer for the use of Said Town."
In 1773 it was voted "that the workhouse in the Town of Dart- mouth be properly Endowed with suitable Utensils for said house and to be regulated according to Law." It was also voted in that year " to raise by way of tax the sum of Eighty seven pounds eight shillings and four pence Lawful money to defray the charges accrued to said town by Building the New Workhouse in Bedford in Dartmouth." This is the first mention of Bedford in the Dartmouth records. The building alluded to stood on the east side of South Sixth street, between Spring and School.
Meanwhile the little village was receiving new accessions to its population, industries were multiplying, and by 1775 the whaling fleet had increased to fifty vessels, many of them much larger than the former ones, while the voyages were farther extended and the product greatly increased.
1 Mr. Rotch's first purchase included ten acres in one piece, and he afterwards bought other tracts. As this land had been held by the Russells, and as this was the family name of the Duke of Bedford, Mr. Rotch applied the name, Bedford, to the village.
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In 1772 Joseph Rotch purchased the first fire engine for Bedford vil- lage. It was called Independence No. 1, and was built by Richard Newsham, in London, England. It was kept on the north side of William street, on the site of the Safe Deposit and Trust Company. It was, of course, a very imperfect fire engine, but it fulfilled its purpose in the village until 1814, and the company that used it continued in existence until 1834. The Bedford Fire Society was formed March 4, 1807, and had general supervision over all affairs pertaining to danger from fire.
The prosperity in Bedford was crippled and checked by the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, and before the long struggle ended the business part of the village and a large quantity of shipping were destroyed by the enemy. The history of that war as it related to Bris- tol county at large has been written in an earlier chapter; it remains only to notice here the more important local events of the conflict.
So prompt was the response of Dartmouth when the call to arms was brought through the town by a swift rider, that on April 21, 1775, only two days after the battle of Lexington, three companies of minute men marched to Roxbury and went into camp. In the rolls of these com- panies are found many names that are still familiar in the history of New Bedford and its immediate vicinity. Lexington and Concord were soon followed by the battle of Bunker Hill in June, 1775, and from that time forward the grand march of momentous events was unchecked. No locality suffered more or earlier in the war than the old town of Dartmouth, with its extended shore line and extensive shipping inter- ests, and a large share of the burden of disaster fell upon Bedford vil- lage. Privateering sprang into existence early in the war to prey upon the commerce of the enemy and became a potent factor in the struggle. At the very beginning of hostilities British cruisers swarmed along the American coast and few vessels ventured out of the harbors. This was especially true of New Bedford harbor. The whaling industry was paralyzed, the whale ships lay idle at the wharves, and a host of ener- getic, brave men were without occupation. It is not strange that they, in common with thousands from other ports, turned to the hazardous yet alluring life of the privateersman. The very first naval exploit and capture recorded in the annals of the Revolution took place in New Bedford harbor, by Dartmouth men, on May 13, 1775, as before related.
Passing over many events of the war that belong to general history, we come down to September 5, 1778, when New Bedford and Dart-
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mouth were made to suffer for the part they had taken in the maritime warfare. The people had ample notice that something unusual was to take place. On August 17 a notice was posted by the Selectmen and Committee of Safety, ordering the inhabitants to remove to a place of safety all goods, wares and merchandise that were private property. Persons having charge of public property received the same instruc- tions. The little fort at Fairhaven (now Fort Phoenix) was in a state of defense with eleven iron cannon, a magazine full of ammunition, and a garrison of thirty-two men under command of Capt. Timothy Ingraham and Lieutenant Foster; the barracks would accommodate two hundred men. Two cannon, also, were mounted on Clark's Point. The only other means of repelling an enemy was a detachment of artil- lery consisting of eighty men, under command of Capt. James F. Cushing and Lieuts. Joseph Bell, William Gordon and James Metcalf. This company had been stationed at the village, but unfortunately a few days before the invasion they were called away to take part in what is called the battle of Rhode Island. Strange as it now appears, many of the people around the harbor thought that these comparatively in- significant defenses would prove sufficient to keep the enemy at bay; but as a measure of prudence some of the vessels with which the har- bor was filled were moved up the river in the fond belief that they would thus be placed beyond harm. Meanwhile in the New London harbor was anchored a formidable squadron of British war vessels, con- sisting of the Carysfoot of forty guns, with Rear-Admirable Gambier and Major-General Grey on board, an 18-ton brig, and thirty-six transports. The troops numbered about four thousand. With favor- able wind this fleet sailed on the 4th of September, for Bedford.1 A part of the vessels worked to the eastward and landed their troops on Sconticut Neck, but the greater number entered Clark's Cove. When the soldiers were all landed the day was far spent. The whole military force was drawn up preparatory to their destructive raid.2 A bright moonlight night was ushered in. The enemy marched up the old
1 In a letter to Sir Henry Clinton, September 18, 1778, General Grey said: " By five o'clock in the afternoon of the 8th, the ships were at anchor in Clark's Cove, and the boats having been previously hoisted, the debarkation of the troops took place immediately."
2 In the group surrounding the general was a figure, conspicuous for his manly beauty and martial bearing, who was to fill a pathetic page in our national history-Capt. John Andre, bearer of dispatches on General Grey's staff, a mere stripling of twenty-seven years when he marched with the British troops through our township. Two years later he was adjutant-general, with the rank of major, on Sir Henry Clinton's staff, and purchased his death and fame by one coura - geous service for his king .- Ellis's History of New Bedford, p. 116.
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middle road and sweeping across the head of the cove, entered the woodland path that led to the town. Reaching the intersecting road (now Union street), the troops divided, one column marching down the river, the other continuing on to the Head-of-the-River and thence southward through Fairhaven to Sconticut Neck. It is probable that the naval forces co-operated to some extent with the land troops. Bedford village was then a cluster of houses bordering the river front; three wharves, Rotch's, Russell's, and McPherson's at Belleville, were important places for fitting out ships; while the warehouses, stores and shops were principally situated east of Water street between Commer- cial and Middle streets, as they now are. Keeping this in mind it will be easy to comprehend the extent of the oncoming calamity.
When the troops reached the river front, the firing of buildings be- gan, the distillery and two ropewalks being burned. That distillery stood on the west end of land now covered by the granite building at the head of Commercial street, while the ropewalks were undoubtedly situated near the site of the Second street cemetery and extended to the river. The map of Bedford village, in 1815, shows Butler & Allen's ropewalk immediately south of Rotch's, north of this site. Along the lower streets and wharves now hurried the troops in their work of de- struction, and structures of all kinds were soon enveloped in flames. The brig, No Duty on Tea, was fired and floated from McPherson's wharf and grounded on Marsh island; other vessels drifted on the shores and islands as far down as Fort Phoenix, or sank to the bottom, their wrecks to be removed fifty years later. A little before nine o'clock, and after some of the vessels which had been set on fire on the Bedford side had drifted down towards the fort, the troops which had landed on the east side advanced upon the fort. Two guns were fired at the fleet and after spiking the cannon the garrison retreated north- ward; their strength being unknown to the British they were not pur- sued, and the whole garrison excepting Robert Crossman, who was wounded, and John Skiff and his father, taken prisoners, escaped to the woods north of Fairhaven; there they lay until the British had passed them from the Head-of the River. The British blew up the magazine in the fort, burned the barracks, and then moved northward destroying vessels and stores, finally forming a junction with the detachment from the west side near the head of the Acushnet.
Many tragic incidents took place during this memorable night, a few of which may be briefly noted. John Gilbert, who was employed by
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Joseph Russell, was upon the brink of capture by the enemy, but escaped and met William Hayden and Oliver Potter on the Smith Mills road. After learning of the whereabouts of the troops these two men, armed with muskets, crossed the fields and secreted themselves in the woods bordering what is now County street, near the head of North street. When the British came that way they fired and two of the enemy fell. This was the first blood shed.
It was quickly followed by what was the most tragic occurrence of the invasion. Abram Russell, Thomas Cook and Diah Trafford were coming up what is now North street on their way to the woods. They were fired upon by British soldiers, who then advanced with bayonet. Russell was killed immediately, his head, as a record has it, " being entirely cut to pieces." Cook died early the next morning, his bowels being cut open with a bayonet. Trafford was wounded in the leg and died the following day. The three men lay in the road all that night, but were taken into Joseph Russell's barn in the morning.
It so happened that on the very day the British landed at Clark's Cove, a part of the artillery company before mentioned, with one gun, under command of Lieutenants Gordon and Metcalf, returned to Bedford from the scene of the battle of Rhode Island, and when the alarm was given was reconnoitering in the vicinity of Caleb Russell's house. It is a tradition that Gordon was attracted into the dwelling by a kettle of hot Indian pudding, and that just as he had seated himself to appease his hunger he was taken prisoner; but he afterwards escaped. As the enemy advanced this little detachment of artillery with their one cannon made the best of their situation as they slowly retreated. At the Head- of-the River Metcalf was mortally wounded, died three days later, and was buried in the old Acushnet Cemetery.
When the work of destruction began the inhabitants fled. The road to the Head-of-the- River (now Acushnet avenue) was a route of escape for many of the fugitives, and their worldly goods, as far as they were able to move them, were hidden in the adjoining thickets. It is known that many families in the vicinity lost nearly all their possessions.1 Mrs. Susan Brightman, whose husband was at sea, fled with her four children up the road and beyond the village at the Head of the River,
1 On the east side of this road is the cellar walls of the cottage, which, with its numerous ad- ditions, was recently owned by Willard Nye, jr. In the days of the Revolution it was the prop- erty of Timothy Tallman, who lived there with his three brothers, Seth, William and Elkanah. When the invasion took place these grounds were used by their friends as a place of deposit for their household treasures .- Ellis's Hist. New Bedford, p. 122-3.
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where she turned into a field and found shelter in a sheep shed; there she waited in fear while the troops went by. On her way back home she met a citizen who was considered rich for those times, who ex- claimed: "Mrs. Brightman, my property is all destroyed, and I am as poor as you are."
After accomplishing their destructive work at Acushnet the enemy proceeded down the road to Fairhaven. The first house destroyed there was that of Col. Edward Pope, a prominent and loyal citizen. Next the house of Stephen Hathaway was entered and the soldiers de- manded money and valuables. When those were not forthcoming they proceeded to search the house, forcing open desks and drawers with their bayonets and carrying away property. While these operations were in progress the commander-in-chief rode into the yard, and to him Mrs. Hathaway complained of the actions of the soldiers. He assured her that it was not his intention to have any of the Friends disturbed and ordered a guard for the house. While there is no doubt that it was the policy of the British to leave the Quakers unmolested, it is still true that many were personally maltreated.
Proceeding on southward the soldiers stopped at the house of Thomas Hathaway (known in recent years as the Laura Keene farm), on the west side of the road. Jonathan Kempton, Mr. Hathaway's nephew and ward, was on Sconticut Neck when the troops were passing through Acushnet village, and he hastened home; he was just in time to pack up the silver and other valuables in a small trunk. He met the ad- vance guard at the door, who relieved him of the trunk and took him on board a vessel of the fleet. Setting fire to bedding on the upper floor of the house the troops departed. Kempton had put on two pairs of trousers, hoping to save them both; but he shrewdly offered one pair to the soldier who was guarding him down the lane, if he might escape. The offer was accepted, and young Kempton fled, reaching the house in time to extinguish the fire.
Obed Hathaway's store, filled with West India goods, on the east side of the road, farther south, was next burned. The same fate befell the house standing at the fork of the road, just south of the site of Riverside Cemetery, where aged and feeble Bartholomew West and his two sons, William and Edward, were living. William was at the village with an ox team and found the house in flames when he returned. Old Mr. West was carried out of the threatened building by Hannah Sogg, a domestic in the family.
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Still marching on southward, the invaders next burned another store of goods, a school house, and then Zeuriah Wood's dwelling, from which the family had fled. Their work of destruction finished, the troops marched a mile below to the place of embarkation of the British army, where they camped until the following Monday morning. Gen- eral Grey's dispatches state that the embarkation was wholly made on Sunday, but they did not sail until Monday, September 7. Sixteen prisoners were taken on board, among whom was a member of the Delano family. The following is from the dispatches of the command- ing general :
The wind did not admit of any further movements of the fleet on the 6th and 7th than hauling a little distance from the shore. Advantage was taken of this circum- stance to burn a large privateer ship on the stocks, and to send a small armament of boats, with two galleys, to destroy two or three vessels, which, being in the stream, the troops had not been able to set fire to.
This expedition moved up the river on Sunday evening and landed north of Fort Phoenix. Meanwhile a force of several hundred minute men had gathered, who were under command of a colonel who is de- scribed as old and feeble and who announced to his men that it would be useless to attempts a defense of Fairhaven village. The place would probably have been wholly destroyed but for the heroic action of Maj. Israel Fearing, of Wareham. He gathered around him a strong force of the volunteers and posted them in good position to meet the enemy who were seen coming up the bay. The landing was made about 8 o'clock, and their oncoming and the firing of several buildings in their path demoralized the Americans, who prepared to retreat. At this juncture Major Fearing came up in their rear, raised his pistol, and de- clared he would shoot every man who attempted to desert; then, ap- pealing to their manhood with stimulating words he quelled their fright and inspired them with courage to face the enemy. The British were now at close quarters and into their ranks the volunteers poured a vol- ley so destructive that the enemy fled in disorder to their boats and rowed away to the fleet. The vessels sailed on Monday to Martha's Vineyard and Falmouth, where American shipping was destroyed and money, stock and other property carried away.
On the same Sunday morning just mentioned a number of British barges loaded with soldiers were sent to Padanaram, where several houses were burned, most of them the property of those staunch sup- porters of the American cause, the Aikin family. It is said that Rich-
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ard Shearman and Eldad Tupper, both active and conspicuous tories, gave the information as to the attitude of the Aikins which led to this destruction of their property.
The desperate condition in which the community was left by this in- vasion is to some extent indicated by the action of the General Court in 1780, when £1,200 was appropriated for the relief of the sufferers. This sum was paid out by Col. Thomas Kempton, to the following named persons who were designated by the Selectmen: Sylvanus Allen, Sylvanus Allen, jr., Walla Adams, James Aikin, Betsey Cathel (widow), Uriah Dunham, John Gerrish, Samuel Hawes, Sarah Kemp- ton (widow), Lemuel Mendal, Anna Mot, Stephen Merrihew, Mary Negus, Shoebal Peas, Joseph Rotch, Abigail Samson, Reliance Sum- merton, George Whippe, Timothy Ingraham, John Wait, Sarah Shear- man, Seth Reed, Oliver Price, Benjamin Taber, Experience Tripp, George Wrightington, Griffin Barney, Eleazer Hathaway, Micha Hath- away, Gamaliel Briant, Thomas Boland, Freeman Taber, Ephraim Annibal, Elihu Aikin, James Chandler, Charles Church, Sole Cushman, Venture Child, Joshua Doune, Martha Hamblin.1 Many of these names are familiar to citizens of Bristol county to-day.
Fort Phoenix was rebuilt very soon after the invasion; it was con- sidered a post of considerable importance and in 1780 was garrisoned by about one hundred men. A letter written by Jabez Delano to Will- iam H. Waterman, April 17, 1874, contained the following statement in this connection :
Royal Hathaway stated that Benjamin Dillingham was captain and his father, Eleazer Hathaway, was lieutenant of the company that built Fort Phoenix, and his impressions were that it was begun previous to the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, and that it was about two years in building. 2
Military pay rolls and other papers still in existence show that old Dartmouth furnished at least five hundred men for the army in the war of the Revolution. A large number of seamen must also have gone from this town. It was a loyal community as a whole. While there were tories in the township, they were not numerous in propor- tion to the population, nor especially active. The large membership in the Society of Friends, who were neutral or inactive in the struggle, probably created an atmosphere of disloyalty to the American cause; but the Quakers were far from being traitors; just as far as their relig-
1 The spelling of names is according to the records. 2 Ellis's Hist. New Bedford, p. 140.
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ious beliefs permitted they were friendly to the American cause and rejoiced in its triumph.
The condition of the township after the British invasion was deplora- ble. Warehouses, shipyards, ropewalks, dwellings, barns and ship- ping were gone. Workmen were idle and families homeless. About seventy ships, most of them built by Dartmouth artisans, went up in flames. Despair seized upon the community and time alone could again endow the people with their former courage and energy for the re establishment of their industries and homes.
Many of the early settlers of the old town of Dartmouth, as well as of other parts of Bristol county, were Quakers. They were, moreover, the founders of Bedford village and in after years were prominent in its business and social life. They came across the ocean to escape re- ligious persecution, only to meet in many instances treatment no less severe and unwarranted than would have been accorded them in their former homes. They were lovers of peace, devoted to their families and friends, industrious and frugal, of high morality, and in every way useful citizens. It was, perhaps, to be expected that the same spirit existing in England should to some extent prevail in her colonies, and that the religious and political feuds in the old country should follow in the wake of the early vessels that brought our ancestors across the At- lantic. Churchmen, Puritans and Quakers, each at variance with the other, were in turn subjected to persecution, imprisonment, and ban- ishment from their homes. The advent of Quakers in Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Colonies supplied the opportunity for new persecu- tion of the sect, and they, with Baptists and Episcopalians, suffered similar treatment from the authorities. The laws enforced relating to these non-conformists made it impossible for them to dwell in peace in the colonial settlements, and finally their frequent banishment from the settled centers impelled them to plant their homes in the then unsettled districts. Thus it happened that many found their way into Dart- mouth, where they in course of time became a numerous and influential element in the community and were able to out-vote that portion of the inhabitants who were in sympathy with the Plymouth government. Both Quakers and Baptists resisted payment of taxes imposed by the Plymouth Court for building meeting-houses and maintenance of a ministry with whose creed they were not in harmony; but the non- conformists suffered the severest persecutions from the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay. The records reveal a number of cases where Quak-
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ers were hung, publicly whipped, or imprisoned, while others were tied to the tail of a cart and publicly driven from town to town. Baptists were banished and Episcopalians driven to exile. At Plymouth these people received more liberal and humane treatment, although even there the Quakers were far from being a popular element in the colony. The old records of the Friends in Dartmouth are filled with details of accusations, arrests and punishment of Quakers for various offenses against the edicts of the authorities; but instances were very rare where even, under the bitterest trial, they failed to stand firmly by their faith. To the Quakers of Dartmouth and Tiverton, with aid from the Baptists, belongs the credit of making the first successful appeal for justice to the English government. In October, 1723, John Aikin and Philip Taber, of Dartmouth, and John Sisson, of Tiverton, Quakers or Bap- tists, were assessors of those towns and refused to collect the tax im- posed by the General Court for the maintenance of the ministers. They were all promptly put in jail. When the case was argued before the King's Privy Council, it was decreed that not only should the officials be released, but that the taxes should be remitted. This event was important in its influence and really marked the termination of perse- cution of the Quakers.
In the two wars, which so seriously affected Bristol county, the Quakers were uncompromising in their attitude of non-resistance, as has already been seen, and it was due to their influence that old Dart- mouth was frequently under rebuke of the court for negligence in mil- itary matters.1 Many cases of arrest and imprisonment are recorded for refusal to enter military service. Their loyalty to their religion caused them much loss of property and distress during the Revolution, besides frequently leading to charges of actual disloyalty to the Amer- ican cause. For such charges there was no ground whatever; if the Quakers would not fight, they at least hoped for the triumph of the colonies. In times of peace their influence was ever exerted for the religious, moral and educational welfare of the community.
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