USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > West Brookfield > Quabaug, 1660-1910 : an account of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary celebration held at West Brookfield, Mass., September 21, 1910 ; > Part 3
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And now event followed event in swift succession, as within the space of a brief half-hour was played out the dra- ma that history prolonged over the course of three days. The Indians, despairing of taking the fortified house by im- mediate assault, drew closer the lines of the siege. Soon the whites, shut up within the fort, discovered to their dismay that the last drop of water was gone. To relieve their grow- ing distress from thirst, John P. Ranger, impersonating Major Wilson, crept forth from the house in an effort to reach the well. Chief Macuin, crouching behind Indian Rock, spied him, fired, and, as Wilson fell, cried out exult- antly, "Me kill Major Wilson!"
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THE PAGEANT ON FOSTER'S HILL
Emboldened by this stroke of fortune, the Indians, who had been constantly drawing closer in around their prey, began a fresh attack from behind the stone wall across the road. Sumner H. Reed, in the role of a savage warrior, attempted to set fire to the house by shooting burning arrows. The effort failed, but it had served to inspire the Indians with a fresh idea. Seizing upon a load of hay that stood in the yard, they fired it, and, pushing the blazing mass against the building, tried in this way to burn the last remaining strong- hold of their victims. It was at this point that, as history relates, a sudden shower came to the rescue of the white men. But as history seldom, if ever, repeats itself, it was left, on the day of the pageant, for the settlers themselves to extin- guisg the flames through the heroic exertions of Captain Hutchinson and his little band of trusty followers.
And now the last day of the siege was supposed to have arrived. The firing was well nigh incessant and the de- struction of the little garrison appeared imminent. Ima- ginary night drew on, and with its coming the last hopes of the settlers vanished. The Indians, sure now of their prey, grew bolder. But just as they were preparing to make the last fierce rush, that would undoubtedly have carried the fortification, they were startled by the sound of galloping horses. Before they could change their front, the body of rescuers under Major Willard and Captain Parker, imper- sonated by Alfred C. Stoddard and Judge Henry E. Cottle respectively, dashed in from the east, firing as they came. The main body of savages, perceiving themselves now over- matched in strength, wavered, broke, and fled across the mowing and over the hilltop whence they had descended. This flight of the Red Men afforded one of the most vivid touches in the whole pageant, as Major Willard's horsemen, pursuing with an impetuosity that had not been counted on, all but rode down some of the braves on foot, who scrambled over the last dividing wall with an extraordinary display of agility.
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Meanwhile, the smaller body of Indians, cheated of their prey, took what vengeance they could by setting fire to the church. Then, with a few parting shots, they retreated -not toward a wilderness, such as swallowed up their an- cestors in the far-off past, but toward the hospitable dinner tents erected in the modern village, whither, the day being saved and many a stomach testifying to the approach of noon, they were speedily followed by the victorious settlers and the vast throng of spectators.
IV. THE DINNER.
The Joint Executive Committee in charge of the cele- bration had done everything within its power to ascertain in advance the number of persons who desire to be served at dinner in the tents. Notices had been enclosed with every invitation, and otherwise distributed, which contained the following paragraph, couched in no uncertain terms: "Every person receiving an invitation to attend this celebration will please promptly acknowledge its receipt, by mail, to the Sec- retary, or to some other member of the Executive Committee, plainly writing his or her name and address, in full, and state how many Dinner Tickets he or she may want reserved for himself or herself and family or friends, so that adequate provision may be made for all." To the failure of hundreds of people to comply with this request, and to this alone, is due the fact that adequate provision was not made. No suspicion of blame can justly attach to the Committee. The provision was ample, indeed, for a considerably greater num- ber than replied to the above notice, but not for so many as expected to be served, when the dinner hour arrived on the gala day.
The records of the Committee show that 834 dinners were served, in addition to the lunches for the school children. The following excellent menu was prepared and served by Keith, of Warren, at $1 a plate:
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THE LITERARY AND MUSICAL PROGRAM
Canteloupe Roast Turkey Cranberry Sauce
Roast Beef
Cold Ham
Mashed Potatoes
Squash
Sliced Tomatoes Sliced Cucumbers Celery
Salmon Salad
Salad Rolls
French Rolls
Apple Pie Squash Pie
Ice Cream Assorted Cakes Fruit
Coffee Quabaug Spring Water
The hotels and restaurants in West Brookfield did a thriving business, while scores of persons journeyed by trol- ley or automobile to neighboring towns for lunch. The most picturesque feature of the dinner hour, however, was furnished by the numerous family parties that enjoyed a picnic dinner seated on the grass beneath West Brookfield's magnificent shade trees. If not so well served as those within the dining tents, they had, at least, the advantage of being in the fresh air and of watching uninterruptedly the informal pageant afforded by the thousands of merry-makers.
V. THE LITERARY AND MUSICAL PROGRAMME.
The great audience tent, easily accommodating two thousand persons, was filled to overflowing, when, at 1.30 o'clock, the following literary and musical programme was begun:
Invocation Rev. William L. Walsh, of Brookfield.
Chorus "The Heavens Are Telling" ("The Creation") Haydn.
Address of Welcome
Hon. Theodore C. Bates.
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TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
Oration Hon. Roger Foster, of New York.
Songs a. "Spring" Henschel.
b. "Nightingale Aria" Masse.
Mme. Tryphosa Bates-Batcheller.
Flute obligato, Charles K. North. Accompanist, Mme. Maud Paradis-Lane His Excellency, Governor Eben S. Draper.
Address
Chorus "Hurrah for Old New England"
Chamberlain.
Address Hon. Frederick H. Gillett, M. C.
Chorus "The Landing of the Pilgrims" Brown.
Address Hon. Charles G. Washburn, M.C.
Address Hon. James Logan, Mayor of Worcester.
"America. "
The special feature of the afternoon was, naturally, the oration by Hon. Roger Foster, nor did the orator disappoint the high expectations of his audience. "No man"-so runs the brief report of the proceedings, prepared by the Joint Executive Committee-" could have been found in the whole country, who could have better pleased our people, and his being a direct descendant of Judge Jedediah Foster, of Brook- field, made it seem to prominent men all over the State, that it was most fitting and appropriate that Roger Foster, Esq., should be the orator of the day on this occasion."
HON. ROGER FOSTER
His scholarly and eloquent oration follows.
HON. ROGER FOSTER
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1244899
HON. ROGER FOSTER
ADDRESS OF ROGER FOSTER OF NEW YORK AT BROOKFIELD ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1910.
Let me thank you for the pleasure, as well as for the honor conferred upon me by your invitation to speak where my father spoke fifty years ago. It is a joy to me to have an opportunity to return to the old Bay State; to Worces- ter county, the heart of the commonwealth, where I was born; to my old home where I passed my boyhood; to the town of Brookfield, where my forefathers have lived; to Foster's Hill, where the name of my family is still remem- bered, although two generations have passed since they removed.
Before considering the work of the settlers of Brook- field, let us honor the Puritans from whom they came; let us praise their courage and fortitude in facing danger and discomfort for the sake of founding a commonwealth where they and their children might worship in accordance with their own conscience and not be obliged to observe practi- ces which they considered to savor of idolatry. They left the homes of their fathers and severed the ties of kin and country. They incurred the perils and discomforts of un- known seas, where for two long months they were at the mer- cy of the winds without the aid of steam: to land upon an unknown and rocky coast unassisted by a chart, to settle upon a soil which they knew from the Plymouth pilgrims to be less fertile than that of their native country, and to undergo the rigors of a climate which, in summer as well as in winter, was far more oppressive than that of England. They risked imprisonment when they sailed. Several of their ships were embargoed, held against their will in the English ports. Some became discouraged and abandoned their enterprise. Even brave spirits then went back, amongst them Oliver Cromwell; but our forefathers persisted. And after the agony of voyages in small sail boats, with no fresh meat-preserved fruit and vegetables being then un-
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TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
known-living on salt pork and hardtack, in badly ven- tilated quarters, suffering the untried tortures of seasickness and the danger of scurvy, at last they landed near Ipswich and founded the State to which we, their descendants, feel that we still belong, even those of us who now live in other parts of the country or of the world. They were a rugged race, strong in mind as well as in body, and their history has been the subject of much criticism as well as praise.
Special objection has been made to their alleged relig- ious intolerance. And it is often said, that they should have given to others the liberty of conscience which they de- manded for themselves and have permitted throughout the Commonwealth the free exercise of all religions. It is easy for those who live in a time when the exercise of freedom of thought and speech in religious matters is never the subject of punishment, to condemn, in academic phrases, those who did not then permit religious liberty. It must be remem- bered, however, that unbridled abuse of those in command can never be permitted in a garrison during a siege nor upon a ship during a storm. The punishments which they imposed because of religious differences were not founded upon non- conformity nor upon free thought kept to itself. They punished those only who publicly attacked the form of wor- ship which the Puritans had emigrated to maintain. They were encompassed by hostile savages aided by the Catholic French. They were threatened in England by the power of the Church that was there established and which for gen- erations afterwards practiced religious persecution. Had they allowed the Church of England to maintain a footing in Massachusetts, inevitably but a short time would have elapsed before a bishop of that diocese would have been created and an ecclesiastical court established. Had they permitted their religious meetings to be disturbed by public attacks upon the doctrines which were promulgated, the consequent dissensions would have enfeebled them in their defense against the attacks daily threatened by their hostile
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HON. ROGER FOSTER
neighbors. We who have passed laws forbidding the immi- gration of anarchists and who have excluded from our coun- try Asiatics, should hesitate before we blame them for their endeavors to keep the land for the use of those who were in sympathy with the religious opinions of the first settlers.
The traits of character which they brought here from England and those which were developed upon this soil, can be traced in most of their descendants. The power to resist equal severities of heat and cold, the patience and industry required to wring support out of a rocky soil, have developed in New Englanders a capacity for endurance and hard work which makes them succeed in any climate and under all cir- cumstances, no matter how adverse. The nervous strain of the climate and the necessity for continuous labor in order to earn a living, left them no time for those elaborate cour- tesies and polish of manners which do so much to soften the asperities of life, which are, almost invariably, the accom- paniment of a leisure class in any country and are practiced by all living in a warm climate. Their descendants as well as themselves are consequently justly criticised for coldness of manner and abruptness. And that love of truth, which is inculcated by the traditions of the Anglo-Saxon race, as well as by the Puritan religion, makes these, too, abstain from compliments. Their hatred of the adornment of cathedrals by pictures and statuary, which they considered brought about the worship of idols, and their dislike for the perform- ance of a ritual which tended to obscure the meaning of a prayer, gave them a prejudice against the fine arts and even a contempt for these, which still lingers among their children. Those of us who have reached middle age can still remember the time when a love of music was considered to be effemi- nate and men boasted of the fact that their acoustic organs were so deformed that they could not recognize a tune. New England has given birth to a few great singers, but they were women and have passed most of their lives in other States and countries. The greatest painter that was born in Mass-
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TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
achusetts accomplished all his work in Europe. Architects we have produced, for their work a practical man recognizes as useful, but of what sculptors or musical composers can we justly boast? The life of melancholy, enjoined by their religious precepts ever teaching them to dread the hor- rors of hell, enhanced by physical troubles due to insufficient knowledge of the laws of health and lack of prophylactics, made them fear lest they were committing wrong whenever they lingered in, or gave expression to, the pleasure derived from the enjoyment of the good things that have been created for this world. This was, moreover, heightened by a spiritual pride which has left even us of this twentieth century often ashamed or afraid to pluck the roses that are by our path. The fact that they were protesters among the Protestants, confident of their own judgment as to right and wrong and deeming it a duty to follow the dictates of their own consciences, has made the children of New England ready to brave public opinion in support of a cause that is unpopular and to sacrifice themselves for an ideal; qualities without which the progress of humanity is impossible, al- though, alas, too often accompanied by intolerance of the dissent of others.
With the history of Brookfield you are better acquainted than am I. You have heard its traditions at the knees of your grandmothers. You have had the documents and the events explained to you by scholars on previous occasions. Yet now that two centuries and a half have passed since the foundation of the town, it has seemed fitting that you should be briefly reminded of them.
It was founded at a time when the citizens of Mass- achusetts might well have looked towards the future with a terror that would have discouraged any attempt to extend the colony. In 1660, the republic in England had been de- stroyed. The monarchy had been restored. Those of the leaders in the Great Rebellion who survived, some of whom had lived in Massachusetts, were about to be punished by
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HON. ROGER FOSTER
executions, the disgusting horrors of which make the imagi- nation revolt. The King of England was a pensioner of France, which was ruled by the Grand Monarch whose wars strengthened Catholicism and depressed the Protestants throughout the continent of Europe. He was already in possession of that part of Canada now known as Ontario and Quebec and had formed the design to include in his do- minions the whole of North America. The diplomacy and self-sacrifice of the Jesuits had given them such a power over the Indians in Canada that these, at any time, could be united in an attack upon Massachusetts. The Mississippi had not been discovered. No European had sailed on the Detroit River or even the Great Lakes beyond it. French explorers soon travelled in that direction, and within a few years Louis XIV again obtained control of Acadia on the northeast of New England, and upon the Island of Cape Britain build the fortress of Louisburg, which seriously threatened our fisheries and commerce. The inhabitants of New England had good cause to fear success in his at- tempts at conquest over them and their subjection to perse- cution by the Church of Rome. The Hudson River and Manhattan Island, together with that part of the Atlantic coast including what are now the States of New Jersey and Delaware, were under the control of the Dutch; and when, four years later, New York was acquired by England, Charles II granted it to his brother, who was a Catholic. Pennsylvania and Georgia had not been settled. The Pro- testants of Germany trembled before Louis and were unable to give any assistance to those of their religion in any other country. Poland was still unpartitioned and independent, a great Catholic power, one of the bulwarks of Christianity against the Turks; disputing with Russia for the ascend- ency of oriental Europe.
At that time the first settlers in Brookfield came here from Ipswich in order that they might obtain more land for themselves and their children, since the pressure of popula-
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tion upon the coast had begunto make it more difficult for them to support their families. The selection of the place was due to reasons of state, as well as to those which lead a farmer to choose a home. There was need of a place of rest for travellers upon the trail between Massachusetts Bay and the Connecticut River, where already was situated the town of Springfield. Foster's Hill afforded a convenient location for such a post. The Indians of that neighborhood were Quaboags, a branch of the Nipmuck tribe, who seem to have been unconnected with any of the powerful leagues. They were consequently often the subjects of attack and oppres- sion by other savages; and for that reason, if not because their minds were so cultivated as easily to appreciate his argu- ments, they listened to the sermons of the Apostle Eliot and were not indisposed to an alliance with the whites. A "pray- ing town" of Indians had shortly before been established by him in the neighborhood. The adjoining valley seemed to offer good opportunities for agriculture. It had been used by the aborigines to raise their corn and for a meeting-place to celebrate their yearly festivals. The bottoms were good pas- tures. The primeval forest had been long destroyed by the autumnal fires of the natives. Horseback travel was prac- ticable in all directions. There was plenty of timber in the swamps and on the heights. Deer and turkeys abounded around the hills, whence they could be seen a mile away. Cattle were within sight of the hilltops at a distance of three miles. The Quaboag River was full of shad and salmon at the proper seasons. Trout, hornpout, perch, pickerel and other fish filled the streams and ponds throughout the year.
Yet it required bold hearts to make the move. There was no white settlement within thirty miles. Springfield was the nearest place from which the help, often sorely needed, could be obtained. Lancaster was the next village on the east. Worcester was then a swamp and the woods covered Leicester hills. Wolves and bears lurked around them. Rattlesnakes coiled in the rocks. Tribes of the
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HON. ROGER FOSTER
pagans often made raids in the neighborhood and the tem- per of the praying Indians had not long been tested.
About May 20th, 1660, several of the inhabitants of Ipswich presented a petition to the General Court, as is still the official title of the legislature of Massachusetts. This recited:
"Forasmuch as it is found by Dayly experience "that the common Lands of this Towne are overburdened "by the multiplying dwelling houses contrary to the true "intent and meaning of the first Inhabitants in their "granting of house lotts and other lands to such as came " amongst them, to the end such inconvenience may be pre- "vented-" and prayed a land grant. On May 31st, the General Court made the following grant, described in the margin of the public record as "Ipswich New Plantation."
"At a Great and General Court of Election held at "Boston the 20th of May, 1660.
"In Ans' to the peticon of severall the Inhabitants "of Ipswich, this Court Judgeth it meete to Graunt the "petitioners sixe miles square or so much land as shall be "Contejned in such a Compasse in a place nere Quoboag "ponds, provided they have twenty familyes there resi- "dent within 3 years, & that they have an able minister "settled there within the sajd terme, such as this Court "shall approve, and that they make due provision in "some way or other for the future, either by setting apart "of land, or what else shall be thought meete for the Con- "tinuance of the ministry amongst them: And that "If they shall faile in any of these particulars above men- "tioned, this Graunt of the Court to be voyd & of none " effect."
In the summer of that year John Warner, John Ayres, William Prichard, and perhaps another of the petitioners went to Quabaug to select the place for the new settlement and chose Foster's Hill as the site of the village. A raid by the Moheegans upon the Quabaugs in the spring of 1661
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TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
prevented further progress till 1665, when three or four fami- lies moved there and steps were taken to acquire peaceably a title from the Indians. A bargain was made on behalf of the settlers by Lieutenant Thomas Cooper of Springfield. He bought Foster's Hill, all the valuable meadow lands with- in the six mile square and the greater part of the other land there, excepting two Indian villages with their appurtenant fisheries and planting ground, for the sum of 300 fathoms of wampampeage, Indian money composed of beads of white sea-shell, 360 pieces in a fathom, worth five shillings a fath- om; the price for the land aggregating £75, about $365. Considering that the whole of Manhattan Island was bought in the year 1626 for only twenty-four dollars, the sum seems not inadequate. The grantor was Shattoockquis, an Indian chief, who subscribed as his mark the sign of a beaver. "Mettawomppe an Indian witness who challenging some "interest in the land above sold received part of ye pay "and consented to the sale of it all," also subscribed a sign resembling in part a rattlesnake. The instrument was acknowledged before John Pynchon, Assistant. Eight years afterwards, another Indian made a claim for part of the land covered by the grant and proceedings were instituted for an amicable settlement with him. The interest acquired by the deed was not formally transferred to the settlers until 1673. The limitation of three years contained in the proviso by the General Court had expired before the Indian's deed, and the few families who had settled there petitioned for the security of their title. On May 15th, 1667, it was resolved: "In Ans" to the petition of the inhabitants at "Quabaug: This Court, having perused the grant which the "Generall Court made anno 1660 to the first undertakers "for that place, doe finde that 1. By their non observance "of the condition of their grant, the same is altogether "voyd, & that now the ordering & disposing thereof is "wholly in this Court's power. 2. Considering that "there is already at Quabauge about sixe or seven familyes
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HON. ROGER FOSTER
"& that the place may be capable of receiving many more, "this Court will readily grant them the liberty of a toune- "ship when they shall be in a ffit capacity. 3. In the "meane time this Court appoints Cap. John Pinchon, John " Aires, W™ Prichard, Richard Coy & John Younglow "or any three of them, whereof Capt. Pinchon to be one "of the three, who shall have power to admitt inhabitants, "grant lands, & to order all the prudentiall affayres of the "place in all respects, untill it shall appeare that the place "shall be so farr settled with able men as this Court may "judge meete to give them the full liberty of a touneship "according to lawe. 4. Because the inhabitants of "Ipswich made the first motion for that plantation, & "some of them have binn at charges about it, although "by their remisse prosecution they have now lost all their "right, yet, such of them as shall setle there by midsummer "come twelve moneth, they shall have an interest in the "lands there in proportion with others; but if by that time "they shall not be there setled, they shall then loose their "lands, & all their charges which they have been at upon "ye place. 5. They are to take care for the getting & "mayntayning of a godly minister among them, & that "no evill persons, enemjes to the lawe of this commonweale "in judgment or practise, be receaved as inhabitants. "6. For promoting of the aforesajd plantation, & incou- "ragement thereof, this Court doeth now grant that plan- "tation seven yeares freedom from all publick rates & "taxes to the country, provided those inhabitants of "Ipswich which intend to inhabit at Quabauge by mid- "summer come twelve month doe engage to give security "to the above-sajd committee, within three moneths after "the date hereofe that they will performe accordingly, that "so others that would settle there may not be hindred."
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