USA > Massachusetts > Barnstable County > Barnstable > Report of proceedings of the tercentenary anniversary of the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts > Part 4
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DEDICATORY ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLET TO THE FIRST SETTLERS OF OSTERVILLE BY VICTOR F. ADAMS
Three centuries ago last June a little band of the Rev. John Lothrop's followers, driving their stock before them, started out from Scituate to make a new settlement at Mat-
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DEDICATION OF THE OSTERVILLE TABLET-James F. Mc- Laughlin, Selectman Victor F. Adams (the speaker), The Mayoress (Mrs. Charles F. Dart ), The Mayor (Mr. Dart ), Mrs. Victor F. Adams, Miss Anne Goodspeed, and Miss M. Genieve Leonard.
takeese, or what is now Barnstable. A few scattering set- tlers probably proceeded them by a few months.
The journey to Plymouth was relatively easy, over well- defined trails. From Plymouth on, the way was difficult. Streams had to be forded or skirted; marshes, hills and swamps avoided. Trails were rough indeed, in places prac- tically non-existant. Several trying days and nights were consumed in this latter part of the journey. Finally, how- ever, their destination, the site of the present village of Barnstable, was reached. They went to work with dispatch and determination and soon a number of crude but substan- tial houses were completed and by the time the Rev. Loth- rop and the remainder of his followers arrived early in October, preparations for the winter were well under way. Such were the Town of Barnstable's first days.
In England the owner of land was considered to be al- most in a class apart. Therefore to these two hundred or so early settlers who had undoubtedly as a group belonged to
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the "landless" class, and who had felt the pinch of cleared land and salt marsh scarcity in Scituate, the broad marshes and cleared fields of Mattakeese were welcome beyond measure. Here salt hay for the stock, cleared fields for the gardens, and timber for building and fuel could be had for the taking. Add to this the right to complete freedom of thought and action, and Mattakeese was indeed a land of rare promise.
It might be added here that unlike Plymouth and Massa- chusetts Bay Colony, Barnstable enjoyed a certain freedom of religion from the very first.
During the early years all the southerly side of what is now the Town of Barnstable was known as the South Sea, and this region that we now call Osterville, as Cockashays, Cockashoiset and Cockachoise Neck. It was at least thirty years and probably more before settlers started to take up permanent abode in this region. John Thompson, Dolar Dav- is, Jonathan Hatch, Thomas Bumpas, James and William Lovell, Joshua Lumbert and Thomas Macy seem to have been the earliest settlers. So many Lovells lived here in the early days that it was many times referred to as "Lovell's Neighborhood."
Almost three centuries have now passed since this be- ginning of Osterville. In the life of our thousand year old mother town of Barnstaple, England. this would be but a short span, but to us here it represents our entire life as a community. It has seen this wilderness of pine and oak transformed gradually into the Osterville. Wianno and Oy- ster Harbors of today.
Suppose we go back in imagination to almost any day in the Summer of 1700 and see what "'Lovell's Neighborhood" was like. The little settlement confines itself mostly to the region around the five ponds to the north of the village and Bumps River, which has taken its name from the Bump- as family. The roads, almost impassible in the Spring, are the crudest of cart-paths connecting the various homesteads with one another and the settlement itself with the main village of Barnstable. Other rough ways lead to East Bay and the South Sea, as the sound is called.
As we look in on them we find that the Thompsons, the Davises, Hatches, the Bumpases, the Goodspeeds, the Lov- ells, the Lumberts, and the Macys have all been hard at work since before sunrise as life itself depends on their get- ting things done. Some are working in the fields, while others care for the stock. Even the children are working at
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some task either in or out of doors. The Lovell boys have gone to the South Sea to get a cartful of bluefish to salt down and add to the winter store which already includes much salted herring and pickled oysters. Mr. Lumbert and his boy started off at daybreak for an all day trip to Barn- stable with a load of corn to be ground at the mill, pickled oysters and other items to be bartered there for such things as are wanting at home. Meanwhile the women and girls are working indoors, although many times they do help out- side when necessary. The life of a woman in these times is hard indeed. She does all the cooking, makes both the cloth and clothing for the entire family, takes care of all other household duties, prepares food for winter storage, candles for lighting purposes, etc. She takes a minimum of time out to give birth to her children at home without medical attention. On the average she doesn't live very long ; life is too strenuous. But when night comes and the family is at last gathered in the house in the candlelight and the Bible has been read and they are ready to retire for the night they are completely contented, for in spite of all the hard work, they have a sufficient althought somewhat monoto- nous diet, the land is theirs, not the landlord's, the forest provides free lumber and firewood, the bays and ocean abound in easily obtainable sea food. Deer and wild turkey are plentiful in the forest, and can be had without poaching. But above all they are free to think, talk, and worship as they see fit. As compared with their precarious existence in England this is a wonderful life indeed, imbued with an en- tirely new meaning and bearing for the future an entirely new promise.
Suppose we now move the years forward for a century and a quarter to about 1825. We find a much more exten- sive village which is now called Osterville, short for Oyster- ville. The Halletts, Crosbys, Parkers, Crockers, Leonards, Waites, Ewers, Wests, and many others have long since joined the descendants of the original families, and the set- tlement is spreading out. We now have a well defined Main Street following the same general course it does today. Lov- ell's Way, which leads by Lovell's Grist Mill, near Bumps River, is the forerunner of Old Mill Road and Bumps River Road. Another way leads down to and along the shore of East Bay and the Ames and Hodges have been living there for some time. Bay Street is well defined as are the roads enclosing what we today call the "Square." Two or three houses are built to the south of Bay Street on West Bay.
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Wianno is still nothing but woodland and the only roads penetrating it are rough cartpaths.
A village hall has been built on the site of the present Union Hall. It serves as a meeting place for the church con- gregations, as a schoolhouse when the district school is in session, and as a general gathering place for public meet- ings. Lyceums, where topics of the day are discussed and debated are just beginning to form an important part in the educational and social life of the community. The men, women and children are still working through all the day- light hours-and longer-but occupations and tasks have be- come much more varied.
Down at East Bay and West Bay, too, there are salt works. Herring still run the rivers in abundance. The Sound still teems with bluefish, and the bays with shellfish. Can- dles still provide the only means of home lighting.
William Blount, with the aid of a windmill, is sawing out bungs for whale oil barrels and carting them to Woods Hole for sale when he has a wagon load. Carpenters, painters, and men of other trades are getting to be much in demand.
Salt water has finally permeated the blood of Osterville (and Barnstable) people. Seth Goodspeed is getting ready to start a shipyard at East Bay.
At the foot of Bay Street Oliver Hinckley, Andrew and Daniel Crosby and Jesse Crosby are beginning to build ships. Oliver Hinckley alone is to build twenty-three vessels be- tween 1817-1845 ranging from 50 to 200 tons capacity. This is more or less typical of the others. Boys are taking to the sea to earn their livelihoods, starting often at ages from ten to twelve. Swift packets are beginning to schedule runs from Barnstable to Boston, from Cotuit and Hyannis to Nantucket, which is now a busy trade center. There is also a stage coach line from Barnstable to Boston, running over rough dusty roads to be sure, but the journey starting at 3 a.m. is completed by nightfall. So the traveler has two choices and in either case can go to Boston, transact his business, and return to Osterville all in three days. I have neglected to note that there is a stage line running from Hyannis through Centerville, Osterville, Marstons Mills and South Sandwich connecting with the main line. This stage rattling through the village at about 3:15 in the morning is becoming a time piece and alarm clock for Osterville house- wives. Mail from Boston and Nantucket is now "called off" every other day at the post office. And so it goes.
For the next eighty-five years the changes in the village
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take place gradually. In the 1850's the Grammar school or Dry Swamp Academy is built and turns out graduates for almost sixty years. Two churches, the Baptist and Metho- dist, appear and become immediately the religious centers of the village. The railroad comes to Hyannis, and the pack- ets and stagecoach lines have to give up, but a new stage line plys back and forth between Osterville and West Barn- stable. About 1876 a high school becomes permanent in Hy- annis and Osterville students have an opportunity for fur- ther education.
The post office shuttles back and forth from one location to another. Stores open and close in other locations, but those belonging to the Fullers, Crockers, and Parkers are the only ones to persist. The Crosbys become the only sur- vivors of the boat building industry. The salt works dis- appear. Lamps take the place of candles for lighting. The first summer visitors arrive, attracted by the boating and fishing. A few houses are built at Wianno and by 1912 even Oyster Island has a few summer homes. In the meantime the oyster business has built up to considerable proportions, and oysters are shipped even to the far-off Pacific Coast.
Suppose we now take a look at pre-war Osterville. This was the Osterville I knew as a boy, and in common with the rest of you who are my age or older I would give almost anything to live a few days of it again. Early in the sum- mer mornings and around one o'clock in the afternoon boys could be seen plodding along Main Street westward bound to caddy at Seapuit, the only golf course then in Osterville. On the way home at noon and night few of us could get by Carrie Williams' Ice Cream Parlor. Such good home-made ice cream was a temptation impossible for a boy to resist.
Traffic in those days over the oiled but still rather dusty Main Street was a mixture of horse drawn vehicles and au- tomobiles. How thrilled we used to be when we got a ride home in an auto from the "links," and what a day it was once each summer when we were driven way up to Woods Hole to caddy there.
The south side of Main Street in those days consisted only of Parker's Store and Carrie Williams' Ice Cream Shop, with the Rich House and the tall spruces in between and the Beacon Club block which included the Post Office and barber shop. Between these stores and the houses on West Bay Road there were no buildings at all and we used to play both golf and baseball there. Winding through this field was the footpath that everyone from "Crosby town"
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and the southwest end of Osterville used in going "up- street,"' as we put it then. After passing Clarence Baker's one found only the homes of the Lewises and Aunt Tempy on Parker Road. Many a time with the Crosby boys did I stop in at the kindly Aunt Tempy's house for a glass of milk and cookies or cake after fishing the better part of the day for pickerel in the pond. Whether we were invited or invited ourselves I can't recall but in either case we were always welcome.
Except for an occasional house on Wianno Avenue all the area between it and Parker Road was either vacant field or forest. Wianno was rather well settled but at Wianno head there were only two or three houses. Oyster Harbor or Grand Island, as it was then called, had only a half doz- en summer homes. All of our roads were still dirt roads. At night the village was brilliantly illuminated by the Oster- ville Improvement Society's kerosene street lights.
The pre-war village was still a simple, neighborly, indus- trious, rural community, depending upon itself for amuse- ment and living almost entirely within itself. Except for per- haps a short time in the winter everyone was working who was able to do so. Gardens were still in evidence ; many peo- ple were still keeping cows and hens. The local grocer gave those who needed it credit during the winter months and no able bodied persons were on the welfare.
Much has happened since those days; hard roads built everywhere; Wianno grown larger, with a new Wianno Golf course ; Oyster Harbor grown to a beautiful summer colony with an equally beautiful golf course; Osterville itself grown almost beyond recognition ; automobiles jamming the streets, making far off places easily accessible, and chang- ing our whole mode of life; electric lights, water, tele- phones, radio. The simple, quiet country life is distinctly a thing of the past.
The last of the Blounts, Waites, Ewers, Wileys, Davises, Holmes, and Bacons have gone down to the cemetery to join with those first settlers we were talking about a short time ago, and the west side of the cemetery is getting pretty well filled up. Gardens are rare; people don't keep cows and hens any more. Bluefish are scarce now. Although most everybody has a car; work is not plentiful. At night Oster- ville people are scattered all over Cape Cod and perhaps beyond-in search of amusement. How ·times have changed in twenty-five years !
Many times during the past few years I have wondered
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how these early settlers would look upon conditions as they exist in our country today. What would they think of the government's going into the relief business, of the WPA, our tremendous public welfare load, our national debt which now exceeds $300 for every man, woman, and child in the country, of a government that continues to spend more than it takes in ?
The stone which we have seen unveiled today is dedicated to the early settlers of Osterville, but I would dedicate it no less to the sterling qualities of character which enabled our pioneer forefathers to carve this mighty nation from the wild, unsettled wilderness the Pilgrims and Puritans found here three centuries ago. The ambition, the enterprise, the capacity for hard work, the Yankee common sense, the in- dividual initiative which they exhibited to such a marked de- gree are the characteristics which seem to me now temporari- ly forsaking us as a people. Whether the cause lies partly in a sudden liberalization in all branches of governmental pol- icy, a liberalization for which we were totally unprepared and uneducated and which therefore partially demoralized us, or whether the cause lies elsewhere, is perhaps immate- rial. But, our richest heritage, our most precious birthright as descendants of those honored early settlers, is their strength of character, and we should here dedicate ourselves to the task of retaining and recapturing if necessary that heritage and that birthright.
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Site of Fortification House Built By Deacon William Crocker
A SLATE TABLET marking the site of a fortification house built by Deacon William Crocker was dedicated at 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 10th. It is situated about one-quarter mile east of the West Barnstable Congregational Church. Its inscription reads:
Site Of Fortification House Built By Deacon Wm. Crocker 1643 Barnstable Tercentenary 1939
James F. Mclaughlin introduced Miss Doris V. Crocker, daughter of Sheriff Lauchlan M. Crocker and Mrs. Crocker, who unveiled the tablet. Sheriff Crocker, 30th Sheriff of Barnstable County, was the principal speaker.
DEDICATORY ADDRESS DELIVERED AT UNVEILING OF THE TABLET ON THE SITE OF DEACON WILLIAM CROCKER'S FORTIFICATION HOUSE BY LAUCHLAN M. CROCKER
We are gathered here today to dedicate this tablet of stone, erected in behalf of the Town of Barnstable, to com- memorate the building of a stone fortification house on the farm land of Deacon William Crocker in the very early years of the life of this town.
From the very beginning of our existence as a political unit, the sword and plow have gone hand in hand down through the years.
If we could but transpose ourselves back to the year 1642 we would find that we were in the midst of stirring and troublous times, and that rumors of war and tales of savage atrocities were borne by every courier that entered the plan- tations and towns. What must have been the worry and
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DEDICATION OF THE DEACON CROCKER TABLET-James F. McLaughlin, Sheriff Lauchlan M. Crocker (the speaker), Miss Doris V. Crocker, and Alfred Crocker.
anguish of the colonial fathers and mothers struggling with might and main against the primeval forests and rocky lands, carving out their clearings to plant and harvest crops, to provide against the cold winter months. What time had they to plan offensive tactics against the Indians or to fret about conspiracies ?
However, at Plymouth, on Sept. 27, 1642, a general meet- ing of the freemen was called and after full discussion, a deputation was sent to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, auth- orized to enter into a covenant providing for joint defensive and offensive operations.
Captain Miles Standish was chosen commander of the forces to be raised. Barnstable enrolled thirty-two men in the company attached to Captain Standish's regiment, Dea- con William Crocker being numbered among them. The town was also called upon to raise £2,10s for charges for the troops. As winter passed and spring arrived with its multi- tude of duties for the pioneers, the alarms seemed to dissa- pate for a time and the fears were lulled.
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However, dated Oct. 10, 1643, in the Plymouth Colony Records, one finds this decree :
"- It is ordered by the Court, that if the townsmen of Barnstable, do not presently agree to appoint a place or places for the defense of themselves, their wives and chil- dren, against sudden assault, that the Court doth order that Mr. Thomas Dimmack, Anthony Annabele, Henry Cobb, Henry Coggen and Bernard Lumbard, with the constables, shall forthwith appoint a place or places for their defense and to cause the same to be speedily fortyfied for their de- fense.''
The three deacons of the church, Dimmack, Cobb and William Crocker, complying with the order, built fortifica- tion houses in the fall of 1643. These fortification houses were about twenty-five feet square on the ground, and were probably two-story structures the first story being built with stone walls, and the upper of hewn logs which over-hung the lower, with loopholes provided on all sides. They also in- cluded a cistern or water supply.
Otis says in his papers : "It is a curious fact that the three deacons of the Church lived in stone or fortification houses. It seems that the deacons then provided for the personal safety as well as the spiritual wants of the people."
No further military operations took place the next year, but it was a year of watchful preparation, and in August of 1645 Barnstable sent four men to join an expedition against the Narragansets. The pay of each man on this expedition was 1 pound of powder, 3 pounds of bullets and 1 pound of tobacco.
From 1645 to 1670 the settlers were in a constant state of turmoil and unrest. Threats of war with the Dutch colonies. Indian difficulties, war with the French, pillaging along the coast by all kinds, made life a constant worry for the set- tlers. These were troublesome times, indeed, when the Court ordered: "That every man shall take to meeting on the Lord's Day his arms with him, with at least five charges of powder and shot." The Court also provided a penalty of five shillings for " ... whoever shall shoot off a gun or musket on any unnecessary occasion except at an Indian or a wolf."
In 1674 the cruel King Philip's War broke out and Barn- stable was required to provide twenty-nine men to serve against the Indians. More men were required in 1675 and in 1676. A mounted company of men from Barnstable and Yarmouth, under Captain John Gorham, was dispatched. This Indian war was a bitter and prolonged conflict against
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a crafty chieftain, and cost the Colonies the loss of over 600 men, twelve or more towns, and hundreds of dwelling houses. The war tax laid on Barnstable was £351,3s or more than $1,500. The men of Barnstable conducted themselves with great skill and bravery, but suffered considerable loss from the Indian warriors, and from poor medical facilities. Among those lost was Captain Gorham, in the Swamp Fort battle, and Lieutenant Samuel Fuller and five of his men at Re- hoboth.
History, in recording facts, gives little space to those who stay at home and suffer, and we who are still readjusting ourselves from the World War feel we know something of the horrors of war. But I for one feel that our privation in the trenches did not compare with the difficulties experi- enced by our forefathers in these Colonial wars. Nor were our women under the anxieties and fears that these pioneer women faced, alone in a strange land, surrounded by enemies, the young and strong men away at the wars, and with the constant threat that the nearby friendly Indians would be won over to King Philip and that all might be massacred in their homes.
At nightfall I imagine that the windows and doors were securely barred. As a boy, I sat by the side of my mother and heard her tell of covering with blankets the windows of the sod shanty in Dakota so that not a beam of light shone forth, sitting in utter silence, fearing an attack from the Sioux, hearing flying rumors that Sitting Bull was coming that way, that Gray Eagle was sweeping down from the northwest, scalping and pillaging, that the protecting sol- diers had been withdrawn. Yes, I can believe that it was not all peace and serenity in the early settlers' homelife.
But it gives us pleasure to know that they persevered, never losing faith in their principles, hewing out homes for themselves and us, strong of character, fearing God and building a nation founded on liberty, freedom and equality. And we today, their descendants, hereby pledged ourselves to keep alive their fight for freedom, preferring peace to war but not peace at any price.
We in America are arming today for defense, as these forefathers of our did in 1643. We seek to defend our way of life against the attacks of injustice, intolerance, and dic- tatorship. Let us take heed of the example set by our fore- fathers and be prepared. Planes, forts, battleships, arms and munitions will not alone be enough to insure the safety of democracy, without the support of loyal citizens. The
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strength of a nation is determined by the character of her people and the inspiration of her leaders. So, today, while braggarts and bullies shout and strut their way across the international stage, let us, in the words of the preamble to the American Legion Constitution, inculcate a sense of in- dividual obligation to the community, state and nation, "to combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses ; to make right the master of might ; to promote peace and good will on earth; to safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of Justice, Freedom and Democracy."
Major Micah Hamlin
A TABLET OF Acton granite marking the site of the birth- place of Major Micah Hamlin was dedicated at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 10th. It is situated near The Plains in West Barnstable, just off the Marstons Mills-West Barn- stable highway. Its inscription reads:
123 Yards N. W. Of This Marker Is The Foundation & Doorstone of The Birthplace of Major Micah Hamlin 1741 - 1797 Who Led Many Men Of Barnstable In The Revolution Barnstable Tercentenary 1939
James F. Mclaughlin introduced Miss Jane Hamlin, who unveiled the marker, and B. Nason Hamlin of Ded- ham, a lineal descendant of Major Micah Hamlin, who de- livered the principal address.
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DEDICATORY ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE UNVEILING OF THE TABLET MARKING THE BIRTHPLACE OF MAJOR MICAH HAMLIN BY B. NASON HAMLIN
I am greatly flattered to have received the complimentary invitation of the well-selected committee of this Barnstable Tercentenary Celebration to be present at the dedication of this memorial and the marked stone erected in honor of Major Micah Hamlin. This splendid citizen most loyally showed his interest and support in leading a large body of our local soldiers through the Revolutionary War away back in 1775 and on.
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