USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Milton > The history of Milton, Mass., 1640 to 1877 > Part 42
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Signed SAMI DAVENPORT JA. MURRAY STEPHEN MILLER JOSIAH HOW BENJAMIN HORTON ZEDAH CREHORE
REPLY OF GOVERNOR HUTCHINSON.
GENTLEMEN
I have received innumerable marks of respect and kindness from the Inhabitants of the Town of Milton, of which I shall ever retain the most grateful Remembrance. I leave you with regret. I hope to return and spend the short remains of my life among you in peace and quiet and in doing every good office to you in my power.
THO. HUTCHINSON.
Milton Sept 21 1774. - Mess" Davenport Miller and How were taken to Task by the Town Meeting for having signed the above address altho it was never presented or published. They were required by next day to make an acknowledgement of their offence- And a Committee of fifteen was chosen to treat with them and Mr Murray.
Sept™ 22 These Culprits attended and made the following acknowledge- ment, of which the Committee accepted, requiring them to sign it and to read it severally before the Town Meeting on the green. This done the Meeting by some Majority voted it not satisfactory. The offenders all but Cap® Davenport went home without making any other.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
Whereas We the Subscribers did sign and endeavour to promote aniong the Inhabitants of our Town of Milton an Address to Gov Hutchinson a few days before his Embarkation for England, which Address contained Compliments to the Gov", that we did and do still, in our consciences, be-
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lieve to be justly due to him; and Whereas we did further believe that it would be very acceptable to the Town to give them such an Opportunity of showing their gratitude to the Governor.
Now since the Temper of the Times is such, that what we meant to please has eventually displeased our Neighbours, We, who desire to live in peace and good will with them are sorry for it. Witness our hands this 22ª day of Sept 1774.
Signed
JA. MURRAY STEPHEN MILLER JOSIAH HOW SAML DAVENPORT.
After the departure of the first three of these, the meeting insisted on Capt. Davenport's making the following acknowl- edgment, and that the committee should have the rest to make it at or before the next town-meeting on Monday, 3d October :-
Whereas We the Subscribers have given the good People of this Town and Province in General just Cause to be offended with each of us, in that unguarded action of ours in signing an address to the late Governor Hutch- inson, for which we are heartily sorry and take this opportunity publickly to manifest it, and declare we did not so well consider the Contents. And we heartily beg their forgiveness and all others we may have offended: Also that we may be restored to their favour, and be made Partakers of that inestimable blessing, the good Will of our Neighbours, and the whole Com- munity.
Witness our hands Milton 22ª Sept signed SAMT DAVENPORT 24 Sept™ - JOSIAH HOW
25 Sept-
JA MURRAY
25 Sept- - STEPHEN MILLER
MISAPPREHENSIONS IN PARLIAMENT.
From this time events seemed hastening to an issue. Gen. Gage, the successor of Gov. Hutchinson, on the 1st of Septem- ber, 1774, with a detachment of two hundred and fifty men, took possession of the powder-house of the province, and removed therefrom two hundred and fifty barrels of powder to the Castle. At nearly the same time he commenced the fortification of Boston neck, by these acts rousing the people to a furor of excitement.
June 24 1775 This day two of our men went to set Browns house on the Neck afire, and were both killed. One was old Share of Milton. - S. Pierce's Diary.
Up to this time great misapprehensions had existed in Eng- land respecting the prevalence of the opposition in the colonies.
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HISTORY OF MILTON.
It was generally believed in Parliament that only a small faction, confined to a few ambitious leaders in Massachusetts and Boston, objected to the policy of the mother-country.
To correct this impression, and to make it manifest that but one sentiment pervaded the whole country respecting the arbi- trary and oppressive measures of the parent government, as well as to provide for the preservation of their rights, a Con- tinental Congress had been determined upon, to be composed of delegates from all the colonies. This Congress assembled in Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774.
It was also determined that meetings of delegates from all the towns should be held in the several counties of Massachu- setts, to give expression to their sentiments respecting the con- dition of the country.
SUFFOLK COUNTY CONVENTION.
We come now to the most memorable event that ever occurred in Milton. The Massachusetts colony had already suffered beyond endurance.
Gen. Joseph Warren, the leading spirit of the times, in a letter to Samuel Adams, of September 4, thus writes : -
You will I am sure consider the great difference that there is between this and the other Colonies. Their commerce glides in its usual channels, their charters have not yet been torn in pieces by the harpies of power, they retain their usual forms of trials by juries in courts duly constituted. What is left for us? If we acquiesce but for an hour, the shackles will be fixed forever. Our all is at stake. We must give up our rights and boast no more of freedom, or we must oppose immediately. Our enemies press so close that we cannot rest upon our arms. If this province is saved it must be by adopting measures immediately efficacious.
Such was the spirit that moved the delegates of the Suffolk Convention about to assemble. The meeting could not, with safety, be held in Boston. The convention thereupon met first at Colonel Doty's tavern, in Stoughton, April 16, 1774. The house where they met is still standing, under the shadow of Blue Hill, just within the confines of Canton. As the towns were not all represented, and some of the delegates were not authorized to act for the county, the meeting was adjourned to Sept. 6, 1774, to meet at the house of Richard Woodward, inn- holder in Dedham.
One of the delegates at Doty's tavern writes : -
Good Parson Dunbar gave us the most extraordinary liberty prayer that I ever heard.
BIRTHPLACE OF AMERICAN LIBERTY.
Inscription on the marble tablet in front of the building.
In this Mansion, on the Ninth Day of September, 1774, at a meeting of the Delegates of every Town and District in the County of Suffolk, the Suffolk Resolves were adopted.
They were reported by Major-General Warren, who fell in their defence in the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775.
They were approved by the Members of the Continental Congress, at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, on the Seventeenth of September, 1774.
The Resolves to which the immortal Patriot here first gave utterance, and the heroic deeds of that eventful day on which he fell, led the way to American Independence.
" Posterity will acknowledge that virtue which preserved them free and happy."
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It was here, or prior to this, perhaps, when the English fleet was about to enter Boston harbor, he prayed that they might be "jerked about by old ocean and thrown on Cohasset rocks."
On the 6th of September the delegates to the number of sixty, from the nineteen towns of Suffolk County (which then embraced the whole of Norfolk), assembled in Dedham. Gen. Joseph Warren was made chairman of a large com- mittee to frame suitable resolves and to report, September 9, at the house of Daniel Vose, in Milton, to which time and place the convention was adjourned. This house is still standing near Milton railroad depot, and is now owned by the Hon. Nathaniel F. Safford. A picture of it is given on the opposite page. Here the convention met as by adjournment on the 9th of September, 1774, with a full roll of delegates, when Gen. Joseph Warren presented that remarkable paper known as the Suffolk Resolves, which was read paragraph by paragraph and adopted by the convention.
The great length of this paper at first raised the question whether it should be spread out in full on our pages. But a second thought left the conviction that a declaration of senti- ments so just and forcible as to unite in one the judgment and feelings of all the colonies, and to decide that line of conduct resulting in American independence, fairly belongs to the town where it was first set forth, and openly declared with the sanction and concurrence of said town, and becomes a part of its history.
" The Suffolk Resolves lighted the match that kindled the mighty confla- gration."
SUFFOLK RESOLVES.
Whereas the power but not the justice, the vengeance but not the wis- dom, of Great Britain, which of old persecuted, scourged and exiled our fugitive parents from their native shores, now pursues us, their guiltless children, with unrelenting severity; and whereas, this then savage and uncultivated desert was purchased by the toil and treasure, or acquired by the valor or blood of those our venerable progenitors, who bequeathed to us the dear-bought inheritance, who consigned it to our carc and protection, - the most sacred obligations are upon us to transmit the glorious pur- chase, unfettered by power, unclogged with shackles, to our innocent and beloved offspring. On the fortitude, on the wisdom, and on the exertions of this important day is suspended the fate of this New World, and of unborn millions. If a boundless extent of continent, swarming with mil- lions, will tamely submit to live, move and have their being at the arbitrary will of a licentious minister. they basely yield to voluntary slavery, and future generations shall load their memories with incessant execrations. On the other hand, if we arrest the hand which would ransack our pockets ; if we disarm the parricide who points the dagger at our bosoms; if we nobly defeat that fatal edict which proclaims a power to frame laws for us
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in all cases whatsoever, thereby entailing the endless and numberless curses of slavery upon us, our heirs and their heirs forever; if we success- fully resist that unparalleled usurpation of unconstitutional power, whereby our capital is robbed of the means of life; whereby the streets of Boston are thronged with military executioners; whereby our coasts are lined, and our harbors crowded with ships of war; whereby the charter of the colony, that sacred barrier against the encroachments of tyranny, is muti- lated, and in effect annihilated; whereby a murderous law is framed to shelter villains from the hands of justice ; whereby that inalienable and inestimable inheritance, which we derived from nature, the constitution of Britain, which was covenanted to us in the charter of the province, is totally wrecked, annulled and vacated - posterity will acknowledge that virtue which preserved the free and happy ; and while we enjoy the rewards and blessings of the faithful, the torrent of panegyric will roll down our repu- tations to that latest period, when the streams of time shall be absorbed in the abyss of eternity.
Therefore we have resolved and do resolve: -
1. That whereas His Majesty King George the Third is the rightful successor to the throne of Great Britain, and justly entitled to the allegiance of the British realm, and, agreeable to compact, of the English colonies in America - therefore we the heirs and successors of the first planters of the colony, do cheerfully acknowledge the said George the Third to be our rightful sovereign, and that said covenant is the tenure and claim on which are founded our allegiance and submission.
2. That it is an indispensable duty which we owe to God, our country, ourselves and our posterity, by all lawful ways and means in our power, to maintain, defend and preserve these civil and religious rights and liberties for which many of our fathers fought, bled and died, and to hand thiem down entire to future generations.
3. That the late Acts of the British Parliament for blocking up the harbor of Boston, and for altering the established form of government in this colony, and for screening the most flagitious violators of the laws of the province from a legal trial, are gross infractions of those rights to which we are justly entitled by the laws of nature, the British Constitution and the charter of the province.
4. That no obedience is due from this province to either or any part of the Acts above mentioned ; but that they be rejected as the attempts of a wicked Administration to enslave America.
5. That so long as the justices of our superior courts of judicature, court of assize and general gaol delivery, and inferior courts of common pleas in this county are appointed, or hold their places by any other tenure than that which the charter and the laws of the province direct, they must be considered as under undue influence, and are therefore unconstitutional officers, and as such no regard ought to be paid to them by the people of this country.
6. That if the justices of the superior court of judicature, court of assize, &c., justices of the court of common pleas, or of the general sessions of the peace, shall sit and act during their present unqualified state, this country will support and bear harmless all sheriffs and their deputies, constables, jurors and other officers who shall refuse to carry into execution the orders of said courts. And as far as is possible to prevent the inconveniences that must attend the suspension of the courts of justice, we do earnestly rec- ommend it to all creditors to exercise all reasonable and generous forbear- ance to their debtors, and to all debtors to discharge their just debts with all possible speed ; and if any disputes concerning debts or trespasses shall arise, which cannot be settled by the parties, we recommend it to them to
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submit all such cases to arbitration; and if the parties, or either of them shall refuse to do so, they ought to be considered as cooperating with the enemies of this country.
7. That it be recommended to the collectors of taxes, constables and all other officers who have public monies in their hands, to retain the same, and not to make any payment thereof to the province or county treasurers, until the civil government of the province is placed upon a constitutional foundation, or until it shall be otherwise ordered by the proposed Provin- cial Congress.
8. That the persons who have accepted seats at the Council Board by virtue of a mandamus from the King in conformity with the late Act of the British Parliament, entitled, An Act for the regulating the Government of the Massachusetts Bay, have acted in direct violation of the duty they owe to the country, and have thereby given great and just offence to this people. Therefore,
Resolved, That this county do recommend it to all persons who have so highly offended by accepting said department, and have not already publicly resigned their seats in the Council Board, to make public resignation of their places at said Board on or before the twentieth day of this instant September; and that all persons neglecting so to do shall from and after that day be considered by this county as obstinate and incorrigible enemies to this colony.
9. That the fortifications begun and now carrying on upon Boston Neck are justly alarming to this country, and give us reason to apprehend some hostile intention against that town, more especially as the commander-in- chief has in a very extraordinary manner removed the powder from the magazine at Charlestown and has also forbidden the keeper of the magazine at Boston to deliver out to the owners the powder, which they lodged in said magazine.
10. That the late Act of Parliament for establishing the Roman Catholic religion and the French laws in that extensive country now called Canada is dangerous to an extreme degree to the Protestant religion, and to the civil rights and liberties of all America; and therefore as men and Protestant Christians we are indispensably obliged to take all proper measures for our security.
11. That whereas our enemies have flattered themselves that they shall make an easy prey of this numerous brave and hardy people from an ap- prehension that they are unacquainted with military discipline, we therefore, for the honor, defence, and security of this country and province, advise, as it has been recommended to take away all commissions from the officers of the militia, that those who now hold commissions, or such other persons, be elected in cach town as officers in the militia, as shall be judged of suf- ficient capacity for that purpose, and who have evidenced themselves the inflexible friends to the rights of the people; and that the inhabitants of those towns and districts who are qualified, do use their utmost diligence to acquaint themselves with the arts of war as soon as possible, and do for that purpose appear under arms at least once every week.
12. That during the present hostile appearances on the part of Great Britain, notwithstanding the many insults and impressions which we must sensibly resent, yet, nevertheless, from an affection to His Majesty, which we have at all times evidenced, we are determined to act merely upon the defensive, so long as such conduct may be vindicated by reason, and the principles of self-preservation, but no longer.
13. That as we understand it has been in contemplation to apprehend sun- dry persons of this country, who have rendered themselves conspicuous in contending for the violated rights and liberties of their countrymen, we do
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recommend, that should such an audacious measure be put in practice, to seize and keep in safe custody every servant of the present tyrannical and unconstitutional government throughout the country and province, until the persons so apprehended are liberated from the hands of our adversaries, and restored safe and uninjured to their respective friends and families.
14. That until our rights are fully restored to us, we will to the utmost of our power [and recommend the same to the other counties] withhold all commercial intercourse with Great Britain, Ireland and the West Indies, and abstain from the consumption of British merchandise and manufacture, and especially of East India teas and piece goods, with such additions, altera- tions and exceptions only as the Grand Congress of the colonies may agree to.
15. That under our present circumstances it is incumbent on us to en- courage arts and manufactures amongst us by all means in our power ; and that Joseph Palmer Esq of Braintree, Mr Ebenezer Dorr of Roxbury ; Mr James Bois and Mr Edward Preston of Milton ; and Mr Nathaniel Guild of Walpole, - be and hereby are appointed a committee to consider of the best ways and means to promote and establish the same, and report to this convention as soon as may be.
16. That the exigencies of our public affairs demand that a Provincial Congress be called to concert such measures as may be adopted and vigor- ously executed by the whole people; and we do recommend it to the sev- eral towns in this county to choose members for such a Provincial Congress to be holden in Concord on the second Tuesday of October next ensuing.
17. That this county confiding in the wisdom and integrity of the Continen- tal Congress now sitting at Philadelphia, will pay all due respect and sub- mission to such measures as may be recommended by them to the colonies, for the restoration and establishment of our just rights, civil and religious, and for renewing that harmony and union between Great Britain and the colonies so earnestly wished for by all good men.
18. Whereas the universal uneasiness which prevails among all orders of men, arising from the wicked and oppressive measures of the present Administration, may influence some unthinking persons to commit outrage upon private property, we would heartily recommend to all persons of this community not to engage in any riots, routs or licentious attacks upon the properties of any person whatsoever, as being subversive of all order and government, but, by a steady, manly, uniform and persevering opposition to convince our enemies, that in a contest so important in a cause so solenin, our conduct shall be such as shall merit the approbation of the wise, and the admiration of the brave and free of every age and of every country.
19. That should our enemies by any sudden manœuvres, render it neces- sary for us to ask aid and assistance of our brethren in the country, some one of the comniittee of correspondence or a select man of such a town, or the town adjoining where such hostilities shall commence, shall despatch couriers with written messages to the select men or committees of corre- spondence of the several towns in the vicinity, with a written account of such matter, who shall despatch others to committees or select nien more remote till proper and sufficient assistance be obtained ; and that the expense of said couriers be defrayed by the county until it shall be otherwise ordered by the Provincial Congress.
Voted that Joseph Warren Esq and Dr Benjamin Church of Boston ; Dea- con Joseph Palmer and Colonel Ebenezer Thayer of Braintree; Captain Lemuel Robinson, William Holden Esq and Captain John Homans of Dor- chester; Capt Wm Heath of Roxbury; Colonel William Taylor and Dr Samuel Gardner of Milton; Isaac Gardner Esq. Capt. Benjamin White and Capt Thomas Aspinwall of Brookline; Nathaniel Sumner Esq and Richard
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Woodward of Dedham, - be a committee to wait on His Excellency the governor, to inform him that this county is alarmed at the fortifications making on Boston Neck, and to remonstrate against the same, and the re- peated insults offered by the soldiery to persons passing and repassing into that town; and to confer with him upon those subjects.
Attest : WILLIAM THOMPSON, Clerk
ACTION OF CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.
Paul Revere was selected as the messenger to proceed to Philadelphia and present the resolves to the Continental Con- gress then in session there. They were read on the 17th of September, and were received with great enthusiasm by the dele- gates. Admiration for the people of Boston and sympathy for their suffering condition were expressed in the strongest lan- guage. John Adams says : "I saw the tears gush into the eyes of the old, grave, pacific Quakers of Pennsylvania." It was the first organized utterance of open defiance and determined resist- ance. Similar action was taken in other counties, and the whole was ratified and made national by the Continental Congress.
This body, though sitting with closed doors, at once sent a copy of the resolves, with their action upon the same, to the "Philadelphia Packet" for publication. It was unanimously re- solved that they deeply feel for the sufferings of their country- men in Massachusetts under the operation of the late cruel, oppressive, and unjust acts of the British Parliament ; that they entirely approve of the wisdom and fortitude with which oppo- sition to these wicked ministerial measures have been conducted ; that they earnestly recommend a perseverance in the same firm and temperate conduct as expressed in these resolutions ; also recommending that the resolutions of the Suffolk Convention be published for the information and benefit of the country.
The Tory papers of the day were filled with comments on the action of this Continental Congress. Among many is the fol- lowing : -
As soon as they received by express an authentic copy of the Suffolk Resolves, they broke through all secrecy, and at once gave such a blast on the trumpet of sedition as made one-half of America tremble.
Quotations from the British press of the day are of similar tenor. A writer of the times says : -
The friends of America have the satisfaction to learn that the Resolves of the late Continental Congress respecting the votes of the County of Suf- folk published in the English papers here not only surprised, but confounded the ministry, as by it they perceive the Union of the Colonies to be complete, and their present menaces only mark their despair.
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HISTORY OF MILTON.
LEXINGTON ALARM.
The first bloodshed of the war was at the massacre in King street, Boston, on the evening of March 5, 1770, when a party of soldiers, belonging to His Majesty's 29th Regiment, fired into the inhabitants of the town. At the trial of Capt. Preston, Nov. 27, 1770, Samuel Davenport and Joseph Houghton, of Mil- ton, were accepted on the jury, after twenty-one talesmen had been challenged. From this time popular excitement continued to increase, until it again culminated in open bloodshed at Lex- ington, on the morning of April 19, 1775; and on the evening of that day " the King's Governor and the King's Army found themselves closely beleagued in Boston."
When the British troops emerged from Boston on the night of the 18th, more than one Paul Revere was on the alert. The alarm spread from house to house in Milton; fifty-one of her citizens sprang to arms, and, joining their gallant leader, Capt. Ebenezer Tucker, marched to intercept the enemy. On the muster-roll of the company, here given, appear the ancestors of many of our fellow-citizens, whose hearts cannot but thrill with exultation at the recital of such heroic deeds.
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