USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Amherst > The history of the town of Amherst, Massachusetts, pt 1 > Part 13
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Jan. 22, 1778, a muster-roll of Capt. Reuben Dickinson's company. belonging to Col. Porter's regiment, bore the names of the following Amherst men :
David Peters, Hezekiah Cowls,
Joseph Aldrich,
Elijah Baker, John Fox,
David Hawley,
James Barnes. Samuel Buckman,
Noah Gould.
Nathaniel Yale, Enos Rolfe,
Samuel Harper,
John Sanglere, John Woodbury,
Noah Bigelow.
These men were enlisted for three years. except Woodbury, who
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AMHERST SOLDIERS.
enlisted for eight months. A list of men drafted for nine months service from their arrival in Fishkill in 1778, contains the following names of Amherst men who were in Col. Porter's regiment :
David Leonard, Timothy Dickinson, Zimri Dickinson, David Gould.
Benjamin Buckman, Simeon Peck,
May 15, 1778, Amherst hired nine men for three years' service in the Continental army; the only Amherst man among them was Ebenezer- Boltwood. The following Amherst men served in Capt. Samuel Fairfield's company of Col. Nathan Sparhawk's regiment at Dorchester, during the latter part of 1778 : Timothy Green, Henry Chandler, Joseph Kimball, Elias Smith. March 11, 1778, Amherst voted that persons not own- ing independence of the crown of Great Britain should not be allowed : to vote. Nov. 5 of the same year a vote was passed in favor of a new constitution ; this vote was repeated at a meeting held May 17, 1779. July 12, 1779, Ebenezer Mattoon, Jr. was chosen a delegate to the state convention at Concord. Oct. 21, 1779, the sum of £434, 10 was granted to replace money taken out of the treasury to pay bounties and mileage to. soldiers.
June 8, 1779, the General Court passed an order to raise Soo men for service in Rhode Island and 2000 men to fill up the Continental battalions. Of the troops for Rhode Island, Hampshire county was to furnish 102. A pay-roll of Capt. Woodbridge's company, in Rhode Island service, that : continued to Jan. 1, 1780, contains the names of the following, credited to Amherst :
Simeon Dickinson, Elisha Dickinson,
Oliver Briggs.
They were to have £16 per month in addition to the continental pay .. Of the 2000 men for general service Hampshire was to raise 228. The time service was to be nine months, and the fine for refusing to go when drafted £45. Oct. 9 there was another order passed to raise 2000 men, of which number Hampshire was to furnish 450. The fine for refus- ing to serve was £50. Each soldier was to receive £16 per month in addi- tion to his Continental pay, a bonus of £30 from the town he repre- sented, and to draw two shillings mileage.
The nine months' men who were drafted under the act of June S were attached to Col. Porter's regiment ; Amherst is credited with the following :
Jonathan Allen, Joseph Kimball, Joseph Young,
William Ewing,
Daniel Darby, William Darby.
The following names are of men raised in Amherst for service in Rhode Island, under the same act, who served in Capt. Joshua Woodbridge's. company of Col. Nathan Tyler's regiment :
94
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
Timothy Ingram,
David Blackman,
Samuel Dickinson,
Elihu Dickinson, Jonathan Belding, Lewis Coleman,
Joseph Goodale,
Oliver Briggs,
Thaddeus Gilbert,
Asaph Lane,
Zimri Dickinson.
Early in July, 1779, British troops numbering some 2600 engaged a marauding expedition up Long Island sound, burning the towns of Fa. field and Norwalk and plundering New Haven. An attack was planned ( ... New London, but the British forces were recalled to New York. In tl .. American garrison at New London, in Capt. Elijah Dwight's company. from July 20 to Aug. 25, were the following men from Amherst :
Luke Coffin, lieut., Enos Nash, Silas Lee,
John Boltwood.
Joseph Church,
Nathan Smith,
Reuben Ingram, Nathan Perkins, Enos Kellogg,
Zimri Dickinson, Elihu Warner,
Silas Wright,
Carmi Wright
Thomas Adams,
Eldad Moody,
Daniel Gould,
David Lord.
The name of Silas Johnson does not appear in this list, but from other sources it is learned that he served at New London, and afterward- at West Point and in Washington's army in its retreat " across the Jerseys."
The year 1780 brought with it new demands for troops and supplies upon the residents of Hampshire county. As the war dragged on fron: year to year, their resources were steadily diminished and it grew harder and harder to furnish the quotas of men that the needs of the American armies demanded. But there was no regret for action already taken. no thought of purchasing peace at the price of liberty. Great induce- ments were offered to men to enlist in the military service ; these fail- ing, drafts were resorted to. There had been a steady and alarming depreciation in the value of the Continental currency, and Oct. 16, 1780. Amherst voted £10,000 to pay for beef for the army. Dec. IS of the same year, a committee was appointed to enquire and report to the town how soldiers might best be procured to serve in the Continental army, for three years or during the war. This committee reported at an adjourned meeting held Dec. 28, and Amherst voted to offer bounties in money and .clothing in addition to Continental pay to such as would enlist. At the same meeting £460, " new currency " was appropriated for beef and grain to supply the army. During the year there were in the Continental service near West Point the following men from Amherst :
Simeon Morton, Edward Gould, Hezekiah Moore,
Nathan Perkins,
Aaron Bartlett, Zimri Dickinson. Gideon Moore, Joseph Robbins, Joseph Kimball.
Lemuel Root, Noah Hawley, William Moore.
Solomon Dickinson,
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AMHERST SOLDIERS.
During the summer of 1780 a large force of men assembled as Spring- field, who were enlisted for the term of six months and also marched from that place to reinforce the Continental army. They were enrolled in divis- ions ; in Capt. Dix's company of the seventh division were the following men, credited to Amherst :
Hezekiah Moore, Gideon Moore,
William Moore,
Lemuel Conant,
Noah Hawley, Lemuel Root,
Solomon Dickinson,
Simeon Morton, Zimri Dickinson,
David Lord.
In Ebenezer Kent's company of the eighth division were :
Joseph Kimball, Joseph Robbins, Edmund Gould.
In the thirteenth division were :
Aaron Bartlett,
Nathan Perkins, Jr.
In a list of men who were enlisted by Col. Porter for three months, in accordance with an order of the General Court passed June 22, 1780, are the names of the following from Amherst :
Reuben Warner, Levi Smith, William Rice,
Azariah Dickinson, Nathaniel Peck,
Elisha Warner,
Jonathan Kellogg, Daniel Prince.
In a list of men drafted to march to Horse Neck under Col. Samuel Howe in 1780, are the names of the following men who are credited to Amherst :
Robert Amons, Benjamin Leach, Levi Nash, Zachariah Field.
John Boltwood, Solomon Boltwood,
April 2, 1781, Amherst voted that persons who had paid any money for hiring soldiers the- preceding year should be allowed the same. July 30 of the same year, a committee was appointed to hire the men that were required of the town for three months' service in the army. The men hired by this committee served in Capt. Oliver Coney's company of Col. Sears' regiment, from Aug. 12 to Nov. 15 ; their names were as follows :
Solomon Dickinson, cop'l, John Fox, drummer, Simeon Morton,
Levi Dickinson, Joseph Kimball, Noah Hawley. Eli Parker, John Belding.
Edward Gould, Elijah Ingraham.
During the year the following were hired to serve in the army for three years :
Hezekiah Moore,
Josiah B. Gould,
Jepthah Putnam,
Daniel Squier. Samuel Prince,
: Roger Crary. William Moore.
Silas Billings. Daniel Abbott, Thomas Squier,
:
96
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
Obed Hunt and William Moore enlisted for six months. The men ( the town eligible for military service were divided into classes; each cla -. was required to furnish a man and see that he received his bounty. Unde: the order of the General Court passed in December, 1780, Amherst enliste . eight men, five at £60, two at 670 and one at ESo. Daniel Ellis enliste May 15, 1781, for three years and received £60 : Samuel Prince enlisted Aug. 1, 1781, for the same term and received the same bounty. The fo. lowing memoranda are copied from the state archives :
" Mustered and Received of Capt Ebenezer Mattoon chairman of Class No. : for the Town of Amherst a certain Isaac Heart a Recruit Inlisted for the Term o: Three Years."
" These May Certifie that the Class whereof I was one for Procuring a mani :. the Continental Service for the term of three years hired Jepha Putnam and gave him for a hire the sum of Sixty pounds paid in Silver money.
Signª Jos WILLIAMS, Head of the Class, Amherst, June 15th 17SI.
To the Selectmen of Amherst."
The state and town taxes levied to provide funds to carry on the war were heavy and oppressive. In 1779 and 1780, Massachusetts assessed on its inhabitants five taxes, payable in bills, amounting nominally to 174 millions of pounds. Of this sum 113 millions of pounds, or $37,000,000. were assessed in two taxes in 17So to call in continental bills. When these bills were paid in, they were worth about one cent on a dollar in silver. In April, 1781, one dollar in silver was equal to $200 in bills. In those days the soldiers frequently paid $50 for one meal or for a mug of flip. In 1780, two state taxes were laid upon Amherst, {16,283 and £16,613, the two amounting to $109,653, payable in continental bills. The polls were assessed {20 in each of the two rates. In the same year a tax was laid on Amherst of $768, "hard money." A new state constitution was adopted by Massachusetts in January, 1780 ; under this constitution Amherst elected, in October of the same year, Nathaniel Dickinson, Jr. as its representative ; he was re-elected in 1781 and 1783. In 1784 and 1785. Capt. Eli Parker served as representative; in 1787 and 1788, Daniel Cooley.
All through the war, and even after its close, the residents of Amherst who were loyal to the continental cause were troubled by the toryism of their neighbors. The discipline inflicted in the early stages of the struggle upon Josiah Chauncey, Simeon Strong, and John Nash, and the significant votes concerning the attitude assumed by the Rev. David Parsons were not without a salutary effect. Isaac Chauncey, son of Josiah, was among those whose loyalty to the king and enmity to the revolution were not kept within proper bounds ; in 1776, the committee of safety ordered that he should remain within the bounds of his father's farm " except on Sundays
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97
IMPRISONMENT OF ISAAC CHAUNCEY.
and to Funerals," and later on caused him to be confined in the jail at Northampton, as "an enemy to America." He petitioned the General Court for release, claiming that he was out of town and did not know that the notification had been served, that he had not a fair trial and should be released on bail pending a new trial ; but he was given " leave to withdraw " the petition. Later on he was "confined to certain limits," but, on Aug. 26, 1776, was advertised by the committee as having "clandestinely departed ('tis supposed) to some part of Connecticut on no good design ; this is there- fore to desire the good people of that State or of other States, where he may be found, to secure him in such manner that he may not have it in his power to injure America." Lieut. Robert Boltwood was advertised after the same fashion. The warrant committing Mr. Chauncey to jail was found among the papers of Capt. Aaron Wright, at that time the jailer of Hampshire county, after his death ; it reads as follows :
"To Capt. Aaron Wright, keeper of the jail in Northampton, in the County of Hampshire and Colony of Massachusetts Bay :-
Sir: As Isaac Chauncey of Amherst in the county and colony aforesaid, hath been convicted before the committee of correspondence of Amherst, aforesaid, of being an enemy to, and acting in opposition to the just rights and privileges of America, you are hereby desired to take into custody and closely imprison him the said Isaac Chauncy, till he shall be dismissed by lawful authority.
JOHN BILLINGS, Chairman of Com.
Amherst. April 12, 1776.
According to the within direction, I have committed Isaac Chauncey to Capt. Wright, Jail-keeper in Northampton. The cost is 16s.
MARTIN SMITH, Constable. April 13, 1776."
The " within direction " alluded to by the constable, was addressed to Capt. Wright, and-read as follows :
"To Capt. Aaron Wright :
Sir: You are hereby informed that it is expected that you hold Mr. Isaac Chauncy in custody upon his own cost, until the judgment of cost be satisfied and you own charges secured. The cost is {1, 175., 6d. Likewise the fee of the officers entered on the mittimus.
Amherst, May 10, 1776.
JOHN BILLINGS, Chairman."
In September of the same year, the Amherst committee sent another person to Northampton jail, who had been convicted before them " of being notoriously inimical to the cause of American liberty."
Rev. Abraham Hill, the pastor at Shutesbury, was a violent tory and. at the same time, a great friend of Rev. David Parsons ; it is probable that the two " exchanged pulpits" and that Mr. Hill mixed up politics with theology, for in January, 1780, Amherst voted that he should not be allowed to preach in the town again. The political controversies waged between. 7
f in ..
98
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
neighbors on week-days were not allowed wholly to subside even on Sun- day, for it is stated that in the intervals between the morning and afternoon services the whigs and tories waged such a war of words that they quite broke up the afternoon meeting.
CHAPTER XIII.
PROMINENT PATRIOTS .- EBENEZER MATTOON .- LEADING OPPONENTS OF THE REVOLUTION .- JOSIAH CHAUNCEY .- JOHN FIELD .-- THE BOLTWOODS.
Among the men of Amherst who were ardent patriots and whom the events of the Revolutionary war brought prominently to the front were three, Reuben Dickinson, Nathaniel Dickinson, Jr. and Ebenezer Mattoon. Jr., who deserve more than a word of mention.
Reuben Dickinson was son of Ebenezer Dickinson, one of the earliest settlers in Amherst. In the expedition against Crown Point in 1755. during the French and Indian war, he served as sergeant in the company commanded by Capt. Porter. When the convention held at Northampton in 1774 advised the people to perfect themselves in military discipline, he organized a company of militia or " minute-men " and led them to Cam- bridge at the time of the Lexington alarm. The company served eleven days and was disbanded ; May 1. 1775, Capt. Dickinson organized a com- pany which served for three months and eight days. A part of this company was present at the battle of Bunker Hill, but not in the intrench- ments. Zaccheus Crocker of Shutesbury was lieutenant of the company. and Daniel Shays of Pelham ensign. John Dickinson, a member of the company and then in his 18th year, told Judd the historian in 1847, that one-half the company was ordered out in the morning but did not go. He thought the men were not short of powder but were driven off by bayonets. When the call was issued by the General Court, June 25, 1776, for troops to reinforce the Northern army, Capt. Dickinson enlisted a company of 6 men from Amherst and surrounding towns, which took part in the expedi- tion against Ticonderoga, being out from July 16, 1776 to March 1, 1777. In July, 1777, Capt. Dickinson with his company was stationed at Mosses Creek, and on their return from that place were at once ordered out on an alarm to Stillwater. The company took part in the battles of Bemis Heights
99
NATHANIEL DICKINSON, JR.
and Saratoga. and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne. After the close of the war Capt. Dickinson removed to Thetford, Vt., but died in Amherst, Nov. 12, 1803, at the home of his sister, Mrs: Jerusha Blodgett, while there on a visit. He was married and had nine children, five boys and four girls.
Nathaniel Dickinson, Jr. was the son of Nathaniel who removed from Shutesbury to Amherst after 1745. Nathaniel, Jr. was graduated from Har- vard College in the class of 1771, having as a classmate David Parsons, son of the Rev. David. They were the first natives of Amherst who went to college. After his graduation he was indentured to Major Hawley of Northampton for three years. to study law, and the term of his service had just expired when the warning notes of the Revolution were sounded. When only 24 years of age he was elected a delegate from Amherst to the first Provincial Congress ; he was also elected to the second Congress which met at Cambridge, and to the third which met at Watertown. He served as representative to the General Court in 1778; 1780 and 1783. He served upon Amherst's committees of correspondence, was the author of a large part of the Revolutionary papers of the District, was moderator at town meetings, town clerk and treasurer, selectman and assessor, and devoted his time largely to public business. In 1781 he was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Hancock, after which he was commonly known as " Squire Nat." He was an ardent advocate of the cause of the revolutionists, and when that cause was assailed was ever ready to defend it. It is related that once, when the Rev. David Parsons was compelled to read from the pulpit a proclamation issued by authority of the new government, he added to the formal conclusion "God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," the following expression of his own views, " But I say, God save the king." Whereupon Mr. Dickinson sprang to his feet in his pew and exclaimed in tones that echoed through the church, " And I say, you are a damned rascal !" Mr. Dickinson married, Dec. 9, 1779, Sarah, daughter of Ebenezer Marsh of Hadley, by whom he had two children, Susanna and Walter. He died, Nov. 10, 1802, aged 51 years.
Ebenezer Mattoon, Jr. attained to the greatest prominence in public affairs of any of the earlier residents in Amherst. Probably no better, certainly no more authentic record of his life is in existence than the fol- lowing autobiographical sketch, found' among his papers after his death and copied from the Hampshire Gasette in which it was printed in I843. It is addressed to William Cogswell, D. D. and reads as follows :
" To WM. COGSWELL, D. D.
Dear Sir: - Your printed Circular. addressed to the graduates of Dartmouth College, requesting them to furnish you with brief biographical notices of themselves. for publication, I duly received. The plan you propose I cordially
100
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF AMHERST, MASS.
approve -- when completed, it will, I think, embody facts that will be very gratify- ing to the Alumni of that institution. and also the friends of literature.
If my own history can add anything to the completion of your plan, it is at your service. In replying to your interrogatories I shall follow their numerical order.
I was born, 1755, in Amherst, then a precinct of Hadley. My parents were Ebenezer Mattoon and Dorothy Smith daughter of Doct. Nath'l Smith of Amherst. The earliest knowledge I have of my ancestry extends back to the year 1676. Then Philip Mattoon, an unmarried young man (who came I believe from Glasgow, in Scotland) was among 47 men at Marlboro, who, with others from Boston, were sent up under Capt. Wm. Turner to defend the inhabitants on Con- necticut river from the invasions of the Indians. The next year, (1677,) he resided at Springfield, and was married to Sarah Hawks. About 1688, he removed to Deerfield, where he died in 1696, leaving several sons, one of whom, Eleazer, settled at Northfield. He was my Grand-Father. In 1734, he removed to Amherst, with his family, my father, Ebenezer, being his only son, then 16 years of age. My studies, preparatory for college, were pursued under the tuition of Rev. David Parson, the first minister of Amherst. I entered college in 1772 and graduated in 1776. In the Spring of '76, after examination for. degrees, with three others of my class, I obtained permission of the faculty to go to Canada, and engage in the revolutionary army, receiving a promise that our degrees should be regularly con- ferred. Soon after my arrival at Canada, I received a Lieutenant's Commission, and performed the duties of an Adjutant for that year. The next year I was Lieut. in the Artillery in the northern campaign, and was in St. Clair's retreat from Ticonderoga, and in the hard fought battles and capture of Burgoyne. Continuing in the army, I was in the battle fought by Gen. Sullivan on Rhode Island. In 1779 I left the army, returned to Amherst, and was married to Mary Dickinson, of Amherst, where I still reside. I studied no profession except that of arms. In 17So and '81, I represented the town in General Court. Was made justice of peace in 1782, and held the office till 1796. Was elected Captain in the Militia in 1782, Major in '85, Col. in '89, Brigadier in '92, and in '96 Maj. General of the 4th division Militia in this Commonwealth. In 1816 I resigned my Commission of Maj. Gen. and was appointed Adjutant General, which office I held until two years after, when I was compelled to resign on account of the entire loss of my sight. I was a member of the Senate of this Commonwealth two years. 1795 and '96. In 1766, I was appointed Sheriff of the (old) County of Hampshire, and con- tinued in office nearly 20 years. I was in the 6th and 7th Congress. In IS20, I was a member of the Convention for amending the Constitution of our Common- wealth. In 1792, '96, 1820, and '28 I was one of the Electoral College for the choice of President and Vice President of the United States.
I have had six children, two of whom died in infancy. The names of the four are Mary Dickinson, Ebenezer, Noah Dickinson, and Dorothy Smith. Three are still living. Mary D). [since deceased] resides in Philadelphia, Ebenezer in Amherst, and Noah D. in Ohio.
In an historical sketch of Gen. Mattoon, written by Zebina C. Mon- tague and published in the Hampshire and Franklin Express under date of May 21, 1858, are many interesting anecdotes concerning his military and civil services. When he returned to Amherst after his discharge from the army he brought with him an old iron field-piece, a six-pounder, that had
IOI
EBENEZER MATTOON, JR.
seen service in the Northern army. After the capture of Burgoyne, the Americans replaced their old-fashioned ordnance with the more modern and effective cannon captured from the enemy, and the discarded field-pieces were many of them given to officers in the American army. This old cannon was stored for many years in Gen .. Mattoon's barn, and was used in Fourth of July celebrations as well as in celebrating other events of less patriotic interest. It was destined to play an important part in a neighbor- hood quarrel of which more will be related in succeeding pages. As high sheriff of Hampshire county, Gen. Mattoon officiated in 1806 at the execu- tion of Halligan and Daly at Northampton, for murder and highway robbery. This was one of the first executions in Hampshire county. While on a visit to Boston in 18 16, in connection with his duties as adjutant- general, he caught a severe cold which settled in his eyes and soon resulted in total blindness. He built the house at East Amherst now owned and occupied by O. P. Gaylord ; it was, at that time, esteemed one of the finest residences in the village. During the closing years of his life Gen. Mattoon drew a pension as a revolutionary soldier. He died, Sept. 11, 1843, aged 88 years.
In the Hampshire Gasette of Aug. 29, 1832, appears the following list of Revolutionary soldiers from Amherst who applied for pensions :
Gideon Stetson, John Dickinson, Judah Clark.
Timothy Henderson, Benjamin Kimball, Simeon Dickinson.
Nathan Sprout.
Silas Johnson,
Ebenezer Mattoon,
Jonathan Dickinson, John Hunt,
Samuel Thompson,
Simeon Pomeroy, Nathan Kellogg,
Jonathan Thayer.
Prominent among the opponents of the Revolution were the Rev. David Parsons, Simeon Strong, Esq., Josiah Chauncey, John Field, and three members of the Boltwood family, Ebenezer, Solomon and William. Of David Parsons and Simeon Strong brief biographical sketches have already been given. Josiah Chauncey was for many years a leading man in the community. The son of Rev. Isaac Chauncey, for many years pastor of the church in Hadley, he was born Nov. 14, 1716. In 1758 he was appointed justice of the peace, holding that office until the outbreak of the war of the Revolution. In 1760 and 1762, he represented Hadley, South Hadley, Granby and Amherst in the General Court. From the " Memorials of the Chaunceys", edited by William Chauncey Fowler and published in 1858, the following is copied :
"Josiah Chauncy, youngest son of the Rev. Isaac, was born Nov. 4, 1716. He resided in Hadley precinct (Amherst) before 1737. He, with his two brothers, Richard and Charles, having, in their father's family, enjoyed more than common advantages, and, taking a leading part in public affairs, must have had great influence in giving a character to the infant town of Amherst. He, if any one, was the Father of the Town. He was for a considerable time usually moderator of the
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