USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Groton > Three historical addresses at Groton, Massachusetts > Part 5
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during the famous dark day of May, 1780. It is highly probable that the Shays Rebellion, which broke out in the summer of 1786, had some connection with the removal of these sessions from Groton. The uprising in Middlesex County was confined exclusively to this neighborhood, and the insurgents always felt a bitter spite against the Court of Common Pleas, which they tried so hard to abolish. The action of the Legislature in making the change seems to have been in part retributive.
In his senior year Joseph Dennie, the poet, was rusti- cated from college and placed under the care of Dr. Chap- lin, the minister of this town. Dennie used to say that he was sent away from Cambridge to let his class catch up with him in their studies. After he had been here a short time, under date of February 24, 1790, he writes to a class- mate, giving his impressions of the place. He says: "A better, more royal, social club of Lads cannot be found in America, college excepted, than at Groton."
During a part of the first half of the present century, Groton had one characteristic feature that it no longer pos- sesses. It was a radiating centre for different lines of stage-coaches, until this mode of travel was superseded by the swifter one of the railway. A whole generation has passed away since the old coaches were wont to be seen in these streets. They were drawn usually by four horses, and in bad going by six. Here a change of coaches, horses, and drivers was made. .
The stage-driver of former times belonged to a class of men that have entirely disappeared from this community. His position was one of considerable responsibility. This important personage was well known along his route, and his opinions were always quoted with respect. I easily recall, as many of you can, the familiar face of Aaron Corey, who drove the accommodation stage to Boston for so many years. He was a careful and skilful driver, and a man of most obliging disposition. He would go out of his way to do an errand or leave a newspaper; but his specialty was to look after women and children committed
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to his charge. I remember on one occasion when Mr. Corey went out of his customary course, and drove up to a house standing by the wayside; and with an elderly woman who came to the door he left a message that the baby was better. What a weight of sorrow these few words of good cheer, before the time of telegraphs, lifted from the heart of an anxious grandmother ! I recall, too, with pleasure, Horace George, another driver, popular with all the boys, because in sleighing-time he would let us ride on the rack behind, and would even slacken the speed of his horses so as to allow us to catch hold of the straps.
The earliest line of stage-coaches between Boston and Groton is advertised in the " Columbian Centinel " ( Bos- ton), April 6, 1793, under the heading of "New Line of Stages."
In the year 1802 it is advertised that the Groton stage would set off from I. & S. Wheelock's, No. 37 Marlboro' (now a part of Washington ) Street, Boston, every Wednes- day at 4 o'clock in the morning, and arrive at Groton at 3 o'clock in the afternoon; and that it would leave Groton every Monday at 4 o'clock in the morning, and arrive in Boston at 6 o'clock in the afternoon. It seems from this that it took three hours longer to make the trip down to Boston than up to Groton. In the succeeding year a semi- weekly line is mentioned, and Dearborn Emerson was the driver. About this time he opened the tavern, at the corner of Main and Pleasant Streets, - though Pleasant Street was not then laid out, - long since given up as an inn, and subsequently burned. There were then two other taverns in the place, - the one kept by the Hall brothers, and con- tinued as a tavern till this time; and the other kept by Jephthah Richardson, on the present site of the Baptist meeting-house. About the year 1807 there was a tri- weekly line of stages to Boston, and as early as 1820 a daily line, which connected here with others extending into New Hampshire and Vermont. Soon after this there were at times two lines to Boston, running in opposition to each other, - one known as the Union and Accommodation
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Line, and the other as the Telegraph and Despatch. Be- sides these, there was the accommodation stage-coach that went three times a week, and took passengers at a dollar each.
In the year 1830 George Flint had a line to Nashua, and John Holt had one to Fitchburg. They advertise " that no pains shall be spared to accommodate those who shall favor them with their custom, and all business in- trusted to their care will be faithfully attended to."
There was also at this time a coach running to Lowell, and another to Worcester; and previously one to Am- herst, New Hampshire.
Some of you will remember the scenes of life and ac- tivity that were to be witnessed in the village on the arrival and departure of the stages. Some of you will remember, too, the loud snap of the whip which gave increased speed to the horses, as they dashed up in approved style to the stopping-place, where the loungers were collected to see the travellers and listen to the gossip that fell from their lips. There were no telegraphs then, and but few railroads in the country. The papers did not gather the news so eagerly nor spread it abroad so promptly as they do now, and items of intelligence were carried largely by word of mouth. But those days have long since passed. There are persons in this audience that have reached years of maturity, who have no recollection of them; but such is the rapid flight of time that, to some of us, they seem very near.
Groton was situated on one of the main thoroughfares leading from Boston to the northern country, comprising an important part of New Hampshire and Vermont, and extending into Canada. It was traversed by a great num- ber of wagons, drawn by four or six horses, carrying to the city the various products of the country, such as grain, pork, butter, cheese, eggs, venison, hides; and returning with goods found in the city, such as molasses, sugar, New England rum, coffee, tea, nails, iron, cloths, and the in- numerable articles found in the country stores, to be dis- tributed among the towns above here. In some seasons
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it was no uncommon sight to see in one day thirty such wagons.
We are now in our history passing through a period of centennial anniversaries, and we shall do well to study care- fully their lesson. They are appearing unto us at differ- ent times and in different places. Their proper observance will kindle anew the patriotic fires of the Revolution, and bring out all over the land a common devotion to the Republic.
Time rolls on rapidly, and a century is soon completed. There are many in this audience who will see those that will be living a hundred years hence. To look ahead, a century appears to be a long period; but, to look back to the extent of one's memory, it seems a short one. The years fly on wings, and change is a law of Nature. . I can recall now but two families in the village, that are living in the same houses which they occupied in my boyhood; and those two are Mr. Dix's and Mr. Blanchard's. A familiar sight at that time was the venerable form of Mr. Butler, whose character was well shown in his benignant face. His accurate History will be an abiding monument to his memory, and his name will be cherished as long as the town has a political existence. At that time the Com- mon was the playground of the boys, - it had not then been fenced in, and there was but a single row of elms along the main street. Of the boys that played there, many are dead, others have left the town, and only a few re- main. And the same can be said of the school-girls.
The lines are fallen unto us in pleasant places, and we all have much to be thankful for. What a contrast between our lot and that of our fathers! They had to struggle with many hardships. Their life was one of stern, unremitting toil, surrounded by cares and anxieties. They had to subdue the wilderness, while exposed to the assaults of a lurking savage foe. We, on the other hand, now enjoy much of the material results of their labor. We have but to cast our eyes about us, and see the comfortable homes and fertile fields. They left us the means of religious instruc-
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tion, a system of public schools, and an attachment to the government which they labored so hard in founding. All these they placed in our keeping, and it rests with us to preserve them intact for the generations to come. The duty with us now is to see that the Republic shall receive no harm; to see that no moral decay - the sure precursor of physical decay - shall sap the structure which they reared. Our aim should be to leave to our children an example as noble as the one that was left to us.
The three monuments dedicated on this occasion bore the following inscriptions : -
NEAR THIS SPOT STOOD THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE OF GROTON BUILT IN 1666 AND BURNT BY THE INDIANS 13 MARCH 1676
HERE DWELT WILLIAM AND DELIVERANCE LONGLEY WITH THEIR EIGHT CHILDREN. ON THE 27TH OF JULY 1694 THE INDIANS KILLED THE FATHER AND MOTHER AND FIVE OF THE CHILDREN AND CARRIED INTO CAPTIVITY THE OTHER THREE.
COLONEL WILLIAM PRESCOTT COMMANDER OF THE AMERICAN FORCES AT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL WAS BORN ON THE 20TH OF FEBRUARY 1726 IN A HOUSE WHICH STOOD NEAR THIS SPOT
AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS FEBRUARY 20, 1880 AT THE DEDICATION OF THREE MONUMENTS ERECTED BY THE TOWN
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TO
The Memory of the Children
CAPTURED DURING THE INDIAN WARS AND CARRIED OFF FROM GROTON, OF WHOM SOME MADE HOMES WITH THEIR CAPTORS WHERE THEY LIVED AND DIED, WHILE OTHERS CAME BACK TO THEIR NATIVE TOWN AND FILLED PLACES OF HONOR AND USEFULNESS
THIS ADDRESS IS INSCRIBED
BY THE WRITER
HISTORICAL ADDRESS
IT is the duty of every community to commemorate the great deeds and to perpetuate the important events connected with its history. The town of Groton is performing that duty when she erects the monuments which we dedicate to- day. These stones are set up to the pious memory of the founders of the town, who worshipped God in that rude and humble meeting-house so soon to be destroyed by the In- dians; to the sad memory of that unfortunate family who on their own threshold were massacred by the savages; and to the honored memory of a military commander, who was the ancestor as well as the descendant of a long line of dis- tinguished and useful families.
There were not many places in the Massachusetts Colony settled earlier than this good old town; but old as she is, she is yet too young to forget her children. With motherly affection she watches their career and notes their deeds. It matters not when they lived or when they died, their names are still remembered at the old home. It matters not whether they achieved distinction, as the world goes, or whether they pursued the even tenor of their way in quiet paths, - their memory is equally dear in the family circle. Connected with some of them are certain local incidents of historical interest which deserve to enter into the thoughts of future genera- tions. And I submit that it is sound public policy to mark the spots so closely associated with such events. It is an act in memory of the dead, for the benefit of the living. It is a debt due from the present to the past, and the town cheer- fully recognizes the obligation. With us and those who fol- low us, these monuments will mean veneration for the virtues of the early settlers, sympathy for their misfortunes, and an appreciation of their noble deeds.
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The pioneer Puritans aimed at establishing a Christian Commonwealth on this continent; and the General Court, in granting plantations or townships, often required that there should be a sufficient number of settlers to support a minister. Every man was obliged to pay his share of the cost, and no one seemed inclined to question the right of such an obliga- tion. Groton was incorporated as a town, on May 25, 1655, and in the grant the General Court expressed the desire that it should be laid out "with all Convenient speede that so no Incouragement may be wanting to the Peticone's for a speedy procuring of a godly minister amongst them." Vari- ous circumstances conspired to hinder the growth of the new settlement, and, much to the disappointment of the peti- tioners doubtless, it was some years before a minister was settled. The very first entry in the earliest book of town records - known as "The Indian Roll " -refers to the building of a house for the minister and the place for the meeting-house. It is as follows : -
Att a generall towne meet [ing,] June. 23. 1662.
It was agreed vppon that the house for the Minister should be set vppon the place where it is now framinge.
Also that the meetinge house shall be sett vpon the right hand of the path by a smale whit Oak, marked at the souwest side with two notches & a blaze
It is very likely that the minister's house was built about this time, as it was then in the framing; but the meeting- house was not erected until four years afterward. The dwelling stood near the site of the present High School, and for several years the inhabitants met in it for worship on Sundays. It was a good-sized building; for it was used as a town-hall and schoolhouse as well as a meeting-house, and subsequently, at the outbreak of Philip's War, as a garrison- house, when it was in the possession of Parson Willard.
The exact spot where the meeting-house stood cannot now be ascertained, but its neighborhood is well known. The nearest clew to the site is found in the following entry in " The Indian Roll ": -
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The Record of ye landes granted to Mr gershom hubard at a ginrall town meeting June 29 1678 viz all the common land that lye neare the place wheir the old meeting house stood Dunstable hye way runing thorow it and the hye way Runing into the cap- tains land wheir it may be Judged most convenient by them that are to lay it out
This record would place the site very near to the North Common, and nowhere else. As the meeting-house was " sett on the right hand of the path," it must have stood on land now owned by Governor Boutwell. The principal roads met here or near this place, and it was the most convenient spot that could have been chosen. There were at that time probably not more than fifty families living in the town; of these, perhaps fifteen were in the immediate neighborhood, and the others were scattered widely apart, mostly on the road to the Bay, as the road to Boston was called, and on the Lancaster highway. These were the two principal thorough- fares of that early period, and they converged to a point near the meeting-house.
The circumstantial evidence in the case goes also to con- firm this view in regard to the site. At a town meeting held March 5, 1665-66, it was voted that a pound should be built for the town's use, and be placed near the meeting-house. Unfortunately, the leaf of the original record containing this vote is now lost; but it was seen and examined by Mr. Butler, who quotes it in his History of the town (p. 41). At this time the meeting-house was not built, but the place for it had been selected. There is no reason to suppose that the site of the pound was ever changed until within compar- atively modern times; and there are many in this audience who remember the identical spot where it formerly stood, which was near the North Common.
Shortly after the re-settlement of the town, subsequent to its burning by the Indians, the usual discussion took place about choosing the site of the meeting-house, which always occurs in every small community. It was not peculiar to this town nor to that time, but is common to-day, here and elsewhere. On June 8, 1680, it was voted -
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that the meeting house shall stand wheir the other meeting house or some wheir their about.
This second meeting-house is known to have stood on the Middle Common, near the Chaplin Schoolhouse; and this would be in accordance with the vote that it should be on the old site, or " some wheir their about."
The next allusion to church affairs, found in the public records, is the following : -
At a generall Towne meeting. March 18. 1663. It was gener- al [ly] agreed. as folloeth
first. That M! Millar is by the Consent of the Towne ma [ ni]- fested by vote to be desired if God moue his hart there unto to continve still with vs for our further edificat [ion.] Richard Blood desents from this in regard of the time of or desiring him. we he would have to be after the gen : Court.
2!y That M! Miller shall haue a Twenty Acar lot layd out to him acording to the Townes grant to him
This vote gives the name of the first minister of Groton, and contains the only reference to him now found in the town records. The inhabitants little thought at the time that he would be called upon so soon to render the account of his stewardship on earth. In three short months after the town had invited him to continue with them as their friend and pastor, his labors ceased, and he went to take his reward. In the first return of deaths, made by the town clerk of Groton to the clerk of the courts, the record of his death is thus given : -
Mr Jnº Miller minister of Gods holy word died. June 12th 1663.
In the church records of Roxbury, kept at that time by the Reverend Samuel Danforth, and containing references to events throughout New England, it is written that -
June. 14. [1663.] Mr John Miller Preacher of ye Gospell at . Groyton, somtime Pastor to ye church at Yarmouth rested frõ his labours.
It will be seen that the date of his death in these two rec- ords differs by two days, but the one given by the town clerk
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is probably correct. As the pioneer preacher of the town when it was yet a wilderness, Mr. Miller deserves more than a passing notice.
The Reverend John Miller graduated at Gonvil and Caius College, Cambridge, England, in the year 1627, and came to this country in 1637. He lived for a short time in Roxbury, where he was one of the elders in Eliot's church. He was settled in the ministry at Rowley, from the year 1639 to 1641, and perhaps later, as an assistant to the Reverend Ezekiel Rogers; and during this time he filled the office of town clerk. He was made a freeman of Massachusetts, May 22, 1639. In the autumn of 1641, he was waited on by mes- sengers from Woburn, who desired his services for their church; but they found "Mr. Roggers loth to part with him."
Johnson, in his " Wonder-Working Providence of Sion's Saviour, in New England," refers to him both in prose and in verse. The following is a specimen of the poetry : -
With courage bold Miller through Seas doth venter, To toyl it out in the great Western wast,
Thy stature low one object high doth center; Higher than Heaven thy faith on Christ is plac't:
(Chap. XI. p. 131.)
In the year 1642 letters were received from Virginia set- ting forth the great need of ministers in that distant colony. The communications were treated with much formality and gravity, and were read publicly on a lecture-day. In view of the statements made in the letters, the elders appointed a time for their special consideration; and the legislature voted that, if the churches consent, the magistrates would recommend the missionaries to the government of Virginia. After careful deliberation, Mr. Miller was appointed with two other ministers; but he was forced to decline the invi- tation, on account of bodily infirmities.
Mr. Miller's name appears in the list of grantees of New- bury, December 7, 1642. A lot of land in Rowley was granted him in January, 1643-44, which indicates that his ministry may have still continued in that town. From Row-
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ley he moved to Yarmouth, where he was the settled minis- ter, though the exact date of his removal is not known. His daughter, Susannah, was born at Yarmouth, May 2, 1647; and he undoubtedly was living there at this time. He was probably the Mr. John Miller who was made a free- man of Plymouth Colony June 1, 1658. In the summer of 1662 he was a member of the council that convened at Barn- stable to consider the case of John Smith and others who had seceded from the Barnstable church. It is not known exactly when Mr. Miller came to Groton; but probably some time during 1662, as in that year the town voted to build a house for the minister.
His wife, Lydia, had previously died in Boston, August 7, 1658, leaving a large family of children, one of whom, John, was born in England. Mr. Miller was a man of de- cided literary attainments, and a devoted servant of Christ.
In less than ten days after Mr. Miller's death the town voted to invite the Reverend Samuel Willard to be their minister. The vote was as follows : -
[Ju]ne 21 [16]63 Its agreed by the Towne & manifested by vote that M! Willard if he accept of it shall be their minester as long as he liues we Mr Willard accepts Except a manifest provi- denc of God apears to take him off
These persons folloing doe desent from this former vot. Rich- ard. Sawtell. Samuell Woods. James Parker: John Nutting James ffiske
Its agreed by. the major part of the Towne that M! Willard shall haue their interest in the house &. lands that was devoted by the Towne for the minestry suckcessively. provided they may meete in the house on the lords day &. vpon other ocasions of the Towne on metings. And these persons ffollowing desent from their act
James Parker Ric. Sawtell William Longley John nutting Tho. Tarbole. Jun.
Richard Blood and John Clary att present
James ffiske. John longley. Joh laran [ce] Joseph laranc.
It was then the custom throughout the Colony to settle a minister for life ; and it was not supposed that a town could prosper without a regular pastor, which accounts for the
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promptness in choosing Mr. Willard. He was a recent graduate of Harvard College, and was just entering upon his chosen profession. At the outset there was some oppo- sition to him on the part of a few men, but this subsequently disappeared. It reached its height in the course of a few weeks, when there was much asking of mutual forgiveness, as may be inferred from the records, which are in part de- stroyed, though enough remains to show this fact. The im- perfect records read thus : -
[Date torn off.]
. to excercise am . .. all Edification in the ways . . . glory & or owne everlasting goo . . . vs And further desiring ye Lord to . . . what hath been herein any way off [ ensive] vnto him and to help euery one of vs to forg [ et] & forgiue what hath been any way offensiue [to] each other as we desire the Lord to forgiue vs
The opposers, to whom the dissension was due, may have thought that he was too young and ill-suited to lead a flock amid the dangers and hardships of frontier life. Their fears, however, proved groundless: he showed himself on all occasions to be equal to the emergency, and in after-life attained a high degree of distinction. At the next meeting his salary was agreed upon as follows: -
[Sept.] IO I : It is agreed by ye Consent of the Towne & manifested by vote that M! Willard shall haue for this year forty pounds and if God be pleased so to despose of his & our hearts to continue together after the expiration of the yeare (w [c] hope) by or aproving of him & he of vs we shall we shall [sic ] be willing to ad vnto his maintenance as [ God] shall blesse vs. expecting allso that he shall render vnto our pouerty if God shall please to deny a blessing vpon our labours
2. It is agreed & voted his yeare shall begin the first day of July last past.
It would seem from this vote that Mr. Willard entered upon the cares and duties of his ministerial life on the first day of July, 1663, only three weeks after Mr. Miller's death. It is probable that the minister's house at this time was fin- ished, and Mr. Willard living in it, and preaching there on
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Sundays. Not unlikely in pleasant weather he would stand in the doorway and exhort his hearers outside; and when it was stormy they would crowd inside, listening with the same attention. We can imagine how it would try the patience of a good housekeeper to do the necessary cleaning after such a promiscuous gathering. At that time Mr. Willard had not entered upon those matrimonial relations which he took upon himself soon afterward, and there was consequently no Mrs. Willard to look after the minister's house and keep it in order. In this emergency the town passed the following vote : -
Sep. 21 63 It is agreed by ye Towne wth John Nuttin & voted that he the said John shall keepe cleane the meeting house this ye [ar] or cause it to be kept cleene & for his labour he is to h [ave] fourteen shillings
In the mean time Mr. Willard was giving satisfaction to the town, all opposition to him having apparently ceased. Although there had been preaching here for two years, it would seem, from an entry in the Roxbury church records, that a church had not been regularly established. It is as follows : -
July. 13. [1664.] A church gathered at Groyton & Mr Wil- lard ordained
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