USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Warwick > Warwick, Massachusetts; biography of a town, 1763-1963 > Part 5
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The long awaited day designated for the first town meeting finally arrived, May 9, 1763. All the male inhabitants that could possibly take time from their labors assembled at nine o'clock in
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the morning at the little meeting house on the common. Seth Field acted as moderator and the following officers were chosen: James Ball, clerk; Moses Evans, Jeduthan Morse and James Ball, selectmen and assessors; Amzi Doolittle, treasurer; Samuel Ball, constable; James Ball, tax collector; Silas Town and Joshua Bailey, wardens; Charles Wood and Joseph Perry, tything men; Israel Olmsted and Moses Leonard, fence viewers; Moses Leon- ard, Joseph Lawrence and Joseph Goodell, hog reeves; David Barrett, pound-keeper; Ebenezer Davis, field driver; Amos Marsh and Moses Leonard, deer-reeves; Moses Evans, culler of staves, shingles and clap-boards; James Ball, sealer of weights and measures; Moses Leonard, sealer of leather.
Thus we are given the names of the leaders of our infant town at the time of its birth. Deacon James Ball was the first innkeeper of record and it is probable that his inn was where Colonel James Goldsbury later operated his tavern at the southeast corner of the junction of the old Winchester road and Rum Brook Road. This was on the earliest county turnpike from Athol to North- field. Moses Evans and Amzi Doolittle came to Warwick from Northfield, both having seen service in the late war. Amzi Doolit- tle was the son of the Reverend Benjamin Doolittle, famous minister and doctor of Northfield. Jeduthan Morse operated and owned the sawmill built by Ebenezer Locke at Moores Pond and lived where the John McKnight home now stands. This pond bore the name of Morse Pond as late as 1830. Moses was the first of the Leonard brothers to come to Warwick, as early as 1760. His brothers Samuel, Jonas, Francis, Noah, John, and his sisters Beulah, Mercy, Lucy and Sarah soon followed. The sisters all married prominent early settlers of Warwick. Their father, Moses, joined his children in 1778. The Leonard name played a prominent role in Warwick until Jonas III, grandson of the third brother, moved from town in 1863.
This first meeting voted to spend 20 pounds on the highways, and wages were set at four shillings a day for a man, two shillings for a yoke of oxen and one shilling for a cart or plough.
As directed by the act of incorporation a committee was chosen to make a formal agreement with the Reverend Hedge as to
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his future support. The young minister had become a very popu- lar man. Gifted with a pleasant personality and a large, strong, active body he had entered into the work of the settlement with all the energy at his command. Following his ordination he had begun building his home, and by the first of November it had progressed to the point where he felt he could ask a wife to share it. He returned to Hardwick, his father's home, and married Sarah White, the daughter of the minister there. The arrival of his bride at Roxbury's Canada must have been the occasion for welcoming festivities to be long remembered. The joy of seeing his first-born son the following year was soon changed to sorrow when the baby, Lemuel, Jr., died, as so many newborn infants were wont to do in primitive surroundings. These events brought the minister and his wife close to the hearts of his parish and no doubt the committee was prepared to deal generously with him.
The agreement was as follows:
That the town will pay to the Rev. Mr. Hedge a salary of sixty pounds annually until such time as there be eighty set- tled families in said town; and the salary to rise as the families increase, allowing thirteen shillings and four pence to each family: so that when there should be ninety settled families the salary should be sixty-six pounds, thirteen shillings and four pence; and after that allowing four shillings and five pence to a family when they had increased to one hundred and fifty families his salary should be eighty pounds, to be paid in lawful silver money at six shillings and eight pence per ounce of silver.
The town would also deliver at his door annually thirty cords of firewood cut eight feet long. The minister agreed that this pro- posal was "handsome and generous."
The future now indeed had a very rosy look. New settlers were arriving constantly. The ring of axes felling trees, the rasp- ing sound of saws, the shouts of men, urging on their oxen as they cleared the fallen trees and the rocks from prospective fields, were heard throughout the town.
Neighbors swapped labor with one another to accomplish tasks
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too much for one pair of hands and thus became firm friends. All worked from "sunup to sundown" except on the Sabbath and then only the care of the animals was essential.
Today when roaming through the woods one may come upon a cellar hole far removed from any evidence of civilization, proof that homes were built wherever the owner decided on a logical location. First a path would be cut through the woods over the most practical route to the nearest road. Soon the town would be asked to accept it as a town road with the description of the location often including the words "as the way is now trod." As many of these outlying farms were abandoned nature gradually obliterated all signs that showed any road ever existed.
During the early days when the town grew rapidly the town records show many articles asking the inhabitants to vote to ac- cept, or later to discontinue, roads. While the description of these might be of interest to some people today, it does not seem that limited space permits such mention.
The management of town business was a fairly simple affair for the first few years. The support of the minister, the care and completion of the still unfinished meeting house and the modest sum spent on the town roads were the only pressing concerns to be met.
In order that this and future generations may know something about these old town offices once so necessary, a brief description of their duties should be of interest. The duties of the selectmen, assessors, clerk, treasurer and tax collector have not changed materially and doubtless will continue as they are for years to come. Most of the minor offices were created to serve specific purposes pertaining to the common welfare in various periods in our past history. Changes in our mode of living made many un- necessary so eventually they were discontinued.
Among offices found in our early town records are Over- seer of Poor, Tithing Man, Highway Surveyor, Hog-reeve, Fence Viewer, Pound Keeper, Field Driver, Deer-reeve, Leather Sealer and Culler of Clapboards and Shingles. As changing times brought changing needs other offices were created for vary- ing periods of time. Today their description provides much of
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the information pertaining to many of the customs and activities which were part of the life of our predecessors.
The selectmen invariably acted as overseers of poor as re- quired by law although occasionally the town elected a separate board. Aside from the duty of providing for the care of the town poor they also were authorized to "bind" out the support of minor children either orphaned or unable to be supported by their parents. This consisted of a contract called an indenture made between the overseers and a responsible family who would agree to support the child until it had reached the legal age of 18 years for a girl and 21 years for a boy. The child thus "bound out" was to receive food, clothing, medical attention and an elementary education in return for his services.
"Old Goody Rumble" and her children became town poor in 1764. A detailed account of all care provided for her is re- corded in the town minutes, including the arrangements made to indenture or bind out her three daughters. The following year the town voted "ten pounds and eight shillings to be proportioned on the inhabitants according to their invoice to keep Elizabeth Rumble and her child for the space of one year and that the inhabitants shall all have the liberty to keep the said woman and her child their proportion of said rate." (Town Rec.)
The aged or other persons unable to support themselves were customarily placed in the care of people who would agree to support them at the least cost to the town. The care of the un- fortunate poor was not to be neglected but any suspected pamper- ing met with opposition. On such occasions the town voted to put out the care of the poor to the lowest bidder and to put them out singly in all cases except for a husband and wife. (Town Rec.)
Province law stated that a family gained legal residence in a town after three months and in case they became paupers they would have to be supported by the town, unless they had been warned by the constable at the direction of the selectmen to leave town. If the family refused to leave after two weeks the constable could remove them to the town where they legally re- sided. (A&R, Vol. I, p. 68) In 1764 several families were warned
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to leave town and the practice was followed occasionally as late as 1774, although only one instance is found where a family was actually removed. Several of these families subsequently became prominent citizens and one man, Josiah Rawson, served the town as selectman for several years.
The tithing man generally has been assumed to be primarily a church officer, required to preserve order on the Sabbath and persuade the reluctant to attend church. Actually province law gave him broad powers on all seven days of the week. He was expected to inspect all public houses such as inns and taverns and enforce laws pertaining to the sale of liquor, gambling and all moral laws, "to present or inform of all idle and disorderly persons, profane cursers or swearers, Sabbath-breakers and the like offenders." (A&R, Vol. I, p. 155) Warwick annually elected two men to this office until 1808. Then the number was reduced to one until 1836 when the office was discontinued.
The care and repair of the town roads was placed in the hands of highway surveyors elected at the annual town meeting. The amount of money voted to be expended on the highways would be assessed on the inhabitants in accordance with the valuation each rated. The town would be divided into districts and each highway surveyor would have charge of a district. The assessors would give him a description of the roads in the district and a list of all the inhabitants residing there with the amount of high- way tax each was assessed. A person listed on the surveyor's war- rant could work out the tax assessed against him by labor performed by himself or a substitute, or he could pay it in cash.
Three highway surveyors were elected in 1763, but as the town grew and more roads were laid out the number of highway surveyors increased gradually until there were 18 chosen from 1849 to 1866.
In the early days of the settlement of a town the settlers, over- worked by the more pressing demands of building their homes and providing the necessities of life, would allow their domestic animals to forage for themselves as much as possible. This prac- tice led to complications as can easily be imagined. The animals were prone to wander where they were not welcome, so laws were
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made to control the custom. Swine were the most numerous animals and the most difficult to control, so the province passed a law forbidding swine to go "at large," the owner to be liable to a fine of one shilling for each animal found unrestricted. How- ever, recognizing the hardship this law placed on the early set- tlers, they added the proviso that if the town so voted swine could go at large if properly yoked and ringed. The yoke was a wooden frame or collar, the size specified by law, to be worn around the neck of the pig to impede its movements and prevent it from going through or under a fence or over a stone wall. They were allowed to graze unyoked from the last day of October until the first day in April, when gardens could not be damaged.
Each town was required to "chuse" annually at least two hog- reeves to enforce the laws. Realizing that the task would be obnoxious and that it would be difficult to persuade anyone to serve, the law stated that anyone chosen who refused to serve would pay a fine of 20 shillings, to the use of the poor, but no one should be forced to serve more often than once in four years. If the town failed to choose any hog-reeves it became the duty of the selectmen to appoint them, and failure to do so would make them liable to a fine of 20 pounds. Province law stated that any- one elected to many of the town offices must accept them unless he was excused by vote of the town, or be liable to a fine.
In order to have a place to keep stray animals until they could be claimed by their owners or sold at auction a small enclosure, called the pound, was built in 1766 at the northeast corner of the town common. A pound-keeper was elected to care for these strays and collect the fees charged the owners. Each farmer cut an indentification mark in the ear of his animals and these "ear marks" were recorded by the town clerk.
An interesting item is found in the record of the town officers elected in 1770. James Ball and Jeduthan Morse had served as selectmen continuously since 1763 and were two of the most prominent men in the town. Job Gilbert had served two years. Doctor Medad Pomeroy had recently moved from Northfield where he was a selectman. The town reelected Ball and Gilbert but replaced Morse with Doctor Pomeroy. But then they elected
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all three to the office of hog-reeves, and Gilbert was also chosen pound-keeper. Thus the highest and the lowest offices in town went to the same men. Shortly thereafter Gilbert asked to be relieved of his offices because he was moving from town. The worthy doctor then had the office of pound-keeper added to his "honors" and Morse returned to the board of selectmen.
Fence viewers were chosen to settle disputes between adjacent property owners regarding the responsibilities of erecting bound- ary fences. Field drivers were charged with collecting and im- pounding stray animals.
Two men were chosen as field drivers until 1824 and then the town voted to have one in each school district; this practice was followed until 1879 when the number dropped to three. Dur- ing the past century rarely has there been a call for the services of either the field driver or the fence viewer, although one is still appointed by the selectmen. The pound-keeper office out- lived the town pound many years but was discontinued in 1884.
As early as 1690 the province had become alarmed at the in- discriminate killing of deer. A closed season was declared from January 1 to July 1 and a sentence of 40 shillings or 20 days in the work house was imposed for the first offence. (A&R, Vol. III, p. 153) In 1763 a similar law was passed, increasing the fine to five pounds. One half of the fine was to be paid the in- former or person securing the conviction of anyone killing a deer in the closed season. Two or more deer-reeves were required to be chosen annually to enforce the deer laws, and if a town neg- lected to choose such an unpopular officer it would be fined 30 pounds for the use of the county. (A&R, Vol. IV, p. 683) The town elected two until 1785.
Cullers of clapboards and shingles were required to inspect and enforce the laws pertaining to the sale of these commodities. Sealer of Leather had similar duties in regard to the hides of animals. Many industries, as each town acquired them, were regulated in this manner.
At the first town meeting held after the town's incorporation in 1763, after the choice of town officers was made and a com- mittee authorized to arrange the contract for the support of the
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minister, only one other item of business was considered as worthy of immediate attention. It was "voted that hogs shall go at large on the common." Each annual town meeting warrant for many years called for a decision on this practice until it was finally voted in the negative in 1790. The office of hog-reeve was finally dropped in 1835.
The tax of one penny per acre, authorized by the province for the three year period following the incorporation of Warwick, brought in 90 pounds, 15 shillings and eight pence in 1763, and the collector was allowed four pounds and ten shillings for asses- sing and collecting it, or about five percent.
The problem of providing the minister's firewood was solved by the committee in charge assessing a sum against each family. Each member of the committee had a list of names assigned to him and he was obliged to warn these persons to work out their "wood rate," either by supplying their share of the wood or by paying the value in cash to buy it. If anyone refused to comply the constable was to collect the tax as other delinquent taxes were collected. This arrangement soon proved impractical and after a few years the minister was given money to buy his 36 cords of wood.
The province extended the land tax at the request of the town in 1767, and on January 26, 1767 the town voted to review the question of ownership of the home lots, in order to determine who was delinquent in paying this land tax and properly assess future taxes. These delinquent lots were put up at auction and sold to the highest bidder.
We find that the first official census was taken in 1765, and Warwick was found to have 191 inhabitants. Our nearest neigh- bor, Northfield, had 415. The next census taken in 1776 showed Warwick had increased over four times to 766 and had out- stripped Northfield, which had only increased to 580. The ex- planation lies in the fact that Northfield had long been a well-established town with little cheap land available. Warwick had plenty of cheap land and provided opportunities to establish industries, and skilled professions and trades were in demand. Many of these newcomers came from Northfield. The first Unit-
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ed States census taken in 1790 gave Warwick 1246 and North- field 868 inhabitants. In the next 30 years Warwick remained almost constant while Northfield gained steadily. In 1820 War- wick reached its peak at 1256, but Northfield had passed it with 1584 inhabitants. From then on Warwick's population decreased steadily, while its neighbor gained slightly and generally speaking has continued to hold its own.
The penny tax on land brought barely enough money into the town treasury to pay for the town's obligations. The committee appointed to settle the accounts with the town treasurer reported March 16, 1767 that the sum in the treasury amounted to only one pound and 13 shillings. Despite this fact the following annual meeting in 1768 brought up the question of schools for the first time.
No preparation had been made for a school building and so the town voted ten pounds to support a "moving" school some part of the year. A schoolmaster was to be "hired to teach the school in December, January and February, and the rest of the ten pounds to be laid out in hiring a mistress to keep school in the summer season." The selectmen were "to agree with and employ a schoolmaster and school mistress and to appoint the school wards or places to have the schools kept." It was also voted to ask the General Court for liberty to sell the remainder of the school right that had been stipulated in the original grant in 1735 to be reserved for the support of schools. Approval was granted and the money received from the sale of the school land was used to create the school fund. The interest derived from it was used to aid in supporting the schools.
The selectmen divided the town into four school wards, but in June when the time came to hire a mistress to teach the sum- mer session the question arose as to whether a female was com- petent or able to perform the task. A special town meeting was called to determine what instructions should be given the select- men on this vital matter. It was found that a woman was avail- able and willing, but the skeptical citizens voted "that Mrs. Hannah Rawson be employed to keep school but if the major portion of the quarter (school ward) where she keeps object
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against her keeping that the selectmen should dismiss her and she is to have four shillings and six pence per week for the time she keeps, her father finding her board."
Josiah Rawson and Timothy Nurse had settled on common land that had not been included in any of the lots laid out and allotted to individuals. Josiah Rawson who once had been warned to leave town was by now a prominent citizen and had already served as town moderator on one occasion. The pro- prietors had made the fifth division of common land consisting of lots of 14 acres each in 1769, but 106 acres of land remained in small parcels scattered all over town. The proprietors, as their final act, offered to give this land to the town for the project of finishing the meeting house if they would eject Rawson and Nurse from the illegal possession of their land.
Rawson and Nurse refused to move, and when the proprietors asked the town to "risk" the cost of a lawsuit to compel them to move, the town voted on January 13, 1772 "in the negative."
Beginning in 1770 a few persons had asked to be relieved of the ministerial tax assessed against them because they were mem- bers of the Baptist denomination. The town had voted to "sink their rates," which abated them. However the assessors continued to assess them, and in 1774 these people instituted a suit against the assessors to force them to discontinue the assessment. The town voted to defend the assessors, and James Ball and Doctor Medad Pomeroy were chosen as agents to defend them. There is no indication that the matter was brought to court, but the question continued to be pressed and was not finally settled until 1777. On December 12, 1774 the names of 28 men are recorded as Baptists and they were granted an exemption from supporting the minister for that year.
During the previous ten years the town had grown rapidly. Each year more roads had been laid out and accepted by the town. The number of highway surveyors had increased to nine. Many new names were appearing in the town records. The town treasury was in a flourishing condition with about 200 pounds available. As a result the practice of loaning money to citizens had begun, and the town held the notes of many prominent men.
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In 1774 80 pounds was voted for highways and 24 pounds plus the interest from the school fund was spent on schools. Fu- ture prospects looked bright, and to keep out undesirable people the town voted that the selectmen warn all persons not (legal) inhabitants to leave the town.
5 LOYALIST AND YANKEE, 1774-1776
BUSY AS THEY WERE with the pressing daily tasks that kept the inhabitants occupied from sunrise to sunset, they nevertheless were aware and concerned with the increasing difficulties that beset the colonies in their dealings with the mother country. King George III came to the British throne in 1760 with the deter- mination to rule with a firm hand. He chose ministers who would do his bidding and by the lavish bestowal of money and offices he built up in Parliament a majority who supported his aims. Laws were passed designed to bind the British realm closer to- gether. These affected the colonies' trade, currency, courts of justice, legislative assemblies, and above all their ideas of the proper form of taxation.
These measures seemed to the colonies a deliberate attempt to deprive them of the rights which they believed belonged to them as British subjects, and they gradually became convinced that they were being treated as inferior, second class citizens. Without representation in Parliament they bitterly resented these laws in which they had no voice. The determined opposition to the Stamp Act, requiring a revenue stamp on all legal documents, caused it to be repealed. The law forbidding trade with any country except England caused a boycott of English goods and smuggling became rampant. Duties on imported merchandise were collected at the port of entry, and from these duties the salary of the royal governor was paid instead of by the colonial legislature. This made the governor subservient to the Crown. Warrants called Writs of Assistance were given to customs officials allowing them to search private property for smuggled goods.
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Governor Bernard called for troops to protect the customs officials, and the treatment of the despised "Lobsters" or "Bloody- backs," as the redcoated troops were called, led to the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. The public led by Samuel Adams forced Acting Governor Hutchinson to withdraw the troops. The officer in command of the redcoats who had fired on the mob was tried in court, but John Adams and Josiah Quincy risked their reputations in his defense and secured his acquittal.
The boycott on imports was so effective that most of the duties were repealed because it was ruining English manufactures. However, the King insisted that the tax on tea must be retained as a symbol of England's right to tax colonies.
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