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i <l><<> Illlllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Illlllllllllllllllllllll Illllllllllllllllllllllll Illlllllllllll Illllllllllllllllll mil Illllllllllllllll i: 
 
 JOSEPH STEBBINS 
 
 A PIONEER AT THE OUTBREAK OF 
 THE REVOLUTION 
 
 By GEORGE SHELDON 
 
 I SALEM, MASS. | 
 
 I TliE SALEM PRESS COMPANY | 
 
 I 1916 I 
 
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JOSEPH STEBBINS 
 
 A PIONEER AT THE OUTBREAK OF 
 THE REVOLUTION 
 
 By GEORGE SHELDON 
 
 SALEM, MASS. 
 
 THE SALEM PRESS COMPANY 
 
 1916 
 
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JOSEPH STEBBINS 
 
 A PIONEER IN THE OUTBREAK OF THE 
 
 REVOLUTION 
 
 By George Sheldon. 
 
 There cannot be too much honor paid to the memory of those who 
 set themselves to the work of freeing this colony from the tyrannical grasp 
 of Great Britain. They were men of nerve, persistence and faith in their 
 cause and in one another. They had the firm belief that they should final- 
 ly succeed in their herculean task. 
 
 That the task was herculean is graphically shown in the following cry 
 uttered in March, 1775. "Are we ready for war? Where are our stores 
 — where are our arms — where our soldiers — where our generals — where 
 our money — the sinews of War? They are nowhere to be found. In truth, 
 we are poor, we are naked, we are defenceless, yet we talk of assuming the 
 front of war! of assuming it, too, against a nation, one of the most formi- 
 dable in the world; a nation ready and armed at all points; her navies riding 
 triumphant on every sea, her armies never marching but to certain victory! 
 What is to be the issue of the struggle we are called upon to court? What 
 can be the issue, in the comparative circumstances of the two countries, 
 but to yield up this country an easy prey to Great Britain." This and 
 like eloquent addresses had no effect on the New England rebels of the Rev- 
 olution. 
 
4 JOSEPH STEBBINS 
 
 Deerfield, as a town, was at the forefront of this rebellion. Deerfield was 
 not alone, but this sketch of her history is given as an illustration of 
 what was going on all around her. 
 
 As early as 1770 the Deerfield rebels had made up their minds for busi- 
 ness, and had gradually come into civil power. For ten years previous- 
 ly the loyalists had held control of the town, but in 1770 the rebels defied 
 the loyalists and King George and elected rebel town officers. 
 
 Prominent among the men of Deerfield who were active in this move- 
 ment was my grandfather, Joseph Stebbins. July 28, 1774, when Stebbins 
 was twenty-four years old, the spirit of patriotism of the "Sons of Liberty" 
 had reached such a height that preparations had been made for setting up 
 a tall "Liberty Pole" upon the village street. Party spirit ran high, and 
 little courtesy was shown on either side. There were a few Tories in town, 
 and this Pole, which had been brought here too late in the day to be erected, 
 was sawed asunder by one of them when darkness could conceal the actor 
 who boastingly made record of the act in his diary. This diary is now in 
 my possession. 
 
 The next morning the rebels procured another stately tree from the 
 forest, and planted it firmly on the Street within six rods of my grandfather's 
 house, with a liberty flag floating defiantly therefrom. 
 
 Stebbins was one of those who well knew that proceedings like these 
 would call down upon the heads of the rebels the vengeance of one of the 
 most powerful nations of the earth, and he early saw the necessity of pre- 
 paring to resist force by force. He was one of the leaders in organizing 
 and drilling a company of the "Sons of Liberty." The strength of the town 
 of Deerfield was behind them as we have already seen. 
 
 Oct, 7, 1774 a town meeting was called and a rebel elected to the Pro- 
 vincial Congress. Oct. 17, a new military company "to be under the orders 
 of the new Congress" was organized here. Nov. 11, Col. David Field and 
 Major David Dickinson were sent to a rebel military field meeting at North- 
 ampton. 
 
JOSEPH STEBBINS 5 
 
 Dec. 5, the town voted to direct the selectmen to' procure a stock of 
 powder and lead. 
 
 A Minute company was formed and might have been seen actively 
 drilling with Jonas Locke as Captain and Joseph Stebbins as Lieutenant. 
 
 It so happened that on a day which turned out to be one of the most 
 eventful in the history of Deerfield — April 20, 1775 — a town meeting was 
 held in the schoolhouse, when it was, — "Voted that y" Minute Company, 
 so called in this Town (as an Encouragement to their perfecting themselves 
 in the Military Art) be allowed by the Town y'' following sums, viz.: to 
 y® Capt & two Lieuts each two shillings, to y® clerk one shilling & six pence, 
 and to the non-commissioned Officers & Privates one shilling each for one- 
 half day in a week, until ordered otherwise by y*^ Selectmen who are here- 
 by appointed a Committee to determine how long y*" said Company shall 
 Draw y'^ above mentioned wages." 
 
 It was then provided that the company should receive back pay for 
 time spent in exercising, at one-half the above rates. Thus the town 
 adopted and backed up all the rebels had done. 
 
 Deerfield had now a little paid rebel army of its own which had been 
 drilling for months and my grandfather was an officer. Bear in mind 
 this was more than fourteen months before the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence. 
 
 The little far away town had this day provided for a contingency which 
 had already occurred. Even while the meeting was deliberating men on 
 horseback were hurriedly spreading the startling news in every direction 
 that the war had begun. The schoolhouse door had scarcely closed when 
 the resounding hoof beats of the galloping horse, and the hoarse call "To 
 Arms!" of the excited rider were heard on our village green. "Gage has 
 fired upon the people! Minute men to the rescue! Now is the time! Cam- 
 bridge the place!" and the twain are off like a meteor. Then there was 
 hurrying to and fro and arming in hot haste, and before the hours of the 
 day were numbered forty-nine men under Capt. Jonas Locke and Lieut. 
 Joseph Stebbins were on their way to the scene of bloodshed to join the 
 
6 JOSEPH STEBBINS 
 
 band of patriots under Gen. Artemas Ward already gathering and encir- 
 cling Gage in its toils. The blood of the colony was at fever heat and Gage 
 had tapped the first vein at Concord. 
 
 By general consent Gen. Ward had been placed at the head of the move- 
 ment against Gage, and had been directed to raise an army of 30,000 men 
 for this object. At the outbreak of the Revolution, Ward was one of the 
 leading men of Massachusetts in both civil and military life, and in June, 
 1775, the second Continental Congress appointed him first Major-General, 
 ranking next to Washington in the American army. 
 
 A letter in my possession gives bits of information, not elsewhere found, 
 as to how the Dcerfield company fared on the way, and how they were re- 
 ceived by Gen. Ward. This letter is singularly devoid of sentiment. There 
 is not a word regarding the main cause of the war, and not a hint is found 
 concerning the reception they received from the people as they struggled 
 along. It is addressed to "Col. Selah Barnard" at Deerficld, and written 
 by Isaac Parker, Clerk of the Company. The letter is given in full. 
 
 Waltham April 24 [Monday] 1775 
 Sir having an Opportunity to send by the Barror we thought it Best 
 to Acquaint you as well as we could of our wellfare, we are safe arrived and 
 are took our Quarters at Brewers to night But Ave are not able to tell whether 
 this will be our Quarters long, our Regement is not all arrived, Liut Col 
 Williams [Samuel] arrived with his Company Last Saturday night we have 
 had rain every day since we set out which made the traveling very wet and 
 hard, But our men are in good Spirits and everyBody else we see — -we shall 
 not need any Provision, for we can Draw our allowance to morrow if we 
 please. But we think Best to use our own as long as it Last — tomorrow en- 
 listing orders are to be given out to Raise a standing army. Several of the 
 other provinces have Sent and offered to Raise their part, those that enlist 
 are to have one Coat and forty shilling a month, it is thought all the Cash 
 that can be sent will be much wanted, and we think if it could be obtain 
 to send our money now in the Collectors* hand Down — you will Doubt- 
 
 *The "CoUuctors" were men selected by the rebels for the purpose of collecting the pay of the rebel 
 soldiers. It was feared that tlie t.ix collectors might prove to be Tories and refuse to pay the rebel soldiers. 
 'I'he wage's of the soldiers were ahv lys p lil in specie which was collected at stated times by the "Collectors" 
 and held subject to the orders of thj sjldiers wuo wjre lial)le to be in the field on pay day. 
 
JOSEPH STEBBINS 7 
 
 less here many false stories which we would not have you pay much Re- 
 gard to, they have took Saml Murry, and John Ruggles prisoners who are 
 under gard — we should be be very glad to see you if you think Best, as I 
 have heard that Col Williams does, please to inform all our friends of our 
 wellfare. Excuse this, as it is Late at night 
 
 I remains in Behalf of the Company your 
 
 Haml Sevt 
 
 Isaac Parker Clerk 
 
 Under this call for enlistment at headquarters, Lieut. Stebbins was 
 the first of the Dcerfield compan}'- to respond. 
 
 It has now been shown that Deerfield was in the front ranks of the 
 rebellion, and that Joseph Stebbins was an officer in a military company 
 which was zealously drilling before Washington received his commission 
 as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. 
 
 Many towns, like Deerfield, foresaw the coming struggle and made 
 like preparations to meet it. Sunderland, nearby, organized a company 
 of Minute men in the fall of 1774, and employed a "deserter" to drill them. 
 
 In Greenfield a company of Minute men were drilling under the direc- 
 tion of Capt. Timothy Childs, a veteran of the French War. 
 
 A paper in Memorial Hall signed by Jesse Billings and twenty-nine 
 others shows how the matter was arranged in Hatfield before the authority 
 was assumed by the Provincial Congress. "We the subscribers apprehend- 
 ing the military exercise is specially Requisite at this Day, and altho Capt. 
 Allis, Lieut. Partridge and Ens. Dickinson have publicly declared that they 
 will not act as military officers under the acts of Parliament in the support 
 of the same. But we desire that they should call us together and exercise 
 us by themselves or such others as they shall judge likely to teach and in- 
 struct us in the military art." 
 
 Worcester County, the home of Artemas Ward, was all on fire. Miss 
 Ellen Chase, in her "Beginnings of the Revolution," recites the fact of seven 
 regiments of one thousand men each driUing in local companies twice a week 
 
8 JOSEPH STEBBINS 
 
 in that county, and that the men had taken on the name of Minute men 
 from being prepared to answer an alarm call at a minute's notice. At Mar- 
 blehead the excitement ran still higher; there the rebels were drilling three 
 or four times a week. 
 
 Richard Henry Lee, a distinguished Virginian statesman, said of the 
 rebels at this period, they were "men trained to arms from their infancy." 
 Does not the slaughter of British officers on Bunker Hill bear testimony 
 to the truth of these words? 
 
 Instances might be multiplied but enough has been said to illustrate 
 the spirit and the practice of these indomitable rebels. 
 
 I have dwelt at more length upon this subject of the early and earnest 
 preparation for war by the patriots to show that the editor of the New Re- 
 public was very wide indeed of the mark when he recently published the 
 following statement: — 
 
 "What, as a matter of fact, were the minute-men of the Revolution? 
 They were citizens-at-large whom the Provincial congresses and the 
 Committees of Safety of 1774 instructed to keep their powder-horns filled 
 and hold themselves in readiness to shoot Britishers. They had had no 
 military drill, and no practice except in shooting Indians and small game. 
 They went down to defeat after defeat, they were chronically under-sup- 
 plied with ammunition, they were hardly more than an armed rabble." 
 To be sure the rebels were forced from Bunker Hill by Gage's swarm of 
 Regulars and shortage of powder but, in effect, this action was equivalent 
 to a victory. Gage had little stomach for another encounter with that 
 sort of a "rabble," and how soon the British Regulars were driven clear 
 of all Boston land and water! 
 
 We left Joseph Stebbins while serving as lieutenant in Captain Locke's 
 company on the Lexington alarm, Apr. 20, 1775. This company arrived 
 at headquarters on Monday, Apr. 24, and was at once broken up. Gen. Ward 
 evidently preferring to use this new accession of force as units for fill- 
 ing the ranks of his new army, rather than as a new organization to be pro- 
 vided for. The next day Gen. Ward issued a call for volunteers to enlist 
 
JOSEPH STEBBINS 9 
 
 in the new army which he was raising to defy Gage. As fast as the men 
 found places they were transferred to the rolls of the new service with pay 
 from the day they left Deerfield. Capt. Locke was given a post of honor 
 in the new army. In some way — it may have been his soldierly bearing 
 or his known activity in the rebel cause — Stebbins had attracted the at- 
 tention of Ward who, on April 27, appointed him Captain in Col. Jonathan 
 Brewer's regiment, and his appointment was forwarded to the Continen- 
 tal Congress at Philadelphia. It may be a surprising statement, but it 
 is a fact, that Stebbins was appy)inted a Captain in the rebel army nearly 
 two months before Washington was placed in his exalted position. 
 
 For unexplained reasons, before Stebbins's commission was received. 
 Ward placed Stebbins in Col. Prescott's regiment, and on the night of June 
 16, he was active with pick and spade at Bunker Hill, while the next day 
 he was in the thickest of the fight, serving as a Captain under Brewer, with 
 a company not fully recruited. 
 
 His commission, dated July 1, 1775, signed by John Hancock, Pres- 
 ident of the Continental Congress, now hangs in Memorial Hall, This Con- 
 gress was made up of men selected from the leading spirits of the rebel col- 
 onies. 
 
 This commission shows Stebbins to have been a Captain ih the Sev- 
 enth Regiment raised by Washington for the Revolutionary Army. 
 
 The commission follows: — 
 
 In Congress. 
 
 The Delegates of the United Colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachu- 
 setts-Bay, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New- York, New-Jersey, Pennsyl- 
 vania, the Counties of New-Castle, Kent, and Suffex on Delaware, Mary- 
 land, Virginia, North-Carolina and South-Carolina to Joseph Stebbins, 
 Esquire. 
 
 We reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Patriotism, Valour, Con- 
 duct and Fidelity DO by these presents constitute and appoint you to be 
 Captain of a Company in the 7th Regiment, commanded by Col. Brewer, 
 in the army of the United Colonies, raised for the Defense of American 
 
lo JOSEPH STEBBINS 
 
 Liberty, and for repelling every hostile Invasion thereof. You are there- 
 fore carefully and diligently to discharge the Duty of Captain by doing 
 and performing all Manner of Things thereunto belonging. And we do strict- 
 ly charge and require all Officers and Soldiers under your Command to be 
 obedient to your orders as Captain. And you are to observe and follow 
 such Orders and Directions from Time to Time, as you shall receive from 
 this or a future Congress of the United Colonies, or Committee of Congress, 
 for that Purpose appointed, or Commander in Chief for the Time being of 
 the Army of the United Colonies, or any other your superior Officer, accord- 
 ing to the Rules and Discipline of War, in Pursuance of the Trust reposed 
 in you. This Commission to continue in Force until revoked by this or 
 a future Congress. 
 July 1st 1775 By order of the Congress 
 
 John Hancock, President 
 Attest Chas Thomson Secy* 
 
 Having received his commission Capt. Stebbins was now a full-fledged 
 soldier in the continental army which had been put by Congress under 
 the command of George Washington, June 19, only eleven days before Steb- 
 bins's commission was made out. Let us note that this commission was 
 issued in the same room and by the same body of men which had commis- 
 sioned Washington Commander-in-chief of the rebel army. 
 
 Washington left Philadelphia June 21 to take command of the American 
 army at Cambridge; this he did July 3, a memorable day in the history of 
 the colonies. 
 
 Capt. Stebbins was in Col. Brewer's regiment which was then at Head- 
 quarters, Cambridge. Aug. 1, Stebbins's Company was full. We know that 
 he was earnestly engaged under Brewer in driving Gage and Howe out 
 of Boston. Bunker Hill had spoken in tones of thunder, Howe had taken 
 counsel of prudence, and Boston was evacuated Mar. 17, 1776. 
 
 Owing to an unfortunate accident a large number of the old Stebbins 
 family papers were destroyed, so that we have fewer particulars than we 
 
 * \n ex.amin.ation will show that this commission was issued Viy twelve colonies only; as Georgia, the 
 la^t, the thirteenth, hnd now t iken its place, the presumption is that the economical secretary of the Second 
 Congress utilized a printed form left over from the First Congress. 
 
JOSEPH STEBBINS u 
 
 In congress. 
 
 TJji Delegates of the United Colonies of Ncw-Hnmpfliire, Mafl"achufetCs-Ba)r, Rhode-Ifland, Con 
 ncdicut, New- York, New-Jerfey, ,Pennf)'lvania, the Counties 0/ Ncvv-Caftlc, Kent, and SufTo 
 
 X (.n . 
 
 Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, ««a^ij"uuLh-CaroIiaa, to ^^Tc^^i^C- ^^f'^^tC ' <P 
 
 WE repofing cfpccial Truft and Confidence in your Patriotifm, Valour, Conduft and Fidelity, , 
 D O by thefe Prefents, conflitute and appoint you to be ^Y^^^f^,^ ^-^ ^ • 
 
 in the Army of the United Colonies, raifcd for the Defence of American Liberty^ and for repelling every 
 
 hoflile Invafion thereof. You are therefore carefully and diligently to difcharge the Duty of — — 
 
 ^A./u^tZ.^^ by '^o'ng and performing all Manner of Things thereunto belonging. And we do ftridly 
 cKargc and require all Officers and Soldiers under your Command, to be obedient to your Orders as 
 /2^t,..^fC-^U,^^t^ Aiid you arc to oblerve and follow fuch Orders -and Diredions from 
 
 Time to Time, as you fhall receive from ihi, or a future Congrefs of the United Colonies, or Committee 
 of Congrefs, for that Purpofe appointed, or Commander in Chief for the Time being of the Army of 
 the United Colonies, or any other youiffuperior Officer, according to the Rules and Difcipline of War, 
 in Purfuancc of the Truft repofcd in you. This Commiffion to continue in Force until revoked by thii 
 or a future Congrefs, 
 
 !piJ^ 1 \'f7}. ^y ^^'^^^ "/ *^e Congrefs, 
 
 Attefl. '^f^^/^f*^t'^^/f^/ 
 
 IDENT. 
 
12 JOSEPH STEBBINS 
 
 could wish of the Revolutionary service of Capt. Stebbins. At the time 
 of the Declaration of Independence we find him in Cambridge in command 
 of a company under Major-General Artemas Ward. 
 
 We come now to one of the leading events in the history of the Rev- 
 olutionary War, in which Capt. Stebbins had an active part. I feel a just 
 pride in paying all honor to my mother's father. 
 
 King George had sent Thomas Gage across the waves to straighten 
 out affairs in and about Boston. Gage had failed and been recalled prac- 
 tically in disgrace. In 1777, Gen. John Burgoyne was sent with an army 
 of Regulars and a horde of Hessians, with instructions to sweep the pesti- 
 lent rebels off the face of the earth. 
 
 About the time the news reached here that Burgoyne's Hessians were 
 marching toward New England — and their fate — orders were received for 
 reinforcing the rebel army in northern New York. 
 
 Capt. Stebbins was now — August, 1777 — in Deerfield. With Lieut. 
 John Bardwell and 45 men he marched directly to Bennington. They were 
 too late for the battle, but they had the satisfaction of seeing the Hessians 
 already prisoners in the meetinghouse. From Bennington Capt. Stebbins 
 marched to Batten Kill, and joined the regiment of Col. David Wells of 
 Shelburne. From there they marched to Fort Edward to cut off the re- 
 treat of Burgoyne's army. While at Fort Edward Capt. Stebbins called 
 for volunteers to follow him across the Hudson to surprise an outpost of 
 Burgoyne near Fort Miller. I was personally acquainted with one of these 
 volunteers, Jeremiah Newton of Deerfield, from whom I obtained consid- 
 erable information concerning this campaign. In September, 1777, Bur- 
 goyne appeared with an apparently invincible force near Saratoga. On 
 the 19th a fierce engagement occurred with Gates and his rebels in which 
 both parties claimed the victory. On the 20th the struggle was renewed. 
 Burgoyne was totally defeated and driven from the field. The King's sweep- 
 ers were smothered in the dust they had raised. Burgoyne's shattered 
 army became hemmed in by Gates and mortally wounded. All the heal- 
 ing waters of Saratoga could bring no balm to Burgoyne. He found no 
 
JOSEPH STEBBINS 13 
 
 4 
 
 avenue of escape. On Oct. 17, he was a prisoner with his whole army in the 
 hands of the rebel General. Thus ended the memorable battle of Sara- 
 toga and the boastful campaign of Burgoyne. 
 
 It was now that our Deerfield heroes saw the head of the proud Briton 
 humbled to the earth. 
 
 Burgoyne had discovered his mistake. He had declared a few weeks 
 before that the rebels were made up of the lowest stratum of the peasantry 
 with few or no respectable persons among them. He had no more idea that 
 he should be successfully opposed by this riff-raff than he had of riding on 
 horseback to the moon. 
 
 The trained troops of Burgoyne were contesting only for their King, 
 and must of necessity, in the long run, give way before the Patriots who,' 
 inspired by the spirit of freedom, were desperately struggling for their own 
 individual sovereignty. 
 
 Men of might had come to the front and were declared leaders by ac- 
 clamation. In fact, a new and powerful nation had sprung into being based 
 on individual rights. 
 
 We now exhibit in Memorial Hall a few spoils of the Saratoga campaign. 
 One item is a linen towel brought home by Capt. Stebbins, and a brass candle- 
 stick secured by Capt. Maxwell of Charlemont, both from the personal 
 belongings of Burgoyne. Stebbins also brought back part of a manuscript- 
 book belonging to the commissary department of Burgoyne's army. The 
 last entry made in it by the department was Oct. 8, 1777. This book con- 
 tained a detailed account of rations given out to the Tory volunteers and 
 camp assistants, six hundred and seventy-five names appearing on the pages 
 preserved. An examination shows that this book was utilized by the Con- 
 tinentals as an orderly book at "Headquarters, Fort Edward," Oct. 13, 
 14, 15. On the 14th Col. David Wells was field officer of the day with 47 
 of his men on guard duty. On one of the blank pages of the book Capt. 
 Stebbins, on Oct. 18, made up a pay roll of his own company. This list of 
 the men is here given save that the names of the privates are placed alpha- 
 betically; one hundred and fifteen miles travel was allowed to each man. 
 
14 
 
 JOSEPH STEBBINS 
 
 Capt. Joseph Stebbins 
 Lt. John Bardwell 
 Sergt. George Herbert 
 Sergt. Abel Parker 
 
 Allen, Joseph 
 Andrews, Nehemiah 
 Beaman, John 
 Billings, Thomas 
 Bliss, David 
 Burt, Ithamar 
 Burt, Simeon 
 Catlin, Timothy 
 Childs, Lemuel 
 Connable, John 
 Dickinson, Eliphalet 
 Faxon, Thomas 
 
 Sergt. Daniel Slate 
 Sergt. Samuel Turner 
 Corp. David Hoyt 
 Corp. Zibah Phillips 
 
 Privates 
 
 Frary, Nathan 
 Gait, John 
 Gray, David 
 Gray, Robert 
 Harding, Abiel 
 Joiner, Edward 
 Joiner, William 
 Maxwell, Philip 
 Miller, Tilotson 
 Newton, Jeremiah 
 Newton, Levi 
 Orvis, William 
 
 Corp. Samuel Gladding 
 Corp. Jason Parmenter 
 Drummer, James Warren 
 Fifer, Justin Hitchcock 
 
 Parker, Samuel 
 Sanderson, Joseph 
 Sheldon, Amasa 
 Sheldon, Cephas 
 Stone, Elias 
 Taylor, Eliphalet 
 Taylor, John 
 Tute, Moses 
 Webster, Stephen 
 Wells, Thomas 
 Wheat, Samuel 
 
 The day after the surrender of Saratoga, Capt. Stebbins and his com- 
 pany took the trail for home, the blood of each tingling with the conscious- 
 ness that he had done something to bring about this glorious result. 
 
 We must leave to the imagination the stories these gallant soldiers 
 told to their neighbors and one another while peacefully smoking their 
 pipes at their evening haunt in the store of Col. David Field, which stood 
 under the folds of the liberty flag, opposite the home of their Captain. 
 
 Comparatively little is known of Capt. Stebbins's military history during 
 the closing years of the war. In 1779 and 1780 he is in lists of soldiers "serv- 
 ing short terms from Deerfield." In 1781 he was commissioned Lieutenant- 
 Colonel in the "Fifth regiment of militia in the County of Hampshire." 
 This commission signed by John Hancock, Governor of Massachusetts, 
 now hangs in Memorial Hall. This year Stebbins enlisted for three years 
 or the war. In the late autumn of 1783 Washington discharged all the 
 soldiers whom he had so enlisted. 
 
JOSEPH STEBBINS 15 
 
 Lieut.-Col. Stebbins assisted Gov. Hancock in the troublous times of 
 Shays's Rebellion, and the arms taken from these truculent malcontents 
 were stored for safe keeping in his garret. With all the temptations of the 
 owners to recover their arms by force, Gov. Hancock must have had great 
 confidence in the martial or mental power of the Lieutenant-Colonel. 
 
 May 22, 1788, Lieut.-Col. Stebbins was commissioned by Gov. Hancock, 
 Colonel of the Second Massachusetts regiment. 
 
 On the death of Washington, Deerfield had appropriate and imposing 
 ceremonies. It was certainly fitting that Col. Stebbins should be one of 
 five who conducted the obsequies on that occasion. 
 
 In addition to his active military career Col. Stebbins performed his 
 part in the civil life of the community. He was eight years on the board 
 of selectmen, and often held minor offices of the town. 
 
 Col. Stebbins was much interested in education and was a member of a 
 corporation which established a private school on the Town Street. He 
 was one of four citizens of Deerfield who petitioned for and secured from 
 the General Court a charter for the Deerfield Academy in 1797. In 1806 
 he presented a planetarium and lunarium to the collection of scientific ap- 
 paratus of the Academy, thus showing his interest in scientific studies. 
 
 We have followed the career of Joseph Stebbins so far as known, and 
 have found him always and early in the foremost ranks of workers. He 
 played his part faithfully and well at the outbreak of the Revolution, the 
 time of his country's direst need. He lived to see the colonies free, and 
 a nation leading the world. 
 
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