■iiiiiiiiliw mm m M\\ M. 1 AM. ■ ^ '^'^ '^<^ '<^\ .s^"- * o « o ' O,^ O^ * ^ V r ' • « O "-.V 'r<^ "ei a'V o' \<%-'\/ %-^-'*/ \^^1?\/ % HT STORY TOWN OF TOWNSIiNl) MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSE'I TS, FROM THE GRANT OF IIA THORyS FARM. 1676— 1878, ITHAMAR B. SAWTELLE. .Posterity dcli.L^hts in details.— Jt'/^;/ Qiiimy Ad,i PUBLISHED PV THE .AUTHOR. I'liKSS OV I5LAXC HA i;i) .^t p. ItOWX, FIT( JIP. n IS7S. '/A- INTRODUCTION. I have written a Histoi*}- of the Town of Townsend, embracing most of the incidents worthy of record, covering a period of two hundred years. My task is done. I have presented on these pages no elegant word painting. I have described no battle scenes or heroes ; no intrigues or crimes of monarchs or their prime ministers ; but I have labored faithtully to portray some of the characteristics of our Puritan ancestors, in the dry details of this local history. They came to found an asylum for religious liberty, without any clearly defined ideas of civil government. Their great aim was a pure religion combined with an independent church. Their hopes all centered on this one object, which engrossed their entire efforts, their muscular forces, "their dreams by night, their morning and evening orisons. I have endeavored to exhibit the patriotism of our pilgrim fathers, during the revolutionary struggle, in a manner that will suggest the cost of liberty, the price of which is eternal vigilance. If some of the names of those brave men have been wrested from oblivion, and justice done to those now almost forgotten, then I am well paid for the toil through the many weary, yet pleasant hours, spent among the records and papers made one hundred years ago. It should be the object of every writer of a town history, to preserve the memory of local events and enterprises ; to record the manners and customs, the 4 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. sacrifices and toils of the fathers ; to gather from old records and family traditions all important facts which the county or state historians have omitted. It is only within a few years that any attention has been paid to the preparation of town histories. In 185 1, while the history of New^ Ipswich, New Hampshire, was in preparation, Mr. Kidder was considered almost a lunatic, while he and his artist were making sketches of the meeting-houses, academy, and old mansions of that town. Now, four of the towns adjoining New Ipswich, have ample local his- tories nearly as fully illustrated as is the history of that town. More than two hundred years ago, Thomas Fuller, D.D., a man of excellent learning and great benevolence, wrote as follows : — "History is a velvet study, and recreation work. What a pitie it is to see a proper gentleman to have such a crick in his neck that he cannot look backward ! Yet no better is he who cannot see behind him the actions which long since were performed. Histor}^ maketh a young man to be old ; privileging him with the experience of age, without either the infirmitit^s or inconveniences thereof. Yea, it not only maketh things past, present ; but enableth one to make a rationall conjecture of things to come.'' In the study of records, I have been brought in contact with some excellent minds. I almost feel acquainted with Samuel Manning, Daniel Adams, James Hosley, and others, w4io placed on record the acts of the town, through the eventful days of the colonial and revolutionary times. I have almost heard their voices and peered into their pleasant but determined faces. Some of the most interest- ing facts, however, concerning the transactions which occurred during the first hundred years of our history, and even after that time, were gleaned' from outside of the town records. The puritans were men of action not INTRODUCTION. .) words. They had Httle time to commit their thoughts to writing. What they wrote was done more iVom necessity, than the Jove of perpetuating the remembrance of their acts. The history of Townsend should have been written long ago, before the third generation from the fathers passed away. Many things, of great interest, can never be known which might have been learned if a timely effort had been made. Even tradition seems to have died out. The farms, on our hill-sides, once occupied by large families, the sons and daughters of which filled the school houses, and wended their way to one common place of worship, on the sabbath, are now in the hands of strangers. The history of the earliest settlers of this town can never be written satisfactorily. It is impossible to point out the exact location where many of them "broke the wilderness" and built their cabins. In this work, with reference to the ecclesiastical affairs of the town, I have aimed to exhibit a complete and impartial history of the church and its ministers, during the period that the church was a town institution. I have studied the characters of tiiese ministers who brought glad tidings to the fathers during the first hundred ^'ears of the towns existence, and I hope I have done justice both to them and the subject. The ministers, who followed Mr. Palmer with the Congregationalists, I have described impartially as they appeared to me. Concerning tlie other clergymen sketched in this work. I have given their characters as I ha\'e learned them from other sources, rather than from observation. Dr. Johnson said that "he who describes what he never saw draws from tancy." If this proposition be literally true, then we have a greater amount of fiction from the pens of Gibbon, Hume or Irving, than was ever placed to their credit. I have given sketches of men more () HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. fully than most writers of local histories, on the principle laid down by a great writer, that "man is perennially interesting to man." Many persons herein descii^bed are now alive. The rule is that men must die before they can be embalmed. If I am not deceived their characters have been accurately drawn. The records of births, from the settlement of the town to 1800, are incomplete ; so that any account that might be gleaned concerning these interesting statistics would not be very satisfactory. In regard to genealogy, I have not pursued that subject to any extent, because some of our most prominent families are already placed on record. The Spaulding, Giles, Stickney, Richardson, and Ball Memorials, have been for some time in possession of these families. It is impossible that a work of this description, containing such a mass of facts and abounding in dates, should be free from errors. That errors are herein contained is beyond question. I beg my readers to point them ovit to the next man who will write the supplementary chronicles of the town. I have received valuable assistance in my labor, while compiling this work, from many sources : from Jolin Langdon Sibley, ex-librarian of Harvard University ; from the Librarians of the Historical Sociedes ; from Dr. Strong, who has charge of the Massachusetts Archives ; from the courteous and gentlemanly clerks in the office of the Secretary of State ; and what has been very agreeable, I have made the acquaintance of a class of historians, genealogists, and antiquarians, who have extended to me their friendly aid and sympathy. Ithamar B. Sawtelle. Townsend, March 22, 1878. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PHYSICAL GEOGBAPHY OF THE TOWN. Hills— Streams and Brooks— Ash Swamp— Wild Animals— Fishes- Birds— Name of the Town— Population. 13—30. CHAPTER II. LAND GPANT8 AND OBIGINAL PEOPBIETOBS. Frequent Grants by the Assembly— Hathorn's Farm— Jonathan Dan- forth— Grant of two Towns on the westerly side of Groton west line— Pi-oceedings of. the Committee assembled at Concord to grant out said Townships— Names of the Persons to whom Lots were granted — Some Account of the Disagreement between the Proprietors of Dunstable and the North Town— Eeport of Sam- uel Danforth concerning the Condition of the North Town in 1730— Charter of the Town of Townshend— Other Land Grants- Cambridge Grammar School Farm— Groton Gore — Location of the Provuice Line— Earliest Settlers known— Allotment by the Committee of the Proprietors — Account of some Early Settlers- Warrant for calling the First Legal Meeting— Isaac Spaulding— Customs and Fashions of the Earlj' Settlers— Proceedings at the First Meetings of the Proprietors— Proprietors' Clerks— Modera- tors of the Meetings of the Proprietors — Influence of Concord Men in the Settlement of the Town. 31—76. 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOBY. Settlement of Rev. Phiuehas Hemenway. the First Minister of Townsend — Memoir of him hy Rev. Mr. Temple— Church Covenant written by Mr. Hemenway — Account of Servants (negroes) belonging to the Church— Church Discipline— Owning the Covenant — New Lights— Character of Mr. Hemenway— His Death— Settlement of Rev. Samuel Dix — Account of iiis Pastorate — Sample of his Eloquence — Action of the Church at the Decease of Rev. Mi'. Dix— Ordination of Rev. David Palmer — Character of Mr. Palmer as an Educator — The Unitarian Excitement and Withdrawn] o*" Mr. Palmer from the Town Meeting-house— Account of Part of his Life— Pastorate of William M. Rogers— Pa Columbus Shumway — Pastorate of David Stowell — Pas- Luther H. Sheldon— Pastorate of E.W.CoolvC— Pastorate Patten — Pastorate of George H. Morss — Pastorate of L Fay— Ordination of Albert F. Newton — Names of the Deuv The Unitarians and Their Ministers — The Methodists. 77 — 122. CHAPTER IV. THE BAPTISTS AXD UXIVEBSALISTS. Formation of the Baptist Society in 1818 — Inauguration of the Churcli in 1827— Levi Ball Chosen Deacon— Action of the Town in Favor of the Baptists— Pastoi-ate of Rev. James Barnaby — Concise Memoir of Mr. Barnaby— Some Account of the Successors of Ml-. Barnaby— Pastorate of Rev. Willard P. Upham— The Uni- versalist Restoration Society — Rev. John Pierce— Committee to Build a Meeting-house— Mention of the Several Pastors of this Society. 123—132. CHAPTER V. MEETING-HO USES. 'I'iic First Meeting-house and its Location— '• Pew Ground'" — '-Seating tlie Meeting-house "—Controversy about the Location of the Second Meeting-house— Memoirs of John Hale, Oliver Prescott and .lohn Dunsmoor. tlie Committee Chosen to Locate this House CONTENTS. y — Names of the Pew Holders in the Second Meethig-house— Action of the Town in Regard to Moving the Second Meeting- honse to its Present Location at the Central Village— The First Bell in Town— The Congregational Meeting-house— The Baptist Meeting-house. 133 — 153. CHAPTER VI. MILITABY, CEMETEBIES, AND BEQUESTS. ••The Training Band" — "The Alarm List"'— Division of the Town into Two Military Companies — The North Company — The South Company — List of the Captains of these Companies — Townsend Light Infantry — Its Captains— Cemeteries— Land Given by AVil- liam Clark— Burying Ground Near the Common at the Centre of the Town— Its Enlargement in 1854— Gift of [.and for a Ceme- tery at West Townsend by Levi Warren— The Stocks, an Instru- ment of Torture to the Flesh — Amos Whitney's Will — His Epi- taph. 1.54— IGS. CHAPTER Vn. WAB OF THE BEVOLUTION. Excitement Previous to the War — A Pamphlet Received from the Selectmen of Boston— Committee of Correspondence and Safety — Action of the Town in 1773— Action of the Town in 1774— Delegates to the Provincial Congress — Assistance Rendered by Townsend to the Citizens of Boston During its Seige — Efforts to Obtain Salt— The Alarm on the 19th of April, 1775— Roll of Capt. James Hosley's Company of Minute-Men that Marched to Defend the Colony — Roll of Capt. Samuel Douglas' Company- Roll of Capt. Henry FarwelPs Company— Capt. Thomas Warren's Company— Attempt to Regulate the Prices of Goods and Labor— The Tories of Townsend— Letter from Boston Concerning the Return of the Absentees— Privations and Struggles for Indepen- dence—Story of Eunice Locke— Some Account of Her and Her Brother — Roll of Capt. James Hosley's Coraijany of Volunteers from To^\ nsend. Pepperell, and Ashby, which Went to the Assis- tance of Gen. Gates in 1777 — Adoption of the State Constitu- tion, 1778 — Depreciation of the Continental Money — Xanies of the Townsend Soldiers in 1780 — List of Prices — Retrospective. 1G9— 212. 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. THE SHAYS BEBELLION. Causes which Led to the Revolt— Mob at Spriiigfield— Excitement in Worcester County — The People of Concord in Fear of the In- surgents—Letter from Concord to the Neighboring Towns- Town Meetings and Committees at this Time — Job Shattuck and his Subalterns — Stopping the Courts — Capture of Shattuck — List of the Shays Men Belonging to Townsend — Peter Butter- field— Luke Day the Leading Spirit of the Insurrection— Daniel Shays. 213—222. CHAPTER IX. EDUCATIONAL HISTOBY. Early Action of the Town to Preserve the " Candlewood " — Home Instruction in the Log-Cabins — First Eecord of Any Effort to Establish a Public School — First School-House— Account of Several of the School-Houses— Division of the Town into "Nine Squadrons" in 1783— First School Committee in 1796 — West Townsend Female Seminary — Townsend Academy — General In- terest in Education — Names of Some Prominent Teachers — Sketch of Hon. Seth Davis. 223—240. CHAPTER X. 3IILLS AND MANUFAGTUBES. First Mill in Town at the Harbor, 1733— -'Hubbard's Mill" at West Townsend — Hezekiah Richardson's Mill and the Variety of Busi- ness at that Place — James Giles' Mill — Eben Butler's Mill — Daniel Giles' Mill, afterwards Owned by Adams & Powers — Steam Mill of Giles & Larkin— Steam Mill of Walter Fessen- den & Son— Sketch of Walter Fessenden— The Work done by these Mills— Morocco Factory of Abram S. French — Sketch of Abram S. French— Clotliiers and Wool Carders— Hezekiah Rich- ardson and his Sons — Samuel Whitney, the Inventor of the Planer— Peter Maiming, the Saddler— Townsend Harbor in 1790 —The Tanning Business Carried on by Several Parties — Hats Made of Fur, and Pahn Leaf Hats— Foundry at tlie Harbor- Statistics of the Maiuifiictures of Townsend, for 1875, taken from the Decennial Census. 241—258. CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER XL WAIi OF THE BEBELLION. Rabidness of the Politicians Previous to the Eebelliou— Stupendous Effort of Massachusetts in Suppressing It— War a Terrible Agent in Civilization— Call for a Town Meeting, April 20th, 18G1— Patriotic Resolves of the Town — Names of tlie Men who En- listed in June, 1861, and were Mustered into the Sixth Massachusetts Volunteers— Men of the Twenty-Sixth Massachu- setts Regiment— Account of the Thirty-Third Regiment, and the Townsend men in tlie same— Re-enlistment of the Nine Months Men in the Old Sixth Regiment, in August, 1862 — The Fifty-Third Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers for Nine Months— Sketch of Capt. Anson D. Fessenden— Names and Tei-jus of Service of Townsend Men in Various Regiments- Roll of Townsend Men Belonging to the Twenty-Fourth Massa- chusetts Heavy Artillerj^ — Roll of the One Hundred Days Men who Enlisted July 7. 1861— Patriotism of our Young Men, and the Number of them Killed and who Lost their Lives— Aid Attbrded by the Ladies of Townsend to the Sanitary Com- mission. 259 — 284. CHAPTER Xn. LAWYERS. PHYSICIANS, AND COLLEGE GRADUATES. Law'YI:rs : Walter Hastings — Aaron Keyes — Frederick A. Worcestei'. Physicians: Joseph Adams— Samuel Hosley— Isaac Mullikin— Samuel Lovejoy — Moses Kidder— John Bertram— Ebenezer P. Hills— Augustus G. Stickney— John Heard— Royal B. Boynton— Charles J. Towne. College Graduates: John Hubbard— Abraham Butterfi eld— Daniel Adams— Joseph Walker— William Fanner — John Stevens — Joel Giles — John Graham — John Giles — Charles Brooks — W^arren Brooks — Mark Davis— Charles T. Haynes— John M. Pi'octor — Randall Spaulding— Eliel S. Ball— Wayland Spaulding. 285—320. 12 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. Pi? 0311 NE NT INDI VID UAL S. Samuel Stone— Ralph Wavren— James N. Tucker— James Hosley —Walter Hastings— John Spaulding— Levi Wallace— Stillman Haynes— The Warrens. 321—339. CHAPTER XIV. MI8GELLANE0 US SUBJECTS. Town Library and its Origin— Fire Department — Odd Fellows— Sketch of Albert L. Fessenden— Townsend National Bank — The Ladies' Benevolent Society of the Orthodox Congregational Church — Townsend Cornet Band— Stage Coaches — Post-Offices and Post- masters. 340—355. CHAPTER XV. TOWN OFFICERS. Some Eemarkable Votes of the Town — Good Sense of the Town About Taxes— Names of the Town Clerks. Moderators, Select- men, and Eepresentatives, from the Time tlie Town was Char- tered to 1879 — Justices of the Peace— County Eoad Through Groton— Deer Reeves — Hog Reeves— Tithing-Men. 356 — 384. CHAPTER XVI. 3IABBIAGES. Marriages of Townsend People from the Incorporation of tlie Town to the Present Time. 385—428. CHAPTER XVII. DESCENDANTS OF DAXJEL ADAMS.— THE WIUTNEY FAMILY. Record of the Descendants of Daniel Adams, who settled in Town- send, in 1742— Tlie Wliitney Family as Benefactors and Business Men— Genealogy of some of the Townsend Whitneys. 429—455. ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. MAP OF THE TOWN 13 REV. DAVID PALMER 102 REV. LUTHER H. SHELDON 110 HON. SETH DAVIS 237 HON. WALTER FESSENDEN .24;-) ABRAM S. FRENCH 248 ANSON D. FESSENDEN 273 FREDERICK A. WORCESTER, Esq 288 JOEL GILES, Esq 308 ELIEL S. ball, a. M 318 RALPH WARREN 326 JAMES N. TUCKER, Esq 328 WALTER HASTINGS 331 HON. JOHN SPAULDING .332 HON. LEVI WALLACE 334 STILLMAN HAYNES, Esq 336 LEVI WARREN 338 ALBERT L. FESSENDEN 344 ALFRED M. ADAMS 440 CHAPTER I. PHYSICAL GFAJGRAniY OF THE rO]yX. Hills— Streams ami Brooks— Ash Swamp— Wild Aiiiiiials— Fishes- Birds— Name of the Tow II— I'lipulatioii. The town of Townsend is situated in tlie northwest angle of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in ladtude 42° 38' north, and longitude 71° 43' west. It is on the northern margin of the State, adjoining New Hampshire, is forty miles northwesterly from Boston, and tifty-six miles southerly from Concord, New Hampshire. In 1792. the selectmen of Townsend, in company with the selectmen of the se\en adjoining towns, each in their turn, caused an accurate sur^•ey of the town and a plan thereof to he made. The seyeral boundaries of the town, since that date, hayc remained unaltered in the least particular. By that suryey it is bounded, as follows : — "Beginning at the northeast corner and running south 4° west on Pepperell line 300 rods to Groton old corner ; thence south 14° \yest on Pepperell line 880 rods to the northwest corner of Groton ; thence south 14° west, on Groton line 270 rods to the northwest corner of Shirley : thence south 14° west on Shirley line 500 rods to the northeast corner of Lunenburg : thence north 62 'P west 14 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. 1880 rods to the northwest corner of Lunenburg, in the east Hue of Ashby ; thence north 9° east by Ashby hne 1360 rods to the northeast corner of Ashby ; thence south 82 1/^° east by the State line and Mason south Hne 1106 rods to the southeast corner of Mason ; thence by the State Hne and the south line of Brookline 760 rods to the point of beginning; and contains by estimation 19,271 acres." The town contains a trifle more than five and one-half miles square, or thirt\' and one-ninth square miles. The surface, except that portion near the river, is highlv diversified with hills and valleys. On the banks of the Squanicook, through the entire length of the town, there are areas of level, sandy plains. Some of these, that are onlv slightlv elevated above the natural surface of the river, are fertile and aft'ord good remuneration to the husbandman for his toil. The rocks are ferruginous gneiss, Merrimack schist and St. Johns group. There are ledges of gneiss, that aflbrd large quantities of stone for building purposes. Some of them can be split and worked to good advantage ; and only the small portion of iron, which is one of their constituent parts, prevents a much more extensive use of them. On the east side of the Nissequassick Hill, a vein of plumbago crops out, which has never been investigated and nothing is known in regard to its quality or value. On the hills are a few large boulders, some of which at a certain period were travellers b\' iceberg, the most con- spicuous ot \\hich is situated on the west side of the Lun- enburg road, on the summit of Bavberrv Hill. The borders of the to\\n. except at the southeastern part are hilly. The pnncipal hills are Nissequassick Hill, West Hill. Barker Hill. Batterv Hill and Bavberrv Hill. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 1") "NissEQLiAssicK Hill" embracc's the northeastern part of the town from the Harbor to the State line, the northern slope extending into New Hampshire. Since the settle- ment of the town, this liill has been more densely popn- lated than any other portion thereof except the villages. It contains some rongh ledges and broken crags on its eastern brow, except which, it has tew ravines or abrupt elevations: and its soil, although some rockv, is generally Ht for the plow. It is a graceful elevation and has many stand points commanding views of scenic beauty. Many charming- prospects, worthy of an ascent to behold, may be seen from its summit. The Monadnock, the Watatic, the Wachusett and the bold elevadons at the north, including Jo English Hill, together with the mountains of New- Ipswich, Peterborough and Lyndeborough in New Hamp- shire, are distinctly visible and stand out in bold reliel\ resembling turrets in the sky belonging to the walls of some etherial world. The farm-buildings situated on the summit of this hill are in plain sight of se\'eral towns at the west and northwest. West Hill, situated west and nearlv opposite the hill just described, of about the same elevation, lies also in the northern part of tlie town, extending further into New Hampshire. It, however, does not take up so much of the territory of the town : neither is it so well adapted to cultivation as Nissequassick Hill. It contains ledg}', waste lands, in which are wild ravines and swamps caused by rockv barriers, which impede the natural coin-se of the rivulets. Two or three farms on its summit constitute all the soil on this hill suitable for cultixalion : and most of the 1() HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. land is covered with a growth of forest trees of different sizes and ages, for which purpose it is best adapted. Clos- ing up to this hill on the west comes : — Barker Hill, sometimes called "Walker Hill," it being at one time the place of residence of Deacon Samuel Walker. The eastern brow of this hill contains some good soil, on which are two or three well cultivated tarms. The balance of its territory is very rough and ledgy, being the largest tract of uninhabited land in Townsend. It is difficult to reach its summit, with a team, from the west. Just before the present lull in business, the high price of lumber caused the removal of the original growth from one hundred acres near its highest point, at the price often thousand dollars. Many proud and stately coniters, which withstood the wintry winds of more than a centur\', yielded to the woodman's axe, tailing to the rock bound surface with a crash like a clap of "live thunder." Thus disappeared about the last remnant of the "old growth" in Townsend. It is covered mosth' like West Hill with a voung growth of timber. Battery Hill is a name applied to a ]->art of an unbroken spur of the Turkey Hills, which extends from Pearl Hill in Fitchburg, north to New Ipswich, New Hampshire, bordering the whole western line of the town. The name was applied to that part of thi.s range over which passes the old road from West To\\nsend to Ashby. extending perhaps a mile both north and south of this thoroughfare. It \\as so called from a garrison-house, which stood near its base, on or in w hich a cannon ^^■as PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 17 placed by the settlers to i;'i\-e an alarm in case of the incursions ot" Indians. A tew tarms on this hill, at the west and northwest of Ash Swamp, are of excellent quality, the soil containing just enough argillaceous matter to prevent the cultivated fields Irom being washed by the hea\y rains, and to hold moisture during the drouths of sununer. Bayberry Hill in the southwest part of the town has nearly half its territory in Lunenburg. On the north and west sides of this hill its ascent is quite steep and the approaches to its summit are somewhat dithcult. Several hundred acres on its top are comparative!}' level. The farms here are rockv, and the land is cold and backward in the spring. Some of our best peach orchards, which are a source of much pecuniarv protit to their owners, are on this hill. Their northern exposure keeps the buds from too early a start in the spring, thereby preventing injur\- from late Irosts. There is a point on the summit ot this hill from which a prospect of panoramic beauty may be seen in the distance, having the three villages ol Town- send in the loreground, situated about equidistant in an elongated basin, widening from the northwest to the south- east and shut in by these hills, dotted with white dwellings, pastures, fields and forests. Ash Swamp is a large tract of land, situated at the eastern base of Batterv Hill, containing about three hun- dred acres. Nearly half of this territory has produced grass naturalh', trom time immemorial. The land in this swamp, from the settlement of the to\\n to the present time, has been coveted and owned by many persons, in 18 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. quantities varying from two to four acres. The fodder for a stock of cattle during the winter was considered by the farmers as incomplete without a ton or more of Ash Swamp ha}-. Mr. Hill in his history of Mason (page 60), in order to show how carelessly records were made by the New England town clerks in the days of yore, very properly quotes from the Townsend records of 1737, the laying out of a road as a case in point. Ash Swamp was the objective point "where Horsley and Wallis and Brown and Wvman and Woodbury goeth along for their hay." "Little Goose Pond" is situated on the old turnpike, just east of where the Potunk school-house stood. iVt present, the pond is much smaller than it was at the time this record was made, it ha\ing been partially drained. There is a drive-way through the edge of tliis pond from the turnpike, for the purpose of watering animals. The pond around its edges is at present grown up with flags, reeds and brush. "The Hither Goose Pond" is the small pond located nearly a quarter of a mile east of Little Goose I'ond. sometimes called Davis Pond. " Rackkoon Brook" drains in part the southern slope of West Hill, crossing the road a few rods at the west of the house of the widoxN' of the late Adams Reed. This road, the laying out of which is quoted by Mr. Hill, start- ed from the southeast corner of x\sh Swanij"), near the mouth of Pearl Hill Brook (where there was a bridge across the Squanicook), running easterly to a point on the turnpike near where the Potunk school-house stood, thence ;is the turnpike is now travelled, till it crosses the PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. ID road leadini;- eastward from West Townsend ; thence h\ that road, passing near No. 12 school-house, and onward southeasterly over Hathorn's Brook, on the line of the road which terminates near the old burying ground. There are many instances in the town records con- cerning roads and lands, the laying out of whicli are much more obscure and difficult to locate than the one cited in the history of Mason. It must be easily interred that the town surrounded by these hills must be well watered by the rivulets, brooks and streams, wdiich flow down their sides and at their bases, into the principal stream, which occupies the lowest level of its central basin. The Koran saws : "God is one; He has no partner. God is good ; He sendeth rain and water from the hills to cheer the w^aste places and to quench the parching thirst of all that drink." The Squanicook, running through the town from the northwest to the southeast, drains large areas of land outside of To^^•nsend. It is not very crooked ; its general direction, in nautical terms, being nearly southeast b}" south until it approaches within, perhaps, a mile of the border of the town, where it makes a detour to the right and passes out between the corners of Groton and Shirley, and forms, in its onward course, the boundarv between these towns, till it empties its waters into the Nashua. This river and its tributaries ha\'e turnished motive povNer both in and out of town, which has been utilized since I734< 'it 20 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. more than twenty-tive different places. There are high- ways and bridges crossing it at six different places, com- mencing at West Townsend and ending at the Harbor. The principal tributaries to the Squanicook are the following, viz : — WiNsiiiP Brook has its source in the rough meadows at the westward of Mason Centre, where it receives the water from Merriam Ilill and the southerly slopes of the hills situated north of that point. It runs to the south, taking the waters of several brooks in its course, till it flows into the northeast corner of Ash Swamp. The Win- ships, at different times, lived on both sides of this brook ; one of the name owning a mill on it ; hence the name. During a drouth this brook is dry, but when the snow leaves in the spring, or after a heavy fall of rain, its cur- rent seems hurrying along as though fearful of being late in putting in an appearance at the swamp. The Walker Brook comes down by the side of the Greenville road and runs into the northwest corner of Ash Swamp, discharging its water into the Winship Brook, both of which united, constitute the Squanicook at its start, having its source in the southern part of Greenville, New Hampshire, and taking in through its course, waters from the corners of Ashby and New Ipswicli. Locke Brook has its origin among the rough ledges and swamp holes in tlie south part of New Ipswich, at the north of the Ashby alms-house. It took its name from Hon. John Locke, once a member of Congress from this district, who li\ed on one of the Ashb\' farms, through PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 21 which it passes. It runs across the nortlieast angle of Ashby, and down a wild ravine, through which it enters the westerly side of Ash Swamp, penetrating nearh" through the same till within a few rods of the Squani- cook, where it joins Willards Stream. This brook is led by rivulets and springs, no brook of 'dn\ size emptving into it during its whole course. Willards Stream, probably called for Samuel Wil- lard. who commanded a company of scouts in 1725, which marched northwesterly from Lancaster, Massachusetts, in pursuit of Indians, is the largest tributary of the Squani- cook. Its source is a reservoir situated in the southwest part of Ashbv. It drains the easterly slope of Blood Hill, a part of which is in Ashburnham. About two-thirds of the area of the town of x\shby is drained hy this stream. After it leaves Ashby, south village, where its waters are utilized considerablv, its course is easterlw For the dis- tance of half a mile before it reaches the margin of Town- send, its channel is deeply sunken between the hills, where it rushes onward, down the ravine and over its rock\- bed, foaming and howling in its mad career, till impeded in its course by a massive stone dam thrown across the stream, where it partiall}' "waits furtlier orders." Its largest trib- utar^' is Trapp Falls Brook, which leaps into it just before it leaves the town of Ashby. It discharges its waters into the river, in the southeasterly part of Ash Swamp. Pearl Hill Brook has its source from the springs of Pearl Hill, in Fitchburg. Its course is northerly through a vallev between a spur of the Turkey Hills and the western slope of Bavberry Hill, in connection with other 22 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. hio-hlands adjoining in Lnnenburg. This is a favorite brook. It is never dry ; and it seldom remains frozen over in the winter for any length of time. There is a drive-way through it from the Ashby road, which is much used for watering horses. This is the fifth and last brook that flows into the river in Ash Swamp, closing in there just below the mouth of Willards Stream. A brook flowing to the southwest, along the east base of Nissaquassick Hill, near Pepperell line, afterwards receiving the brook from the south side of the same hill, discharges considerable water into the river at the Harbor. A nameless stream which takes its rise near the Old City, and runs northeasterly into the river between the centre of the town and the Harbor, and Witch Brook, which runs across the southeast angle of the town, and empties into the river easterlv of Samuel F. Warren's house, together with those already described, are all the tributaries of the Squanicook from this town, the waters of W'hich have been or are at present used for mill pur- poses. There are only a few natural ponds in this town, and these are quite small : — WoRDEN Pond, a small sheet of clear water, is sit- uated in the west part of the town, near Ashby line. It has no visible outlet ; and it has been thought that it has some subterranean connection with Pearl Hill Brook, througli which that stream becomes replenished. About 1790, a pond now known as — "Drain Pond," situated on the sand\- hill northerlv of Worden Pond, was carelesslv drained "just for fun." b\' PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 23 some hunters, who were basking in the Inchan siunnier sun on its shores. The pond was lull to its brim, swollen h\ the autumnal rains. A tew scratches wer.e made through the leaves and dirt trom the water to the outer edge, at tirst causing a little current, which soon widened and widened, till the whole pond ran olT with a tremen- dous roar, carrying fish, sand, and small trees ujirooted in Its track, a long distance. Since that time, thousands ot" loads of its mud deposits have been taken from its bed and used in composts for agricidtural purposes. Walker Pond is situated about halt-way trom West Townsend to the centre ot" the town, a short distance to the north of the highwa}-. It was purposel}' drained to its present dimensions, more than one hundred \ears ago, b\' the proprietors of the lands around its shores, in order to obtain the soil which laid beneath its waters. Large quantities of mud have been removed trom the bed of this pond. The Harbor Pond is a beautitul sheet of water, which came into existence in 1734. by the dam necessarv for tlie tirst mill privilege e\-er improved in this town. The ri\-er, brooks and ponds, of this town, abound with the fish common to this \icinit\'. In order that the students of natural histor\' ot the next centur\- ma\' know what varieties of the fmu}- tribe iVequent these waters, at the present time, their names are here given : The brook trout (saliuo fontinalis) ; pickerel (csox rcf/ru/u/is) : ju-rcli (prrca farcscci/s) : shiner (stilhc r/ir/solci/ras ) : bream { fojiiotis z'iiIo-a}-is) : chub or dace (Iciirisciis ccphalii^} : 24 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. horned pout (■pinielodiis catiis) ; the eel (anguilla tenuiros- tris), and the black sucker (caiostomus). Worden Pond has many visitors in the winter tor pickerel fishing through the ice. When the river is first covered in winter, while the ice presents a clear, vitreous appearance, holes are cut through it. at which two persons are generally stationed with poles having hooks firmly attached. Some of the sportsmen then go up the river on its banks, a consid- erable distance, and getting upon the ice, commence pounding and stamping to make a noise, which frightens the black sucker. This shy fish will commence running from its enemies, and pass the hole in the ice, wdiere the hooks are let down into the clear water, when they become an easy prey, being snatched up with a dexterous ferk. Spearing by torchlight was Ibrbidden b}' an act of the town more than a century ago, but now in spring-time, Jack-o-lanterns may be seen, during the dark evenings, hovering along the banks of the Squanicook. The whole routine of fishing is carried so much to the extreme, that the angler seldom meets with his anticipated "luck." The wnld animals of any New England localitv change so much at ditferent periods, that it appears neces- sary to particularize. When the town was settled, a heaw growth of wood covered its w^hole area. Pitch pine, elm and maple, constituted the principal growth along the light land bordering on tlie river, while the hills were thickly covered with white pine, oak, hemlock, black birch, cherry tree, chestnut, and walnut. Through these forests roamed the bear, wolf and deer, each of which turned its course from the smoke of the log- house of the Puritan. The deer remained longest, from the fact that all the towns on the trontier, at the return of PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 25 each annual town meeting, chose officers, whose duties were to protect the deer during their breeding season. These officers were called "deer reeves." The beaver has left marks ot' his presence, in se\eral places, on some of the small brooks. A tradition has come down that a cer- tain rough swamp in the north part of the town, crossed in part by the Brookline road, was the last place which this cunning animal inhabited while here. To this day, the brook running through this swamp is called "Beaver Hole Brook." The otter (siitra), although well adapted to self-preservation, is occasionally taken here in a trap. This animal leaves a peculiar track in the snow, so that when the streams and swamps are covered with ice so that it cannot travel in them in its journeys from pond to pond, it is occasionally overtaken and shot. The mink not hav- ing the bump of caution like its "great uncle," the otter, frequently leaves the water courses and makes a raid on the farmers' poultry-yard, once in a while at the expense of its lite. Foxes and woodchucks are, perhaps, as numerous here as at any former period, while the raccoon is met less frequently, probably owing to the destruction of most of the heavy forests. The red and striped squirrels are numerous. The grey squirrel is less frequently seen than formerly, while the fl}'ing squirrel (vohiccl/a ) is often seen, which is certainly one of the most curious, soft, gentle and beautiful of all living things. "The Fowls of thex\ir" found here are not different from those in other places in this latitude. Formerly the wild pigeon was so abundant, that the catching and mar- keting of these birds took up the time of three or tour ot our cidzens for the season. During the past live or six vears scarcelv a flock has been seen. Partridges ( hoiirsa 2() HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. timbellus) are plent}' ; and the three notes in succession of the quail, frequentl}- greet the ear of the husbandman. The crow is very familiar ^^'ith the farms and fields throughout the town ; amid the improvements of the times, including the whistle of the locomotives, the ringing of bells, and the sharp crack of the breach-loading rifle, he flaps his wings in the face of commerce, and steals from the corn-flelds as adroitly as an oflice-holding politician. The owl still assumes his wonted gravity, and jealous of "Old Probabilities," he heralds the storm with his three "hoo, boo, hooas," in notes that reverberate among the hills. The migratory birds, the sweet Ibrest singers of June, and the conflding creatures, which build their nests around the garden walls and near the habitations of man, and wake him to his morning duties, all appear in their season to cheer and gladden the human heart. At present the arborial productions of the town are principally white pine, pitch pine, three or lour kinds of oak, hemlock, maple, two or three kinds of birch, chestnut, walnut, elm, ash and cherry. The probability is that eventually chestnut will become the most valuable timber of any to be found here. As a farming town, Townsend is inferior to Lunen- burg and other towns in Worcester count v, but compared with the other joining towns, it is naturally as good, and better than some of them. The farms have been neglected so that agriculture is not a branch of industry of which the people are particularly proud. Too much attention has been gi\en to the coopering business, to the detriment of good cows, cleanly cultivated Helds, and well fllled barns, yet its inhabitants regard their lines as having " fallen in pleasant places, and that they have a goodlv heritage." PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 27 The situation of the town is comparatively tavorable for genial climatic influences. The tirst precursor of winter, in earnest, is seen on the powdered crests of the hills at the west and northwest, on the mornings which follow the cold. Thanksgiving rain storms. Snow appears in that direction, occasionally, two or three weeks before its appearance on Townsend soil. Certain changes in the air are noticeable in travelling to the nortiiwest from Boston. In the spring, vegetation at Concord, a little out- side of the ocean air-, is difterent from that at the tide- water. Commencing at the hills bordering Townsend on the west, another atmospheric change is noticeable ; while at the distance of twenty-five miles further at the north- west, there is considerable diiference in the climate. At the same time the extremes of heat and cold are greater on the plains here, than either on our own hills or those at the northwest. The cold waves of air following up the Nashua and Squanicook to the Harbor Pond, cause that village and its surroundings to be the most freezing locality in town. The peach tree flourishes on the hills because the mercury does not often fall to fourteen degrees be- low zero ; while below that point, the cold spoils the bud which contains the embryon of this delicious fruit. The mercur\' at the Harbor has been known to indicate a temperature of thirtv-ti\e degrees below zero. The provincial governor assumed the responsibility ot giving names to towns and counties, which were generally called for one of his intimate friends or some person of rank, or of the nobility. Whenever a charter for a town or "plantation" was granted, by the Assembly, if the Gov- ernor did not fill the blank left for its name, wlien he 2;.s of the Committee assembled at Concord to grant out said Townships — Names of the Persons to whom Lots were graiited — Some Account of the Disagreement between the Proprietors of Dunstable and the North Town — Report of Sam- uel Danforth concerning the Condition of the North Town in 1730 — Charter of the Town of Townshend — Other Land Grants — Cambridge Grammar School Farm— Groton Gore— Ijocation of the Province Line — Earliest Settlers known — Allotment by the Committee of the Proprietors — Account of some Early Settlers — Warrant for calling the First Legal Meeting — Isaac Si)aulding — Customs and Fashions of the Early Settlers— Proceedings at the First Meetings of the Proprietors — Proprietoi-s" Clerks — ^Modera- tors of the Meetings of the I'roprietors— Inthieiirc of Concord Men in the Settlement of the Town. The incidents attending the settlement and progress of any New England town must be interesting to many people. Those persons who pass their lives at or near the )-)lace of their nativity are bv nature patriots in the strictest sense. The historv of their town, is nothing less than an account of the acts of their ancestors, their struggles with poverty, privation and oppression, tinder the greatest disadvantages. An eminent English jurist lias said, that, ''whoever does not look back to his ancestors will never look forward to his posteritx'." The emigrants from our tow ns w ho ha\-e made themselves homes on the western prairies, men wlio are 82 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. upholding our flag wherever either commerce or diplomacy has ordered i-ts presence, the tenants of some rude cabin on the Pacific slope, all who have gone out Irom us and are now actors in the great theatre of merchandise, the sailor on his night watclv and the missionary at the consecrated work, all ponder on the old birthplace with all-absorbing pleasure as time rolls along. It may be a question whether the lives of the "rude forefathers" who "hewed down the wilderness ; " endured all the hardships of a frontier life ; planted these colonies and gave to man "Freedom to wor- ship God," are not more entitled to our regard than are the men whose valor in the revolution freed us from tyrants. We must not forget the heroic acts of our people at all times, whether we consider their bravery during the long vears of their undivided support of the principles contained in the Declaration of Independence, or the great eflbrt which placed that stupendous army in the tield which fought the decisive battles of the rebellion. For more than half a century after Groton and Dunstable, were chartered, all this region at the western borders of these plantations, of which Townsend was a part, remained an unbroken wilderness. The most acces- sible lands on the coast of the province and along the fertile banks of the rivers were eagerly sought for by the puritans, while the rough and unpromising hills were unchosen and unoccupied by human beings. Even the Indians had no permanent abode in this vicinity nearer than Lancaster. The barbarities of the savages in murdering the inhabitants and burning some of the earliest settled towns during the Indian wars caused these pioneers to keep \\ ithin easy distance of their garrison houses and pre\ented the spreading of the population. The territory LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. o3 of some of the oldest towns was purchased of the Indians for a tew pounds of tobacco, some woolen blankets and a handtul of worthless trinkets. The red man laid no claim to lands in Townsend. The General Court tVom 1660 to 1740 was liberal in its land grants with a view to foster the subduing and settle- ment of the province, in order to increase the number of churches and make room for ''the learned orthodox minister." Lands were also granted for militarv and civil services rendered the government, and particularlv for educational purposes. As early as 1660, a tract of one thousand acres situated on the Souhegan river in the extreme northwest corner of Miltbrd, New Hampshire, was granted to the towai of Charlestown, for a "School Farm.'' The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, of Boston, had a grant of one thousand acres of land which is now that part of the city of Nashua, New^ Hampshire, just north of its central bridge and the factories. "Boardman's Farm Iving near the centre of Lunenburg," a tract of six hundred and forty acres, was another of these grants. The first paper title to any land in Townsend was made on the sixth da}' of September, 1676, which conveved to William ILithorn a mile square. From the printed records of the Colonv of the Mas- sachusetts Bay in New England, September 6, 1676, vol- ume 5, page 104-: — Copy of a grant to William Hauthorn, known in the proprietors' records as "Hathorn's Farm," which is a part of Townsend. Layd out to the Wor'^pff'^ William Hauthorn Esq. six hundred and fortv acres of land, more or less, Iving in the 34 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Wilderness on the north of Groaton river at a place called by the Indians Wistequassuck,* on the west side of sayd hill. It beo;ins at a <^reat hemlock tree standin^r on the west side of the sayd hill marked with H. and runns north and by eastf three hundred and twenty pole to a maple tree marked w*^'' H ; from thence it runns West and by north three hundred and twenty pole to a stake and stones ; from thence it runns south & by west three hundred and twenty pole to a great pine in a little swamp mai-ked w"^ H ; from thence it runns east & by south to the first hemlock. All the lynes are rvnne & the trees are well marked. It contaynes a mill square and is lajd exactly square, as may be easily demonstrated by y^ platform inserted vnder- neath & is on file. Jonathan Danforth, Survejo'- The court allows & approves of this returne so it inter- feres not w"' former grants. This William Hauthorn (sometimes spelled Hathorn, Hawthorn, etc.,) lived in the town of Salem and was a prominent man. He was a delegate to the Great and General Court several times and was Speaker in 1661. The town of Salem in 1661 ''voted that £10 shall be paid to Major William Hathorn the ensuing \'ear. for training the foot company." This land was granted him tor some "extra service" done in the interest of the Province. *The word WisttMiiiassui-k in the Tii(li;in laiiguag-e sigiiilies the tiro pines, or the l)lacc or the 1\\ o phir-. Tlir ortho-iaphy oi' rhc word is difl'ereut in diflevenl; records. Ft was hi'iummIIn spcllril \i--c.|ua--sLck. ir will be observed from reading the grant, that lilt' name \\ ,1- apiilici I,. ;i |i:iii iciilar Ideality and not to the whole'town. The smimiit of this liill j, vi-iMc at a -rcat ili.-tancc tVom the southwest, west, north and northeast. I'mlialilv llicrr were twn extraonlinarv vines on this hill, which served the aborigines as landmarks in their iournevs Ironi' I.aneaster and ..tliei- plares to their fishing grounds at the conlliieuc'C of I he Nasluia ami Merriniaek. ( oi.,. tlie name of a county in New Ilaniiishire. sij;nilies in the Indian language //(r ^'///< .s— Cohasset, the pine place. t Surveyed by a mariner's (-ompass. LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. ;»,) The great hemlock which was the southeast corner ot' this grant must have stood at or near the house where the widow Benjamin Walhice now lives, the east line of the grant being at or near the west line of the road leading- northerly from that place. The northeast corner of the same was at the distance of a mile from this point, northerly' , on the west side of said road, the grant running a mile westerly from these two corners. The great pine at the southwest corner probabh' was a short distance northerly Irom the old burying ground. This location was undoubtedly selected b}- Hathorn's agent on account of the large amount of meadow or swale land* embraced within its limits. The people of those times had a large portion of their personal estates in horned cattle and sheep, and consequently the eligibility of these lands that naturall}' produced grass. Nearly all the meadow land in that vicinity was within Hathorn's mile square, and many deeds and records describe this tract as Hathorn's meadow, and the brook draining the same as Hathorn's brook. It appears that Major Hathorn was one of the most noted men of the Pro\ince of Massachusetts Bav, and that he had more than a military popularity from the fact that he was sent to tlie mother country to represent the in- terest of the colon\-. That his services were appreciated is apparent from the fact, that, in 1658, by a resolution of the Great and General Court, Block Island was "granted to J. Endicott, R. Bellinghem, D. Dennisson and Major William Hathorn for ser\ices to this countr\-."t It is w()rth\- *Tliere l)e likewise in divers places, gient broad meadows, wherein j;tow neitlier shrub nor tree, l)Ut as much grass as may be Uirown out with a scythe, thicl; an dun,- at lii-t. hut it s.m.ii l.c-anic imis- t^nnaiv I., icd.a'in tlicm h\ li.'W ruii»i. Tlii- Immii- .lone iM.'lly lil.fially , 1 licy bfii-aii'to dcpicMMatr in value. In .Ma^.-acliusclt- wlicrr their valiu; \va- Kei'' "I' heller than in the oilier provinces, the dei)reciation \^a^ at tlic rate of .s. r. « (i>h/ a Inilf lor oin' in >|.erie. I' Ills aecpii red the name of Old 7'e)w)-/-— seven shillings and sixpence being ei|ual ii( -hilling in silver, which was called 'Lawful money' or ninepence sterling 42 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Proportions Towards y^ building & Finishing a convenient House for y^ Public Worship of God in Such Town Wher his Lot shall Fall, s"^ House To be Finished in four Years according to y'' Order of Court, and Do also pay the Necessary Charge of y^ Surveys and y*^ Com*"^^ for Their Service in & about y*^ P mises. 'f^aiy That Every Grantee to Whom to Whom a Lott is or may be Granted Shall be & is Enjoyned Effectually to Settle & Inhabit the Same in his Own prop^' pefon and Not have Liberty In An}' Way whatsoever to Sell or Alienate or any Ways Dispose of his Interest or Allottm^ in Either of y'' s'^ Towns to an}- p e fon What So Ever Until y^ Whole conditions Enjoyned by y^' General Court be Fully complied with & Pe formed Without the Leave and Approbation of y'' Com^*^ or the Majer part of Them. Nor to any p e fon or p e fons but Such as thev Shall ap- prove & to be Accepted by y*' Com'^'^®." North TOW'N. £ s. d. I John Holden of Concord 2.10.00 2 Henry Jones " Concord 5.00.00 3 Sam^ Biglo " Marlborough 3.00.00 4 Thom« Ball " Concord 2.10.00 5 Sam^i Blond for h is son "• Concord 3.00.00 6 John Jefts •' Bilrica 2.09.06 7 Jon"> Forbush " Sutton 2.10.00 8 Sam'^' Grove - Westford 2.10.00 9 Jam'' Early - Bilrica 2.10.00 lo John Holden for 1 lis son " Concord 2.10.00 II Jon"i Whitney for his Son •• Sudbury 2.10.00 12 Bartholomew •' Worcester 2.10.00 13 Thomas Baldwin - Bilrica 2.10.00 14 Joseph Stevens •' Bilrica 2.10.00 15 Samuel Sheldon - Bilrica 2.10.00 16 John Ha\'ward '' Concord 2.16.00 LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. 43 £ s, d. 17 Solomon Wyman jf Wooburn 2.10.00 18 Thomas Wyman ' Wooburn 2.10.00 19 Edw'^ Wyman ' Wooburn 2.10.00 20 Edward White ' Woburn 2.08.00 21 Sam' Jones for his son *■ Concord 2.10.00 22 Jam^ Bubbeen ' Woburn 2.10.00 23 Benj Wyman '' Woburn 2.10.00 24 John Simonds ' Woburn 2.10.00 25 Jasher Wyman ' Woburn 2.10.00 26 John Wyman ' Woburn 2.10.00 27 John Lawrence ' Lexington 2.10.00 28 Sam' Proctor ' Chelmsford 2.10.00 29 Timothy Adams ' Chelmsford 2.10.00 30 Jon^'' Adams • Chelmsford 2.09.06 31 Sam' Davis ' Chelmsford 2.10.00 32 Eben^i- Tailer ' Dunstable 2.10.00 33 John Fisk ^ Groton 2.10.00 34 Thom^Woods for his sonjosiah • Groton 2.10.00 35 Jon"! Shed ' Groton 2.10.00 26 Sam' Billings ' Concord 2.10.00 37 Jacob Farrar ' Concord 2.10.00 38 W» Wheeler • Concord 2.10.00 39 Solomon Woods ' Mendon 2.10.00 40 John Colbith ' Stow 2.10.00 41 Nath' Smith ^ Hadley 2.10.00 42 W" Laking • Groton 2.10.00 43 John Holding ' Groton 2.10.00 44 Joseph Wright ' Concord 2.10.00 45 John Hunt for his servt. Nath' Colburn '• Concord 2.10.00 46 Josiah Hale for his son Josiah Hale • Concord 2.10.00 47 Abra'" Wood " Concord 2.10.00 48 James Minot Jun. •• Concord 2.10.00 49 Edward Flint '• Concord 2.10.00 50 John Fox '' Concord 2.10.00 44 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. 51 John Perlin for his son Joseph Perlin 52 Nath^ Jones for his son Ehiathan 53 Joseph Fletcher 54 Sam' Fletcher 55 Sam' Wright 56 Joshua Hutchins 57 Benj" Barron 58 Edward Park 59 Sam' Randal Ju'". 60 Sam*'' Tennev 61 Timothy Harris 62 Sam' Hale 63 Joseph Plympton 64 Mr. William Clark 65 Francis Worsster Pd. to Capt Shipley 66 Finehas Rice 67 Sam' Cory 68 Stephen Richard for his son Joseph 69 Jacob French for W'" French 70 Sam' Merriam for John Farrar 71 Sam' Frail 72 Caleb Blood £ s. d. of Concord 2.10.00 •' Concord 2.10.00 " Concord 2.10.00 " Concord 2.10.00 " Concord 2.10.00 " Concord 2.10.00 '' Concord 2.10.00 '• Newtown 0.00.00 '• Woburn 2.10.00 '' Bradford 2.10.00 •' Rowley 0.00.00 '' Bradford 0.00.00 2.10.00 0.00.00 2.10.00 " Sudbury 0.00.00 0.00.00 0.00.00 0.00.00 0.00.00 '• Salem 0.00.00 0.00.00 i=;8.o7.oo £ s. d. The account of the meetino's of these proprietors fully set torth their acts for the years 1720-22 up to June 1723. In May, 1723, the record shows a meedng of these men and that the balance of the five pounds was paid and receipted tor. Samuel Jones, of Concord, was the principal surve}'or in establishing the line between Groton and North LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. 45 Town. The cost of surveying this line "inclutlino- ex- pense of tlie two committees, surveyor, chainmen and proper assistance,"' was £22 los. lod., or £11 5s. 5d. for each of the new towns which now constitute the towns of Townsend and Lunenburo-. The committee in describing their labors, in part say, "We proceeded to the heap of stones on the easterly side of Nissequassick Hill, etc.," which clearl}- indicates that that corner had been previouslv considered and was tiilly estalilished. Among the names in this proprietary list may be found quite a number of men of considerable importance. Business men, those who were and those who had been members of the General Court, two or three members of the legal profession, three or four land survevors, and others, of more than ordinary pecuniary means, constituted the first owners of Townsend and its appurtenances. Jacob Farrar and David Melvin were both with Captain Lovewell when he fell in the battle at Pequawkett, about the same time that Chamberlain^)f the same companv. killed the stalwart chief Paugus. Melvin is known in our records as "Lieut. David Melvin," his lands being located in what is now the southerly part of Ashbv. He must have been a brave man, coming tVom the Indian wars, as he did. with a commission. Jacob Farrar's land was on the extreme north end of Nissequassick Hill, near the state line, where his descendants settled: and his posterity, although not numerous, are still among the inhabitants of this and the neighboring towns. A remarkable degree of shrewdness was exhibited b\- the committee appointed "to grant out and allot" these two towns. Every grantee was obliged "to settle and inhabit his lot," and did not have libertv "to sell or alienate his 4() HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. interest therein" until every condition was complied with, without leave of the committee "or the majer part of them." So far as conforming- to these restrictions, there is nothing to be tound showing that they were carried out either in letter or in spirit, for only about one-ninth of the original grantees were ever hoiic Jidc settlers. The members of this committee and many grantees undoubtedly found it for their interest to abrogate part of these conditions, and made an advance on their five pounds by "putting in substitutes" or selling out. There is not much recorded in regard to what transpired concerning this town between 1723 and 1732. It appears, however, that there was a controversy, between the owners of Dunstable and the proprietors of Townsend, about the line between these towns, which con- tinued a long time. This was the reason that the town of Townsend did not obtain its full charter in 1728, at the same time that the boundaries of Lunenburg were made. It has a peculiar aspect when two frontier towns, the larger having "lifty householders"* or about two hundred and fifty people, and the smaller, perhaps fifteen house- holders or about seventy-five people, the former town containing more than two hundred square miles and the latter working on the promise of having thirtv-six square miles, should "indulge" in a wrangle about eighty acres of land. Dunstable at that time extended from its north- east corner, "a great rock," in Londonderry, New Hamp- shire, southwesterly, diagonally across the town, to the northwest corner of Groton, which is a point in the line between Townsend and Pepperell about a mile (300 rods) south of the northwest corner of Pepperell. Thirteen different towns, joining to and surrounding Nashua, New Fox's nistoi-y of Dnnstiihlc, yj! LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETOUS. 47 Hampshire, which is about the centre ot' the orio-inal "plantation"' were either taken wholly or partly from the old tow^nship of Dunstable, now extinct, of which Town- send is one. In order that the reader ma}' form a correct idea of the extent of the town of Townsend, when it was chartered in 1732, the following copy of a conveyance, taken trom the proprietors' records, page 134, is here inserted. This hill, now called "Tanapas Hill," is situated just at the west of the village of Brookline. New Hampshire, and in that town. A line drawn west 32}^° north from that hill, would not fall at a great distance south of the cemetery at Mason Centre. It will be noticed that the province line cut oil' a large portion of Townsend, which tell into the province of New Hampshire : — "Laid out by the subscribers to Capt. William Law- rence for part of his Iburth di\ision lot arising upon that grant in Townshend whereof the House Lot bares Number thirty-live, one hundred and tifty acres of land lying on the easterly part of Massaquatanapass Great Hill, Begin- ing, at a white oak marked and running north thirty-two degrees East to a stake and stones in the town line, thence turn a square angle and run on the town line East thirtv- two south Two Hundred and forty poles to a chestnut tree marked, then turn and run South thirty-two degrees west One hundred and twenty eight poles to a maple in a swamp marked for a corner. Thence turning and run West torty- tive north two hundred and forty-eight poles to the white oak where we tirst begun as described in the plan — Bounded on the north side by the Town line and on all other parts on common Land. Amos Whitney ^ pr John Stevens Daniel Taylor > Committee Surveyor Nath' Richardson ) Surveyed March 8 1735-" 48 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. The extreme southwest angle of old Dunstable termi- nated in what is now Brookline, New Hampshire, at or near the east base of what is known in our records as "Great Massapetanapass Hill." A direct line from this point to the northwest corner of Groton, betbre described (which was also a southwest corner of Dunstable), was, without doubt, the line between Townsend and Dunstable, so that considerable land now in the northeast corner of Townsend was within the limits of Dunstable. So exciting w^as this disagreement that it engaged the attention of the General Court, which appointed a com- mittee to survey the line between the two towns and report. The following is from the manuscript records of the Gen- eral Court for 1730 : — "Samuel Danforth, Esq., from the committee appointed by the General Court to surve}' the North Town, etc.. gave in the Ibllowing report, viz : "The committee appointed by the Great and general court on the 26th of Feb. 1730 to take a sur\'ey of a line between the North Town in Turkey Hills and Dunstable and to make a report whether the plan of the said North Town encroaches upon the town of Dunstable according to its true and allowed bounds, and what quantity of land it takes off from it, and also to make enquiry how tar the grantees of the said North Town have fullilled the condi- tions of their grant, and wliat settlements are there made, Report having (and pursuant to said order) repaired to said North Town (after due notice given to all concerned of the time of our coming) and having carefully surveyed th ' line aforesaid and fully heard the pardes therein, are humblv of the opinion that the before mentioned plan of North Town encroaches upon the town of Dunstable, so as to take off from it four score acres of land, according LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. 4!) to what we appreliend to be the true and allowed bounds to said to\Nn. Having also caretuUy viewed the settle- ments in said North Town and made inquiries how far the o-rantees have fulfilled the conditions of their grant, we find that considerable improvements have been made on the lands there, and the greater number of the grantees (be- sides a convenient house which they have lately erected for the public worship of God) have tulfilled the conditions of their grant by breaking up and fencing their lands, by building convenient dwelling houses on their lotts and by residing there. Samuel Daneorth* in the name and b}- the order of the committee." This report is important not only in showing which party was wrong, but this is the only record which repre- sents the condition and progress of North Town at that date. Danforth's statement concerning the residence of the proprietors here must be received with some caution and allowance. Similar statements were frequent in those times. The petitioners of the North Town for a charter, in 1732, represented "that the town was completely filled with inhabitants,"' when probably there were less than two hundred people in town. One of the conditions in land grants was, "Provided it doth not interfere with any former grant.'' Dunstable received its charter in 1673, or about fifty vears before any man except Major Hathorn owned any Townsend soil. The North Town men tound their east line bounded on Groton, running north 17^2° east trom Lunenburg corner, less than six miles long, so they "interfered with a former grant'' by pushing their north- east corner up into Dunstable, fearing that they would not sSou of Jonathan Danfortli. surveyor of Ilatliorn's Farm. 50 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. get their six miles square as promised by the act of 1719- Thev desired and expected their east line running northerly from Lunenburg northeast corner, to continue "north seventeen and one-half degrees east, " after reaching Groton northwest corner, and penetrate the town of Duns- table in that direction. In 1732, the General Court settled the matter ^«/-//)/ in the charter for Townsend by dividing the territory claimed by Townsend, between the two towns; but until 1741, when the province line was run, as will be seen by the charter, Townsend had no northeast corner. " Charter of the Town of Townshend. Passed June 29th 1732. "Whereas the northerly part of Turkey Hills, so called, is completely tilled with inhabitants, and who are now about settling a learned and orthodox minister among them, and have addressed this court that they ma}' be set off a disdnct and sep(a)rate town and be vested with all the powers and privileges of a town ; "Be it therefore enacted by his excellency the governor, council and representadves in General Court assembled, and bv the authority of the "That the northerly part of Turkey Hills, as hereafter bounded and described, be and hereby is set off and con- stituted a sep(a)rate township by the name of Townshend ; the bounds of said township to be as followeth, vict : beginning at a heap of stones at the northwest corner of Lunenburg : so running east tliirtv-one degrees and an half south, three thousand and tifty rods to a heap of stones in Groton line : then bounded on Groton line, north seventeen degrees and an lialf east, one thousand four hundred and LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. ") 1 fortv rods to a heap of stones at Groton north west corner ; from thence running due north, leaving eighty acres out of the plan, to the town of Dunstable ; then running from Dunstable west line on province land, \vest thirty-one degrees and an half north, two thousand two hundred and forty rods, to a tree marked ; then running south, thirty- six degrees west, to the northwest corner of Lunenburg, where the bounds first began, one thousand nine hundred and twenty rods. ''Provided, That nothing herein contained be construed to affect the rights of the proprietors of the land called Hathorn's farm ; and the inhabitants of the said lands as betbre described and bounded, be and hereby are vested with the powers, privileges and immunities that the inhab- itants of any of the towns of this province are or ought to be vested with. "Provided, That the said town of Townshend do within the space of two years from the publication of this act, procure and settle a learned orthodox minister of good conversation in said town, and make provision for his comfortable and honorable support. "In the House of Representatives June 29 1732 ordered that Mr. Joseph Stevens one of the principal inhabitants of the town of Tow^nshend be and hereb}- is fully impowered to assemble and convene the inhabitants of said town to chose town officers to stand until the anni\ersary meeting in March next an\- law. usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding. Sent up for concurence J. Qltincy. Speaker. In council June 30. 1732 Recei\ed and concured. J. WiLLARL). Secretarx . June 30th, 1732, consented to. J. Belcher."' 52 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. From this grant it appears that Townsend acquired, in 1732, about tifty-two square miles of hind instead of thirty-six miles as contemplated by the act of 17 19. Per- haps this liberality is traceable to the tact that some of the members of the General Court were part owners of "the North Town." Its north and south lines w^ere parallel, the north line being some shorter than the south lipe. "Dunstable west line on the province line" (the southwest corner of that town) was about two and one-half miles further west than a line drawn north from Groton north- west corner, so that the north line of Townsend must have been more than nine miles long, and the south line more than nine miles and one-half. Probablv it was the inten- tion of the Assembly that the proprietors of Townsend and Dunstable should agree upon a point for a northeast corner of Townsend, which was to be legalized at a future period. Here in an agreement or obligation of a com- mittee of the Dunstable proprietors in regard to the line between the two towns, copied from the Townsend pro- prietors' book : — "We the subscribers a committee for the proprietors of the town of Dunstable do promise and oblige ourselves in tlie name and behalf of the Town and proprietors afore- said unto the committee for the North Town, viz : Joseph Stevens, Joshua Fletcher, Andrew Spaulding, Jonathan Melvin, Timothy Heald, Joseph Willard Esq., and William Lawrence, that if it so happens that the line dividing between North Town and Dunstable, be established by the general court further \\ est than the line already- run bv North Town, the Town and proprietors shall conhrm all such the land bv such lini' to the North Town as an LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. .).) equivalent for such land or equal quantity into the town- ship of North Town in one mile. "Witness our hands this t^^■elfth day of Oct. 1731. Attest JoN^ Hubbard Henry Farwell Ruth Hubbard Joseph Blanchard"* The men constituting both of these committees were the most prominent proprietors of these old townships. Three of the North Town committee w^ere actual settlers here. Joseph Blanchard was a man of wealth, and exten- sively interested in land. Without knowang more about this controversy than can be learned from the Tow-nsend proprietors' records, it is difficult to explain the meaning of the obligation above quoted. The records of the proprietors of old Dunstable during the year 1731 are lost, so tliat nothing further of interest concerning this matter can be found. Probabh' this is the interpretation of the document : — North Town insisted on a boundar\' line running in the same direction of the Groton west line, north 17^° east. Dunstable objected to this infringement on her chartered rights, but for the sake of harmony, agreed that if the dividing line should be drawn by the Assembh- "further west" than the line which Townsend persistenth' asked for, then all the land at the west of the line established *-'.Tosfiili r.laiu-li;iril (born in Dunstaljlc ITO:., ili.''l 1"S) was api^ointpd bv manda- mus, one nf the louiiscllors oC New llainpsliiiv in 1710. ami snstaincl tliat onice till liis death. II.' w as ili-Iin-nishcd as a land surveyor, and in (■()njiin.'ti..n witli Rev. Samuel Langdon, jjrepared a maji of New llaniiisiiire. wliicli was |iuldi>heil in 17G1, being inscribed to Hon. Charles Townsliend, his Majesty's secretarv at war, and one of his privy council."— 7?e;/.-Hrfp'.s HiM. N. H.-j). .^IS. 54 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. by the General Court, for the distance of a uiilc north of Groton northwest corner, should be given up to the North Town proprietors. In 1748, writs of ejectment were served on Isaac Farrar and Jasher Wyman by which they were dispossessed of lands situated in Brookline, New Hamp- shire, at the northwest of Groton northwest corner. These two Townsend proprietors were obliged to give up their lands which rightfully belonged to the township of Dunstable. Among the ancient plans and maps in the office of the Secretary of State, at Boston, is a plan of a tract of land containing one thousand acres, lying for the most part in old Dunstable, in what is now the south part of Brookline and the northwest part of Pepperell, a small angle of which pierced Townsend, granted as "Cambridge grammar school farm." This was in 1734. The plan shows "Massapetanapus Lower stream" and one or two of its tributaries, one from Townsend, its westerly line running five hundred and seventy-five poles on Townsend line. The Dunstable people soon notified the Assembly of this interference with their grant, and the next year the Cambridge school farm, was relocated "on the northerly side of Massapetanapass Great hill," partly in Mason and partly in Brookline. A map of this tract of one thousand acres may be seen in the Secretary's office, at Boston. In 1736, the Assembly "granted to Benjamin Prescott,* in behalf of the proprietors of Groton for losses of land taken to make adjoining new towns, ten thousand eight hundred acres of land lying on the west side of 'Assembly records, vol. 1(5, page 334. LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. 5,') Dunstable, beginning at Dram Cup Hill, b\' the Souhegan river, which was the northwest corner of Dunstable, and running south on Dunstable line two thousand one hundred and fifty-two poles to Townsend line, then making an angle and running west 3i>'2° north on Townsend line and province land, two thousand and fifty-six poles to a pillar of stones, then turning and running by province land north, 31}^° east, two thousand and forty poles to Dunstable corner first mentioned." This was surveyed and plan rendered b}' Jonas Houghton, and is known as "the gore between Townsend and Dunstable."' This gore is now the easterly parts of the towns of Mason and Wilton, New Hampshire. Special reservations are in this grant of which the following is parenthetically inserted. "(Excepting the one thousand acres belonging to the Cambridge School Farm and therein included.)" The running of the province line in 1741 settled many disputes about land titles and certainly "was a great public benefit." New Hampshire received a fresh impetus in civilization b}' acquiring from Massachusetts twenty-eight new townships besides large tracts of vacant lands inter- mixed. When this line was determined the politicians of Massachusetts were exceedingly angry and dissatisfied. Dunstable by this new line was severed in t\\'o parts about equal, suffering much by ha\ing its little \illage sundered and left in two provinces. Townsend lost nearly one-third of its territory by this line, but found a northeast corner of the town located con- siderablv south of the point for which it contended. Parts of Brookline, Mason and New Ipswich, in New Hamp- shire, were then taken from Townsend. The proprietors of Townsend felt much uneasiness, on 5() HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. account of the loss of their lands caused by the running of the province line in 1 741, which left more than one- fourth of their township in New Hampshire. At two or three different times they petitioned the Assembly for redress on account of their loss. From the proprietors' records is extracted the following : — '' At a meeting of the proprietors of the common and undivided lands in the township of Townshend, legally assembled at the house of Mrs. Sarah Conant, Inn-holder [the house is still standing at the southerlv end of the dam at the Harbor] in said Townshend, upon Tuesday the twenty-sixth day of February 1765 at twelve o'clock on said day. "Colonel James Prescott being chosen Moderator for s'^' meeting. "I'y. Voted to choose a committee of three men to peti- tion the Great and General Court of this province tor a recompense for lands taken away from the proprietors of Townshend by the late running of the Line of the province of New Hampshire ; and that Colonel James Prescott, Capt. Jonas Prescott and Lieut. Josiah Sartell be a com- mittee fully impowered for that purpose." Soon after, when the General Court assembled, these three men appeared before a committee which reported favorably to their wishes, and at that session of the Assembly it "Granted a township, somewhere at the east- ward of the Saco River, six miles square to the Town- shend proprietors and others, for military services and other losses and services."* A clause in the grant specified that one sixt\-fourth 'Mass. Archives, vol. LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. i) I part of this township was to be appropriated to settle a minister — one sixty-fourth part for the ministry — one sixty- fourth part for the benefit of Harvard College — was to be settled within six years from the date of the grant, and a plan of the town to be returned to the General Court within one year. "Granted to the town of Townshend 102 12 acres " " Tvngs-town 380 " " " Nathaniel Parker 260 '• " " John Sheple 286 acres," and to others whose names are not here quoted. There is nothing on record to be found showing that either the Townsend proprietors or any of these grantees ever received a dollar from this grant, or that it w as ever plotted and a plan returned agreeably to the terms of the charter. The difficulties attending the settlement of a new town — its great distance from the grantees — the revolution- ary struggle, all combined, probably were in the way to prevent the proprietors from making this grant a\ailable. In Mav, 1786, the following article was in the town warrant: "To see if the town will choose a committee to take care of the land that is granted them by the General Court in compensation for land cut otT by New Hampshire line, or sell the same." A committee was chosen at that town meeting to sell the same, but nothing is further recorded concerning the matter. The town of Ashby was chartered in 1767. It was taken from the towns of Fitchburg, Ashburnham. and Townsend. About two-thirds of its territory was taken from Townsend. The onlv alterations in tlie lines of 58 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Townsend, since it was chartered, were caused by the establishing of the province line, in 1741, and the making of the town of iVshby, in 1767. The east end of Townsend was surveyed and laid out into two divisions, sometime in 1723 or 1724. For the next three years, four or live of the proprietors from Concord and Woburn were busily engaged in felling the trees and making fields during most of the time, exxept the winter seasons, which they passed with tlieir friends in these towns. This temporar)- residence broke the wilderness and prepared the way for a few families. It is said that the wafe of John Pat* was the first person, of her sex, who settled in the North Town. The town records confirm this tradition, from the fact that the first birth found on record reads as follows : "Jonathan Pat, son of John and Mary Pat born Jan 5 1728." With- out much doubt, this son of John and Mary was the first child born in this town. John Pat's log-house was about half a mile easterly from the parsonage house on a road leading to the south end of Nissequassick Hill. The descendants of this family are. at present, to be found in Framingham, and some of the towns of Worces- ter County. The wife of Henry Sceva, formerly a citizen of Townsend, was one of this family. The records of the town of Groton contain the follow- ing : "Ebenezer Ball, son of Jeremiah Ball, born in North Town. June 22, 1729." Mr. Ball lived about one-third of a mile northeasterh' from the Harbor, at the corner made *This name in the town records is spelled Pat. Patt, Patts. Pett and Petts; the last method is the one now in use. The town clerks in this and the neighboring towns were extremely careless in regard to proper names: Austin was "Astin," Hildreth was "Hildrick," Sawtell was '-Sartel," according to the (iroton town clerk; in the Mason, N. H., records we tind "Alet" for Elliott, and Benjamin Dix, a brother of our Rev. Samuel Dix, is dubbed with tlie name of "Bcnj.iniin Docks." LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. ')!) by the crossing of the two roads leading over the hill, at the lett hand side going towards Pepperell from the Harbor. There were at tirst two divisions of land laid out, running northerly from the river, by the line of Groton, across the east end of the town. In 1733, a third division was made which extended nearly two miles west from Groton line. The east end of the house lots abutted on "a six rod way running nearly north and south," or the road now leading over the hill. The west end of the lots of the second division also abutted on this road, which was the longest higi^[^vay laid out by the proprietors, now in use. Soon after, lands south of the Squanicook, to about the same distance westerly from Groton line, were surveyed and lotted. The proprietors made ample reserva- tions for roads. Almost every deed closed with this sentence : "There is also an allowance for a way whenever the town shall think it necessar}." No matter how rugged and precipitous, marshy or ledgy, whether the land included Rattlesnake Hill or the rough peaks in northern Ashb\', that ubiquitous "allowance for a way" was sure to be present. The road entering the northeast corner of the town, running nearly south for a short distance, then turn- ing easterly, and running about halt-way from the state line to the Harbor, to the point where one road turns towards Pepperell and another westerly, was the ;7?«^ between the tirst and second divisions, then laid out. Very few of these roads contemplated were ever made. A road, to these settlers, was a path between two rows of marked trees, generalh- "Xwa poles" wide but often "four poles" wide. No original proprietor, according to the terms of the court's committee, could hold more than two hundred acres in one bod}^ although he had a right to one-eightieth of all (50 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. the land in North Town. A lot in these divisions contained about fifty acres. These were called "original house lots." There were more than one hundred lots in these three divisions, and it was determined by lot or chance where each man's lot should be located. Nothing could be more fair than this method. After this drawing, when the fourth and fifth divisions were laid out, the second fifty acres or more would be exchanged by these men with each other, so their lands were more in one body. Sometimes if anv proprietor was not present at a drawing or other method of giving each man his share of the "common and undivided lands," a committee composed of men of their number and choice, and sometimes a committee appointed bv the Gen- eral Court, would designate the lot. At this distance from that period, not much being a matter of record, it cannot be expected that the precise locadon of the lands and houses of many of the first set- tlers can be designated ; and if it were practicable, from the necessity of the case, any language or description that might be quite intelligible to people now living, would perhaps be obscure and without meaning to those who are to be the future men and women of Townsend. Some of these men are worthy of particular notice. Jasher Wyman, the clerk of the proprietors for more than twenty years, was a man of more than ordinary abilitv. His chirography and his phraseology were both excellent. He li\-ed in what is now Brookline, on the east side of the road from Townsend to that town, on the second lot north of the state line. He owned and operated a saw mill there, the first ever in Brookline. When the province line was established, finding himself out of Massachusetts, and taxed to support a minister in "Dunstable west precinct" LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. ()1 (Hollis). although he was strong-ly attached to his home' and neighborhood, he let"t there and located in the southerly part of the town, on land which he acquired in his original two hundred and tiftv acres. He w^as a man of good judgment and greatly respected. Capt. John Stevens lived near the brook running trom liathorn's meadow. He came from Groton and had a residence here for a number of 3'ears, being an inn- holder. Some of the regularly called meetings of the proprietors were at his tavern. He, was a land survevor and the owner of the most acres of any person lyi this vicinit}'. His estates were in the towns of Mason. Town- send, and Groton. He owned at one time most of the land on both sides of the river, tor about a mile from eacli bank, from the Harbor to Groton line. He ^^'as a justice of the peace and had considerable influence in town afiairs. Ephraim Sawtell came from Groton, and his house and land were on the north side of the Harbor pond, his lot extending northerly to Jeremiah Ball's land. He was strictly puritanical in his views and acts. He was modera- tor at several of the proprietors' meetings. Timothy Heald li\ed in the south part of the town, on the road leading from the tirst bridge above the Harbor pond, near the top of the hill where a traveller first begins to lose sight of the Harbor, going towards "South Row." Tradition informs us that he was not only a noted hunter, but that he was posted on the localities of certain mines, of which every one, besides himself, was entirel}- ignorant. Nothing further is known of him except that he \\ as in charge of a log-house made in a defensible manner against losses by the incursions of the Indians. One of these castles was located north of the Harbor and oxerlookino- 62 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. the same, and another near the meeting-house on the hill, and the same tradition further saith that the log-houses and mill, where the Harbor now stands, and the direct surroundings were called " the Harbor,''^ because by signals from these three points in case of the appearance of any "red skins," the settlers could soon reach these places of safety. One other fort, or garrison, as they w^ere called, of the same kind, was located on the southwest side of Ash Swamp, in the west corner of the road leading northerly across said swamp, which intersects with or starts from the main road from Townsend to Ashby. Joseph Stevens, who was empowered by the act of incorporation to call the first proprietors' meeting was a man of sterling integrity. He lived on the second lot on the road leading from Jeremiah Ball's house (formerly described), northeasterly, at the base of the hill, near Pepperell line. It has been said, that to the extent of about one-eighth, he had Indian blood in him. John Wallace,* his brothers, and nephews, were Scotch Irish. They settled on the hill which has had an Indian name in this work, better known as Wallace Hill, at the present day. They were men of great ph3sical strength and endurance. On the arrival of three of these brothers at Bost(m. some one told them of Townsend and its white oak timber, and advised them to choose this place to locate in. They were coopers, and introduced that branch of industry into this town. This business has, from that time to the present, brought more money into Town- send than all other industries added together. The de- * The land on which John Wallace set I led was apart of Hathoni's farm, and he took his deed from one, Thomas riiilliiis, in 17:!t. His loj^-house stood on the west side of "the six rod way, running nearly north and south'" (winch passed bj- the east side of Hathorn's mile square), about equidistanl from the nortlieast and southeast corners thereof. LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. (Jo scendants of the Wallaces are still among and of the most respectable people in this and adjoining towns. William Lawrence, not only had a considerable part of his father's land (John Lawrence, of Lexington,) in North Town, but he bought and owned extensive tracts in the northern part of the town. No one man, except John Stevens, and Daniel Taylor, possessed so many acres. His name appears first in the list of grantees of the town of Mason, New Hampshire, (granted 1749,) where he owned nine of the two hundred farms into which said town was surveyed and allotted. He served on most every im- portant committee appointed by the North Town proprie- tors. He was born in Groton and always resided there. He was a prominent and popular militar}' man, holding the office of Colonel in the Militia for a number of years. In civil lite, he was first a justice of the peace, then justice of the peace and quorum, afterwards promoted to a seat on the bench of the Court of Common Pleas for Middlesex Countv. He represented Groton, with the districts of Pepperell and Shirlev, in the General Assembly of the province of Massachusetts, several times. He possessed excellent judgment, a benevolent disposidon, and unfeigned pietv. For some reason unknown to the writer, Joseph Stevens w^aived his right of calling the first meeting of the proprietors after the incorporation of the town, and this duty devolved on Benjamin Prescott, Esq., of Groton, in manner as follows: — "Middlesex ss. "To John Stevens of Townshend in the County afore- said one of the proprietors in the common and undivided ()4 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. lands in the To^^'nsh^p of Townshend in the County afore- said Greeting. "Whereas Col. Josiah Willard, Joseph Stevens, Thomas Phillips by his attorney Isaac Farnswoi'th, Josiah Wil- lard of Boston Esq., by his attorney Josiah Willard Esq., William Lawrence and yourself, one of the pro- prietors of the common and undivided lands in Townshend aforesaid, have made application to me Benjamin Prescott Esq. one of His Majesties Justices of the Peace for the. county of Middlesex aforesaid tor a Warrent for the calling of a meeting of the proprietors of the common and undi- vided lands to be held at the Public Meeting House in Townshend aforesaid on the last Monday of July current at eleven of the clock in the forenoon, to the end that being duly mett and ibrmed they may then and there elect and choose a clerk for the proprietors aforesaid. Also agree upon and order the laying out into lotts and dividing the land remaining undivided in said town, to and amongst the proprietors aforesaid, or such part thereof and in such a way and manner as may be thought best and be agreed on, and choose and empower proper persons for a committee to manage and perform the same, and give them such instructions and directions for their proceedings therein as shall be thought fit. "Also to hear and examine the claims of the proprietors aforesaid to anv interest in the undivided lands aforesaid, and if thev see cause to choose a committee for that pur- pose, and also order proper records to be made up of the grants and rights of lands in said Town. "Also to hear and examine the accompts of the several committees or persons employed tor or in behalf of the proprietors aforesaid for their trouble or expense in or LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. Gf) about any of tlie proprietors' business, and o{ any nione\- resting- in their hands due to the proprietors, and order payment of any money that may be found due to any per- son for any service by them done for the pro])rietors, and choose and empower proper persons to call and oblige any person so employed to render such accompt if need be. Also to agree upon and appoint some proper way and method for calling and warning proprietors meetings in Townshend for the future upon any proper occasion. "These are therefore in His Majesties name to require and command you to notify the Proprietors of the common and undivided land in Townshend aforesaid that thev con^'ene and meet at the time and place above mentioned, then and there when met and formed according to law, to proceed, conclude, determine and finish the several matters and things above mentioned as the occasion and business of the said meeting, and to the end the proprietors afore- said may have the better knowledge of the said meeting you shall post up a Notification in Writing expressing the time, Place and Occasion aforesaid of the said meeting in some public place in Townshend aforesaid, fourteen da^■s betore the day appointed lor the meeting as aforesaid. "Hereof tail not, and have you this Warrant with your doings thereon at the said meeting. "Given under my hand and seal at Groton Jul}- 7th in the sixth year of his Majesties Reign anno que dominie 1732- Benjamin Prescott Justice of the Peace" Hon. Benjamin Prescott, was born in Groton, 1696. Butler, in his historx' of Groton, savs : "He was a man of (30 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. superior mental endowments and of commanding appear- ance." He was the father of Col. William Prescott, who was partly in command at the battle of Bunker Hill. He represented Groton most of the time from 1724 till his death. In 1724, he was a justice of the peace, then onl}^ twent3'-eight years old, atterwards he was a justice of the peace and quorum, and in 1735, he was appointed a judge in the superior court. "In 1738, the year of his death, he was appointed to represent the Province at the court of Great Britain, which office he declined, giving as a reason that he had never had the small-pox. Hon. Edmund Qiiincy was appointed in his stead and died in his mission, of the same disease which Mr. Prescott so much feared would prove fatal to himself. By over-exertion in saving- some hay from a shower, he became surfeited, and died in August, 1738, in his Ibrty-third year."* This gentleman had much influence in encouraging the settlement of North Town. His judgment was almost alwavs con- sulted in matters affecting proprietary interests. His lands were on Nissequassick Hill. Daniel Taylor lived on the west side of the road leading from the Harbor to Lunenburg, about half a mile southerly of the garrison previously mentioned. The house he occupied during the latter part of his life, which he built, one of the oldest in town, weather beaten and cor- roded by the tooth of time, is still standing and occupied. The lands, on both sides of the road, belonging to this estate have been sold piecemeal, with the exception of about four acres on which this old unpainted house stands. * Prescott Memorial, page lit. LAND GRANTS AND PROPRIETORS. 67 Longfellow could see poetry in every decorative moulding attached to these ancient gables. "•In that mansion used to be Free hearted hospitality." It was once elegant, costly in its finish and eligible in its location. Joy at the advent of the helpless infant, the solemn words"! do" and "I will"' at the marriage, and the suppressed moaning of the survivor of the departed, have all been echoed b}- the shrunken panels on those quaint old rooms. He owned land in fourteen different places in this town, besides being possessed with a good amount of prop- erty. He owned more slaves than any other person in town. There were then here five or six families who had negro servants.* Capt. Tavlor, "of the training band," buried three wives, leaving the fourth a widow at his decease in 1783. One of his daughters, by his second wife, Sarah, married Deacon Daniel Adams, in 1772, and was the mother of Daniel Adams, M. D., author of the Scholar's Arithmetic. Isaac Spaulding, came from Chelmsford, and bought the proprietarv right of his oldest brother. Deacon Andrew Spaulding, who was also one of the original proprietors of New Ipswich, New Hampshire. He settled on the south side of the Harbor pond. He was a man of infiuence and the first Deacon of the church in Townsend, being one of the selectmen se\'eral times. The place where his son Jonathan settled, near the southeast corner of the town, was Andrew Spaulding's second division, and it still remains in the same tamily, the present being the fifth generation : *"Phillis, a servant of John Stevens, born Nov. HI 17.1 P.enjamin Brooks, born \-'iG.''—7'owii Recardx. I), ^tiil r-oavin^- to tlieni to come to Christ— they answering— 7 will, I will. I'm coming, I'm i-ominrj.— liistonj of Concord. 90 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. last appearance of Mr. Bliss in the pulpit, and his last sermon. He died of consumption in just one week from that time, in comparison, as much lamented then as he was censured during the six or seven years of heated contro- versy through which they had passed. The church of Townsend, and its pastor, kept aloof from all these difficulties, which tact alone is sufficient to establish the wisdom of the conservative position taken by Mr. Hemenway during his pastorate of more than twenty- six years. It may be said that he lived in strict conformity to the covenant which he drew when the church was gathered. From the information within reach it appears that he was of exemplary character, social in his intercourse with his people, averse to all dogmatical controversies, both in and out of the pulpit, and determined onlv "to tight the good light of faith." His mind from boyhood craved the mathematical, perhaps at the expense of the polishing and inspiring influences of poetry and literature. He seldom attempted to move his audience by oratory, and if it cannot be said that "truths divine came mended from his tongue," yet it is a well established fact, that he was a very acceptable preacher of the gospel, and that he enjoved the "confidence and esteem of his contemporary brethren in the ministry.* He married Mrs. Sarah Stevens, of Marlborough, May 8, 1739, who survived him, and in October, 1761, married David Taylor, of Concord. There has nothing come down to us from those far back colonial times, no record soiled bv the breath of the * At the ordination of Rev. Joshua (-ioodhue, over the second parish in Dunstable, Mass., on the 8th of June, 17")7, ''The Revd. Joseph Emerson, of Pepperell, began ye Solemn Exereises of yt Day with Prayer; The Revd. Daniel Emei'son, Preached ye Sermon from Luke 'ilst Cdtli Phinehas Hemenway gave ye charge; And the Revd. Daniel Wilkins, of Sonhegoin, gave The right Hand of Fellowsliip."— CVtwrcft records by Mr. Goodhue. [ Daniel Emerson, belonged to Hollis, N. H. Souhegon was the Indian name of Amherst, N. H. ] ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 91 generations that have appeared and gone, no nuitihited manuscript descended in an ancestral line, nothing to satisfy the enquirer, either as to who were the men who assisted when he took upon himself his ordination vows, or who spoke consoling words to his widow and children at his mournful obsequies. The slate head-stone which marks the spot where he was buried contains the follow- ing inscription : — ERECTED BY THE TOWN TO THE MEMORY OF REV. MR. PHINEHAS HEMENWAY, THE FIRST PASTOR OF THE CHURCH HERE, Who departed this life May 20, 1760, AGED 55, In the 27th year of his Ministry. He was sound in the faith, zealous in the Cause of God, meek and patient under trials, Diligent in improving his talents, faithful to his Lord, and to the souls of his people. From death's arrovs. no age or station is free. At a town meeting, September 16, 1760, "Voted that the Rev. Mr. Hemenway's salary run on six weeks after his decease, provided Madame Hemenway will give the town the boarding of the bearers the six days they preached." The inference from tliis record is, that in those days, the death of a minister was considered a public bereave- ment, and that this town had the deep sympathy of the neighboring churches and their pastors, on this occasion. 92 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. At a meeting of the town, June 20, 1760, "Voted to pay all the charges occasioned by the Reverend Mr. Hemen- ways funeral which are £102 i6s. 8d. old tenor, and that the selectmen provide the preaching of the gospel at present — and provide a place tor the minister to keep at." With commendable promptness the town on the twen- tieth of October, following : "Voted and chose Mr. Samuel Dix to be their pastor and gospel minister by a unanimous vote." Whereupon the church gave him a call, which he accepted by a formal letter to that body, January 13th, 1761. Mr. Dix, was a native of Reading, born March 23, 1736; was graduated at Harvard University, 1758, ordained March 4th, 1761, died November 12th, 1797, in the thirty-sixth year of his pastorate, aged sixty-two. The Dix family, not only in the Rev. Samuel Dix's generation, but in that which preceded it, was noted for great perseverance, strict conformity to puritanical princi- ples united with a good degree of culture. One of his brothers was the first school-master of the town of Dunstable, New Hampshire, another brother, who resided for a short time in one or two of the neighboring towns in New Hampshire, was the grand-father of John A. Dix, Ex-Governor of New York. They belonged to that class of men to whom we are largely indebted for both civil and religious liberty. The class in which Mr. Dix graduated at the universit}^ contained an unusually large number of men who after- wards entered the ministry, some of whom in ability and usefulness were much above mediocrity. One of his class-mates. Rev. Samuel Pavson, was ordained at Lunen- burg, September 8, 1762, and died February 14, 1763, ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 93 aged 24. Mr. Dix was about- twenty-tive years old when he was ordained. Rev. Simeon Howard, a distinguished divine, of the same class in college, was for a time Professor of Divinity at Edinburgh, Scotland. Thirteen, of this class of thirty- one members, were ministers of the gospel. When Mr. Dix came to this town, log-cabins were about going out of tashion, being superceded by substan- tial frame houses, made from lumber sawed at "Conant's mill," or the mill at the Harbor. The house now owned and occupied by Israel H. Spaulding, was built for Mr. Dix, and he lived there till 1770, when he moved to the parsonage given to the town by Lieut. Amos Whitney. In most instances, these houses were large, uncom- fortable two-story structures, the rooms on the first floor being generally finished with a suitable panel-work ceil- ing. The second story, which was the dormitory of the family, except the parents, seldom had any finish unless perhaps a temporary partition across the middle of the house. The pattering of the rain on the roof in mid- summer, or the more blustering music of the wind at the December solstice, were both welcomed b\' the rustic sleepers within. The town voted to give Mr. Dix £133 6s. 8d. for his settlement, and £66 13s. 8d. for his annual salar}-. It soon became apparent that this sum was inadequate to his sup- port, on account of the abundance of paper mone}^ then in circulation. The town with alacrity increased his pav, in propordon as the scrip lessened in value. In 1779, the town "voted to raise £1,000 for the sup- port of Rev. Samuel Dix, and his family, the present year, including his salary," and at a town meeting July 4, 1780, i)4 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. "voted to raise £6,000 to make up Mr. Dix's salary to the fourth of September next." The pastorate of Mr. Dix was a continued era of good feeling and concord, and in fact, no disagreement of any magnitude ever visited the church in this town for nearly a century from the time it was gathered. Mr. Dix was a very successful pastor, and was much respected and beloved by all who knew him, as a neighbor, a citizen, a "man of God." In addition to his labors in Townsend he did considerable work of a missionarv char- acter at towns in this vicinity, where they had no ordained minister, and only occasional preaching. He did pastoral work in the towns of Rab}' [now Brookline], Mason, Jatfrey, Hancock, and Limerick [now Stoddard] , in the State of New Hampshire, and at Ashby. He took much interest in the moral and religious affairs in these towns, and he had the pleasvire and satisfaction of living long enough to know that each of these places had a regularly ordained minister. The church and people in Brookline were under many obligations to Mr. Dix ; and it was in accordance with his advice and good judgment, that the Rev. Lemuel Wards- worth was chosen first minister of that town. Ashby, also, had no settled minister until seventeen years after Mr. Dix was settled in Townsend. He must have made many journeys to these places, some of them long and tedious, during the prime of his life, not only to preach the word, but to solemnize marriages ; to visit those who languished under pain and sickness ; to alleviate the sor- rows of the bereaved, when death had sealed the eyes and frozen the liquid current of vitality. Mr. Dix was admirably adapted to the sacred calling which he espoused. He was dignified without coldness or ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 95 arrogance, cheerful without levity, and strictly courteous and condescending in his deportment. He gave his undi- vided attention to his pastoral duties, and with the excep- tion of one or two patriotic sermons, delivered during the early part of the revolutionary war. he labored faithfully for "a crown incorruptible" both for himself and the people committed to his charge. He was an excellent classical scholar, and as a writer he would lose nothing by comparison either with his contemporaries in the ministry, or those who succeeded him in the church in Townsend. The following is a sample of his style. It constituted an effort complete in itself, and on account of its clearness and brevity it is here inserted in full. The charge, by Rev. Samuel Dix, of Townsend, at the ordination of Rev. Eli Smith, of Hollis, November 27, I793--— The great Savior, who is the head over all things to the Church, having, in his all governing providence, and as we trust, by his most gracious Spirit, called you, Sir, to this part of his vineyard, and united you with this people in love : and you being now solemnly introduced to the important work of the gospel ministry, and ordained a pastor of this flock in particular ; we charge you, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to be faithful, as is required of his stewards, in the execution of this sacred office, and every part of it. Preach the word : the word of God ; the same truths and doctrines, which Christ and his Apostles preached. Preach them plainly and fully. Shun not to declare the whole counsel of God. Preach them actively and urgently, as becomes their inconceivable importance. IH) HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. embracing all convenient opportunities. Be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and doctrine. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. In order to this, give yourself to reading and meditadon, that your profiting may appear to all. Take heed to yourself and to your doctrine ; continue in them, that you may both save yourself, and those that hear you. We also charge you to be friendly and faithful to our Divine Master, to his Church and the interest of his king- dom, in respect of administering the seals of his covenant, Baptism and the Lords Supper. Teach the people of the Lord to discern between the holy and profane. Seek the purity as well as the increase of the church, which is Gods building ; that being fith' framed into Jesus Christ, the chief corner-stone, it may grow into an holy temple in the Lord. That you ma}' know how you ought to behave 3'our- self in regard to discipline, in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, learn of Christ and his apostles. Take the oversight, not as being a lord over Gods heritage, but being an ensample to the flock. Observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. Thus endeavor to preserve and promote the peace, unity and edification of the body of Christ. Now, therefore, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. For this purpose, and that you may be thoroughly furnished to all good works, continue in prayer ; interceding for all men. Pray with and for the people of vour charge, not only in public, but also in private. Wait on ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 97 the Lord, and he shall strengthen thy heart, and bless the people whom you may lead and teach, from time to time, in His name, who is the tbuntain of all grace and glory. Whenever you may be called to assist in separating one to the great work, on which you are now entering, attend to his qualihcations, especially as to his moral character, and religious sentiments. Lay hands suddenly on no man : but the things you have now received in trust, commit to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Be thou. Sir, an example of the believers, in conver- sation and charity, in faith and purity. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Fight the good tight of taith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called. Dear brother, we give you charge, in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and of Christ Jesus, w^ho, before Pontius Pilate, witnessed a good confession, that you keep this commandment of the Lord, without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of Jesus Christ, who saith. Surely I come quickly. Amen. Mr. Dix was held in high estimation by the Rev. Ebenezer Hill, of Mason, New Hampshire, who. at his own expense, caused two or three of his addresses to be printed, as exemplars of eloquence as well as piety, and from these the above was extracted. Mr. Dix married Miss Abigail Chandler, of Boston. The Rev. Stephen Farrar, of New Ipswich, Ne\\ Hampshire, who preached the funeral sermon of Mr. Dix. says of him : "He sustained the character of an upright and faithtul man, who shone peculiarlv in the virtues of meekness, patience, humility and selt-denial,'' and that his 98 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. preaching was accompanied with "earnestness and pathos of address." During the latter part of his life, for sometime, he experienced a degree of illness from which he suffered considerably.; still he attended to his regular pastoral duties. There was a large assembly at his funeral, among which were many ministers, who came considerable dis- tance to pay their respects to the memory of their friend and brother, for whom Death had ''unveiled eternit3^" These reverend gentlemen gratuitously supplied the pulpit made vacant by the death of Mr. Dix, about two months trom the time of his decease. The ensuing summer, the town " voted and chose Lieut. Jacob Blodget a committee to obtain a suitable stone to be erected at the grave of Rev., Samuel Dix." On his gravestone is inscribed as follows : — ERECTED BY THE TOWN TO THE MEMORY OF REV. MR. SAMUEL DIX, The Second Pastor of the Church of Christ in Townsend, Who departed this life, Nov. 12. 1797, In the 62d year of his age, and the 36th year of his ministry. He was sound in the faith, a lover of souls : humble, meek and patient under trials, kind, charitable and benev- olent to all. Ve livin<>- inortnls, fake a solemn view Of this, my silent, dark and l(>ii.i>' aliode. Eemeinber, you were born like me to die. Therefore prepare to meet a i-ighteoiis God. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. OH The town soon began to search tor a minister, and in every particular regarded the advice of Mr. Farrar, con- tained in the funeral sermon : "You are now let\ as sheep without a shepherd. But the great Shepherd of the sheep still lives, and may His watchful care be your guard and defence. See that you be not like sheep scattered and dispersed upon the mountains ; broken and divided into parties ; but with united hearts and fervent cries, look to Him who can repair your breach, and give you a pastor according to his heart." There were several candidates for a settlement over the church and congregation before the town made a choice. Rev. Joshua Heywood ( D. Col. 1795,) preached through a candidacy of "six sabbaths"' during the summer of 1798, and in the autumn following the town "voted to hire Mr. Whitney (probably Rev. Nicholas B. Whitney, Har. Col. 1793,) lor six sabbaths, commencing the third sabbath in February next. The length of time that Mr. Palmer preached as a candidate is not known, the town voting about the tirst of September, "to hear Mr. Palmer further in regard to a settlement." The action of the church in regard to Mr. Palmer's settlement, as represented by the records, was as follows : "The church met according to previous agreement, at the meeting house in this place Sept 3'^ 1799. '^^^^^ chose the Rev. John Bullard moderator. "Having addressed the throne of Grace for light and direction — Voted "i*' To proceed to the choice of a gospel minister. and 100 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. " 2*^ To invite Mr. David Palmer to be our pastor and teacher. "N. B. Each of the brethren present gave his vote in favor of Mr. .Pahiier except one, and he had no objection against him, but want of personal ac- quaintance. "The meeting was then adjourned without a day. John Buli.ard Mod'', ^ro tcmr The record continues thus : "Mr. Palmer having been served with a copy of the above votes (the Town concur- ing in the same) gave an atlirmative answer to our invi- tation. The chh. being notilied met accordingly upon adjournment, 2'' day of December 1799 — & voted "i"^' To invite the Pastor & delegation of each of the following churches viz, the chhs. in Windham 2'^' society, N Ipswich, Shirley, Lunenburg, Lisbon, Groton, Ashby, Pepperell, Boscawen, Mason," Hollis, Brookline, & Fitch- burg, to join in council tor the purpose of separating our Pastor elect to the work whereunto he is called. "2i>' That Deacons, Richard Wier & Daniel Adams & brother Jacob Blodget, be a committee to prepare and forward letters missive to the above churches for s^^ purpose, and to lay before the council the doings of the church & Town. "3''^- Voted to dissolve the meeting. "The meeting was dissolved accordinglv. John Bullard Mode'" Pro Tc }]!.'" The terms on which Mr. Palmer was settled, including the use of the parsonage, the condition in which it was to ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 101 be fitted when he commenced occupancy, the manner in which he should leave the same, should he choose to do so, the mode of proceeding in case either party should become dissatisfied, and other "provisos" are profusely spread on the records of the town. The first day of January, 1800, was appointed for the ordination, the exercises consisting of prayer b}' Rev. Daniel Chaplin, of Groton ; sermon by Rev. Andrew Lee, of Lisbon, Connecticut ; charge by Rev. Ebenezer Hill, of Mason, New Hampshire; right hand of fellow- ship by Rev. John Bullard, of Pepperell. The new year, ordination day, opened bright and pleasant, the mercury being just below the freezing point ; a few inches of snow, fastened down by a hard crust, rendered all kinds of locomotion verv agreeable. The learned council, pastor elect, and invited guests, dined at the widow Sarah Conant's tavern, at the Harbor, at 12 o'clock. After the good cheer of "mine hostess" had been under consideration for a suitable length of time, these venerable divines formed a procession and marched bv the music of fife and drum, to the meeting-house on the hill, where the}- found a crowd in and around the building, through which, with slow progress, they arrived at the pulpit and its sur- roundings. This was a perfect holiday for Townsend and its vicinity. In addition to the muUitude standing on the ground looking in at the windows, which were partlv open for purposes of ventilation, a stage had been built up at the gallery windows, from which a \-iew of the speakers was obtained, and almost everything heard that was said inside the house, in which every foot of room was oc- cupied. These outsiders were very quiet : not a loud word 102 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. was spoken, yet occasionally at the motion of a finger, or a wink, a cord would be dropped down when the fisher- man aloft would "get a bite" and up would go a bottle or a flask. Who knows that these were not "smelling bottles" to prevent dizziness at that altitude? Every house in town was open, and the hospitalities of both the season and the occasion were as free as air. A descendant of Samuel Stone, who built and lived in the house now occupied by Samuel Stone Haynes, informed the writer that one hundred people dined with Mr. Stone on that day, and that twenty-five of them passed the night with him. Most of the prominent men in town were similarly favored with the presence of friends and relatives. This was the last festival of the kind in which all our people participated, for long before Mr. Palmer left the church militant, and before his successor was ordained, it was in\' churchy my nu'iiistcr, my mode of bapf/sjii, and sectarianism began to unfurl the banner of discord. Rev. David Palmer was born 1768, at Windham, Connecticut, graduated at Dartmouth College, 1797, was preceptor of New Ipswich Academ}', 1798. ordained the third pastor in Townsend, January ist, 1800, married Chloe Kinsley of his native town, 1794. and died at Townsend, February 15, 1849, aged 81 years. Townsend at the time of Mr. Palmer's ordination was an entlrel}' different town from what it was when either of his predecessors entered the ministry. The privations attending the converting of a wilderness into a township, filled witli the industries and embellishments of civilized lite, had all been endured and accomplished. The event- ful da\'s of the revolutionary war, through which our fathers struggled and bled, had all taken their places on ^•^ . <:?iXy^^ -^ /k^^:- ^^' ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 103 the historian's page. Our people had just commenced to manipulate metalic federal money, and enter on the enjoy- ments of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'' The printing press, "The initilitiL'st of Ilio uiiuhty means. On which the unii of proiiress leans,"' had approached the town as near as Leominster on one side, and Amherst, New Hampshire, on the other. Edu- cation had received a fresh impetus by the establishing of the academies at New Ipswich and Groton, and bv more liberal appropriations for the support of common schools. Enterprise and progress were the watchwords at the com- mencement of the present century. Everything considered, the town and church made a judicious choice for their third spiritual advisor. Mr. Palmer was decidedly a popular man in all his social re- lations, and his influence as a townsman was felt partic- ularly b}' the children and }()uth of Townsend. During most of his pastorate it was the custom, among their other duties, for the ministers to examine the teachers, and in part, to superintend the schools. There was not a school in town that did not hail his approach with pleasure. Most of the elderly people in town, who attended school here in Mr. Palmer's time, not only remember the blandness of his countenance, but they still retain pleasant recollections of the method in which he would interest and instruct them in their lessons and duties by some chaste anecdote, or simple story told in a peculiarly appreciable manner. He entered into the spirit of improvement in all things and never frow^ned on anv legitimate amusement. Music he loved, possessing both a cultivated voice and ear. 104 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. At a town meeting in 1806, "Voted to grant Fifty dollars for the support of a singing school this year, and chose a committee to conduct said school. Chose for said committee. Rev. David Palmer, Mr. Peter Manning and Mr. Eliab Going." Mr. Palmer was also a practical educator outside of the pulpit. About twenty young men fitted for college with him, a part of whom will be noticed in another part of this woi^k. Mr. Palmer solicited for the money which was paid for the first bell ever hung on any belfr}' in this town. In the course of the canvass, he spoke to one of his people, an old man bent down by the weight of years, almost to the form of a semi-circle, but possessed of a good amount of wealth. He explained to the old gentleman the object of his visit, setdng forth the advantages of having a bell, and in the conversation, he said that every one, and particu- larly every stranger, who looked iif and saw a bell in the belfry, would have more respect for Townsend. "I know" said the octogenarian, rolling his head over on one side and casting up one eye to Mr. Palmer, "but I have most done looking tip." "I should be pleased then if you prefer looking- dozvn, to have you look dozen into your money purse for a moment." "That can be done," said the old man, handing over three hard dollars to the minister, when they parted in excellent humor. Mr. Palmer was a successful pastor. During his ministry two hundred and fifty members were added to the church, sixty-two of that number having joined during the year 1826. He studied divinity with Rev. Andrew- Lee, of Lisbon, Connecticut. As a preacher, he was rather doctrinal than pracdcal, but interesdng, his exer- cises not being as long as were those of some of his ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. . 105 brethren, who exchanged pulpits with him. A tew of liis sermons were "published by request of his hearers," one of which was delivered on the twelfth anniversary of his ordination, trom the text, "This day shall be for a memo- rial," — Exodus 12, 14. This and other printed discourses ■were written in a clear, forcible style, exhibiting deep thought, good scholarship, and unfeigned piety. The introduction of unitarianism into New England, and the inauguration of the Harvard Divinity School in 181 7, swept away all religious unanimitv from among the churches. The cities took the initiative in the crusade against the faith and opinions of Knox and Calvin, but were soon reinforced h\ most of the large towns in the Commonwealth. This great tidal wave reached Town- send, about 1825. Rev. Mr. Thayer, of Lancaster, was the tirst preacher of this doctrine here. The unitarians increasing during this time, the town voted to grant the use of the meeting-house to them for a certain number of sabbaths at several times. "Owing to some misunder- standing in regard to the rightful use of the meedng house, one sabbath, both denominations appeared and claimed it ; but the unitarians had taken possession." A writer in the interest of the congregationalists thus describes what oc- curred at that time : — "Coming into the church one sabbath morning, the pas- tor lound that the unitarians had procured their champion. Rev. Dr. Thayer, of Lancaster, and put him in his place. Walking up in front of the pulpit, Mr. Palmer turned and publicly addressed his people, stating that he felt the pulpit by right belonged to him, but as another had been put in his place, he should not contend with him, nor should he countenance error by remaining. He declared his purpose 1()() HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. to retire to the school house, and such as should follow him, he would preach to there. Immediately as the pastor left the house, he was followed by his flock, like the faith- ful sheep who knew the voice of their shepherd, till not a member of the church remained behind, and not one of the singers formed the choir. "The pastor preached to his flock that tirst sabbath trom the text, Nehemiah 6, ii, 'Should such a man as I, flee ; and who is there, that being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life ; I will not go in.' An exami- nation of this text with the verses following, and a consid- eration of the use at this time made of them, will reveal the words to have been aptly chosen."" The unitarians asked tor the use of the meeting-house one-fourth of the time, or that Mr. Palmer woidd exchange with ministers of that denomination, or with the universal- ists, that they might enjoy preaching for that part of the time. To this, Mr. Palmer would have agreed, but some of the leading men of his church objected. The truth is it was generally known, that Mr. Thayer was in town on the evening before Mr. Palmer and his people left the church ; that Mr. Palmer was in consultation with Mr. Thaver during the evening ; that their meeting was pleas- ant and agreeable ; that then a method, whereby the unita- rians were to have a hearing during one-fourth of the time, was agreed upon by these ministers : but that after they had separated, certain influential church members interviewed Mr. Palmer, and squarely objected to the arrangement ; and for the sake of eflect, the programme, that was carried out the following da}-, was ordered. Mr. Palmer's text, on arrival at the school-house, is very good proof of a premeditated act. These two ministers had ex- changed pulpits several times previous to this time. By ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 107 this difficulty, some curious phases of human nature were developed. A short time after this, the congregationalists erected their brick church, repudiated Mr. Palmer, and put in his place an eloquent young man, whom the}' con- sidered amply qualified to combat luiitarianism. On the other hand in almost as brief a time, the unitarians finding themselves masters of the situation so far as the meeting- house was concerned, ordained a minister, took a dislike to him soon after, dismissed him, and, f'or a time, placed Mr. Palmer back in his old pulpit again. The conduct of the men of wealth and influence, in the congregational church at that time, towards Mr. Palmer, can never be explained in a manner that will place them in an enviable or even an honorable position. Mr. Palmer ne\'er withdrew his connection from the church over which he was ordained, and from which he was dismissed in July, 1830, after a pastorate of thirty and one-half }'ears. At'ter th.is he preached for some time in Brookline, New Hampshire. Although he was never in indigent circumstances, he was the recipient of man}- favors from kind-hearted people who sympathized with an elderly gentleman deserted by those who should have been his friends. As a compliment to his integrit} , and from moti\'es of benevolence and respect, he was elected by the town a representative to the General Court in 1833 and 1834. ^^^ successor in the ministr^• also, Rev. Mr. Rogers, ex- tended to him manv courtesies and kindnesses during liis short pastorate, and although he keenly felt the ingratitude of those who cast him of^', still he encountered old age with cheerfulness, and death with the hope of a believer in the doctrine which he had preached. 108 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. After 1830 the town in its corporate capacity was not represented by any religious society or minister of the gospel. Previous to that time, unless by special vote of the town, the expenses of preaching were paid by a tax, assessed on all the polls and estates in town. The con- gregationalists, considering that another church was about to be organized in Townsend, saw that their church must have a more definite name than "The church of Christ in Townsend" (by which name the church under the town's ministers was known), so that Februar}^ 8, 1830, the church assumed the name, "The Orthodox Congrega- tional Church of Christ in Townsend." A clerk, treasurer and prudential committee, were also chosen about that time. The first pastor of this church, the Rev. William Matticks Rogers, was ordained February 16, 1831. Invocation by Rev. Phillips Pay son, of Leominster ; prayer, by Rev. Charles Walker, of New Ipswich, New Hampshire; sermon by Rev. John Codman, D. D., of Boston ; ordaining prayer by Rev. Rufus A. Putnam, of Fitchburg ; charge by Rev. Ebenezer Hill, of Mason, New Hampshire ; right hand of fellowship by Rev. John Todd, of Groton. This gentleman was born in England, but came to this country in his boyhood under the care of his relatives who carefully superintended his education. He graduated with honor at Harvard University, 1827, and at the Theological Seminary, at Andover, in 1830, where he ranked the first in his class. His father tell at the battle of Waterloo. His name was Kettell. but at the suggestion of one of his uncles, who had been his patron and was about to endow him quite liberally, it was changed bv an act of the Legislature to Rogers, his uncle's name. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 109 In a pecuniary point of view he was extremely tbrtvniate. The legacy, a rich wife, and tiie large salaries he received during the last ten or twelve years of his lite brought him wealth in abundance. He married Adelia Strong, daugh- ter of Judge Strong, of Leominster. He possessed little physical force and vitality, but was an active, keen man. The church made a judicious choice in selecting their first minister. As a sectarian, Mr. Rogers was extremeh- prudent : and he was much more anxious to build up his own church and society than to pull down that of its op- ponents, the unitarians. He was a good writer, had a winning address, and was a popular minister. During the four years and five months of his pastorate, one hundred and forty-nine members were admitted to the church. At his ree]uest lie was dismissed in July, 1835. He removed to Boston and was installed pastor of one of the churches in that city, where he died in 185 1. Rev. Columbus Shumway was the second pastor. He was born at Belchertown. graduated at Union College and at Auburn Theological Seminary, and was installed. January- 6, 1836. In every particular, he was a respect- able preacher. Mr. Shumway must have been placed in a delicate position, and experienced all the difficulties of being the successor of a first-class man. Undoubtedly too much was expected from him. The notice of his dismis- sion, tendered to him March 28, 1837, '^^'i-'? ^ surprise to him, from the fact that up to that moment, everything on the surface indicated both unanimity and satisfaction. Rev. David Stowell. born 1804. at Westmoreland. New Hampshire ; graduated at Dartmouth College. 1829 : was installed third pastor of this churcii. June 28, 1837. 110 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Mr. Stowell was a man of good intellectual abilities, on account of which he was selected to till this position. There were some irregularities in his conduct during the latter part of his pastorate, which caused both him and the church considerable excitement and trouble. Two or three ecclesiastical councils were convened to con- sider the case. At the last council, the opponents of Mr. Stowell secured the services of Rev. John A. Albro, formerly of Fitchburg, to substantiate the charges alleged against him. A lawyer from Boston appeared as counsel for the defence, and the merits of the case were discussed ably and somewhat sharpl}' by both parties. This council, after due deliberation, ordered the dismission of Mr. Stowell, on the tifteenth of August, 1843. Before coming to Townsend, Mr. Stowell had been settled at New Boston, New Hampshire, where he preached for some time. From Townsend, he went to Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, where he died in 1854. Re\-. Luther H. Sheldon, the fourth pastor of this church, was born at Easton, 1815 : graduated at Middle- bury College, 1839 ; graduated at Andover Theological Seminary, 1842, and ordained, August 15, 1844. Invoca- tion by Rev. Joseph B. Hill, of Mason, New Hampshire ; sermon b}' Rev. R. S. Storrs, of Braintree ; ordaining prayer, by Rev. Dudley Phelps, of Groton ; charge by Rev. Luther Sheldon, of Easton, (father of the pastor elect) ; fellowship of the churches by Rev. E. W. Bullard, of Fitchburg. Mr. Sheldon was a very active man, prompt at an appointment, and always prepared for any pastoral work to which duty called him. He took an unusual interest in education, and he serx'ed on the school J^ ^ /Zc^ o^:^^^^i ^.:Mc^< ^s/J— ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Ill committee, to the advantage and acceptance of all in- terested. The abolition of slaven- was an object that engrossed his attention. Some of his sermons on that subject were printed. During the anti-slaver\- excitement, and what was known as the Washingtonian movement in the temperance cause, he was more independent and out- spoken than most of his brethren in the ministr}'. He was a diligent student, a forcible writer, and. although not an orator of the first class, he delivered his sermons in an im- pressive, intelligible manner. In proof that he not onlv had the moral and intellectual equipments indispensable to every minister of his denomination, but that he possessed much shrewdness and good judgment, it may be mentioned that he remained pastor of this church more than double the length of time of that of any of his predecessors, and about four times as long as the longest time of an}- of his successors, during the twenty years that followed after his dismission. Mr. Sheldon was dismissed, at his own request, March 7, 1856, after a successful pastorate of about twelve years. After about the usual time spent in "candidating," the Rev. Eli W. Cook, a graduate of Yale College, 1837, was chosen pastor of this church, and he was installed on the twent3'-eighth day of April, 1858. This Cook did not prepare and dispense "the bread of life*' in a manner cal- culated either to please or edify the people, who looked to him for a good example and a character above reproach. Some irregularities caused his connection with this church to be of short duration. It is probable he was not deficient in either natural ability or education, but he lost the con- fidence of the church and societv and was dismissed 112 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. October 12, 1859, his pastorate being less than a year and a half. Rev. Moses Patten was ordained pastor of this church on the seventh of June. i860. Sermon by Rev. Austin Phelps, of Andover ; ordaining prayer by Rev. Theophilas P. Sawin, of Brookline, New Hampshire; charge bv Rev. William T. Herrick, of Pelham ; fellow- ship of the churches by Rev. George Mooar, of Andover. Mr. Patten was graduated at Dartmouth College, 1850, and at Andover Theological Seminary, in 1855. He was not a fluent speaker, or a man calculated to present a tirst-class sermon ; but he sustained an excellent moral character which won for him the respect of the entire com- munity. Had his intellectual ability been proportional to his wish to do good and his honesty of purpose, perhaps his pastorate would have been longer. He was dismissed April 27th, 1863. On the twenty-seventh day of August, 1863, the church ''Voted to instruct their committee of supply to employ Rev. John C. Hutchinson as their acting pastor." This gentleman had good abilities, but withal, was rather eccen- tric. Occasionally his sermons, viewed from either a literary, elocutionary or ecclesiastical stand-point, would not sufi:er in comparison with those of the popular preach- ers at that dme. Sometimes after reaching near the close of a discourse, to which the most delicate mental organiza- don could take no excepdons, an uncalled-for sendment or an indiscreet expression would drop from his mouth which would tarnish the entire eflbrt. His remarks at funerals were generally dmely, appropriate and well received. The church record has it, that "J^b' 22, 1866, ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 113 Mr. Hutchinson preached liis farewell sermon and left this Held of labor," being acting pastor some less than three years. He was a close student and attended strictly to his own business. Rev. George Williams was installed pastor of this church. May ist, 1867 — dismissed February ist, 1869. Mr. Williams had been a chaplain during the rebellion. It was considered, previous to the time when he left, that he did not give that study of and attention to his duties which his calling demanded. Rev. George H. Morss was the successor of Mr. Williams, the church voting to employ him as acting pastor. June 17, 1869. Mr. Morss was born in Lowell, in 1832. He fitted for college at Phillips Academy, An- dover, graduating there in 1857. His health failing him, he did not enter college. He went south and spent about a year in teaching among the Choctaw Indians. Having regained his usual health, he returned home and took some of the college studies with a private tutor. He passed the usual three years at Andover Theological Seminarv, where he graduated in 1862. Mr. Morss was a quiet, conscientious, amiable man. There was nothing- overbearing or dictatorial in his manner or intercourse with his fellow-men. His words were well spoken and well adapted to the occasion which called them out. His sermons were caretully written and sometimes consider- ably above mediocrity. One of them, a historical dis- course, printed by order of the church, and the result of much labor, was well received. He was dismissed, April loth, 1873. At present, he is located very pleasantly at Clarendon , Vermont. 114 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. On the twenty-ninth day of September, 1873, the church "voted to invite Rev. Henry C. Fay to become its acting pastor ;" and he immediately accepted the invita- tion and. entered upon his duties with this church and congregation. He was born in Shrewsbury, 1827, — grad- uated at Leicester Academy, 1850, — graduated at Amherst College, 1854, — graduated at the Theological Seminary, Bangor, 1857. Was ordained at North wood. New Hamp- shire, 1858, where he remained six years. He was tour years at Newton, two years at Hubbardston, two years at Harwich Port, and three and one-half years at Townsend. He is a live preacher, a close student, having much enter- prise and force of character. He has most of the qualities requisite for a leader. If he had been educated at West Point, instead of Bangor, he probably would ha\'e suc- ceeded well under "shoulder-straps." Considered as a writer, or a speaker, he is well cultivated and appears to good advantage. He was dismissed in September, 1876. Three or tour candidates appeared, in turn, to preach for the congregationalists, during the next six months, when sometime in the summer of 1877, the church ex- tended a unanimous call to Albert F. Newton to become their pastor. He accepted the call, and was ordained on the fifth of September, 1877. Rev. Albert F. Newton was born at Salmon Falls, New Hampshire, in 1848 ; graduated at Appleton Acad- emy, New Ipswich, New Hampshire, 1870 ; graduated at Dartmouth College, 1874; graduated at Andover Theolog- ical Seminary, 1877. The clergymen of the council, who took a part in his ordination, were as follows: invocation ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 115 by Rev. Daniel E. Adams, of Ashburnham ; sermon b}' James H. Thayer, D. D., of Andover ; ordaining prayer by Rev. Marcus Ames, of Lancaster ; charge by Rev. George Pierce, of Milford, New Hampshire ; fellowship of the churches by Rev. J. II. Barrows, of Lawrence; address to the people by Rev. F. D. Sargent, of Brookline, New Hampshire. The day was beautiful, and many joyous faces lighted up the large assembly that witnessed these exercises. Mr. Newton has zealously entered upon his labors under favorable auspices, and in the lives of most of his predecessors, he mnx find patterns worth\' of his imitation. The congregationalists, during the year 1877, erected a set of buildings suitable for a parsonage, the result of the untiring etTorts of the Ladies' Benevolent Society, connected with this denomination. The land on which the buildings stand was the gift of Deacon Walter Haynes. The dwelling, tor the convenience of its internal arrange- ments, its general good proportions, and the laithful manner in which it is completed, is a source of credit to the committee which superintended its erection. As the parsonage house, given to the town by "Lieut. Amos Whitney,'' in 1769, although renovated and wrought into another structure, has escaped tiie corroding, devour- ing elements, and come down to us through the lapse of more than a centurv, so may this elegant, unostentatious house stand, to become the pleasant abode for pastors yet unborn, who in their turn, shall "bring glad tidings" to the on-coming generations. It is a happy thought that this church has furnished a suitable residence for its pastor. situated so convenient to the church edifice. 116 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Names of the deacons during the time the churcli was a town institution : Josp:ph Stevens, appointed, 1734, die Isaac Spaulding, " i734'' Samuel Clark, '• i73^' Jonathan Stow, '* 1763, *RicHARD Wyer, '' 1773' James Hosley, '' 177^^ Jonathan Wheelock, " 1782, Daniel Adams, " 1782, John Giles, *' 1812, John Boutell, " 1812, d, 1738 1776 1783 1780 181 2 ^ 1827 1825 i860 Names of the deacons who continued with the con- gregationalists at their separation from the town and those who were appointed by them afterwards : Joel Adams, appointed. 1824, died, 1854 Daniel Giles, " 1828, • 1858 [Samuel Walker, ^' 1828, ' 1859 John Spaulding, 1845, • 1866 John Proctor, " 1845. Abijaii Blood, •' 1870. Walter Haynes, 1875- Samuel F. Warren, " 1875- Ambrose G. Stickney, " 1875- When the congregationahsts seceded from what was the hrst parish in Townsend, they took witli them every member of the churcli, the communion cups and baptismal Deacou Wyer fell wliile ))l:nnng a bo ind dieil almo.-^t instantly. t Deacon Walker fell while at work iu the hay-tield and died suddenly of heart- disease. He withdrew from the orthodox church and joined the baptists, about ftfteen vcars previous to his death. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 117 basin ; no one appearing to object, and no one that remained having any use for these things. It must not be taken for granted, that either party to tiiis controxersy, during these exciting times, could lay claim to all the consistency or amiability. No one can deny, when com- paring the opinions and faith of the trinitarians of the present time, with the printed discourses and doctrines of their clergy of tifty years ago, but that a more rational taith, a more Christ-like spirit has taken possession of the minds and hearts of these disciples of Knox and Calvin. One might attend church anywhere, now, with- out hearing anx'thing of the doctrines of foreordination, predestination or election, each of which was extensively preached by the clergy, previous to the advent of uni- tarianism. It may appear singular, that a part of the town at that time, making no pretensions to religion, should insist on the use of the meeting-house a part of the time ; but it must be considered, that the people asked for something- more than the dry dogmas of the school in which their pastor had been educated. This they w^ould have had (for Mr. Palmer kept up with the spirit of the times), but for an undue influence, exerted by the same individuals, who eventually cast him ofl' and put Mr. Rogers in his place. The most prominent men left in 1829, to represent the tirst parish, were Paul Gerrish, Aaron Keys, Richard W. Pierce, Solomon Jewett, Isaac Turner, Benjamin Barrett, Jr., Jonathan Richardson, and John Preston. Two of these persons were lawx'ers, all of them men of influence and intelligence, of good morals, and the fathers of the town, but to all appearances not particularly pious. 118 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. The parsonage given to the town by Lieut. Asa Whitney, by act of the Legislature, passed into the hands of the unitarians. There were not any regular meetings of this society on the sabbath, or much preaching for some time after the "orthodox" built their house. Rev. Warren Burton was preacher for the first parish for a part of the 3'ear 1831. Allow the writer, just here to say, that Warren Burton was a clear-headed man, an excellent scholar, interesting as an author, attractive as a preacher, and by far the ablest minister who preached for this societ}'. He graduated at Harvard College, 182 1, died 1866, after a life of usefulness. For the next three years Rev. Jesse Chickering was the preacher tor a part of the time. Occasionally the pulpit was supplied by universalists and restorationists. During the year 1835, there was not much preaching. The treasurer's book of this society does not show that any money was paid for preaching during this year. Rev. Ezekiel L. Basco:m, commenced preaching in the winter of 1836, and continued till the end of the sum- mer, during which time he gathered a church, consisting of about twenty-five members. Mr. Bascom was a man of prepossessing appearance, of good address, social in his manners, spoke easily and logically, without notes, and his labors were highly appreciated by this denomination. He was an active preacher of the gospel, after this time, at Ashby. Graduated at Dartmouth College, 1798, died at Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, April, 1841, aged 63, and was buried at Ashbv. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. Hi) During the autumn of 1836; Linus H. Siiaw preached as a candidate for the office of pastor of this church and society for four or live sabbaths, when he received a call for a settlement, which he accepted. He was ordained, December 21st, 1836. The following was the programme carried out on this occasion : Prayer by Rev. Nathaniel Whitman ; sermon by Rev. Andrew P. Peabody, of Ports- mouth, New Hampshire ; charge by Rev. Samuel Barrett, of Boston ; right hand of fellowship bv Rev. Charles Babbidge, of Pepperell ; address by Rev. Calvin Lincoln. There was a drenching rain throughout the whole day, and for this reason, there was not a large audience in atten- dance. Rev. Linus H. Shaw was a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, 1833. For some reason, the mantle of the man who gathered and founded this church did not fall upon this young pastor, for although he was a gentle- man of unsullied moral character, a good thinker and a good writer, yet, there was something lacking in his social qualities, whereby he was never popular with his church and congregation. One great obstacle in the wav of his success, was, that every time he attempted an extempora- neous address, he made a complete failure. For a man of his experience, he wrote good sermons and read them quite well, but "his occupation was gone" unless his thoughts were fully submitted to writing. After a pastorate of about two years, his connection with this parish was dissolved, and he moved out of town. From this time till 1852, when the first parish sold the meeting-house to the methodist society, the unitarians had no settled minister. Occasionally, the universalists and restorationists, as well as the unitarians, occupied the 120 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. pulpit. A gentleman by the name of Sayward labored here the longest of any one from 1840 till the sale of the meeting-house. When the universalists built their meeting- house at West Townsend, the people in the westerly part of the town, who usually attended the unitarian church, withdrew from that society and associated with the univer- salists. The most influential members of the first parish, by this move, were found to be residents of the easterly part of the town. There were two meeting-houses at the centre of the town, and two at the west village, so that the influence of the Harbor in asking for one church building, caused the sale of the old meeting-house to be effected. The meeting-house at the Harbor was built according to written contract, by John Hart and Amos Morse, in 1853. Daniel G. Bean, of Lowell, was the architect. Perhaps the shade of Sir Christopher Wren never hovers over this edifice without hastening to Lowell to salute this "cunning artificer." This house was dedicated in the spring of 1854. Rev. Stillman Barber was hired to preach by the unitarians, about that time, and supplied the pulpit for some more than two years, when, for some reasons, best known to the unitarians themselves, no money was raised to support the preaching of the gospel. Mr. Barber left town, and all interest in the denomination melted like an April snow wreath. Since that time, with the exception of one or two law-suits growing out of some financial matters, and the settlement of its aflairs generally, nothing of late, has been heard of "The First Parish in Town- send." The fathers of this denomination have been gath- ered to the innumerable nuddtude of the departed, and ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 121 the temple of worship erected by their sons, now stands deserted, cheerless, and seldom entered for an^ purpose whatever. For two years previous to the time that the unitarians sold their house to the methodists, its walls echoed the ringing appeals of two earnest methodist clergymen. Rev. Horace Moulton and Rev. Samuel Tupper. Rev. Horace Moulton was the pioneer methodist of Townsend ; he seemed peculiarlv adapted for an evan- gelistic pioneer work ; revivals had attended his labors in nearly forty towns, before he came to Townsend. His biographer says : " He probably organized more methodist churches from converts saved through his instrumentalitv. the last half century, than any other minister of our con- ference." In 1849, 1^^ ^^'^^ stationed in Lunenburg, but he never seemed satisfied unless he was engaged in rexival work, so he got his place supplied one-half of the time, and preached in Townsend and Pepperell. He organized a class in Townsend, that year, as a branch of the church at Lunenburg. In 1850, Townsend became a separate charge. In April, 1852, Rev. Samuel Tupper, preacher in charge, organized the Methodist Episcopal Society, in con- formity with the provisions of the statutes of Massachusetts. From 1850, until the present time, 1877, this societv has sustained preaching and weekly religious meetings. Con- siderable interest has been manitested from time to time, and numbers added to the church. The re\ival that 122 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. attended the labors of I. T. Johnson, the evangelist, that commenced in January, 1876, was the most extensive the church ever experienced. The membership of the church at that time was forty-four ; the membership the tirst of January, 1877, was one hundred and twelve, and seventy probationists. During the history of this church it has enjoyed the services of eighteen different pastors of various degrees of ability and spirituality. Their names and order of succes- sion are as follows : — Horace Moulton, Samuel Tupper, Pliny Wood, Windsor Ward, J. A. Ames, T. B. Treadwell, A. F. Bai- ley, M. P. Webster, C. H. Hanaford, S. K. Bailey, Burtis Judd, E. A. Howard, A. K. Howard, T. R. Tisdale, E. Burrlingham, A. P. Adams, A. W. Baird, W. E. Dwight. The first three gentlemen mentioned in this list are dead ; thev were men of influence with their denomina- tion. Mr. Ward died in Townsend and was buried here. CHAPTER IV. THE BAPTISTS AXD UXIVEBSALISTS. Formation of the Baptist Society in 1818— Inaui^ui-ation of the Church in 1827— Levi Ball Chosen Deacon— Action of the Town in Favor of the Baptists— Pastoi-ate of Rev. James Barnaby— Concise . Memoir of Mr. Barnaby— Some Account of the Successors of Mr. Barnaby— Pastorate of Rev. Willard P. Upham— The Uni- versalist Restoration Society— Rev. John Pierce— Committee to Build a Meeting-house— Mention of the Several Pastors of this Society. The following- are among the hrst entries in the records of the baptist society in Townsend : — ''Be it remembered that April 20, 1818, Asa Baldwin. Joseph Walker, Thomas Weston and Solomon Stevens, who were members of the churches of New Ipswich, Mason and Harvard and others, met and formed ourselves into a society by the name of The first Baptist Society of Townsend. "Since the formation of said society, we have had occa- sional preaching by Rev. William Elliott and others.'' In 1827. the Rev. Benjamin Dean "labored here as a missionary under the direction of the domestic Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts." In April of that year, this society decided to be formed into a church, and in order to accomplish this object, they 124 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. instructed Mr. Dean to call an ecclesiastical council by addressing letters to the neighboring Baptist churches. The letter sent to New Ipswich (which is spread on the records) was as tbllows : — "To the Baptist Church of Christ at New Ipswich : "The Baptist society of Townsend send christian love. Beloved Brethren. Sensible of the importance of exhibit- ing the light of the Glorious Gospel of peace, in all its doctrines and ordinances as they were delivered to the saints, and viewing ourselves incapacitated in our present situation to attend to the ordinances regularly, and having a prospect of being enlarged in numbers, have voted unanimously that it is expedient to invite our brethren to visit us and in an ecclesiastical council on the 9*^'^ da}- of May next, and should you see cause, after having exam- ined our situation, to constitute us into a visible Gospel Church. Benjamin Dean Levi Ball Joseph Walker Solomon Stevens" The chinxhes in the towns of New Ipswich, Mason and Milford in the state of New Hampshire, and Chelms- ford, Harvard and Littleton, in Massachusetts, were rep- resented in this council by a pastor and delegate. The fourth resolution adopted by this council was the follow- ing :— "4. Resolved that we- humbly trust that we have the approbation of the great Head of the church in acknowl- edging Brethren and Sisters, Asa Baldwin, Joseph Walker, Solomon Stevens, Joseph Simonds, Levi Ball, Susanna Holt, Chloe l^all, Elizabeth Stevens, Unitv Manning, BAPTISTS AND UNIVERSALISTS. 12;") Lucy Ball, Chloe Stevens, Almira Stevens, and their as- sociates, The First Baptist Church of Christ in Townsend, and under this impression, we cheerfully fellowship them as such.'' On the same day Levi Ball was chosen deacon of this church, and regularly ordained by the council. The ministers, who constituted this council, were Rev. Joseph Elliott, of New Ipswich, Rev. Bela Wilcox, of Mason, Rev. Samuel Everett, of Milford, New Hampshire, Rev. John Parkhurst, of Chelmsford, Rev. Abisha Sampson, of Harvard, and Rev. Amasa Sanderson, of Littleton. Mr. Sampson, was moderator, and Mr. Sanderson, scribe. These ministers in particular w^ere invited to partici- pate in this council because most of the persons who asked lor the inauguration of this new church were members of the churches in their several towns. The business of the council being completed, "Voted to adjourn to the congregational church, at 2 o'clock, for services."' At that time and place, Levi Ball was ordained deacon of this church, by the reverend gentlemen of the council, with considerable "pomp and ceremony,'' each and all of these ministers taking some part in the services. It is certain that no better man than Mr. Ball could have been chosen and ordained to till this office. The ancestors of Mr. Ball came from Wiltshire, England. He was the grandson of Ebenezer Ball, who was the second child born (1729) in Townsend. He was an industrious, enterprising man, and greatl\- interested in the success of the baptist church and society. He died in 1849. There were two or three tamilies in Townsend. of the baptist faith, about the commencement of the )-)resent century. These people were obliged, by law, to jxiy a 126 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. regular tax tor the support of the town's minister, besides being under a moral obligation to contribute towards baptist preaching in the towns from whence they came. At the annual town meeting, in March, 1805, the year after the present old meeting-house at the Centre was built, this article was in the town warrant : — "Article 7th. To see if the town will consider the baptists, in regard to their paying taxes towards the meeting-house and levelling the common." On this article, "Voted to abate Joseph Walker's poll tax in a tax called the glass tax, and one-half of his poll tax in a town tax of nine hundred dollars in Seth Lewns' tax list." The town also "considered the baptists" inasmuch as to grant them the use of the meeting-house a certain number of sabbaths during the year, for quite a number of consecutive years. Usually their meetings were (previous to 1834) ht^ld in what was the battery school-house, where they had services part of the time, but not constant preaching. The church record for May 20th, 1833, shows the following : " Chose Rev. Caleb Brown our pastor." This gentleman labored until the summer of 1835. The baptist meeting-house having been dedicated during the early part of the previous winter, and the church being increased some in numbers, so that the surroundings and circumstances began to be more favorable to this denomina- tion, an eftbrt was made to secure the services of some one distinguished in the baptist denomination, for their pastor. In June of this year the church ga\-e Re\'. James Barnaby, pastor of the second baptist church in Lowell, BAPTISTS AND UNIVERSALISTS. 127 an invitation to settle with them at the annual salan' of five hundred dollars. There is nothing in the church records concerning his installation here, but the time of his coming is recorded: "Sept. 28, 1835, ^^^'- Barnaby removed among us and entered on his labors." A large number comparatively attended the meetings during Mr. Barnaby's pastorate, but there was no special revival. In 1836, the church contained thirty-seven members. Mr. Barnabv at that time, was of prepossessing appearance and pleasing- address. After the short pastorate of about two vears, for certain reasons he asked his dismission, which was rather reluctantl}- granted, both pastor and church being much attached to each other. He was dismissed October 8, 1837, ^vhen he removed to Harwich, where he was installed over the oldest baptist church in that part of the state. Since that time he has been settled at Deertield, New- Hampshire, where he occupied a parsonage, the buildings of which were burned, together with nearly all of his per- sonal property. He has also had a pastorate in five or six other places. He was born at Freetown, June 25th, 1787 : graduated at Brown University, 1809, died December loth, 1877, at Harwich, leaving a widow six months his senior, with whom he lived sixty-seven 3'ears. each of which was devoted to the Master's service. He was an earnest, suc- cessful pastor at every place where he labored, and during the latter part of his life, from the deference paid to him by all denominations he was called, the "Bishop of the Cape."' A notice of him at his death says: "He baptized about two thousand eight hundred persons, four hundred of whom he received into the fellowship of this church :" meaning the baptist church, at Harwich, of which he was pastor at the time of his death. 128 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Rev. Oren Tracy, was the next minister. He came from Newport, New Hampshire, to this town, and com- menced his hibors February 3, 1838. There was a very pleasant intercom-se between Mr. Tracy and this church and people. A baptist church in Fitchburg, being favor- ably impressed by Mr. Tracy, gave him a call with an offer of a larger salary, when "his duty" pointing in that direction, he asked his dismission in January, 1841, and soon departed to that place. In the spring of 1841, the church gave a call to Rev. Charles W. Reding, who was regularly installed soon after. He remained till July, 1844, when the society "Voted that the pastoral connection between Rev. Mr. Reding and this church and society be dissolved." He was a polished man. Rev. W. C. Richards, was the successor of Mr. Reding. He was the pastor for two or three years, when the services of Rev. Caleb Blood were secured for about two years. He was grandson of his namesake, who was a distinguished man in the baptist denomination. Rev. F. G. Brown commenced preaching lor the baptists in 1850. Rev. Lester Williams, Rev. E. A. Battell and Rev. F. G. Brown supplied the pulpit, each one about an equal length of time, from 1850 to i860. Mr. Williams, although a 3'oung man, was a capable, earnest preacher, and gave perfect satisfaction. Rev. George W. Ryan entered upon the labors of pastor of this church in i860, and continued about three years. Mr. Ryan took considerable interest in education. BAPTISTS AND UNIVERSALIS'J'S. 129 and served on the school committee, in which otlice he was well received. The baptist pulpit has been supplied at ditTerent times by the theological students at Newton, for months at a time. Rev. Willard P. Upham was pastor trom 1867 to 1872, or about six years. He was lor a long time associ- ated with the Cherokee Indians as missionar}^ and teacher, and afterwards, as pastor of the church connected with that intelligent tribe. He had considerable experience also at other places at the west. His pastorate was the longest of any person in the ministry who has labored with the baptists. Mr. Upham was an acceptable pastor, a diligent student, and a social gentleman. He was an invalid for sometime after leaving this town. He died in 1877. Rev. Oren K. Hunt, a graduate of Newton Theo- logical Seminarv, was installed pastor of this church in June, 1874, ^""^^ ^"'^ remained until the spring of 1877. when he was followed by Rev. William R. Thompson, who is the present pastor. In looking over the large number of pastors which this church has had during the half of a century of its existence, the question naturalh' arises, why has it had so many? No difRcuUies have ever disturbed this church by having Kallocks or Beechers for pastors. There always has been extreme unanimity among the church members, its friends and patrons, still the pastorates of its ministers average less than three years, which certainly is at vari- ance with the customs of the fathers, who took t/ic/'r minis- ters, like their wives, " during J if c." If a clergyman has 130 HISTORY OP^ TOWNSEND. integrity of character, piet}', learning, and scope of intel- lect sufficient to make himself acceptable to any church for three years, why cannot he continue to do so for live times three years ? The records of the baptist church are so meagre and incomplete, that it is impossible to give as many facts and dates as are desirable. From the time of its formation to the present, it has annually been in receipt of pecuni- ary aid from the same society, which, in 1827, placed Mr. Dean in the missionary lield. The Universalist Restoration Society, at West Town- send, was organized March 4th, 1848. The tirst disciples of Murra}', at this village, however, had enjoyed meetings for nearly ten years, previous to that time. During the Near 1839, Rev. John Pierce, a native of Lunenburg, was invited to preach to this societv. This vouthful min- ister supplied the pulpit here on alternate sabbaths for more than a year. He was a ready, extemporaneous speaker, agreeable in his person, and rather attractive in his manner of address. He died the next year, of con- sumption, much lamented by his friends and the denomi- nation with which he was connected. At the time this society was organized, it was ''Voted to take measures to build a meeting-house," and chose a "committee of eleven to carry the same into effect." Chose Zinn-i Sherwin, Stephen Dyer, Benjamin Barrett, Levi Sherwin, William Nichols, Albert Howe, Joel Kendall, Ebenezer Rawson, Luke Wellington. Andrews Howe and John Whitcomb for said committee. At an adjourned meeting "Voted that the building- committee issue one Inindred and twent\- shares, at twenty- tive dollars a share, for buildino; a meetinir house," the BAPTISTS AND UNIVERSALISTS. lol committee to hold those shares in their hands as security for their payment. It was intended that the money that accrued from the sale of the pews should, in the end, pa\- for a large portion of the expense of building the meeting- house. This house was finished in 1848. After the church building was completed, it was ascertained that there were about forty regular paving fam- ilies of this society (a part of which number belonged to Ashby), so that it was a comparatively easv matter to raise the ;f;400 for a minister's salarv. Of these fortv fami- lies, onh' a tew are now among the people here, and many are not to be found among the living. This meeting-house was built by Mr. Levi Sherwin,. and it was dedicated January 25, 1849. Rev. Stillman Clark, of East Jaflrey, New Hampshire, preached an ap- propriate sermon, which was well recei^'ed by a full house. There never was a universalist church, which wor- shipped in this building, but in its stead "The I'niversalist Restoration Society." The Rev. Stillman Clark was the first pastor of this society. He was here at first, about a year, when R?:v. Varnum Lincoln succeeded him for about two years, when Mr. Clark returned and supplied the pulpit for a year or more. Both of these pastors were acceptable preachers, and botli of them were honored by the town with seats on the board of school committee. In 1853. this society employed a man by the name of R. J. Chapman, who remained here for nearly two years, before the wolf in sheep's clothing was discovered. In June, 1855, Rev. C. C. Clark was settled as pastor over this restorationist societv. This engagement continued 132 • HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. four years. After being absent in Pennsylvania until 1863, he returned to West Townsend, and again preached for the same society, about two years and a half, when the connection closed by mutual consent. During all this time, to the present (1877), Mr. Clark has kept his home in West Townsend, where he now resides with his com- panion, who has been a faithfu help-meet through all the trials and struggles of a ministry of thirty-live years. Since the close of Mr. Clark's pastorate, there has been no preaching for the universalist society, except at two or three different times during the holidays : yet the people who constituted this societv, who are still among the living, consider that their is much more liberality among other denominations, than there was twenty-eight vears ago, when the Universalist Restoration Society, in West Townsend, was founded. CHAPTER V. MEETim4-H0 USES. The First Meeting-house and its Location — ••Pew Ground" — "Seating the Meeting-house "—Controversy about the Location of the Second Meeting-house — Memoirs of John Hale. Oliver Prescott and John Dunsmoor. the Connnittee Chosen to Locate this House — Names of tiie Pew Holders in the Second Meeting-house- Action of the Town in Regard to Moving the Second Meeting- house to its Present Location at the Central Village— The First Bell in Town— The Congregational Meeting-house— The Baptist Meeting-house. It has been heretofore mentioned, that the settlers did not strictly conform to the terms of the grant of 17 19, in several particulars. The ''convenient house for the Wor- ship of God" was not built either at Turke}' Hills (Lunen- burg), or at The North Town, until nearh' ten ^'ears after these two towns were granted. The condition was that meeting-houses should be built within tour years from the date of the grant. in September, 1728, the town of Lunenburg voted to raise the sum of £200 ($88.88) tor building and tinish- ing a meeting-house, "so tar as it will do or answer there- tor.'' In 1731, a pulpit and "a body of seets" were built in this house, which was fort^-tive feet long and thirtv-fi\e feet wide. 134 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. The Townsend records of this period are lost, but trom this account of the transactions in Lunenburg, it may be inferred that our house of worship was of similar size and value. It was a mere shell. The amount, £15, which the proprietors voted to raise, to "ease the hard bargain" of the contractors, when reduced to federal money, is only about $3.90, from which fact it may be inferred that the meeting-house in Townsend could not have been very expensive. Money was quite scarce at that time, and most business was transacted by barter trades. As has been shown by Samuel Danforth's report to the Great and General Court, our meeting-house was erected before 1730, so that both of these towns erected houses of worship at about the same time. The first meeting-house in Townsend was located on the summit of the hill, about a mile easterly of the com- mon at the centre of the town, on the west side of the road leading over the hill, in the extreme northeast corner of land, now enclosed at that part, by stone walls, with the parsonage left b}' Lieut. Amos Whitney. A portion of the land that was the town's common when this house was built, is now enclosed with the parsonage farm at that corner, and some of the coarser stones of the foundation of tliis house, may now be seen in the walls at that place. It is a singular circumstance, that there never were more than two or three frame houses on this hill, near the spot which the town had selected for its religious and municipal centre. The prospect, from this stand-point, is exceedingly- beautiful and picturesque. Large portions of the towns of Lunenburg and Groton at the south and southeast, with the steeples, landscapes and white farm-houses of these old MEETING-HOUSES. L'').5 towns ; together with the liills and mountain slopes, at the west and northwest, dotted over with dwelHngs, tields and forests, all present a charming panorama. This location must have had peculiar attractions for our ancestors, as this house of worship was placed more than two miles from the centre of the town as it was incorporated. A pulpit and some body seats were made in this house soon after the church was gathered. In February, 1735, the "pew ground" was laid out, and the committee ap- pointed to do this work "Being again meet together prefered men to their pitches as folio weth.'" Then follow the names of the most prominent men of the town, "Capt. John Stevens" being the hrst name recorded. The following extract from the record will sufficiently explain the language above quoted : — "Voted that the rule that the committee chosen to lay out the pew ground in the meeting-house in Townshend shall be as follows (viz) that they shall prefer those per- sons in said town to their choice of pew ground, that have paid the most towards the preaching of the Gospel, in said town, and tow'ards building the meeting-house." For about half a centurv after the town was chartered, a committee was chosen, at each annual town meeting, in March, to seat the meeting-house, sometimes called "dignif^dng the meeting-house." Two rows of long, plain benches, with an aisle in the centre leading from the pulpit to the front of the house, and passage ways around the walls of the building, constituted the seating accommoda- tions of the ground floor of the first meeting-house. The seats nearest to the minister were considered the most eligible. The "committee chosen to lay out the pew 136 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. ground" at that time was the committee chosen to seat the meeting-house. Several times, the town instructed their committee in the manner the house was to be seated. Persons who paid the most towards preaching were allowed ''the uppermost seats in the synagogue." The selectmen, deacons of the church, and other officers of acknowledged rank, generally had the tirst seats. A town in this vicinity "Voted that the committee be instructed to seat the meeting-house according to quality." From this it may be inferred that even in the days of the puritans, there was an aristocracy ; for this word "quality" signified nothing else except the degree of wealth and good clothes which these worshippers possessed. So far as the apparel was concerned, this was a good rule according to the maxim, "cleanliness is next to Godliness." The custom of leaving the meeting-house in those days, and long after^^'ards, was quite commendable. After the benediction, the minister would walk out of the house, gracefulh' bowing to the people on both sides of the aisle, hat in hand, all remaining standing ; then the deacons would follow their pastor, and after they had passed nearly out the congregation would quietly leave without any noise or confusion. It is said that this practice had its origin from the fact that the people regarded it as a matter of disrespect to turn their backs upon the clergy. However this might have been, the exits of these congregations would strike any orderly person much more favorably, than the present careless and jostling manner in which our churches are vacated at the close of service. The following extracts from the town records will show that this house was rude in the extreme, and never finished. A building of this kind would not well comport MEETING-HOUSES. 137 with our ideas of a church edifice ; but considering that this was the first building in town that was covered with sawed lumber, all of which was brought from Groton, and the scanty means and small number of inhabitants the town contained one hundred and forty-six years ago, it may be fairly supposed, that this house was the result of an extraordinary effort. In May, 175 1, "Secondly, voted to finish two seats round in the gallery and place two pillars under the gallery sills. Thirdl}', voted to choose a committee of three men to finish the same.'' In 1753, "Voted to sell the pew ground in the southeast corner of the meeting-liouse at a vandue ; the same being- sold to John Stevens Jun''. : he being the highest bidder, for twenty pounds old tenor." In 1759, <^^" about thirty years after the house w^as built, "Voted to grant the ground where the platform is now laid in the front gallery of the meeting-house, to Jonathan Patt and others to build a pew on, provided the}- build the same and seal up the four side of the meeting- house between the stairs up to the plait by the first of September next." In 1763, a window was made back of the pulpit, and at the same town meeting which ordered the window. "Voted to give Capt. Daniel Taylor and Lieut. Emer}- £6 13s. 4d. to lath and plaster and whitewash the meeting- house overhead." Rescinded this vote in 1769. In 1768, "Voted to give liberty to William Stevens and others petitioners with him to build a pew in the meeting- house over the mens stairs." The men occupied the west gallery and the women the east, hence "the mens stairs." It thus appears that 138 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. this first meeting-house was never finished. There was no ceiling or plastering overhead, and but little of either kind of finish on the inner walls. At this time the house needed considerable repairs and was too small to accom- modate the congregation that went to hear the sound of the gospel as proclaimed by Rev. Mr. Dix, so that in May, 1769, the town "Voted to build a new meeting-house within thirty feet north of the old one if that will accom- modate better." Previous to the time that it was found necessary to build a new meeting-house, there was complete unanimity among the people of Townsend. The combativeness of its citizens had nearl}^ spent itself, in the controversy with Dunstable about the dividing line, but at this period con- siderable feeling, among themselves, was manifested in regard to the location of the new meeting-house. The south part of the town wanted the house to be located on the southerly side of the hill, near the parsonage, while the north part were anxious to have it at the north side of the hill, near the burying ground ; others thought that the new house should be located where the old one stood. From May to October, 1769, the merits of these two chosen places were discussed quite freely and with consid- erable excitement. There was about an equal number on each side, and finding it almost impossible to agree upon a site upon which to build their meeting-house, it was decided to refer the matter to three disinterested men, and their decision was to be final and binding in every particu- lar. October 12, 1769, ''Voted to choose a committee of three men to state the place where a new meeting-house shall be ; whether at or near where the old meeting-house MEETING-HOUSES. 13!l now stands or at either of the places that shall be ap- pointed by the north or south part of inhabitants of said town, on said meeting house hill. Chosen for said com- mittee John Heald Esq. of Hollis, Doctor Prescott of Groton and Doctor Densmore of Lunenburg.'* This meeting adjourned till October 31st, when the committee* of doctors, who healed this fracture, appeared and submitted the following report, which was accepted and adopted : — "The subscribers, a committee appointed by the inhabi- tants of the Town of Townshend at a legal town meeting holden October 12, 1769 for the purpose within mentioned, have this day attended upon the business, and having full}' heard all parties concerned, and duly considered of the aftair, are of the opinion that- it will be most ornamental for the Town, and most convenient for the inhabitants thereof, to set the front sill of the new meeting house, sixteen feet from the back sill of the old meeting house, or thereabouts, which we submit to said town for their ac- ceptance. "Townshend Oct. 31, 1769 John Hale ^ Oliver Prescott > Committee" , John Dunsmoor } It would appear on the face of this report, that the removal of the location only sixteen feet, needed some explanation. A flat, broad ledge, of the peculiar kind of rock on this hill, cropped out just at the front of the old meeting-house, over which the travel had passed for more than forty years. The slight difference of sixteen feet would leave the ledge in the form of a terrace in front ot the new meeting-house. This also explains the language 140 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. of the record, "Voted to build a new meeting-house within thirty feet north of the old one, if that will accommodate better.'" It may be interesting to know who these men were who chose this location, and in whom the good people of Townsend placed such unreserved confidence. The following memoir of John Hale is from Kidder's History of the First New Hampshire Continental Regiment ; — John Hale was in early life settled in Hollis, New Hampshire, as a physician. In 1755, he was surgeon's mate in Col. Blanchard's First New Hampshire regiment, in an expedition to Crown Point against the French, and in 1758, was surgeon in Col. Hart's regiment, which was at the Crown Point expedition of that year. In 1768, he was representative to the Legislature from the associated towns of Hollis and Dunstable, and at the beginning of the Revolution, he was colonel of a regiment of militia, composed of soldiers from Hollis and the adjoining towns. He w^as a member of the convention that sat at Exeter, in x\pril, 1775, and assisted in inaugurating the measures to organize the regiments that fought at Bunker Hill, and was also in the field a large part of that year. His sister (Abigail Hale,) was the wife of Col. Prescott, the hero of Bunker Hill, and as their residences were onlv three miles apart, their intercourse was frequent and always friendly. During 1775 and 1776, he was much engaged in aiding the cause by raising soldiers as well as assisting in the councils of the State. On the re-organization of the First New Hampshire Regiment he was appointed surgeon, and entered on his duty May 8, 1777. It is supposed that most of the regiment was then at Ticonderoga, or on the way MEETING-HOUSES. 141 there. He was with the reguiient, through the campaigns and battles of that year and the next, and in the expedidon to the Indian country in 1779. Resigned June nth, 1780. Returning home his influence was exerted in raising men and means till the end of the war. He was often a mem- ber of the Legislature. He was distinguished as a physi- cian and had a large practice. The following is the inscription on his tombstone at Hollis :— ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF DOCTOR JOHN HALE. Who was born Oct. 24, 1731, And died Oct. 22, 1791. •How soon our uew-boni lig-ht attains full aged iiooii. And then how soon the gray haired night. We spring, we l)n(l. we blossom and we blast. Ere we can count our days, tliej^ fly so fast.'' Oliver Prescott was the son of Hon. Benjamin Prescott, w ho has been partial!}' sketched in another part of this work, born at Groton, 1731, and was graduated at Harvard College, 1750. He settled in Groton, and was a practical physician in that town for nearly half a century. He was very successful and popular in that profession. For the period of thirteen years he was town clerk of Groton. He held many civil offices. He was appointed by the King major in the militia, then lieutenant-colonel and colonel. When the revolutionary war broke out he espoused the cause of freedom, and early in the year 1776. he was 142 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. appointed brigadier-general, and he mustered and or- ganized the militia of Middlesex county. His judgment on military matters was very valuable at that time. In 1778, he was appointed the third major-general of the militia throughout the commonwealth. In 1799 he received the appointment of Judge of Probate lor the county of Middlesex, which office he held until his death in 1804. He was the most influential man in this vicinity and well worthy of being a brother of the hero of Bunker Hill. He was learned without ostentation, popular without being a demagogue, and extremely prepossessing in his appear- ance, apparently without knowing it. John Dunsmoor was born in Scotland, in 1720. He had some of the advantages of the literary institutions of his native country, but probably neither his culture in general, or his preparation in particular, for the profession of his choice, entitled him to a high rank. A correspon- dent says of him : "He w^as a remarkable man." He came to this country in his earl}- manhood, and soon after settled in Lunenburg, where he resided till his death, in 1794. He possessed excellent natural abilities, joined with a good amount of perseverance. He was very eccentric withal, and occasionally put on a rough deportment almost repul- sive. He had a lai-^e practice and was considered not only a very skilful physician but a good surgeon. May 28, 1770, "Voted to choose a committee to carry on the aflair of raising the new meeting-house. Voted that this committee be directed to provide jins and roaps nesesary for the same, also to choose such hands to raise the same as they think proper, and to make suitable pro- visions for their entertainment, and to provide some person MEETING-HOUSES. 143 that can splise roaps if they brake, all at the towns cost. Voted that the committee find licker Monday and Tuesday at the towns cost." This house was finished so far that it was occupied during the latter part of 1771. Among the list of baptisms by Rev. Mr. Dix, this is recorded: "Oct. 27, 1771, Bap- tized Gains, son of Eleazer Spaidding, in y^ new meeting house." This is the only instance where any meeting or cere- mony is represented as having occurred in the new meeting- house. This editice was a great improvement on the house for which it was subsdtuted, it being amply capacious for the population of the town, which, according to the colonial census of 1770, contained about seven hundred inhabitants. The precaution in regard to raising this building was timel}^ and judicious, considering the heavy square thnber used in the frame thereof, some of which may now be seen beneath the roof of the old meeting-house on the common. This house was clapboarded, and the window, and door frames and the doors, were painted on the outside during the summer of 1771. October 20, 1772, "Voted that those persons who purchased the pew^s on the lower floor of the meeting house, should have their names recorded on the town book, and the number of the pew they drawed, which stands in course as they drawed them." It appears that thirty-live citizens shared equall}' in the expense of making as many pews on the ground floor of this house, and in regard to a choice in them, the owners agreed to decide the matter by "casting lots." Consider- ing that these men were the "solid men" of Townsend, one hundred vears ago, and that their descendants con- stitute quite a number of the inhabitants of this town at 144 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. the present time, it has been considered in good taste to copy their names and titles as they are on record : — Lieut . Amos Whitney No 1. I Oliver Hildreth No .19 John Conant 2 James Waugh ' 20 Capt. Daniel Taylor 3 James Sloan " • 21 Israel Hobart " 4 Ens. Wm. Richardson " • 22 Daniel Adams " 5 James Hosley " • 23 Benjamin Brooks " 6 William Smidi ■ 24 David Spaftbrd " 7 Isaac Wallis • 25 William Clark 8 Ens. Isaac Farrar " ■ 26 Robert Campbell " 9 Jeremiah Ball ■ 27 Lieut . Zacheriah Emery " ID Zebediah Wallis - • 28 Oliver Proctor " II John Waugh " 29 Timothy Davis " 12 Lemuel Patts " 30 Jonathan Wallis " 13 Maj. Henry Price* 31 Isaac Spalding- 14 Samuel Wesson '' '■32 Lieut . Ephraim Heald '' 15 Thomas Reed 33 Sarah Conant 16 James Stevens, Jr.'' 34 Lieut . Benjamin Brooks " Uriah Sartell 17 18 Joseph Balding " 35 In May, 1773, "Put to vote to see if the town will alter the deacons' seat in the meeting house and it past in the Negative." At a town meeting the next October, "Voted to provide handsome door stones for the meeting house, and chose a committee to do the same." This second meeting-house was at this time finished in a manner well adapted to the wants of the town. It was about the same style, both in architecture and finish, as were most of the New England church buildings of that period. Within its consecrated walls, the followers of the Master worshipped, the citizens devised plans to meet all the w^ants of the town in its corporate capacity, the Fii-t-t Deputy GniiKl Master of Maso MEETING-HOUSES. 145 training band assembled to organize and listen to the reading of the militia law, the "committee of safety" held consultations, the selectmen discussed their duties, and the smouldering patriotism of an oppressed people burst into a flame. This house was the Faneuil Hall of Townsend. Dur- ing the war of the revolution, our continental soldiers, with dark forebodings, turned back in their outward journey, to take a last look at this structure, endeared to them by tender associations : and after long years of anxiety and suspense, after many eyes had been made tearful by the loss of brothers, husbands and lathers, who never returned ; when the news of victory came, what sincere gratitude to the God of battles, what songs of thanksgiving and praise ascended from the altar in this humble sanctuarv. Through the year 1797, considerable dislike was manifested towards the uncentrical location of this meeting- house ; besides, the house itself needed some repairs. The expense of maintaining a road over the ledges and steep grades of meeting-house hill, was an objection that had an influence with many. In some seasons there was no water to be obtained at or very near the summit of this hill. In March, 1798, an article was inserted in the war- rant calling a town meeting, in the tbllowing words : "7th. To see if the town will And the centre of their town and say where their meeting house ought to stand." It may be presumed from this record, that there was at that time considerable conversation about a new meeting- house. At the meeting of the town, this article was passed over, but this action of the town did not stop the current in favor of a new meeting-house. From this time till 1803. for more than five years, when the moving of tiie old 146 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. meeting-house and making of a new one was finally agreed upon, the town met at thirteen different times to deliberate upon the subject, several of these meedngs however, were adjourned meetings. The particular diffi- culty in the way, and what was most discussed was the disposal of the pews in the old meedng-house, or rather how much the old pew should go towards a new one in the contemplated house. In October, 1799, "The town voted to find a suitable place near the centre of the town for the meeting-house to stand on, by taking an actual survey of the town and travel collectively ; having due respect to the lands unsettled, which by its quality may become inhabited in future time," and chose a committee for that object and purpose. This committee consisting of sixteen citizens of which Jonathan Wallis was chairman, reported the next month, recommending the spot where this house now stands at the centre of the town, for the location of their new meeting- house. The chairman and three others of this committee were of the number who, in 1772, drew lots for their pews in the house about to be removed. The town at different times while the matter was under consideration, passed votes and then rescinded them, chose committees but refused to listen to their sug- gestions, debated the subject both in public and in private, agreed to a certain style of architecture, but afterwards altered it. and "agreed to disagree,'" until midwinter of 1804, when the job was let out, to Messrs. Moses and Aaron Warren, to move and finish this second meeting- house of Townsend, into the third meeting-house in town, to be completed during the year 1804. The building com- mittee reported that the house should have three porches. MEETING-HOUSES. 147 but subsequentl}', January 6, 1804, "Voted to build a belfry and a suitable place to hang a bell according to a former vote of the town in lieu of a porch, on condition that there shall be money subscribed, sutBcient to purchase a bell."* Previous to the removal there was considerable talk about enlarging this house, but it was finally agreed to re- move it, set up and renovate it, without any enlargement, except the porches. This house is sixty feet in length and forty-five feet in width. It was "situated due east and west," in its new location, the belfry on the west end, a porch on the east end and a porch on the south side. Above the entrance on the south porch were the gilded letters, "Built 1804." There were three entrances, one at each end and one in tront. The pulpit was on the north side of the house, opposite the front door, a broad aisle extending from one to the other, dividing the ground floor of the house into two equal parts. There was also an aisle surrounding the house, next to the wall pews. There were two entrances to the galleries by flights of stairs, one in the east porch, and the other in the belfrv at the west end. The galleries were well supported by large turned pillars. There was a row of wall pews, twenty-four in number, surrounding the house both above and below. They were not like the sloping, sofa-like, slips now in fashion, but were about six leet square ; the walls were high and had a railing around the top, supported b}' nicely turned, little, hard-wood bal- usters, fitted into round holes both at the top and the bottom, which on the slightest touch would revolve and squeak like a- nest of young mice. A row of uncushioned seats surrounded the interior of these pews, and often a flag-bottomed chair was place in the centre thereof. The 148 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. seats were hung by hinges so that they might be turned up as the congregation rose for prayers ; and at the close of the invocation they were carelessly let down with a noise similar to an irregular volley of small-arms. Over the stairs, at the west end, were the seats for the negroes, the small remnant of the race that were here at the com- mencement of the present century. The singers had the tront of the gallery opposite the pulpit, which was lofty, finished with curious panel work and mouldings. "The pulpit had a recess or rostrum in which the speaker stood ; behind him was a curtainless arched window ; above him was a curious canopy, about six feet in diameter, re- sembling in form a turnip cut in two transversely. It was called a sounding-board, and hung near the speaker's head, by a slender iron rod from the ceiling, so slender as to have excited apprehensions and speculations in many a youthtul mind as to the probability of its falling ; and beneath him in front of the pulpit, were the deacons' seats in a sort of pen, where they sat facing the congregation, with the communion table hanging by hinges in front of them." It must not be forgotten that this house, for more than a quarter of a century from the time of its erection, w^as well filled with attentive listeners, coming from all parts of the town, at each returning sabbath. Moses Warren, the prin- cipal contractor for moving and renovating this house, had just completed the tavern house now standing at the west side of the river at the central village, besides there were three or four dwelling-houses and John Giles' saw and grist mill at or near what is now Townsend Centre. The New Hampshire turnpike was finished about this time, passing directly in front of this church, and con- verirent town roads were commenced and finished to this MEETING-HOUSES. 149 common centre of the town. The citizens appreciating the eligibility of the location for their meeting-house, and desiring to make it more easy of access, August 28, 1804, before the house was ready for occupancy, "Voted to raise three hundred dollars, to be worked out in levelling the new common around the new meeting-house ; and chose Lieut. Samuel Stone, John Giles and Ebenezer Stone a committee to conduct the same." In May. 1852, after sectarianism had done its work, after the unitarians had decreased to a small number, its influential men at the start being either gone or dead, Charles Powers and others, in the interest of the methodists, bought this house from the unitarians, turned the west end of the same to the south, and fitted it up in its present style. Since that time, the methodists have rented the low^er part of it to the town for a town hall, and occupied the upper part as an auditorium, in which they have enjoyed an uninterrupted preaching of the Gospel to the present time. It has been conceded by competent judges, that the steeple, or tower, on this edifice has good architectural pro- portions, and is as well adapted to the main building as an3'thing of the kind in this vicinity. The first church bell ever in Tow^isend, was obtained by money subscribed for that purpose, in the summer of 1804. The tradition that a bell was given to this town by the Englishman for whom Townsend was named, and that the same was sold to pay the freight, and subsequentlv was hung on one of the Boston churches, is without doubt incorrect. It has been ascertained that the town of Mason and one or two other to\\ns haxe the same legend : besides, if the town had been in expectanc}' of such a gilt, an efibrt 150 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. would have been made to erect a tower suitable for its reception. This bell came to this town soon after the second meeting-house was taken down and before its erec- tion where it now stands, and it was stored in the shed at the parsonage. During the pleasant sabbaths of that summer, meetings were held under the shading elms easterly of the parsonage, and this bell was struck to announce the hour for commencement of services. February 4th, 1805, the town "Voted to pay Hezekiah Richardson $39.38 for hanging the bell." To the people of 1876 this would appear to be an extravagant charge, from the fact that one of our towns- men, by the same name (Mr. Levi Richardson), during this 3'ear hung three church bells in this town gratuitously ; one on each of the churches at the Centre, and one at West Townsend. The bell hung by the aforesaid Heze- kiah, was cracked in the year 1818, when a new bell weighing about 1500 pounds was purchased by subscribers, the old one going in part to pay for the new one. This bell, after the church property, including the parsonage, passed into the hands of what was called the first parish, or the unitarians, was removed by them to their new meeting-house at the Harbor, and subsequently it was sold to pay the debts of that society. From that time till 1876 this church was minus a bell, when the methodists experiencing a revival which added considerably both to their spiritual and pecuniary strength, and the town having inaugurated a tire department and desiring a heavier bell, the liberal citizens at the central village, and some others, by subscription, furnished the mone\' for the purchase of the present bell, which tolls MEETING-HOUSES. 151 regularly and gently for the presence of the e^•en^no- wor- shippers, and occasionally sends forth the clangorous notes of alarm, for brave hearts and willing hands to subdue the insatiable element. The orthodox congregational meeting-house was com- pleted and dedicated in June, 1830. Some of the men who seceded from the old church, just previous to that time, possessing a good amount of wealth, and not lacking in either enterprise or will, were determined to have a first class churcli edifice. With much unanimity this society agreed both on the location for their meeting-house and the manner in which it was to be built. This fourth meeting-house of Townsend is made of brick, and in every particular, is much superior to any church building ever built in this town ; and it reflects credit upon the taste and good judgment of the men who designed the same and furnished the money with which it was erected. With the exception of a change in the pulpit and some internal wall decorations, it remains substantially the same as when it came from the hands of Josiah Sawtelle, its architect and builder. The clock in the tower of this church was presented by Deacon Joel Adams and Samuel Adams, his son. A bell weighing about 2000 pounds, purchased by subscription, was hung on this house soon after it was finished, which was in constant use from that time till 1876. when it was cracked and another one was put in its place. The time-piece, ^^•hich graces the trout of the singers' gallery, was the gift of Mrs. Lucy Stone, at a cost of fifty dollars. The flagons, cups and plates, at present in use by this church, as sacramental furniture, and a baptismal basin, were purchased by the legac}' of one hundred 15:^ HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. dollars from Deacon Daniel Adams, agreeably to the terms of his will. The baptist church, at the west village, was the fifth church edifice erected in Townsend. A committee was chosen in the autumn of 1833, consisting of Levi Warren, Levi Ball, Jacob Sanders, Ralph Warren, and Jeptha Cummings, to receive proposals for building a meeting- house, sixty-four feet long, forty-five feet wide, with posts twent\'-four feet in height ; and this committee closed a contract, with Josiah Sawtelle, to build this house, which was to be completed before October i, 1834. Some devia- tion from the written agreement, mutually understood, delayed the completion of this house for nearly two months. It was dedicated January 15, 1835. A number of digni- taries of the baptist denomination, including three or four doctors of divinity, besides a large and appreciadve audi- ence, were in attendance. Dr. S'larp, of Boston, preached the sermon, and Dr. Hague, of iliat city, assisted in the services on that occasion. Ample preparations were made by the citizens of the village for a sumptuous dinner, after the dedicatory services were ended, and at several tables in different parts of West Townsend, peculiarl}' appetiz- ing spreads were presented ; and man}' visitors and friends attested to the hospitality of the patrons and members of the "First Baptist Societ}' of Townsend." This meeting-house is a fac simile of a meeting-house that was in Fitchburg, which so favorably impressed the building committee, in regard to its proportions and con- venience, tiiat it was the model for their house. This building was renovated in 1873, by being newly plastered, painted, and paper-frescoed ; a new pulpit, an appropriate MEETING-HOUSES. 153 chandelier and side lights, were inserted at that time. For tliis improvement the baptist people are under special obligations to Messrs. Edward Ordway and John M. Bruce, who solicited the money for that purpose. It would be ditTicidt to find fault either with the location, the inter- nal arrangements, or the taste exhibited in the finish of this neat, unostentadous chapel. From the day it was decided to erect this house of worship, to the present time, the baptist church has been continually the recipient of the favors of the Warren family. Mr. Levi Warren not onl}- gave the land on which this building stands but he gave nearly one-third of the money required to build this house. Mr. Moses Warren gave the bell, which was hung in the beltry when the edifice was completed. Mr. Charles Warren* gave both the clock on the tower, and the one inside which hangs in front of the singers" gallery. Among those who contributed liberall}' towards the tunds necessary to build this house, nine, by the name of Warren, gave freely : and, ever since that time, when the money needed to defray the expenses of preaching has not been easily obtained, Levi. Moses, Aaron, Ralph, Dorman, and other Warrens, and those who intermarried with the Warrens, have "come to the rescue." * Charles Warren was the son of Thomas Warren. He amassed a large fortune in business, in Boston, and lost it. On account of his integrity, he was afterwards appointed agent of a large establishment engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods. During the war of the rebellion, he went out to Central America, and engaged in the cultivation of cotton. This business was a success. While itassmg from one part oJ the countiy to another, in company of guides, he was murdered by t hem lor his money. He was an amiable, benevolent gentleman, who kindly rcinembered his birth- 1 dace "in the days of his prosperity. He was unmarried. CHAPTER VI. MILirAIlY. CEMErEIllES, AND BEQUESTS. '• The Traiiiiiio- Band" — '"The Alarm List" — Division of tlie Town into Two Military Companies— The North Company — The Sonth Company — List of the Captains of these Companies— Townsend Light Infantry — Its Captains — Cemeteries — Land Given by Wil- liam Clark— Burying- Ground Near the Common at the Centre of the Town— Its Enlargement in 1854— Gift of Land for a Ceme- tery at West Townsend by Levi Warren— The Stocks, an Instru- ment of Torture to the Flesh— Amos Whitney's Will— His Epi- taph. The military spirit among the people ot^ the province of Massachusetts, from the time of the incorporation of the town to 1775. was rather on the wane. Most of the collisions between the settlers and the Indians occurred previous to 1732. There is no record concerning any inilitary company in this town, previous to the revolution- ary war, whereas, every town of sutlicient inhabitants had an organized military company. It was customary in those days to give every man his title, civil as well as militarv. whether he was addressed orally or by manuscript. In the town records, at an earl}- period, the names of Dea. Isaac Spaulding, Capt. Jolm Stevens, Lieut. Daniel Taylor, Ensign John Farrar and Ensign Amos Whitnev. are of frequent occurrence. Twenty }'ears afterwards, more or MILITARY, CEMETERIES, AND BEtilJESTS. 15;") less, the names of Ca^t. Daniel Taylor, and Lieut. Amos Whitney, are in the records, which is sufficient proof that they were a part of the military officers of the town, for a long time. These puritans were slow in their movements in discharging an officer, as long as he was faithtul to his trust. No whim or caprice was allowed to disturb a cap- tain, a deacon, or a minister, and their otHces in man^• instances ended with their lives. It is impossible to describe, with any degree of accu- rac}', the military organizations of the town from the breaking out of the revolution to the commencement of the present century. The "training band" of the records, consisted, as is supposed, of the robust yeomen of the town, able-bodied, and in the full vigor of manhood, who were liable, at any and all times, to be called to the defence of the province. The "Alarm List" contained the names of persons who were either too young or too old to endure the hardships of war, but on an emergencN', or as a home guard, could render efficient service. Persons less than eighteen or over fifty years of age are supposed to have belonged to the alarm list. It is probable, considering the excitement caused by the Shaj-'s rebellion, and owing to other causes, that nearly every man in town during the next ten years, after the British troops were withdrawn trom our borders, Mas well acquainted with the use of the tlint-lock musket. The tirst record of any military organization was the division of the town, in order to have two militar}- com- panies ; all persons liable, living north of the count\' road, made up the north compau}', and all south of that high- \va}', the south company. This arrangement was observed till 1801, when the turnpike was built and that road was made the dividing line between the two companies.' 156 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. The most prominent men in town were selected as military officers. Men of wealth only could afford to hold a commission, for all officers were subject to considerable expense to conform to the custom of that period in furnish- ing liquors for the men. It w^as considered a great honor at that time to be dubbed with a military tide, and very dishonorable in any officer not to furnish ardent spirit in abundance. The orderly books of these two companies, that of the south company, as early as 1788, and that of the north company, commencing 1792, are still in good condition, from which the names of the captains are taken. Captains of South Company : — William Stevens, from 1788 to 1790. Zacheriah Hildreth, from 1790 to 1796. Timothy Fessenden, from 1796 to 1801. Eliab Going, from 1801 to 1804. Hezekiah Richardson, from 1804 to 1807. William Archibald, from 1807 to 1810. Isaac Spalding, from 1810 to 1812.. James Adams, from 1812 to 1815. Isaac Kidder, from 1815 to 181 7. Captains of North Company : — John Campbell, from 1792 to 1798. Jonathan Wallis, from 1798 to 1802. Samuel Brooks, from 1802 to 1805. Joseph Adams, from 1805 to 1808. Walter Hastings, from 1808 to 181 2. John Waugii, from 181 2 to 1815. George Wallace, 181 5. These two companies were kept up with considerable interest till 1817, when the Townsend Light Infantry was MILITARY, CEMETERIES, AND BEQUESTS. 157 organized. After that time it appears that all soldiers in town, not belonging to the light infantry, were gathered into one company. The records of this corps are not to be found, but the following are the names of most, if not all, of the captains of this company : — Whitney Farmer, Daniel Giles, Samuel Brooks, Elnathan Davis, Solomon Jewett, Noal Ball, Robert T. Woods, and Beriah Blood. The interest in the militia began to decrease about the time the temperance cause commenced. Previous to this time, the social principle among the people caused the two or three days of the year devoted to military duty to pass away in an agreeable manner. Notwithstanding the large quantity of liquor foolishly used at that time, perhaps there was no more drunkenness then, than at present. It is well, however, that a large portion of the citizens of the town, gave up painting their faces and commenced painting their dwellings. In 1837, a law was enacted making all militar\' dutv voluntary, which set aside all the uniformed companies. Many considered the expense of the system as unneces- sary. It grew unpopular from many causes. The clergy preached against it ; peace societies were formed and peace conventions assembled. The excellent advice of Wash- ington, "In time of peace prepare for war," was i-egarded as old-fashioned, and applicable to some other nation. Had it not been for a few regiments of volunteer militia, from Massachusetts and New York, in 1861, the capi- tol of the nation probably would ha^■e fallen into rebel hands. On petition of Levi Warren. Walter Hastings, and others, the Townsend Liglit Infantry was chartered, in 158 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. 1817. This company commenced under favorable circum- stances, and it was kept up, with much interest, for more than thirty years. Its ranks w^ere kept full for more than ten years after military duty was not compulsory. It lived long enough to wear out three sets of uniforms in different styles and colors. This company was a well disciplined corps, and on various occasions upon its appearance out of town on parade, for its soldierly bearing and general good appearance, it received many compliments from military men. The Prescott Guards, of Pepperell, and the Townsend Light Infantry, were considered the best companies in the regiment to which they belonged. On the fourth of July, 1822, at a celebration on the common, at the centre of the town, this company received the present of a standard, from the ladies of Town- send. The company orderly book contains the following record : — "The standard was escorted to the common by nearly an hundred respectable ladies of this town, and presented by the amiable Miss Susan Pratt,* and received by Ensign Ebenezer Stone, after which the ladies were escorted back to the tavern by the company. John Lewis, Clerk.'' Persons who were in attendance at this celebration inform the writer that the ceremony was impressive,, and the presentation speech, composed by Aaron Keyes, Esq., * Daughter of Benanuel Pratt. Married, August JO, 18-2'2, Ptolemy Edson, M. D., a practical physician at Chester, Vermont, for liltY-five vears. She died September 8, 1844. He died December 30, 18G6. MILITARY, CEMETERIES, AND BEQUESTS. 1')!) and also the reply, were prepared with care, and well deliv^ered. Captains of the Townsend Light Infantry : — Asa Turner, from incorporation till 182 1. Levi Warren, thence till April 3, 1822. JosiAH G. Heald, thence till March 21, 1823. William Park, thence till August 6, 1825. Ebenezer Stone, thence till November 7. 1826. Jeptha Cummings, thence till March 13, 1828. Levi Stearns, thence till August 6, 1829. Joseph H. Hildreth, thence till August 20. 1831. Samuel Adams, thence tillDecember 2, 1834. Horace Warner, thence till April 18, 1837. Abram S. French, thence till November 29, 1839. ^ Ai Sherwin, thence till April 15, 1842. Alexander Craig, thence till April. 1844. Prentice Stone, no record. Jonathan Pierce, no record. Eliab Going, no record. William Adams, no record. Walton Bancroft, thence till 1852. The company closed its existence under Capt. Ban- croft, since which time the town has been without a military company. It shows a lack of good judgment for a civilized peo- ple or municipality to be without a suitable military force. At this time, the country is in as defenceless a condition as it was in 1861, notwithstanding the lesson then learned. Should the nation be embroiled in another war, and as long as human nature remains the same it is liable to become so at most any time, a long routine of preparation would be required, and the delay in organization and discipline would give the enemy a great advantage, and 1()0 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. perhaps, be at the expense of many lives. People lull themselves to sleep in talking about the horrors and wickedness of war. Clergymen and pious citizens pray that all wars may cease, and exhort to non-resistance ; and statesmen trust in diplomacy. Now^ moral suasion is a great power ; but in an exigency like a riot, sixty-four rifles, in the hands of disciplined men, under a clear-headed commander, are w^orth more than eloquence, argument, or prayers. In 1742, the town "Voted to accept of an acre of land, from Mr. William Clark, for a burial place.'" It is prob- able, that this "God's acre" was given to the towm a considerable length of time before this vote was passed. There must have been some burials in Townsend during the first twelve or fifteen years of its settlement, and from its proximity to the meeting-house, this was undoubtedly the first place selected for the interment of the dead. The graves first made here are marked by rough slabs of slate, minus any inscriptions, and the first stones on which are any records, date back no further than 1745. In 1744, "Voted to choose a committee of three men to clear up the burying place, and dispose of the timber for the best advantage of the town. Chose tor this com- mittee, Nathaniel Richardson, Joseph Baldwin, and Josiah Robbins."' In 1747, the town evinced a deeper interest in this cemetery, and "Voted to fence the burying place with a stone wall four feet and four inches high." Mr, William Clark, the giver, was the owner of a large amount of land in this town. His name appears on the list of the seventy- two persons quoted in this work, who were present at Concord, in May, 1720. He subscribed for a "Lott'" in "y^ North Town" but did not pay at the time. He was a MILITARY, CEMETERIES, AND BEQUESTS. 1()] shoemaker, owned slaves, came from Concord to tliis town, and settled on the south side of the river, at the base of the hill on the South Row road leading from the old meeting-house, on the west side of the road, where one Isaac Spaulding afterward lived. The bridge, at the west of the Harbor pond, has always been known as the Clark bridge, and was called for him. A slate gravestone, now in a good state of preserva- tion, was erected to his memory, situated near the centre of this burial place, from which it appears that he died in 1756, aged seventy-seven years. About 1816, the people began to talk about a new bur}-ing place, the acre of ground given by William Clark being nearly full : besides, there are no avenues in this acre; and "dust to dust" is so closely commingled, and the headstones are so numerous, that the part farthest from the road is not easily approached b}' a funeral cor- tege. In 1 818, the town voted to buy the land now used for a cemetery at the centre of the town, then owned b} Rev. David Palmer, Deacon Daniel Adams, and Richard Warner, Esq., each of whom had an angle of land needed to make the grounds eligible, both in distance from the meeting-house and quadrangular in shape. In 1854, ^^^^' town chose a committee, consisting of the selectmen, to buy land at the east of their new burial place in order to enlarjje the same. The east line of the land, boupiit in 1 81 8, commenced near the site of the receiving tomb : thence southerly in a line nearly parallel with the west line of the cemeter}-. This committee bought about six- acres of land, of Richard Warner, at the eastward of this line, enclosed it with a picket fence, and took up the east line fence of the original plot. The gende hill in the 1(')2 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. land, making it an eligible location for building tombs, was probably considered in selecting this spot in i8i8. The summit of this hill contains only a few graves, from which it may be inferred that this elevated part of the ground was disliked as a burial place. The tombs on the west side of this cemetery were built in 1819. The fashion, of making tombs like those, was quite general in this vicinity at that period. From the time of Cheops, the pyramid man, to the present, mankind in all grades of civilization and religion, have evinced the most absurd ideas in regard to the burial of the dead, from the Indian, whose steed and war weapons were inhumed with his corse, to the nabob, or senator, reposing beneath the ponderous and elaborately finished marble at Mount Auburn. The un coffined and unknelled remains of the soldiers at Andersonville prison, sleep as well "after life's fitful fever" as though placed beneath the gorgeous monuments erected to their memory in the prin- cipal cities of this great nation, the liberties of which they fell to perpetuate. The genius and wealth of the world combined cannot make death either welcome or lovely. In 1836. Mr. Levi Warren set apart a tract of land for a cemetery, on the south side of the road from West Townsend to Ashby, not far from the baptist meeting- house. Two or three bodies were buried there. For good reasons, Mr. Warren altered his mind about the location and had the bodies moved in 1838, at his own expense, to the cemetery now at the north of the river, and then gave the town a deed of the land. Tlie stocks used by our ancestors tor reformatory purposes more than one hundred years ago, were placed at the west end of the meeting-house, in the open air. MILITARY, CEMETERIES, AND BEQUESTS. 1(53 They were made with two heavy, hard wood, three inch plank, each about a foot in width and seven or eight feet long. In the edges of these planks placed edge to edge, four holes were cut, one-half in each plank. They were hrml}' set together in that position, with a hinge at one end and a padlock at the other. When a culprit was to be punished, he was taken to this spot, when the upper plank would be raised sufficiently to admit the persons ankles into these holes, then the plank would be shut down and locked, leaving the offender to remain, either sitting, or on his back, to reflect on the condition of his allegience to the constituted authority. No record has been found showing what class of crimes were punished by this instrument of torture to the flesh. It probably never was used many times, and then only in extreme cases of civil offences. The following is a copy of the will of Lieutenant Amos Whitney, whose name so frequently occurs in this volume : — "In the name of God, amen, I Amos Whitne}' of Townshend in the count}^ of Middlesex in the Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England Gentleman, being in health of body and of perfect mind and memory thanks be to God, calling to mind my mortalit\', knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain this my last will and testament, that is to say principally and first of all I recommend m\ soul into the hands of God who gave it and my bod}' to be buried in a decent manner, at the discretion of mv executor, nothing doubting but at the general resurrection to receive the same by the mighty power of God ; and touching such worldly goods 164 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. and estate as God has blessed me with, I give and demise in manner and form, viz; Imprhnis : I give and bequeath to my kinsman Levi Whitnev of Townshend, his heirs and assigns, all the lands in Townshend which I pur- chased of the heirs of Major Jon=' Hubbard as bounded in said deed with the buildings thereon : Also all my right or share in the undivided lands in the towns of Townshend and Ashby ; also my right or privilege in the meeting- house in Townshend. I also give and bequeath to said Levi Whitney all and singular my other estate both real and personal not hereafter or otherwise disposed of. I also constitute and appoint said Levi Whitney sole execu- tor of this my last will and testament. "Item. I give and bequeath to the town of Town- shend all the lands I am now possessed of in Townshend, not particularly given to Levi Whitney, with the buildings and appurtenances belonging thereto ; (my right in the meeting house excepted) to lye as a parsonage tbrever, as long as the gospel is preached in said town, to be appro- priated to the use of the settled ministry for the benefit of the town ; also my clock I give and bequeath to the town as aforesaid for the use and improvement of the settled ministry, and it is my will that the said clock be not car- ried, used or improved off said farm bv me bequeathed to the town. And it is my will that the town (jf Townshend take possession of the above bequeathed premises on the tifteenth day of x^pril next after my decease. I also give and bequeath to said town of Townshend. one hundred pounds of lawful money, to be paid by \\\\ executor, htty pcnuids in one year and the other fifty pounds to be paid in two years next after my decease, to be by the town put at interest forever, and said interest to be appropriated to MILITARY, CEMETERIES, AND BEQUESTS. U)5 the use and support of a reading and writing school in said town and to be appropriated to no other use. ''Item. I give and bequeath to the town of Ashby four pounds lawful money to purchase a cushion for the ministerial desk, to be paid by my executor in one year after my decease. "Item. I give to the district of Shirley four pounds Lawful money, to purchase a cushion for the ministerial desk to be paid by my executor in one year after my decease. "Item. I give to the town of Mason four pounds of lawful money to purchase a cushion for the minis- terial desk to be paid by my executor in one year after my decease. Furthermore my wall is that my execu- tor do speedily after my decease pay all my just debts and funeral charges and speedily after my decease and inter- ment, procure and erect upon my grave a decent and large pair of grave stones, for which purpose and the payment of the several legacies before mentioned, I give and bequeath to him the said Levi Whitney all my notes, bonds and book debts : Furthermore I do by these presents utterly revoke and disannul and disavow all other former walls, testaments legacies and bequests, and do ratify this and this only to be my last will and testament. "In witness whereof I have hereunto set m\' hand and seal this twenty-eighth day of August, Anno Domini, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine. Amos Whitney. [L. S.] "Signed, Sealed, pronounced and declared by the said Amos Whitney to be his last will and testament in the presence of us the subscribers. Daniel Farwell Thomas Hubbard James Lock Jr." 166 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. This document is given entire, to show the character of the testator, and the strong rehgious feeling which governed everything at that time. In this place, nothing need be said concerning the manner in which the par- sonage was disposed of, sixt}' years after the death of Mr. Whitney. The "hundred pounds lawful money" disap- peared from the town records at about the time when the continental scrip became worthless. The executor carried out the wishes of the testator to the letter in every par- ticular. He erected the "decent and large pair of grave- stones " and put on the larger one this inscription : — IN MEMORY OF LIEUT. AMOS WHITNEY, Who departed this life October 31, 1770, In the sixt3'-sixth year of his age. The nuui is gone no more to visit earth ; And Lo. a new scene opens at his deatli. His Public views in Lustre do appear. And men enjoy his bounties far and near. This town by gratitude and justice led Owns him a benefactor now he's dead ; On children yet unborn his gifts descend. Which will remain till time shall end. Amos Whitney, a bachelor, was born at Watertown, in 1704. He held several town offices, and was a repre- sentative for Townsend in a convention held at Faneuil Hall, in 1768. He was one of the pillars of the church, an estimable townsman, square and upright in all his transactions. MILITARY, CEMETERIES, AND BEQUESTS. 1<)7 His epitaph reads: "The man is gone, no more to visit earth." This is fortunate, for if he should ever come this way again, and learn anything about his hundred pounds, and the fate of his parsonage, he might get a little excited at the careless and stupid manner in which his money and land were expended and lost. The principal stable, or barn, on the premises that once was the parsonage, is all that remains of the build- ings which has any resemblance to their appearance when they were put in possession of the town, by the executor of the will of Lieut. Whitney. In 1875, the house, which was a convenient cottage, one and one-half stories in height, was remodelled, enlarged, and converted into a two-story dwelling, by the proprietor, Mr. Henry Williams. The location, about midway between the central village and the Harbor, is just elevated enough to be pleasant. At a convenient shade distance, just eastward of this spot, stands one of the largest old elms in Townsend, under the spreading branches of which, the children of Dix and Palmer whiled away many cheerful hours. It is a temple not made with hands ; a shrine rendered almost sacred by the pious acts of Whitney, who, with prophetic wisdom, planted and trained it to "live through the centuries." The memory of the good and true is around it and with it; and, although storms and winters have mutilated its massive members, still they droop grace- fully athwart the lawn and beckon the heated and thirsty toiler in summer, to the well-curb beneath its refreshing shadow. This also will crumble to dust like the bus}^ actors, who from time immemorial have played around it. 168 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Concerning the clock given by the foregoing will, tradition saith not ; but it undoubtedly marked the hours for rest, pleasure, refreshment, for school, and particularly the time for a faithful pastor to go forth to his consecrated work. The cushions for the several desks given by these legacies have all faded, and with them the manly forms which bent reverently over their glossy damask. But notwithstanding all these changes, the benevolent disposition of Lieutenant Amos Whitney will remain fresh in the memory of the good people of Townsend, as long as it retains a written histor^■. CHAPTER VII . WAB OF THE REVOLUTION. Excitement Previous to the War — A Pamphlet Received from the Selectmen of Boston — Committee of Correspondence and Safety — Action of the Town in 1773— Action of the Town in 1774— Delegates to the Provincial Congress — Assistance Rendered by Townsend to the Citizens of Boston During its Seige — Efforts to Obtain Salt— The Alarm on the 19th of April, 1775— Roll of Capt. James Hosley's Company of Minute-Men that Marched to Defend the Colony— Roll of Capt. Samuel Douglass' Company- Roll of Capt. Henry FarwelFs Company — Capt. Thomas Warren's Company — Attempt to Regulate the Prices of Goods and Labor — The Tories of Townsend — Letter from Boston Concerning tiio Return of the Absentees — Privations and Struggles for Indepen- dence—Story of Eunice Locke— Some Account of Her and Her Brother — Roll of Capt. James Hosley's Company of Volunteers from Townsend, Pepperell. and Ashby, which Went to the Assis- tance of Gen. Gates in 1777— Adoption of the State Constitution. 1778 — Depreciation of the Continental Money— Names of the Townsend Soldiers in 17S0 — List of Prices — Retrospective. In September, 1768, the selectmen of Townsend received a letter from the selectmen of Boston, requesting tliem to call a town meeting, and then to take into con- sideration the critical condition of government affairs, and to choose an agent to come to Boston, to express there, the \'iews, wishes, and determination of the people of Town- send on this important subject. A town meeting was 170 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. accordingly called expressly for this purpose, when, "Put to vote to see if the town would comply with the town of Boston in sending a man to join with them in the conven- tion, proposed to be held at Faneuil Hall, and it was unanimously complied with. Unanimously voted and chose Lieut. Amos Whitney, as a committee man to join with the convention as aforesaid." It will be recollected that the five years, which pre- ceded the time of this action of the town of Boston, were exciting times for the colonies. Commerce had come to a stand-still by the operation of the "Stamp Act" and the "Sugar Act." The operation of both these obnoxious acts were defeated by non-importation and smuggling. In 1766, the Stamp Act was repealed, to the great joy of the colonists, and importation of goods was greater than ever before. Everything was prosperous for a short time, but in 1768, the obnoxious "Revenue Act" was passed, which threw a cloud over the enterprise and chilled the prosperitv of the entire people. It was at this juncture that the town of Boston consulted the other towns in this province, in regard to asserting their rights and maintaining their liberties. The firm resistance with which the projects of the British government were received, served to strengthen the Ministry to carr}' their points at all hazards. Troops were stationed in Boston to intimidate and overawe the inhabitants, and acts more severe were passed by Parlia- ment. The colonists saw that they must either yield with abject submission, or gain their rights by a resort to arms, and they did not hesitate between the alternatives. Thus their decision was arrived at with the greatest deliberation and a count of the cost. The people of Boston were fore- most in resisting the unjust measures of the mother countrv. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 171 and they were nobh' seconded by the inhabitants of other towns. Every town in the province was consuked upon this all absorbing subject, that they might know what they could rely upon in case of open rebellion against the government of Great Britain. In January, 1773, another letter and a printed pamphlet were received from the town of Boston, requesting the in- habitants of the town of Townsend to pass such resolves, concerning their rights and privileges as free "members of society, as they were willing to die in maintaining. ' These resolves the Bostonians requested might be sent in the form of a report, to their committee of correspondence. The town responded to this suggestion in an appropriate manner, as will be seen from the following extract from the record : — "At a town meeting of the inhabitants of Townshend legally assembled at the Public Meeting-house in said town on Tuesday January 5, 1773 at Eleven Oclock in fore noon. James Hosley was chosen Moderator. "Voted to choose a committee of five men to consider the Letter of Correspondence from the town of Boston, concerning the rights and privileges of this Province and report such Resolves and measures as may be proper for the town to come into, respecting the same. Chosen for said committee Capt. Daniel Adams, Deacon Jonathan Stows Capt. Daniel Taylor, James Hosley and Jonathan Wallace. "Voted to adjourn this meeting till to-morrow at twelve of the clock to this place. "Met at the adjournment on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 1773. The committee chosen b}' the town at a meeting on the 5th 172 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. of said month, to consider the present state of our public affairs, particularly as pointed out to us by the metropolis of this Province reported as follows : "Inasmuch as the situation of our Public Affairs in this and the other colonies, in respect to the enjoyment of our Rights and Privileges is truly alarming, we consider it a Duty which this town owes to their Maker, to themselves and their posterity to manifest in a public, solemn manner their sentinjents on this occasion, in order to which they form the following Resolves (viz) "i. That it is the opinion of this town that the Rights of the colonists of this Province in particular, as men as christians and as subjects, are justly stated in the pamphlet sent us from the town of Boston. "2. It is our opinion that our rights and liberties do labor under divers infringements, particularly in respect to the way in which our money is taken from us, by which our governor is supported, and in respect to the extensive power vested in the commissioners of the customs, and by a military force being employed to keep us in awe and so forth. "3. Resolved that if the prevailing report concerning the Judges of our Superior Court being supported any other way than by the free grants of the people be true, it is a very threatening and dangerous innovation, directly tending to corrupt the Streams of Justice. "4. Resolved that our natural and constitutional Rights, our civil and Religious liberties were confirmed to us by our charter, purchased by our ancestors at the expense of much fatigue and blood, which renders the possession of them more dear to us, and the parting with them more grevious, and lays us under stronger obligations to defend them in all constitutional and scriptural wavs. "5. Resolved tliat the following instructions be and are hereby given to our Representative ; (viz) that he use WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 173 his utmost influence to obtain a removal of our present burdens and to defend our liberties from all further en- croachments, and to enquire into the report concerning our Superior Judges being independent of the people ; to have our unhappy circumstances represented in a true Light to our Rightful Sovreign and that the General Assembly recommend to the people of this Province to set apart a day, they the assembly shall think fit to name, for Humil- iation and Prayer : that we may in a united Public manner spread our grievances before the King of Kings. "6. Resolved that the town of Boston have shown a true spirit of patriotism and a tender concern for the wel- fare of the Province, and that our sincere thanks are due to them for their spirited endeavors to discover the danger of our situation, and to lead us in the way of seeking redress. "7. Resolved that a committee of five suitable men be chosen to correspond from time to time as occasion may require with the town of Boston and any other towns that have or shall, from a sense of our difficulties, come into such a method of correspondence and communication. "The above Report being several times read, and debated upon, and put to vote to see if the town would accept of the same, passed in the affirmative. "The committee chosen to correspond from time to time with the town of Boston and other towns is as follows (viz) Daniel Adams, Deacon Jonathan Stow, Capt. Daniel Taylor, James Hosley and Samuel Manning. "Voted that the town clerk transmit an authentic copy of the foregoing proceedings of this town meeting to the committee of correspondence of the town of Boston. Daniel Adams To7a// Clerk.'" From the above extract may be learned what tiie sentiments of the people of this town were, in regard to 28 174 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. the attitude of Great Britain towards her colonies. They considered that the course of the mother country was oppressive, and unjust, and their rights had been violated. In 1774, after having received another letter from Boston, and having also heard from other towns, by letters, concerning the tax on tea, a town meeting was called January 11, when the following was recorded : — "The town taking into consideration certain intelligence received from the committee of correspondence in Boston, together with their request for intelligence and advice from the several towns in this Province, passed the following resolves (viz). "Being informed of the late proceedings of our fellow countr^mien in Philadelphia, relative to the East India Company being allowed to send large quantities of tea into these colonies, subject to the payment of a duty upon its being landed ; we do agree with them and readily adopt their sentiments upon this affair. "Resolved that we have ever been uneasy with the plan laid down by the British Ministry for raising revenue in America, and that the present situation of our public affairs, particularly in respect to a late act of Parliament in favor of the East India Company requires our attention and therefore further "Resolved that we stand forth in the cause of liberty, in union with other towns, and in gratitude to the spirited, patriotic town of Boston in particular. "Resolved that we earnestly advise that no tea be im- ported into this, or any other American Colon v, so long as it is subject to a duty, payable upon its being landed here. "Resolved that we are sorry tor the unhappy disagree- ment between this and the mother country, and we earnestlv wish to see harmonv restored. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 175 "Voted that the preeceeding resolves be recorded and a copy of the same attested b}^ the town clerk be transmitted to the committee of correspondence of the town of Boston. Daniel Adams Tozvn Clerk.'' It thus appears that His Majesty's subjects in the Province of Massachusetts, while deliberating on the injustice and wrongs which had been inflicted on them, were not entirely without hope that their rights might be respected and "harmony restored." An armed resistance as yet had not been agreed upon by the colonists. The first public meeting of the people, in Massachu- setts, outside of Faneuil Hall, was a Provincial Congress, holden at Concord, October ii, 1774, which adjourned to Cambridge, and of which John Hancock was President. At a town meeting "Oct. 3, 1774, Jonathan Stow was chosen to appear in behalf of the town of Townshend to join the provincial congress to be holden at Concord on the nth of Oct. Inst." At a town meeting "Nov. 21, 1774, Capt. Daniel Taylor was chosen to appear in behalf of the town of Townshend to join the provincial congress to be holden at Cambridge Nov. 22'* Inst.,'" and January 2, 1775, Israel Hobart was chosen to attend the same Congress, at Cam- bridge, on the first day of February, 1775. This Congress enacted that at least one-fourth of all the militia should be enrolled as minute-men, or men who should be prepared to march at a minute's warning, on any emergency. This was a decisive step, which shows the grit of the revolu- tionary fathers. Some of the members of tliis Congress from different towns, gave their time and expenses, others were paid wholly or in part by subscription. 17-6 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. The town voted to indemnify the constables for refusing to pay over the money, which had been assessed by the Province, into the hands of Harrison Gray ; also voted to indemnify the assessors for refusing to return the names of such constables, although requested to do so. The people were exceedingly aroused at this time. These were the defiant measures which brought on the war, and started the King's troops en route for Concord, on the memorable 19th day of April, 1775. Boston at this time was suftering under the vengeance of Parliament, for throwing over the tea, and being the head and front of disloyalty. There were many poor people in that town, out of employment, and having a scanty allowance of provisions. To them the inland towns extended the hand of charity and relief. At a town meeting, January 2, 1775, "Voted and chose a committee of five men to forward the donations for Bos- ton and Charlestown. Chose for said committee Mr. Israel Hobart, Capt. Benjamin Brooks, Lieut. Zachariah Emery, and Mr. John Conant." Probably each man of this com- mittee took a well packed sled-load of provisions to their suftering friends at the tide-water. There is no other record concerning that transaction. The warrants for calling town meetings were not often recorded at that time. At a town meeting, June 19, 1775, "Voted to purchase 50 Hogsheads of salt for a Town Stock. Deacon Richard Wyer chosen to go to Salem to purchase said salt, and ordered him to take his directions from the Select Men, who are to give security in the name of the town for the same." It will thus be seen that the town was preparing for the tug of war, which was about to commence — the open- ing scene of the revolution. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 177 So far as the actual means of gaining a living were concerned, the people at that time, were comparatively in- dependent. They took the wool from the sheep, cleansed, spun and wove it, ready to be made into their clothing. Lighter fabrics were made trom their flax, spun by a foot- wheel, the thread being graded by running through be- tween the thumb and fore-finger of the operative. They ground their grain into flour for their bread, produced vegetables and meat plentifully for their tables, and laid the rock maple under contribution for their sugar. Luxury was a word not to be found in their vocabulary ; and tea they would not use after it was subject to the duty. Salt they could not produce, but they exercised great prudence in sending to the coast in season for an abundant supply. For the expense of getting it, a separate tax was assessed on all the polls and estates in town. The alarm to the minute-men was given on the 19th of April, 1775, by the firing of a cannon on the com- mon about three o'clock in the afternoon. Without doubt, quite a number of Paul Reveres tested their horsemanship in warning the patriots of the approach of the "ministerial troops.'" Ephraim Warren was plowing on the farm now owned by Samuel F. Warren, where he then lived, when the alarm was given. He immediately detached his team from the plow, rode one of his horses to his house, and called, "Molly" (he married Mary Parker of Chelmsford), "the regulars are coming and I am going, give me vci\ gun," and he quickly reined his horse toward the coast and started. He arrived at Concord early in the evening, only in season to see a few dead bodies and some wounded British soldiers, who had been left bv their comrades in their hasty flight. 178 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. "Muster Roll* of Capt. James Hosley's company of mimite-men belonging to Col. William Prescott's regiment, who marched from Townshend, April last, to Cambridge, in defence of the colony against the ministerial troops : — James Hosley, Capt. Richard Wyer, ist Lieut. James Locke, 2d Lieut. Peter Butterfield, Sergt Benjamin Ball, Sergt. Lemuel Maynard, Corpl. Ephraim Brown, Corpl. Nath'l Bagley, Drummer. Ebenezer Ball. Daniel Holt. James Sloan. William Kendall. Daniel Conant. Asa Heald. Joseph Rumrill. Oliver Proctor. Daniel Clark. Richard Warren. Israel Richardson. Robert Waugh. Elijah Wyman. Eleazer Butterfield. Benjamin Hobart. John Brown. Daniel Emery. Ephraim Shedd. Zacheriah Emery. Joseph Baldwin. William Clark. David Graham. .Thomas Eaton. Ebenezer Ball, Jr. Joseph Shattuck. Thomas Webster, Jr. Levi Whitney. Noah Farrar. JosiAH Richardson. Jonathan Patt. Isaac Kidder. Joseph Rumrill. Jr. Jonas Farmer. Daniel Sherw^in. Eleazer Butterfield, Jr. Isaac Boynton. Ephraim Brown. John Clark. Jedediah Jewett. Dudley Kemp. Abel Richardson. John Manning. John Emery. Thomas Wyman. Henry Dunster." These men were paid for their services, by order of the General Court, in December, 1775. They marched on *Froni the Massachusetts Revolutionary Rolls, vol. \L page ll.">. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 179 the 19th of April, late in the afternoon, and were in the field, most of them twent3'-one days. It appears that there were two companies of minute- men in Townsend at that time. Massachusetts revolutionary rolls, volume 12, page 42 : "A Roll of the travel and service of Capt. Samuel Douglas of Townshend in the county of Middlesex and belonging to Col°. James Prescotts Regiment, and also of the men under his command, who in consequence of the alarm made on the 19th of April 1775, marched from home for y'^ defence of this colony against the ministerial Troops, and continued in the service till called back to take care of the Tories in s'^ Townsend. "Samuel Douglas, Captain. James Hildreth, Drummer. privates : Oliver Hildreth. Benjamin Brooks. JoNA. Hildreth. Abel Foster. Abijah Hildreth. Daniel Campbell. Ephm. Adams. Samuel Scripture. Joel Davis. Robert Campbell. Isaac Holden. Benjamin Adams. Abner Adams. Joseph Giles. Abner Brooks. Andrew Searls. Benjamin Wilson. Jonathan Goss." These men were in the service tive days, and on the twenty-second of March, 1776, the General Court ordered them to be paid. Capt. Douglas received £1 7s. id., and the men 12s. 9d. 2qr., each. It is not known beyond a doubt, why the compan^■ under command of Capt. Douglas should be so much 180 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. smaller than the other company. The men who went with Capt. Douglas all lived on Nissequassick hill, within a radius of less than a mile. There is reason for the belief, that Douglas, and his neighbors, were so anxious to leave tor the Iray, that they marched earlier in the day, with less preparation, and with only a part of the company, and that the remainder of their companions were willing to fall in under Capt. Hosley. These rolls, in the archives, are copies of the rolls of these two companies, taken just before they were paid. The Captains made oath before Israel Hobart, Esq., that they were correct in regard to travel, term of service, and the days of the month on which the service was rendered, from which it appears that Townsend had seventy-three men who started at a moment's warning, on that memo- rable 19th of April, "to defend the colony against the min- isterial troops.'' The title of the roll of Capt. Douglas' company is instructive in regard to the feeling here among the people, at the commencement of the revolution ; for it appears that this company "was called back to take care of the Tories of s'' Townshend." Most of the Townsend men who did not favor the cause of American Independence, were neisfhbors of Douo-las and his men. Further on in this work, the names of the most prominent of the tories will appear. Both of these rolls designate the British soldiers as "ministerial troops" instead of the King's troops, which rather indicates that the colonists considered that the King- had bad advisers, and that the British ministry might, per- haps, be induced, in using deliberation and reason, and guided by wisdom, to reconsider some of the acts that bore so heavily upon them. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 181. In the margin, opposite the record of a town meeting on June 19, 1775, (page 157 T. R.) the following is written: " Mr. Lock protested against the warrant coming out in the King's name." The assembling of these minute-men around Boston, in 1775, was a great advantage to the colonists, as it showed them the great need of arms, blankets, and munitions of war. The acquaintances there formed, the discussions of future operations against their enemies, and the necessity of well-concerted action, all tended to strengthen their determination to be free. A large portion of these seventy-three minute-men re-enlisted in other companies, and served more or less during the war, with different captains and in companies from dif- ferent towns. The summer of 1775 w^as extremely dry and hot, much more so than any since the settlement of the town ; there were small crops of corn and potatoes, and on dry land failed entirely ; of hay not over half a crop was raised. There was also much sickness in town. Many families suffered by the diseases of dysentery and fevers, which in many cases were long and severe. The number of deaths in town was unusually large. Add to all this, the absence of so many heads of families in the army, and the keen anxiet}' concerning the affairs of the province, and we can have some idea of the de- pressed condition, the trials and struggles of this first vear of the war. The following roll contains the names of the Townsend men, who were in the battle of Bunker Hill, in Capt. Henry Farwell's company. The reader will observe that most of these soldiers marched under Capt. Hoslev, as minute-men, on the 19th of April previous. This roll in the archives is some mutilated, so that two Christian 182 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. names cannot be made out. The exact chirography of this document has been preserved. The town Limbrick should have been Limerick, which was the original name of Stoddard, New^ Hampshire, named in honor of Col. Sampson Stoddard, one of the original grantees. The Sergeant Sartwell, of this company, and the private from Rindge, were both of the same name, and distant relatives, although their names are quite differently spelled. About one-half of these thirty-tive men from Town- send whose names appear on this roll, have descendants in this town at the present time. A muster roll* of the company under command of Capt. Henry Farwell, in Col. William Prescott's regiment, to the first of August, 1775 : — Henry Farwell, Lewis Whitney, Benjamin Ball, JosiAH Stevens, Nathaniel Sartwell, Phineas Hubbard, Ephraim Brown, Samuel Lawrence, Amos Farnsworth, .Ephraim Warren, Joseph Page, Timothy Stone, Joel Jenkins, Ephraim Adams, Benjamin Brooks, Isaac Boynton, Eleazer Butterfield, Jonas Brooks, John Clark, Groton, Townshend, Townshend, Groton, Groton, Groton, Townshend, Groton, Groton, Townshend, Groton, Ashby, Groton, Townshend, Townshend, Townshend, Townshend, Groton , Townshend, Captain. 1st Lieut. 2d Lieut. Sergent. Sergent. Sergent. Sergent. Corporal. Corporal. Corporal. Corporal. Drummer. Fifer. Private. Private. Private. Pi'ivate. Private. Private. 'Revolutionary Rolls, vt>lume 14, page WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 188 Moses Chase, William Dirunephel, James Davise, Jonah Davise, Henry Dunster, Joel Davise, John Emery, Jonas Farmer, Joseph Frost, Noah Farwell, Abel Foster, Daniel Foster, MoRiAH Gould, Oliver Hildrick, Abijah Hildrick, Obadiah Jinkins, David Jinkins, Zakeous Farwell, Ebenezer Kemp, Isaac Kidder, John Manning, Henry McNeil, Timothy Moores, Richards, Peltiah Russell, Nathan Patt, Joseph Rumrill, Ephraim Russell, Ephraim Robbins, Abel Richardson, Andrew Richardson, Israel Richardson, Jonathan Seartle, Daniel Spaulding, Daniel Sherwin, Joseph Willson, Francis White, Weir, Groton, Groton, Groton, Townshend, Townshend, Townshend, Townshend, Townshend, Groton, Townshend, Townshend, Groton, Townshend, Townshend, Townshend, Groton, Groton, Groton, Groton, Townshend, Townshend, Groton, Groton, Townshend, Coos, Townshend, Townshend, Groton, Groton, Townshend, Townshend, Townshend, Rindge, Townshend, Townshend, Townshend, Groton, Limbrick, Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. >^ Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. Private. 184 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Israel Whitney, Groton, Private. JosiAH Warren, Groton, Private. Thomas Wyman, Townshend, Private. Oliver Warrin, Townshend, Private. Will''. Smith, Townshend, Private. John Burge, Townshend, Private. Samuel Weston, . Townshend, Private. Jonathan Jinkins, Groton, Private. Asa White, Groton, Private. As near as it can be ascertained, there were between thirty and thirty-five men constantly in the army from this towai, until the British evacuated Boston, in March, 1776. One great mistake in the war of the revolution, as well as in our late rebellion, was the short term of enlist- ments. About as soon as some of the recruits began to be worth anything to the government they were mustered out of service. "At a legal town meeting of the inhabitants of Town- shend upon June 20th, 1776, at the Public meeting-house in said Town at two o'clock in the afternoon : "Deacon Richard Wyer chosen moderator for said meeting ; voted unanimously that the following instructions be given to Israel Hobart Esq. Representative for said Town (vizj . "The resolve of the late assembly of this Colony recom- mending to the several Towns to express their minds with respect to the important and Interesting Question of American Independence, is the occasion of our giving you the following Instructions. It is with regret and anxiety of mind that we tind ourselves driven to the sad alternative either to submit to Lawless Tyrany and Domination or declare Independence from that State from whome we originated and with whome we have been connected ever since we were a people, not only in Trade and Commerce but in the Strictest bonds of esteem and eftection ; in this Scituation we thot ourselves happy nor did we wish the WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 185 connection dissolved untill the repeated injuries of Great Britain became Intolerable and an accommodation we conceived Impracticable. The unjust and unconstitutional Claims of Great Britain to the Colonies without their con- sent, and to make laws in all Cases binding upon the Colonies &c. and the most dutifull and humble petitions of the Colonies rejected with scorn and Contempt, the cruel and unjust measures pursued by the King of Great Britain and a vindictive administration in sending fleets and armies to enforce those Unjust acts and measures by fire and sword in a manner unprecidential, the tragical nineteenth of April 1775, the innocent blood since shed, the acts of Parliament declaring the colonies in a state of rebellion and the unjust and piratical Laws consequent thereon we conceive have destroyed all hopes of an accommodation with Great Britain and must we think Justif}- these Colo- nies in renouncing all connection with and dependance upon Great Britain. We therefore declare it as our clear opinion that an American Republic be formed, provided the internal government be left to the colony, and we your constituents declare ourselves ready at all times, if the Hour. Continental Congress in whose wisdom and fidelity we confide shall declare such a form of Government, to support the same at the expense of our lives and Fortunes. "Voted to raise fifteen pound to buy powder and lead. James Hosley, Town Clerk." This is an exact copy of the record in every particular, so far as orthography, use of capital letters and punctua- tion are concerned. The "clear opinion" of the inhabi- tants of this town, uttered just two weeks before Jeflerson's incomparable Declaration of Independence was adopted, were in accord with that instrument. After the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, a copy of the same, printed at Salem, was by order of the council sent to every town in the state, wliere they were 18G HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. read from the pulpit, and then copied into the town book of records — there to remain as a perpetual memorial. This document is very neatly copied into the Townsend records, done by James Hosley, who was town clerk many years. In October, 1776, the question was submitted to all the towns in this state, whether they were willing that the House of Representatives and Council, then existing, should frame a form of government for Massachusetts Bay. Townsend expressed an unwillingness to that measure. At a town meeting, October 15, 1776, upon this subject, chose a committee of three men, consisting of Lieut. James Lock, Samuel Manning, and Major Henry Price, who submitted the following, which was adopted as the opinion of the town : — "Voted that it is the opinion of this town, that although government is essential to the happiness and well-being of a people, and the powers of forming states and setting up governments is essential in the people, and that a govern- ment ought to be set up in this state as soon as possible with safety and propriety, yet, we cannot at present give our consent that the present house form a constitution or form of gov^ernment for the reasons following (viz). "That the act made by the late house respecting rep- resentation, by which the privilege of many towns is much enlarged, which we think gives the maritime towns a material advantage over the country towns, as the court is held at that side of the state, b}- which we think the mer- cantile part of the state has a dangerous advantage over the landed part : we therefore judge it of consequence that representation be reduced nearly to the former mode betbre government is set up." WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 187 In 1776, Oliver Prescott, of Groton, was appointed a brigadier-general, and in that capacity he organized the militia of Middlesex county into eight companies, consti- tuting a regiment of drafted soldiers under tift}^ years of age, and appointed its officers. Eleazer Brooks was colonel, and Micah Stone, of Framingham, lieutenant- colonel. Co. No. 8 : Thomas Warren, of Townsend, captain; James Lawrence, of Pepperell, ist lieutenant ; Joseph Rockwood, of Groton, 2d lieutenant. There were sixty men in this company, from different towns. The names of the thirteen men* from Townsend, in this company, were : — Thomas Warren, Capt. Daniel Holt. Samuel Maynard, Corpl. William Clark. Robert Waugh, Corpl. Asa Merril. William Manning. Hinchman Warren. Joel Davis. Ephraim Warren. Samuel Wyman. Timothy Warren. Jonathan Bowers. It will be easily comprehended that, under the severe pressure of a harassing war, when all resources were heavily drawn upon to lurnish arms, ammunition, clothes and provisions for the army, to supply funds for the payment of the soldiers, and to meet other expenses incident to the state of public affairs, money, among the inhabitants, was not only exceedingly scarce, but that, in consequence of the successive drafts for soldiers, laborers were in great demand, and their services commanded exorbitant prices. The result of this was that prices of all commodities, and articles of consumption, rose in proportion. There was a ^M;issachut Hay, per ton. 10.00 Pine boards, per thousand feet, 3-65 Clapboards, 10.67 WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 181) Wheal flour, per lOO lbs., $3-67 For a dinner, boiled and roasted, .17 For a dinner, only one of these, .14 For mug of West India flip, '"^5/4 For mug of New England flip, -12^ Good cider, per barrel, 1.83 Men tailors, per day, .42 Women tailors, per day, -15/^ Yard wide cotton cloth, .58 House maids, per week, .42 Horse for one person to ride a mile, -^S^i At this time the people began to feel the heavily pressing burdens of the war, and to devise means to equalize the same among themselves. At the March meeting, 1777, the town "Voted to choose a committee of five men to estimate all the past services done in the war by the men of this town ; Thomas Warren, James Hosley, Daniel Adams, Richard Wyer, and Levi Whitney were chosen for said committee." These five men had all been in the service, and were as well qualified to discharge this duty as any persons in town. The report of this committee was adopted the next month. Some idea of the magnitude of the enterprise in which they were engaged, in daring to assert their rights, as well as the pay which the continental troops received, may be obtained from the report of this committee. It must be borne in mind, that these several sums, here ex- pressed in English money, had more intrinsic value than the same figures would express three or four years after- ward : — Voted £6 to the eight months men at Cambridge. Voted 12 shillings to each of the six weeks men ditto. Voted 16 shillings to each of the two months men. 190 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Voted £13 6s. 8d. to each of the three years continental men. Voted £10 to each of the five months men in the western army. Voted £2 1 6s. to each of the four months men for Boston service. Voted £6 to each of the two months men for York ser- vice. Voted £6 to each of the three months men for York service. Voted £23 to each of the men that shall enlist into the continental service for three years or during the war, or to such as shall procure a man,, or men for said service. Voted that all the above estimates be made into a rait on the several inhabitants of this town, and that the polls pay one-half of said rait. Voted that all such as have done more in the war service than their proportion of said rait shall have credit for what they have done, but shall have no right to call for an}^ money out of the treasury till the further order of the town. James Lock Moderator. James Hoslev Town Clerk. In addition to all other embarrassments under which the patriotic citizens were laboring, was the discouraging influence of about a dozen men in this town, who were known as tories. These men for more than two years, had clandestinely opposed all measures which tended to WAR OF THE* REVOLUTION. 191 resist the authority of Great Britain. They were intelli- gent men, most of them, and they lived on what is known as Wallace hill, also called by an Indian name in this work. During the time the minute-men were absent, after the alarm was made on the 19th of April, 1775, they were offensively outspoken and disagreeable. It was during this year that it was necessary for every man to "screw his courage up to the sticking point." Public opinion de- manded that every able-bodied citizen should give an undivided support to the American cause, or be exposed to popular indignation, to prosecutions before a special Court of the Sessions of Peace, to imprisonment, or to a coat of tar and leathers. From that time such persons were w^atched. Occasionally they were obliged to uncover their heads*, and, in presence of the assembled majesty of the town, to promise greater love for the American cause, and a strict conformity to the popular will. The patriots were determined to remove every obstacle in the way of success and to terret out every loyalist, who might utter a word against their cause. Accordingly a committee was chosen "to collect evidence of inimical and unfriendly persons agreeable to an act of the Great and General Court." which attended to that duty. On the eighth of July, 1776, "Voted that the select- men lay before the town a list of such persons as they think dangerous or unfriendly to this or the United States, or have been so since the 19th of April, 1775 : and it was done. "A List of the persons names taken by us the Sub- scribers and presented to the tow^n of Townshend at a legal town meeting, agreeable to an act of the General Court, entitled an act for securing internal enemies as persons 192 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. whom we consider dangerous and unfriendly to this and the United States of America, is as follows, viz. Isaac Wallis. Joshua Smith. William Wallis. Reuben Tucker. David Holden. Seth Johnson. ERASED BY JONATHAN WaLLIO . THE -L ^ TOWN. Ebenezer Giles. Townshend July 8 1777 Again August 11 1777. James Hosley \ Select- RiCHARD Wyer / men Zacheriah Emery) of Levi Whitney [ Town- Thos. Warren ) shend. James Hosley, Town Clerk." In this record a pen was drawn across the names of Jonathan Wallace and Ebenezer Giles, and in the margin opposite their names are these words: "erased b}- the town." As a matter of policy, rather than principle, these two men, whose names are erased, "came to time" and in every particular contributed their share of wealth to assist in the American cause, rather than lose their property by confiscation. They were governed by the same advice which Polonius gave his son, '•Give thy thoii^-lits 110 (oiig-iic. Nor any iinpioportioiit'd tlKJiigiit liis act." Some of these tories were arrested, taken to Townsend Harbor, and confined in a cooper-shop, which stood nearly opposite the leather-board mill at that place, where they WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 193 were guarded by a detachment of soldiers trom Capt. Douglas' company. They were fed by their friends and families, during their imprisonment, which continued more than a month. It is said that as some troops from New Hampshire were passing through town, while viewing the situation of these prisoners, overheard one of them calling them rebels, which so excited these patriots, that it was with much difficulty that the guard restrained them from firing on the inmates of the shop. Seth Johnson, whose name appears in this list, was a blacksmith, and had a shop on or near the southeast corner of Hathoi'n's farm. He also came over to the patriots and worked with them. Jonathan Wallis was a man of strong intellectual powers, a good judge of human nature, and he filled many important oflices before and after the revolution. He outlived his unpopularity and came down into the present century, in his old age much respected. Ebenezer Giles was a large land holder, and a man of intelligence and influence. He resided on the farm now owned by Mr. Hamor Lewis. A part of the Townsend tories, when the excitement was at its height, who were not land owners, precipitantly left the town. The patriots were after them oa all sides. It is in tradition, that one night, while they were sur- rounding a house, after a man by the name of Searles, who lived on the northerly side of the hill, near the old burying ground, a younger brother to the man whom they were after, knocked a board oft' the back side of the house, jumped out, and ran in a westerly direction. The patriots immediately gave chase and came up with him near the Goss bridge, when they discovered the ruse. During the chase, the person sought for made good his 194 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. escape, and was followed in a few days by his wife. At the close of the wxir, a correspondence disclosed the fact, that several persons of the tory stripe, among whom were two men and their wives, belonging to Townsend, took refuge in the forests, near the Saco river, where they suffered extremely both for food and clothing, in this their self-constituted exile. Joshua Smith was a trader, the first one in town of which there is any account. He lived at the Harbor, and occupied lor a store the old house painted red, now stand- ing on the north side of the road, nearl}^ opposite the mill- yard. He was very obnoxious to the patriots, so much so that he was about the first man "to leave his country for his country's good" for fear of being handed over to the board of war. He had no real estate subject to confisca- tion. The most prominent Townsend man, who was loyal to the crown and British ministry, was Joseph Adams, a physician. The fact appears in the Middlesex county records, that in 1774, he bought sixty-five acres of land, ''situate about a mile north of the meeting house," of one, Josiah Burge. The house he lived in is the same building now occupied as a dwelling by Mr. Daniel Dix. This was just before the road was made, running nearly diago- nally through the Hathorn farm, which passes by this house. The name of Dr. Adams appears only once in the town records (except in the tax-lists), and then in con- nection with the making of this road. His name appears in the list of Middlesex county absentees, in the Massachu- setts Archives, volume 154, page 332 ; James Locke being appointed agent, by the Judge of Probate, to take care of the property. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 195 Dr. Adams probably fled from town before the ap- pointment of the committee to look after the tories. From the Boston Gazette, February 14, 1780: — "Public notice is hereby given, that there will be a Lett at Public Auction, to the highest Bidder, on Thursday the i6th day of March next at One of the Clock afternoon at the house of Nathan Conant, Innholder in said Town- shend ; the real Estate of Josepli Adams, Physician, an absentee, consisting of a good Farm in Townshend, about I mile from the meetinghouse conveniently situated, with good buildings thereon, with a Pew in the meetinghouse — Also a House and about 12 Acres of Land in Pepperell, lying on the County Road. Said premises to be Leased for one year from the First Day of April next. "Townshend Feb. 8, 1780. James Locke Agent." After the close of the war, the real estate of Dr. Adams, under the confiscation act, was sold by the agent, and James Prescott and others w^ere appointed a committee to settle with his creditors, consisting of Rev. Samuel Dix, Captain Joseph Adams, and others, of this town.* Lorenzo Sabine, author of the History of the Loyal- ists, "supposes" that this Dr. Adams w^as a graduate of Harvard College, in 1743. The Joseph Adams of that class died at Barnstead, New Hampshire, in 1803, but thus far nt)thing can be traced which goes to show, beyond a doubt, that he was once the tory of Townsend. At the close of the war, there was considerable pres- sure on the part of absentees, or runaway tories, trom all parts of the country, for the privilege of returning to the places that were once their homes. To this the patriots never consented. Avchives, volume loo, page ."):>. 196 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. On April 17th, 1783, the town of Boston sent the fol- lowing letter and a copy of the proceedings of a meeting at Faneuil Hall, concerning the absentees : — "To the committee of correspondence &c. the selectmen of the Town or Plantation of Townsend to be commu- nicated to the Town or Plantation. "Gentlemen: By the enclosed Resolve, transmitted to you by the directions of this town at their late meeting, you may form some judgement of their sentiments respect- ing the absentees, and your Wisdom and Patriotism will determine as to the Propriety and Usefulness of coming into the same or similar Resolves. " This town does not presume to dictate to any of their Sister Towns, but they always received with pleasure, their Sentiments with respect to what concerns the public Good. The advantages that have been derived from thus freely communicating the sentiments of each other, during the late Struggle with our most inveterate internal and ex- ternal Enemies, are of too great Magnitude to need point- ing out. "We sincerely congratulate you that through the Favor of Providence, we are now like, if not wanting to our- selves, to reap the glorious Fruits of the Blood and Treas- ure we have freely offered, by a Peace, in all its particulars, tully answerable to our most sanguine Expectations. "Our Happiness as a Nation, will, however, under GOD, depend principly upon preserving our Morals and our Manners, and maintaining good Faith and Friendship with our natural and generous Allies, the French, who reached out to us their supporting Hand in the Hour of our Distress, and whose interest it is to maintain the WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 197 Independence of our Country and the Freedom of our Fishery and Navigation. "In order to this we must timely and cautiously guard against the Machnations and influence of our late Enemies the Britons ; and surely the British King cannot have more Subservient Tools and Emmessaries amongst us for the purpose of sowing the Seeds of Dissention in this infant Nation, and disaflecting us to our magnanimous and faith- ful Ally, the Monarch of France, than the generality of the Refugees, whose inveteracy to him, and deceit and cruelty to their Countrymen have been manifest as the Light. "The inhabitants of this Town do, therefore, in general, most heartily depricate their return. Alarmed by a late attempt of a number of the obnoxious Refugees to land at Dartmouth, and by Reports that interest was making for the return of others to their Estates, the Rights of citizen- ship and the enjoyment of that Happiness they had been the main instruments of making us thus long sorely toil and bleed for, has excited this vigilence and care to pre- vent their Return. "They have, therefore, requested the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety, to keep a watchful Eye, in order to discover such intruders, that Informations may be immediately given to proper authority, that they may be dealt with as the Law directs. They have not presumed to draw the line between any Classes of Con- spirators and Absentees, as that will be the Business of Government ; they have only directed the committee to pursue the directions of Congress, and the Laws of this Commonwealth, as it was before their dutv to do. till this line shall be drawn. 20 198 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. " And we cannot but flatter ourselves that it will appear to you, that this town have herein discovered that Judge- ment, Firmness and Patriotism in the common Cause of their Country, which early distinguished them in their Opposition to the Measures pursued by Britain for their slavery and Ruin. We shall feel happy to be informed that your Town will so far approve of our conduct, as to adopt similar Measures for the Interest, Quiet and Safety of this and the other United States, and we have the honor to subscribe ourselves your most obedient Humble Servents Nat'l Barber Chairman Per Order." "Boston, April lo, 1783. "At a meeting of the freeholders and other Inhabitants of the Town of Boston, duly qualified and legally warned in public Town Meeting, assembled at Faneuil Hall, by adjournment, April 7, 1783. "Whereas by a Resolve of the Legislature of this Commonwealth, passed on the 13th of February, 1776, the several Towns were directed and empowered, at their annual meetings in March, to choose Committees of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety, whose business (among other things) is to communicate Matters of Im- portance to Committees of the same Denomination, to any other town, county or state, or to the General Assembly or Council. " And Whereas the present circumstance of the United States requires, that committees so appointed should use WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 199 their utmost Indvistry and Care to effect the great and im- portant Purposes ot' their appointment, at a time when Interest is making for the readmitting Absentees and Con- spiritors, to return into this and other of the United States : Thcrefoj'C — ''RESOLVED, That this Town will at all times, (as they have done) to the utmost of their Power, Oppose every Enemy to the just Rights and Liberties of Mankind : And that after so wicked a Conspiricy against those Rights and Liberties, by certain Ingrates, most of them Natives of these States, and who have been Refugees and declared Traitors to their Countr}', — it is the Opinion of this Town, that they ought never to be suffered to return, but be ex- cluded from having Lot or Portion among us. "And the Committee of Correspondence are hereby- requested, as by the law of this Commonwealth tliey are fully empow^ered to write to the several Towns in this Commonwealth, and desire them to come into the same, or similar Resolves if they shall think lit. Att. William Cooper Town Clerk.'' Town send, at a town meeting on the twelfth of May following, voted not to allow the return of the absentees, and that the selectmen communicate the vote of the town to the town of Boston. All the towns on the coast, as well as Boston, had more interest in the return of these tories than the inland towns, for more of them belonged to these towms.* It is in history, that on the thirtieth of April, 1775, Gen. Gage made a proposal, "that thDse persons in the *From the Boston Gazette, Sept. 1, 1783: "Joseph Adamp. Plivsi< Smith, Trader, both of Townshend, were forbidden to return." 200 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. countiy who inclined to move into Boston with their effects, might have Hberty to do so without molestation." To this the Provincial Congress assented, and "officers were ap- pointed to grant permits, and a large number of 'tories,' as they were called by the patriots, availed themselves to seek the shelter of the British guns." There are good reasons for supposing, that two or more of the Townsend tories took advantage of this chance of escape, for their names, as far as is known, never after- ward appeared on any records of the town. We now resume the account of the labors of the patriots. It is impossible for the people of the present day, being removed a century from "the time that tried men's souls," to realize how completely that struggle called into exercise every resource, and the entire energy of every individual throughout the town. No matter how low his condition, and how limited his means for supporting him- self and his family, every man was called upon to act — to exert himself to the extent of his ability, or be con- sidered a tory. Poverty was no shield against liabilit}' to engage in the common cause. The poorest day laborer, though clothed in rags, was required to arouse and render his help in the defence of his country. Men of money were obliged, by law as well as b\' public opinion, to open their purses, as well as to give neat cattle for beef, salt pork, rye meal, commissary stores, and everything neces- sary for army supplies. The women of that period were equally patriotic and strained every nerve in the American cause. One instance, among thousands, of the devotion of the fair sex to the cause of freedom, displaxed by the New England women. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 201 which occurred in Townsend, is worthy of record. The narrator was a daughter of James Lock, Esq. : — "Late one afternoon of one of the last days in May, 1777, when I was a few months short of fifteen years old, notice came to Townsend, where my father used to live, that fifteen soldiers were wanted. "The train band was instantly called out, and my brother, next older than myself, was one that was se- lected. He did not return till late that night when all were in bed. When I arose in the morning, I found my mother in tears, who informed me that my brother John was to march the day after to-morrow, at sunrise. My father was at Boston, in the Massachusetts Assembly. Mother said that though John was supplied with summer clothes, he must be away seven or eight months, and would suffer for want of winter garments. There was at this time, no store, and no articles to be had, except such as each family would make itself. The sight of a mother's tears always brought all the hidden strength of the mind to action. I immediately asked her what garments were needful. She replied, 'pantaloons.' 'Oh, if that is all," said I, 'we will spin and weave him a pair before he goes." "'Tut,' said my mother, 'the wool is on the sheep's back, and the sheep are in the pasture." "I immediately turned to a younger brother, and bade him take a salt-dish and call them to the yard. "Mother replied, 'Poor child, there are no sheep shears w^ithin three miles and a half.' "'I have some small shears at the loom," said L "'But we cannot spin and weave it in so short a time.' "'I am certain we can, mother.' '"How^ can you weave it? There is a long web ol linen in the loom.' "'No matter I can find an empty loom.' "By this time the sound of the sheep made me quicken my steps toward the yard. I requested my sister to bring 202 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. me wheel and cards, while I went for the wool. I went to the yard with my brother, and secured a white sheep, from which 1 sheared, with my loom shears, half enough for the web ; we then let her go with the rest of the flock. I sent the wool in with my sister. Luther ran off for a black sheep, and held her while I cut ofl' wool for my filling and half the warp, and then we allowed her to go with the remaining part of her fleece. The wool thus obtained was duly carded and spun, washed, sized and dried ; a loom was found a few doors oft', the web got in, woven and pre- pared, and the pantaloons were cut and made, two or three hours before my brother's departure ; that is to say, in forty hours from the commencement, without help from any modern improvement." The lady closed by saying, "I felt no weariness, I wept not — I was serving my country ; I was assisting poor mother ; I was preparing a garment for my darling brother. The garment being finished, I retired and wept till my overcharged heart was relieved." James Locke, the father of the lady who gave this account of her brother John's pantaloons, moved from Townsend, to Sullivan, New Hampshire, in 1784, where he died, 1808, aged 78. The heroine of this story, his daughter. Miss Eunice Locke, about that time married a man bv the name of Richards, who resided in Townsend a year or more. Her husband died in middle age, and she survived him and died somewhere in the state of Michigan, at an advanced age. She is represented as possessing much intelligence combined with great perse- verance, and a winning, lady-like modesty. John, her brother, for whom the garment was made, was born 1761. After serving in the war at two or three different calls upon the town for men, and before peace WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 203 was declared, he joined a privateer, and died of the yellow fever at the island of Antigua, in 1783, aged 22. This family lived about a mile and a half northeasterly from the Harbor, on the west side of the road that runs almost on the line between the towns of Pepperell and Townsend. "State of Massachusetts. *Capt. James Hosley's Muster Roll of Volunteers who turned out of the towns of Townshend, Pepperell and Ashby and marched with him to the assistance of Major General Gates, agreeable to a Resolve of the General Court of said State upon Sep- tember 22d 1777 in the Regiment whereof Jonathan Reed is Colonel. James Hosley, Capt. Asa Kendall, Lieut. Nath^^ Sartell, Lieut. Daniel Adams, Clerk. Thomas Shattuck. Sergt. Asa Shedd, Sergt. Lemuel Patts, Sergt. Benjamin Whitney, Sergt. William Stevens, Corpl. Thomas Fisk, Corpl. Samuel Stone, Corpl. Abel Richardson, Corpl. William Prescott, Esq. formerly Colonel. Henry Wood, Esq. formerh' Major. Samuel Stone, Major in the Militia. Abram Clark, Lieut. Abner Adams, Sergt. Nath^' Bailey, Sergt. David Heywood, Sergt. Elijah Wyman, Sergt. Benj^ Adams, Corpl. Jedediah Jewett, Corpl. Joseph Lawrence, Corpl. Joseph Shattuck, Corpl. John Boynton. Joseph Baldwin. Abner Brooks. Abraham Boynton. Sampson Bowers. Jonas Baldwin. Daniel Butterfield. Isaac Blood. Daniel Clark. •^Massachusetts Revolutionary Rolls, vol. 19, page 204 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. James Campbell. John Emery. John Eaton. Isaac Farrar. Jonas Farmer. James Giles. James Green. James Hilldrith. Benj"^ Ball. Joshua Hosley. Samuel Henshavv. Abel Hildreth. Benj\ Hudson. Daniel Jewell. Asa Kendall, Jr. David Locke. Thomas Lawrence. John Locke. John Manning. John Stevens. Richard Stevens. Samuel Seward. Nath^. Sartell, Jr. Daniel Sherwin, Jr. William Tarbell. Samuel Wright, Jr. Joseph Walker. Jacob Wright. Timothy Warren. Pomp Phillis. John Emerson. Nathan Lovejoy. Timothy Hodgman." These volunteers were in the service one month and tifteen da3\s, and the pay of the soldiers was £3 15s., that of the officers being about sixty per cent, more than that sum. This was one of the most efficient military com- panies, that went to the war, from this part of Middlesex county, Col. Prescott, the hero of Bunker Hill, and two of his subordinate officers were in the ranks of this corps, which on the seventeenth of October, 1777, assisted in sur- rounding the haughty Burgoyne, at Saratoga. Pomp Phillis, whose name appears in this roll, was a servant of one of the privates from Pepperell, in this com- pany, and a few of this black man's descendants may now be found in Temple, New Hampshire, and perhaps in other places. Nearly all the men under Capt. Hosley had previously been in the service. The soldiers who performed guard duty at Cam- bridge, while the Britisii prisoners captured bv Gen. Gates' WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 205 army, were quartered there, were dratled trom the militia. The names of the Townsend men have not been found, although it is beyond a doubt that the town was represented at that point. In January, 1778, the town "approved the articles of confederation between the United States of America," and instructed their representative "to give his vote in the General Court in compliance therewith.'' The town, during the war, kept up their "committee of correspondence, inspection and safety.'" In 1778, James Lock, Samuel Manning, Lemuel Petts, Daniel Adams, Jr., and Samuel Maynard, were said committee. x'Vt this meeting "voted to give forty pounds to each of the last ten continental men that were hired in this town." In March, 1778, "voted that the selectmen provide for the wives of Messrs. Ephraim Warren, Jr., Solomon Parce, William Stacy, John Sloan, and all others, agreeably to the Court's act for providing for the families of such persons as are in the continental service." This record is instructive in showing, not onlv the promptness of the town in complying with the act of the Assembly, but the politeness of the town clerk in calling these poor patriots, Messrs.^ who had "periled all in the sacred cause of freedom." During this year, 1778, town meetings ibllowed in rapid succession; the fourth one, on May nth, was called "to see if the town wall come into some method that will be effectual to raise the men, called for of said town, for the public service by the resolves of the General Court April 20 1778." At this meeting "Voted to give £130 to each of the continental men, and eighty pounds to eacii of the militia men." 20() HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. It must be kept in remembrance that when the war commenced, the enthusiasm of the people was at its height and the pay was good ; after this period it became neces- sary to resort to some regular system for keeping our quota good. Besides, the seat of war was so much farther from home than at first, that there was more dread to enlist in the service. Townsend then had two militia companies, organized about 1774, known as the North Company and the South Company. These companies are called the "training bands" in the records. The men of the town were en- rolled from sixteen to sixty-five years of age, in these two companies, the dividing line between the two companies being the old county road. Whenever a call was made for troops from this town, these companies would meet and equalize the number of men each company was obliged to furnish. Generally, the soldiers from this town, during this vear, received bounties, but some went for less bounty than was offered by the town at that time. In some instances members of these two companies cast lots among themselves to see who should go. The man upon whom the lot fell had to sJioulder his musket and march, or hire a substitute. The number of men who could afford to hire substitutes was limited. One feature is worth recording : Townsend sent no men to the war except its own sons and citizens. In May, 1778, the State Constitution was submitted to the people for their approval or disapproval. Townsend voted : for the constitution fifty-one, against it two. Con- sidering the importance of the subject, this would seem a small vote for a town of more than six hundred inhabitants ; but it must be recollected that a large number of voters were WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 207 in the army. In June, more men were called for, to rein- force the army in Rhode Island. In these trying times so great was the demand for the sinews of war, that an article was inserted in the warrant: "To see if the town will sell the school Lot." This article w^as passed over. At all these town meetings the war was the all-absorbing subject, in regard to raising and paying the men. The committee to estimate the services done by the citizen soldiery in the war was active during the year, according to the vote of the town. The year 1779 was equally eventful. At this time, the depreciation of the currency was the trouble. The following brief extract describes the aflairs, at that time, in a masterly manner : — "At the commencement of the war, gold and silver were scarce ardcles ; and it was soon found that if some- thing could not be devised as a substitute for the precious metals, the patriots must give up the contest, and surrender all hope of gaining Independence. Congress ordered the issuing of notes, or bills, to a large amount, promising to redeem them at a convenient season. This currency, called Continental Money, soon came into extensive circu- lation. The bills, instead of being executed in the elegant style of our bank note engravings, were rude, coarse prints on coarser paper, and consequently were easily counter- feited. The British, actuated by the double motive of making money and ruining the credit of our govern- ment, flooded the country with counterfeits, so well executed that they could not be distinguished trom the true ones. In 1777, the bills began to depreciate: and all intelligent men soon saw that it would be impossible for the government ever to fulfll their pledge of redeeming them. The government, not being able, or not choosing to devise an}' other means to raise the credit of the bills. 208 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. in an evil hour made them a legal tender for the payment of all debts due. "The consequence of this measure may be seen at a glance. Never, since the time of the flood, were debtors more ready and anxious to pay their debts, or creditors more unwilling to receive their money. Of money, such as it was, there was no scarcity, and miserably poor was he who could not count his thousands. Then was the sun of prosperit}^ darkened upon the prospects of those upon whom it is usually supposed to shine with peculiar favor. I refer to the lenders of money. Hundreds who before were in comfortable circumstances — more than supported by the income of their money — experienced the singular satisfaction of having every debt paid them, and while gazing upon their masses of money, reflecting that they were reduced to poverty." In June, 1779, a town meeting w^as called, wdth this article in the warrant : "To see what the town will give to the men for the nine months continental service, rather than proceed to a draught."' On this article "Voted to offer each Soldier of our quota of the nine months men, 1000 Dollars, or 90 Bushels of Rye."' The average number of men which the town kept in the held from this time to the end of the war is not accu- rately known, but probably the number will not vary much from twenty. There is little on record concerning this : and it would be equally difficult to ascertain the amount of money paid the soldiers by the tow^i, inasmuch as the value of the continental money A'aried all the time. Be- sides the expense of taking care of the families of about one-third of these men, which bore heavily on the town, can never be estimated. The following list of names is the only roll to be tbund in the records of Townsend : "Names of the six WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 201) months men in the continental service for 1780 — Travel 220 miles : — Eleazer Butterfield. Jonathan Wheelock. William Stagey. Benjamin Hill. Isaac Spalding. Timothy Shattuck. John Sherwin. Benj^ Weatherbee." Peter Adams. While the continental scrip was rapidly depreciating in value, the people of Massachusetts did their utmost to arrest its shrinkage and to keep the prices of goods and labor where they then were. The prominent men, one or two from each town, in this part of the Commonwealth, met in convention at Con- cord, in July, and again in October of this year, "to state the prices of the necessaries of life." This was merely a repetition of a similar arrangement two years before this time ; the difference being a tenfold increase of prices from that time. It is as difficult to legislate soundness into a paper currency as it is piety into a politician. Public opinion and common sense will scrutinize the intrinsic value, the real gold which each contains. The convention at Concord, in October, tixed the prices for the towns in this neighborhood with much precision. The prices of these "necessaries of life" are in part, as follows, begin- ning as here inserted : — West India Rum, per gallon, £6 us. New England Rum, per gallon, 4 i8s. Molasses, per gallon, 4 15s. Tea, per pound, 6 oos. 210 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. They appeared to have forgotten about throwing tea overboard. Everything in this list, long as the previous one, vv^as in proportion, in regard to price, with the fore- going articles. Beans were worth £5 2s., wheat £7 13s., and near the end of the list may be found "West India Phlip," per mug, 15s., and the last article on the schedule is "Cyder," per mug, 2s. The resolutions (now on record, vol. 2, town records, page 190,) passed by the town in 1779, concerning the price of labor and goods were similar to those passed by other towns at that period : — "ist. Resolved that this town will use its utmost en- deavors, to carry the resolves of the aforesaid convention (at Concord) into execution, and if any shall be so lost to public virtue and the common interest of America, as to violate said resolves, or any of them, we will view them as enemies of mankind, unworthy to enjoy the benefits of society, and we will withdraw all connections and corres- pondence from them." Four other resolves following this are equally pointed. The names of those, who, in any sale, violated this list of prices, were "to be posted up in some public place in this and the adjacent towns," and "published in one of the Boston News Papers." Exchanging gold and silver for paper money at unequal rates, subjected the names of the offenders to the same publicity. These patriots exhibited the utmost solicitude and the deepest feeling concerning their currency. That men of intelligence should then for a moment suppose, that any action similar to that taken in tliis case, would in the least increase the value of the scrip, or, would materially alter WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 211 the course of trade, is not easily understood. The cur- rency depreciated as follows : — January 1778, $1.00 in specie equalled $4-50 continental. January 1779, $1.00 in " equalled $8.34 " January 1780, $1.00 in " equalled $32.50 " January 1781, $1.00 in •• equalled $166.00 " This last comparison between the two only held good for a few weeks. In July, 1781, the town "Voted to raise £40000 to defray the charges of the war, and other charges," and ''£6000 to make up the salery of Rev. Mr. Dix." In June, of the same year, the town ''Voted to reduce £15000 raised last May to defray town charges, into £200 silver money to be assessed and to be paid in silver, or paper, at the legal exchange, as those that pay may choose." On January nth, 1782, an article was put in the warrant "To see if the town will order the constables not to receive any more paper money upon a town rate." On this, "Voted that Capt. Ball settle the town rates now in his hands that are yet unsettled at the rate of one silver dollar in Lieu of 85 paper dollars." This was a specified sum agreed upon by the town in that particular case, and does not express the real value of scrip, which was then almost worthless. The collection of the loregoing facts in regard to the Revolutionary War, has been attended with much slow, plodding research, in investigating old manuscripts and documents outside of anything afforded by the records of the town. The writer has been unable to do justice, either to the subject, or the determined people of Townsend, who, at a moment's warning, and at different times, grasped their rude muskets and swords, and started to 212 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. defend their hearthstones — their altars against the in- vaders. It has been impossible to give the names of all the men who tilled the quotas at the different calls on the State for soldiers. Neither can the names of all the persons who lost their lives in that conflict be correctly ascertained. Townsend lost six or seven men in this war, and among that number were James Hosley, (quite a young man) , Israel Richardson, John Locke, and three others. Everv- thing considered, the record of this town stands well, com- pared with the other towns in the Commonwealth. Within the bosom of the town was a nest of tories which caused them much trouble, but still its quota was always full. The best men of the town, the town clerks, the selectmen, its representatives to the General Court, all took their turn in the continental arm}^ But the retrospect grows dim and shadowy as we turn back through the eventful years of the century that has gone. ''Oh checkei'ed train of years, farewell, With all thy strifes, and hopes, and tears ; Bnt with us let the memories dwell To warn and teach the coming years."* CHAPTER VIII. THE SHAYS liEBELLION. Causes which Led to the Eevolt— Mob at Spniigtield — Excitement in Worcester t'ounty — The People of Concord in Fear of the In- surgents—Letter from Concord to the Neighboring Towns-^ Town Meetings and Committees at tliis Time— Job Shattuck and liis Subaltei-ns — Stopping the Courts— Capture of Shattuck— List of the Shays Men Belonging to Townsend— Peter Butter- tield — Luke Day the Leading Spirit of the Insurrection — Daniel At the close of the revohition, the country was in a demoralized condition. Almost all the available wealth of the people, at the commencement of the war. had been expended to feed, clothe, and pay the troops. There was much dissatisfaction among the soldiers at being paid oil" in a worthless currency. Tiie increase of the indebted- ness of the towns and of individuals, the scarcity o( money, the decay of business, numerous lawsuits, and a want of confidence in the government, particularly in re- gard to matters of finance, generated a depressed state of teeling, which caused great anxiety among the people. This state of feeling, in some degree, was coextensive witli the commonwealth. People began to express great dis- approbation of the manner in which the government was 214 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. administered, and a revolt was freely discussed, as early as 1782. In Northampton, the insurgents were rather numerous. The}- were headed by a disappointed and disaffected clergyman, by the name of Ely, who under- stood all the arts of the demagogue. In 1783, a mob assembled in the town of Springfield, resolving itself into a general convention. Proceeding to the court house, on the appearance of the judges and sheriff, they opposed their entrance to that building. A riot was prevented by the timely intervention of some of the most influential citizens there present. For the next three years "the distressed state of afl^airs,'* as expressed in the Townsend records, con- tinued. In 1786, at a convention of insurgents, assembled in Worcester county, at Leicester, thirty-seven towns were represented, which, without any interruption, treely dis- cussed the propriety of obstructing the sitting of the General Court at Boston ; the closing of the county courts bv force ; law abuses ; and other subjects.* In the counties of Middlesex, Bristol, and Berkshire, similar conventions were held, and votes and resolves passed. On September 5, 1786, a mob prevented the session of the court at Worcester. The voters in the towns of Groton, Pepperell, Shirley, and Townsend, were about equally divided on this subject. The town of Concord, where the court was then in session, was much excited, dreading the expected approach of the rebels against the state authorities. A majority of that town were in svmpathy with the insurgents. Concord Holland's Western Mass. THE SHAYS REBELLION. 215 addressed the following letter to most of the towns in this county, and Townsend among the number : — "To the Town of Townsend. "Gentlemen: Alarmed at the threatening aspect of our public affairs, this town has this day held a meeting, and declared unanimously their utter disapprobation of the disorderly proceedings of a number of persons in the counties of Hampshire and Worcester, in preventing the action of the courts. x\nd apprehending the like may be attempted in this county, and probably be attended with very dangerous consequences, we have thought it advisa- ble to endeavor in conjunction with as many of the neighboring towns, as we can give seasonable information to, by lenient measures, to dissuade from such rash con- duct as may involve the state in anarchy and confusion, and the deprecated horrors of civil war. We conceive the present uneasiness of the people to be not altogether groundless ; and although many designing men, enemies of the present government, may wish and actually are Ibmenting uneasiness among the people, yet we are fully pursuaded, that the views of by far the greater part, are to obtain redress of what they conceive to be real griev- ances. And since the method they have taken cannot fail of meeting the hearty disapprobation of every friend of peace and good order, we cannot but hope, from what we know of the strenuous exertions, which have been made by the towns around us, and in which those disorders above mentioned now exist, to purchase at the expense of blood our independence, and the great una- nimity with which tiiey have established our present government: and from what we know of the real grounds 2l(') HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. of their complaints ; were lenient measures used, and a number of towns united to endeavor, by every rational argument, to dissuade those who may seem refractory trom measures which tend immediately to destroy the fair fabric of our government, and to join in legal and consti- tutional measures to obtain redress of what may be found real grievances ; they would be attended with happ}' effects. ""We have therefore chosen a committee to act in concert with the neighboring towns, for the purpose of mediating between opposing parties, should they meet. And we cannot but hope, our united endeavors to support the dignitv of government and prevent the effusion of blood, will meet with general approbation, and be attended with happy consequences. "If the above should meet with your approbation, we request vou to choose some persons to meet a committee of this town, chosen for that purpose, at the house of Captain Oliver Brown, innholder in Concord on Monday evening, or Tuesday morning next, that we may conter together, and adopt measures which may be thought best calculated for the attainment of the end above proposed. "We are gentlemen, with great esteem and frendship your humble servants. Joseph Hosmer in behalf of the towns committee Concord Sept 9 1786"' Townsend, during this period, was in a state of great perplexity, judging from the records of many town meet- ings. In May, 1786, a N\arrant Avas posted calling a town meeting on the fifth of June following, when a committee of five men was chosen, "to dratt public grievances," THE SHAYS REBELLION. 217 consisting of David Spaftbrd, Jonathan Wallace, Daniel Adams, Benjamin Ball, and Thomas Seaver. The first and last named gentlemen on this committee were dis- affected men ; the other three were opposed to the insur- rection. At the same meeting chose the same men as "a committee to confer with other towns," and then adjourned to the twenty-sixth of the same month. Met at the adjourn- ment, and adjourned lor two weeks. At this adjourned meeting, the town "chose two men to attend a convention (of insurgents) to be holden at Concord on the twent}- third of August." There is no record of anything like a response to the letter sent to Townsend by the town of Concord. On the twelfth of September, three days after the date of this letter, the insurgents marched into Concord and forcibly stopped the court. The "liead centre" of the insurrection, in Middlesex county, was Job Shattuck, of Groton, assisted by Nathan Smith and John Kelsey, of Shirley, and Peter Buttertield, of Townsend. Shattuck served in the French war, and was a captain in the revolution. Smith, Kelsey, and Butterfield, his lieutenants, were military men, and had all been officers either in the militia or the continental service. Each of these men were well qualified to be conspicuous in such a cause. Meeting with no resistance in stopping the court at Concord, their deportment was insolent and offensive, in the extreme, tow^ards the judges, the members of the bar. and every one not disposed to be in sympath\- with them. The court being about to be holden, at Cambridge, the Governor ordered the militia to be in readiness to march to that place. At this time says a historian, "An influential character in Middlesex undertook to make an agreement 218 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. with the leaders of that county, that no forces should appear on either side, and wrote a letter to the governor on this subject, to their satistaction. Shattuck broke this agreement and arranged for a larger number of men to be collected from Bristol and Worcester counties." "Pursuant to this new scheme (the same historian) a small party of Middlesex insurgents, headed by Oliver Parker (Job Shattuck, their former Captain, coming in a secret manner in order to avoid the appearance of breaking his agreement) marched into the town of Concord. Upon their arrival, Shattuck proceeded in the night to Weston, to get intelligence of the Worcester forces, but though they had begun their march, they did not appear, and trom this want of co-operation the whole plan fell through." At this juncture, when an effort to stop the court, located so near the capital of the state, was nearly a success, without any further parley, or chance for the insurgents to rally their scattered forces, "warrants were issued for apprehending the head men of the insurgents, in Middlesex, and for imprisoning them without bail or mainprise." A company of horse was ordered from Boston to assist the Sheriff in the capture of Shattuck and his oflicers, which, on its arrival at Concord, was re- enforced by a party of mounted men from Groton, under Col. Henry Woods. This tbrce succeeded in capturing two prisoners, Oliver Parker and Benjamin Page, but failed to find Shattuck during the day, as he had taken alarm and escaped. "Under this disappointment, at mid- night, in the midst of a violent snow-storm, the whole party were ordered on to Shattuck's house, in Groton, where they did not arrive till late in the morning. A THE SHAYS REBELLION. 21 - in. IJear it tliat the opposer may beware of thee." WAR OF THE REBELLION. 2(51 It cannot be said that special attention was paid by any state or statesman to the precautionary words here quoted, but Massachusetts gave good heed to the hist part ol" this compound declarative sentence, by a vigorous and unqualitied support of the government in its effort to preserve the Union by military force. According to William Schouler, adjutant-general of Massachusetts dining the rebellion, in his report to the General Court, January i, 1866, this Commonwealth was represented in the arm}- and navy, in the different terms of service during the war, by one hundred and iifty-nine thousand one hundred and fifteen (159,115) men.* Massachusetts stood at the end of the war, showing that with the exception of twelve small towns, every town and city in the state had furnished a surplus over all the demands from the war department, which amounted in the aggregate to fifteen thousand one hundred and seventy- eight (15,178) men, of which the town of Townsend furnished thirty-three (^^) men. As on the 19th of April, 1775, the Middlesex county men were the first to yield their lives in the revolution, so on the 19th of April, 1861, just eighty-six years afterward, men from the same towns, belonging to the Sixth Massa- chusetts Regiment, were the first who gave up their lives for their country, in the mob tight at Baltimore, on which occasion three men were killed and thirty wounded. "Men of reflection have become satisfied that a nation, like an individual, is by the laws of nature — the laws of God, clothed with the right of self-preservation : and when its existence is threatened, it is bound by a religious obligation to sustain its being at everv hazard, and by all Adjutaiit-Geiienil's Report, p;ige l(i. 262 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. the fair means that God and nature have put in its power. War is to be dreaded, and prevented as far as practicable : but like the amputating knife, is allowable to save the life of the body politic. And though war in itself is a great calamity, and leaves many evils in its train, the history of the world shows that some of the grandest steps in civiliza- tion have grown out of the wars, which at the time were regarded as great calamities." Apparently nothing but war could have checked the lordlv pride of those southern masters, who fain would have made the chief corner-stone of their confederacy the institution of slavery. No people were ever more hu- miliated than those conspirators who took the sword, and their cause perished by the sword. A dismal despondency hangs over the distressed peo- ple of the gulf states, the educated portion of whom can never adapt themselves to the grade of poverty to which they have been levelled b}' the war. Undoubtedly the time will come, after the present generation has passed aw^ay, when commerce will spread her wings over their navigable waters — when the hoarse breathing of the steam engine will keep time with their various industries — when Educa- tion will dispense her favors irrespecdve of race or com- plexion, and the flag, once spurned by their fathers, will be a blessed symbol. On the twentieth of April, 1861, a warrant was posted at the usual places, in Townsend, calling a town meeting on the twenty-seventh day of said April, which contained the following article : — ''2. To see if the town will take any measures to facilitate the enrolment or enlistment of volunteers, whose WAR OF THE REBELLION. 2(5;) services shall be tendered to the Governor of the Common- wealth, or through him to the President of the United States." On this article, voted and chose a committee of five citizens to report to the town a plan for its action. Chose for said committee, Henry Sceva, Walter Fessenden, Daniel L. Brown, Nathaniel F. Cummings, and Samuel S. Haynes, who submitted the following preamble and resolutions, which were accepted and adopted by a unani- mous vote of the town : — "Whereas, a portion of the states of this confederacy, are now in open rebellion against the Government, and whereas, the President of these United States has called upon the Loyal States for a Military force sufficient to suppress the rebellion and maintain the laws of the land : "Now, therefore, we, the citizens of Townsend in town meeting assembled, hereby declare our undying love for liberty, and our sacred regard for the Constitution as transmitted to us by its founders. "Resolved, that we tender to the Government our sympathy, and if necessity require, our lives and propertv. "Resolved, that our foreign born citizens, for tlie promptness with which they have rallied to the support of this their adopted country, have laid us, the native born citizens, under everlasting obligations, and that our gratitude for their support and sympathy should be appro- priately, cheertully, and promptly acknowledged.'' "Voted, that Walter Fessenden, Daniel S. I^rown, Nathaniel F. Cummings, James N. Tucker, and Alfred M. Adams, be a committee to take immediate measures for the enrolment of a compan}' of able-bodied men. 2U HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. whose services shall forthwith be tendered to the govern- ment." "Voted, to provide for the families of those who may need assistance during their actual service.'' The President called for seventy-five thousand men, through the war department, on the fifteenth of April, 1861. The gentlemen of the committee, chosen at this town meeting, and other men of wealth and influence, appealed to the patriotism of the citizens, assuring them that the families of married men should be cared for, in case they should volunteer to fill the quota of the town. During the next June, seven Townsend men were enlisted, and were mustered into the Sixth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers (June 19). The names of these men, and their record in connection with the regiment, are here presented : — Henry J. Parker. Frederick A. Jones. Robert F. Webb. John Qviigg. Ransom C. Watson. George N. Spaulding. Daniel Sidelinger. Mustered out at expiration of term. Mustered out at expiration of term. Mustered out at expiration of term . Credited to Pepperell. Mustered out at expiration of term. Mustered out at expiration of term. Mustered out at expiration of term. Mustered out at expiration of term. These men enlisted for three months, but the record shows that they were mustered out, August 2, 1861. Most WAR OF THE REBELLION. 2(5:) of these soldiers re-enlisted into other regiments, and their record will appear further on in this chapter. It appears that the seceding states had been making preparations for a fight, for some time, while the North, with the exception of a tew regiments of volunteer militia, in Massachusetts and one or two other states, was unpre- pared for either an offensive or a defensive war. During the summer and fall of 1861, the North began to "get on its muscle,"' and "guess" that something must be done. In September, of this year, thirty-two Townsend men volunteered into the service, and joined the Twentv- Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, Company G. This regi- ment was mustered in, October 18, 1861, and mustered out. August 26, 1865. It sailed Irom Boston directly for Ship Island, where it arrived by steamer, in less than ten davs from the time of its departure. It was a part of the Nineteenth Army Corps, Department of the Gulf. It took part in the engagements of Winchester, Cedar Creek. and Fisher's Hill. The names and account of the Townsend men are as follows : — Loren Hosley. George A. Adams. Charles W. Dix. Discharged at expiration of term of service, Nov. 7, 1864. Discharged at expiration of term of service, Nov. 7, 1864. Promoted Sept. 27, 1863, to quarter-master sergeant. Re- enlisted Jan. I, 1864. Pro- moted March 15, 1865, to second lieutenant Co. B. Dis- charged June 18, 1865. 2Gfi HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. James Willard. Residence, White- tield, Maine. Ally B. Brown. Elijah T. Bates. Charles H. Brown. Warren B. Clark. Franklin F. Cross. William Davis. Russell O. Houg-hton. Alvah Richardson. Charles Willard. James A. Sanborn. Frederick A. Jones. Discharged for disability — date unknown. Enlisted for Town- send quota. Transferred March i, 1864, to what regiment is unknown. Killed at Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864. Killed at Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864. Discharged at expiration of term of service, Nov. 7, 1864. Died at Marine Hospital, April 12, 1863. at New Orleans. Veteran — Re-enlisted in same company and regiment, Jan. i, 1864. Mustered out with the regiment. Second sergeant, Nov. i, 1861. Promoted to second lieutenant, Sept. 30, 1862. Promoted to first lieutenant, Dec. 12, 1863. Promoted to captain. Oct. 18, 1864. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Co. B, Capt. E. S. Clark, either re-enlisted, or was translerred to Mass. Third Cavalry. Died Nov. 9, 1863, at New Orleans. Drowmed at New Orleans, Aug. 27, 1863. Co. B, Capt. E.S.Clark. Killed in action, at Winchester, Va.. Sept. 19, 1864. WAR OF THE REBELLION. Samuel W. Griffeth. Merrick L. Gilson. Charles R. Shattuck. William Hunt. Charles L. Spaulding. Myron F. Going. Charles J. Hapgood. Charles L. Hall. Charles H. Martin. Aaron S. Petts. Ai H. Spalding. Andrew H. Sloan. Frank Stevens. Mustered out at expiration of term of service. Co. B, Capt. E. S. Clark. Dis- charged at New Orleans, Oct. lo, 1862. With Capt. S. R. Fletcher. Dis- charged tor disability, at New Orleans, Sept. 11, 1862. Mustered out at expiration of term of service. Died of diphtheria, Oct. 15, 1864. in Pennsylvania. Promoted to commissary ser- geant, Nov. I, 1861. Mustered out at the expiration of term of service. Mustered out at expiration of term of service. Transferred to another regiment. March i, 1864. Died Aug. 20, 1862, at St. James Hospital, New Orleans. Discharged, from Mass. Gen. Hospital, March 28, 1864. Veteran — Re-enlisted in same company, Feb. i, 1864. Mus- tered out with the regiment. Veteran — Re-enlisted in same company, Feb. i, 1864. Mus- tered out with the regiment. Promoted to corporal, July 30, 1862. Veteran — Re-enlisted in same company. Jan. 6, 1864. Killed in action, at Winchester. Va., Sept. 19, 1864. 2(>8 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Francis W. Wood. Ransom C. Watson. Lysander P. Taylor. John Shattuck. Veteran — Re-enlisted in same company, Jan. 3, 1864. Dis- charged for disability, June 19, 1865. Killed in action at Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864. Discharged at New Orleans for disability. May 17, 1863. Veteran — Re-enlisted in same company. Mustered out with the regiment. As has been seen, Townsend sent forty-two men into the field during the first year of the war. Before June, 1862, the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, and Shiloh, had been fought and won against the secessionists. The mouth of the Mississippi had been cleared of rebel batteries, and its forts captured. New Orleans was under the military rule of General Butler. The success of the loval troops, particularly in the west and southwest, in nearly every engagement, had been complete, and the people of the North were hopeful of a speedy suppression of the rebellion. But the reverses in the Shenandoah Valley, and the imminent danger of a successful attempt to take Washington, caused the President to issue the call for three hundred thousand men, for three years, which he did on the first of July, 1862. Under this call, twenty-five men of this town, on the twenty-second of July, volunteered into the service, and joined the Thirty-Third Massachusetts Regiment of Vol- unteers, Company E, Capt. William II. H. Hinds, of Groton, (discharged May 17, 1863,) and afterward under command of Capt. George M. Walker, of Newton. WAR OF THE REBELLION. 265) This regiment was mustered into the service of the United States, August 13, 1862. Mustered out, June 11, 1865. It took part in the engagements at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Beverly Ford, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and the several battles of Sherman's grand army. It may be mentioned that there were only one or two regiments from this Commonwealth, that endured as many hardships, or faced death on the battle-field, as often and as bravely as did the Thirty- Third Massachusetts Volunteers. On the arrival of the regiment at Boston, June 13, 1865, Ma3^or Lincoln gave it a generous reception ; after parading the principal streets, the regiment marched to Faneuil Hall and partook of a bountiful collation, furnished by the city authorities. Names of the volunteers and their record : — George W. Bennett. Abijah W. Blood. James Buckley. George E. Clark. (Bugler.) Thomas Dalrymple. Lewis Gonnier. ( Naturalized , from Canada.) Andrew D. Heselton. Discharged for disability, Dec. 9, 1862. Died of chronic diarrhcca, at Baltimore, August 12, 1863. Buried at Townsend Centre. Wounded March 16, 1865. Dis- charged at hospital. Mustered out June 11, 1862. Died at Lookout Valley Farm, of disease, 1864. Buried at Chat- tanooga. Left regiment, 1864. Trans- ferred to Invalid Corps. Mustered out at expiration of term of serxice. 270 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. James King. Clarence W. Sylvester. Charles E. Marshall. Dominick May. (Blacksmith.) Waldo T. Tower. (Blacksmith.) Jonah Parker. Henry J. Parker. (Enlisted tirst ser- geant.) Charles W. Parker Simeon K. Richards. Sylvester T. Wheeler Charles W.Wetherbee. Mustered out at expiration of term of service. Discharged for disability, July 21, 1864. Died of consump- tion, 1864. Buried in Town- send. Died of disease, at Germantown, Va., Dec. 4, 1862. Mustered out at expiration of term of service. Mustered out at expiration of term of service. Wounded in the neck by a gun- shot, at Raccoon Ridge, Look- out Valley Farm, Oct. 29, 1864. Nearly lost his life. Promoted to second lieutenant, March 29, 1863. Promoted to first lieutenant, July 16, 1863. Killed in action, at Resica, Ga., May 15, 1864. Promoted to sergeant, August, 1863. Mustered out with regi- ment, at expiration of term of service. Wounded at Resica, Ga., May 15, 1864. Died of his wound, June 25, 1864. Buried at Chat- tanooga. Died June 10, 1864, from a wound received in action, at Resica, Ga. Buried at Chat- tanooga. Died of disease, Dec. 29, 1862. WAR OF THE REBELLION. 271 Jefferson Whitcomb. Evander W. Wright. Franklin S. Wright. Andrew L. Woodard. William H. Wright. Lewis T. Wright. Abram Clark. Oliver B. Osborn. Mustered out at expiration of term of service. Wounded slightly, at Lookout Valley Farm, Oct. 29, 1863. Mustered out of regiment on detached hospital duty, at Nashville, Tenn. Killed at Lookout Valley Farm, Oct. 29, 1863. Buried at Chattanooga. Died of disease, Nov. 8, 1864. Buried at Chattanooga. Mustered out of regiment and detached on hospital duty at Nashville, Tenn. Promoted to corporal, April 16, 1864. Died of disease, Oct. 14, 1864. Discharged Jan. 4, 1863. Died of disease, Nov. 4, 1862, at Thoroughfare Gap, where his comrades buried him "beneath a chestnut tree." This regiment used up two stands of colors, which were so torn and mutilated by wear and bullets, that they would scarcely hang together. They were sent home and deposited in the state house, with other mementos of this sanguinary conflict. A third stand of colors was sent to the regiment, on which were inscribed the names of the twenty-two battles in which it was engaged. The Sixth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, re- enlisted in August, 1862, for nine months, and were 272 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. mustered out, in June, 1863. It participated in the siege of Suffolk, Virginia, which continued from April 11 to May 4, 1863. It was in a skirmish at a place called Deserted House, where it lost several men, killed. Five Townsend men were with Capt. George F. Shattuck, of Groton, in this regiment, viz : — Richard Pierce. Albert D. Turner. Alanson Withington. Charles W. Hildreth. Charles A. Wright. Mustered out at expiration of term of service. Mustered out at expiration of term of service. Killed Jan. 30, 1863, in a skir- mish near Suffolk, Va., at a place called Deserted House. Mustered out at expiration of term of service. Detached on hospital duty. Mus- tered out at expiration of term of service. The first of August, 1862, the President called for three hundred thousand nine months men. War meetings during that month were frequently held, at the town hall, to devise means to fill the quota of the town. At one of these assemblies of the citizens, Anson D. Fessenden was selected to recruit a company, if possible, if not, as many as he could. He attended to that duty in a commendable manner, and on the second day of September following, forty Townsend men, including himself, volunteered for nine months, and signed enlistment papers. A sufficient number of recruits enlisted, about the same time, in the town of Shirley, and other neighboring towns, which were added to the Townsend men, to make up a company. The ^-^f^.^ .>uA^ WAR OF THE REBELLION. 273 officers chosen for this company were : Andrew J. Clough, of Shirley, captain ; Anson D. Fessenden, of Townsend, first lieutenant ; Stephen W. Longley, of Shirley, second lieutenant. This compan}' was attached to the Fifty-Third Regi- ment, Massachusetts Volunteers, and was designated Com- pany D. Mustered in, October 17, 1862. Captain Clough was discharged at the city of New York, on the outward transit, January 23, 1863, "on sur- geon's certificate, by special order. No. 26." Lieutenant Fessenden was in command of this company till September 2, 1863, when the regiment was mustered out. Anson D. Fessenden, the son of Benjamin and Betse\" (Stevens) Fessenden, was born Februar}' 18, 1839. -^^ '^ suitable age he was sent to Wilbraham Academy, where he diligently applied himself to his studies, standing well in his class. He was prompt in his attendance, and gave strict .attention to the exercises of that institution. During the year 1861, he was a member of the scientific depart- ment of Union College, where he pursued the studies of mathematics and civil engineering. The fact, that he has a good command of language, and just confidence enough to make him a good public speaker, is sufficient proof that he improved his time while he was a student. On the first day of January, 1864, he joined his father in the coopering trade. Since that time, this firm, doing business under the name and style of B. & A. D. Fessenden. has done an extensive business in the manufacture and shipping of goods in that line. As a manufacturer, he is as popular with his workmen as he was with the "boys in blue" under his command. He is a man of a social and 274 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. agreeable disposition, and much respected as a townsman. He represented this district in the lower branch of the General Court, in 1865. He married Thirza A. Boutell, of this town, December 6, 1865. The Fifty -Third Regiment served in the Department of the Gulf, — Nineteenth Army Corps — John W. Kimball, of Fitchburg, colonel in command. This regiment was in the battle of Port Hudson, May 27, 1863 ; assault on Port Hudson, June 14, 1863 ; siege of Port Hudson, from May 24 to July 8, 1863 ; March 12, 1863, skirmish with enemy on the Bayou Road; skirmish at Pattersonville, La., near Fort Bisland, April 12, 1863; skirmish in front of Port Hudson, May 24, 1863. Names of Townsend men on the roll of Company D : — John Q^ Adams Isaac Allen. Wallis S. Arlan. John B. Blood. Daniel Brogan. John A. Brown. William Bush. Corporal — Promoted to sergeant. Discharged July 24, 1863, by special order No. 189. Re- enHsted on Banks' body guard. Died on his way home, on board steamer, near Memphis, Tenn., Aug. 16, 1863, of chronic diarrhcea. Buried at Memphis, Tenn. Killed in action at Port Hudson, June 14, 1863. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Promoted to corporal, April 11, 1863. Mustered out with the regiment. Sergeant — Mustered out with the regiment. WAR OF THE REBELLION. 27') Charles S. Champney Edmund O. Day. William Farmer. Anson D. Fessenden. Andrew Foster. Adams S. Graham. George S. Graham. Harlan F. Green. John Haynes. John P. Hildreth. Webster Hoffses. Leander C. Jefts. Dennisson S. Kimball. Francis A. Laws. Lewis O. Laws. William Ordway. Henry C. Nichols. Levi T. Parker. Shubell B. Pierce. Mustered out with the regiment. In Co. C, with Leominster men. Mustered out with regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. First lieutenant. Promoted to captain, May 21, 1863. Mus- tered out with regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Fourth sergeant. Mustered out with the regiment. Corporal. Died of typhoid fever. July 13, 1863, at Port Hud- son. Buried at Port Hudson. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Killed in action at Port Hudson. June 14, 1863. Discharged Jan. 15, 1863. Sur- geon's certificate. Died at Marine Hospital. New Orleans, Aug. 5, 1863. Mustered out with the regiment. Died of typhoid fever, at Charity Hospital, New Orleans, March 21, 1863. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. 27() HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Hiram F. Richards. John Richards. Edson A. Richardson. Dennis J. Shehan. George A. Sherwin. Alden W. Smith. Benjamin B. Spalding. Frederick F. Spalding. Augustus G. Stickney. William E. Sylvester. Levi Wares. Alson S. Warren. William li. Woodward. Thomas H. Warren. Mustered out with the regiment. Co. C, with Leominster men. Mustered out with regiment. Died at Marine Hospital, New Orleans, of chronic diarrhoea, May 6, 1863. Died July 10, 1863, of wounds received at Port Hudson, June 14, 1863. Discharged from Hospital, at New Orleans, June 18, 1863. Surgeon's certificate. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Veteran — Re-enlisted Aug. 24, 1864, into the Twenty-Fourth Mass. Regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Discharged by special order, July 24, 1863. Re-enlisted in Banks' body-guard. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Died Feb. 9, 1863, of inflamma- tion of the lungs. Buried at Cypress Grove, New^ Orleans. — Hospital record. Died of chronic diarrhoea, at Baton Rouge, La., April 6, 1863. Mustered out with the regiment. Discharged July, 24, 1863. Re- enlisted in Banks" bodv-o-uard. WAR OF THE REBELLION. The following are the names of Townsend men in various regiments : — Patrick Mi '^3' Charles C. Cobleigh. (Bugler.) Henrv O. Adc James E. Brooks. Amos Pierce. Bovd Todd. Edward Potter Enlisted July 2, 1861, for three years, in Sixteenth Mass. Regi- ment. Wounded at battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. Dis- charged by order of General Wadsworth. Enlisted September, 1861, for • three years, in First Mass. Cav- alry. Discharged Sept. 24, 1864. Enlisted August, 1861, for three years, in Fifteenth Mass. Regi- ment. Discharged Feb. 7, 1863. Enlisted Sept. 15, 1862, in Second New Hampshire Regiment. Received bounty from town of Temple, New Hampshire. Mustered out with regiment. Enlisted Sept. 20, 1861, in First Mass. Cavalry. Promoted to corporal Feb. 21, 1862. Trans- ferred to Fourth Cavalry. Dis- charged for disability, Nov. 25, 1862, on surgeon's certificate. Enlisted Sept. 28, 1861, for three years, in Twenty-Third Mass. Regiment. Wounded in action at White Hall, North Carolina, Dec. 16, 1862. Discharged June 12, 1863. Enlisted Aug. 13, 1862, in First Mass. Regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. May 25, 1864. 278 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. Lorenzo Bruce. James A. Willard. George Spalding. William H. Lewis. Alden Adams. Leonard O. Bruce. William T. Barrett. William T. Adams. Enlisted Oct. i8, 1861, for three years, in First Mass. Cavalry. Discharged at expiration of term of service. Enlisted Sept. 20, 1861, for three years, in First Mass. Cavalry. Transferred to Fourth Cavalry. Corporal — Discharged for dis- ability, May II, 1862. Enlisted Sept. 30, 1861, for three years, in First Mass. Cavalry. Transferred to Fourth Cavalry. Discharged at expiration of term of service. Enlisted May 19, 1861, for three years, in Tv^elfth Mass. Regi- ment. Credited to the town of Weymouth. Mustered out with the regiment. Enlisted for nine months, Aug. 29, 1862, in Forty-Fourth Mass. Regiment. Credited to Dorchester. Discharged at ex- piration of term of service. Enlisted for three years, July 26, 1862, in Thirty-Sixth Mass. Regiment. Corporal — Dis- charged April 29, 1863. Enlisted Aug. 6, 1862, for three years, in Thirty-Ninth Mass. Regiment. Third Corporal — Mustered out with regiment. Enlisted Sept. 27, 1861, for three years, in Twenty-Fifth Mass. Regiment. Died in Libby Prison, July 23, 1864. WAR OF THE REBELLION, 279 Charles Searles. Julius C. Eastman. Henry H. Hosley Joseph O. Hildrith. Oliver E. Hazard. (Colored.) Horace Hazard. (Colored.) Nahum G. Hazard. (Colored. ) Enlisted July 2, 1861, for three years, in Sixteenth Mass. Regi- ment. Discharged at expira- tion of term of service. Enlisted March 7, 1864, in Sixteenth Mass. Regiment, Light Battery. Mustered out with regiment. Enlisted July 12, 1861, for three years, in Fifteenth Mass. Regi- ment. Discharged for disa- bility, Nov. 12, 1862. Enlisted Aug. 13, 1862, for three years, in Fortieth Mass. Regi- ment. Mustered out with the regiment, June 16, 1865. Enlisted December, 1863, for three years, in Fifty-Fourth Mass. Regiment. Wounded slightly, Feb. 20, 1864. All the men in this regiment, ex- cept the officers, were of African descent. Mustered out with the regiment. Drafted. Served in Fifty-Fourth Mass. Regiment. This was the only Townsend man who was drafted that went to the war. Mustered out with the regiment. Enlisted Aug. 27, 1864, for one year, in Fifty-Fifth Mass. Regi- ment, Company I. All colored men in this regiment, except the officers. Mustered out with the regiment. 280 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. John J. Hennessey (Colored.) William A. Champney Edwin Adams. Thomas H. Welch. Robert Welch. Daniel T. Goodwin. George F. French. Horace E. Lawrence. Enlisted May 4, 1864, for three years, in Fifth Mass. Cavalry. Mustered out with regiment. All colored men in this regi- ment. Enlisted July 19, 1862, for three years, in Thirty-Seventh Mass. Regiment. Credited to the town of Hadley. Mustered out at expiration of term of service. Enlisted for three years, in Sixteenth Mass. Regiment. Wounded severely in right hand b}^ a shell. Lost his hand. Discharged — date im- known. Enlisted September, 1864, for one year, in Heavy Artillery. Enlisted Aug. 2, 1864, in Second Regiment Heavy Artillery. Enlisted Aug. 31, 1864, for one year, in Nineteenth Regiment Heavy Artillery. Mustered out with regiment. Enlisted at Sioux City, in Spring of 1 861, in First Nebraska Regiment, wdth Capt. Hollins. Died at Syracuse, Missouri, of fever, Nov. 24, 1861. Enlisted at Boston, lor three years, March 12, 1862, into Third Regiment Rhode Island Artillery. Discharged at Hilton Head, for disability, Dec. 26, 1862. Died and was buried in Townsend, in May, 1863. WAR OF THE REBELLION. 281 The following is a list of the names of men who enlisted in August, 1864, for one year, and were mustered in on the twenty-tifth of the same month. They are described in the records as belonging to the "Twenty- Fourth Massachusetts Regiment, Unattached Heavy Ar- tillery." They were stationed at Fort Delaware and near the city of Washington : — Vernal Barber. John A. Brown. William Coombs. George H. Ellis. Jonas L. Jennerson. Benjamin F. King. Augustus Lovejoy. Newell F. Putnam. Nathaniel A,. Ripley. Benjamin B. Spalding. Amos Webber. Elbridge A. Wright. Mustered out with the regiment. Discharged May 3, 1865. Mustered out with the regiment. Died at Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washington, D. C, Dec. 30. 1864. Discharged May 5, 1865. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Served with Fifty-Third Mass. Regiment. Re-enlisted in this regiment, August, 1864. Mus- tered out with regiment. Credited to the quota of Fitch- burg. Mustered out with the regiment. Mustered out with the regiment. Committed suicide ; shot him- self, May 17, 1872. 282 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. A roll of the men who enlisted, July 7, 1864, for one hundred days, and proceeded to Washington and per- formed guard duty at Arlington Heights, and at other places, near the Capital. The men are represented in the record as belonging to Company B, Sixth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers. No casualties happened to these men during their absence : — Charles Adams. James C. Moody. Joseph Baxter. Ai Richards. James Brogan. Charles Spaulding. Rufus T. Brown. Marshall D. Spaulding. George H. Green. Henry Sturtevant. Samuel K. Gilson. William R. Wright. George S. Graham. John B. Spaulding. Charles W. Hildreth. In closing the record of those who thus gave their best efforts to preserve the Union, it must be remembered, that to every call for troops, a response from the citizens of the town went forth as generous as the revolutionary fathers returned one hundred years ago. While the town was pouring forth its treasures without stint or reluctance, these patriotic men gave their presence in the "tiger strife.'' — their lives to the cause. The terrible battle-fields of Virginia, Louisiana, and other states, testily to the bravery of these Townsend young men, twelve of whom were killed in action, and twenty-two lost their lives by starvation in rebel prisons, disease and the casualties of war. The loss of their lives caused many sorrowful hearts : manv tearful eyes watched for the news from every battle- WAR OF THE REBELLION. 28o tield. Their widows and orphans are still mournful at their early bereavement of husbands and fathers. '•How sleep the brave who sink to rest. By all their country's wishes blest. Where Spring with dewy fingers cold. Returns to deck their hallowed mould, She there shall find a sweeter sod. Than fancy's feet have ever trod. ''By fairy forms their dirge is sung. By hands unseen their knell is rung ; There Honor comes a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their claj% And Freedom shall a while repair To dwell a weeping hermit there." The foregoing rolls contain the names of all the Townsend men, as far as is known, who volunteered to assist in suppressing the rebellion. No mention of the substitutes has been made, as they were mere merchandise, used for the time to shield the men who chose to purchase them rather than to take the risks of war upon their own shoulders. It has been a source of pleasure to the writer, that, during the entire labor of examining muster rolls, dis- charge papers, diaries, Adjutant-General's reports, and town records, in order to present a correct history of these volunteers, that the word ^'deserted'' has never been found, written or printed, opposite to the name of one of them. Nearly every one of these volunteers, who returned after the rebellion was crushed, assumed the duties of indus- trious citizens, with as much tidelity as though they had never been introduced to "grim-visaged war." The town records, during the time the rebellion was in progress, were not kept with the greatest accuracy, but. as near as can be ascertained from all sources, Townsend sent to the tield, troops enlisted for three months, one 284 HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. hundred days, nine months, and three years or for the war, inchiding substitutes, to the number of two hundred and seventy men, of whom one hundred and sixty-one were voters in this town at the time of their enHstment. The services of the women of this town, acting in concert with the Sanitary Commission, are not to be over- looked. During the war, from the time our soldiers were tirst encamped within the borders of the state, till they returned home at the expiration of their term of service, they were remembered by this class of patient toilers. The sessions of the Ladies' Benevolent Society were many, which were devoted to industrious efforts in making quilts, clothing, lint, and cushions for broken limbs. The busy hands of the home-circle, similarly emplo3'ed, should also be mentioned. The goods thus made together with condiments, provisions, stimulants, and delicacies, pur- chased at considerable expense, suitable for those who were suffering in the hospitals, were, at different times, carefully packed, filling many boxes and barrels, and forwarded in a cause where philanthropy was at a premium. Among the ladies who were active in this womanly sympathy, the names of Mrs. Dr. Bertram, Mrs. Ralph Ball, Mrs. Jonas Spalding, Jr., Mrs. Noah Ball, and others (did space admit) , might be mentioned. Their efforts awakened gladness in many hearts, and will be held in grateful remembrance, as was that of Eunice Locke, of revolutionary fame. This chapter now closes with the simple statement, that, all that is claimed for Townsend, during those modern "days that tried men's souls," is, that the town did its duty in a commendable manner, compared with the other towns of this time- honored Commonwealth. , CHAPTER XII. LAWYERS. PHYSICIANS, AND COLLEGE GRADUATES. Lawyers: W;iUer Hastings — Aaron Keyes — FredtMick A. Worcester. Physicians : Joseph Adams— Samuel Hosley— Isaac MuUikin— Samuel Lovejoy— Moses Kidder— John Bertram — Ebenezer P. Hills — Augustus G. Stickney — John Heard — Royal B. Boynton— Cliark's J. Towne. College Graduates: John Hubbard— Abraham Buttertield — Daniel Adams — Joseph Walker— AVilliam Farmer— John Stevens — Joel Giles— John Graham — John Giles —Charles Brooks— Warren Brooks — Mark Davis— Charles T. Haynes— John M. Pi-octor — Randall Spauldlng — Eliel S. Ball— Wayland Spaulding. The following memoirs and sketches of the lawyers and physicians, contain the names of those only who have resided here for considerable time, and have been per- manently identified with the interests of Townsend. Probably more men, of the medical profession, have come here and had a temporar}- residence, than the number of those whose names will appear in this chapter. Men, having various grades of skill, character, and learning, have given this town a short trial, and then taken their departure. A promising young physician, by the name of Gerry, about 1848, came to Townsend Centre and located. He married Caroline Brooks, daughter of Samuel Brooks, of this town. Within a short time after his settlement here. 2S(\ HISTORY OF TOWNSEND. while engaged in a surgical operation, he got some virus into a slight scratch in his hand, which caused his death very suddenly. The "what might have been" was deeply considered by his widow and friends whom he left behind. There have been only two or three lawyers who came to Townsend and made it their residence for a short dme. Walter Hastings was the first lawyer who made Townsend a residence and a place of business. He was born in Chelmsford, 1778, was graduated at Harvard College, 1799, and studied law with Judge Prescott, of Groton. He commenced practice here, soon after he was admitted to the bar, in 1803. His father and grandfather were both graduates of Harvard College, and both were prominent patriots in the revolutionary service. He lived at the Harbor, and is remembered by the elderly people of Townsend, of both sexes, as a man of elegant personal appearance ("a handsome man"), and of dignified ad- dress. In 1808, he was chosen captain of the North Company of Townsend, which office he held till 1812, when, war with England having been declared, he was appointed colonel, and was placed in command of about three thousand Middlesex county troops, stationed at Fort War- ren, now Fort Winthrop.* He remained in command till the close of the war, when he returned to Townsend and resumed practice in his profession. He took great interest in military affairs, which engrossed much of his time and attention, even after peace was declared, for which reason. *The war with Knfilaml, in lSl-2, was not popular in Massacliusetts. Townsend hart six or eight (Ira fted men with Colonel Hastings, at Fort Warren, among wliom were John Emery, Daniel Camiibell and Samuel Searls. Tliese men were absent from home only a short time. LAWYERS AND PHYSICIANS. 2