. ..DATE DUE 
 
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 UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 AT 
 
 AMHERST 
 
 F 
 74 
 
 S63 
 W5 
 
OLD TIMES 
 
 IN 
 
 SHREWSBURY 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 Gleanings from History and Tradition 
 
 BY 
 
 Elizabeth Ward 
 
UNiVERSii'Y UF 
 
 massachusetts 
 amh£rst7mass. 
 
 Copyright, 1892, by 
 ELIZABETH WARD. 
 
 Press of The McGeorge Printing Co , 220 & 222 William St., N. Y. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Earliest Times, ....... 5 
 
 The First Minister and Other Worthies, ... 28 
 
 The Pease Tavern, ... .... 45 
 
 The Baldwin Tavern and its Various Owners, . . 59 
 Dr. Sumner and the Church, . . . . .79 
 
 Other People and Incidents, ..... 108 
 
 The Henshaw Place, . . . . . . . 128 
 
 Shrewsbury in the Revolution — Sketch of General Ward, 137 
 
LLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Balanced Rock, ...... 9 
 
 The Wheelock House, ...... 13 
 
 Gershom Wheelock's Knee Buckles, . . . 15 
 
 Rocky Pasture between the Sewall and Rawson Lands, . 17 
 The First Parsonage, ...... 29 
 
 The First Communion Service, ..... 32 
 
 The Haven Tavern, ...... 35 
 
 The Witherby Homestead, ..... 43 
 
 The Pease Tavern as it was in the Stage Days, . 46 
 
 The Old Mile Stone, . . . . • . • 52 
 
 The Baldwin Tavern, ...... 63 
 
 Facsimile of the Doctor's Bill, .... 67 
 
 The last of Lady Jones' Chairs, . . . . .78 
 
 The Sumner Houses and the Church previous to 1834, . 81 
 Dr. Sumner in his Wig, ...... 90 
 
 The South Porch as it was, . . . . .101 
 
 Mr. Allen's Pulpit, ...... 103 
 
 The Church in 1892, ...... lo.s 
 
 Facsimile of Marriage Notice, . . . , .121 
 
 The Henshaw Place, . . . . . . 129 
 
 Signatures of Volunteers in the Ca^nadian Expkdition, 145 
 
 The Ward Homestead, ...... 149 
 
 General Ward's Sword, ...... 159 
 
 Sheriff Ward, . . . . . , .175 
 
 The Ward Monument, ...... 183 
 
THE EARLIEST TIMES. 
 
 THERE are moments in history which shine out 
 brightly through the centuries, and to us, who are 
 looking back into the dimness of the past to catch 
 every ray of light that can show us more of the lives of 
 those who came before us, they are full of the most in- 
 tense interest. Events which seemed trivial to those 
 who were the actors, even as the daily happenings of 
 our lives seem to us, are surrounded with an interest 
 that increases as time passes, and we gather every frag- 
 ment of a story pertaining to the home life of those who 
 a century ago moved about among these familiar scenes, 
 and linking them together find how our forefathers lived, 
 what heroic deeds they accomplished, what hardships 
 they endured, and in all respects what manner of men 
 and women they were who subdued the wilderness for 
 us, and made the paths smooth in which our more ten- 
 der feet were to tread. 
 
6 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 The earliest recorded fact concerning any inhabitant 
 of Shrewsbury comes to us from the soil itself, and from 
 a grave found upon our borders. Here we learn that 
 the mastodon once roamed in his majesty over our hills, 
 and claimed one of our valleys for his last resting-place. 
 For an unknown number of years no owner of the soil 
 had any suspicion that beneath the smooth, heavy sod m 
 the meadow lay a gigantic body, until the flesh had be- 
 come a part of the soil and the bones had crumbled to 
 dust. In 1884, while Mr. W. U. Maynard, the present 
 owner, was having a deep trench dug, in order to drain 
 and improve the land, the spades of the workmen 
 brought up with the dark soil nine beautiful, polished 
 teeth darkened with earth stains, and resembling choice 
 specimens of agate. These with a few fragments of bone 
 were all that remained of the "Mastodon Giganteus. " 
 In close proximity to these teeth was found a human 
 skull, and the mystery surrounding the fact, that these 
 two skulls were found in one place eight feet below the 
 surface of the ground, has not yet been cleared away. 
 Perhaps a ray of light is shed upon the human skull by a 
 recent reliable historian, W. T. Harlow, who tells us that 
 undoubtedly this farm was the first in town occupied by 
 a white man, and that this man was ]Mr. Warner. He 
 also tells us that ]Mr. Warner suddenly disappeared and 
 no trace of him was ever found. May not this be a 
 trace, this skull without a name.? Doubtless I\Ir. Warner 
 lost his way in the trackless swamp and sank in the soft 
 
THE EARLIEST TIMES 7" 
 
 mire to the rock bed on which lay the mastodon. This 
 spot may now be seen in the meadow bordering on the 
 Northboro line and the county road, at the right as you 
 go westward. The mastodon teeth are preserved by the 
 Natural History Society in Worcester, and Mr. Warner's 
 skull (if it be Mr. Warner's) was sent to the Peabody 
 Museum in Cambridge, where it has been examined by 
 scientists and pronounced by them to be a remarkable 
 specimen ; they also deemed it worthy of a learned 
 treatise by one of their number. It is fitting that the 
 memory of the first white inhabitant should be thus 
 perpetuated. 
 
 The history of the red men who followed the mastodon 
 is also hidden from us, but we feel certain that here some 
 of them lived their lives and passed on, let us hope, to 
 the happy hunting-grounds beyond. Of their names we 
 are ignorant, and it is only by the finding ot their knives, 
 arrow-heads and other stone implements, that we have 
 evidence that their homes were once where ours now are; 
 but it must have been at a very early period, for we do 
 not learn that they claimed any title to the land when 
 the first grants were made. One of these grants was to 
 Mr. Isaac Johnson who sailed with the squadron of twelve 
 ships which left England in 1628, in the stately ship "Ar- 
 bella, " named in honor of his young and beautiful wife, 
 the Lady Arbella, daughter of the Earl of Lincoln, who 
 had left her luxurious English home with all its comforts 
 to find another, she little knew how comfortless, in the 
 
S OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 New World which was at that time attracting so many 
 adventurers from beyond the sea, Isaac Johnson had 
 gathered together all that he had, and taken his portion 
 of his grandfathers estate to take himself and his frail 
 young wife to America and establish there a home for 
 themselves. After their arrival, he made himself useful 
 to the government and received as remuneration a grant 
 of several hundred acres of land lying in the northwest 
 part of what was afterwards called Shrewsbury. The 
 Lady Arbella found refuge for a time in Salem in the 
 home of friends, but she soon faded away like a delicate 
 tropical flower in the cold, hard life which she found in 
 New England. Her amiable and heart-broken husband 
 followed her in one month, his grave being the first m 
 King's Chapel burying ground in Boston. It is pleasant 
 to feel that the story of the charming Lady Arbella is 
 even so remotely connected with any part of our town, 
 though it is probable that neither of them ever saw the 
 Shrewsbury land. 
 
 A very distinguished man of the early times left his 
 name upon Shrewsbury soil. Rawson's Hill, in the 
 north, is a part of the land granted in 1639 to Edward 
 Rawson, the young and talented man who at the age of 
 three-and-twenty took his seat among the legislators of 
 the colony. Five hundred acres were granted to him 
 for "his paynes" in the public service, "provided he go 
 on with the business of powder making if the Salt Petre 
 come." So he experimented largely upon this land but 
 
THE EARLIEST TIMES 
 
 ^ot little Salt Petre ; however the grant was given him 
 for the large amount of time and money he had spent in 
 the search. Edward Rawson was a remarkable man, no 
 blemish being found upon his character save that he used 
 his influence to hang the Salem witches. More than one 
 hundred and fifty years later his descendants, Elijah 
 Rawson and his son Samuel, lived in this town. 
 
 On the rocky ledge, not far from Rawson's Hill, at the 
 left as you go toward Boylston, is the "Rocking Stone" 
 or "Dog's Head" as it has been called. It is a large 
 boulder, resting upon a flat rock, but touching it in only 
 one spot, and that scarcely larger than a man's hand. It 
 is said that at one time it was so perfectly balanced that 
 it could be rocked by a child, but so firmly placed that 
 
lO OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 no power could dethrone it. Some years ago several 
 men, to try their own strength and that of their oxen, 
 made great efforts to throw it off from its high pinnacle, 
 but only succeeded in fixing it more firmly in its position 
 and rendering it immovable, so that now it is no longer 
 the "Rocking Stone" but the ''Balanced Rock." A large 
 piece has at some remote period been broken from it and 
 lies by its side, but the memory of the ''oldest inhabit- 
 ant" fails to recall the time when the two were one. 
 The boulder is of a different formation from the rock be- 
 low and must have been left there by the ice long before 
 the mastodon passed that way. 
 
 Another eminent man of the seventeenth century left 
 his name upon the land here. This was the Hon. Samuel 
 Sewall, who was chief justice of the colony, and it came 
 about in this wise. In his youth he was a student at 
 Cambridge and on the day that he took his degree he 
 also fell in love with the Boston jNIint ^Master's rosy- 
 cheeked daughter, Hannah Hull. She had gone over 
 from Boston as girls do now to see the young men grad- 
 uated, and was very favorably impressed with the ap- 
 pearance of Mr. Samuel Sewall. The attraction being 
 mutual, the young man found his way frequently to her 
 home, but her father was not well pleased with his 
 attentions ; finding, however, that he was a godly youth, 
 he reluctantly gave his consent to the marriage. The 
 wedding took place on Feb. 28th, 1676, in Boston, in the 
 old hall, "which was one very large room," and they 
 
THE EARLIEST TIMES II 
 
 "were married by Gov. Bradstreet. After the ceremony, 
 which was performed in the presence of a large com- 
 pany, John Hull ordered the servants to "bring in the 
 balances ;" into one scale he placed his daughter, and 
 from a large chest in a corner of the room he took out 
 handful after handful of bright new pine-tree sixpences 
 and shillings of his own coining, throwing them into the 
 other scale until Hannah went up and the shining six- 
 pences and shillings went down, when he presented the 
 contents of both scales to the happy husband, he him- 
 self being much delighted with this novel method of 
 bestowing his gifts. He also gave to his daughter a 
 certain grant of land lying within the bounds of Shrews- 
 bury which afterwards became her husband's ; a part of 
 it is yet known to us as Sewall's Hill, and Sewall's Pond. 
 For nearly one hundred years the great men of the 
 times travelled up and down the path which led from 
 Boston out into the wilderness, until settlements sprang 
 up all along, and the path became the King's highway. 
 At first these hills were passed by, when men talked of 
 building, for fairer lands beyond, until at length they 
 began to look with greater favor upon this "shunned 
 forest," and their strong arms longed to grapple with the 
 tough problem of planting a town here. The formative 
 influences which determine the character of a town differ 
 with the times. Oklahoma may have been built in a 
 day, but Rome was not, neither was Shrewsbury. The 
 grant made in 171 7 to a few men was, "provided they 
 
12 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 number forty families, build themselves houses, and 
 settle an orthodox minister within three years. "' During- 
 these three years the pioneers had battles to fight ; the 
 knowledge of this added courage to their strength and 
 zest to their labors. They built their houses with their 
 o-uns at hand, for Indians were still feared, thouo-h the 
 friendly Hassanimiscoes in Grafton were the nearest 
 tribe ; yet they were but Indians, and treachery was a 
 characteristic of the race. The wild beasts prowling- 
 about their doors must be vanquished ; the ground itself 
 must be wrested from the dominion of the forest, and 
 with the rudest of implements, subdued to fruitfulness, 
 by indefatigable energy and ceaseless toil. A strong- 
 purpose and persevenng labor succeeded in bringing to- 
 gether the elements of a town within the prescribed time. 
 One of the first names that appears to us on the records 
 is that of Gershom Wheelock, who for his enterprise and 
 cheerful disposition, deserves especial mention. He is 
 said to have been the first man to build a house in the 
 new settlement and spent one winter in its erection. 
 This house was situated on what is now the old road to 
 Worcester in the valley near ' ' jNIiddlebrook. "' He labored 
 alone that winter, keeping up his spirits through the cold, 
 dreary days by his merry whistling, sleeping in the loft 
 and pulling the ladder up after him at night, always 
 whistling his morning- song before putting it down again. 
 His courage never failed until the spring birds sang to 
 him while he whistled, and the house was done; then he 
 

 m-' 
 
 WHEELOCK HOUSE. 
 
THE EARLIEST TIMES 1$ 
 
 married Abigail Flagg of Marlboro, and housekeeping- 
 began in Shrewsbury. In 1720 his father Samuel Whee- 
 lock, who owned the land, gave him a deed of eighty 
 acres and the house, "In consideration of Love, Good 
 will and affection which I have and do have towards my 
 dutiful Son Gershom Wheelock !" The first house built 
 in town was the first to be burned ; nothing was saved 
 from the fire but a few pieces of furniture. Being dis- 
 satisfied with his ventures in that part of the town, he 
 next built a house on the Boylston road, the one which 
 is now occupied by his great-grandson Erastus Wheelock. 
 
 GERSHOM WHEELOCk's KNEEBUCKLES. 
 
 Gershom Wheelock appears to have been quite an im- 
 portant man in the new town, holding at different times 
 several town offices. He was ensign in the first military 
 company here and afterwards commissioned Captain. 
 The Wheelock house as shown in the engraving is a 
 low, ancient house, shingled on the outside, with nar- 
 row windows and quaint, low rooms. It has not been 
 added to, but remains much the same as when built 
 more than a century and a half ago. 
 
 It was not until 1720 that the "Town proprietors" 
 chose a committee to "manage about the meeting- 
 
l6 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 house," and they *' voted two hundred and ten pounds 
 for, and towards building a meeting-house, it being five 
 pounds on each proprietor." Measures were also taken 
 to cause two saw-mills to be erected in the town and put 
 in operation by May ist, 1721, to prepare the materials 
 for building. The meetings of the proprietors were held 
 at the house of the widow, Elizabeth How, in Marl- 
 boro. May 4th, 1721, the first meeting-house was erected 
 on what was called "Rocky Pine Plain," just a little 
 northeast of the spot where the present church now 
 stands. It was a small building 40x32 feet, a plain, 
 homely structure without steeple or bell ; it is said that 
 people were called to worship by the beating of a drum. 
 The first sermon preached in town was by Rev. Robert 
 Breck of INIarlboro, and was printed by vote of the people. 
 In March, 1732, there was '''granted to Thos. Green ye 
 sum of one pound for sweeping ye meeting-house in ye 
 year 1731." •• "In 1730-31 the town granted the sum of 
 one pound ten shillings for clearing one acre and one 
 half of land for the burying place." "In June, 1729, 
 there was granted fifteen pounds towards building and 
 furnishing the school-house in Shrewsbury, this was 
 made into a rate and committed to Edward Goddard and 
 Thomas Hapgood to collect." The account of Simon 
 Mainard, John Wheeler, Michael Chapman and Elias 
 Keyes, shows that they did most of the work of build- 
 ing. Just where this first school-house stood is not 
 stated, but in 1730 there was laid out fifty acres for a 
 
THE EARLIEST TIMES 1 9 
 
 school lot. From an old history of the town we find 
 that "In 1797 a school-house standing in the fork of the 
 Toads opposite the house of Mr. Calvin R. Stone (now 
 Dr. Brigham's) was burnt with many school books there- 
 in." *'Nov. 1729— Granted 20 pounds to pay the school 
 master in Shrewsbury." 
 
 '' To Lieut. Ward, Town Treasurer : 
 
 Sir : We desire that you take speedy Care to get ye 
 Remainder of ye Farmers money in order to defray ye 
 Charge of ye School-house. 
 
 John Keyes, 
 Daniel How, 
 Greshom Wheelock. 
 
 Selectmen. 
 Shrewsbury, 
 March 5lh, 1730-31." 
 
 Here is another school document : — 
 
 *' To Mr, Nahum Ward, Town Treasurer : 
 
 Sir : Please to pay to Mr. Daniel Rand & Mr. Abraham 
 ivnowlton ye sum of Seven Pounds out of ye town 
 Treasury to pay a school Dame in ye South part of ye 
 town for three months service. 
 
 Elnathan Allen, 
 Isaac Stone, 
 Simon Maynard. 
 Feb. 5th, 1733-4-" 
 
20 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSEIRY 
 
 The following shows that thsre was quite a premiuiTL 
 paid for killing wild beasts : 
 
 "August 1 6, 1 73 1. Then reed, of Nahum Ward, Town 
 treasurer, the sum of one pound for one wild cat's head. 
 I say received by me. Henry Keyes. " 
 
 These copies were all made from the original docu- 
 ments. 
 
 The law required all towns to provide stocks and a 
 whipping-post, that offenders might be punished and 
 order preserved. An elm tree that stood near the old 
 tavern in the centre was used as a whipping-post, but 
 tradition tells of only one public wdiipping there. A 
 black man w^as whipped for stealing clothes from a line 
 at the house now owned by William U. Maynard. His 
 piteous wails and cries were long remembered by those 
 who heard them and saw the lashes laid upon his bare 
 back. It is said, too, that the tree died soon after. The 
 stocks were erected in the vicinity of the graveyard, 
 probably that serious thoughts of their final resting-place 
 might dwell in the minds of those who were here im- 
 prisoned and fixed for a time, as a penalty for their 
 crimes. It is told that the first man who was punished 
 in the stocks was the one who made them, and the pay- 
 ment he received for the work was the remittance of a 
 fine for some misconduct. A man, then, who was found 
 in the company of a drunken man, was considered to 
 have been guilty of wrong-doing to the extent that sitting: 
 a day in the stocks was not too great a punishment. 
 
THE EARLIEST TIMES 2E 
 
 From the following document it would appear that the 
 town grew careless in regard to the education of the 
 young and set a bad example to towns in the vicinity ; 
 the laws of King George, however, brought them back 
 from the error of their ways : 
 
 " Worcester s. s. Anno Regni Regis Georgii Tertii Mag- 
 nse Brittanniae Francise Et Hiberniae Quarto — 
 
 Att a court of General Sessions of the Peace held at 
 Worcester within and for the County of Worcester on 
 the third Tuesday of August being the Twentieth Day of 
 said Month, 
 
 Annoque Domini, 1765. 
 
 The Town of Shrewsbury in said County having been 
 Presented at the Court of General Sessions of the peace 
 held at Worcester in and for said County on the first 
 Tuesday of November in the fourth year of his Majesty's 
 Reign by the grand jurors for the Body of said County, 
 for that the Said Town of Shrewsbury hath for some 
 years last past, Consisted and does now Consist of more 
 than an Hundred and Fifty Families or House-holders, 
 and so are by Law obliged to Set up a Grammer School 
 and maintain a Grammer SchooU master there, Suitable 
 for such School, yet in Contempt of Law, and in Dis- 
 couragement of Learning they for the Space of Six 
 Months last pest utterly neglected the same and for the 
 time aforesaid have not been Provided with Such School 
 or School Master, as by the Law is appointed and Re- 
 quired, in evil Example to others against the peace of 
 the said Lord the King and the law in that Case made 
 
2-2 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 and Provided. And the Presentment by order of Court 
 hath been Continued from Court to Court until this 
 Court. And now the Selectmen of Shrewsbury Plead 
 and say they will not Contend with our Sovereign Lord 
 the King but put themselves on his Grace. 
 
 And the Court having duely Considered of their Neglect 
 order that the Inhabitants of the Town of Shrewsbury 
 aforesaid forfiet and pay the Sum of Seven Pounds Ten 
 Shillings for three months neglecting to Provide and 
 Keep a School as in said presentment mentioned to be 
 Levyed by warrant upon them according to Law and 
 paid into the County Treasury for and Towards the Sup- 
 port of Such School or Schools within the Same County 
 when this Court shall judge there shall be most need 
 and that they pay Costs Taxed at one Pound Ten Shil- 
 lings Lawll money to be levyed aforesaid." 
 
 It was not until 1727 that Shrewsbury was incorporated 
 as a town, and in February, 1727-8, the town "granted 
 to Lieut. Ward i pound 16 shillings for getting the town 
 set off. This was made into a rate and committed to 
 William Taylor and Elias Keyes to collect.' " March 3, 
 1728-9, granted foi; stating the County Road through the 
 town of Shrewsbury 6-1-3. " The town at first contained 
 all the lands lying between Lancaster, Marlboro, Sutton 
 and Worcester. The first town meeting was held Dec. 
 29th, 1727. 
 
 In 17-23 was "the most remarkable, as well as the 
 most sorrowful occurrence that ever took place in this 
 
THE EARLIEST TIMES 
 
 23 
 
 part of the country." The following account is said to 
 have been printed in the only newspaper published at 
 that time in New England. It was a small half sheet, 
 printed by B. Green : 
 
 ''Boston, August 15, 1723. An exact account of the 
 awful burning of Capt. John Keyes' House, with five 
 persons in it at Shrewsbury, in the night between the 
 7th and 8th of this inst. taken from a letter of the Rev, 
 Mr. Breck of Marlboro, and from the mouth of Mr. Ebe- 
 nezer Bragg of the same, formerly of Ipswich, the only 
 person of those, who lodged in the house, who, by a dis- 
 tinguishing Providence, escaped the flames. Capt. Keyes 
 Tv^as building an house about nine or ten feet off his old 
 •one. It was almost finished ; and Mr. Brae"^ aforesaid, 
 Ihe carpenter, with his brother Abiel, of 17 years of age, 
 and William Oaks of 18 his apprentices, were working 
 in it. Capt. Keyes, his wife and four daughters lodged 
 in the old one ; and the three carpenters, with the three 
 sons of the Captain, viz, Solomon of 20, John of 13 and 
 Stephen of 6 years of age, laying in the new. On Wed- 
 nesday night, going to bed, they took a more than ordi- 
 nary care of the fire, being excited thereto, by the saying 
 of one, he would not have the house burnt for one hun- 
 dred pounds ; and the reply of another, he would not 
 for two hundred ; upon which they carefully raked away 
 the chips lying near it and stayed till the rest were 
 almost burnt out ; and then they went all six together 
 into three beds in one of the chambers ; and were very 
 
24* OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 cheerly and merry at their going to bed, which was 
 about ten of the clock. But about midnight, j\Ir. Bragg^ 
 was awakened with a notion of the house being on fire, 
 and a multitude calling to quench it, with which he got 
 up, saw nothing, heard no voice, but could hardly fetch 
 any breath through the stifling smoke ; concluded the 
 house was on fire, perceived somebody stirring against 
 whom he hit two or three times in the dark, and not 
 being able to speak, or breathe any longer, and striking 
 his forehead against the chimney, he thought of the^ 
 window, and happily found it ; when he gained it, he 
 tarried a minute, holding it fast with one hand, and 
 reaching out the other, in hopes of meeting with some 
 one or other to save them, till the smoke and fire came 
 so thick and scorching upon him, he could endure it no 
 longer. And hearing no noise in the chamber, only as- 
 he thought, a faint groan or two, he was forced to jump 
 out, and, the window being small, head foremost ; though 
 he supposes by God's good providence he turned before 
 he came to the ground. As Mr. Bragg was just got 
 up again, Capt. Keyes, being awakened in the old 
 house, was coming to this side of the new, and met 
 him. But the flame immediately burst out of the win- 
 dows, and the house was quickly all on a light flame. 
 No noise was heard of the other five who perished ; and. 
 it is very questionable, whether more than one of thenx 
 moved out of their beds. The old house was also burnt^ 
 and almost everything in it, but the people were saved. 
 
THE EARLIEST TIMES 
 
 25^ 
 
 through the great goodness of God. But a most dread- 
 ful sight it was, in the morning, to see the five bodies 
 frying in the fire, among the timbers fallen down into 
 the cellar, till towards the evening, when the few almost 
 consumed fragments, without heads or limbs were gath- 
 ered, put into one coffin and buried." These houses 
 stood just east of where the currier shop of C. O. Green, 
 now is. 
 
 The labors of the pioneers were great and their 
 amusements few ; their books and papers were very 
 few, if any. Their houses were scattered at a distance 
 from each other, and when these far-away neighbors 
 gathered together on winter evenings before some blaz- 
 ing log fire, they made what fun they could for each 
 other, and often for entertainment resorted to the ways 
 of the ancient Britons, who portrayed in rhyme any 
 notable event which took place, and the stories of many 
 unimportant doings have come down to later times hy 
 this means. In our forefathers' days all communities 
 had their rhymesters and fun was generally the object of 
 their verses. There was an eccentric individual whp 
 lived here about 1740 by the name of Tombolin and he 
 seems to have made considerable sport among his 
 townsmen, for we find that more than one comic rhyme 
 was made and sung about him. He lived on the West- 
 boro road not far from the house where Hiram C. Reed 
 now lives, and while absent from home one day the 
 house took fire and Mrs. Tombolin, being alone, had to 
 
26 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 do the work of a whole fire department, so it cannot be 
 considered strange that the flames became uncontrol- 
 able, and she so bewildered that as the song says, "All 
 that she saved was her tea-kettle lid. "' After this misfor- 
 tune Tombolin built another habitation for himself on 
 land that is still called "The Tombolin " and is owned 
 by \Vm. Rice and Geo. W. Lyon of Chicago, the latter 
 (widely known in musical circles) receiving it from his 
 father, Captain Thomas Lyon, who was formerly a large 
 land owner in Clinton and built the mills on the Assabet 
 in Northboro, where ]Milo Hildreth now manufactures 
 shell jewelry and combs, after which he took up his 
 residence in Shrewsbury for some years. The songs 
 about old Tombolin are nearly extinct, only a few frag- 
 ments remain in the memories of elderly people and the 
 writer of this memorial has not been able to ascertain if 
 there is a printed copy in existence. One of the rhymes 
 ran something;- in this wise and shows what manner of 
 literature delighted the hard-working, fun-loving, un- 
 trained heroes of those rough, "good old times."' 
 
 THE SONG OF TOMBOLIN. 
 Tombolin was a Scotchman born. 
 His shoes were out and his stocking torn, 
 The calf of his leg came down to his shin ; 
 Lm a nice good figure, says Tombolin. 
 Tombolin had no breeches to wear, 
 So he got his mother to make him a pair, 
 Flesh side out and the wool side in ; 
 They're warmer so, says Tombolin. 
 
THE EARLIEST TIMES. 2 J 
 
 Tombolin wanted new stockings to wear, 
 So he got his old grandmarm to knit him a pair; 
 For want of a needle she knit with a pin ; 
 They're delicate wearing, says Tombolin. 
 
 Tombolin, his wife and her mother 
 All went over the bridge together ; 
 The bridge broke down, they all fell in ; 
 ^'The deuce go with you," said Tombolin, 
 
 Leather breeches were by no means uncommon then, 
 and not only breeches but aprons and coats were also 
 made from the undressed leather as it came from the 
 tanning. If the Shrewsbury school boys of to-day in 
 their collars and neckties and fine cloth suits, could look 
 into the school-room of Dennis Smith in 1770, they 
 would be greatly astonished at seeing the boys clad in 
 leather breeches and aprons. There is a story that a 
 Scotchman visiting in town called at the school and was 
 so surprised at the leather clothes of the boys, that he 
 asked the teacher if they were all the sons of black- 
 smiths, or why it was that they wore leather aprons { 
 This amused the children, for leather clothing was quite 
 the fashion then in America. 
 
THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER 
 WORTHIES. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the first meeting-house was raised in 
 1 72 1 there was no settled minister in Shrewsbury 
 until the Rev. Job Gushing was ordained here De- 
 cember 4th, 1723. and the churcli consisting of sixteen 
 persons then gathered for the first time in the new 
 building. INIr. Gushing was a grandson of ^Matthew 
 Gushing and his wife Nazareth Pitcher, who came from 
 Norfolk, England, with five children and arrived in Bos- 
 ton on the loth of August, 1638, on the ship Diligent, 
 John ]\Iartin of Ipswich, ^Master, and settted in Hing- 
 ham, where fifty-six years after, the future minister of 
 the Shrewsbury church was born. At the age of twenty 
 he was graduated from Harvard Gollege. After being 
 settled here he received a grant of land, ''house lot 
 No. 22, granted to the first minister, which with other 
 <^'-rants made to him contained some of the best land in 
 town." He built a parsonage on his land and married 
 in 1727 ]Mary, daughter of Rev. John Prentice of Lan- 
 caster. This house stood on the spot east from the 
 Town Hall, where now stands the house owned by Mrs. 
 
11 
 
 L 
 
THE FIRST MINISTER x\ND OTHER WORTHIES 3 1 
 
 Arunah Harlow and which was built by the Rev. George 
 Allen, who lived there during his pastorate in town. 
 Mr. Cushing's house was a fine one for the times and 
 stood one hundred years. ]Mr. Josiah G. Stone, a great- 
 grandson of jNIr. Gushing, was born there and has fur- 
 nished from memory suggestions for the drawing of the 
 house, which was done by his son Henry J. Stone and 
 from which the engraving was made. It will be seen 
 that the architect departed somewhat from the common 
 rule of building. There was the great stone chimney 
 with a brick top, which most houses had, but the rooms 
 were higher and the windows larger, and the house had an 
 appearance of dignity quite proper, as belonging to the 
 minister, the man who held the highest office in the town. 
 Mr. Gushing received sixty pounds settlement and sixty 
 pounds per year for two years ; after that, four pounds ad- 
 ditional each year until it should rise to eighty pounds. 
 He remained the minister here until the year 1760, when, in 
 the heat of an August day, while he was binding sheaves 
 in the field, he suddenly fell to the earth and died before 
 aid could reach him. The spot where he fell is pointed 
 out in the field behind Mr. Josiah Stone's house. 
 
 The communion service purchased at the time of the 
 organization of the church in 1723 was of highly pol- 
 ished pewter. The pieces shown in the engraving are 
 upon the original communion cloth, which was pre- 
 sented to the church by Madam Gushing. In Dr. Sum- 
 ner's time, it being somewhat worn, the ladies of the 
 
3^ 
 
 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 church presented it to Mrs. Sumner and purchased a 
 new one. The okl one, ^^•hich is still in the Sumner 
 family, is of fine damask, into which is curiously woven 
 a representation of the Old Testament story of Caleb 
 and Joshua and those who went with them to search the 
 land of Canaan to see whether the Israelites would be 
 
 FIRST COMMUNION SERVICE. 
 
 able to go up and possess it. The portion of the cloth 
 yet remaining contains, it is evident, the whole design, 
 as the edges show that it was repeated. At the top of 
 the pattern are the two men returning with the huge 
 bunch of grapes suspended from a pole borne upon their 
 shoulders. High above the pole reaches the great stem 
 
THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES ^^ 
 
 ■showing where it was cut from the vine, the grapes hang 
 down to the knees of the men and the leaves and tendrils 
 compare with them in size. Oi^ie hand of each man is 
 upon the pole, while in the other he carries a basket 
 containing the figs and pomegranates which he had 
 brought from "The land that floweth with milk and 
 honey." Below these figures is the Tabernacle with its 
 curtains. Moses and Aaron are prostrate before it. 
 Above is a representation of God in a cloud with up- 
 lifted hands pronouncing judgment upon the people for 
 their distrust and rebellion. At one side, referrme" to the 
 portion of Scripture where the story may be found, are 
 the words— NVMER XIII CAP MOYES. Below these 
 are depicted the walled cities of the giants, their tem- 
 ples, birds on the wing, and trees loaded with fruit. 
 Still further down and completing the design are the fig- 
 ures of two men in armor, one hand of each holdino- a 
 long spear which rests upon the grovmd — and the words 
 CALEB— lOSVE. (Caleb, Joshua). Between them is a 
 tall growing vine, showing even its branching roots and 
 bearing large clusters of grapes. On either side is the 
 word NEHEL, which signifies a possession. The word 
 PHARAN also occurs in the design and is the same as 
 Paran. The story is contained in the 13th and 14th 
 chapters of Numbers. The ancient spelling of the words 
 proves the cloth to be very ancient and the tradition is 
 that it was brought from the old country in the IMay- 
 flower, in 1620. 
 
34 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 Col. Job Gushing was a son of the minister, and was 
 chosen Captain of a military company raised in Shrews- 
 bury in 1774 and with it started for Lexington at the 
 first announcement of war. We hear of him next at 
 Cambridge with his men, at the time of the battle of 
 Bunker Hill. After his promotion as Colonel of the 
 Sixth Regiment he was in that part of the army to which 
 Gen. Burgoyne with four thousand seven hundred men 
 surrendered on the 17th of October, 1777, when they 
 made him march to the then derisive tune of '"Yankee 
 Doodle." After the war Col. Cushing built a tavern 
 near the common. Gen. Washington once stopped here 
 for refreshment and it is said that Jerome Bonaparte and 
 his suit halted here in passing through town, and after 
 dinner went swimming in Wyman's mill-pond. Samuel 
 Haven bought the tavern of Colonel Cushing and in 
 1808 added a store, for many years keeping the house 
 open to the public. From time to time other additions 
 were made until it presented quite an imposing appear- 
 ance and afforded ample accommodations for the travel- 
 ling public. It was a popular stopping-place for team- 
 sters, and the corral near the road was usually filled 
 with horses at night, the stamping of their hoofs being 
 heard at all hours. After a succession of many landlords, 
 the tavern was removed in 1S71 to give place to the 
 present Town Hall. Detached parts of it still stand in 
 different places, three dwelling houses having been made 
 of it ; the largest and oldest part is nearly opposite its 
 
THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES 35 
 
 ■old situation, and its ancient date is shown by the fash- 
 ion of its architectural finishings. Dr. Flint's journal 
 says : "April 1808 — Col. Gushing returned from Canada 
 and attended lecture, at meeting on Sunday, at Sacre- 
 ment, at Town INIeeting on IMonday and deceased the 
 i6th, " The following paper shows his faithfulness in 
 attending to his public duties : 
 
 ''Samuel Jenison, Wm. Jenison & Tylor Curtis all of 
 Worcester Drove their Teams Loaded by my Dwelling 
 House on Sunday Morning about 5 minutes past 6 
 o'clock on 7 day of April 1782 
 
 Job Cushing, Warden 
 To Artemas Ward Esqr " 
 
 "Honorable Thomas Flint came from Matlock in Der- 
 byshire England, to Concord in 1638, possessed of wealth, 
 talents, and a christian character." His great grandson 
 Dr Edward Flint came here from Concord in 1756 and 
 took the practice left by Dr. Joshua Smith, who died 
 early that year. Patriotism burning in his veins he joined 
 the army and went as chief "chirurgeon" in Col. 
 Ruggle's regiment in the expedition against Canada. He 
 remained but a short time in the service and returned 
 home to resume his practice, which we read, was "ex- 
 tensive and abundant," and that he added efficacy to his 
 medicine by administering at the same time cheerful 
 stories, which rarely failed to revive the spirits of his de- 
 .sponding patients. Flis son Austin was born in 1760 
 
36 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 and received his education at the grammar school of ^Nlr^ 
 Xathan Goddard, a graduate of Harvard College and 
 native of this town, who kept a school here many years. 
 The remuneration that he received for his labors with 
 the Shrewsbury youths may be judged by the following 
 bill signed by himself : 
 
 "Shrewsbury. [March 3d — 1777 
 Then reed, of Artemas Ward Esqr. Eighteen Pounds 
 Lawful Money in full for Schooling his son Artemas forty 
 weeks. 
 
 Resd. P. Xathan Goddard. " 
 
 Austin Flint's medical education was received from 
 his father. In 1777, when on the i6th of August a call 
 came to Worcester County for men to march to the re- 
 lief of Gen. Stark at Bennington, Austin Flint then only 
 seventeen years of age, joined a large company of 
 mounted militia and started immediately for Vermont. 
 They rode the first day nearly sixty miles and reached 
 Hadley the next morning before breakfast. To their 
 disappointment they there found counter-orders ; the bat- 
 tle with Burgoyne's troops was over, and the Americans 
 victorious, having put the British to flight. Nothing was 
 left for the Shrewsbury boys to do but to march home 
 again. Having come so near to being in a fight with 
 the enemy, young Flint determined to try again ; the 
 next month he enlisted as private in Col. Job Cushing's 
 regiment and had the gratification of being present at 
 
THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES 37 
 
 the surrender of Burgoyne. Asa Wheelock, another 
 Shrewsbury boy one year older than Austin, was his 
 companion through the campaign and shared with him 
 its hardships and glories. Austin was taken sick in con- 
 sequence of the fatigues and unaccustomed hardships 
 he was obliged to endure and was sent home ; however, 
 after his recovery he once more entered the Army, at 
 the age of twenty-one, as surgeon in Colonel Drury's 
 regiment and served at West Point. 
 
 We hear of him again in 1786 wdien the troops were 
 called out to quell the Shays rebellion, and he was 
 with General Lincoln in his memorable night march 
 from Hadley to Petersham through the trackless drifts of 
 a blinding snowstorm. At the age of twenty-three 
 Austin Flint settled m Leicester as medical practitioner, 
 and married Elizabeth Henshaw, daughter of Colonel 
 William Henshaw of that town. He became an emi- 
 nent physician and noted far and wide for his skill in his 
 profession. In looking through a package of papers now 
 yellow with age, though the ink is as black is ever, the 
 writer of this came across one, of which the following is 
 a copy : 
 
 "To the Honorable the Board of Counsellors for the 
 State of the Massachusetts Bay. " 
 
 "Whereas there is no Justice of the Peace resident in 
 the Town of Shrewsbury, The inhabitants at their An- 
 nual Town meeting the Third of this histant, (Agreeable 
 to an article in the warrant) Voted to recommend to 
 
^8 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 your Honours ^Nlr. Edward Flint, as a Gentleman Well 
 Qualified to officiate in the capacity of a Justice of the 
 Peace. We the Subscribers think it incumbent on us as 
 select men of the Town to Certify that we think the 
 Town have made a wise Choice. — And Pray that if your 
 Honours Please the above named 'Sir. Edward Elint may 
 be commissioned for a Justice of the Peace in the Count}^ 
 of Worcester. 
 
 Daniel Hemixway 
 
 Charles Bouker 
 
 David Taylor. 
 
 Select men of Shrewsbury. 
 Shrewsbury, jNIarch 8, 1777.'' 
 
 One of the first tanners in the town of Shrewsbury was 
 Nathaniel Whittemore, who, if we judge by his account 
 book, was doing a good business here in 1754. The 
 precise location of his house and currier shop is not 
 known, but his tan vats were in the lot where the old 
 cider mill now stands on the Ward Homestead, and the 
 lot is to this day called the "tan vat." An immense 
 number of calf skms were tanned by Whittemore to be' 
 made into aprons for the Shrewsbury men and boys, as 
 well as skins of all kinds for various uses. In Septem- 
 ber, 1760, Silas Heminw^ay of Framingham came to work 
 one year for him, and for his labor he w^s to receive- 
 sixteen pounds. Whittemore died in 1764, and in his 
 last sickness was attended by four physicians, Edward 
 Flint, Samuel Crosby, Ebenezer ]Morse and John Honey- 
 
THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES 39 
 
 wood, the latter being from Worcester, and it appears 
 that tlie united efforts of these four eminent and skillful 
 men failed to save him from an untimely end. Their 
 entire charges for services, amounted to eight pounds 
 ten shillings. 
 
 Daniel Harris was his nurse and also his grave-digger ; 
 for these combined services he charged two pounds and 
 six shillings. Nathaniel Allen furnished the articles for 
 the mourning : his bill was sixteen pounds, seventeen 
 shillings. Jotham How's bill for shoes for the widow 
 Sarah was "Two shillings & fourpence, three farthings & 
 three Fifteenths In full for one pair of Shoes made for ye 
 sd Nathaniel's widow as mourning shoes 
 
 Reed Jotham How." 
 
 The judge allowed her sundry articles from her hus- 
 band's estate for housekeeping amounting "in ye whole 
 to thirteen pounds eleven shillings and seven pence" 
 also twelve pounds in money. The cost of settling the 
 estate was twenty, six pounds, eleven shillings four 
 pence, three farthings and three tenths." The house, 
 barn, currier shop and bark house were all sold at pub- 
 lic vendue the year after Whittemore's death. 
 
 Not long after the incorporation of the town, the 
 Knowltons settled here, Joseph and Ezekiel ; the latter 
 came from Manchester with his family and made a home 
 in the south part of the town, on the place now owned 
 by Thomas Henry Knowlton. Deacon Ezekiel married 
 Susanna, daughter of Captain Morgan and his wife, Su~ 
 
40 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 sanna Pitts, from England. There is a family tradition 
 that this Susanna Pitts married beneath her station in 
 accepting Captain Morgan. He died on the voyage 
 hither, and she found herself not only a widow in a 
 strange land but alienated from her family beyond the 
 sea. She landed friendless and homeless, with her little 
 child, and while wandering upon the shore wringing her 
 hands in despair, she was found by a certain Mr. Clark, 
 who was moved with pity for her sad condition and 
 proved that " pity is akin to love,'' for he wooed and 
 won her from her grief and gave her a happy home. 
 The little fatherless Susanna Morgan became the wife of 
 Deacon Knowlton, and their youngest child Thomas in- 
 herited their home, a two story house which was burnt 
 in 1776 during the War of the Revolution. Xails were 
 so scarce at that period that it was with difficulty enough 
 were procured to build a small one-and-a-half story house 
 •on the old site. 
 
 In this little home he reared his family of nine children; 
 the two who were born before the destructive fire died in 
 consequence of the inevitable exposure. Kind neighbors 
 furnished the seeds with which to plant a garden from 
 their own scanty store ; many of them were carefully tied 
 in bits of cotton cloth, and these small pieces were so 
 precious to the family who had lost everything, that the 
 thrifty mother sewed them together for. a dish-cloth, 
 necessity then as ever being the "mother of invention. " 
 
 The story of Captain Thomas' dog has feasted the ears 
 
THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES 4 1 
 
 of his descendants unto the third and fourth generations. 
 Sheep were mysteriously slaughtered in the south-east 
 part of Grafton. In due time evidence pointed to the 
 Captain's dog "Ranger" as the perpetrator of the mis- 
 chief; his master was interviewed on the subject but 
 thought it impossible that Ranger could be guilty, espe- 
 cially as he lay nightly before the hearth in his master's 
 sleeping room, and was always in his place in the morn- 
 ing. So confident were the accusers that he was the 
 culprit, that the captain promised to watch the following 
 night. He retired but not to sleep. The dog who was 
 in his accustomed place arose and crept to an open win- 
 dow beneath which there was a sloping shed roof; crawl- 
 ing out on this roof he easily reached the ground and 
 disappeared ; some hours after the dog returned by the 
 samo way and again camped before the fire, his wakeful 
 master with sorrow and consternation in his tones said 
 "Ranger you must die for this," and gave himself up to 
 his needed sleep. The next morning the dog was gone 
 and was never seen or heard of again. 
 
 The Captain had a talent for music and for a long pe- 
 riod led the church choir. The grandson who still owns 
 and occupies the homestead has so renovated and added 
 to the little home of Revolutionary times that it would 
 hardly be recognized now by its former occupants. 
 Next to this homestead in the southeast corner of the 
 town, lies what is known as the Witherby farm. 
 
 Captain Silas Witherby was the first person known to 
 
42 OLD TIMES IK SHREWSBURY 
 
 have owned and occupied this land, having come to 
 Shrewsbury from Marlboro. Since his day five genera- 
 tions have played in its brooks and drank of its cool and 
 refreshing springs. Ward's ' ' History of Shrewsbury" 
 says that Captain Silas married Thankful, probably the 
 daughter of ]\Iaj. John Keyes ; this is confirmed by old 
 records which have more recently come into the posses- 
 sion of the family. They were married in 1728. At a 
 later date it is recorded that they were dismissed to the 
 church m Grafton ; this, however, does not necessitate a 
 change of residence and none appears to have been made. 
 It is thought that at one time this tract of land may have 
 belonged to the township of Grafton. Across the valley 
 on the opposite hill was the John Brooks farm, now 
 known as Kimballville. The then prevalent and much 
 dreaded disease small-pox had attacked the inmates of 
 the farm-house there, when their cat inconsiderately 
 came over, as was its wont, to have a tilt with the With- 
 erby cat. ]Mrs. Thankful in trying to rescue her favorite, 
 caught the other cat and thus took the dread disease, 
 which to her proved fatal, and she was laid to rest in a 
 remote nook of the home farm. Early the following 
 year Captain Silas died and at his own request was laid 
 beside his wife. Their third child, Lt. Thomas Witherby, 
 although a wanderer for a time, returned to the home- 
 stead with his family from New Hampshire and died 
 therein 1827 aged 81. The name "Thomas ' seems to 
 have been handed down in the family from an early date, 
 
THE WITHERBY PLACE. 
 
THE FIRST MINISTER AND OTHER WORTHIES 43 
 
 for we learn by ancient records that one Thomas Wither- 
 by just escaped martyrdom by burning at the stake, 
 -through the death of ''Bloody jNIary" Nov. 17th, 1558, 
 which was three days before the time fixed upon for his 
 execution. In his life he exemplified the motto of his 
 coat of Arms ''Tenex in Fides." Again it- fell to the lot 
 of the third child, Thomas Witherby, Jr. , to keep the 
 homestead. Perhaps the lodestone which held him was 
 the lovely daughter of his nearest neighbor. Captain 
 Thomas Knowlton, for she came to grace his home and 
 there dispensed an open-handed hospitality for sixty-six 
 years ; there, too, she gathered to her loving heart the 
 " mitherless bairns " of more than one generation. The 
 joys and sorrows, the festivities and merry-makings here 
 witnessed are past recording. It is related that at one 
 time when the Rev. Dr. Sumner came to make a pasto- 
 ral call, the family rum bottle was found to be empty, a 
 most mortifying occurrence in those days, and one of the 
 boys was called to go in haste to the nearest neighbors, 
 to borrow the needful, such friendly accommodation be- 
 ing not infrequent then. A great tumbler was filled with 
 sweetened water and rum ; a toasted cracker on the top 
 gave this a delicious flavor. The beverage was passed 
 first to the honored guest, who taking the glass in his 
 hand, told a story, took a draught and passed it to the 
 other guest. Captain Thomas Knowlton, who in turn told 
 his story, drank a portion and passed it to "mine host," 
 who followed the example of the others. Three times it 
 
44 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 travelled round the circle, and who can doubt that each 
 time more zest was infused into the story telling through 
 the exhilarating influence of the toddy. 
 
 When Susanna Knowlton came into the family John 
 Keyes Witherby, son of Silas, was still living. In his 
 youth he was very bright and athletic, and often amused 
 his friends by telling their fortunes with cards. One day 
 being sent to the pasture to catch a horse he took out his 
 cards to learn if he was o^oins;- to the ball which was soon 
 to be given. The fates were against him ; he was not to 
 go. Before the day was over he cut his foot so badly as 
 to become disabled, and he determined he would never 
 touch another card. A few years later he met with an 
 accident which laid him on his bed for the rest of his life, 
 thirty years. His astute mind was given to the study of 
 the Bible and he became a most intelligent and godly 
 man. 
 
THE PEASE TAVERN. 
 
 THE king's highway in Shrewsbury was well sup- 
 plied with taverns for the entertainment of trav- 
 ellers, and in 1784 there were three noted inns 
 here, — Farrar's, Baldwin's and Howe's. On the corner 
 formed by the junction of the "great road" with the 
 road to Westboro, about one mile from the Northboro 
 line, stands an old house of the last century, conspicuous 
 for its weather-beaten appearance and its substantial 
 look which speaks of better days long since past. This 
 is the "Farrar Tavern" or, as it has more recently been 
 called, the ''Pease Tavern." jMaj. John Farrar, an army 
 officer of good report, kept a public house here during 
 the Revolutionary war, and entertained the military 
 companies as they passed through the town. He was 
 born in Concord and descended from Walkeline de Fer- 
 rariis, a Norman of distinction, attached to the suite of 
 William, Duke of Normandy, before the invasion of 1066. 
 A horseshoe is the emblem on the Farrar coat of arms. 
 In 1789, when on his way to Boston, Gen. Washington 
 honored the Farrar Tavern with his presence and we are 
 
46 
 
 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 shown the place in the east front room where he sat and 
 drank his wine while his inferiors took theirs at the bar. 
 When it became known that the hero of the Revolu- 
 tion was to pass this way, the school-children received 
 an extra lesson in makingr their manners, that thev mieht 
 greet the chieftain with proper respect. And so it hap- 
 pened, that as Gen. Washington was riding by in his 
 carriage drawn by two bay horses, preceded by his 
 guard on dapple gray horses, his attention was attracted 
 to a row of children on each side of the road, the boys 
 
 
 1H1-. I'j-.v^t TAVERN. 
 
 on one side making their bows and the girls sweeping 
 their graceful courtesies on the other. The outriders in 
 their uniforms bright with scarlet cloth and gold lace, 
 were so splendid that the children hardly noticed the 
 stopping of the carriage, until a gentleman in plain 
 brown dress alighted and Washington himself stood be- 
 fore them, speaking to every child and shaking hands 
 with the older ones. John Farrar's little daughter Han- 
 
THE PEASE TAVERN 47 
 
 iiah was among them ; her expectations had been greatly 
 excited concerning the unusual guest for whom such a 
 stir had been made, and who was to receive such dis- 
 tinguishing marks of respect from the children, her 
 imagination picturing him as some buperior being. So 
 when the tall gentleman in the plain brown suit stepped 
 from the carriage, dressed more plainly than his guard 
 and postillions, and she became aware that he was the 
 great Washington, this spirited young w^oman of ten, 
 whose noble ancestor's name was on the Roll of Battle 
 Abbey, refused her courtesy and turning her back upon 
 the ''Father of his Country'" exclaimed, "He is nothing 
 but a man ! ' Her words, accompanied with the look of 
 intense disQ^ust on her face amused Washino^ton, and 
 calling her back to him, he presented her with a silver 
 quarter. This quarter is still preserved in the family as 
 a great treasure. The Farrar Tavern was a popular re- 
 sort for teamsters going to and from Boston, as well as 
 for military companies. Behind the house was a large 
 open shed for the protection of the loaded wagons when 
 the weather was wet. Another shed attached to the 
 house contained benches and chairs where the teamsters 
 could sit while w^aiting for their suppers, and shelves on 
 which they could put their baggage. Under this shed, 
 in the side of the house, holes were cut, one above 
 another from the ground to the second story. These 
 holes were of the size to admit the toe of a man's boot 
 and by these, and the dexterous use of their hands and 
 
48 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 feet, the men were expected to reach through a window 
 their sleeping apartments. This arrangemen.t seems to 
 have been made for the convenience of both travellers 
 and the household, as the former could come and go at 
 pleasure, and the latter be not disturbed. 
 
 The outside door at the back of the house opens di- 
 rectly into the kitchen and we are told that the logs for 
 the lire were drawn in at this door by a horse and rolled 
 over into the fireplace. The liquor for the bar was in 
 the kitchen and was served through a window opening 
 into the west front room where the bar was. The win- 
 dow is yet in its place, as when the bar-maid passed in 
 the sling and toddy, but it is concealed by the modern 
 wall-paper. Near the bar can be seen the spot where 
 the men used to pitch knives for the first drink and 
 many names of the frequenters of this old bar-room are 
 cut in the wood mantle above the fireplace, but ihe 
 stories that made the place merry are all unwritten. In 
 the north-east room upstairs, the Free Masons held their 
 meetings ; there is but one door to the room and no 
 closet where eaves-droppers might perchance learn their 
 secrets. This is still called the "Mason's room."' Across 
 the entry is the old dancing hall divided in the middle 
 by a swing partition, which could be raised and fastened 
 to the ceiling by a hook when the room was needed for 
 the dances. 
 
 The house is built after the old-time fashion — two 
 rooms in front, a long kitchen in the back with a chim- 
 
THE PEASE TAVERN 49 
 
 ney in the middle. Heavy finished beams show around 
 the rooms and in their corners, and across the ceiling is 
 the piece known as the "summer." The windows are 
 narrow and high above the floor in the quaint old style. 
 
 Major John Farrar died in 1793 and an extract from a 
 letter written by General Ward, then in Congress in 
 Philadelphia, to his son, shows the regard he had for his 
 near neighbor. "I sympathize with Mrs. Farrar in the 
 loss of my sincere friend and her kind husband. I es- 
 teem his death a public loss, not only as a good neigh- 
 bor, but as a real friend to good government. I have 
 grounds to hope he has made a happy change, and I 
 pray God to take his family into his holy protection and 
 defend them agamst all the darts of their adversaries. I 
 make no doubt they have many, unless the hearts of 
 some are changed since I left Shrewsbury ; he had some 
 open enemies and many secret ones, I fully believe." 
 
 But the name John Farrar is not associated with the 
 tavern in this century as closely as that of Levi Pease. 
 He was born in Enfield, Connecticut, in 1740. His 
 father married Miriam Pease, a distant relative, whose 
 grandfather, Robert Pease, with his brother John, re- 
 moved from Sudbury to Enfield in 1679 and lived the 
 first winter in an excavation which they made in the 
 side of a hill, about forty rods east of the spot where 
 stood the old meetino^-house. 
 
 o 
 
 Levi Pease married and lived in Somers, Connecticut ; 
 from there he went to Blandford, Mass., where he 
 
50 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 ^vorked at the blacksmith's trade and was Hvinor there 
 
 o 
 
 at the commencement of the Revohitionary war. He 
 was a member of a newly formed military company, and 
 one Sabbath afternoon when the people were assembled 
 at the meeting-house for public worship, a messenger 
 arrived callino^ the men to arms, for the war had becfun. 
 
 o ' o 
 
 This startling announcement brought the meeting to a 
 sudden close, the company responded on the instant to 
 the call of their Captain and they at once started on theii 
 march toward Boston. He was with the Army during 
 the whole period of the war, doing important work in 
 various ways and by his strict attention to duty meriting 
 the confidence which was placed in him. His remarkable 
 tact and shrewdness rendered him successful as a bearer 
 of despatches. In these expeditions he travelled on foot 
 ■or on horseback as circumstances demanded ; avoiding 
 at times the public roads, he took the by-ways, that he 
 might protect the papers entrusted to his care and pre- 
 vent being suspected by the tories. When his course lay 
 across a lake, he chose to 2:0 bv nio^ht, and if the moon- 
 light threatened to reveal him to suspicious eyes, he lay 
 upon his back in the boat and used his hands as paddles. 
 Many perilous undertakings were accomplished while 
 under the command of General Thomas on the northern 
 frontier and he nursed him in his last sickness, which 
 was small-pox. General Wadsworth engaged him to pur- 
 chase horses and stores and trusted him with large sums 
 of money, which confidence he never abused. •' On the 
 
THE PEASE TAVERN 
 
 51 
 
 arrival of the French fleet and army at Newport, he was 
 directed to purchase horses to drag their artillery to 
 Yorktown " and he foraged for the Army on its march. 
 Lafayette was a warm friend of his and found his keen, 
 good sense and excellent judgment invaluable to him. 
 
 The familiar story about him and his horses will not 
 "be out of place here. He had a pair of horses to sell at 
 a time when Washington wished to purchase and an ap- 
 pointment was made for a meeting ; Pease was a few 
 minutes late, and ^^'ashington, who never waited for any 
 one, was gone ! He appears to have profited by this ex- 
 perience, for his punctuality afterward became prover- 
 Toial. 
 
 In 1783 Pease went to Boston to start a new enterprise, 
 similar to one projected in England in 1669, and which 
 was destined to make him famous. His plan was to es- 
 tablish a line of stages to run between Boston and Hart- 
 ford, but his means were small and he found it difficult 
 to persuade any one to engage with him in so hazardous 
 an undertaking. His faith in ultimate success was so 
 great that he was not easily discouraged and he turned 
 for aid to his friend Reuben Sykes, who had previously 
 driven a stage with him from Somers to Hartford,, a dis= 
 tance of twenty miles. Sykes was fifteen years younger 
 than Pease, and his father strongly opposed the scheme 
 and tried to dissuade his son from taking such a venture, 
 telling him it would surely fail and lodge them both in 
 jail as poor debtors. Rejecting his good fathers advice 
 
5'2. 
 
 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 young Sykes went his own way and joined forces witli 
 the ''dauntless Captain." ''Two convenient wagons" 
 were secured and October 20th, 1783, at six o'clock in the 
 morning, they left Boston and Hartford respectively. Pease 
 drove the west bound stage, starting from the sign of the 
 "Lamb," stopping over night at ^Martin's in Northboro, 
 passing through Worcester next day and resting at Rice's 
 in Brookfield. The third day took him through Palmer 
 to his home in Somers and on the fourth day Hartford 
 was reached. A few trips with empty stages did not de- 
 
 THE OLD MILE STONE. 
 
 ter them from persevering and tlieir business soon became 
 prosperous. The plan of travel was changed the follow- 
 ing ^lay, when Springfield was made a stopping-place 
 and the river crossed at that point or at Enfield. By the 
 new arrangement the stage left Boston from the "Lion," 
 ^larlboro street ; the first night's halt was at Far- 
 rar's in Shrewsbury, Spencer being reached the day fol- 
 lowing. Here at about the highest point between Bos- 
 ton and Springfield the passengeis were transferred to 
 
THE PEASE TAVERN 5^ 
 
 Sykes, who conveyed them to Hartford. The fare at 
 this time was fourpence per mile, about ten dollars from 
 Boston to Hartford. The business was so successfully 
 carried on that two years later Pease became the owner 
 of a Boston Inn opposite the common and on the spot 
 where St. Paul's Church now stands, which was there- 
 after the starting point for his stages. The line was 
 later extended to New York, Talmage Hall and Jacob 
 Brown driving between that place and Hartford. After 
 November 15th, 1784, Worcester was reached from 
 Boston in a single day, Hartford at the end of the third 
 day and New York three days later. The fare was re- 
 duced to threepence per mile and the baggage allowed 
 to each person was fourteen pounds. 
 
 The roads were in a poor condition, and Captain Pease 
 with his usual enterprise and energy, interested himself in 
 their improvement and with such success that the line 
 was extended from Portsmouth to Savannah, Ga. He 
 made the first contract with the Government for carrying 
 its mails, and the first mail in this new service passed 
 through Worcester on the 7th of January, 1786. The 
 Postmaster-General reestablished the post office in 
 Worcester March 13th, 1786, and reappointed Isaiah 
 Thomas his deputy. After the death of John Farrar, 
 Captain Pease bought this tavern and brought his family 
 here. Those stage days were great days in the villages 
 along the line and when Captain Pease driving four-in- 
 hand awoke the echoes among the hills with the shrill 
 
54 
 
 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 blast from his horn, announcing the arrival of the stage 
 coach, all was excitement until the cloud of dust disap- 
 peared and the echo of the horn died away in the dis- 
 tance. When Captain Pease became too feeble to hold the 
 reins and guide the horses, he entrusted the duty to a ne- 
 gro, under whose faithful care the business continued to 
 prosper. The master could now ramble about his farm, 
 fishing in its brooks, while his little granddaughter 
 Eliza carried the bait ; or accompanied by her he took 
 the luncheon to the hay-makers, and together they would 
 hsten for the welcome sound of the horn as the stage- 
 coach came rumbling into town. In winter evenings, 
 ■when the grandchildren gathered about the fire to roast 
 their apples and chestnuts, grandfather Pease entertained 
 them with thrilling tales of his life as a soldier when he 
 with great peril carried despatches, or his adventures as 
 a stage-driver. How he endured the heat and cold and 
 storms, over the rough and ill-kept roads, and how, when 
 the roads were blocked by heavy snow-drifts so that his 
 horses could not travel, he would fasten on his snow- 
 shoes, shoulder the mail-bag and plod with his load over 
 Boston Neck. Little Eliza, now with snowy hair and dig- 
 nified step, is the only one left to rehearse these stories of 
 ''Grandpa Pease," who died in 1824. He was buried 
 with jMasonic honors in the northeast corner of the old 
 "burying place" behind the church. No stone marks 
 the spot where the " Father of Stages " rests, and no in- 
 scription recognizes the valuable services of this faithful 
 
THE PEASE TAVERN 
 
 55 
 
 servant of the Government, whose labors v^ere per- 
 formed in the most perilous and trying times and who 
 had the confidence and esteem of the commanders of 
 the Army. He was also a benefactor of the town, 
 which owes much of its present prosperity to his untir- 
 ing efforts for its improvement. 
 
 His long experience as a stage driver gave him abund- 
 ant cause to realize the bad state of the roads and the 
 necessity for better ones. After long and earnest efforts 
 he procured from the Government the first charter granted 
 in the State for a turnpike, and it was laid out in 1808 
 from Boston to Worcester through South Shrewsbury, 
 about one mile from the "great road" and parallel with 
 it. H^e lived to see it completed and to see the benefit 
 it was to the public. It is said that travel increased and 
 stages and heavy teams became so numerous that drivers 
 of smaller vehicles were obliged to look well to their 
 safety. The new turnpike naturally took most of the 
 heavy travel, and taverns were opened at short intervals 
 along the way. 
 
 The Balch Dean Tavern was built in the last century 
 and still stands at the junction of the Westboro road with 
 the turnpike. This house was used as a small-pox hospital 
 in 1792, when this disease was so prevalent in town that 
 several houses were used in that way. 
 
 A mile beyond, toward Worcester was Harrington's 
 Tavern, which was built by Captain Thomas Harrington 
 especially for the accommodation of the stages. The 
 
56 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 sign bore the INIassachusetts coat of arms, and was sus- 
 pended from a rod attached to the house. On the 
 opposite corner of the town road was the store where 
 he sold groceries to the people of South Shrewsbury. 
 
 The tavern has been remodelled into a dwelling and 
 a handsome residence built on the site of the old store, 
 both being occupied by great-grandsons of Thomas 
 Harrington. Opposite these houses is the common 
 surrounded by beautiful maples, where stood the meet- 
 ing-house of the First Restoration Society of Shrewsbury, 
 which some years ago was removed. On top of the hill 
 west of these stands the "Old Arcade," once used as a 
 tavern, an important looking building with much history 
 laid away within its walls. Like the Balch Dean tavern 
 its front, until the turnpike was made, was toward the 
 south ; but the turnpike was made a strictly straight 
 road without regard to front doors or anything on either 
 side. The Dean Tavern evidently had no respect for 
 the turnpike, for until this day it resolutely stands with 
 its back toward it. The first landlord at the Arcade was 
 Daniel Stone, then Nahum Eager, Abel Wesson and 
 following him the ^Munroes, Isaiah and Reuben. 
 
 At Lake Quinsigamond, down at the A^ery water's edge, 
 was the last tavern in Shrewsbury ; it was kept by Joseph 
 Pratt. Several stages ran each way daily, each driver blow- 
 ing his horn as he drew near his stopping-place, where 
 the travellers alighted for grog and gingerbread. Until 
 Ihe railroad usurped the travel between Boston and Wor- 
 
THE PEASE TAVERN '57 
 
 -cester nearly all the freight between these two cities 
 passed over this road. The stages, however, by no 
 means deserted the ''great road" through town, but Levi 
 Pease's two a week multiplied into four each day, one of 
 which carried the mail. 
 
 Until about 1806 there was no post-office in this town, 
 all letters being left at Worcester until called for. The 
 first post-office here was kept by Joseph Stone in a small 
 building which stood west of the house now occupied 
 by Dr. Brigham. A mile beyond Cushing's Tavern, later 
 called Haven's, was the tavern in early times kept by 
 Daniel How and, a mile further on, the one kept by 
 Jotham How, afterward by George Slocum and later the 
 residence of Judge Cobb. 
 
 The Pease farm has passed from one man's ownership 
 to that of another and is now owned by Mr. George L. 
 Davis. In a shady nook by the woods west of the road 
 there is a sulphur spring. To reach it you cross the lot 
 where Old Brazil, the Indian, and his wife Nancy used to 
 live. This spring has been of some repute at different 
 times, the water being quite medicinal and containing a 
 large per cent, of sulphur. It is a pretty spot to visit and 
 a drink from the spring refreshing after a dusty walk on 
 a summer day. Old Brazil's true name was Basil Mann. 
 He was once a pirate on the high seas and if his blood- 
 curdling stories were true, many a hapless craft fell into 
 his merciless hands. He enjoyed telling with what deft- 
 ness he could in those times split a man's head open, 
 
58 
 
 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 with his axe, exactly in the middle; ''one-half would 
 fall on to one shoulder and t'other half on t'other 
 shoulder, ugh ! ugh ! " Such grim and ghastly stories 
 made him a terror to all the children in the neighbor- 
 hood as well as to some of the older people, and his 
 habit of drinkino^ added not a little to his native fierce- 
 ness and terrifying power. During his life in Shrewsbury 
 he practiced none of his evil arts, seemingly satisfied 
 with reminiscences of the past. He lived in the small 
 house once occupied by Lorey Pease, son of the Captain, 
 quietly and industriously weaving baskets which he and 
 his wife Nancy went about the country to sell, enter- 
 taining his customers with his charming tales. These 
 Indians must have died about the year 1850. 
 
 To show their pleasure at the departure of these 
 undesirable neighbors, the village boys procured a bomb- 
 shell and, placing it in the brick oven, blew the house to 
 fraements. 
 
THE BALDWIN TAVERN AND ITS 
 VARIOUS OWNERS. 
 
 ON leaving the Pease Tavern and turning his 
 course westward, the traveller sees before him 
 the white spire of the old church, standing out 
 clear and distinct against the horizon ; nearer are the 
 roofs of some of the village houses which border the 
 hills to the northward. Nearer yet and at his left as 
 he descends the hill the green meadows extend to the 
 distant woodland, and at his right they rise into low 
 hills. In all directions the landscape breaks into pretty 
 pictures, and while charmed with these, his eye is 
 attracted to a ruinous building before him on the right 
 of the road, which excites his curiosity, and specula- 
 tions arise in his mind which lead him into the yard and 
 up to the very door. Three noble elms stand on the 
 broad common that lies between the building and the 
 road, and a merry brook courses along under their 
 shadows. Before reaching the door the outline of a 
 cellar wall is discerned, but the cellar itself is filled with 
 the stones that once formed a chimney, and now 
 
60 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 overgrown with a tangle of woodbine, ivy and black- 
 berry vines. Here, as elsewhere, Nature is striving to 
 make beautiful a most unsightly spot. The ancient 
 door stones are left uncovered by briar and woodbine as 
 if to keep in remembrance the forms that once tripped 
 lightly over into the hospitable doors beyond. Seeds 
 from the elms have been wafted among the stones, have 
 taken root, and are becoming stately trees, since the 
 house sheltered the lives of the last of the generations 
 that dwelt beneath its roof. A little beyond and toward 
 the hills are the ruins of an old barn, whose timbers gave 
 way before the winter's blast some years ago. The 
 sheds have gone in like manner and the one remaining 
 barn bears sisfus of soon sharinor- their fate. 
 
 o o 
 
 The house that once stood over the cellar now filled 
 with stones was the noted Baldwin Tavern, famed far 
 and near for its good cheer and its gentlemanly land- 
 lord. The date of its erection takes us back to the time 
 when our orchards and fields were covered with thick 
 forests, and a company of stout-hearted men lifted up 
 their axes against the mighty trees, and laid the founda- 
 tions of a town among the hills where Edward Rawson 
 made his search for saltpetre. Nahum Ward was one of 
 this company of men, and his was one of the forty 
 families who settled here, established a school, and 
 formed a church in accordance with the conditions of 
 the grant. Nahum Ward's first dwelling-house was near 
 the meeting-house and there his little son Benjamm died 
 
THE BALDWIN TAVERN AND ITS VARIOUS OWNERS 6 1 
 
 at the age of one year. This was the first death on the 
 town record. Nahuni Ward was a Heutenant in the 
 mihtia service. He was an enterprising man, and, as 
 various old deeds show, a large land-owner, adding to 
 his original grant by purchasing from time to time many 
 hundred acres. He bought in 1732 of William Pepperell 
 (who afterward became famous for leading in the siege 
 of Louisburg) and Nathaniel Balston of Boston for the 
 sum of one thousand pounds lawful money, one thou- 
 sand five hundred acres more or less, the land being 
 theirs by right of their wives, who inherited it from their 
 grandfather, the Honorable Samuel Sewall. In 1742 he 
 purchased for two hundred pounds a part of Nathaniel 
 Treadway's share of "the tract of land called by the 
 name of Haine's Great Farm," which farm contains 
 three thousand and two hundred acres. He built a 
 number of houses in different parts of the town, but the 
 Baldwin Tavern place he must have owned at a very 
 early period, for he selected this spot for his own resi- 
 dence, and removed there from Rocky Plain about 1725. 
 Selecting the spot upon which to build, he drew the 
 stones for his chimney and cellar walls, levelled the 
 sturdy oaks in the surrounding forest to get the strong- 
 est timbers for his house, and dug a well close by that 
 gave him a supply of good spring water which is clear 
 and cold to this day. The cellar walls being laid and 
 all things ready, he looked about him for men to help 
 raise the frame ; not finding a sui^cient force in town he 
 
62 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 mounted his horse and rode off to ^larlboro, arrayed in 
 his Heutenant's uniform, to rally his men who in merry 
 mood set out for the house-raising in Shrewsbury. The 
 ''scribe and tumble" rule for building- prevailed in those 
 days, by which each timber was iitted to its own place 
 and would fit in no other, which explains why in old 
 houses the beams are often larger at one end than at the 
 other, and why no two doors or windows are the same 
 size. In the middle of the house was the large stone 
 chimney expressive of durability, which would outlast a 
 dozen frames that might be successively built around it. 
 Great, wide-mouthed fireplaces were on three sides of it, 
 with immense stone mantels resting on the massive 
 jambs at either end. There were double outside doors 
 opening into the kitchen, through which a pair of oxen 
 drew the "eight foot logs'' for the fireplace. On the 
 north side of the chimney in the garret floor was an 
 open space about four feet square, enclosed on all sides 
 down to the cellar, with no aperture save at the top. 
 The exact purpose of this deep, dark place is not known, 
 but it was called "the dungeon" and may have been 
 intended for a hiding-place, as the times were perilous. 
 A little dog once fell to the bottom and was a prisoner 
 until a ladder was let down and he rescued from the 
 darkness, more frightened than hurt. 
 
 The house was square in shape with two stories and a 
 garret, and though durability was in those days the chief 
 requisite of a dwelling-house, to this one was added 
 
THE BALDWIN TAVERN AND ITS VARIOUS OWNERS 65 
 
 some display of taste in the finish, and three w^indows 
 with diamond shaped panes and leaden sashes gave a 
 little touch of grandeur to the style. 
 
 Martha the wife of Lieutenant Ward, true to her name, 
 was a provident house-wife, and had in abundance 
 everything necessary to the comfort of a well ordered 
 New England home of the olden time. She took pleas- 
 ure in furnishing her new home, arranging with pride in 
 the kitchen dresser, her store of brass, copper and pewter 
 utensils, shining as the dames of ancient days knew how 
 to make them shine, displaying her silver and china in 
 the new buffet, and fitting up her chambers with her 
 luxurious feather beds, her fine linen and her lace pillow- 
 biers. Lt. Nahum filled his bookcase with law books, 
 hung his silver-hilted swords over the fireplace in the 
 *'best room" and was ready for service either as magis- 
 trate or soldier. He was soon called upon to execute 
 the duties of the former office by pleading the cause of 
 the town against the people of Maiden, who were trying 
 to get possession of the now coveted Shrewsbury lands, 
 formerly held by them in light esteem. He was the 
 first representative to the legislature from this town and 
 served in the same capacity seven years, holding also 
 many town offices ; later in life he was appointed 
 Colonel of the militia and judge of the Worcester Court. 
 He died in 1754 and in his will mentions his wife most 
 affectionately, charging his executors to provide amply 
 for her comfort, giving her "six bushels of meal a year, 
 
66 OLD TIMES Ix\ SHREWSBURY 
 
 2 20 lbs. of meat, two barrels of cyder and a sufficiency of 
 apples for her own eating"' also that "they shall yearly 
 and every year provide a sufficiency of good fire wood, 
 cut fit for ye fire and laid at her Door, both summer and 
 Avinter. " He also bequeathed to her his " Riding Chair 
 and all the furniture thereunto belonging," and one half 
 of all his "household stuff besides the improvement of 
 my silver Can and six silver spoons," a goodly sum of 
 money and two good cows. Dr. Crosby's bill for at- 
 tendance in the last sickness of both Xahum and ]\Iartha 
 his wife, is yet preserved, 'Olarch 25th, 1754, Col. Xahum 
 Ward Dr. To seven visets& Sundry Medicines ;^. o - 15-6 
 To medicine for Mrs. Patty 0-6-9 J^^^^e 25th, 1755. 
 The widow I\Irs. Martha Ward Deb. to 8 visets Bleeding 
 & Med. jC. o. - 15 - I 
 
 Errors excepted 
 Sami Crosby. 
 
 The "r\Irs. Patty" in the bill was a daughter who was 
 an invalid all her life, though she lived to be seventy 
 years old. There is in the family a silver spoon which 
 belonged to her and with which she used to stir the por- 
 ridge in her silver porringer as she lay on her couch ; 
 nearly one half of the spoon is worn away with the con- 
 stant stirring. This spoon is treasured as a memorial of 
 ''Aunt Patty." 
 
 Among Col. Ward's papers is the following bill of sale. 
 
 *'Be it known to all by these presents, that I Nathaniel 
 Henchman of Lynn, in the County of Essex in the Prov- 
 
^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 •^^ 
 
 '>^^ 
 
 
 J 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 ^:ti^^j 
 
THE BALDWIN TAVERN AND ITS VARIOUS OWNERS 6/ 
 
 ince of the Massachusetts Bay in New England Clerk, 
 for and in Consideration of the sum of Seventy Eight 
 Pounds in province Bills to me truly paid and signed 
 by Nahum Ward of Shrewsbury in the County of Midd^ 
 in his Majesties Province above s^ yeoman have Sold 
 and Delivered to the S^ Ward My Negro Boy Servant 
 named Caesar for & During the whole term of Sd Boy's 
 Natural Life always hereafter to be and abide to the Sole 
 Use Benefit & Service of the S^ Ward his heirs Executors 
 Administrs & Assigns, & I Do hereby become obliged to 
 Defend my Sd Negro Servt to the Sd Ward against the 
 lawful Claims of any whomsoever. In witness whereof 
 I have hereto Sett my hand and seal this 15th day of No- 
 vember Anno Dom' 1728 
 
 Nathaniel Henchman. 
 
 Signed and Sealed in ye presence of 
 
 Nathel Henchman 
 
 Mary Henchman : Seal. : 
 Abagail -|- Newhalls : : 
 
 mark. 
 
 The year after the death of Colonel Ward 160 acres of 
 the place, including the buildings, was sold for 540 
 pounds 13 shillings, to Henry Baldwin, of Pelham, N. H. , 
 who opened there a public house, put a bar across a 
 corner of the southwest room, and set up a tall sign post 
 in the yard, upon which it was announced to the way- 
 farer that here was to be found refreshment for man and 
 beast. Near the sign stood the old mile stone, now 
 
6S OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 prostrate, proclaiming, by its white letters upon a black 
 surface, that Boston was thirty-six miles away. Henry 
 Baldwin proved himself to be a model landlord ; hos- 
 pitable, genial and attentive to the wants of his cus- 
 tomers, he soon achieved renown in his calling. The 
 handsome tavern, freshened by a new coat of yellow 
 paint, presented an attractive appearance to the weary 
 traveller who was at once conducted to the bar where 
 the most refreshing drink w^as offered him, and whether 
 the partaker was too warm or too cold it always put him 
 in proper condition. The bar had a handsome railing of 
 small rods for ornament, and an outside door opened 
 just beside it. One evening old Richard Grimes of Hub- 
 bardston, who had not neglected the bars of other 
 taverns on the way, on drawing rein at this hospitable 
 door, forgot to leave his horse outside, and forthwith 
 into the bar-room came horse and rider for a most un- 
 needed drink. This is the Grimes immortalized in the 
 familiar song, written by Albert G. Green, who lived in 
 the latter part of the last century and the first of the 
 present. It is noticeable that in this curious poem the 
 first two lines of each stanza refer to his character and 
 the last two to his apparel. 
 
 OLD GRIMES. 
 
 Old Grimes is dead, that good old man 
 We ne'er shall see him more ; 
 
 He used to wear a long blue coat 
 All buttoned down before. 
 
THE BALDWIN TAVERN AND ITS VARIOUS OWNERS 69 
 
 His heart was open as the day, 
 
 His feelings all were true ; 
 His hair was some inclined to grey 
 
 He wore it in a queue. 
 
 Whene'er he heard the voice of pain, 
 
 His heart with pity burned ; 
 The large round head upon his cane 
 
 From ivory was turned. 
 
 Kind words he ever had for all, 
 
 He knew no fell design ; 
 His eyes were dark and rather small, 
 
 His nose was aquiline. 
 
 He lived at peace with all mankind, 
 
 In friendship he was true ; 
 His coat had pocket-holes behind, 
 
 His pantaloons were blue. 
 
 Unharmed, the sin which earth pollutes. 
 
 He passed serenely o'er ; 
 And never wore a pair of boots, 
 
 For thirty years or more. 
 
 But good Old Grimes is now at rest, 
 
 Nor fears misfortune's frown ; 
 He wore a double-breasted vest, 
 
 The stripes ran up and down. 
 
yO OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 He modest merit sought to find, 
 
 And pay it its desert ; 
 He had no malice in his mind, 
 
 No ruffles on his shirt. 
 
 His worldly goods he never threw 
 
 In trust to Fortune's dances, 
 But lived (as all his brothers do) 
 
 In easy circumstances. 
 
 * His neighbors he did not abuse, 
 
 Was sociable and gay ; 
 He wore large buckles on his shoes 
 And changed them every day. 
 
 His knowledge, hid from public gaze. 
 
 He did not bring to view ; 
 Nor make a noise town-meeting days, 
 
 As many people do. 
 
 Thus undisturbed by anxious cares, 
 
 His peaceful moments ran ; 
 And everybody said he was 
 A fine old gentleman. 
 There were many "fine old gentlemen" of the Grimes 
 stamp frequenting that bar-room, and people of all 
 degrees and trades stopped at the Baldwin Tavern. 
 Tradition whispers that some time in the remote past 
 a dark deed was committed within those walls. A 
 
THE BALDWIN' TAVERN AND ITS VARIOUS OWNERS 7 1 
 
 certain night two travellers arrived and took lodging in 
 the same room. In the mornins^ one of them was 
 missing and the other was found dead. The blood 
 stains upon the bedstead caused it to be laid aside in 
 the garret where it remained, filling that corner of the 
 garret with spectres to those superstitiously inclined. 
 Who the unfortunate man was, who was his evil dis- 
 posed companion, or to what place he fled, are matters 
 unknown to history and unsung by tradition. 
 
 The family parlor was the southeast room, which had 
 no door but the one into the front entry, and the other 
 part of the house could not be reached except through 
 the bar-room. 
 
 This was not always an agreeable transit for the 
 young ladies, who sometimes found a way through a 
 vv^indow and reached the kitchen by a run outside the 
 house. There were seven daughters belonging to this 
 household; and seven girls will make any house merry; 
 so we must believe that there Avere few dull hours in the 
 family that lived in the Baldwin Tavern. Only two of 
 these daughters married Shrewsbury men. Mary mar- 
 ried Elisha Ward, the son of Nahum; they went to live 
 in Petersham. Lucretia became the wife of Jonas Stone, 
 who established the Stone homestead near the church, 
 now owned by Mr. Frederick Stone of Boston, grandson 
 of Jonas and Lucretia, who has repaired and enlarged it 
 for his summer residence. 
 
 Before the Revolutionary \\'ar, the large yard in front 
 
^2 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 of the Baldwin Tavern was used as a training ground 
 for one of the military companies, formed to accustom 
 the farmers to the use of firearms and prepare them for 
 actual service. Henry Baldwin's mother married a 
 second husband, Col. John Jones of Hopkinton, and 
 after his death came to live with her son, who built an 
 addition to his house for her use ; this is "the part now 
 standing. It was a snug little home for Lady Jones, 
 two rooms below and one above with a fireplace in 
 each and little cupboards for her china and silver. 
 There by the west window sat the fair dame of one 
 hundred years in her white ruffled cap and kerchief, her 
 spinning wheel in the corner, and by her side a little 
 stand containing a few treasured books. In 1793, en 
 the day when she completed her century of life, the Rev. 
 Dr. Sumner took her to a sleighride, and though we do 
 not hear that she had any robe to throw about her save 
 a camlet cloak, we do not hear either that she came 
 near freezing, or took a dreadful cold, or any such thing, 
 but that she had a real good time and lived to take tea 
 with ]\Irs. Sumner on her birthday three years later "in 
 good health and enjoying Reason/' as Dr. Sumner wrote 
 in his journal. Two years longer she lived in her cosy 
 rooms, reading and knitting and spinning, the neigh- 
 bors' children making the rooms merry with their 
 games — the favorite place for them to hide in playing 
 "hide and whoop" was under Grandma Jones' big 
 apron ; as this mysterious hiding-place was well known 
 
THE BALDWIN TAVERN AND ITS VARIOUS OWNERS 75 
 
 to all partakers of the game, there was always a rush 
 for it and a great rush away from it, sometimes nearly 
 dislodging the old lady from her chair, who after all 
 enjoyed the fun and laughed with the children while she 
 replaced her spectacles and rearranged her cap. Lady 
 Jones' fireplaces are desolate now and the cranes move 
 on rusty hinges. Instead of children's voices, the winds 
 howl and storms drive through the sashless windows, 
 and blood-stains are upon the floor she once kept so 
 white, and daily sanded with care. 
 
 Henry Baldwin died in Nov., 1789, leaving his son 
 Henry in possession of the place. But his reign in the 
 Tavern was short, for the next month he fell from the 
 beams in the barn, breaking his neck. The place then 
 came into possession of Capt. Aaron Smith, whose son 
 Ashbel in time married the widow Baldwin. Capt. Smith 
 for some years kept up the tavern, which had become 
 famous. People far and near had heard of its fame and 
 travellers lengthened or shortened a day's journey that 
 they might see for themselves the glories of the Baldwin 
 Tavern. 
 
 Aaron Smith was a noted man in these parts ; he was 
 an intrepid soldier, having been engaged in the expe- 
 dition against Canada, and was one of the few Shrews- 
 bury men who fought at Bunker Hill. Having scented 
 the battle from afar, he evaded the sentry at Charles- 
 town, and was firing away with all his might at the 
 British from behind the hay fence, when a negro at his 
 
74 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 side became so crippled by a ball from the enemy that 
 he could not rise to discharge his g"un, but he could load 
 his own as well as Smith's while the latter fired them 
 both off until the ammunition was expended. Smith 
 then took the negro on his back to carry him off the 
 field, but the enemy's balls coming thick and fast, one 
 of them shattering the gun in his hand, he was obliged 
 to leave the negro to his fate, only saving himself by 
 a hasty retreat. He lived to fight under Lafayette when 
 they had "such a terrible time in the Jarseys, " and com- 
 manded a company of men m the time of the Shays rebel- 
 lion, of which we shall hear more in another chapter. 
 
 The stories which he related in his old age of his 
 many adventures were listened to with great interest, 
 but being then unwritten are lost to us except the few 
 fragments which we have by tradition. 
 
 When Lafayette came to Worcester m 1824, the Shrews- 
 L»ury Rifle Company was accorded the post of honor in 
 his escort. ]\Iany gray-haired soldiers pressed forward 
 in the crowd to greet their old commander, and among 
 them Aaron Smith, who in his eighty-ninth year walked 
 from his home to see him. Lafayette at once recognized 
 him and most affectionately embraced him. Captain 
 Smith presented him with a cane which he had carved 
 from a grape-vine brought from the Jerseys, which he 
 accepted with pleasure. Smith was a famous carver of 
 canes and there are some specimens of his skill yet in 
 existence. He was anticipating much satisfaction in 
 
THE BALDWIN TAVERN AND ITS VARIOUS OWNERS 
 
 /D 
 
 being present at the laying of the corner stone of Bunker 
 Hill monument in 1825, but the old man died without 
 the sight on the ninth of the May previous. 
 
 Some years before his death he removed to the west- 
 erly part of the town, having sold the Baldwin place to 
 ]Mr. Samuel Bullard, who kept the tavern open a few 
 3'ears, then closing his doors upon the public sold no 
 more comforting drinks from the bar and took down the 
 sign from the tall sign-post by the milestone near the 
 road. Then travellers instead of taking the well known 
 turn into the yard, gaided their horses by, looking sadly 
 at the old place and thinking of the jovial times in the 
 by-gone days, with a sigh drove on to Haven's, a mile 
 beyond, or to Pease's, in the other direction. 
 
 The house still wore the friendly look, but the sign- 
 post looked forlorn, at least so thought the neighboring 
 boys, who one night decorated it to their satisfaction and 
 in the morning when the owner took his stroll under the 
 elms, he saw a great yellow pumpkin swinging from 
 the hook which once held the sign. This was the last 
 day of the tall sign-post ; before night it had been lev- 
 elled to the ground, Samuel Bullard wishing to have no 
 more boy's pranks played upon it. It was incorporated 
 into the frame of the yellow barn now standing. He 
 once told a neighbor that there was a large sum of 
 money buried upon the farm, that no one would ever 
 find should he die suddenly. Not long after, while 
 ■driving in his wagon around the corner by Haven's 
 
76 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 tavern, his horse became frightened at a curtain blowing- 
 from a window and, starting suddenly to run, Mr. Bullard 
 was thrown out injuring his neck so seriously that he- 
 died soon after. It is not known that any discovery was 
 ever made of the buried money. Samuel Bullard's son 
 Jason inherited the place w^hich had been the scene of 
 so many and varied experiences, and at his death it 
 passed into the possession of his children, who are still 
 the owners. It was in 1864 that the house was torn 
 down. For many years it had given .unmistakable 
 evidence of decay ; its late owners had not kept it in 
 repair and winds and storms had played with it un- 
 molested. The timbers were settling at the corners of 
 the rooms and breaking away from the chimneys, the 
 board partitions were warped, and the floors sinking in 
 the middle, in some places broken through and the 
 entire structure going to ruin, except the part built for 
 Lady Jones, which was quite secure, and in it the Bullard 
 sons (the only ones of the family remaining here) took 
 up their abode before the demolition of the ancient part 
 took place. This was a more formidable task than had 
 been anticipated, for although it had such a dilapidated 
 look, there was yet great strength in the wooden pins 
 that held the beams together, and that for some time 
 refused to yield to the united efforts of several pair of 
 oxen to break them apart, for Nahum Ward had built his 
 house to last. The great chimney required more than 
 a steady pull from the oxen to lay it prostrate ; it was 
 
THE BALDWIN TAVERN AND ITS VARIOUS OWNERS 77 
 
 firm as the pyramids of Egypt, until a battering ram 
 was in some way constructed and the masonry attacked 
 with it. This proved successful, and the chimney with 
 its fireplaces which spoke of warmth and comfort, soon 
 became the pile of stones which Nature has so gracefully 
 concealed with her vines and spreading elms. 
 
 Twelve years later Lady Jones' kitchen became the 
 scene of a tragedy which is still remembered with 
 horror. Ever since that dreadful night in October, 1876, 
 when the whole village was startled by the cold-blooded 
 inurder o«f John Bullard, a peaceable, inoffensive man, 
 the house has stood empty, save as it has been a shelter 
 for squirrels, bats and owls and for homeless cats — or 
 for passing tramps who take refuge there for a night. 
 People who favor ghost stories say that the place is 
 haunted ; be that as it may, it is certainly dismal and 
 forlorn enough by day, and in the moonlight when the 
 wind rattles the loose boards, sets the doors groaning 
 on their rusty hinges, howls up the deserted stairway 
 and the cold chimney, it is uncanny — a place for hags 
 to rest awhile from their broomstick rides and chat with 
 the bats and owls and cats, while they search out the 
 blood-stains upon the floor ! But we would rather leave 
 the witches with their weird companions to their mid- 
 night mutterings, and think of dear old Lady Jones in 
 the far-away years rocking and knitting and singing her 
 psalms. 
 
yS OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 "The leaning barn about to fall 
 
 Resounds no more on husking eves : 
 
 No cattle low in yard or stall, 
 No thresher beats his sheaves. 
 
 "So sad, so drear ! It seems almost 
 Some haunting presence makes its sign 
 
 That down yon shadowy lane some ghost 
 Might drive his spectral kine !" 
 
 THE LAST OF MRS. JONES CHAIRS. 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH. 
 
 ABOUT the middle of the last century, eight young- 
 men set out on horseback from their native town 
 Pomfret, Conn., for Yale College, Oliver Gros- 
 venor, a young lad of ten years and brother of one, 
 going with them to bring back the horses. This novel 
 procession attracted much attention as they passed 
 through the village, and a lady from Massachusetts who 
 was visiting in Pomfret asked what was to b'e done with 
 all those young men. The laughing reply was ''We 
 are going to send them as missionaries into Massachu- 
 setts. " The answer was prophetic, for six of the eight 
 were afterward settled over churches in this state. 
 
 The death of the Rev. Job Cushing left the Shrews- 
 bury church without a minister. To obtain another was 
 a serious matter, and a day of fasting and prayer was 
 appointed by the church, to the end that the Lord would 
 guide them in their choice. The one whom they finally 
 chose was Mr. Joseph Sumner, one of the eight young 
 men from Pomfret. He in the meantime had graduated 
 
8o OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 from Vale College with honors, in the class of 1759, ^^^ 
 taught school the next winter in Charlton, Mass., and in 
 the spring had commenced preparing for the ministry 
 with his pastor, Rev. Aaron Putnam, in Pomfret. 
 
 During the summer of 1781 he preached here accord- 
 ing to request, but declined to remain longer, as he did 
 not desire an early settlement. In March the next year, 
 the church again sought him, and sent him a formal call, 
 which he accepted. 
 
 His long and successful pastorate shows that their 
 choice was well made. The salary agreed upon was 
 sixty-six pounds a year, six pounds more than his prede- 
 cessor, INIr. Cushing, received. ]Mr. Sumner in preparing 
 for his new work, and in accordance with his ideas of 
 propriety, had his hair cut short, and put on a wig in 
 honor of his ordination, never appearing in public after 
 that without one. 
 
 The day decided upon for the ordination was the 
 twenty-third of June, 1762, and the day being fine, 
 people from the surrounding towns came in large num- 
 bers to witness the ceremony. It was thought unwise 
 to crowd the meeting-house, which was small and too 
 old to be secure. Consequently, when the preparations 
 for the occasion were made, a platform was erected out- 
 side, upon which the services were conducted. 
 
 The council consisted of nine ministers with their 
 delegates, and it was voted to observe the day solemnly, 
 as a day of fasting and prayer. And so it is to be 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH Si 
 
 supposed that they had their ordination, and that the 
 council got no dinner ! 
 
 The next year Mr. Sumner bought for his residence 
 the house and land owned and occupied by Artemas 
 Ward, then Colonel under King George. When he had 
 all things in readiness, he went to Pomfret to marry 
 Miss Lucy Williams, a worthy young lady of great 
 refinement and intelligence, fr(5m an ancient and noted 
 family, and he writes in his note book June 8th, "We 
 came to live at our own house." Mr. Sumner was not 
 long in winning the favor of his parishioners and he 
 was, in all respects, a man to whom they could look 
 up. Mentally he was strong, calm, and equal to all 
 emergencies. Physically he was tall, with a com- 
 manding figure, which he carried with great dignity, 
 his height of six feet and four inches making him a 
 Saul among his people. 
 
 The majesty of his appearance, with his white wig, 
 and his three-cornered hat, from underneath which shone 
 a pair of dark, piercing eyes, sent a feeling of awe 
 through the young, and the boys never failed to take off 
 their hats when they met his venerated form on the 
 street. 
 
 A child seeing him for the first time ran into the house 
 and told his mother that he had seen God ! To his dig- 
 nity there was added that courtly and saintly grace, that 
 showed him to be a gentleman and a Christian; and 
 beneath all was his large, kind heart that had room for 
 
Sz OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 all his people. His kindly sympathy carried comfort to 
 the homes he visited, and his genial good nature made 
 him everywhere welcome. He was a busy man with 
 his farming, his visiting, and writing two sermons a 
 week, sometimes three, and on Saturday afternoons 
 hearing the school children recite their catechisms. 
 
 His sermons were attractive, not being so long as to 
 be wearisome, but always containing that which was 
 not only worth listening to, but which was also well 
 worth remembering. Though not gifted with great 
 fluency of speech, his language was eloquent, and his 
 words convincing. 
 
 Four years passed away, and the old meeting-house 
 was found to be far too small to accommodate the large 
 audiences that flocked .to hear ]\Ir. Sumner preach. It 
 was the custom for every one to go to church ; the 
 town was growing, the inhabitants were enterprising, 
 and ambitious to have their town as progressive as 
 others about them, and they voted in town-meeting to 
 build a new and more commodious meeting-house. 
 Where it should be erected was a serious question and 
 caused quite a dissension between those who lived on 
 Rocky Plain and the more remote dwellers in the south. 
 The north precinct had been set off as a separate parish 
 and called Boylston. Those in the south still travelled 
 four miles every Sabbath day to the meeting-house 
 and having done this for twenty years or more, they 
 requested the town to place the new meeting-house 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH 85 
 
 nearer to them and thus equahze the distance to it from 
 all parts of the town. If this could not be done they 
 wished to set off as a separate parish like their northern 
 brethren. Feeling hurt that little attention was paid to 
 their protests and entreaties, a lengthy petition was sent 
 to the legislature, in which their woes were set forth 
 and redress prayed for. For some reason they with- 
 drew this petition and the new house was erected on 
 Rocky Plain very near the old one. In those times 
 preaching was supported by the town, and consequently 
 a general interest was taken in the new house of wor- 
 ship. A building committee was chosen, whose pur- 
 pose was to have the work well and thoroughly done, 
 and home labor was to be preferred to any other. The 
 timbers were all selected from the Shrewsbury forests 
 and hewn by the sturdy owners ; Shrewsbury black- 
 smiths made the nails and the architect himself, Mr. 
 Daniel Heminway, was a Shrewsbury man and a famous 
 church builder. All things being ready, the town voted 
 to raise the building on the thirteenth of May, to provide 
 a good supper and to send to Boston for a barrel of rum, 
 probably the latter to keep up the spirits of the workmen 
 and because it was a day to be remembered to all gen- 
 erations. We are not told that there were any corner- 
 stone ceremonies, or that the supper provoked any after 
 speeches. That was an entirely practical company of 
 men who wiped the drops from their faces that warm 
 afternoon, and sat down to refresh themselves with the 
 
§4 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 sumptuous repast which the willing hands of the wives 
 and sisters had prepared while the work was going on. 
 The men were weary; all day since six o'clock in the 
 morning they had labored hard to fit the mighty timbers 
 into their places and fasten them together with the 
 strong oaken pins that were to hold them for an un- 
 known number of years. The work for that day was 
 finished and they viewed it with great satisfaction as 
 they were eating their supper on the common in the 
 fresh breeze of the early evening. The setting sun 
 threw a glory over the newly hewn timbers, on that day 
 raised to a new honor, as if the blessing of Heaven were 
 descending upon the labor of their hands. 
 
 The sturdy yeomen may have felt this, for they had 
 done their work faithfully and well, as the structure itself 
 testifies that has stood through the storms and tempests 
 of more than a century, that even the lightning stroke 
 failed to destroy and is in 1892 apparently good for a 
 hundred years to come. IMr. Sumner in his journal says 
 ''July 7, 1766, The old House was taken down. July 
 13, 1766, Being Lord's Day we met ye first time in the 
 new House, upon wh. occasion I preached from Genesis 
 2S chapter & ye 17 verse — 'This is none other but the 
 house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven.'" The 
 new meeting-house, forty-five feet wide and sixty long, 
 had at first no steeple or bell — they waited forty-two 
 years for those ; the ornamentation, though simple, was 
 artistic both inside and out, and all was painted white. 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH 85 
 
 Although the color of the inside has several times been 
 changed, the white church remains yet a landmark to all 
 the country round. The style of architecture belonging 
 to that period may be seen in a few other buildings in 
 town, the Haven Tavern being one. There were porches 
 on the east and west ends, and a larger one on the south 
 side. This was the main entrance and opened on to the 
 broad aisle, which extended back to the pulpit on the 
 north side. The aisles from the east and west porches 
 met at the broad aisle and there were lesser aisles lead- 
 ing from these to the different pews. A gallery ran 
 around three sides of the house, in the south part of 
 which sat the choir. It was in 1765, the last year of tlie 
 old meeting-house, that "Jedediah Tucker and Jonathan 
 Wheelock were chosen by the clrk. to set the psalm in 
 public worship." Stoves were at that time unknown 
 and the new house was as cold as the old one. Old 
 ladies had their foot-stoves which they carried filled 
 with live coals and replenished at the minister's fire- 
 place at noon, while they sat there to warm themselves, 
 eat their luncheon and talk over the morning-sermon, 
 speculating meanwhile on what the subject for the after- 
 noon might be. The pews were built after the old his- 
 toric pattern, square with high backs and seats on three 
 sides, and doors that might be closed in cold weather to 
 prevent a circulation of air and the escape of heat from 
 the foot-stoves. If the pews were crowded, and there 
 were boys in the family, one of them must sit in the 
 
86 OLD TI.MES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 doorway. The seats were on hinges, to allow them to 
 be lifted and give standing room for the people when 
 they rose to pray or sing. The prayer or singing- being- 
 over the seats were let down again upon their braces, 
 and if this were not done with the greatest care, a gen- 
 eral clatter ensued, which was usually the case. There 
 was one boy (who at ninety told the story with great 
 zest,) to whose ears this clatter was music. He decided 
 one day that the next Sabbath he would manfully do his 
 papt in this portion of the service so dehghtftd to him. 
 Waiting until the long prayer was over, throwing all his 
 fervor into the act, he brought his seat down with a 
 bang that sent a thrill of joy through his soul. His 
 father's hand ' on his shoulder gave him another thrill 
 which quickly dissipated the first, and it is enough to 
 say that he replaced his seat more quietly in the future. 
 Any invention for physical comfort in meeting was 
 considered an innovation and it was with some distrust 
 that the "lolling table'' was received. This was the 
 rather indolent name for what was perhaps a necessary 
 comfort to some in those days of long services, being a 
 small shelf on which the elderly weary could rest their 
 heads without fearing the stick of the tjthing man who is 
 supposed to have been always on the alert to awaken 
 all the sleeping children and drive out all the little dogs 
 who would not sleep. 'Sir. Simon ^Nlaynard introduced 
 the first of these tables into his own pew for his own 
 special relief when the sermon was too long. He soon 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH Sj 
 
 found occasion to try his new method of restful worship, 
 and when the sermon was in its seventhly he quietly 
 bowed his head. No .sooner did the board feel the 
 pressure, than the supporting hook gave way and down 
 went the table ; down, too, went his head, to his extreme 
 mortification — reminding one of the miserere of the 
 monks which fell the moment one leaned heavily upon 
 it, thus revealing his weakness and wickedness in be- 
 coming weary with standing through the long service. 
 But the people of Shrewsbury church were not like the 
 monks of old and the sinfulness of ease being less 
 apparent to them than formerly, Mr. Maynard's unfor- 
 tunate ^mishap did not deter others from providing them- 
 selves with these comforting and convenient rests, 
 making sure, however, that the hooks were securely 
 fastened. In some of the primitive churches the pews 
 were made each by a different individual. When a man 
 desired a pew he made his own and though conforming 
 to the general pattern he exercised his taste or consulted 
 his convenience in the kind of wood used and the quality 
 of the finish. The work all being done by hand the 
 result was that some of them were well made ; in others 
 the corner posts were unlike in height and size, and all 
 roughly hewn. This may have been the case with the 
 first meeting-house in Shrewsbury, but the one which 
 we are describing was proper in all its appointments 
 and the work skilfully done. 
 
 Mr. Sumner's fame was not long in reaching beyond 
 
00 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 his own town. His opinions began to be held in great 
 regard among the ministers in the region, and were 
 sought on all occasions when weighty matters were 
 under consideration. And so in time, no ministers 
 meeting or council was thought to be complete with- 
 out his presence, and his superior judgment. 
 
 During the Revolutionary War he was a firm patriot 
 in the struggle for liberty, and his influence was always 
 on the side of the Colonists ; his sympathy and thoughts 
 were with those who had gone out from among his own 
 people into the perils and hardships of war. His letter 
 to the Shrewsbury soldiers in the Army under Washing- 
 ton, after the defeat on Long Island, while they were 
 camped in New York, reveals the tender solicitude 
 which he felt for those absent members of his flock, 
 and after peace was declared no one rejoiced more than 
 he over the return of the soldiers. 
 
 Notwithstanding the meagreness of his salary, this 
 *' farmer minister"" and his estimable helpmeet man- 
 aged by diligent industry and strict economy to bring 
 up and educate eight children, and in 1797 he built for 
 himself a new house, quite near to the old one, which 
 he left for his son Joseph at the time of his marriage. 
 This was removed about fifty years ago to the spot 
 where it now stands, east of the house formed by the 
 largest portion of the Haven Tavern. 
 
 It was in 1783 that "the church voted to have the 
 psalm read line by line at the communion table.'" In 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH 8g 
 
 1790 "the church chose Mr. John Stow, and Mr. Vashni 
 Heminway to assist in leading the singers in perform- 
 ing that part of divine service in the congregation. " In 
 February, 1791, "voted to begin to sing Dr. Watt's ver- 
 sion of the Psahiis with his Hymns, the first Sabbath in 
 March next, provided there be no objections lodged with 
 the pastor, from the congregation before that time," and 
 "some conversation had about the expediency of having 
 a bass viol in the congregation." In 1798 "Captain 
 Knowlton, who had served for many years as chorister, 
 desired that some others might be chosen to lead in the 
 singing. " The church considered his request and invi- 
 ted the congregation, and the singers in particular "to 
 join in the choice of some suitable persons to lead in the 
 singing." The persons chosen were Dr. Paul Dean, Mr. 
 Shepherd Pratt and Mr. Ebenezer Drury. 
 
 Those were Shrewsbury's palmy days, when in the 
 majesty of his full white wig and muslin bands Mr. 
 .Sumner looked down upon his audience from the great 
 white pulpit, which was roomy enough for half the min- 
 isters in the county. It was reached by a flight of stairs 
 from the aisle below and entered by a door which the 
 minister could close and fasten. A soundino^ board hune 
 over him as he preached, to send his solemn words to 
 every ear, and above all, the representation of a flame 
 of fire, typified the aspirations of the soul and the ascent 
 of the prayers to Heaven. Such an audience has never 
 l)een gathered in Shrewsbury since those days. Every 
 
go 
 
 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 family in town was represented. There were men whose 
 titles gave evidence of the worth they had been to their 
 country, and, magnificent in their queues and powdered 
 hair, their lace ruffles, velvet breeches and silver shoe 
 buckles, they bore themselves with great dignity, waiting 
 upon the quaintly dressed ladies in high-heeled slippers 
 
 DR. SUMXER. 
 
 and huge poke bonnets, showing them into the different 
 pews, some turning one way and some another through 
 the various aisles, in the most delightful, orderly confusion. 
 Before the minister and almost beneath his eyes was 
 the deacon's seat and the pew for the elderly and the 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH 9 1 
 
 deaf. At the right sat Dr. Edward FHnt, the army 
 surg-eon. Nearer yet was the Sumner family pew, 
 where the beneficent madam sat with kindly grace 
 among her children, and where after the service was 
 over, the minister joined them and together they walked 
 down the broad aisle, the congregation respectfully 
 standing until they had passed out. At the left of the 
 pulpit was Luther Goddard the watchmaker, who after 
 a time, left the preaching of Dr. Sumner, became a 
 Baptist and turned preacher himself General Ward and 
 his wife came in at the 'south porch, taking their seats 
 on the west of the broad aisle. Captain Nathan Howe 
 had a conspicuous seat in front, near the pulpit. He 
 was an officer at Lake George in the French War, and 
 also commanded a company at Dorchester when the 
 earthworks were thrown up in the night which sent the 
 British out of Boston. 
 
 Daniel Heminway, the meeting-house builder, sat in 
 the southwest corner and with him his son Vashni, the 
 town clerk, and this is where he stood to read the mar- 
 riage bans. 
 
 Deacon Benjamin Goddard's pew was at the left of 
 the pulpit near the northeast corner of the house. It 
 was on a Sunday afternoon, February twenty-fourth, 
 1799, while he was listening to one of Mr. Sumner's 
 soul-stirring sermons that two of his children left at 
 home took a lighted candle and went into the cellar to 
 get some apples to eat. There was straw in the cellar, 
 
92 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 and Artemas, a little fellow not yet four years old, 
 thought it would burn and make a pretty sight ; one 
 touch of the candle and all was. in a blaze, the frightened 
 children ran out and were saved, but the house and 
 most of its contents were burned when Deacon Goddard 
 reached the spot after the service was over. Deacon 
 Goddard was the great-grandfather of the present Henry 
 L. Goddard. In one of the pews sat Dr. Crosby, one of 
 Shrewsbury's first physicians, and a distinguished army 
 surgeon. In the great middle pew on the west side was 
 Captain Levi Pease, the veteran stage driver and his 
 wife, dignified as a duchess. 
 
 jMrs. Sally Henshaw came in taking her seat on the east 
 side, every one turning to see her handsome face and 
 fine gown made in Boston. Sheriff Ward and his wife 
 sat on the south side ; she is said to have been the 
 handsomest girl that went a shopping in Worcester, and 
 he the strono^est man in all the re2:ion. A union of 
 manly strength and womanly beauty rarely seen. 
 
 Near the eastern entrance was Henry Baldwin, the 
 keeper of Baldwin Tavern, with his wife and aged 
 mother, ]Mrs. ]Mary Jones, who was bright and brisk as 
 a girl, and there listening to the sermon every Sunday, 
 though near her one hundredth birthday. In the next 
 pews were Col. Seth Wyman and Deacon Wheelock. 
 j\Ir. Sam Haven, the tavern keeper, sat next to the door 
 on the south side of the aisle. On the west side was 
 Mrs. Rebecca Symmes, lovely with her white hair and 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH C$ 
 
 English ways. Her husband, who was an officer in the 
 Revokition, died during that period, and she boarded 
 with Mr. Joseph Nourse. On New Year's day, 1790, she 
 was pubhshed for marriage to the Rev. Ebenezer Morse 
 of the North Precinct (now Boylston) but as she was a 
 widow of an American soldier, and he a rank tory, ob- 
 jections were made to the marriage by her friends, and 
 she always after remained the ''Widow Symmes." 
 
 In Dr. Sumner's latter days his son Joseph and his 
 family occupied a pew near the south door. One Sunday 
 a current of air passing through the church was keenly 
 felt by the aged minister, and no one, not even the 
 tithing-man, seemed to notice his discomfort. After 
 waiting in vain for some time, hoping for relief and get- 
 ting none, he called out in a decided tone to one of 
 Joseph's sons— "James, shut that door." The youthful 
 and obedient James, with those keen eyes upon him, 
 loitered not though the eyes of half the congregation 
 were upon him also. 
 
 The following account is taken from an old journal 
 written in 18 15. ''Sunday August 12th. This day in 
 the afternoon a young turkey was driven into the church, 
 and it by degrees flew on to the Pulpit beside Dr. Sum- 
 ner while he was at prayer, and without any noise stood 
 upon the Bible with as little concern as it would have 
 done on the ground. Thus it stood while he baptised 
 Mr. Gill's child by the name of Henry Baldwin. When 
 we sat down to smg the last tune it left the Pulpit and 
 
94 
 
 OLD THIES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 went on to the Beam over Dea. Goddard's pew, all 
 this, except when he first came m the house, and until 
 we were dismissed, was without one peep or noise 
 from the turkey." 
 
 From ]Mr. Sumner's Journal — "April 1792. According 
 to a Vote of the town of Shrewsbury, the three hinder 
 seats in the meeting house were taken up & six pews 
 built which sold for about 140 pounds, beside the Gift 
 building, which is to remain as a fund the Interest of 
 which is to be appropriated for the support of the 
 Gospel." 
 
 It was during Dr. Sumner's pastorate that the dark 
 clouds of doctrinal controversy arose in New England. 
 But he vv^as at all times for peace, and never engaged in 
 strife, so through the storm he stood quietly firm, preach- 
 ing the peace of the Gospel. His life among the Shrews- 
 bury people appears to have been blameless, though he 
 had a humble opinion of his own merits. When eighty- 
 two years old he writes, "I wish to cultivate a sub- 
 missive spirit." The whole of his journal shows not 
 only a submissive spirit, but sensitive nature and a for- 
 giving disposition. When the town, feeling its own 
 poverty, refused to make any consideration on account 
 of the depreciation in the value of continental money, 
 which reduced his salary one-half, he says pathetically 
 "What is providentially taken from me I can possibly 
 submit to, but what is unjustly detained by those I have 
 exerted myself to serve, wounds one. "' 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH 95 
 
 To obtain a clear idea of the grandeur and beauty of 
 his character one should read his published Memoir and 
 Journal. In the latter his affectionate nature shines out 
 when he speaks of his anxious, sleepless nights, when 
 any trouble touched his children or when anything came 
 between him and his '' dear people." 
 
 Forty-seven years after his marriage death took his 
 beloved wife, his "amiable consort" of whom he writes, 
 "Her domestic virtues were equalled by few, excelled 
 by none ; her piety was exemplary." It is probable that 
 in the history of the town no man's influence has been 
 .so healthful, so widespread and so enduring as that of 
 Dr. Sumner. For sixty-two years he held the foremost 
 place among this people, and those years included the 
 most eventful time in the Nation's history. 
 
 It was late in life that the degree of Doctor of Divinity 
 was conferred upon him. This was done in 1814 by 
 Yale College and also about the same time by Columbia 
 CoUesre, S. C. At that time there was but one other 
 minister in the vicinity who had received the like dis- 
 tinction ; this was the Rev. Aaron Bancroft of Wor- 
 cester. 
 
 Dr. Bancroft and Dr. Sumner were warm friends and 
 they made a solemn compact, that the one who sur- 
 vived should preach the funeral sermon of the other. 
 This sad duty fell to Dr. Bancroft who in his eulogy 
 said — "During all the trials and conflicts of a long Hfe, 
 he was distinguished for cheerfulness and other social 
 
g6 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 qualities, but these were chastened by a quick sense of 
 propriety. He could blend the agreeableness and affa- 
 bility of the companion, with the seriousness of the 
 minister, the purity of the Christian, and the respecta- 
 bility of the man. Not easily provoked he knew what 
 was due to his character, and he secured respect from 
 all." At his death there was great mourning, for a great 
 man had gone, a pure and blameless life had passed 
 from earth. The pastor that the people had asked God 
 to choose for them had been to them all that they could 
 desire. When we consider his life, grand in its gentle- 
 ness and godliness, we cannot wonder that the influence 
 of that life moulded the characters of the children who 
 grew up under his teachings and that it left its royal 
 stamp upon them. 
 
 Dr. Sumner left his farm to his son Erastus, who died 
 in 1858, and was the father of ]Mr. George Sumner of 
 Worcester, the present owner, who has fitted up the 
 house in the style of his grandfather's time and occupies 
 it as his summer residence. The place where the old 
 house stood is now a smooth, beautiful lawn, and one 
 looks out of the same narrow windows now, that the 
 Doctor looked from in his last days, and sees his great- 
 grandchildren playing tennis under the shade of the 
 elms where he used to walk and meditate, and perhaps 
 decide upon the subjects for the next Sunday's dis- 
 courses. 
 
 The following description is taken from the Memoir of 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH 97 
 
 Dr. Sumner published by his grandson Mr. George Sum- 
 ner. "The house in which Dr. Sumner passed his 
 decHning years, and where he breathed his last, is pre- 
 served substantially in the form in which it was built 
 ninety years ago, presenting a correct type of a well-to- 
 do New England Home of the last century. In the 
 interior, the original pieces of furniture occupy the same 
 places and all the details of household arrangement are 
 maintained as far as is practicable, as they were in the 
 time of the first occupant. The family living room con- 
 tains the 'turn-up' bed where Dr. Sumner took final 
 leave of his family and sorrowing friends ; the desk 
 where his sermons were composed, surmounted by a 
 small bookcase, supposed to be sufficient for his entire 
 library, from which ' he drew his inspiration ;' and 
 the original sofa, chairs and other furniture returned to 
 their places, some of them after an absence of many 
 years of duty among the different descendants in distant 
 parts. The tall eight-day clock still ticks the time cor- 
 rectly. The portraits on the walls and other relics have 
 each their appropriate place. 
 
 "The veritable 'best room,' with the regulation ap- 
 pointments and oaken floor ; and the kitchen, well fur- 
 nished with articles now curious but once useful, all in 
 their proper places may here be seen. In the chambers 
 are curtanied beds, and high cases of drawers, and in 
 the 'ideal' garret are the various wheels, large and 
 small, high and low, with hand reels, clock reels,. 
 
98 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 hatchels, cards and divers articles considered indispen- 
 sable to a well regulated minister's family of the period. 
 Everything from cellar to roof in the old mansion re- 
 mains solid and substantial, and if no calamity befalls 
 them, are equal to another hundred years of service. " 
 
 In Dr. Sumner's old age the duties attendant upon a 
 large parish became so arduous that he requested the 
 church to provide an assistant. The first man chosen to 
 this office was the Rev. Samuel B. Ingersoll, who 
 preached one Sabbath, was taken sick and never 
 preached again, dying in about four weeks. In Sept., 
 182 1, the Rev. Edwards Whipple was ordained; he 
 preached one year with the exception of one Sabbath, 
 and died very suddenly. And so until 1823 Dr. Sumner 
 had little relief from his labors. At that time Rev. George 
 Allen, an able man and thorough scholar, was settled as 
 colleague. The next year the death of Dr. Sumner oc- 
 curred and Mr. Allen was left in possession of the pulpit. 
 
 There were some customs in the early days which 
 were tolerated as things are apt to be in new com- 
 munities, and the people becoming habituated to them 
 think them not strange. Some of these struck Mr. Allen 
 as being out of character with the time and place of 
 their enactment, and he sought to institute a few reforms. 
 It had been the practice at funerals to have toddy for 
 the bearers, and while the mourners were being com- 
 forted in the parlor, the toddy was being made in the 
 Mtchen, the toddy stick being sometimes heard in the 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH 
 
 99 
 
 parlor. Mr. Allen being- annoyed by such a singular 
 disturbance, resolved to put an end to the practice, 
 whereupon at the next funeral when the toddy sticks 
 began to twirl, Mr. Allen ^-topped the service and sud- 
 denly making his appearance in the kitchen, ordered the 
 proceedings to come to an end, and never to be renewed 
 on such an occasion. It is said to be a fact, the toddy 
 thus dismissed appeared no more at Shrewsbury 
 funerals. 
 
 Fearless in his reformatory efforts he then attacked 
 another annoyance, and again success followed his 
 efforts. This time it was to get rid of the church-going 
 dogs, who did not always exhibit that reverence for the 
 place which was becoming. Mr. Allen and the tithing- 
 man, Mr. Maynard, being of the same mind, agreed 
 that a certain quarrelsome dog should be present but 
 once more, and Mr. Maynard was to be ready with his 
 stick on the next Sunday morning. Mr. Ben Stone was 
 deaf and sat in the pew for the deaf near the pulpit. On 
 the Sunday of which we are telling he was sitting with 
 his head resting on his hand, oblivious to all things but 
 the sermon, when the tithing-man with quick step and 
 raised stick came swiftly on after the unhappy little dog 
 that had just been discovered in some roguishness for 
 which his fate was sealed ; and instinct told him so, as 
 he fled down the aisles, up the aisles and through the 
 cross aisles before the dreadful, uplifted stick. Balch 
 Dean, the dog's master, seeing the trouble of his pet and 
 
lOO OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 teing anxious for his safety, opened the door of his 
 pew ; the dog understood, but dared not linger to make 
 the turn. Round and round he ran again and the 
 tithing-man was upon him as he passed old Mr. Stone, 
 the raised stick came down with tremendous force not 
 on the offending, hunted little dog, but upon the arm of 
 the poor deaf man who had not noticed the disturbance, 
 and received the blow with some surprise. Down the 
 aisle leaped the dog toward the open door, and after 
 him rushed the tithing-man whose next blow sent him 
 yelping out the door. That dog's master left him in the 
 protection of home ever after on Sundays, and other 
 dogs' masters followed his example. By such object 
 lessons did Parson Allen seek to tone down the rough 
 ways which had descended from pioneer times. 
 
 In 1807 the west porch was taken away and the 
 steeple built. The bell was brought to town September 
 26, of that year, and raised to position the same day. 
 Whether the jubilant ringing in celebration of the event 
 injured the bell the records do not say, but May 17, the 
 next year, it was returned to Brookfield to be recast, 
 brought back the 2Sth of INIay and elevated to its place 
 of honor again. The west porch was purchased by Ly- 
 man Howe and attached to his dwelling-house, which is 
 now owned by Mr. George Buck. The porch is in good 
 repair and the arched ceiling as imposing as when Ly- 
 man Howe in his boyhood passed through and sat in the 
 square pew just inside the door, with his father Gideon. 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH 
 
 lOI 
 
 Inexorable Fashion holds sway in the small corners of 
 Ihe world as well as in the large centres, and the people 
 on Shrewsbury hill were not exempt from her despotism. 
 The old people who in their youth had built the meeting-- 
 house, and looked with harmless pride upon it, were 
 all gone ; and the old minister who had dedicated it to 
 
 THE SUUTH PORCH. 
 
 the worship of God, had gone also. The new genera- 
 tion was longing for something different if not better, 
 and so in 1834 they pulled out the square pews and the 
 white pulpit with the sounding-board, and turned the 
 building about, making the steeple face the south, as it 
 
I02 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 now does. The eastern porch was moved to South 
 Shrewsbury by IMr. Levi Newton and made a part of his 
 dwelling house, which was burned a few years ago. 
 The large south porch was bought by Mr. Charles E. 
 Miles for twelve dollars and a half and taken to his farm 
 (now owned by Mr. Silas Howe) to be used as a work- 
 shop. He afterwards sold it to Mr. Daniel Noyes, who 
 attached it to his house on the Goulding Hill road, 
 where it now stands, somewhat changed both by time 
 and the carpenter. 
 
 The meeting-house was raised and the vestry built 
 underneath at this time. In place of the square pews 
 and the interesting, intersecting six or more aisles, they 
 made two long straight aisles and four rows of long 
 straight pews with the owner's name on each. The 
 names were in gilt letters upon a black plate and each 
 pew was numbered in the same way ; consequently no 
 one could mistake his seat and "get into the wrong 
 pew," but could sit down, turn the brass button of the 
 little door, and feel that he and his family were shut out 
 from the world and for an hour or two free from all 
 intrusion. The handsome mahogany pulpit with its 
 crimson plush cushion and silk draperies was designed 
 by Rev. George Allen and was the object of great 
 interest to the adjoining towns who sent their delegates 
 to see it. Being made in Framingham and brought 
 home late on Saturday night, it was put in place on 
 Sabbath morning, the day when the first service was to 
 
MR. Allen's pulpit 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH IO3 
 
 be held after the remodelling of the meeting-house. 
 Mr. Allen hearing of it refused to hold service there 
 because the labor had been performed on the Lord's day 
 and the people repaired to "the hall" as usual. 
 
 In the "Religious INIagazine " of that time there is a 
 long description of it by the Rev. Jacob Abbott, of 
 which the following is an extract: "It is a beautiful 
 pier table, placed upon a platform a little elevated 
 .above the congregation, and more perfectly corresponds 
 with our idea of what a pulpit should be than anything 
 else we have ever seen. There is an air of ease and 
 elegance about it which we have never before seen in 
 the most costly specimens of pulpit architecture." And 
 the writer goes on to say that "the society in Shrews- 
 l3ury must be of more than ordinary intelligence, to 
 adopt a pulpit of such grace and beauty." 
 
 Mr. Allen closed his labors here in 1840 and removed 
 to Worcester, where he spent the remainder of his life. 
 Much of interest might be written of the words and 
 works of the worthy successors of Dr. Sumner in the 
 church here, some of whom are going on with their 
 labors in other places, "and some are fallen asleep." 
 
 When the church was raised, in 1834, the vestry built 
 below was furnished partly with what was cast off from 
 the old church. The pillars that supported the gallery 
 were put in the vestry to support the floor above and 
 the white pulpit was put there for a time and then 
 consigned to oblivion. To this room the thoughts of 
 
I04 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 Shrewsbury's absent ones must often turn, for it was 
 here that the people met for instruction, for business 
 and for pleasure. From this place the prayers of the 
 church have gone up ; here the Sunday School has been 
 taught almost since its commencement. 
 
 Until the town hall was built, in 1872, the town meet- 
 ings were held here, and bakers sold buns and ginger- 
 bread to the hungry voters. Such fairs were never held 
 in town as we have known in that vestry ; and long ago 
 the Lyceum meetings were held here, and deep and 
 important questions considered settled by Shrewsbury's 
 youthful brains. One needs but to mention singing 
 schools, spelling schools and choir rehearsals, to bring 
 up a troop of pleasant memories to many minds. This, 
 too, was the place for lectures and some eminent men 
 have made the walls resound with their eloquence. 
 
 It was in this vestry that John B. Gough gave his first 
 temperance lecture and the people turned out in large 
 numbers to hear him. It was then and there that he 
 first saw the young lady who afterward became his 
 wife. Years after, when he had become the most noted 
 temperance lecturer in the world, he told this story to 
 an audience gathered in the same room, this time at a 
 banquet given in his honor when he had delivered a 
 lecture for the benefit of the Public Library. 
 
 Another renowned man also honored this room with 
 his first speech. In 1850 Mr. George F. Hoar, then a 
 young man just entering public life, was requested to 
 

 ,*i' "-^L-wlssfiia^a. 
 
DR. SUMNER AND THE CHURCH IO7 
 
 address the Shrewsbury people upon the "Fugitive 
 Slave Law," the great topic that was then being agi- 
 tated. He came and made his first pohtical speech, 
 and he says that when he had finished, Mr. Ward told 
 him that he " handled that subject very well." No one 
 can doubt the truth of that remark, for it is an undis- 
 puted fact that the Honorable George F. Hoar handles 
 all subjects well. 
 
 Of the recent alterations and renovations in the old 
 church some other pen must tell. Could the men who 
 raised the frame in 1766 stand within it in 1892, they 
 would look with some surprise upon the neatly frescoed 
 walls and the organ sounding out the tunes they used 
 to hold in too great reverence to be touched by any 
 mere machine. More astonished still would they be to 
 feel the heat coming up through holes in the floor upon 
 a cold winter day. Yet not more strange would it seem 
 to them than it would to the Shrewsbury people of 
 to-day, could they be carried back a century or more 
 and see the quaint picture of Doctor Sumner m his long, 
 black gown and full, white wig, preaching in the great, 
 white pulpit with the sounding-board overhead. 
 
OTHER PEOPLE AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 THE town was all astir one morning in April, 1786, 
 when the news flew abroad that a burglary had 
 been committed in the night in three different 
 houses. The penalty for this crime was death by hang- 
 ing ; and a deed so bold as this, done in the usually 
 quiet village, caused no little excitement. The burglar, 
 who proved to be a negro by the name of Johnson 
 'Green, was arrested the next day after a search in the 
 surrounding woods by several parties of men, and was 
 brousfht before General Ward to whom he confessed his 
 •crime and he was committed to the Worcester "Gaol." 
 The spoils he obtained that night are thus recorded — 
 " He stole from I\Ir. Baldwin i pair of shoes one pair of 
 silver Buckles i furstin jaccot two all wool Do. one shirt 
 cotton and linnen, one Bottle of New England rum, two 
 Cakes of Gingerbread, 21 coat and jaccot Buttons and 
 four or five shillings in cash — from Mr. Farrar one pair 
 of boots one pair of Shoes, i pair of Shoe Buckles silver 
 one pair of Sizars 20 or 30 Coppers a remnant of black 
 Sattin lasting one liiinen pocket handkerchief — from IMr. 
 
OTHER PEOPLE AND INCIDENTS IO9 
 
 Wyman about fifteen or Sixteen Shillings in Cash part 
 Silver & part Copper. He confessed he broak up and 
 Stole all the above articles except the bottle of Ginn — 
 The three above houses he broak up in one night." 
 
 Strong and Lincoln acted as his counsel at the trial in 
 Worcester, April i8, 1786, Benjamin Hey wood of Shrews- 
 bury being one of the jury. At the trial he gave an 
 account of his wicked deeds ; he was then twenty-nine 
 years of age but began to steal when only twelve years 
 old, his first theft being four cakes of gingerbread and 
 six biscuits. Not being discovered in this, he was en- 
 couraged to go on until at last he met his doom. His 
 confession was as follows : 
 
 " I Johnson Green having brought myself to a shame- 
 ful and ignominious death by my wicked conduct, and 
 as I am a dying man I leave to the world the following 
 history of my birth, education and various practices, 
 hoping that all people will take warning by my evil 
 example and shun vice and follow virtue." Then fol- 
 lows a minute account of his career ending with the 
 Shrewsbury burglary, and said that he also "stole one 
 pair of thread stockings at Lyons just beyond said 
 Wymans and then hid myself in the woods where I lay 
 till the next day, and at evening set off toward Boston, 
 was arrested by a guard placed by a bridge in the edge 
 of Westboro. " 
 
 He was sentenced to be executed the next June, but 
 breaking Gaol he escaped and followeti for a short time 
 
no OLD TI3IES IN SHXF.WSJ^rKY 
 
 his favorite pastime, of house-breaking-, when he was 
 again arrested and again escaped, practiced still further 
 his unlawful pursuits, and was again arrested on the 
 very day originally set for his execution. On the 17th 
 of August, 1786, he was hung in Worcester for the 
 ''atrocious crime of burglary." 
 
 Captain Nathan Howe used to relate a stor}" which is 
 supposed to refer to this same Green. When the Cap- 
 tain was at West Point there was a negro there who 
 was sentenced by a court-martial to be whipped for 
 stealing officers' rations. When the punishment was 
 about to be inflicted, the officer having charge of it told 
 the negro, after he had been tied up by his thumbs to a 
 post, that if he would ask pardon of the gentlemen offi- 
 cers present they would forgive him, and the punish- 
 ment might be remitted. The culprit peeked out under 
 his arms to the right and left and said " I don't see any 
 o-entlemen officers here," and in truth there were na 
 officers present except the Captain of the provost guard 
 who from the very nature of his duties was not a favorite 
 with the soldiers, certainly not with such of them as he 
 most had to do with. "Then," said the Captain to the 
 man who was to do the whipping, "lay on to the 
 rascal," and the poor fellow got a much severer punish- 
 ment than he would but for his witty reply to the offer 
 of pardon. As Green himself told in the story of his 
 life of having been in the Revolutionary War and at 
 West Point, he is undoubtedly the one who was whipped. 
 
OTHER PEOPLE AND INCIDENTS I I I 
 
 When Ross Wyman came here in 1749, he purchased 
 of Abram Eager one hundred and sixty acres of land 
 with the buildings thereon. The farm contains a pretty. 
 sheet of water where he built a dam and a mill. Being 
 a gun maker and a blacksmith by trade he built his 
 shops near the mill and practiced his various callings as 
 occasion required. On the opposite side of the road 
 from these buildings and the old house, he erected a 
 new house which still stands, occupied by his descend- 
 ants, and is in excellent repair, being no mean represen- 
 tation of the architecture of those times. It seems to 
 have been more carefully put together, more pains taken 
 to have the beams that show in the rooms, nicely fin- 
 ished and laid straight and even at both ends, than 
 the "scribe and tumble rule" usually demanded. This 
 house, though not called a tavern, had its bar-room and 
 was kept open to the public. 
 
 Ross Wyman was a zealous patriot and in league 
 w4th every scheme that was for the good of the col- 
 onists. At a convention of blacksmiths held in Wor- 
 cester September 21st, 1774, he was chosen chairman. 
 They resolved that they would not do any blacksmith 
 work for the Tories nor for any one in their employ, nor 
 for any one who had not signed the non-consumptive 
 agreement, and requested all denominations of artificers 
 to call meetings of their craftsmen and adopt like 
 measures. "The recommendations and resolves of this 
 and other like conventions, were received as laws duly 
 
112 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 enacted and were enforced with a promptitude and zeal 
 that nothing could withstand."" The non-consumptive 
 agreement referred to was a resolution adopted by the 
 ist Provincial Congress assembled in Cambridge on 
 October 21st, 1774, and was recommending *'the total 
 disuse of India teas in this Province, and to the several 
 towns to choose Committees to post in some public place 
 the names of all such in their respective towns who shall 
 sell or consume so extravagant and unnecessary an 
 article of luxury." We are told that it was in Ross 
 AVyman's bar-room that some of the young men gathered 
 one night and burned all the tea they could collect in 
 town, to show how they felt about the tea tax. 
 
 At the commencement of the Revolutionary War, Gen. 
 Ward requested this patriotic blacksmith to make a gun 
 for him of sufficient strength to pitch an Englishman 
 over his head. He made it to order and of horse nail 
 stubs, a real kings-arm and an excellent weapon. It 
 disappeared many years ago and its whereabouts is now 
 imknown. Ross Wyman had a clear head and a strong 
 arm, and a story is told of him in this wise : 
 
 Being at one time in Boston and ready to start for 
 home with a load of provisions, he came near being 
 seized and carried off by a press gang from a British 
 man-of-war. Resolutelv defendincr himself, he at leno-th 
 snatched up a cod-fish, and, with both hands in the gills, 
 he beat them off by slapping their faces with its slimy 
 tail. Being more than a match for them with his cod- 
 
OTHER PEOPLI': AND INCIDENTS II3 
 
 fish he tried the same weapon at another time. He was 
 ag-ain returning from Boston and on Saturday stopped at 
 Wayland to spend the night and the Sabbath. It was 
 winter time, and he was with his sleigh ; the weather 
 grew warm in the night and the early morning showed 
 that the sleighing would not last until Monday. Fearing 
 delay would be dangerous he started at daylight and 
 drove on without interruption until he came to Sudbury, 
 when in passing the house of a magistrate, he, in the 
 dignity of his office came out with two other men to 
 stop him according to the law and custom of the times 
 that no one should travel on the Lord's day. Then the 
 cod-fish came into use again, and again was victorious 
 and Ross reached home triumphant ! His patriotic and 
 daring spirit was doubtless inherited from his father, 
 Seth Wyman of Woburn, who distinguished himself in 
 the famous " Lovewell's fight." This event took a 
 greater hold on the feelings of the people than any con- 
 flict with the Indians since King Philip's war, and fur- 
 nished a theme for fireside tales and heroic songs, until 
 the Battle of Bunker Hill and the war that followed gave 
 rise to stories that eclipsed those of Capt. Lovewell and 
 his men fighting against the dusky Paugus and his 
 savage warriors. 
 
 Ross Wyman lived to be quite an old man. In Dr. 
 Flint's journal we find this entry. "Nov. 3d, 1807. Mr. 
 Ross Wyman visited our belfry, heard the bell ring, 
 went to the long pond, viewed the bridge and the new 
 
114 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 road, and was highly gratified. In his 91st year, at- 
 tended by eight men." 
 
 "July 13, 1808, ]\Ir. Wyman buried.'"' 
 
 ''Dec. 8, 1808, Mrs. Wyman buried." 
 
 On this same farm and a few rods up the hill by the 
 roadside, half a mile from the Northboro line, is a spot 
 where a few years ago stood a small one-story house 
 which was also of Revolutionary date, and has been 
 known as the " old Alexander house." James Alexander 
 was a Scotchman, and a deserter from Burgoyne's army 
 when the army marched through this town in 1786 on 
 its way to Boston. He strolled away from his company 
 and found his way into Dr. Sumner's barn, where he 
 slept on the hay-mow and was discovered by the Rev. 
 Dr. in the morning, who took him into the house, gave 
 him a breakfast, and admiring his intelligence and 
 evident desire for other employment than that of march- 
 ing with a defeated army, gave him an opportunity of 
 working at his trade and making shoes for his family, 
 offering the amount of his salary in paper money, if he 
 would keep them well shod. 
 
 Later he moved into the small house where his family 
 grew up and there he made shoes for the neighborhood, 
 doing the nicest work. He proved to be a good citizen 
 and lived until 1841 in the house on the Wyman farm, 
 making all kinds of foot covering from the heaviest boot 
 to the lightest dancing slippers. 
 
 A brief account of the Lovewell fight may be of in- 
 
OTHER PEOPLE AND INCIDENTS II5 
 
 terest here as the event is so intimately connected with 
 a Shrewsbury family and with the early history of the 
 country. 
 
 In the Autumn of 1724 the inhabitants of the frontier 
 towns on the Merrimac river, being- dissatisfied with the 
 manner of carrying on the War with the Indians, wished 
 to adopt offensive measures. Accordingly a company of 
 Sj soldiers was organized, of which John Lovewell was 
 Captain. A petition was sent to the Legislature in which 
 they say — "That if said company may be allowed five 
 shillings per day in case they kill any enemy Indians, 
 and possesse their Scalp they will employ in Indian 
 Hunting one whole year, and if they do not within that 
 time kill any, they are content to be allowed nothing for 
 their wages, time and trouble." This petition was 
 granted, changing the bounty into £100 for every scalp 
 taken during one year, "Capt. Lovewell was a brave 
 and adventurous officer, and stimulated by this offer, he 
 immediately took the field and led his company on 
 towards the dwelling-place of the Pequaketts, who 
 resided within the territory now forming the towns of 
 Frydburg, Maine, and Conway, N. H." 
 
 On the 29th of January, 1724, they mustered and 
 started on their expedition from Dunstable, travelling 
 a few miles each day and camping where night 
 found them, sendino;- out scouts and sometimes seeing^ 
 and killing an Indian. Through the cold months and in 
 the snow they marched, until the men became footsore, 
 
Il6 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 and coming in the latter part of Fel)ruary to Newington, 
 Maine, they went on board a sloop bound for Boston, 
 where they arrived INIarch loth. About the middle of 
 April they started out again, this time with only 46 men 
 and marched to Saweco river, then to Pigwacket, where 
 they found Paugus and his men and had the famous 
 battle. It was on the 8th of ^lay, and the killing of an 
 Indian early in the day brought out numbers from 
 Ambush and 10 o'clock the attack was made. At the 
 first volley Capt. Lovewell and Ensign Robbins were 
 mortally wounded, but supporting themselves by trees 
 they fired upon the enemy until their strength failed and 
 "Capt. Lovewell's gun was cocked and presented when 
 he was past speaking."' With the fall of the brave Cap- 
 tain, Ensign Wyman took command and "through the 
 rest of that eventful day, by his prudent management 
 and courageous example he was doubtless under God 
 instrumental in preserving so many from being cut off, 
 the enemy being more than double their number." 
 "Seeing them become dispirited, he animated them to 
 action, assuring them that the day would be theirs if 
 their spirits did not flag, which so encouraged them that 
 several discharged their muskets between twenty and 
 thirty times apiece.'' Thirty-three men entered the 
 engagement in the morning and at night twenty-one 
 were left. 
 
 For his valor Ensign Wyman was commissioned 
 Captain by Lt. Gov. Dumner and was presented with a 
 
OTHER PEOPLE AND INCIDENTS I I 7 
 
 silver hilted sword as an assurance of the public ap- 
 probation. He soon started out again with a company 
 under his command, but the heat of summer carried 
 sickness into his camp which resulted in the death of 
 many, among- them brave Captain Wyman himself. 
 He died on the fifth of September, 1725, at the age of 
 thirty-nine. 
 
 Shrewsbury never suffered from Indian invasion and 
 depredation like the earlier and frontier towns and con- 
 sequently has no tales of Indian warfare connected with 
 its history and no romantic legendary lore, but among 
 the families whose ancestors struggled with the foe and 
 lost their lives in the defence of their liberties we find 
 the name of Hapgood, originally Habgood. The earliest 
 Habgood in this country came from England in 1656, 
 arriving in Boston in July of that year. This Shadrach 
 Habgood married in Sudbury, 1664, Elizabeth Tread- 
 way, daughter of the landowner Nathaniel Treadway, 
 whose name was attached to the Shrewsbury grants 
 long before the land received its present name. He was 
 living in Sudbury when the war with King Philip came 
 on and was one of the company of twenty mounted men 
 sent by the government to treat with the Indians 
 and prevent the war if possible. They proceeded to 
 visit Brookfield, here fell into an ambush and were sud- 
 denly surrounded by two or three hundred Indians who 
 killed eight of their number and mortally wounded three 
 others. Among the murdered was Shadrach Hapgood. 
 
Il8 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 This was in 1675. Captain Thomas Hapgood, who was 
 son of Shadrach, Nov. 12, 1703, petitioned the General 
 Court for an allowance, alleging that "he having in 1690 
 been detached into the service against the Indian enemy, 
 was engaged in the bloody fight near Oyster River, 
 X. H., wherein Capt. Noah Wiswell and divers others 
 were slain and wounded : that he there had his left arm 
 broken and his right hand much shot so that he endured 
 great pain and narrowly escaped with his life ; that he 
 was thereby very much disabled for labour and getting 
 his livelihood : forced to sell what stock he had acquired 
 before being wounded, to maintain himself since, and 
 that in the fight he was necessitated to leave and lose 
 his arms with which he was well furnished at his own 
 charge. The Court granted him £5." He and his 
 brother Nathaniel began life with considerable means, 
 and became owners of large tracts of land, in INIarl- 
 bro ; and eighty acres of the land granted to Isaac 
 Johnson, lying within the present limits of Shrews- 
 bury ; were purchased by Thomas, who bequeathed the 
 same to his son Captain Thomas, who settled thereon in 
 1725; he became a leading man here and served as 
 selectman seven years. He married Damaris Hutchins, 
 and from them descended all of the name in Shrews- 
 bury. 
 
 Daniel Heminway was a famous church builder ; he 
 framed the Shrewsbury meeting-house, the old South in 
 Worcester and the one in Northboro where the Rev. 
 
OTHER PEOPLE AND INCIDENTS I 1 9 
 
 Peter Whitney long officiated, besides many other pub- 
 lic buildings. " He was a warm patriot in the time of 
 the Revolution, one of the strong men of the town," 
 and a member of the third Provincial Congress, where 
 he did important work on various committees, one of 
 which was to purchase arms for the use of the army, 
 for which service he received £4 8s. Another was to 
 "procure stores for depositing fish for the use of the 
 Colony." He was also a delegate from this town to the 
 Convention that framed the Constitution of the Com- 
 monwealth. He came here from Framingham and died 
 in 1794 aged 75. 
 
 Vashni Heminway son of Daniel, was a joiner by 
 trade. He was a representative to the General Court 
 several years and for twenty-two years held the o^ce 
 of town clerk. 
 
 One of the duties of the town clerk was to publish 
 the marriage bans. This was required by law, that any 
 person might object if he knew just cause why the 
 marriage should not be. There were two ways of pub- 
 lishing the bans, those concerned choosing the one 
 which they preferred. A written notice of the matrimo- 
 nial intention was posted in some public place, or they 
 must be "cried off" in church; the latter was con- 
 sidered in best style. The Sabbath service being over, as 
 the congregation was dispersing, the town clerk called 
 the attention of the people by his loud " Oyez ! Oyez ! 
 Oyez !" and read the notice. This was done three Sundays 
 
I20 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 in succession, and if there were no objections offered, 
 there was a wedding soon. If the more quiet way was 
 preferred, the notice was posted beside the church door 
 in a conspicuous place where it would not fail to be 
 observed by all who entered. As it was a matter of 
 some curiosity to know who was to be married in the 
 village, few passed in without reading. Three weeks 
 was the allotted time for this also. One spirited Shrews- 
 bury girl who was published to marry a townsman, 
 heard just in time that the family of her intended did 
 not desire her as an addition to their circle. The next 
 Sunday when she entered the south porch, she quickly 
 stepped aside to the place where the notice was posted, 
 tore it down and crumpling it in her hands threw it on 
 the floor, crushing it still more with the high heel of her 
 shoe, and then with sparkling eyes and a toss of her 
 head went on and took her seat. It is needless to say 
 that the wedding did not take place. When Vashni 
 Heminway was to be married he outwitted all the gos- 
 sips. He posted his own intentions at the proper time 
 and usual place in the south porch, covering it with a 
 notice to those who had dogs to take care of them dur- 
 ing the church service and not let them get troublesome. 
 His bans were published in this way for three weeks 
 and no one was the wiser but himself and a certain girl 
 who was spinning for Mrs. Sumner. When the three 
 weeks were over Vashni walked into Dr. Sumner's 
 house one day, in his working clothes, not even remov- 
 

OTHER PEOPLE AND INCIDENTS 121 
 
 ing his leather apron, and told the Rev. Doctor that he 
 had come to be married to the girl spinning in his 
 kitchen. wShe was called in and the ceremony per- 
 formed forthwith — after a satisfactory explanation had 
 been made. 
 
 The following was copied from a genuine marriage 
 notice that was posted more than a century ago, the 
 torn ends of the paper showing where the nails held it : 
 
 Marriage is intended between Timothy Keyes of Rut- 
 land & Prudence Wilder of Shrewsbury. 
 
 Shrewsbury / Artemas Ward, 
 
 Jany' ye 17 1755 ^ Town Clerk. 
 
 One of Shrewsbury's noted men was Capt. Luther 
 Goddard, who was born in 1762. In middle life he 
 withdrew from the church and faith of his forefathers 
 and joined the Baptists, becoming a preacher and itiner- 
 ant minister. 
 
 The way he became famous was by making watches, 
 and it is said that he made the first watch that was ever 
 made in America. He had his shop here, and besides 
 cleaning and repairing the watches of the Shrewsl)ury 
 people he also took care that those in the surrounding 
 towns were kept in good order. Every other Sunday 
 he preached in Lancaster, and the service being over 
 he would collect all the disordered watches, take them 
 home and return them in perfect order the next preach- 
 ing day. Thus did he combine his different callings and 
 made his various talents of service on all occasions. 
 
122 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 He was instrumental in forming a Baptist Society in 
 Shrewsbury, and by his enterprise a meeting-house was 
 built and services sustained through his lifetime. The 
 meeting-house was afterward transformed into a dwell- 
 ing-house by ]\Ir, Lyman Howe and is now occupied by 
 I\Ir. George Dow. It is on the Worcester road about 
 half a mile west of the post-office, and has been re- 
 modelled and changed in appearance within a few 
 years. 
 
 One of the eminent physicians here was Dr. Seth 
 Knowlton, who was born in 1 781 and was grandson of 
 Deacon Ezekiel. Harlow's History says, "He was a 
 man of strong intellect and great influence in the town, 
 and he was noted as much for his positive opinions and 
 his ability to maintain them against all opposers, as he 
 was for his skill as a surgeon and physician." There 
 are some elderly persons now, who are not likely to 
 ever forget the jolly Doctor who sweetened his medicine 
 with merry stories and jokes, though the jokes Avere 
 not always agreeable to the suffering patient. He was 
 not very tall, but so fleshy as not to wish to mount a 
 horse and always carried his saddle-bags in his sulky. 
 
 The children knew by woeful experience that those 
 saddle-bags contained mixtures of inconceivable bitter- 
 ness, and to the pains of sickness was added the horrible 
 thought of the nauseous doses they must swallow when 
 the Doctor came. One lady recalls her pleasure at the 
 Doctor's visits, when he always took from his pocket a 
 
OTHER PEOPLE AND INCIDENTS 1 23 
 
 great copper cent to compensate her for the bitter spoon- 
 ful which came after it and which she must take. His 
 doses of dissolved fishworms, dried and powdered 
 frogs, hog lice steeped in brandy and other delectable 
 compounds seem to have had not a bad effect upon 
 those who lived to grow up under his treatment, their 
 vigorous constitutions holding out to a good old age. 
 He was foremost m forming the Restoration Society 
 here and gathered the children for the first Sabbath 
 School in Dr. Sumner's church about 1810. 
 
 Abel Goulding came into town about 1790 with his 
 family, and lived on what is now called the Dickenson 
 place, near the meeting of the Worcester and Holden 
 roads, in the old blockhouse, built in the earliest times 
 as a stronghold to which the inhabitants of that part of 
 the town might flee, in case of any Indian invasion. 
 When the danger from Indians was over it was occupied 
 as a dwelling-house, and was not taken away until about 
 twenty-five years ago. 
 
 Abel Goulding acquired his fame by inventing a loom 
 for making chaise lace, the trimming used in the linings 
 of chaises and carriages. He made a loom and manu- 
 factured the lace at his home. His father lived on 
 Goulding Hill and with him lived his daughter Milly, 
 who was a bright girl and taught school in Worcester. 
 The death of her lover broke her heart and turned her 
 brain, and she became a wanderer about town, mildly 
 insane and always pleasant and gentle. Tradition says 
 
124 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 that she had but to wish for a thing, when it came to 
 her in one way or another. One would conclude that 
 she wished for little, her possessions were so scanty. 
 She was once in want of some candles, but it seems she 
 had no tallow. She strolled off through the fields, and 
 in her walk came across a dead cow. Not being fas- 
 tidious she went home for a knife and with it she cut out 
 all the tallow from the carcass and then made her 
 candles, thanking the Lord for thus generously provid- 
 ing for her wants. So she went through life never suf- 
 fering from want, but always having her necessities sup- 
 plied like the ravens ; and Milly Goulding's wishes 
 became a proverb among those who kncAV her. 
 
 While Parson Gushing was yet living, and Nathaniel 
 Whittemore was tanning calf- skins for schoolboys' 
 aprons, before Old Tombolin had worn out his sheep- 
 skin breeches, little Mary Garfield was growing up. And 
 when the military companies were forming and Ross 
 Wyman was making his patriotic horseshoes, when 
 "Old Grimes'' was visiting the Baldwin Tavern and Dr. 
 Sumner was preaching in the new meeting-house, she 
 was lively Molly Garfield. By the time that Luther 
 Goddard preached the Gospel and cleaned the people's 
 watches, while Milly Goulding was patiently awaiting 
 the fulfillment of her modest wishes and Dr. Knowlton 
 began to dispense his herbs and fishworms, she was. 
 called Old Moll Garfield the Witch. Not that she was 
 ever fliought to be a disagreeable, mischief- making; 
 
OTHER PEOPLE AND INCIDENTS 12 5" 
 
 witch, but one whose character would bear inspection 
 even in those days when suspicion had not yet died out. 
 She fared better than her predecessors of a century before, 
 for no one meddled with her liberty and she was allowed 
 to sit quietly in her hut and distil her rose water and 
 cider brandy — harmless decoctions for a witch to bring 
 out of her cauldron. Some say that her little habitation 
 was on the spot where Mr. Cook's carnations bloom so 
 marvelously now. Others say that it was in the vicinity 
 of the present Garfield residence, which is a more mar- 
 velous place still than Mr. Cook's greenhouses. How- 
 ever this may be, she did good work in spinning for the 
 neighbors ; but the boys were shy of her, and being 
 determined to settle the question once for all whether 
 she was a true witch, hung a horseshoe over the door of 
 the room where she sat spinning one day. This story 
 does not say whether they saw her come out, or Avhether 
 she quietly slid up the chimney, but she was ever after 
 called a witch. The legend says that on very dark 
 nights she would mount her broom-stick and sail off 
 nito the clouds much higher than the church steeple, 
 coming down again as gently as a thistle down. Such 
 frolics as these indulged in at her extreme age look a 
 little as though she was at least an unusual person, but 
 many strange things happened long ago that we cannot 
 account for. 
 
 There were some other curious people in town then, 
 and later. One of these was Jo Aldrich, who was a 
 
126 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 servant in the INIiles family and always, when not at 
 work, dressed in a white suit. He was not careful to 
 keep the family secrets and caused some funny expe- 
 riences. Ezra Howard and his dog will still be remem- 
 bered by some ; Ezra was a servant at the Baldwins. 
 
 The story of the coming of the first Plympton to 
 Shrewsbury is thus told by a granddaughter, INIrs. 
 Streeter, and is taken from the records of the Plympton 
 family : 
 
 " ]\Iy Grandfather, Elzaphon Plympton, was a shoe- 
 maker and also a farmer. About 1792 he went to 
 Shrewsbury and bought a tract of land entirely covered 
 with wood. He first cleared away the wood from a spot 
 large enough for a house, then dug a cellar, put up the 
 frame and covered it. I have heard my grandmother 
 say that the first summer she lived there, no floors were 
 laid, only loose boards put in place, and a board laid 
 across the timbers for a shelf on which to set her dishes. 
 There ^vere no doors, windows or a chimney. A tem- 
 porary fireplace was built out of doors where she did her 
 cooking ; and they went through the woods to a spring, 
 not far from the house, for Avater. When the cool autumn 
 Aveather came on, the chimneys were built, the doors 
 hung, windows put in, and the house made more com- 
 fortable for the approaching winter. Thus my grand- 
 father went on doing a little at a time, as his limited 
 means would allow, from year to year, until at last the 
 wood M'as cleared away from the place, and his land 
 
OTHER PEOPLE AND INCIDENTS 1 2/ 
 
 brought under a good state of cultivation, with mowing, 
 pasture land and tillage. He had a fine apple orchard 
 beginning to bear nice fruit. His house was finished 
 and though not large, made a comfortable dwelling, 
 with wood-house, granary, barn and workshop. All this 
 was done in about twenty years. With the small means 
 he had at his disposal, his growing family of nine 
 children to feed, clothe and care for, he must have been 
 a remarkably good calculator, a frugal, industrious man, 
 and my grandmother his true helpmeet." 
 
THE HENSHAW PLACE. 
 
 CAPTAIN NATHANIP:L ALLEX came here from 
 Boston about the year 1756 and Hved on the 
 place now owned by INIr. Samuel D. Ward. He 
 w^as a sea-faring- man, had been in various parts of the 
 world and had ac(|uired a sufticient amount of property 
 to enable him to build himself a house a little handsomer 
 than his neig-hbors. It was well built, too, and had the 
 look of being rather grand, perched high up from the 
 road, and nearer to it than the present house stands. 
 The style of building was different from the ordinary 
 New EuQ^land country houses and was built with a curb 
 roof and dormer windows. The outer walls were brick- 
 lined, as a protection against the bullets of any enemy. 
 The rooms were higher than those in most houses and 
 the windows larger. The front door was quite imposing 
 with its caryed side posts and cornice oyerhead sur- 
 mounted by a spread eagle, all brought from England, 
 no work of the kind then being done in this country. 
 The door opened into a hall which ran through the 
 

 THE HENSHAW PLACE. 
 
THE HENSHAW PLACE 
 
 131 
 
 house from north to south, and a broad flight of stairs 
 led to the rooms above. The house was in its latter 
 days painted yellow, and called by the children "The 
 old yellow castle," so grand it seemed to them. East of 
 the house was Capt. Allen's small store where he kept a 
 stock in trade. He had a slave called by the name of 
 Noah, whom he sent one night in the early spring with 
 an errand to the Baldwin Tavern. He appears to have 
 been unacquainted with the sociability of Shrewsbury 
 frogs, for as he was passing the brook in the yard on his 
 way home he heard a voice calling out as he thought, 
 " Noah Allen," ''Noah Allen," ''Nigger Man," "I'll have 
 him." For one instant he listened to the words spoken 
 in such a weird tone, and then wild with fright he fled, 
 and "not a moment stopped or staid he" until he arrived 
 at his own master s door in safety. Capt. Allen appears 
 to have had more than one slave, for we hear of his 
 being at the Baldwin Tavern one day with his black man 
 Boston and his little son Lewis, his son Caleb being left 
 at home. While Capt. Allen was talking with others 
 who were standing near, the little boy Lewis, in climb- 
 ing about, fell into the well. He was soon recovered, 
 but the father was more frightened than the boy, and 
 told Boston to run home and see if Caleb had not fallen 
 into their well, for he never knew Lewis do any kind of 
 a trick that Caleb did not do the same thing immediately. 
 Boston obeyed orders but found Caleb had not thought 
 of falling into the well. Lewis Allen lived to grow 
 
132 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 up and became a goldsmith by trade. He also grew into 
 such a dangerous Tory that his townsmen desired him 
 to seek a residence elsewhere. He respected their re- 
 quest and removed to Leicester, where he purchased the 
 IMount Pleasant farm of Col. Joseph Henshaw, who 
 bought Allen's farm in Shrewsbury and removed there in 
 1781. Lewis Allen died at Mount Pleasant and at his 
 'Own request was buried in the garden near the road 
 that, as he said, he might "hear the news when the 
 stage goes by ;*' and he threatened vengeance on the 
 one who should desecrate his grave, hi the course of 
 time some owner plowed over the grave and ever after 
 the place was haunted, his ghost always troubling any- 
 one who ventured to live there. 
 
 Col. Henshaw ^^'as a sea captain in early life, had 
 spent much time at sea and in foreign lands, from 
 whence he brought home treasures of many kinds and 
 a large quantity of silver ware. At the opening of hos- 
 tilities Avith Great. Britain he was sent as delegate from 
 Leicester to the first Provincial Congress, in Oct., 1774, 
 and the next month was one of a committee "to make 
 an estimate of the loss and damage of every kind to the 
 province by the Boston port bill, and the act for altering 
 the civil government." He was elected a member of the 
 second Congress and one of a committee " to establish 
 an intimate correspondence with the inhabitants of the 
 province of Quebec.'' He was also sent to Connecticut 
 to consult with the Governor and General Assemblv on 
 
THE HENSHAW PLACE I 33 
 
 matters relating^ to Col. Benedict Arnold and the stores 
 which he was conveying to Ticonderoga, requesting that 
 .an effort be made to have any surplus stores sent to the 
 Province of Massachusetts, ammunition and guns being 
 much needed there. He went, and the Congress allowed 
 for his own expenses and those of his servant, ^7.14. 
 The following is a copy of the Congressional resolve : 
 ''Resolved, That Col. Joseph Henshaw be appointed 
 and directed to repair to Hartford and inquire whether 
 provision is made, by the General Assembly of the Col- 
 ony of Connecticut, for securing and maintaining the 
 fortress of Ticonderoga and acquaint Col. Arnold that it 
 is the order of this Congress that he return and render 
 accounts of his expenses in that expedition, in order that 
 he may be honorably discharged : But if Col. Henshaw 
 shall find that such provision is not made, and the Gen- 
 eral Assembly be not sitting, that he proceed to Ticon- 
 deroga, and inform Col. Arnold that it is the order of 
 this Congress that he continue there, with such number 
 of fe)rces as said Col. Henshaw shall judge necessary for 
 the purpose. Nevertheless, if the said Col. Henshaw 
 shall thid the General Assembly sitting, and that they 
 have not made such provision, that he consult with them 
 touching this important matter, and take their proposals, 
 and immediately make report to the Congress of this 
 Colony." During the Revolutionary War he was elected 
 to many important oflices and distinguished himself by 
 his patriotism and bravery. He lived but a few years 
 
134 OLD TIMES IX SHREVVSBURY 
 
 after coming to Shrewsbury, but his widow, Mrs. Sally 
 Henshaw, continued to live on the Henshaw Place, 
 noted for her deeds of kindness and benevolence. 
 One picture that we have of her is as she was sitting 
 beside the bed of her servant, poor black Jack, who 
 was dying of a fever, fanning him to keep away the 
 flies, for, she said, "It seems as if the flies would eat 
 up poor Jack." Aunt Sally Henshaw was not only 
 kind-hearted, but she wore beautiful dresses and was 
 very handsome herself when she was young. 
 
 In the lane that led from the yard to the woods and 
 pastures to the south, old black Ccesar and his wife had 
 their little house where they lived and worked for the 
 Henshaw family. Hannah had a great fondness for 
 ''the ardent "'and frequently allowed her love for it to 
 overcome her prudence and drank too freely, but Caesar 
 carried a steady head and kept things smooth at home. 
 The poor woman's retribution overtook her at last, and 
 one fatal day Dec. 26, 1807, after having taken most of 
 the contents of her jug, she tried to lift it to its place on 
 the shelf over the fireplace, but her joints were weak 
 and gave way all at once and she fell in a heap on the 
 fire. Ca?sar being near by, picked her up and did what 
 he could for her dreadful burns, bestowing most loving 
 care upon her. In a day or two he left her for a short 
 time to go on some errand and when he returned the 
 door was blocked by something on the inside. In at 
 the window he went and found Hannah sitting on the 
 
• THE HENSHAW PLACE 135 
 
 floor, her back against the door, her hand on the bed- 
 post and she was dead. The poor man was heart- 
 broken, and when some days after a neighbor went to 
 see how it fared with him, the door was again found 
 blocked on the inside, another entrance at the window 
 and old Caesar was sitting with his back against the 
 door, his hand on the bed-post, and he dead. He died 
 of grief, and his heart was really broken for his dear, 
 black, drinking wife. To conclude this mournful and 
 truthful tale, the house itself burned down not long 
 after and only a few stones now mark the spot where 
 this loving couple lived and had their tragic end. 
 
 Aunt Sally, after having become blind, went to live 
 with her brother Joshua Henshaw, who was a man of 
 some prominence in Boston, once owned Spectacle 
 Island in the harbor and removed to Shrewsbury to 
 spend his last years, living in the house wdiich was 
 moved away in 1876, from the site where now stands 
 the residence of the late Hon. Thomas Rice. 
 
 Squire "Josh" was a very slender man and fun was 
 occasionally poked at him on that account. He was 
 once annoyed at the continuous efforts of a tin peddler 
 to prevail upon him to purchase some of his wares and 
 he finally asked the peddler if he had not a pair of boots 
 that would fit him. "Yes," said the peddler, "here is 
 just the fit," handing him a pair of tin candle moulds. 
 
 The old house was taken down in 1852 and the present 
 one erected. The well sweep still remains as when 
 
136 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 Caesar drew the water from the well, the same well into 
 which the youthful Samuel Ward once fell, and when he 
 was brought up unhurt, wanted to go back and get 
 his hat. The well and the house are shaded by three of 
 the four elms which were set out by Aunt Sally's name- 
 sake and niece; and not far from Caesar's house-site 
 stands the old sassafras tree, as large one hundred years 
 ago as it is to-day, from which several generations of 
 children have peeled the fragrant bark to chew on their 
 way to school. Aunt Henshaw's June roses still bloom 
 on the bank in front, bright and red as they bloomed in 
 the days gone by when ]\Irs. Henshaw herself came out 
 with stately step to see how her garden grew, or the 
 gay young niece who visited her ran out to pluck a 
 nosegay on a Sunday morning to wear in her belt to 
 church. 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 SKETCH OF GENERAL WARD. 
 
 ARTEMAS WARD was born November 27th, 1727, 
 in the house afterward known as the "Baldwin 
 Tavern," which his father Nahum Ward built, as 
 we have seen in a former chapter. Here he spent his 
 early life, and when seventeen years of age entered 
 Harvard College, from which he was graduated at the 
 ao-e of twenty-one years. He was then attracted to the 
 pleasant town of Groton, Mass., where he taught school 
 for a time, boarding in the family of the Rev. Caleb 
 Trowbridge, whose wife was a granddaughter of the 
 old puritan minister. Rev. Increase Mather, one of the 
 leading theologians in the time of the Salem Witch- 
 craft, and it must be confessed that the witches re- 
 ceived little favor at his hands. 
 
 After the school teaching was over Artemas Ward 
 married Sarah, daughter of the Graton minister, who 
 is said to have inherited some of the firm character- 
 istics of her Mather ancestors. They commenced their 
 
138 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 married life in the house on Rocky Plain, which his 
 father had presented to him, and being commissioned 
 one of his Majesty's justices, he there had his law 
 office where offenders were summoned to appear be- 
 fore him to be tried for their misdeeds. There, too, 
 he kept a small store, and by his account book, which 
 is preserved in good condition, he must have done a 
 thriving business. His rum and molasses he bought 
 by the barrel in Boston, of Joshua Winslow^ and he 
 bought his broadcloth of John Hancock. Very little 
 is known of his life at this time, save that he held 
 some town offices, being town -clerk, selectman, and 
 representative to the General Court. The first glimpse 
 which we have of his military life is that he was Cap- 
 tain of the first company raised in this town. In 1755 
 he was commissioned Major in the Third Regiment, 
 Abraham Williams being Colonel. In 1758 he was 
 made Lieutenant Colonel in the Regiment of foot 
 commanded by Col. William Williams and raised for 
 the invasion of Canada, setting out for the wars in 
 May of that year. 
 
 The following extracts are made from his Journal 
 kept during the expedition: " I\Iay 30, 1758. ]\Iarched 
 to Brookfield, lodged at Hastings's; 31st to Northamp- 
 ton, lodged at Gideon Lymans ; June 3. Seven com- 
 panies of our Regiment marched ten miles to ye Coffee 
 house and emcamped. 
 
 7th. The whole Regiment marched for Greenbush 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION 1 39 
 
 by ye way of Connameak, marched 13 miles, my 
 horse flung me into a River. 
 
 9. Marched nine miles & came to Greenbush, lodged 
 at Capt. Dows, drew provision for 7 days for ye Regt. 
 
 14. Marched to Saratoga, 15 miles. Left Capt. Ball 
 at ye falls, Lieut. Rice at Fort Meor. 
 
 16. Marched to Fort Edward and encamped — 17, 
 built a brest work on ye west end of ye encampment. 
 
 19. The General with his aid de camp came to 
 see the Provincial Troops ; was pleased with Col. 
 Williams' Encampment. 
 
 20. The Honbie Col. Gage & Col. Haldiman came 
 to pay Col. Williams a visit. The General not well. 
 The French Flag uneasy because not sent away — an 
 acc<^ of the arrival of the Storeship, an ace* of Lord 
 Hows arrival at the Lake with a number of Battoes, 
 an acct of one of Rogers men killed by the guard at 
 Half-way brook. 
 
 22. An acc^ of a party of 100 Lidians discovered on 
 the East side ye River, a party of 200 from Prebbles 
 Ruggles & Nichols regiment ordered out in quest of 
 them made no discovery. Ruggles & Williams Regi- 
 ment musterd by Brig^f Gen^ Gage who did Col. Wil- 
 liams ye Honor to say, was his Regt in uniform it 
 would be one of the finest he ever saw. 
 
 24. A large detachment to escort y teams & assist 
 in Building a fort came to this place three prisoners 
 (who escaped from Canada) about 12 o'clock A. M. 
 
I40 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 brot an acc^ that ye French were raising- all their 
 forces — that they were in great want of provisions — - 
 that but few Indians had joyned them as yet. 
 
 June 25. About 400 teams & Wagons passed on to 
 ye Lake with stores — preached from Deut. 23d 9. 
 About 150 of Col. Williams Regiment with a large 
 detachment from the Inkskilling & Rugglcs Regiments 
 Imployed in building a stockade fort at Half-way 
 Brook. 
 
 28. Left Half-way Brook & came to Lake George 
 — encamped. 
 
 July I St. Battoes loaded with Artilery & Stores. 
 
 2. Battoes given to all the Provincial Troops to 
 load with flour Pork &c. 
 
 4. Orders given for Heavy Baggage to be put on 
 Board. 
 
 5. Sailed. In y^ Evening put a shore tarried about 
 2 hours & refreshed ourselves, then came up Lord 
 How & ordered all to come under sail. 
 
 6. Landed without opposition & killed 4 of the 
 enemy, took 6 prisoners all y^ rest after destroying 
 their Block house fled — 12 o clock set out for ye mills 
 met ye enemy Ingaged them. Lord How fell in Bat- 
 tle with about 10 more, the line of march broke all 
 in confusion, returned to ye place we landed at & 
 Incamped with 160 prisoners, many of the enemy 
 slain viz 160. 
 
 7th marched and took possession of ye mills — Will^^ 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION 14^ 
 
 & Prebbs Reg^s marched from ye mills and built a brest 
 work within ^ mile of the French & encamped. 
 
 8. Formed our lines before y^ enemys brest works, 
 the fire began at 9 lasted till Night many slain. Began 
 to build a brest work but soon shamefully retreated 
 to our old brest tvork. 
 
 9. In ye morning arrived at ye Battoes went on 
 board and in ye afternoon came to ye place went 
 from on ye 5th instant & encamped. 
 
 10. Nothing but Confusion. 
 
 13. We movd & pitched our tents by ye French In- 
 trenchment. 
 
 July 19. Heard two men were killed and scalped 
 at Stillwater yesterday. 
 
 20. 3 Capts 2 Liets i Ens" & 21 privates slain (& 
 missing) Between this and Half-way Brook. 
 
 21. A general Court martial, In which there was 
 one sentenced to be hanged for stealing and 2 others 
 to receive 100 lashes each. 
 
 29. Majs Rogers & Putnam with 700 men sent 
 down at 2 o clock in ye morn to ye Lake & 10 to 
 South Bay to Intercept the Enemy in their return. 
 
 31st. News from Half-way Brook of ye Enemy 
 marching toward Fort Edward. 
 
 August 3^- Docf Ashley deceased at Saratoga. 
 
 Aug. 8. Heard that 2 of Lord Hows Regt was 
 found scalped which was supposed to have deserted 
 from ye Regt before we went to Ticonderoga with 
 
142 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 one more which some days since was taken up by 
 some of our men and is now under arrest, it is thought 
 that he was with the Indians that feU upon ye teams 
 on ye 28^^ of July last. It is thought, he will suffer 
 death for his crime, 
 
 9. News from Rogers that he had got forty scalps 
 iSc two prisoners, he lost 20 & had 50 men wounded 
 two brought into Fort Edward that was scalped but 
 alive — ye truth is they gave ye enemy a good drub- 
 bing this time. 
 
 13. Last night ye french Flag of truce went off — 
 this day Capt. ^Maynard returned from his scout with 
 ]Maj. Rogers, he went to south bay fort Ann then to 
 Fort Edward & Saratoga he said he had 7 men shot 
 down within the length of his gun of him, in time of 
 the engagement. 
 
 20. This day news came to head Quarters from a 
 letter from Gov. Hutchinson of ye surrender of Cape 
 Breton that it surrendered ye 26 of July last. 
 
 21. Lt Johnson of Capt- Jacobs company went out 
 on a scout with about 15 or 16 Indians and English 
 to reconoiter and get a Captive if possible. 
 
 25. Went to half-way brook with 550 officers & men 
 & relieved the party stationed there. 
 
 Sept 15. Nothing remarkable saving Broadstreats 
 taking Saratoga on ye 27 of August last." 
 
 A musket with bayonet and cartridge-box are some 
 of the trophies sent home from the war by Col. Ward, 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION I43 
 
 and are now in the possession of his descendants. 
 At the time of this war one-third of all the able 
 bodied men of Massachusetts were in the field. Of 
 the number who went from Shrewsbury, Mr. Harlow 
 in his History traces but nine names. 
 
 Lt. Col. Artemas Ward, John Wheeler, 
 
 Lt. Marshall Newton, William Howe, 
 
 Ensign Nathan Howe, Aaron wSmith, 
 
 Dr. Edward Flint, Joshua Smith, 
 
 Caleb Parker. 
 The two Howe brothers and Aaron Smith came 
 home sick, and the town granted them each an allow- 
 ance of several shillings on account of their sickness. 
 An old document of which the following is a copy, 
 reveals some other names : 
 
 ''Shrewsbury May ye 2d 1758 We y^ Subscribers do 
 hereby acknowledge that we have rec^ of Artemas 
 Ward fifty shillings each, it being in full for ye fifty 
 shillings bounty allowed by ye General Court for In- 
 listing into ye Canada Expedition. 
 
 In witness whereof we have hereto set our hands — • 
 John Morse, Ephraim Pratt, 
 
 John Newton, Ezekiel Knowlton, 
 
 RuFus Taylor, Luke Knowlton, 
 
 John Hapgood, Nahum Eager, 
 
 Stephen Parker, Jr., Benjamin Eager 
 Timothy Howard, for negro Pompey. 
 
 Solomon Eay. " 
 
144- OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 In July 1765 the following named persons received 
 each, nine pounds bounty from the muster master, Col. 
 Artemas Ward, "for enlisting into the service of ye 
 Province of y^ Massachusetts Bay in ye year afore- 
 said" — John Taplix, 
 
 William Jordan, 
 
 John Love, 
 
 Elias Witt, 
 
 David Boynton, 
 
 Ephraim Stone, 
 
 Jonathan Sjiith, 
 
 Samuel Pegon, 
 
 Benjamin Warren, 
 These names are all under date of Shrewsbury at 
 the same time. ^Ir. Harlow mentions one voung; 
 
 ■J o 
 
 Shrewsbury hero, Jonah Taylor who went in his youth- 
 ful ardor with the famous expedition against Cape 
 Breton under Sir William Pepperell and fell at Louis- 
 burg in 1745. On his return from this expedition Col. 
 Ward resumed his place in town affairs, administering 
 justice to the unruly and throwing his influence on 
 the right side of the grave questions then arising among 
 the people. 
 
 In 1762 he sold his house on Rocky Plain to Rev. 
 ]\Ir. Sumner and removed to the place since known 
 as the Ward Homestead, on the opposite side of the 
 King's highwav from the Baldwin Tavern. 
 
 When the original part of the house at the Home- 
 
^/^^,...,_^ 
 
 
 af-aj 
 
 
 
 
 ^/^Uf7^ 
 
 SIGNATURES OF VOLUNTEERS IN THE 
 CANADIAN EXPEDITION. 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION I47 
 
 stead was erected is not definitely known. Probably 
 it is one of the numerous houses built by Nahum Ward. 
 Like most country houses of that time, it had two 
 rooms in front, one on each side of the front door and 
 a small entry between. A large chimney afforded fire- 
 places in the two rooms and also in the long- kitchen 
 behind them. In 1785 the house was enlarged and 
 somewhat modernized, but many old features remain. 
 The hand-made window sashes, and heavy blinds, the 
 great locks and hinges on the doors often excite the 
 curiosity of the present generation, and it has been 
 sometimes rare sport for the children to search out all 
 the closets, cupboards and cranny places in the house, 
 some of which are not easily found. Like the Pease 
 Tavern, there is a swing partition between two rooms 
 upstairs which can be raised to make one large room. 
 The fireplaces have nearly all been bricked up, but the 
 brick oven in the kitchen is still in good order, and 
 the stone hearth lies before the fireplace as if waiting 
 for those good old times to return when the back-log 
 and fore-stick with a whole load of smaller wood fill- 
 ing in the space between, would blaze again and fill 
 the room with light and heat. The crane is shut up 
 there waiting to bear its weight of pots and kettles as 
 in the ancient time when the fair faces and plump 
 arms of the dames who ruled their own kitchens, kept 
 fair to the last in spite of the roaring, scorching fire 
 before which they cooked their dinners, happy in 
 
148 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 their ignorance of a cooking stove. The kitchen dres- 
 ser is now enclosed with doors, but the shining pew- 
 ter that once adorned the shelves is scattered through 
 the land in different homes. The heavy, sliding win- 
 dow shutters still shut out the cold in winter nights, 
 as they did when the young folks gathered about the 
 bright log fire to crack their hickory nuts and roast 
 their apples and chestnuts. The apples twirling on 
 their strings, sputtered in the heat until the juice drop- 
 ped down on to the ashes below, where the chestnuts 
 were roasting and bursting their shells, scattering the 
 ashes into the mugs of cider warming on the hearth, 
 over the shining apples above, and all about, making 
 ofreat merriment, for whichever ^^'av one flew was to- 
 ward the true love of the owner of that very chestnut. 
 Cracking their nuts and their jokes they had their fun, 
 knowing that if they became too uproarious the Gen- 
 eral would come to the door and bid them "keep 
 more quiet." The cellar door has the old fashioned 
 latch pulled up by a leather string, like the one little 
 Red-riding-hood lifted at her grandmother's door. The 
 long poles hanging horizontally in their supports a few 
 inches from the ceiling were used for drying apples 
 and pumpkins, and here, too, were kept the guns. 
 Sometimes the boys would drill in the kitchen, and 
 the low ceiling still shows the marks where it was hit 
 in the "shoulder arms!" In the "best room,'"' now the 
 ''middle room," was the buffet which was, in the reno- 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION I49 
 
 vation, consigned to the cellar as being- old-fashioned. 
 
 The summers running across the ceiling, the corner 
 posts and beams around the tops of the rooms, the 
 stout timbers, the spars in the garret fastened with 
 great wooden pins, bracing up the roof, the massive 
 masonry in the cellar supporting the chimneys, all 
 show that the house was not built for that time alone, 
 but with a thought for future generations. It was 
 from this humble dwelling that Artemas Ward went 
 forth to take that active and prominent part in the 
 political affairs of our country in which he distin- 
 guished himself for his pure patriotism, his strict integ- 
 rity and stern sense of justice and duty from which 
 he allowed nothing to turn him aside. In 1763 he was 
 commissioned Colonel, and in trainino^ his men he 
 sometimes gave them lessons in politics. Fighting for 
 the king against the French was a thing of the past ; 
 they must now look out for their own rights that 
 were being encroached upon by Parliament, and the 
 militia companies instead of being eager to learn how 
 to best serve their king, were seeking to break away 
 from his allegiance altogether. 
 
 Hints of Colonel Ward's disloyalty to kingly rule 
 came to the ears of the royal Governor, Francis Ber- 
 nard, who as a loyal subject of the king was bound 
 to suppress anything like treachery ; accordingly, he 
 sent a messenger post-haste to Col. Ward's house 
 with a letter. It was the day when the old meeting- 
 
150 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 house was being- torn down, and men had collected 
 from all parts of the to\\'n to take part in the work. 
 Being directed there the messenger spurred on his 
 horse, and finding Col. Ward with the others, pre- 
 sented him with the letter, resting his horse while it 
 was being opened to see how the message was re- 
 ceived. The assembled townsmen were curious to 
 know what the important message could be that 
 required such haste in the rider in the scarlet coat. 
 Col. Ward then read aloud: 
 
 ''Boston, June 30, 1766. 
 To Artemas Ward Esq"" 
 
 Sir. —I am ordered by the Governor to signify to 
 you that he has thought fit to supersede your Com- 
 iTiission of Col. in the Regiment of militia lying in 
 part in the County of Worcester and partly in the 
 County of IMiddlesex — And your said Commission is 
 superseded accordingly. 
 
 I am Sir, your most ob'"t and humble serv't 
 
 Jno. Cotton, Deputy Secretary.'^ 
 
 Col. Ward then turning to the messenger said "Give 
 my compliments to the Governor and say to him that 
 I consider myself twice honored, but mere in being 
 superseded than m being commissioned, and" (holding 
 up the letter) "that I thank him for this, since the 
 motive that dictated it is evidence that I am what 
 he is not, a friend to my country." Bearing this mes- 
 sage the horseman in the king's livery turned his 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION I5I 
 
 horse and rode off amid the shouts of the people 
 ''Colonel Ward forever !" So bravely and without hesi- 
 tation did he accept the situation, and so firmly did 
 he abide by the stand which he had taken, that he 
 secured the love and confidence of New England. 
 
 King George III. was not beloved by his subjects 
 in the Province of Massachusetts Bay and his repre- 
 sentative, the Governor thereof, felt that rebellion was 
 in the hearts of the people. And truly they did rebel 
 against the heavy taxations and the many acts of 
 oppression placed upon them. 
 
 The lawdoving, law-abiding descendants of the Puri- 
 tans liked it not that the king should send his Red- 
 coats to preserve order among the most orderly of 
 mankind, and Artemas Ward w^ith his keen sense of 
 justice could ill brook the insult. The colonists 
 aroused to action, sent men of tried integrity and 
 loyalty to their cause, to act as the Governor's coun- 
 cil, and thus protect their rights. Shrewsbury sent 
 Artemas Ward, but the Governor, loyal to the king, 
 would have none of him, and sent him home for the 
 same reason that he withdrew his commission. The 
 people then sent him as their representative to the 
 General Court, where he remained and acted with that 
 body. 
 
 For some years there had been turbulent times in 
 Boston : the independent spirit of America was aroused 
 by the presence of the British soldiers, who were 
 
152 
 
 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 pleased at times to show their authority, consequently 
 there was a tight between them and some of the Bos- 
 ton workmen, and Crispus Attuks (who has since been 
 immortalized as a hero,) was killed. This was called 
 a massacre, and was followed by a more determined 
 show of resistance. IMobs and riots turned the for- 
 merly peaceful city into a place of terror. The people 
 were becoming- poor by taxation ; the already poor were 
 crushed by it and reduced to real suffering. Kind 
 friends in the country and in other Colonies took from 
 their own scanty stores to help them in their need, for 
 these stories were not long in passing over the hills. 
 Groups of men talked them over in the bar-rooms at 
 Baldwin's and Farrar's ; there was war in the air ! 
 Shrewsbury Captains drilled their men; all the old flint 
 locks were brushed up and primed ready for use at a 
 minute's notice, when their owners should receive the 
 word. Indians and wild cats were forgotten ; it was the 
 Red-coats now ! When the young men burned their tea 
 in Ross Wyman's bar-room they expressed a feeling that 
 would show itself later in burning powder when the 
 right time should come, and they waited with what 
 patience they could, for the motto was, ''The British 
 must fire the first shot !" 
 
 The great and general court of the Province of INIassa- 
 chusetts Bay being deserted by the Royal Governor, 
 Hon. Thomas Gage, Esq., on the fifth of October, 1774, 
 the members thereof formed themselves into a Provin- 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION J 53 
 
 cial Congress, and held their first session at Salem Court 
 House two days later, choosing John Hancock president 
 and Benjamin Lincoln clerk. Adjourning to the meeting- 
 house in Concord, a committee was appointed ''to con- 
 sider what is necessary to be done now for the defense 
 and safety of the Province," the committee to consist of 
 thirteen, "Hon. Col. Ward" being one. It was found 
 that not less than £20,^^,7 was necessary to defray the 
 expense of firearms and ordnance, in addition to what 
 was already in their possession. This appalling sum 
 did not dismay these intrepid men who were willing to 
 give their all for their liberty. 
 
 A committee of safety consisting of nine was also 
 appointed to regulate the Militia and they chose three 
 Generals, Hon. Jedediah Preble, Hon. Artemas Ward, 
 Col. Seth Pomeroy. Jedediah Preble did not accept his 
 appointment. All through the next winter the Militia 
 companies in the towns were quietly learning the ways 
 of war, learning to send their balls straight to the mark 
 and to waste no ammunition by false shots. Heavily 
 loaded wagons were seen wending their way towards 
 Concord where the ordnance were to be stored, leaving 
 their loads of powder and balls and returning for more. 
 The teamsters were allowed ninepence per mile. 
 
 Shrewsbury voted to raise three companies, but it 
 appears that two only were raised, one in each precinct 
 — the south (now Shrewsbury) under Captain Job 
 Cushing ; the north (Boylston) under Captain Ezra Bea- 
 
154 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 man. It appears also that these two companies were 
 consolidated in one, Job Cashing, Captain, and Ezra 
 Beaman, first Lieut., the number of men raised not 
 being sufficient for two companies. 
 
 Before the war was over Ezra Beaman won the title of 
 Major, having distinguished himself in the Bennington 
 and Saratoga struggles. He is one of Boylston's famous 
 men and an account of his valor may be read in the 
 History of Worcester County. The place where he lived 
 is called the "Beaman farm" to this day, and is owned 
 by Mr. Thomas Harlow of Shrewsbury. 
 
 In March, 1773, when Doctor Joseph Warren made 
 his bold speech in the Old South Church on the anniver- 
 sary of the massacre, the British found that they had 
 more than a handful of rebellious children with whom 
 to deal. On the fifteenth of April the Congress at Con- 
 cord adjourned to convene again on the tenth of May, 
 the eleventh of May being appointed as a day of fastings 
 and prayer "for the gracious interposition of Heaven 
 and the restoration of their invaded liberties." Not fear- 
 ing an immediate attack from the British, the members 
 of Congress left Concord for their homes, excepting 
 Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who stayed a few 
 days with their friend. Rev. Jonas Clark, in Lexington. 
 Gov. Gage having had orders from England to arrest 
 these two dangerous men and send them to the king for 
 trial, it was thought best for them to remain in the se- 
 clusion of Lexington for awhile, and there Paul Revere 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION 1 55 
 
 found them when he took his midnight ride on the 
 eighteenth of April, and spoke at every door "A word 
 that shall echo forevermore." The next day the shot for 
 which the country was listening was fired and "heard 
 round the world." Then the pent up enthusiasm of 
 New England burst into flame, and when the historic 
 white horse "bloody with spurring and dripping with 
 sweat" passed through Shrewsbury, its rider crying out 
 "To arms! To arms! The war's begun," men leaped 
 to their saddles or shouldered their arms, and Captain 
 Cushing's company of minute men were on the mo- 
 ment's notice marching toward Boston. Lieut. Nathan 
 Howe was, like Israel Putnam, plowing at the time he 
 heard the cry, with a horse and a pair of oxen ; mount- 
 ing the horse he set off to rally the men. Nathan, 
 Junior, cried to go, too, but was too young, being only 
 fifteen. However when, two years later, his father left 
 the army because his constitution was broken down 
 with exposure and labor, he was allowed to have his 
 wish and v/ent to the war, remaining in the service till 
 its close. 
 
 The word that the excited horsemen brought to 
 Shrewsbury on the nineteenth of April flew through the 
 towns with such rapidity that before Saturday night 
 Boston was surrounded by an army of sixteen thousand 
 men, in the face of Governor Gage's proclamation that 
 all rebels taken in arms should be brought to the 
 gallows. 
 
156 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 Artemas Ward was at Cambridge on the twentieth 
 issuing- orders and regulating the troops as they came 
 thronging in. On the nineteenth of May the Provincial 
 Congress accepted the form of a commission for General 
 Ward and the next day ''Resolved unanimously, that 
 the president be desired to deliver to Gen. Ward the com- 
 mission prepared for him by this Congress as General 
 and Commander in Chief of the Massachusetts forces. " 
 The commission read as follows : 
 " The Congress of the Colony of INIassachusetts Bay ' 
 
 To the Honorable Artemas Ward, Esquire, Greeting : 
 W^e, reposing especial trust and confidence in your 
 courage and good conduct, do by these presents con- 
 stitute and appoint you, the said Artemas Ward, to be 
 General and Commander in Chief of all the forces raised 
 by the Congress aforesaid, for the defence of this and 
 the other American Colonies. 
 
 You are therefore carefully and diligently to discharge 
 the duty of a General in leading, ordering, and exer- 
 cising the Forces in Arms, both inferior officers and 
 soldiers, and to keep them in good order and discipline, 
 and they are hereby commanded to obey you as their 
 General ; and you are yourself to observe and follow 
 such orders and instructions as you shall, from time to 
 time, receive from this or any future Congress or Plouse 
 of Representatives of this Colony, or the Committee of 
 Safety, so far as said Committee is impowered by their 
 commission to order and instruct you for the defence of 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION I 57 
 
 this and the other Colonies, and to demean yourself ac- 
 cording to the military rule, and discipline, established by 
 said Congress in pursuance of the trust reposed in you. 
 
 By order of the Congress 
 
 Dated 19th May A. D. 1775 
 
 Jos. Warren Pres. Pro. Tem." 
 
 This commission did not authorize him to command 
 the forces raised in other Colonies, of which large num- 
 bers were daily arriving at Cambridge. The Congress 
 was therefore impressed with the importance of having 
 them formed into one army and under the leadership of 
 one man. Accordingly John Adams was sent to Phila- 
 delphia to confer with the Continental Congress then 
 in session there. 
 
 His nomination of George Washington met with ap- 
 proval and he was elected to the office of General the 
 following June. In the meantime preparations for war 
 were being made at Cambridge. It was found that the 
 number of firelocks was insufficient for the number of 
 enlisted men, and the inhabitants of all towns who 
 had any in their possession were requested to forward 
 them to Watertown and receive payment for the same. 
 Twenty-two were sent from Shrewsbury, and there were 
 found here five barrels of powder, of which one-half a 
 barrel was to be left in town. 
 
 The army was to be supplied with clothing, and the 
 committee of supply proportioned out the coats to be 
 made in different towns. Shrewsbury was to make 79. 
 
158 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 They were "to be made of good, plain cloth, preference 
 to be given to the manufactures of this country, and to 
 be delivered to the committee of supplies without but- 
 tons, on or before the first day of October next, and 
 sooner if possible. That for every yard of such cloth of 
 seven-eighths of a yard wide, they shall be allowed and 
 paid the sum of five shillings and fourpence, and in that 
 proportion for cloth of a greater or less width, and the 
 sum of four shillings for each and every coat ; Resolved 
 — that each coat be faced with the same kind of cloth of 
 which it is made ; that the coats be made in the com- 
 mon, plain way, without lappels, short, and with small 
 folds, and that the select men cause a certificate to be 
 sewed to the msidc of each coat purporting from what 
 town it came, by who the coat was made, and if the 
 cloth was manufactured in this country.'' These coats 
 were all to be buttoned with pewter buttons having the 
 number of the regiment stamped upon the face of them. 
 
 The sword which General Ward wore at this time was 
 of English manufacture, and is now in the possession of 
 a descendant in South America. It has a silver hilt sur- 
 mounted by a wolf's head, a silver chain running from 
 the mouth to the cross hilt. The scabbard is of plain 
 leather with silver mountings and steel chains to attach 
 it to the sword belt. Later a sword with jewelled hilt 
 was presented to him, and inscribed "By a grateful 
 people." 
 
 It was no light task to reduce to order the army that 
 
GENERAL WARD S SWORD. 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION l6l 
 
 had so suddenly arisen in New England after the Battle 
 at Lexington and Concord. All were volunteers, but all 
 were not unused to camp life. ]\Iany among them had 
 fought in the French Wars, many more had served in 
 the militia companies and knew something of military 
 ways, and all from the oldest to the youngest knew full 
 well the use of their muskets. This ununiformed army 
 did not present a brilliant spectacle to the eye, as each 
 individual was dressed in his own home suit and no two 
 alike ; some had come directly from the plough-field, 
 some from their workshops ; they had gone with the 
 idea of fighting the British the first day, and the re- 
 straints of camp life were disagreeable and the scarcity 
 of food and comfortable quarters discouraging. 
 
 One of the first orders issued by General Ward on the 
 2oth of April was "That a Captain, one Lieutenant, two 
 Sergeants, and fifty-two rank-and-file, march imme- 
 diately to bury the dead, and take care of the wounded." 
 Col. Gardner was ordered to repair immediately to Rox- 
 bury, and bring to Cambridge all the bread that could 
 be obtained there, and Col. Bond, to bring "all the 
 cannon at Watertown, Newton and Waltham, with part 
 of the ammunition to the camp at Cambridge." It was 
 thought by the Committee of Safety that the British 
 would next attack Cambridge and therefore that place 
 was ordered to be well guarded. It was here that Gen- 
 eral Ward had his head-quarters, in the house afterward 
 owned and occupied by Oliver Wendell Holmes. 
 
1 62 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 The volunteers were surrounding- Boston ; day by day 
 they were drawing the lines closer, guarding all the 
 avenues to the city and imprisoning the British, leaving 
 no way for them to go out, but by the sea. 
 
 There were many poor in the city who were loyal to 
 the American cause, who were also shut up there on 
 account of their poverty, having been unable to provide 
 homes for themselves elsewhere. 
 
 Gov. Gage finding them no benefit to him, but rather 
 a weight on his hands, gave them permission to go out, 
 provided that all who had fire-arms should leave them 
 behind. And so it was that men and boys sadly marched 
 into Faneuil Hall, bravely laid down their muskets, and 
 came out empty handed. The Provincial Congress or- 
 dered that provision be made in different towns for all 
 those who were unable to do for themselves, and that 
 they be transported thither. The number allotted to 
 vShrewsbury was thirty-two. There were busy times in 
 the newly formed army, there were anxious times at 
 home among the elders, there were exciting times among 
 the boys, who talked of the glories of war and of the 
 noble achievements there would be to record, could they 
 but have a chance to take down the pride of some of 
 those haughty grenadiers. What wonder that the hearts 
 of the Shrewsbury boys beat high when they thought of 
 the battle that was daily expected ! 
 
 What wonder that the son of the General felt a desire 
 that could not be repressed, to visit his father and wit- 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION 1 63 
 
 ness the preparations for war ? It required but little per- 
 suasion from him to induce a young companion to join 
 him in his adventure. Who his companion was tradition 
 does not say, and we can only guess that it was young 
 Nathan Howe, who wanted so much to go with his 
 father. Whoever he might have been, he was a Shrews- 
 bury boy, and the two made the journey on foot. It 
 was near noon on the 17th of June when they arrived at 
 ■Cambridge and made their appearance at head-quarters. 
 
 The General was not well pleased to see his son there 
 at that time, for the battle was already begun. His 
 look of disapproval, and "How is this, Tommy .=>" struck 
 the boy as not propitious for a long visit; and "you 
 must go right back,"' settled the matter. And so these 
 sons of soldiers, who were brought up to obey, turned 
 their backs on the camp and on all that they had wished 
 to see, and set their faces homeward, even though balls 
 from the "Lively" and "Somerset,"' men of war in the 
 harbor, were flying over at the intrenchments on Bunker 
 Hill and the Red-coats would soon march up the hill 
 to their death. The rattle of musketry reached their 
 ears, and the flames of burning Charlestown were in 
 sight when they turned to look back after they were well 
 out of town. They had seen the camp, they had heard 
 the noise of battle ; they had that to remember, and 
 they could remember also that like good soldiers they 
 had obeyed orders. 
 
 The General made but one record in his note book 
 
164 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 that day, "The battle is going on at Charlestown.'^ 
 There is no time to write in journals when there is the 
 most to write about. It was a time of great excitement ; 
 here were the undisciplined soldiers all eager to fight in 
 the first battle ; there was lack of ammunition, no one 
 waiting for orders, orders misunderstood and orders 
 hard to get when the General himself was under orders 
 from the Committee of Safety, and besides all this there 
 was a traitor in the camp. It is astonishing that the 
 history made that day is as flattering to the American 
 forces as it is. The account of the Battle, by the Provin- 
 cial Congress, is a simple statement of things as they 
 appeared at the time, without criticism, and without 
 censuring any one. The record reads: ''Reinforce- 
 ments from Ireland both of horse and foot, being ar- 
 rived, the number unknown, and having good intelli- 
 o;ence that Gen. Gage was about to take possession of 
 the advantageous posts in Charlestown and on Dor- 
 chester point, the Committee of Safety advised, that our 
 troops should prepossess them if possible : accordingly, 
 on Friday evening, the i6th instant, this was effected by 
 about twelve hundred men. About daylight on Satur- 
 day morning, their line of circumvallation, on a small 
 hill south of Bunker's Hill in Charlestown was closed. 
 At this time the "Lively" man of war, began to fire 
 upon them. A number of our enemy's ships, tenders, 
 cutters and scows or floating batteries soon came up : 
 from all which the fire was general by twelve o'clock. 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION 1 65 
 
 About two the enemy began to land at a point which 
 leads out towards Noddle's island, and immediately 
 marched up to our intrenchments, from which they were 
 twice repulsed; but, in the third attack forced them. 
 Our forces, which were in the lines, as well as those sent 
 •out for their support, were greatly annoyed by balls, 
 and bombs from Copps Hill, the ships, scows, &c. At 
 this time, the buildings in Charlestown appeared in 
 flames, in almost every quarter, kindled by hot balls, 
 and are since laid in ashes. Though this scene was most 
 horrible, and altogether new to most of our men, yet 
 many stood and received wounds by swords and bay- 
 onets, before they quitted their lines. At five o'clock the 
 enemy were in full possession of all the posts within 
 the isthmus. In the evening and the night following. 
 General Ward extended his intrenchments, before made 
 at the stone house, over Winter hill. About 6 o'clock of 
 the same day, the enemy began to cannonade Roxbury, 
 from Boston neck and elsewhere, which they continued 
 twenty-four hours, with little spirit and less effect. 
 
 The number killed and wounded on our side is not 
 known ; but supposed by some to be about sixty or 
 seventy, and by some considered to be considerably 
 above that number. Our most worthy friend and presi- 
 dent Doct. Warren, lately elected a Major general, is 
 among them ; this loss we feel most sensibly * * If 
 any error has been made on our side, it was in taking 
 a post so much exposed" — 
 
1 66 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 This letter to the Continental Congress was prepared 
 by seven men chosen by the Provincial Congress for 
 the purpose and written four days after the battle. The 
 following letter also was sent to General Ward : 
 " In Provincial Congress 
 
 Watertown, June 22^, 1775. 
 Sir : 
 
 Yours of this day hath been considered by the Con- 
 gress, they are entirely satisfied with the part you have 
 taken relative to their suggestions to you, of the pro- 
 priety of removing a regiment or more, from the camp 
 in Roxbury to the camp in Cambridge ; and are dis- 
 posed to leave the matter to be conducted by you as in 
 your opinion will best promote and secure the safety 
 and interest of the whole. 
 
 By order of Congress 
 
 Jas Warren, President. 
 For 
 Tne Honbl General Ward 
 att 
 
 Cambridge." 
 They seem not to have been greatly discouraged at 
 the loss of their ground, nor do they exult that the 
 enemy lost one thousand men in killed and wounded. 
 That they considered themselves victorious is evident 
 from the fact that General Green said "I would sell 
 them another hill at the same price."" When General 
 Washington knew the circumstances he said "There 
 
SHREWSBURY IX THE REVOLUTION 1 6/ 
 
 can now be no doubt that the liberties of the people are 
 secure. " One hundred years later, two hundred thousand 
 strangers visited Boston to join with the citizens in cele- 
 brating the event with "the most magnificent pageant 
 that has ever been seen on this continent." 
 
 After the burning of Charlestown, by which two thou- 
 sand persons were rendered homeless, the destitute were 
 sent out into the country to be provided for, and homes 
 were found in Shrewsbury for ten. Later, when prison- 
 ers of war were distributed about for safe keeping, two 
 were this town's portion, viz. Perez Merrin and Michael 
 Maloney, who were not to go outside the limits of the 
 town without a pass from the Selectmen. On the day of 
 the Battle of Bunker Hill General Ward was appointed 
 to the office of first Major General of the army, with 
 Horatio Gates as adjutant. He was the first American 
 to receive the title of General under American authority, 
 but his command not extending beyond the limits of 
 Massachusetts, the oftice was not required after the 
 troops were adopted by Congress as a national army. 
 Immediately on his election as commander-in-chief 
 General Washington went to Mount Vernon to bid fare- 
 well to his family and started with his guard for Cam- 
 bridge, where he arrived July 2d, 1775, and where he 
 formally took command of the army under the famous 
 elm. A guard had been sent from Boston to Springfield 
 to escort him through Worcester and Marlboro, and 
 ordered to stop at any inns on the way when refresh- 
 
1 68 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 meiit was needed. Immediately on his arrival he began 
 to organize the army, taking for himself the central 
 position at Cambridge, posting General Ward on his 
 right at Roxbury and General Lee on his left at Winter 
 Hill. 
 
 The siege of Boston was carried on as it had already 
 begun in good earnest, and the British were imprisoned 
 in the city during the long, hot days of the summer, and 
 so on into the winter, when they made the time of their 
 duress gay with all the festivities they could command. 
 
 When the winter began to wane, their thoughts came 
 back to the cause of their imprisonment, and they found 
 suddenly that the Yankees had been at work while they 
 w^ere playing. In the winter General Ward had pro- 
 posed the fortifying of Dorchester Heights, feeling that, 
 if this position were secured, the enemy might easily be 
 dislodged from Boston. General Washington did not at 
 first favor this plan, considering it too hazardous, but 
 the majority of the ofticers approving, and hearing that 
 the enemy contemplated taking possession of it, he con- 
 cluded that it was better to "prevent than remedy an 
 evil, •"' as the following letter shows : — 
 
 "Cambridge, 27th Feb., 1776. 
 Sir: 
 
 We were falsely alarmed a while ago with an ace' of 
 the Regulars coming over from the Castle to Dorchester. 
 Mr. Bayler Whom I immediately sent of is just returned 
 with a contradiction of it. But as a rascally Rifle man 
 
SHREWSBURY IX THE REVOLUTION 1 69 
 
 went it last night & will no doubt give all the intelli- 
 gence he can, w^ it not be prudent to keep Six or Eight 
 trusty men by way of Lookouts or Patrols to-night on 
 the point next the castle as well as on Nuke Hill. At 
 the same time ordering particular Regimts to be ready to 
 march at a moment's warning to the Heights of Dor- 
 chester. For should the enemy get Possession of those 
 Hills before us, they would render it a difficult task to 
 dispossess them. Better it is therefore to prevent than 
 remedy an evil. 
 
 I am yr most Obed 
 
 GO Washington 
 To Majr Geni Ward 
 
 Roxbury. " 
 
 The barrels referred to in the following letter, to be 
 used as a defense, were to be filled with sand, placed 
 at the top of the hill and let loose when the enemy 
 began to ascend, and, rolling down into the ranks, 
 would soon make a scattering among them. The 
 sequence shows however that the British were too cau- 
 tious to run any great risk and the barrels, though ready, 
 were not needed. 
 "To Major General Ward 
 
 Commanding at Roxbury 
 
 Cambridge, 3d March, 1776. 
 Sir. 
 
 My letter of last Night would inform you that the 
 Genl officers at this place thought it dangerous to delay 
 
IJC OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 taking the Post on Dorchester Hills, least they should 
 be possessed before us by the Enemy, and therefore 
 Involye us in difficulties which we should not know 
 how to extricate ourselyes from — this opinion they were 
 inclined to adopt from a belief, indeed almost a certain 
 knowledge, of the Enemy's being appris'd of our de- 
 signs that way. 
 
 You should make choice of some good Regiments to 
 go on the morning after the Post is taken, under the 
 command of General Thomas, the number of men you 
 shall judge necessary for this Relief may be ordered. 
 I should think from two to three thousand, as circum- 
 stances may require would be enough. I shall send 
 you from hence two Regiments to be at Roxbury early 
 on Tuesday morning to strengthen the lines, and I shall 
 send you tomorrow Eyening two Companies of Rifle- 
 men, which with the three now there may be placed 
 under the care of .Capt" Hugh Steyenson, subject to the- 
 Command of the officers Commanding at the Post (Dor- 
 chester) — they will I think be able to gald the Enem)r 
 sorely in their ]March from their Boats S: inland. A 
 Blind along the Causey should be thrown up, if possi- 
 ble, while the other work is about, especially on the 
 Dorchester side, as that is nearest the Enemy's Guns & 
 most exposed. We calculated I think that 800 men 
 would do the whole Causey with great ease in a night, 
 if the Marsh has not got bad to work again, & the tide 
 gives no great Interruption — 250 Axe Men I should think 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION 17I 
 
 would soon fell the Trees for the Abettes, but what 
 number it may take to get them, the Fascienes, Chan- 
 deliers &c in place I know not — 750 men (the working 
 party carrying their arms) will I should think be suffi- 
 cient for a Covering Party, these to be Posted on Nuke 
 Hill, — or the little hill in front of the 2d hill looking into 
 Boston Bay — and near the point opposite the Castle. 
 Sentries to be kept between the Parties & some on the 
 back side looking toward Squantum. As I have a very 
 high opinion of the defense which may be made with 
 Barrels from either of the Hills, I could wish you to 
 have a number over. Perhaps single Barrels would be 
 better than linking of them together being less liable to 
 accidents — the Hoops should be well nailed or else 
 they will soon fly and the Casks fall to pieces. You 
 must take care that the necessary notice is given to 
 the Militia agreeable to the plan settled with General 
 Thomas. I shall desire Col" Gridley & Col. Knox to 
 be over tomorrow to lay out the work. I recollect 
 nothing more at present to mention to you — ^you will 
 settle matters with the officers with you, as what I have 
 said is intended rather to convey my ideas generally, 
 than wishing them to be adhered to strictly. 
 
 I am with esteem &c Sir 
 Yr most Obed Servt 
 
 Go Washington." 
 On the receipt of this letter General Ward issued an 
 order which gave great satisfaction to the Shrewsbury 
 
\']2 OLD TIMES IK SHREWSBURY 
 
 men, who were weary of the monotony of camp life 
 and rejoiced in the prospect of actual warfare. 
 
 They did not disappoint their commander, but by 
 assiduous labor through the chilly March night the 
 work was accomplished which decided the fate of 
 Eoston. A part of the fortification still remains, but 
 only enough to give a suggestion of what was done that 
 night. The labor and exposure resulted seriously for 
 many of the men, and Nathan Howe never recovered 
 his health. The works were a surprise to the British 
 next morning, who saw at once that their last hope 
 had fled and that those Yankees would never be 
 caught napping. With one consent they boarded their 
 ships and left Boston to the undisputed possession of 
 the Americans, and as the King's troops left on one side 
 by the sea, Gen. Washington and his army marched 
 in with flying colors on the other. On the 17th of 
 March the fleet sailed away and on the 29th Gen. Wash- 
 ington, who was preparing to go with most of his army 
 to New York, wrote to Gen. Ward asking him to remove 
 into Boston (if he were not afraid of the small-pox) and 
 to take command of the five regiments to be left there 
 for the defense of the city, direct the erection of works 
 and attend to matters in general there. General Ward 
 was not afraid of the small-pox, when such a fear 
 would interfere with his duty, and took the command 
 as requested. With the British Army, fifteen hundred 
 royalists had gone, and the city thus left in haste by 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION 1 73 
 
 SO large a number of people, was a scene of confusion, 
 disorder, disease and poverty. General Ward with his 
 few troops was expected to restore order and cleanse, 
 fortify and defend the city. He had wished to resign 
 his position on account of ill health, but Congress sent 
 a request that he would continue there. In a letter to 
 John Hancock in September he says, ''I have continued 
 in Boston many months in a very disagreeable situa- 
 tion, and am of opinion in a dishonorable one. I was 
 left with the command of but five Regiments (or rather 
 with parts of five) and fettered with an Instruction with 
 which I would not have fettered a Col. of a Regt. I had 
 everything to do, and nothing to do with. Some said 
 if they were in my place they would run away. I did 
 not think best to conduct in that manner, but contin- 
 ued in some respects greatly to my disadvantage that 
 I might be able to comply with the above request of 
 Congress." That summer John Hancock sent him a 
 letter which speaks for itself. 
 
 " Philadelphia, July 6th, 1776. 
 Sir. 
 
 The enclosed Declaration of Independence, I am di- 
 rected to transmit to you with a request that you will 
 have it proclaimed at the head of the Troops under 
 your Command, in the Way you shall think most 
 proper. I have- only time to add, that the importance 
 of it, will naturally suggest the Propriety of proclaiming 
 
174 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 it, in such a manner, as that the whole army may be 
 fully apprised of it. 
 
 I have the honor to be Sir 
 
 Your most obed. & very hble Ser. 
 John Hancock, Presd^-" 
 
 At the close of the year 1776 General Ward's resig- 
 nation was accepted by Congress. The next year he 
 was elected President of the Executive Council of the 
 Colony, and in 1779 appointed a member of the Con- 
 tinental Congress. 
 
 On the 1 6th of ]May, 1780, he set out for Philadel- 
 phia to take his place in Congress accompanied by 
 Daniel Newton, of Shrewsbury, who went with him as 
 servant, each on horseback, the horses being purchased 
 for the trip The expense of the journey being $2041.50 
 in old currency. 
 
 The next year ]Mr. Samuel Adams being in Philadel- 
 phia, and wishing an escort to return to ^Massachusetts, 
 Daniel Newton was sent with him and returned im- 
 mediately to accompany General Ward home after 
 resting the horses a few days. During the next few 
 years his attention was directed to making improve- 
 ments on his farm and to enlarging his house. It 
 was in 1785 (as has been already stated), that he built 
 the west end for his own occupation, leaving the old 
 part for his son Thomas Walter, who had married 
 Elizabeth Denny of Leicester, and who was afterward 
 High Sheriff of Worcester County, an office of much 
 
SHERIFF WARD. 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION 1 77 
 
 importance in those days. There are some still living- 
 who remember Sheriff Ward with his cocked hat, knee 
 breeches and black silk stockings, riding about the 
 country in his yellow-bodied sulky, drawn by a large 
 white horse. 
 
 He continued in his office nineteen years and derived 
 much satisfaction from the fact that in all that time he 
 was not obliged to take the life of a human being in 
 executing the duties of his office. He was at one time 
 making a journey into Connecticut in company with the 
 Rev. Dr. Sumner, each in his own conveyance. Dr. 
 Sumner taking the lead. Before coming to the boun- 
 dary line between the two states Dr. Sumner, who was 
 fond of a pleasant joke, called back to Sheriff Ward 
 telling him to go ahead as he did not choose to have it 
 said that he had been followed by the Sheriff into Con- 
 necticut ! So the yellow-bodied sulkey took the lead, 
 and the minister came after. 
 
 About this time Gen. Ward was appointed judge of the 
 courts and it was in his judicial life that the strongest 
 points in his character were revealed. A stern sense 
 of justice and duty ruled his life and, his actions being 
 governed by Christian principle, nothing could shake 
 him in his purpose to do what he felt to be right. One 
 act of his shows the depth and firmness of his character 
 — this was the brave and decided stand which he took 
 in the Shays rebellion. A history of this insurrectionary 
 movement would be of too great length to be included 
 
178 OLD TIMES IX SHREWSBURY 
 
 in a sketch like this. But briefly it was that the people 
 had been made poor by the enormous expense attending 
 the war, everybody was in debt, and few had any 
 money ; the idea of the leaders of this rebellion was, 
 that could the people take the law into their own hands, 
 stop the sitting of the courts and thus prevent execu- 
 tions being taken out against debtors, that all would be 
 satisfactory. The courts could do nothing but to ex- 
 ecute the demands of the law, knowing that matters 
 would come right in time, if order and quiet could be 
 preserved. 
 
 Capt. Daniel Shays, an impetuous, adventurous man 
 and revolutionary soldier, led the rebellion, which was 
 confined mostly to Worcester County, and many Shrews- 
 bury men took up arms under him. Captain Aaron 
 Smith who lived on the opposite side of the county road 
 from Judge Ward, in the Baldwin Tavern, as we have 
 seen in the chapter on that place, rallied his men, and 
 Captain Adam Wheeler, formerly a Shrewsbury man, 
 led a company. Both these men had fought in the Revo- 
 lutionary war under Gen. Ward, and were rugged old 
 soldiers ; now they were in arms against their old 
 neighbor and commander. The W^orcester militia could 
 not be depended upon for help, being too much in sym- 
 pathy with the rebellion ; the general court was tardy in 
 sending troops and so the County Court had no help in 
 the first encounter, having been ordered by the general 
 court to sit on the first Tuesday in September ; the order 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION 
 
 179 
 
 must be obeyed at all hazards and the court prepared 
 for its session. A graphic and concise description of this 
 event is given by Mr. Harlow in his History of Shrews- 
 bury, of which the following is an extract: "The first 
 demonstration of the insurgents at Worcester in Sep- 
 tember was successful in prevenj;ing the sitting of the 
 courts. It was upon this occasion that General Artemas 
 Ward, of Shrewsbury, then chief justice of both the 
 Courts of Sessions and Common Pleas, performed the 
 act which will go to posterity as the crowning act of his 
 hfe. Wheeler's company had marched into Worcester 
 on Monday afternoon, September 4, 1786, the day before 
 the courts were to sit, took up quarters in the court- 
 house Monday night, so as to be sure and be in posses- 
 sion when the judges should arrive next morning. 
 Smith's company marched in from Shrewsbury early 
 Tuesday morning and was deployed and posted as sen- 
 tries on Court Hill and around the court-house. An 
 immense crowd of people had assembled thereabouts. 
 Approaching the court-house the judges were challenged 
 by an armed sentry at the foot of Court Hill. At the 
 order of his old commander, now chief justice, the sentry 
 recovered his musket, presented arms, and the judges 
 proceeded past him to the court-house. There, upon 
 the broad step at the south entrance, stood Capt. Wheeler 
 and Capt. Smith with drawn swords in their hands and 
 five soldiers with fixed bayonets. * * Proceeding to 
 mount the court-house steps, the further progress of the 
 
l8o OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 judges was, by order of Capt, Wheeler, arrested by the 
 soldiers, who brought their bayonets to bear directly on 
 the chief justice's breast, so that their points even pene- 
 trated his clothes. After a parley the officers consented 
 to allow him to mount the steps and address the people. 
 Thous:h Artemas Ward of Shrewsbury had been much 
 in public life, he was a man usually of slow and hesi- 
 tating speech, had rarely taken part in debates and had 
 never been accounted an orator. As soon as he had 
 looked his audience in the face there seems to have 
 come over him a sort of inspiration, and with great 
 fluency, fervor and eloquence he forthwith proceeded to 
 reason with the people, whose grievances he did not 
 deny, upon their mistaken method of relief. The news- 
 paper man was not there to report, nor had the speaker 
 in his pocket an extemporaneous manuscript to privately 
 send to the press, and only by tradition has any word 
 of what he said survived the more than hundred years 
 since the event, but more than anything he did say, or 
 could say — more than anything the greatest of orators 
 could have said — was the dauntless courage and dignity 
 of his conduct as a magistrate, of which to find a his- 
 torical parallel you will have to make a far research." 
 In Lincoln's History of Worcester we find that he said 
 "he did not value their bayonets; they might plunge 
 them into his heart ; but while that heart beat he would 
 do his duty ; when opposed to it his life was of little 
 consequence ; if they would take away their bayonets 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION l8l 
 
 and give him some position v^^here he could be heard by 
 his fellow citizens and not by the leaders alone, who 
 had deceived and deluded them, he would speak, but 
 not otherwise." Struck with admiration by his intre- 
 pidity, and shrinking from the sacrifice of life, the guns 
 were removed, and Judge Ward ascending the steps 
 addressed the assembly. 
 
 There has arisen a story in late years, that along with 
 these brave words he said some very bad ones, and 
 replied to the challenge of the bayonets with a profane 
 curse. Doubtless this charge is not provable ; we almost 
 feel that the contrary might be proved. The law had 
 been, and something very like it remains on the statute 
 books to this day, ''that if any person was convicted of 
 profane swearing or cursing, he should pay a sum not 
 exceeding eight, nor less than four shillings, and if not 
 paid immediately, the offender shall be committed to 
 the House of Correction there to remain not exceeding 
 ten days nor less than five. And that if any peson or 
 persons shall profanely swear in the hearing of any 
 sheriff or consteble, they each of them are authorized 
 and required to apprehend and secure such offender and 
 give information thereof to some Justice of the Peace of 
 the same county in order that the offender may be con- 
 victed and punished for the same. " And it was further 
 enacted ''that no person or persons shall be prosecuted 
 or troubled for any offence against this law, unless the 
 same be proved or prosecuted within twenty days next 
 
1 83 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 after the offence is committed." We do not hear that 
 any such charge was made at this time nor within 
 twenty days, not even within twenty years. If no 
 charge was made in those days when profane swearing 
 was treated as a crime, it seems a little singular to bring 
 it now. Surely if Artemas Ward ever used profane 
 language, the supreme moment in all his life in which 
 he was the least likely to use it, was the time when he 
 stood upon the Court-House steps representing the dig- 
 nity of obedience to the law, in the face of the instru- 
 ments of death ! 
 
 ]\Ic^Iasters knew little of the character of the man of 
 whom he wrote "Forgetting himself he began to curse 
 and to swear, ' And " becoming more angry he stamped 
 his foot upon the ground, &c." 
 
 Gen. Ward never lost his self-control ; one of his 
 striking characteristics was that he was always cool 
 and collected ; the greater the emergency the greater 
 his self-command. If his indignation was aroused, he 
 was always above it, and the real grandeur of his char- 
 acter never showed more clearly than when his whole 
 nature was stirred. 
 
 The Shays men were in earnest ; their numbers were 
 large and they were determined to accomplish their 
 designs. They agreed that if the Government should 
 arrest any of them, they would be revenged on Judge 
 Ward and Judge Gill. 
 
 The Court being adjourned to a certain day in Janu- 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION 1 85 
 
 ary, those under arms marched to Shrewsbury and had 
 their rendezvous in the large yard in front of the Bald- 
 win Tavern directly opposite Judge Ward's house, there 
 to await the day of the opening of the Court. Winter 
 set in ; the men were discouraged by their hardships 
 caused by the storms and cold of winter ; the militia at 
 last came out and pursued them in all directions, follow- 
 ing them even into other states, taking some prisoners 
 and ending the rebellion. Shays left his followers, fled, 
 and hid himself in obscurity. There may have been 
 some who gloried in the part they took in this inglorious 
 rebellion, but their cause for rejoicing is hard to find. It 
 is quite certain that there were some who were heartily 
 ashamed of their connection with it, as their hand- 
 writing shows in the letters they sent to Judge Ward, 
 humbly asking his pardon for what they had said and 
 done against him. An extract from one lengthy petition 
 shows the writer's state of mind in regard to his 
 errors: ''Being convinced of the error and evil con- 
 sequence of Rising in rebellion & opposition to the 
 good laws and authority of this Commonwealth, and 
 having been in some degree active in the affair my- 
 self as your Honf is acquainted with, do feel truly and 
 heartily sorry for my mis-conduct. Therefore permit 
 me kind Sir to beg humbly your pardon and forgive- 
 ness in this as well as in all other matters. Worthy 
 Sir, I confess the former favours, I have rec^ at the 
 hands of your Hon^, and am sorry for the unthankful 
 
1 86 OLD TIMES IN SHREWSBURY 
 
 returns I have been left to make for so rich and valu- 
 able favors." Another, a townsman, wrote that he 
 regretted having said and done things in an excited 
 state of mind, w^hich in his cooler moments he had 
 thought unworthy of a gentleman and that he hoped 
 in the future to be considered a friend and a good 
 neighbor. And another neighbor wrote a communi- 
 cation to be read before the church expressing his 
 sorrow for his "unbecoming behaviour toward the 
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the friends of 
 the government thereof," and that he had "been too 
 easily led astray by ignorant and designing men, for 
 all of which mis-conduct I am now truly and sin- 
 cerely sorry, and ask forgiveness of all whom I have 
 offended. " 
 
 After another term in Congress Gen. Ward came 
 home and spent his last years with his children. His 
 grandchildren lived to tell their grandchildren about 
 the handsome old man, with his erect and portly 
 figure set off with his ruffles and shoe-buckles and 
 all the touches of the old time costume — ^how he would 
 rise from his straight-backed chair and take from a 
 shelf of a tall cupboard in his room, crackers or rai- 
 sins or some other dainty (as they were then) and 
 give them as a reward for some little service they 
 had done. His death occurred at the Homestead, 
 October 27, 1800, and he was buried in the family 
 lot in the old cemetery. His warm friend, Rev. Dr. 
 
SHREWSBURY IN THE REVOLUTION 1 87 
 
 Sumner, wrote the inscription whicti was placed upon 
 his tombstone. This was, with the other ancient 
 stones, taken away about 1840 and the present monu- 
 ment erected. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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ACME 
 
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 MAR 28 1993 
 
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