37
'l3G HIS',OORY OF MIDDLF..8EX COUNTY, MASSA.CHUSETTS. CHAPTER LV. DUNST.JfBLB. BY RBV. HElUlY M. PERKINS. Po.,., -au... 0/ 1M 2b_- 2bJtorIraplrr-.... , ....... NOT many towns in our Commonwealth of the size of Dunstable can present a hhstory richer in varied material. of the early settlers have an interest in the remote histor;y of the town. The general reader, however, Ihares with them in a desire to know its present condition. DUUBtable 1»' located in th" northerly part of Mid- dlesex County, and is one of the border lownl of the State. N abua, N. H., joinl it. on the north i Tyngl- borough on the eaat and loutheas,; Groton on the lOuth, and Pepperell on the W"It. . The town I. lIaturally healthful, and the climate promotive of vigor and hardihood, 811 a few examples will.show. Among recent deaths was that of Mr. Bmo,iah Parl:hunt, a much r .. peeted citizen. He died at the age of ninety·four. Fur severa) win ten previous he was accustomed to saw moat of the wood WIed in his family. He W&II a skillful carpenter, and in hi. prime W88 noted for cooln .... and seIr-pOlWe8lion when walking on lofty beams. AIr. Jamu WoodtDtJl'd, another valued citizen, died at the age of eighty- eight. He was able to perform milch of the work at hla gri.t-mill till within a year of hiB death. Among other feata of hiB youthful days wu a walk to &aiton, the distance of thirty-three miles. After having attended to his busin ... he returned to Duu- stable the aame day. He reached home aRer dark, but not too lll:te for a gooo night'. reaL Among liv- ing representatives il Mr. JOl&fU Kendall, the skillful and wen·known civil engineer. Though now a resi- dent of Framingham, he bas evidently carried with bim the vigor of his nalive air. At the age of eighty. five hLs aervl088 were in demand for the inspection of reservoirs and the supervLslon of Dew and important worb in different parte of the State. Air. Andrew Spauldi.ng, about seventy yean of agl!', ill an &cLive man in religious and busine&8 circles in Grolon, Masl. As a summer resort Dunstable po88egea lOme rare attractlonl. From several localitiell of tbe town wide views are obtained. Though not a hilly town, 88 compared with lome places in New Hampshire or Vermont, the lurrllce is undulating, with now and then a hill of conltiderable height. From such pointa charmiug viewl open before the eye. In the distance is Mt. WILChullott,round and wooded. The iI.terven· ing laudllCBpe I,reaenta many beautiful hills and dales, dotted with peaceful farms, pleaaant home- "t.endl ar.tl an occasiollal spire pointing hoaveDward, MllOY of tho Hamlhlhiro billil call \'ocl<:arly IIceD. and among thl!'m, on a bright day, noble Monadnock'. lot\y peak. III another direetion il the smiling MerrimaC', and Lowe)) with its teeming IndDltriN. Dr. Walter Weuelh?8ft, of Cambridge, a man or wide observation, has recently purchased land with the intent of b,dlding. His family have boarded in the place for lIeyoral summers. He bas beeD aeen.- tomed. to come during that sellOn as often as the claims of proftllioDal duty would permit. The resi- dents of the town, mOltly occupl8!i with farming interests, have not given thought to the I'uhjl!'Ct of making thiB place a lummer resort. Yet many are beginning to realize that the town JIO'leBIft natural advantages in that rHpect. It II Deat several large centres, yet removed from their bUltle and noise. An early train takes p8l88ngera to Boston, where nearly the whole day can be spent before returning on the evening train. The DUIlItahlc ltation of the Nashua, Acton and Boston Railroad Is within half a mile of the village. 'The Illation at Tyngaborough, ou the Boston audLowell Railroad,la three and a halfmiJea distant. Dunstable has several beautiful hilla which di- versify tbe beauty of ita scenery. FLAT RoOlc HILL, in the northerly part of the town, commands a Bne view of Salmon Brook. It is now sending forth ita of granite. Within about a year, Lemay & Tetro have been a quarry quite neat the railroad track, by which there is direct transpOrtation to their· granite works in Nashua, N. H. BLANCHAllD'S HILL risea west of the former and is a favorite resort for berry parties in the summer. From ita summit may be leeD Beveral diltant church spires. A cool, clear trout-brook make. ita way at the base of this hUl. Ou the opposite or eaatern side of Sal mOil Brook risea a well-cultivated emlneDce, over which exwnd. one of the roads to NashuL The southerly part ill called RoBY and the northerl;y part KENDALL HILL. On thil elevation there are a number of thrifty farma. Directly east of this iB the wooded caUed NUTTING'S HILL, which has the height of two hundred feet and aft'urdl a delightful prospect of the surround- ing country. FORRBT HILL ill in the southeast angle of the tOWD. It is the highl!'st poiet of .land in Dunstable, and was made a ltation in the trigonometricaJ suney of the Staw. A splendid view is here obtained of the Tyngaborough foresta, of the Merrimack River, and or Lowell in t.he east, while toward the west, dit.tant towns and mountaIns in New Hampshire can be seen. A good road extends nearly to t.he summit. HOnsE HILL, partly in Groton, overlooks M8III&- poag Pond and the valley of UDquety Brook i and WALL HILL, near the elevation, "u divided for the railroad bed, wbeD a fine specimen of blue clay was brou,bt to li,ht, which may prove sorviceable. Digitized by Google

l3G HIS',OORY OF MIDDLF..8EX COUNTY, … · AIr. Jamu WoodtDtJl'd, another valued citizen, died at the age of eighty ... yean. Thie church is enjoying a Cair degree of pros

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

'l3G HIS',OORY OF MIDDLF..8EX COUNTY, MASSA.CHUSETTS.

CHAPTER LV.

DUNST.JfBLB.

BY RBV. HElUlY M. PERKINS.

Po.,., -au... 0/ 1M 2b_-2bJtorIraplrr-.... , .......

NOT many towns in our Commonwealth of the size of Dunstable can present a hhstory richer in varied material. D8IK~ndanta of the early settlers have an interest

in the remote histor;y of the town. The general reader, however, Ihares with them in a desire to know its present condition.

DUUBtable 1»' located in th" northerly part of Mid­dlesex County, and is one of the border lownl of the State. N abua, N. H., joinl it. on the north i Tyngl­borough on the eaat and loutheas,; Groton on the lOuth, and Pepperell on the W"It. .

The town I. lIaturally healthful, and the climate promotive of vigor and hardihood, 811 a few examples will.show.

Among recent deaths was that of Mr. Bmo,iah Parl:hunt, a much r .. peeted citizen. He died at the age of ninety·four. Fur severa) win ten previous he was accustomed to saw moat of the wood WIed in his family. He W&II a skillful carpenter, and in hi. prime W88 noted for cooln .... and seIr-pOlWe8lion when walking on lofty beams. AIr. Jamu WoodtDtJl'd, another valued citizen, died at the age of eighty­eight. He was able to perform milch of the work at hla gri.t-mill till within a year of hiB death. Among other feata of hiB youthful days wu a walk to &aiton, the distance of thirty-three miles. After having attended to his busin ... he returned to Duu­stable the aame day. He reached home aRer dark, but not too lll:te for a gooo night'. reaL Among liv­ing representatives il Mr. JOl&fU Kendall, the skillful and wen·known civil engineer. Though now a resi­dent of Framingham, he bas evidently carried with bim the vigor of his nalive air. At the age of eighty. five hLs aervl088 were in demand for the inspection of reservoirs and the supervLslon of Dew and important worb in different parte of the State. Air. Andrew Spauldi.ng, about seventy yean of agl!', ill an &cLive man in religious and busine&8 circles in Grolon, Masl.

As a summer resort Dunstable po88egea lOme rare attractlonl. From several localitiell of tbe town wide views are obtained. Though not a hilly town, 88

compared with lome places in New Hampshire or Vermont, the lurrllce is undulating, with now and then a hill of conltiderable height. From such pointa charmiug viewl open before the eye. In the distance is Mt. WILChullott,round and wooded. The iI.terven· ing laudllCBpe I,reaenta many beautiful hills and dales, dotted with peaceful farms, pleaaant home­"t.endl ar.tl an occasiollal spire pointing hoaveDward, MllOY of tho ~e\Y Hamlhlhiro billil call \'ocl<:arly IIceD.

and among thl!'m, on a bright day, noble Monadnock'. lot\y peak. III another direetion il the smiling MerrimaC', and Lowe)) with its teeming IndDltriN.

Dr. Walter Weuelh?8ft, of Cambridge, a man or wide observation, has recently purchased land with the intent of b,dlding. His family have boarded in the place for lIeyoral summers. He bas beeD aeen.­tomed. to come during that sellOn as often as the claims of proftllioDal duty would permit. The resi­dents of the town, mOltly occupl8!i with farming interests, have not given thought to the I'uhjl!'Ct of making thiB place a lummer resort. Yet many are beginning to realize that the town JIO'leBIft natural advantages in that rHpect. It II Deat several large centres, yet removed from their bUltle and noise. An early train takes p8l88ngera to Boston, where nearly the whole day can be spent before returning on the evening train. The DUIlItahlc ltation of the Nashua, Acton and Boston Railroad Is within half a mile of the village. 'The Illation at Tyngaborough, ou the Boston audLowell Railroad,la three and a halfmiJea distant.

Dunstable has several beautiful hilla which di­versify tbe beauty of ita scenery.

FLAT RoOlc HILL, in the northerly part of the town, commands a Bne view of Salmon Brook. It is now sending forth ita ~ealth of granite. Within about a year, Lemay & Tetro have been operati~g a quarry quite neat the railroad track, by which there is direct transpOrtation to their· granite works in Nashua, N. H.

BLANCHAllD'S HILL risea west of the former and is a favorite resort for berry parties in the summer. From ita summit may be leeD Beveral diltant church spires. A cool, clear trout-brook make. ita way at the base of this hUl.

Ou the opposite or eaatern side of Sal mOil Brook risea a well-cultivated emlneDce, over which exwnd. one of the roads to NashuL The southerly part ill called RoBY and the northerl;y part KENDALL HILL. On thil elevation there are a number of thrifty farma.

Directly east of this iB the wooded emin~ce caUed NUTTING'S HILL, which has the height of two hundred feet and aft'urdl a delightful prospect of the surround­ing country.

FORRBT HILL ill in the southeast angle of the tOWD. It is the highl!'st poiet of . land in Dunstable, and was made a ltation in the trigonometricaJ suney of the Staw. A splendid view is here obtained of the Tyngaborough foresta, of the Merrimack River, and or Lowell in t.he east, while toward the west, dit.tant towns and mountaIns in New Hampshire can be seen. A good road extends nearly to t.he summit.

HOnsE HILL, partly in Groton, overlooks M8III&­poag Pond and the valley of UDquety Brook i and WALL HILL, near the pre~ing elevation, "u divided for the railroad bed, wbeD a fine specimen of blue clay was brou,bt to li,ht, which may prove sorviceable.

Digitized by Google

DUNBTABLE. '137

HOUND MBADOW HILL, in the northwesterly part of the town, ill said to have' received its name from the circumstances' that when Groton wu _ulted

. by the Indians during Philip's War, a pack of hounds, ulied by the English, pursued some of the' aavages to this'hill, on which two of them ' were slain.

SLAT.B8TONB HILL ie' a picturesque height. on the right bank ofN8shua River, compoaed ohlateatone, and covered largely with timber.' . SPJlCTACLB HILL; 'so named from its resemblance to a pair of : spectaCles, ri8eB in the 'northeaat part of the town and extends into Nashua, N. H. A few other hilla add to the beauty oftha town and fumiab a variety ofloil. '

W ATBB SUPPLy . .....;.The town is well supplied with water. In addition to the saw-mills now operated, there are '(leveral places where good water-power might be utilized.

The chief tributary of N uhua River from DUDltabie is Unqudy, once called Uraqud,7I4IId. Brook, a little milJ·strelLDl..

The central part of the town ie well drain'ed by th e Salmon Brook, a valuable stream that, Rowing fro m 1t18l!8&poag Pond, pursues 'a northerly coune through the Lower M&I8&poag Pond, and dividing the town­ship nearly in the middle, empties into the Merri­mac' River at what is called the Ie Harbor," in NllhuL It receives two tributaries from the west, one of which, -caUed Ba.rna Brook, furnishes motive­power for'Mr. George Parkhurst's aaw-iDill. The an­cestors of Mr. Parkhurst'owned and occnpied thesame land dating from a remote period. Now there are thOl5e of the sixth generation living there. Tbo other tributary, known u Joint GrrJUBrook, after receiving the water of Spring Brook, turna the grist and saw­mill of Mr. Daniel Swallow. This mill is operated both by water-power and steam. The grOBS receipts of tbe bUllinef18 in a year's time amonnno tl0,000.

Blacl: Brook Rows into Salmon Brook, from the 888t, and on being augmented by two or three small

, streama, forms motive-power for the 'griet and saw­mill now owned by the W.oodward estate, near the centre of the town. Work ja well done at all these mills and at the lowest,current raleR.

l'here ill a fine mill privilege on the Salmon Brook, where it issues from Maasapoag Pond at what is called II The Gulf. It There is here a dam, ten feet in height, over which at present. tbe water passes uselessly. Any company with manufacturing intereat in view, but undecided u regards location, would do well to make inquiry about thie mill privilege.

Massapoag Pond, having an area of more than one hundred acres, lies partly in Dnnltable, Tyngs­borough and Groton. It ie formed by the waters of Cowpen Brook from Clroton. A stone post on an island in thl westerly part of th.. pond marks the boundary of these several towns. .

The indulltrial interesta of the town are, for the most part, agricultural, and in thie respect t.he sourCe

47

of greatest income il from milk-producing. A car stands ready at the railroiul station and takes about 800 galloDl to Boston every morning, leavingatseven o'clock. The busin818 of the car ie owned by Tow.r, Whitcomb & Co., of &aton, and ie conducted by Mi. Charles H. Porter, of Dunstable.

The village ie very pleasantly located, with diverg­ing roads centering Iiear the store and pciIIt-01Jice.

The store is kept by Mr. Owen Parkhllrst, who hu an usortment of such goods II are usually kept. in a country store,' He aims to pleue hilcusooiners in regard to price andquali'y of goode, and 'thul gives general latiefaction •. The postmaster is Mr. Llbni Parker. He hu held the office for several years. It is conceded to him by general consent, regardl818 of political preferencea. Mr. Parker ie well acquainted with the duties of his office. Nearly oppc.site the store is the Congregational Church, of which Rev. Henry M. Perkina hu been puoor for nearly five yean. Thie church is enjoying a Cair degree of pros­perity. The edifice hu' recently been nluch im­proved aud beautified. Rooml have been added to the vestry for religious and locial purposes. Public worship in this church ie regularly observed every Sabbath.

The only other religiou" society in active operR~ tion is the Universalist.. At present the members of thii parish worship in Parker's Hall. Services are frequently held. '

Miss Clara P. Jewett ie librarian of the growing and well-kept town library, which now coutains1800 volnmes. '

There are five school districts in the town. In view of tbe small number of scholars iu two of tbese, it has for some years been deemed beat 00 hold the. schools in three district&. The town' afford!! trans­portation for scholars from the smaller districts to the schools of the adjoining larger ones. Good com­mon school advantages are thus aWorded; yet it is hoped liYlome that the town will, at a' future day, concentrate its educational work in 'one' central graded school which will accommOdate all its schol-ars.

At present William P. Proctor is town clerk; Ar­thur N. Hall treaiurer, Daniell:lwallow, Dexter But­wrfield and George W. Chaney are selectmen, arid Henry J. Tolles, Jon88 C. Kendall and llartha A. Davia are School Committee. ' .

Mr. JlLDI.eB M. Swallow WII elected iu the fall of 1889 Representative to the General Court from the Thirty-first District. He wu born April 14; 1821, ie one of the largest land-holden of the oown, and ie one of the trustees of the City Savings' Bank in Nuhua, N. H. ' .',

Mention should not be omitted of our beautiful granite drinking foulltaiil, conveniently' located at the 'centre of the viUage. It ie an ornament of which any town might justly be proud. Thia wu' the' gill; of Hr. Jonu H. French, of Bolton, and 'wu esti-

Digitized by Google

738 llISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

m~ted to coat oyer $1000. The ancestors of Mr. French were from DunBtable. The gift was granted on condition that the town should undertake the ex­pense of bringing water. This condition was gladly iLccepted. The water is brought in iron pipes from Chaney'l Hill, the distance of half a mile.

A general impreaaion being thua gained of the town in ita I.>reaerit condition, our thoughts may now be dh;eted to Bach facts and circumstances as pertain to its early hiatory and to the intervening years. Much of the information' given in the following chapt.era ia baaed upon tho fun and reliable" History of Dunata­ble," by Rev. Elias Nuon, publiahed in 1877.

. CHAPTER LVI.

DUNBT.f BLE-(OtmtifttUd).

ORIGIN AND EARLY 8m'TLEMENT-1643-1723.

8o)(E New England tOWD8 were founded immedi­ately on the landing of the coloniats, out of landa conferred on them by their cbarter. Others were made up by gran~ of land to an offllhoot from the parent colony, whose enterpriae prompted to the or­ganization of a new town. Others owed their origin to granta of land whicb at different dates were made to individual. and corporationa, for farml and other purposes, these grants being afterwarda consolidated into towDahiPl'. The town organization known as Dunatable afforda an example of this last-mentioned ClUB. It comprised lOme of the best portiona of New England. The owners of theae extensive farma were for the moat part. leading men in the Colony of HUB'

'achuaettB Bay j and, having conferred together, they presented to the General Court a petition asking to be incorporated as a town, in order that as such they might be of greater aervice to the country. This petition was granted by the General CoUR on tbe 16th day of October, 1673.

Capt. Jonathan Danforth, of Billerica, a noted land aurveyor, was appointed to make a plan of the new territory. He completed the auney in May, 1674, and thua deacribed t.he boundaries :

.. It Betb UPOD botb .... or the M.rrlmuk RI ... r. OD th. Nuhawa), BI .. er. It \a boDaded OD the Soutb b)' Clt.lmstord. b)' GrotoD line, put-

• \J b)' COUDt.,. land. Th. weaterl), lin. ruDe due BOrtb nD"1 ),ou 001De

&0 8oDb ..... BI ...... &0 a blll.,.lIed D .. m CUp Hili. til a snat pine ...., &0 )'8 .. d rI ... r at )'. Dorthwlet corner of (''IIarl''01l"D 8cbool farm i bouDded b)' 80DbepD JUyer on tb. North, aDd OD th ..... tide MerrI· mack It beCI- at a 1-' lItone wbICb wu auJlllf*d &0 be _tbe north­.... OOJ1\8r of IIr. Bren&on'.IaDd, aild from til_It ru ... _th_th­... all' mll_ &0 a pia ...... tnarlutd • r.' .... adlnl wltbln aI,bt or ~ ... r Brook; tbence It rullll ~wo cJacnea weat '" .... tb four mll_ aad a 'lnarte •• wbleb ~..t &0 tlte .,utl, aide of Uenr)' Kimball'. , ...... at Je .... Ie'. Hili; thence fNm )'. _,th_ anII'll of aid farm. It ruDe

two de ..... ad. quarter wlet_rd or tbe _tb. Dear &0 tb. bead or '-I Poad. wblob llath ., )'. b .... or Bdward Colborn'. fa .... aDd thaa It Ie bonoded b)' )' ... c1 pond aDd )'e b8114 of I&Ic\ Colborn'. farm; tak­In,ID Capt. ScarI.U'. farm ., .. &0 cl.- aplD. ~II wbleb ... ulllcleDtI)' bounded .ad dMcrIbed.

.. J)a_bIe, 1IaJ. IG'14 II

Tliis tract of land embraced about two huudred square miles, and included what are now the townl of Dunltable and Tyngsborough, and parte of the townl of Dracut, Groton, PeppereU and TowD8end, M ... , , together with th" city of Nashua, the towna of Hollis. Hudson and aectionl of the townl of Brookline, Mil­ford, Amherst, Herrimac, LondoDderry, Litchfield and Pelham, N. H.

In no town of thil Commonwealth were the lancla taken up by more noted men, who, though not all ac­tual lettieri, It ill exercised a favorable infiueaC8 on Ihe new plantation. Among the grantes weree the brave Gov. John Endecot€, who held the highest. mi)­itary office in the colony i and William Brenton, a noted fur-trader, an"d lubeequent1, GoY8rnor of Rhode leland .

The new town il aaid to have receiyed ita name in compliment to Mrs. Mary, wife or the Hon. Edward Tyng, who emigrated &om Dunltable, England, about. 1630, and whose IOn, Jonathan, became pcaeBlOl" of a large t.ract of land in what 10 now the town of Tyngs­borough. The old Engliah town il pleuanlly altuated at the base of the Chiltern Hilla, in Bedfordahire, eighteen miles aouth-aouthwest of Bedford, and ten miles east-northeast of the B~xmore Station of the London and Northwestern Railway. The name " Duo­ltable" ia supposed by lOme to be derived from Dun, Ii notorioul robber, who Hytld in the reign of Henry I. ; by othen, and more planalbly, it ia traced to the worda "dun," a hilly place, and "ataple," a marl. The Engliah town ia celebrated for the manufacture of atnu, plat bonnets and hata. A certain kind of Btraw braid in M8I8&Chusetta alao long bore the name of " Dunltable."

In the old English town the Norman kings had a palace, and it W88 in the same town that Archbishop Cranmer, in 1553, pronounced the sentence of di­vorce betweeil Henry VIII. and Katharine of Ara­gon. The early parish register furnishes no record of the families which emigrated to' America. The citizen8 of the younger Dunetable, howeyer, fond­ly cherish t.he fact of thoir English ancestry j while the cit.lzena of old Dunltable haye expreaaed a kindly interest in ita New England nameaake.

In thia early period denae forests coyered nearly the whole of t.hia region. The growth of timber con­aisted moatly of pine, ou, walnnt, maple and birch. A. few clearinga had been made in which the Indiana had planted maize, beana and squubes. The region was well watered by the Merrimac, the Nashua, t.he Boubegan and the Niuitiaaet RiYel'll, together with their Dumeroua tributaries, and Beveral large pondl frequenled by fowl and abounding with flah. The beaver, otter, mink and muskrat. were found. Some. times bears aud wolves ranged throullh the foreats, and their peltriea gave rich inducement t.o the ad­ventures of the huntaman. In the flahing ae&IOn the Indiana were aceulltomed to meet nearBOme waterfall. where they bum t.heir wigwams and performed their

Digitized by Google

..

DUNBTABLE. '139

8avage rites. Occasionally a trading-post could be fOUlld, as that of Cromwell. The woodman'8 axe wa. 80metimes heard resoundiug through the foreet.

The name of the first white settler i8 not certainly known. Tradition claim8 that John Cromwell, from Boston, came to what i8 now Tyngsborough as early as 1665, for the purpose of trading with the Indian8. These savages· could not bave been favorably im­preBBed with the early white seUlers, had tbeir judg­ment rested wholly npon him as a representative. It is said, he used his foot as a pound.weight in buying peltriee of the nati~es; but he was lOOn detected in the dishouest proceeding ano came near forfeiting hi8 liCe. A party of the Pennacook Indian8 whom he had thU8 defrauded came down the river to wreak tbeir vengeance; hearing of their approach, he saved his Ufe by flight.

It i8 probable .ome tracts of land were settled be­fore thi8 period; perhaps about the time the grant of land at N anticook was made, in 1656, to William Brenton.· .

On .the 1st day of July, 1657, Simon Willard, Thomas Henchman, En8ign Thomas Wheeler and William Brenw.n bougbt ~he exclusive right of trading with tbe Indian8. The Bum paid for thlB right was .£25. Settlements were doubtl .. made 800n anerwardB. Some of the Ca.'"IDers signed the pe­tition for incorporation in 1673.

Previous to the divi8ion of tbeir land the proprie­tors wisely entered into a written agreement, by which every actual settler was to bave a hou8e·lot of ten acres, willi an additional acre for every £20 of per-80nal estate he might po88888. None were to have a house-lot of more than thirty-acres; wbiJe the remain­der of the common land was to be divided in propor­tion to the value ofthe r88p~tive house-lots. A thirty­acre house-lot entitled the holder to 8ix hundred acres of the common land.

The intent of thiB arrangement i8 thus given in the compact: .. Y' we may 1Iveln love and peace together. we do agreej y' whatever fence we do make, either about corn-fleld8, orcharda, or gardena, 8ball be a 8uf· ficient four rail fence, or y' which is equivalent, whether hedge, ditch, or 8tone-wall, or of logga; and if any person 8u8tain damage through the. deficiency of their own fences not being according to order, he ahall bear hl8 own damage." Thia wise provi8ion doubt.l .. promoted good will among the early aettlen.

Emigrat.ion set in rapidly to the new and hopeful . town. Moat of the settlements were begun along .the pleR8&nt margiu of Salmon Brook, and near the right bank of the Merrimac River. The safety of the in­habitants was greatly promoted b1the erection of a garrison-hou8e. •

The Indian8 had beeu greatl1 reduced b1 a plague which occurred 8everal1eara before the arrival of the PilgrimB, And thererore found it for their advantage genera1l1 to avoid .war with the early Engli8h aet­tlers.

The Indian8 througbout this region· were divided into four principal tribes.

These Indiana dwelt in wigwam8, wore the akin8 of animal8, and 8ubsisted on fish and game, of which ther~ was a great abundance--Indian com, bean8 and aquaskee were al80 leading articles of food, and were cultivated b1 the women, who used a clam ebell for a hoe.

Their .8kin was copper-colored; their hair ,long, atraight and black. Their feet were protected by moCCllai7l, made of untanned deer-akin. Their cur­reucy conlisted of 8he1l8 called ~mpum. Their weapon8 w"re the tomahawk, tbe bow and arrow and the Bcalping-knife.

Their language was rough and guttural, .. few wOrdB, 8uch 88 " Nasbua" and "Miantouimo," being excepted. They had some vague notion ·of a Supreme Power, aud recognized the aacredneu of a just agree-ment. .

Such, in brief, waS the condition and character of thoee untutored beings with whom ~he early white, seklers were called to deal. The great chief P&IIII&­con~way figured among the IndianB of that age. He ia mentioned by Gov. John Winthrop as early &8

1~2. In 1644 he 8ubmitted himself with his people to tbe government of Maaaachuaetts. .

Rev. John Eliot, noted as a miuionary, began la­bOnl among the Indian8 at Nonat.um (now Newton) in 1646, and lOon afterward weut to Concord and Wamealt. On his 8econd viait to the latter place. which occurred in 1648, be me~ a large company oCthe natives,who had come to fish at the fall8 in the Con­cord and Merrimac Rivers, and he improved the opportunity to make known some of the teachiugs of the Chri8tian religion. For hi8 text he took Mal­&:Chi 1: 11, with 8light modification8, &8' follow8 : "From the rising of the 8un to the going down of the same, thy name ahall be great among the In­diaDB; and iu every place prayers shall be made to thy name,-pure prayers; for thy name 8hall be great among the Indiaoa." Paaaaconawa1, who would not listen to· Mr. Eliot on his first villit, now came for­ward and upr888ed hi8 determination to pray to God and to penuade hi8 8On8 to do the same.

.This chief, who w. a pow-wow or 8Orcerer, and w. believed by the natives to be able to "make water bum, rocks move and trees dance," desired Mr:Eliot, the ensuing year, to come and reside with hi8 people and be their teacher. Although the miuionarycould not accede to thi8 requeet,.he continued hia annual viait.8 to the Pawtucbts, and here established what was calied his fifth ., praying-town" of the .Indiana. P8aaaconawa1 lived to an advanced age, and eon­tinued to t.he last " faithful friend of the Engli8h. Some time previous to hi8 death he said to his chil­dren and friends:

"I am now going the way of aU flesh, or am ready to die, and I am not. likel, to see you meet together any more. I will now have t.his word of COUDBel· with

Digitized by Google

'140 HISTORY Oli' MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSAOHUSETTS.

70u, that 70U ma7 take heed how you quarrel with the English; for though you may do them much mischief, yet a_uredly 70U will all be deatro7ed and rooted off the ,.arth iC you do; for I W&l &I much an enem7 to tbe Engliolh, at their firat coming into theee parts, &I anyone whatsoever, and did try all ways and means pouible to han. them destroyed, at le&lt to have prevented them settling down bere, but I could no wa7 effect it; therefore I advise 70U never to contend with the English, nor make war with them."

Mr. Whitl.ier thus writes oC the black arta practiced by PlUI8&COnaway: .

.. Por tha& chl.r had mqIo 1Idll, ADd a .... 1Iee·.dark wl\l OYer powera or pod and 111,-

Pow .... whleb b1_ ... d powen wblcb .... Wlaard Lord or Pin ... I CbIellJ upon tbelr war-paih.1book When tb., met the ...... , look

or that w .... dark man."

These Indians were for·tbe moat part.Criendl7 to tbe whites, 7et they were not much inclined to Chriati­anity, and Mr. Eliot never succeeded is ea~blishing a church among them. Hislabora resulted, however, in BOrne civilizing influences, and among his converti "ere not only the cblef, PaBl&COnaway, but bis IOn Wannalancet, who succeeded to tbe rule of the tribe on tbe death oC his father.

'In May, 1674, Mr. Eliot visited Wamealt, and preached on the parable of the virgin (Matt. 12: 1-14), in the bouse of Wannalancet, who soon after made this declaration: .

II BIn, 1"11 hay, ...... pI ...... tor , ..... pee&, In JOBr abaDdant loft, to appl, JOBnely. partlcaIu1, nnto _ and III, peopJe to exbem,·,.­and penude .. to ,.., to Ood. I _ YlI'J tbankflall to JOB ror 7Hr pel... 1111_ InnowJed .. ·1 hay, all III, da1' bien MId to,.. In an old ean .... and now ,OU exhort III. to _ .... aDd I_YI III, old _ aDd ......... In a DeW ODe. to which I haYe hltbertoo ...... uuwtlllnlo bat now I Jleld up .,.IC to ,our adyloe aDd eJlter IDto a new -. anddo •• N" to ...., to God hereafter."

Wamesit at this time contained about 260 and fifty men, beside women and children. Onl7 a few build­inge had been erected when the little.band offano­era received the startling. intelligence that their colony W&l ~hreatened by the BaVages.

Philip, of Pokanoket, in alliance with other aachelD8 of New England, commenced hoetiliti81 in the spring of 1675. Town after tOWD W&I laid in ruins by the savage .Coe. Iu yiew oC the great number of Indians and their acquaintance wit.h the territory, it seems remarkable that any town should have es­caped destruction.

Dunstable, an outlying frontier, W&l pecnliarly exposed. The feeling of insecurity became 50 great that the inhabitanla, abandoning their little fort, the meeling-house they were then erecting and their dwelling-hoaaei, lIOught protection in t.he towns of Chelmsford, Concord, Billerica and Boston.

There W&I one, however, who stood brnelyat bis poet through the whole war, and therefore is justly entitled to the honor oC being the fint permanent ~t-

tIer of the town of .Dunstable. It W&l the Hon. Jonathan Tyng, wbo 11'&1 born December 15, 1612-Mr. Tyng's houae stood on the right bank of the Merrim .. River, nearly oppoelte Wicuuck Ialand, and about one mile below the ceatral village of Tyngeborough. Fortifying hill abode &I beK he conld, and sending to Bo8ton for aapplles, Lbia brave pioneer stood alone as an outpoet between the enemy and the settlementa below.

After deatroying as many &I thirteen towna and six hundred colonists, the craf\y Philip W&l shot at Mount Hope, B. I., Aug .. 12, 1676, and the ·war· W&l lOOn brought to • close.

The deserted homes and farma in the ~lldern_ were lOOn reoccupied after the close of the war. And the various apartments of an organized communit7 were made effective. The aalectmen were inyested with more power than at the preeent day. The work . of selecting a minister at £50 per annnm W&l in­trusted to them, this Balary to be paid in moae1, or if otherwise, oDe·thlrd more was to be added thereto. John Bollendinfl, a carpenter, W&l eagaged &0 com­plete the uafinished m8l'ting-houae, which w .. probably a small building constructed of lop rnd supposed t(l have stood on the riYer road, a short distance from the present northern line of Tynp­borough, and not Car from Salmon Brook. It was finished in 1678, but there is no account of an7 dedi­cation. The Bey. Thomas Weld W&l the ftm minimr. He graduated at Harvard College in 1671, and com­menced preaching ia Dunstable &I early .. MlY, 1679. He manied a daughter oC the Bev. John Wilaoll, of Medfield, and built a honae on the ministerial lot. Thl. consiated of thirtr &ern, and enti~led the Ot'cupant to the 1188 oC aix hnadred acrea of the undivided territory. .

The firat birth mentioned on the town recorda, and this under the caption, " Lambe born in Dnaatable," Is that of William, IOn of Jonathan and Sarah Tynr, boru April 22, 1679. The first marriage ia that of John Sollendine, Ang. 2, 1680. .

Previoua to the formation of the church a road 11'&1 laid out from the meeting-house to Groton Centre, probabl7 on the old Indian trail, as fill' &I

MUI&poag Pond, at leut; and fa 1687 the town W&l _ed £1 121. 3d. to aid in building what was long called "the Great Bridge," over the Concord BiYer, near I. the Fordway," ia Billerica, this being then on the main route of travel to Boston. At a town-meet­ing held on the 21st of Hay, of the following year, . Samuel Gould W&I chosen "dog whipper" for the meetiftg-honae-an office then verr needful, since the country W&l infested with wild animals .. well &I

Indians, and 88 a means of protection the aeUler used to take his dog and gun with him to church. The Bar Ptalm Boo#: W&l at this iime the manual oC lOng; The words of the Paalm &I .

.. 0, all ,.. -at. of the Lord, Bebold th. Lord .... ,..;

Digitized by Google

DUNSTABLE. ';41

or .. who wI&bID Jebofth'. bo_ I' &be Dllbt time IIaDdIDI bee, ..

on her wa, to Boston from Contoocook; N. H., where llie had, with Hary Nelf and a boy, taken the acalpe

were "lined out" by one of the deaconl, and aung of ten Indiana. to BOme luch tuue a "Hac~ne," or" York tune," 'The first grist-mill' in town WBI owned by Samuel by the congregation ltanding. AdamI, and.wa establiabed at "The Gulf," at Ha-

The great English Bevolution came on iu 1688, the eapoag Polid, before July, 1689, a inay be seen from houae of Stuart fell, a conteet between France and the following pet.ition for men to defend it:, England, knowD in biatory &8" King Wi1liam'l "July y. 81, 1689. The bumble petillion of 'tlie War." reeulted. The French Jeeuita inatigated towne of DUDatable, To the honerable gouernor & many IndlaDl to set out upon the war-path. Along Councill & Company of the Repreaeutatl"ee now a­,the frontier many ravagea were committed. , aembled; in bebalf of Samuell Addams, owner of a

An attack on Dunltable wa intended, but wa Corn mill, without the use of whicb mill the Towne averted through aeuonable information given by two Cannot Subaiat, And therefore we doe intreat your. frieudly Indiana to H~or Thoma Henchman, then honers to allow auch a number of men' a may be able commander of the little garrison at Pawtucket Falla. to aecure it! And 80 we remain your humble devotee Two companies were promptly aent to acour the ever to pra,. By the ,lI8lectmeu in the name of the couutry from Lancuter to DunBtable. Tbe danger to'WJle, Jobn blanchard, John LovevetJ, Christopher to which the few settlers in this frontier plantation Reed, Samuel Whiting, Robert Parria." ' were then exposed, and the aulferings they experi- In point of popuiatlon, Dunatable wa at thia time ence~, may be inferred from the following petition in the amalleat town in the Province. The pel'll8vering vol. cvii., p. 280, of tbe." Muaachuaetta Archivea": elforta ot Major Jonathan Tyng, Lieut. Samuel

II DuJrsrUL" ,., Jul,. sa, 1888. French, J obn Lovewell, Samuel Whiting, and the' .. To &be HODonble GoneDOI' aDCl Ooa .... 11 .. Oo .... a,. of Bepr_nla·

th .. now _mblecl at 'BoetoIl :-The petltloD of tbe Inhabltanla of Dan­liable bumb17 Ihewetb &bat w .. an mDeb obIIpd to Jour Honon (or Jour IM& IIIP"',. or JleD, IlO&wl&bltandlnl Indlal on_h .. RIll w .... and unable both to k .... oarOarrleon. aDCl to IIend men oat to pt ba,. for our Oa&&Ie, wI&bout doeiDI wblcb 1M _DOt ..... ; _ doe &b .... rore bambl,.lntnat ,.our BODOUn to ..... aDCl BupplJ na wI&b twea&1 foot. men for &be 8pece or a mOD&b to acout aboat'&be toWDe whUe ,..e pt OIlr bar; and tbe toWDe belal Te..,. ..... or prondo .... b,. ....,n o( bllleUng lOaldlen all &be Jut wlnt.r, we doe, &beret on, latreat JOUr Honoun to .. nd • auppl,. of -&. rOl' brM4 we _ "pp\,Y, aad wl&bout &ble belp we _DOt ",bela&, but .... be (oreed to draw or ... d 1_ .. tbe towne. Boplnl ,.our BODoun will co .... der 'II ID &ble 'nqull&, tree Be,nalne ,.our ~Ia .yer to pnJ (01' ,.011. aublcrlbecl b,. die oolect Jlea ID tbe aa_ or &b. tow_

Bev. Hr. Weld prevented it from being again aban­doned.

In 1702 the town wu called to deplore the lOll of ita honored,pator, the Bev. Thoma Weld, wbo died on the 9th day of June, aDd wa bnried in the old cemetery near bla church.

King William'a War, Cl08ed by the treaty of Ryawick in 1698, wa followed by a brief interval of peace. Wbat wa CIllled "Queen Anne'a War" com­menced in 1702, and continued ten years, involving tbe coloniata in many conflicts with the IndiaDl, who, a UIIUal, took part with the Freucb.

.. Jo •• BL.UlOH.uJI, Varioua aettlemeut. along the northeutern frontier Jow.. Lovawm.r., Itow. Pu.... were ueaulted by the French .nd Indiana during tbe OauftoPRBB BuD, month of Auguat, 1708. Hore than two hundred !WIu ... Warrue." people were at that time either killed or led into eap-

Fuur Indian apiea were leen lurking around one of tlvity. To guard against theae acta of violence, the the garrlaona at Dunltable about the time of the ma- governmeut olfered a reward of £40 for every Indi&n .acre at. Dover, ,et, through the promptit.ude of HaJor acalp brougbt in. Hencbman, Jonathan Tyng, Sergeant Varnum and ,On the 3d of November, 1704, tbe General Court ot.hers, no attack wa then made on the town. ordered tbe aum of .£24 for building four block houaea

The foe ag,Un appeared on the morning of tbe 28tb on the Merrimac River, II one ;n Billerica, two in of !.he flame mOdth, and. murdered two more of tbe Chelmaford, and one in Dunltable." people, one of whom, Obadiah 'Perry, a we bavE' On the night of the 8d of July, 1706, a party oftwo aaid, bad been allowed to hire a house in Billerica bundred and aeventy Hohawk Indiana lIuddenly ae­during King Philip'a War. 8aulted a garriaOn-house, in whi~h Capt. Pearsou and

Brave and hardy &II the original 8ettlers were, auch twenty of hie II troopers" had been P08ted. The wa their exposed lituation, and auch the havoc of company wa taken by aurpriee, for the door had been tbe IndlanB in other placea, that by the year 1696 leA open. Mr. Cummings and hie wife, it iaeald, had nearly two-thirda of tbem' had abandoned tbe town, gone out at the c1018 of the day, for millring, when and on this account the State made an abatement of tbe Indian. ahot Hn. Cummings, the wound proving .£50 to t.be town for aueb a had dllllerted it. Tbe fatal. Hr. Cummings wa wounded, and taken cap­aame reuon led wa grant of.£80 b, the State to help dve. Rnahing into the houae, tbey found the armed the town anpport the miniater. ' men. The amazement of the Indiana and' soldiers

In April, 1697, the noted heroine, Hra. Han nab wa mutual. A bloody conflict en8ued, duri~g which DOlton, puaed through the town in a canoe, and wa several of Capt. Pearao~'a men were either kiped or 'kindly entertained by ~l. Jonathan Tyng. She wa' wouaded. .The Indianl withdrawiag, 'set , fire to the

Digitized by Google

742 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX roUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

house of Daniel Galnaha, living OD Salmon Brook. ODe woman wu killed, and another escaped &om the flames by lOOlenlng tbe atones around a amall window. A party of these Indianl, on the aame fatal day, entered the garriaon-house of Nathaniel Blanchard, aud murdered himaelf, hi. wife Lydia, his daughter Suaannab, and a1ao :Mrs. Hannah Blanchard.

The Rev. John Pike, of Dovel', wrote in hisjourna1a: .. The whole number aaid to have been alaln in Dun­atable at this time wu nine perIOnl."

The noted Joe Engliah wu Ihot by the enemy near Holden'l Brook on the 27th of July, 1706. He and another soldier were actiug u a guard to Ca})t. Butter­field and his wife, ·who were paaaiug through what i. now Tyngsborough. The IDdlana .hot the horae ou which these people were riding, and then taklDg Mn. Butter8eld captive, while her huaband NCaped, pur­aued Joe English, firing upon him until he fell, wounded and uhanated, into their meroila. handl. He well knew the exquialte torture to which they would aubject him, and so provoked them with lOme taunting worda that they immediately dispatched him with their tomahawb. His widow and two children received a grant ofmoner &om the governmeDt because .. he died h1 the service of hla country." He was brave, intelligent, and always faithful to the English people. Hia • grandfather W81 Muconnome~ Sagamore of Agawam (now Ipswich).

In the year 1711 there were seven fortified honaes in Dunatable, and they were named u follon :-Col. Jouathan Tyng'a, Hr. Henry Farwell'., Mr. John Cummings', Col. Samuel Whiting'a, Mr. Thom81 Lund'I, Queen'l Garrison and Mr. John Sollendine'l. Thirteen families, seven !Pales, nineteen IOldien, total of eigMy-aix people.

The people, reduced to 80 amall a Dumber, lived in conatant dread of tbe lurking foe. Their time W&ll

moetl)' apent in the garrisona, and but little improve­ment wu made in tht' upect of the town. The)' wore plain garmenta of their own making;· their fare wu very frugal, and their opportunities for mental culti­vation very limited. Aa they ventured forth to labor in the fielda they found the loaded muuet a neces­sary accompaniment. Their cropa were Ilender and they were very destitute of the common supplies of life. Hacl not fish, game aDd berries been abundant they would have been compelled to leave the landa which had been granted to them and to return into the older settlementa. .

Peace W81 at length aecured by the treaty ofUtreeht, April 11, 1718; the doon or the garrlsona at Dun­ltable were opened, and the hope ot returning proe­parity began to cheer and animate the people. The town increaaed iu numben. Some of the large tracts of Jand, 9riginal1y granted, were sold in section a for the acCommodation of Imall farmen, and other in­ducementa were held forth for an inooming popula­tioD.

town wallO reduced iD respect to population u to be unable then to settle another miniater. In a petition to the General Cour' March 8, 1708-4, it ia aaid that the inhabitants .. can never hear a eermon without traveling more than twelve miles from their principal poet." In anlwer to thll petit.ioD the Court granted £20 towards the aupport of the mlnt.try. .

The Rev. Samuel Hunt, the Rev. Samuel Parris, the Rev. AmOl Obeever, the Rev. John Pierpont and the Rev. Enoch Coffin preached I1Icceaaively. Thua one minlater after another lupplied the pulpit ·at DUD­.table until Aug. 20, 1720, when the town gave a call to the Rev. Nat-baniel Prentice (H. C., 1714) tosettie iD the miDiltry; with the anie salary before offered to Mr. Coffin, and a settlement of £100.

CHAPTER LVIf.

DUNST .4BLE-( Cbmillued).

0NtI ............. ~ ,.. r.o.u..-tlraoodI of'" ",-or.o..a .or BeMoI q ..... -l723-17 ..

TUB frontier aettlementa of Maine and New Hamp­ahir~ became aubject to frequent dep'redationa from the Indiana, who were inatigated by Sebutian Rale, the celebrated Jesuit. Hia headquarters were at Nor­ridgewock. Lieut. Jabez Fairbanks, with a company having In it several men from Dunstable, apent the early part of the year 1724 in aearching for the enemy on Nuhua River and adjoining localities.

On the 4th of September some French and Mohawk Indian. came to Dunstable and carried captive Na­than CrOll and Thoma Blanchard. These men were getting turpentine ill the pine foreet along the north­erly· margill ·of the N.,hua River. A party of ten men or more, commanded by Lieut. Ebenezer French, at. once proceeded in their punuit. One of the number, Joeiah Farwell, warned Lhe leader to beware of fail­ing into an ambuaeade; but he, too venturesome, re­plied, .. I am golllg to take the direct path. If any of you are not afraid, follow me I "

They followed him, and on reaching what ia DOW Thornton's Ferry, on the Merrimac River, they were waylaid, fired npon by tbe treaeheroua foe, and all tbe party, uceptlng Mr. Farwell, who had concealed him­aiM in some huebee, were either at once killed or taken captivell.

The bodiee of eight of those killed were recovered, and buried in one grave. The namea of aeven are given in the BoRtoD Ne., Ld/.er u foUowa :-" Lieut. Ebenezer French, Thorn .. Lund, Oliver Farwell and Ebenezer Cummings, of Dunatable; Daniel Baldwin and JohD Burbank, of Woburn; aDd Mr. Johoaou, of PlainlieJd." The name of the other man wu Benja­

At the time 01 the death of Rev. Hr. Weld the min Carter. Four rude headstones in the old came-

Digitized by Google

DUNSTABLE. 743

teryat Little's Station, not far north of the State line, commemorate the sad event.

Inltigated by th;:~;: ;:ds of Indian thought h;:~t f,n the war mor;: Bounties again offered by ment anh ffmpanlel were form"h~ Favor~Y trom the Al!Iemhlh~

raised a tYZ,ty men. When captain, he started with hil followers on an expedi­tion into the wildernes,. On the 10th of November hillientenant, Josiah Farwell, received at Haverhill .. four hundred and eighty· seven pounds and one· half of good bread" for the use of loldiers, and on the 19th of December they fell upon an Indian trair about forty-fout .. Winnepisockee ing to a hated and scalp",,! and took hEteen years old

these trophies, Lttler of January

"the and council weitit give them £00 over and above £150 allowed them by law!'

The intrepid Lovewell, thus encouraged, soon raised another volunteer company of eighty-eight men, among whom were his brother, Zaccheus Lovewell, Thomas Colburn, Peter Powers, Josiah Cummings, Henry Ayers, Samuel others, o,~ 4iDd on the 30th 1724-25, Indiaus.

In thi" K'eme up with the poud at {me of the branch{~ Falll River, now in the town of Wakefield, N. H. He killed the whole party. ten in all, then returned to Boston wiih the scalps stretched on poles, and there claimed the bounLy. Pt'lnhallow mentions this inci­dent or the march: "Our men were well entertained with moose, bear and deer, together with salmon trout,

three feet long

sign of ~"J'~J"~J",m.£J Sachem Eteadqnarters were ful valley on the Saco River, in what is now the town of Fryeburg, Maine. The distance was more than two hundred miles, and the country to be traversed a dreary wilderne88, with occasionally an Indian trail or the track of some wild beast.

Such aD adventure demanded men accustomed to fearless of mere Lovewell'

marching somn l:1,:££,:4l", a Mohawk becoming lame,

On reaehhAy ""12."J",",l.lJ"'"~ £IJ1;:gs, of Dunstable, being dleablITId a wound pre­vionsly received from the Indians, W88 sent back in charge of one of his klnamen.

When the company reached the westerly ahore of

the Great Ossipee Lake, Benjamin Kidder, being nn­able to proceed farther, was left under the care of the ±±urgeon, Dr. WilH"ttI Haverhill. CapttIitI Lovewell here ere{teEt and detailed lRoldiers to remai;:

B astening forlRlR",y ,est of his company ebout twenty milm, mJptain arrived, on eve of the 7the£I3.'thwesterly margi;: a beautiful sheet of water, about two milf.J long and half a mile wide, since known as Lovewell's Pond, and encamped for the night. The enemy had not yet been observed, and nothing but some confused uoises i'u the distance, p088ibly the howling of wolves, caused any alarm; but while engaged in their devotions ;:bout eight 0'cloitEt1bH£Iwing morning, were startled by musket, which ,eeded from the of the pond. then observed a" distance of abo"t mile, standing 0" @""d extending into liake, and supPosI"y acting as a decny draw them intO danger, held a consultation as to the best coarse to be pursued.

The youn« chaplain, Jonatban :I!'rye, of Andover, said, " We came out to meet the enemy, we hue all along prayed God that we micht find them, aud we had rather trust Providence with our lives-yea, die for our couutry~~b£££I .retnrn without t.bem, if we m"!,, (:..£IlIed cowards for pains."

Moved by this men to go Boon reachhlH smooth plain, thl! themselves of . packs, whic~ they piled up together, uuder the im­preesion that the main body of the enemy was in front of them. Having then gone through the forest, for about a mile, they came suddenly upon the Indian hunter whom they had before seen standing on the point of land &eI'OfS the lake. He was leisurely re-turning to hi. ££€l££ple of muskets a"b brace of ducks u.!}'In Several guns instantly fired at lI'nplying, he serWC4.lI'iy wounded Capt. Mr. Samuel with beaver sho&, Wyman then killed the India" ~

The company then turned back, and moved with their wonnded leader towards the spot where they had 16ft their packs. But in the mean time Paugus, at the bead of about eighty warriors, on their retun) from an expedition down the Saco River, discovered the pile of packs, and jUdging from the number that

!'£Irce was much less deter-in battle. He, his and awaited His foe.

ffi~Jl'£££IITI;:U'S company camn packs l'mlded Buddenly frORIl

tdree or bour beep, with their guns present{3.'l as if. suppoeing their very numbers would move the Eug­lish to surrender; but they were disappointed. Fear­leesly did Love"ell's men advance upon the Indius

D DogIe

744 HISTORY OF MIDDJ~ESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSE'l'TS.

till wit.hin a short diltance, when the combatants on both sides opened a deadly fire. Tho war-whoop mingled wit.h the roar of mWlket.ry was appalling. Capl Lovewell, with eight. of his heroic company, was BOOn let\ dead upon the field. Three of his meo

. were seriously wounded. Having met with such a fearful 1018 and being al­

moat. defeated: by the enemy, tbe English, com­manded by J!:nslgn Beth Wyman, withdrew to the pond. which served to protect them in the rear, while on. Ioheir right an unfordable stream, and on their left a rocky point in part defended them. Their front was also covered with a deep moraaa. In this admir­able position they bravely defended tbemselves against 8uperior numben for the remaind .. or'the day. About t.hree o'clock in the afternoon the gallant Cbaplain Frye was aeriouely wounded. The Indiaus, by· their yelliug and horrid grimaces, rendered t.he figbt. more tenible. At one time t.hey held up roP", inviting the English to surrender. They, however, pointed to the muzzl8d of their musketa, lignified tbeir resolve to fight to the bitter end rather t.han be taken captive.

Duriug the engagement Paugus, the long-dreaded chief of the Pequaketf, fell, and probably, as the ancient ballad states, by a shot from Enaign Wyman, though there i8 a tradition that the exploit was due to John Chamberlain, of Groton.

Paugue and Wyman were standing near each other and loading their pieces on the margin of the lake, wben it is said that Paugul, In the act of forcing dowu his ball, cried out to Wyman, " .Me kill you quick I " To whom the latter anllwered, "llaybe not I " and hill gun, priming itself, gave him the advantage of a little time, tbus enabling bim by a well-directed Ihot. to lay the sachem prostrate and mortally wounded.

Either from the 1081 of men or want of ammunition, tbe Indiana withdrew from the contest a litt.le after sunaet, removing moat of their dead and all of t.heir wounded from the field •.

Soon afterwards the survivon in Lovewell's band, now deatitute of powder and provisions, resolved to leave the fatalapot and return, if poIIIible, to the stock· ade fort on Lake Ollllipee. But some of them werl! suffering from 1081 of blood and could not. proceed on thejonrney. Jacob }t'arrar 11'&11 just expiring near the pond. Lieutenant Jonathan Robbins, unable to go, desired that his gun might. be loaded and placeil be· lide him. II For," aaid he," the Indlanl will come In the mornlog to acalp me, alld I'll kill ooe more or them, if I can '" Robert Ueher, also of DUDstl&ble, was too much exha\l8ted to btl removed. Regretfully leaving these three dying comrades, the reat of the men, of wbom eleven had been wounded, ltarted for the fort, a diltance 01 more than twenty miles. Hav­ing traveled about a mile and a half, Chaplain Frye, Lieutenaot JOIiah Farwell, Eleazer Davie and Joaiah Jones gave their free conaent to be let\ on the ny, hoping that aid might be sent back to them, but the

two former peri .. hed in the wildernellJ. Chaplain Frye, at\er traveling some diltance, eank under his woundl, telling hill companions that. he W8I dying and at the eame time "charging Davill," aayl Mr. Symmes, " if it ahould pleaae God to bring him home, to go to his fatber, and tell him t.hat he expected in a few hour. to be in eternity, and thaL he was not. afraid to die." Lieutenant Farwell died of exhaus­tion on. the eleventh day at\er the fight. Davia, who was wounded in the body and had ODe thumb ahot off, reached Berwick in a deplorable condition on the 27th of Hay; and Jones came in at. &CO, after wan­dering, with a severe wuund, fourteen daya in the wilderneaa. 011 reaching the fort, faint. and. hungry,. the littl~ band under Lieutenant Wyman had the grief to find the place abandoned. At the beginning of the fight Benjamin Hassell, thinking all to be 10It, had fled, and on reaching the fort had 10 intimidated the occupanta that theI all deaerted it and made Lheir way back, arriving on the 11th of May at Dunatable. Enaign Wyman ret.urned home with hil men on the 15th of Hay. On the 17th of tbe eame month Col­onel Eleazer Tyng, wiLh a company of eighty-aeven men, went. to the BCene of conflict, and there found and buried tbe bodies olCapLain Johu Lovewell, En-8ign Jonathan Bobblnl, Ensign Johu Harwood, lwbert Ulher, Bergt. Jacob Fullam, Jacob l!'arrar, Josiah Davis, Thomas Wood .. , Daniel Wood.., John Jella, IchabodJohoaon and Jonathan KiLtridge. .He also dug up and identified Lhe body of the great. warrior, Paugua.

Dr. Jeremy Belknap once visited the acene of the battIe, and discovered the names of the fallen heroee, which Colonel Tyng had inacribed upon the trees.

For tbe defence of Dunat8.ble during the abeence of Col. Tyng, Col. Flagg was ordered to detach a nnmber of !Den from hill regiment.

Capt. Lovewell was the son of John Lovewell,and wal born in Dunstable Oct. 14, 1691. His lands and meadowl, in all about two bundred acree, and the buildings thereon, together with the half part of a eaw-mill, were 81timated at .£420. In answer to 'a petition of Hannah Lovewell, to Lhe General Court, June 8,1726, II it 11''' r8lO1ved that fifty poundl be paid to Capt. Henry Farwell and Col. E. Tyng, with which to discharge the elaiml against the eatate of the late Capt. Lovewell." Fifteen hundred pound.s were granted to the widowl and children of the de­ceaaed soldiem, and in conllderation of the services or Cupt. Lovewell aod bis brave comrades, the Gen­·eral Court also granted to them and to t.he legal rep­resentativea of luch as had deceased, II a townahip of six miles square, lying on both sidea of Merri· mack River." It II now the town of Pembroke, N.H.

The powder-horn which the hero of Pequawket. used .in .. he fight Ie still preserved by ODe of his de­scendanta.

Capl Loyewell was brave and adventurous. He

Digitized by Google

• DUNSTABLE. 745.

died with hie gun loaded and pointed toward the foe. Hie liCe wu not aacrificed in vain. The battle at Pequawket cloeed the war and inlured Barety. A treaty of peace wu lOOn made wit.h the different In­diau tribes, and the Pequawketa, led· by. Adeawanda, removed to CanadL

The etory of Lovewell'e exploite wu heard in every dwelling. The following ballad, laid by John Far­mer to have been written lOOn after the tragic event occurred, embodiea the chief incident. of the battle. It il to be regretted that neither the name of the au­tbor nor the music to which the worda were adapted, hu been preaerved. The ballad was for a long period the mOlt popular lOng in the coloniea.

THB BALLAD OJ' OAPT. JOBN LOVJDWm.L·S J'IOUT A.T , PBQUAWKBT.

L

or WOrth, Captain Lo.ewell I pu~ DOW to IIns. Bow wallan"1 he _.ed hie coonlrJ .. d hie Idn, ; Be and hII ftUant IOIdIen did nnp the wooot. full wide, And h ..... l .. th" .ndaNd to qn.1l the ladlan·. pride.

IL

·Tw. nI,h unto PI,_kllt, on the .ltrbth daJ 01 JIaJ. Th" apIed a ... hellnd ..... lOOn an.. b .... lt 01 daJ. Be oa a henk ". wal.I .... upon a neck oI .... d WhIch ...... lnto a pond, • w.· ... made to undentand.

III. Our m.n ...,. .... to han him •• nd In •• ned two mil. ronnd, UnUI th., _t the ladlen, wbo boldlJ Ilood hie ground. Then ........ up Capt. Lon_n. "Tak. JOn pod h ....... .,. he, .. Thle qu. Ie to ~1 III, I nry plelnl1 _.

IV.

.. Th. India .. II. III .mb ...... la lOme pl_ algh .t hand, I a older 10 IUrrobnd ue upoa tbll neck 01 lead; Th .... r ... w.·1l march III older. &lid eeoh maa 1_ •• hie piCk. That WI IDIoJ br1IIll1 lahe &hem, wh.a tb8J ..... 1 .. etuok. II

V.

Tb", come uto the Ind .... who did them thDi de17 ; AI lOOa • th., _ nlab h ..... two gR" he did let a,. Which "ounded Cap&. Lo •• well &lid lib" ... OBI man more ; But wbea thII rop. ". runalag. thella1d him la hie gore.

VI.

Then, hayla,nlped tb. Indlea. thll went heck to tb •• t Wb .... th" had laid 'hllr peob dowa. bu'there th" fouad them uo&; J.I'or the IndIeae, haYla, epIed them wbea th" th.m dowa did I.,. DId .... th.m for their plander. and CUTJ &hem aw.,.

VU. Th_ ... beIa .., la ambalh, thll YIl'1 p'- near bJ. eo th&& an I:nelleh lOId1er did on. 01 th.... IIPI. And cried oat, .. B ...... &II 1nd1aD I" With that the,1laried out AI aereeiJ • old 110111, and hldeoull, did Doat.

VIII.

Wltb that oar ftUaat I:n'l ..... 11 p ... load h ...... To DOW the ... hellnd ..... thel t_Nd them not a IInw. Sa DOW the IIgbt ........ __ 'I. could he, Th. lnd .......... ap to th .... bat lOOn w .... forced to a_

IX.

Th.n ...... ap ClapIa1a :LoY."e1I, "bea lint the apt ........ .. J'I,h' on, ml y ...... , heroee, JOa ... thel .... , Ub nla I" I'or •• w ..... Iafonnecl,·th. IndI .... " .... 10 thick. A man conld -11 .... a gRa, and not _-01 them bit.

X.

Thea did &he reheII v, their b.a oar eoIdIen to IIImMIJId, Ba' theJ conId not ~ It, ___ there". a pond,

To wh10h our _a ... &rea&ed and coYeNd all the rear. The roc-" .... fonad to a. th .... elthoup theJ IItniked for fear.

XL Two lop th&& were behind t ...... 10 c,_ tDptber ..,. Wlthonl hela, dI_YeNd t"., coald not p, a"., ; Th .... to .... oar ... 11an& Bagillh. th" In .. lled I •• row. And a& a b&ndIome dla&&nce, .. th., we ... "oa' to go.

Xli.

'TWIII t.n o'clock In the morala, "b.a lint the alh' began, And a'-11 did _tluBl un the ae&&ine of the 1Un, Bzaeptine th&& thl IndIaDI, _ bonn hefore 'twa night, Dre" olf lato the bub_ ..... __ .whlle to light.

XIlL Bat lOOa &geIn returned, In __ and fnrIoua mood, Shoutla, • la the 1IIOI'D1ng, bat 1" no& heir 10 Ieud; -I'or •• WI .... Informed, 10 thick &lid IU& th., tell. 8carca twen" 01 their nnmher a& nip' did 18& ~"elL

XIV •.

And that oar ....... t Ba,llah &III mlcInlah' there did ..". To _ whether the ... hell woald han another frq; Ba& thel no ino ... re&nrnln,. th" made olf to &heir bome, And broaghi a"., their woaaded • l&r • th" coold come.

XV.

orell oar ... JU& Bagllah th .... w .... but &bbV·rour. And 01 the rebel lad ..... th .... w .... aboul foa.-.-re. And .b,loea of oar J:ncl .... did ..,.11 bome retarn ; Th. rna w .... killed and woaaded. for which w. eI' m1ll& ·mourn.

XVI.

Oar WOrthl ClapIa1a Lonwell amon, &hem th.n did die ; Th" killed LI.ale .. al Bobbl ... nd woaaded pod loane J'rye, Who w. oar hgl .... Obepla1a; h. maallnd ...... I.w. And _ 01 them he .-Iped. wh.a ball ... round him a." •

.XVII. Youn, J'all..,n. too, I'll _aUon. heceu .. h. foa,M 10 w.11 ; EndeaYoria, to MY' a man, • -'Ice be tell. And II' oar ....... t h'I ....... a I. Acb' w ...... ·.r d......,.., Bat llill the,Up& th.1r mo&lon, and Wlm&D capCaln made,-

XVIIL

Who Dot the old chief Pea,... wblch did the foe def_&, Th.a eat hie m.n la order and broap' olf the retrea& ; And, bl'&Vln1 -1 clanpn and hardlhl .. bl the ".,; Tb""" arrl.ed at Dulllleble the thlr&eeatn clal 01 II.,.

On the return of peace many familiea came to se­cnre homeat.eada in a region 10 well atored with tim­ber and 80 rich in pasturage. Roade were laid Int to the distant settlements, fences were conatructed and orchards planted. The church wu the leading inlti­tution. The meeting·houae afforded the people a rallying-point; but it was lOOn found inconveDient for thOle living ill tbe remote parte of the town to &l88mble at' the appointed place, and for this reason eft"orta were early made tor a diviaion of the terri­tory. An area of two hundred square milea wu too great for the practical purpOleII of a church, and 80

there wu but little oppoeition agaiDlt setting off "certain sectioDJ for the better accommodation of certain people."

On the 4th of January, 1782-88, certain familiea, bearing the nam'!a of Blodgett, Cummings, CrOll, Colburn, Greeley. Hill, Lov;well, Hanh, Merrill, Pollard and Winn, who had commenced a aettlement on the &Uterly aide of the Merrimac River u early

Digitized by Google

.. HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, l\IASSACHUSETTS.

as 1712, finding it inconvenieat to attead churcb acl'Ol8 the river, were incorporated into a town by the name of Nottingham. This town came into New Hampshire by tbe divisional line in 1741, and the name is no" changed to Hudl!on. .

In 1733 it was voted that the new meetlng-h01ll8 should be erected four rode weat of where the old church was standing, but. against tbie vote a number, living in the lOutherly part. of t.he town, proteated. A committee of three was chosen to determine a aite for the new meet.ing-house.

The town derived considerable revenue from the preparation of piLch and turpentine, of which tbe primeval foreate of pine furniehed large quantities.

The excieion of a part. of the town of Dunatable to form Nottingham was followed by a atlll greater one in 1734, when the wide tract called N"ntioool: was In­corporated under the name of Litcbfield. Subse­quently the section of the town weat of the Merri­mac River was incorporated under the name of Rum~ ford; thia was changed to Merrimac, the present name.

The number of familiea in DunBtable in 1780 was about fifty., The aum of £90 was raised for the alary of Mr. PreDtice. A small lum was alao' raised for the support of a " writing school." Mr. Prent.ice, who was a good preacher, died February 27, 1787. He was much beloved by his people.

The Rev. Josiah Swan· was ordained over the church December 27,1788, and aboutthie time .. new church edifice was dedicated. Mr. Swan continuKi to preach in the new church until Bome time in 1746, when he reaigned hil pastorate. He afterwards be­came a noted school-teacher in Lancaater.

The westerly part of Dunstable, called by t.he In­diana NmitiIut, was incorporated with the title of .. The West. Parish of Dunltable," which afterwardl became the town of Hollie. The town of Dunatable was tbul gradually reduced in size until 1741, wben, by the running of the divisional line between the Sfttea of New Hampshire and M~chusette, the abOve-mentioned towna, together with the territory which has lince become the city of Nashua, were set off to the former State, leaving Dunstable proper, wbicb tben included Tyngaborough, in the State of MlIBBIlchusetta;

During the month of Februafy, 17~1, Richard Hazen lurveyed and eRtab1ished the line between t.he Provinces of New Hampahire and Maaaachuletta. About two-thirda of the inhabitants of the old parilh were thUl brougbt into thla State .. It Ia probable that town officers were that year elected in Dunltable, Mall.; but the first few pages of the. earlieat book of recorda are unfortunately gone, and it is not poaaible to know who were the publio officers of that and the following year. •

On the '8th of February, 1748, Eleazer Tyng, Joseph Eaton and Jonathan Taylor petitioned the General Court for. permiaaion to choose town officers,

aince the preceding selectmen had neglected to i_ue a warrant for that purpose. The pet.ition w_ granted, and .the fint. recorded town-meeting was held in the houae of Ebenezer Kendall, March 6, 1748.

At another meeting beld about this time at the hOUle of Simon Thompson, it. was voted that three mea be appointed to a.iat the tOwn clerk in record­ing the town vot.ea. Some specimens of spelling on the archivea of the town indicate there was ample need ofsucb aid. When, however, the work and ex­posure of those early settten is conaidered, it can be easily 188n how amall a margin of time could be leA for conaulting the dictionary. The church wo t.heD Lbe principal school, the minister the iDatructor, and these were steadily lupported, u the next record in the 'old stained foHo teatifiea :

"March y. 28, 1744, voted ya Twenty Pounds in Lawful money ahall be Railed & aueaaed to Suporte y. gospel among ua." Eleazer Tyng, Esq., John French, and Ebenezer Kendall were then chosen .. to treate with the Reverend Mr. Swan, & to aee if any Thing was due to him from y. l'own of DunatabeU before y. Line was Run between y. said Province."

In November,1746, the town" voted to raise 8 pounds lawful money to pay for preach the current year;" but who wu the recipient of auch a salary for proclaiming thelospel in .. Decon Taylor'S HoUl" the recorda do not indicate.

About thla time the "vexed queation" of erecting a meeting-house arose, and continued for several yean to agitate the people. The town extended from Dracut on the east, some ten miles to Groton on the "eSt. The familiea, numbering fift.y-four, were pretty evenly settled over the whole surface. A new church bad been erected in 1788, on the New Hampshire side of the line, and was partly owned by the people on this side 01 it. Some preferred to wonhip there. Others were in favor of buying tbe edifice and re­moving it to tbeir own town. Among this claas again there were differences of opinion. . Some de­sired to locate it in the geographical centre, while othen preferred the centre of population; still another party thought it beat to freot a ne" building and choose a committee from lOme neigbboring town, wbo should select the location. The Rev. Joseph Emer­BOn, in hla sermon at the dedication of the aeeood m"ting-bonse in Pepperell, doubt1eaa had reference to the atate ofthinga in Duutable when he aaid, "n hath been observed that lOme of the hottest conten­tiona in this land hath been about. settling of min­isten and building meeting-honaee, and what fa the reason T The Devil il a great enemy to settling min­iaten and building meeting-honaea ; wherefore he seta on hill own children to work and make difficulties, and to the utmost of hia power ltirs up the corrup­tiona of the children of God in some way to oppoee or obetruct 80 good a work."

A map of the town made by Joseph Blancba7d, and dated Oct. 17, 1748, was brought before the General

Digitized by Google d

DUNSTABLE. '14'1

Oourt, in order to ahow the centre of land; and alao t.heBe toWDli abonld do the 1&IDa, .. that ahaIl kill any of population to that body. and the fltting place for Grone Wolf within one year, within the boundaof any t.be location of the cburch. On tbiB plan the farma of th ... BeIIpective towDB, or uaU tak the tract.e in of Col. Tyng and Hr. J~hn Tyng embrace an area any of theBe' town.. & Colow i~ till thay km it alx milea and ftfty-eix rodl in length, and one mile wbere tbey will.if ye bed be produced by way of evi­wide. Mr. Jeremiah Colburn's bowie is deaignated dence & ye Ears cut off .. the Law directe." .. in tbe nortbeut. and Mr. Robbins' bouae in the Marcb 5, 1749-60, it w .. voted "to alow a town northweat angle of tbe town. way from David Taylor's to Nathaniel Parkera ;" and

For the purpoee of building the meeting-bouae, the in July, following,.£2O were to be raised for .. ye tnwn voted to raIae .£100, lawful money, and aIao, luppone of the goapell.~'. Nov. 15th, "to build y. laid hOD118 46 fee~ 86 On the 20&11 of Hay, 1752, it w .. voted that the feet wide, and 21 feet atudea." . . , meeting·boD118 be erected " on a knowl by the Rolfl

On the 27th of December, 1748, the town voted that l.ada from David taylor'e to Simon Tomson's, "to BaiBe thirty Pounds, old Tenor, for the Supone of abou~fiveoraix rode north wbere 'be road w .. lying;" a ecbool!' ThiB iB tbe, flnt meution of any action and at the nu~ meeting. J uly6th, it w .. " voted that. regarding a eehool on the recorcL1. . Dea. Stickny, of billerica, Capt. Nickola .. ofReading,

Thia w.. probably wbat w.. call4!d a moving- & Deacon Stone, of groton, be a committee to fl.x a acbool, that is, a ecbool taught by the l&IDe penon place for a meeting-hoDll8." euce_vely in varioue boUI8L Tbe' reading-boob TbDII it appeara that lOme positive action w .. flnal­then ueed were tbe "New England Primer," with its 1y taken regarding the proposed meeting-house. Tbe plain cuts of Adam and Eve, Jonah and the wbale, decieion of the afoniaaid commi~ latisfied the ma-and aimple rhymes, eucb .. jority of the town in reapect to the long-conteated

"Tbeldlerool point; for, on the 2d of September, it w ... voted "to Ia whlpt .itchool." erect a meeting-hoU18 on the East corner of David

tbe Paalter and the New Teatament. The birchen Taylo"e land," .. the committee bad determined. At twig w .. freely applied to offendere, and the Aaaem- t.he nut meeting, Oct. 26th. it w .. voted to raise £68 bly'e Catechism often repeated. The epiritual good 61. ad. to pay for that part of the New Hamj,ebire of nch mental uerciae w .. , perhaps, in lOme cuea, church which the committee, coneiating of Col. Tyng, leaeened by freqnent UIOCiation with the aCoreaaid Samnel Taylor and J 08epb Pika, had purchued, and twig. for II taking down, removing & rebuilding a4 meting

The Court declared, June 26th, that tbe people of houe." On the 18th of December, following, acom­Nottingham and Joint Gr ... had forfeited the benefit mittee w .. chosen to petition the General Court tbat of being incorporated. with Dunatable, and that" the "t.hote living in the Northeut part of Grown, at a meeting-hoD18 ehould be erected on the east lide of place called Joynt gr.., be ennexed to thiB town of the road from Capt. Cummings' to Simon Thompson'e • DUDlitable, .. they formerly were!' house, wbere the timber lies for it." The Joint Graee From the recorde it appears that th ... people were famHiea at thia time were those of John Swallow, Jo- willing, if the meeting-hoD118 were built upon a spot aepb Spaulding, Jr •• Timothy Read, Joseph Fletcher, that luited them, to become again citizene of Dun-Benjamin RobbiDB, Joh~ Spaulding and Samuel stable. . Cumminga. In July following, the Nottingham and Thie propoaition found favor. "TbeGeneralCourt Joint Gr&88 people. beiDg dieeatiafied with the place ordered that Joseph Fletcher, Joeeph Spalding, bed upon for the church, petitioned the Court that Samuel CummingB, Benjamin Robins, Timothy Read, tbey might be annexed to Dunetable, that they John Swallow, Joseph Parkhurst, & Ebenezer Park­might thue vote on the Qllestion. hunt, Jr., with their tamiliea & EBtateR, etc., be· an-

People at thia time were very much troubled by nued to the town of DuDlltable, agreable to the vole wolv.... Occaaionally bean and catamounts were of the Town of Groton on the 18th day of May, 1747." eeen. It ia related that one evening, while Deacon Thue those families added to the population of Dun­Joseph Fletcber, who owned a tract of eix hundred etable, and became a conltituent part of the town. It acree in the Joint Gr ... Dietrict, w .. abeent at the w .. finally reaolved to erect a meeting-houe forty­mill. hie wife, Elizabeth, hearing80mething like the two feet long, thirty-two feet wide and with poats eereamiDg of a child, went to the door, and laW the twenty-one fee' bigh .. by y" Highway Side which .y .. of a catamount glaring at her from a tree. She ·Leads from y. hOD118 of Hr. Temple Kendall to Hr. f .. tened the door upon her visitor j yet thinking he Robert Blood's honae." might gain an entran~ through a window, ehe crept The epot aelected iB a rocky knoll on the left-hand into a barrel, and in that coDlitrained poaition spent llide of the road leading from the village of Dun­the night. etable to that of Tyngaborough, and about one mile

The town voted, in 1749, to pay 121. 6e1. to any distant from the former place. There iB here a fine penon ftom DUDlitable, Groton, Lit&Jeton, Weatford, view of the weat, with the IUmmit of WachDllett. Lunenburg, Harvard or Hollia, OD condition that Mountain in the diatance. The land ia DOW covered

Digitized by Google

'148 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSAOHUSETTS.

witb more or lell timber, and no trace whatever of The tavern, the mlJ) and the blac:kamith-sbop were t.he old churcb remalnl. Tbe gr&veyanl on the west- the three Ie,eral places where the men gathered to eru .lope of the hill alone indicatel the place where' obtain the latest Den or to diacu. variona queatiODL the people for many yf:&rB gathered for the tranaac- These IUbjecta generally had reference to the build­lion of civil and polit.ical afrairs, as well ... for the ing of road&, the state of the crope, the huaking service of public worship. party, the lut. mat.rimonial engagement, the 1ateat

The committee appointed to build the meeting- succ .. in huntiug or the Iinging or the Hl'lDon at. house consi.ted of Ebenezer Sherwin, Ebenezer Ken- the church. dall and Samuel Cummins, and they reported to tbeThe inhabit.ant. of the eaatem part. of the town town, December 24, 1758, u follows: .. We have were not. pleased with the locat.ion of the church on built laid house, and have erected it. on ,. Borth Meet.iug-House Hill, and therefore formed themaelvee side of the road that leads from Ebenezer Butter- into a precinct, called the First Parish of DllDItable. field's to Robert. Blood's, about thirty-four poles from They .erected a small meeting-hOl1l8, with two .. id ceutre and have finwhed it aU .. ,iog the dool8." porches and a tall .teeple, near the lpot now occupied

The raising of the edifice took place ou the 18th of by the Unitarian Churoh in Tyogabor3ugh Centre. ,July, 1758. MOlt of the inhabit.anta of that region The ate,ple was blown down in the great gale of 1816. doubtless gathered together to IUlliat in la,ing the The Hon. John Pitta gave apreasion to hil nen of m .. ive silla, in erecting 'with long spike poles the thia church by the following lioes: heavy posts of oak, and io putting the' raften into .. A ftrJ -..1.-1 .........

place.. Probably ,In accordance with the cuatom of A ftrJ ..... ,eepI. i thOle da,s, they passed the flowiog bowl freely from A l~':~-=L" lip to ·lip-a custom fortunately I.. approved ill At a meeting of the member. or tbil parish, Aug. these dayl. Tbe bount.iful dinner was an important 20,1766, it wu voted .. that tbe piace for a meeting­feature of sucb fest.ivals. But a aad accident occur-

house in this precinct be on the weat of Merrimack red before t.he .. railing" wu completed, which filled River, Dear Mr. James Gordon's MillB, where a fraim every heart with anguish. When the frame wu is erected for that purpnae." It wu tl)ao voted" to nearly up, two men auddenly fell from a spar, and accept the fraim that Is Now 00 the spot." It iI allO one of them, Mr. Abiel Richardson, of Groton_ strik- recorded" that John &; Jonathan Tyng came into the ing upon a rock,. died Immediately; the other man, Meet.ing &; gave the Precinct-GI .. for the Meeting­more fortunate, eacaped with .,ery .evere brull8l·and house." At a meeting of the precinct, held in 175d, contusions. .

The frame wu aoon covered and a floor laid, 10 E:eazer Tyng, Simon Thompeoo and Oliver Farwe!ll were appointed a committee "to sett of the pew

that the house could be used for public services, but ground to thOle tbat have given &; Pa,' mOlt toward the seat. were furnished gradually and tbe Itmature building Said houle." In the ensuing year thii par_ was not completed for several yean.

The church aoon became a central point. Several ilh raised £14 .. to blre preaching." The people of the westerly part of the town were

highways or bridle-paths, converging towards it, were alao organized into a precinct or pariah, about the made by permillion of the town. At a town-meeting time of the erection of the meeting-hOUSe!. The act iu May, 1764, it wu voted" to huild ye two bodys of granting the authority for this precinct received the seata and to Provide Board. for tbe Pulpit." signature of Gov. William Shirley June 14, 1765.

Jonathan Tyng, John Alford Tyng and Willard The first meeting of this Second Parish, or precinct, Ball, Jr., petitioned the General Court, thil ),esr, that in Dunstable, was held a' ",. meeting house" on the three bundred acres of lsnd in Cbelmaford should be ""th f 0 tober ,., II I h Ebe Bh' iii. 0 C .0 ow ng, w en nezer erwin annexed to Dunstable, and although strongly opposed was choaen moderAtor, aud John Steel pariah clerk. by that town, the petition was granted. John Cummings, John Steel and JOI8pb Fletche!r

A meeting was held at Oliver Colburn's bouse were chOlen u "committeemen and &IIIIeII8OfI of lIid March 21, 1765, when Benjamin Farwell, Timothy parilh." JOI8pb Danforth was ch08en treasurer, and BancroA, JOIeph Danforth and John Steel Wen! Benjamin Pike collector. These officers were tben chOlen selectmen, and Ebenezer Sherwin was elected sworn" to y. faithful DiBcharge of their Respective .. Culler of StaV811." Trusts," and tbus the Second or West Pari.h of Dun-

This art.icle afforded considerable Income. Trade stable was fairly organized and &tarted on it. eventful In hoop-poles, shingles, peltry and flax wu also profit-able. The potato had beeu introduced and wu be­ginning to take the place of the turnip at the table; Ash and wild fowl We!re abundant. The people Ipun and wove tbeir own flax and wool into good, service­able cloth, which they colored with vegetable dyea aud made into garments. The women rode to church on horse-back, leated sometimes behind the men.

way. Accordiug to custom in those days, a few persons

held slavea, and the following paper relat.ing to the sale of one of them is atill preserved :

.. Dvllft.uu. ...... .,. 1_, 11M. " -'-hell of Mr. Joh. AIIlIott, JaDlor, of Ando •• r, hart_ pea ....

Tb ....... Ibllll.p .... Two pe.ce. It bel., the tall ..... of. 5....,.. QuI ....... Dloeb, about ••• ,_ 01 Ace. ot • B_tlI7, 80aDd (loa.

Digitized by Google

, D.UNSTABLE. 749 ----,,-------------------------

IIlIlatloa, tree ot au, diIIuI or Bod7 aDd I Do benbr DeU_ lb. Bam. GIrl &0 lb.aaId Abbott aDd l'Io .... &0 DelaDd blm ID &be ImJllOY-' or bear. u b .. 8erYau (Ol'IYtIr.

·Wlta. 1111 baad, II Bonn BLOOD. "Jo .. KUDALL,

"Tuna KDIIALL."

Robert Blood lived on the place DOW occupied by Dexter Butterfield, and there are many storiee of his peculiarities. He ia said to have called aD Indian doctor to preecribe for him when sick i but feariDg lest the medicine might be polaonoUl. he gave it to hi, Degro boy, who died from the effects. The place of his burial is still called" Negro Hill." A sheriff once came into chu'reh to arreet Mr. Blood, who, see­ing his pu,nuer, placed his handkerchief to his noae, as if it were bleeding, and quiflt.1y left tbe meeting. : On being .. ked afterwarcLt why he left the chureb so suddenly, he said: .. The IOns of God came to preeent thl'mselvee before the Lord, and Satan came ai80 among them_" (Job 1 : 6.)

At a meeting of the Second Parish, held Nov_ 20, 17M, it w .. voted that £20 btl a8lesaed .. for y. suport of y. Gospel for y. preaent year i" al80, that a 'com­mittee, cODsisting of EDBign Ebenezer Parkbunt, John Steel and J~ph Fletcher, "search into y. ac­counts of how much Preaching we have Had in said meeting-hoUlo;" and John Steel, Samuel Taylor and Adforth Jaquith were appointed a committee to take a deed of Lieut. John Kendall and Ebenezer Butter­field, "of y·land y. meeting-house stands on."

The account for building the church edifice w .. £7441. lld., and t.be committee reported that "the preaching we have had in Said MeeLing-ho1188 and y, IDtertalning ye Minlstel'l" amouna to £44 11. Who these mlniaten were appeara from varioUl orden of the parish.

Of the severai candidates, who received for their Sabbath servicee about £1, together with their .. IntertaiDmente," Mr. J08iah Goodhue w.. the favored one. It was voted to give him "a ciall to y' Work of y' Ministry with us in This Second Precinct of y"town of Dunstable.'·

Mr. Goodhue presented hia acceptance oC the invi­tation under the Collowlng conditions:

"1. That JOD ct"a ... £100 tor 1OtI1 .... at, &0 be paid la J" m&aD.r JOD YOMd Ibe .ttl.meIlL

"S. nit, poaada II _Iar, rear17 ... Ioal u I IIIaDd la 10 Relatloa or 'a ..... r 10 lb .. peopI ••

"a. TWlDtr-a.,. cordi or wood ,.ar17 Broqbtoord wood Leqlb to .. , Duor •

.. -I. That It l'Io"ldluco 1b0014 order It, tbat ,011 mould coaaII& or Debt, Ba&eabla ramu .... lbaa J" 8aIarJ to be Ibl, po .. da.

"I .... OooD • ., .. .. Harcb J" 111, 1767."

The pariah voted to comply wit.h these conditioUl. On the 12t.h day of Hay, 1757, a church was organ­ized, coUliating of thirty-eilht members, nineteen of whom were malee and nineteen females. '

The covenant w .. probably drawn up by the Rev. Daniel Eme1'lO.n, or Hollia, N. H" and w .. formally ~pted in hia prese,noe.

"A OIl a...-. ~ Jr., J" 1 .... 1761. P TIleD J" aDdHwrlttea BnlbnD IIoIemD17 OoYe ..... W beton 004.

.. _ .. lib aaoIher b, o .. DiDI IhIa CoYaDaDt beron 1U8," IICCOldIDII, were cIecIan4 a Chb or oar Lord J_ (]brill, recutarl, IDoorporatecl po lie, JlaDieI JIm ... a.

" w ... ~ N_ are aDd_rltteD. do co" .... t .. lib lb. Lord .. ODe .11b aaoIher ... do 801_1, blad ounel". bernn Ibe Lord .. b .. People lbat •• will, br lbe S&reDcIh or Chrlll, _Ik after tbe Lord la all bl • ....,., u He bath n.,...1d lb ... &0 DlID b .. Word.

II L W. a"cmcIa &be Lord leb_b &0 be oar Ood, .. ct.,. up oanei". wlib oar OblldnD lifter ... ID Ibalr • .,.... G ... ratIoaI, &0 be b .. Peo-pl .... Ibat ID Iba 6tDcertt, .. Tnalb "r oar Bea..... •

"" W. II.,. up oa_I"8 &0 tba Lord J_ Cbrlll, &0 be raled .. plded br Him la lb. matter or H .. Wonblp" ID oar .bole Ooa_· tioD ackDo"IedcIDI blm ao& oa17 oar aloae SaYloar. bat allO oar JUDI. 10 ral. OYer ........ 11 .. oar Propbet.lo.teacb .. b, HII Word aDd Spirit; _rdIDII, .. wboll, dt.clalm our o.a Bllbt __ la PoiDt or IlIIlIlIcatIoa. d .. "IDI &0 Him tor Bllb...,......, ur.. 0 ..... Glor,. , "a. Wa prom ... b, lb. Halp or CbrW &0 walk wllb oar Brelhna ..

8JIIen or lb. Obb In lba Spirit or Lo" •• watcblDI o.,er 'lblm .. cerlnl ror &bem, aYOldlnl all JealoDII., SIJIPI ...... Beokbltlap, C._rln ... QurnlJlap .. IJIcnt BIIIap or Heart ",DIl lb .... forjd"lnc" tor­bearlac. ret _Dabl, "'mon""IDI .. ftIIorlnllbem .11b a Spirit 01 Heeka_ •• ho, tbronlb IDllnnIU., b • .,. belD O.,ertai<.D la a raalL

"f.. W •• III Dot be r~ ID ebh llee&la. &0 mo.oarGI ...... ....... la llpftIkIa" _ aDdeeYOr &0 d ...... oar Bn&bnn br dIIco.,.ro Iq lbelr NIID •• bat attIead lUI onllrl, Call beton .. 8peU, dolnl nolblq &0 tha ollence or lba ebb. but tn alllblnp eadea.,oariRI oar OWD .. oar BratbnD'. lIdllicatioD •

.. 6. W. further IJNIII- &0 Slad, bow ••• " ... nucolb. Galpel .. KID"", orChrlll, 10 ulba& we ..., plD Iblm wbo are wllbollt, SeU. r- &mODI ounel., ... 8eIk lb. p_ or all &be cbbo Dot potlq a BtambllDI Block beron au" bat SbnnalDllba Appearaace or £.,11 •

.. 6. We prom_ to dem ..... ou ... .,.. obedl.atl, la all Iawtullblap low.nII lbOil 004 baf or .baIl pi.- o.,.r DI ID Obb or Com_D Wealtb.

"7. W. reaoh.la t"e _. BtnDctb &0 .ppro.,. oaneh.ID ourpar· tlcatar Call1a .... baDDIDI Idl.a ... Dor .111 .. ~ au, wa deal wlib. ,

.. 8. Wa aIIO prom .... u God .... 11 luabla .... 10 t.eb oar OblklnD .. IlernalB tb. lOud knowledp or Ibe Lord. and &0 tullill all nlalh. DII­tI. prelCrlbed la God'. Word, tbat all 01118 ..., Ieera to ,... .. s.r.,. lb. Lord 011_1".; &0 Ihla .ad we prom_ &0 keep ap J" Womblp or 004 ID our 1'uI1II., lbat our JI.u.. IbaII be Belb ..... b.relD J" moralDI .. B".DIIII Bacrlace ..... 1 _ad.

.... W. do prot_ ou_h·. to be Collcnca&lODai la our Judp.DII, .. do ... reb, proDIi. malaall, OM unto another lbat .... 1II practloe oa ConcncaUoaat PrlDClpl., .blcb. acconllal &0 oar uadentaDdlnp, are lIIOI& ......,.. &0 tb. m-tioDl or God'. Word; .. will taka &be piatrona or DleclpUD. &0 be our Billa &0 CO b, la all _Uen ot ebb DIe­c1pJlDa _oDI U, ."Ieb •• look OD," ptIIend out or lb. Word orOod, ......... Dllben.llhaIl.

II JOliah Goodbll •• paetor.l_pb Plk ... JobD K.udall, Bbea ... Bb~ will. Bbeaeur Bn&lerlleld, Bama.1 Ta'lor.l .... ab BlodpU, Bbeauer K.adall, Adrord Jaqll.lb. Tlmotb, Reed. 8tepbaD Adame, J-sob Tar~ lor. Bam ... Cammlnp, Bel\lamlD lto .. b1 .... Joba Swallo •• 8uaDDab K ...... I, Alico Battlerlleld, 8_nab Tarlor. Ilml_ Blodptt, Hauaab Kaudall. 011.,. 'l"Jor. Sarab Cammlap, XllubeIh Robblu, B11abe1h Goodbae. I_ph rielcber. Abraham X.ndall. Joha Cammlnp, Hobert Blood, Sarah Swallow. XlI ... betb nelober. Balb KeadaJl, XllubeIh Ca .... I .... IIarah Blood. Banb Pllrkbant, Her, au .... ID... Baaaab Tarlor, '_aab ~.uod, AblcalJ Blood."

The ordination of Mr •. Goodbue occurred June 8, 1767. The people of tho Weet Parish were doubt.1 .. full" of life in making preparations for the great OCC88ion; New garments had to be bought, or the old onee repaired; hOU8e8 .had to be put in good order, storea replenished, the tunes in the Bay Psalm Book had to be rehearaed, and the church to be pu~ in good array for the joyoUl services.

The fil'lt baptiam of an inCant performed by Hr. Goodhue w.. that of .. JODathan, y. IOn of -I,ohn &

Digitized by Google

750 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX OOUNTY, MASSAOHUSETTS.

Sarah Swallow j" the first marriage, that of "Oliver Farnsworth, of Townshend, &; Jemima Haywood, of Dunstable," which occurred Nov. 2, 1767. The Half­way CoveDant wu theD in vogue, admitting perIODS acknowledging the .. ConfeBBioD of Faith" u their belief to lOme of the privllegea of the church, and heDce the record of an admiaBioD to the church iI made in accordance with the views of the member received in reapect to thil point.

The bounds between Dunstable and Groton were re­viewed in April, 1766, and the line then commencing at Tyng's corner, patIIIed on the eaterly Bide of the old uw-mill, which ltood where Cowpen Brook enten MlI8I8.poag Pond, "on the lOuth6rly side of the road that goes by Ebenezer Proctor's, in Dunstable, and terminates at a heap of stonea on Flat Rock Hill." Feb. 16, 1767, a highway was laid out from the Province line by Joaeph Danforth's barn, and thence onward to David Taylor's houae.

March 6, 1769, the town voted that .£16 sliould be &BBeIIIed for "y' suport of a school, or achooll," and that it should be a .. Writing School as well u a Reading School j" allO, that .. it should be a Moving School." .

The town wu well repreaented in the old French War, which commenced in 17M, and was cloaed by the Treaty of Paria in 1768.

Ensign John Cheney aud William Blodgett were at the surrender of Louilbourg to the Engliah, July 26, 1768. Their powder-horns are still pre681'Ved. That of Enaip John Cheney iI elaborately ornamented with birds, fi.hea, deer, and the letters" F. C. W. j" it baa allO the inscription, .. John Cheney his Horn, Cape Breton: TakeD May 26,1768." The hom of William Blodgett bears this inscription: .. William Blodgett his hom, June y' 7, 1760." Both theae horns are still preaerved.

It; was the custom in those daya for the men to 0c­

cupy the seats on one side of the cburch, and the women thflll8 on the other. The elden ut upon an elevated seat in front of the pulpit, and the chlldren and servants occupied the galleries. A tithingman, with a long pole, kept them all in order.

ID August, 1760, a part of a family of the AcadjaDS, or FreDch Neutrals, whose sad fate iI 10 touchingly told iD the" EvangeliDe" of H. W. Longfellow, was brougbt to thil toWD for aupport.

In Mr. Goodhue's records of the church ltil found, under the date of December 11,1763, that '''TheMan Servant & Maid 8enant of BeDjamin Farwell were propounded iD order to their owning the Covenant (Nov. y' 27), aDd admitted to " Privilege, Decem. y' 11th." Their namea were Thomu aDd Hargaret, and they were probably held u alaves.

On the 16th of June of this year a thunder-atorm pUled over the town, when hail-atonea fell nearly as large 81 a hen's egg, by which the early grain ·wu beaten down and the gl.. of "veral windows broken.

J('I8ph Fletcher was chOll8D a deacon of the church, February 28,1764, and at the same meeting it wu voted that .. Brother Abraham Kendall, Brother Josiah Blodgett and Brother SamB Cummings be Quereaten in ,. Congregation." 'Theae men were ex­pected .. to set the tunee," for _stance in which a IOrt of a wooden inatrument, calJed a pitch-pipe, wu used; and also to lead tbe voices of the congregation in singing. The "lining out of the palm" wu gen­erally done by the pastor or ODe of the deacoDL

Robert Blood·and Josiah Blodgett were chOBell by the wwn, May 27, 1766, I. to inspect the Salmon ct FiBhery according to law." No dams had then been constructed on the Merrimac or Nashua Rivera, to prevent the 8Icent offish. There wu·a ~abund­ance ol shad, ulmon and other fiah in Salmon Brook and H88I&poag Pond, and theae were of great value.

The fint general censWl of the population of the Province W81 taken this year, and by it Dunatable appears to have had in all ninety dwelling-houlI8II, ninety-eigbt fammea, 188 males above sixteen, 143 femalea above sixteen, and a total of 569 inhabitants, of whom alxteen were colored people, and probablr held 81 slavea. Of the thirty-aix towns in the county, Bedford, Dracut, Natick, Shirley and Stoneham only had a smaller popolatioD. • The town voted, on the 26th of Hay of this year,

.. to Raise &; 88II8It .£86 21. for the WI8 of a school. Repairing the pound, Building one pair of Stocks &\ other Town Charges." The pound stood aDd still stanels heaide the road from Dunstable Centre to Tynpborough CeDtre, a short diatancelrom the home­stead of Dexter Butterfield. The stocks, aomeloimea called the" cage," stood in the vicinity of the respec­tive churchet. The whipping-post wu near Ulem j but u there is no record of it on the boob of the town or pariah, it may be presumed that the mere presence of such aD inatrumfnt cauaed a wholeaome reatrainL , In accordance with the cUltom of that period, the

Second Parish chQle, April 21, 1768, Deacon Samuel Taylor, Benjamin Woodward· and Robert Blood a committee .. to seat this meeting-hoWl8, and that the Higheat Payers in the Last year's Tu: on the RealI and PerlOnal Estate to be the Rule to Seat ~ hoW18 By and larther that they have No Regard to the Pro-. prietors ol the Pews in S4 hou" in seating tlte meet­ing-house." It wu allO voted to have regard to age in seating the meeting·house, also .. to Peticion to the Great and General Court to Be Maid a Deatrect."

Robert Blood. Benjamin Pike, Josiah Blodgett and Lemuel Perham· each preaented a proteat to the ac­tion of this meeting in reapect to one article. Among the r88lOns 88Iigned ·by the latter, one ii, .. BecaW18 thay voted that Mr. Joseph Pike should sett in the fore seat when thire was Nothing In the Warrantthire."

The desire of having the chief seats iD the II)'na­gogue seemB to have been 81 atron,; 81 that of the Beribea and Pharisees of olden time. That spirit, howover, is not wholly unknown in the Ilf8ll8llt day.

Digitized by Google

r.

• "

I:

I.

II

I.

t:'

iii

.. •

II

DUNBTABLB. '151

OHAPTER' LVIII.

DUN8T~BLE-( o,"""ucd).

. n. 2w. at ~ fa 1M ..... .".,.,. BnoIIoUoto-............,. Be­,.".... .... 0CMr .qGh-IT88-18tO.

MAS8A.CBU8BTT8 issued a circular on the 28th of February, 1768, asking the co-operation of the AlIII8m­bliea in oppoaing the restrictive measures of Parlia­ment. The principles of civil liberty had been grow­ing, and naturally these were deatined to come in colliaion with arbitrary measures.

General Thomas Gage, with seven hundred 101-diers, entered Bolton on the 28th day of September. Armed oppr88lion was not long after met by armed resistance.

Some of the beat blood of Dunetable was freely sbed in the cause of liberty. The first recorded act of the town in the impending confiict was to choose .the Hon. John Tyng to represent them in a conven­tion held in Boston on the 22d day of September, 1768.

The Boston mlUl8&Cre, March 5, 1770, taxation without representation, pledges against the use of tea and foreign manufacturee,formed the leading topics of conversation in the tavern, shOp!! and houl88 of Dunstable, and the old firelocka used in the French War, a few of which still remain, were promptly put into effective order.

In 1772 the town voted £84 for educational and other purposes. In 1773 .£20 were appropriated for a school. A II town-way two rods wide" was laid out from" the Provence line," commencing north of John Kendall's house and running by Temple Kendall's house .. to the road that WRB laid out by said Ken­dall's, and Samuel Taylor's house.'"

By a mutual council. conaisting of leven churchea, convened September 28, 1774, the pastoral relation between Mr. Goodhue and the church WRB di88olved. The council aver that they" can heartily recommend him as a person of conspicuous seriousness and piety, and as one whom they jlldge qualified to do service in the ministry." . .

Dllring his pastorate of seventeen year. sixty-five persons were admitted to the church. and he 888mS to have left. for the simple reason that the people wore at the time IOmewhat divided in sentiment. The ar­rearages in Mr. Goodhue's aalary were alll,aid. He was afterwards settled and died in Putney, Vt. Rev. William Wells. in the sermon preached at his funeral, November 16, 1797, said of him:

"I believe you will all join with me in &88erting piety to God and benevolence to man were leading featurea of his character. The great object of hill life was to be useful in his atation as a minister of the gospel of Christ, and exemplify in his own conduct and temper those virtuea and gracea which, with the greatest sincerity, he recommended to others. His

end, like that of the godly man's, was ·peace. being not only resigned at the prospect of his di880lution, but deairoW! to depart and be with Christ."

Mr. Goodhue was married to Elizabeth, eldeat daughter of Deacon Joseph and Elizabeth Fletcher, July 28, 1757. They had five IOns and one daughter. Some of the IOU became eminent in prof_onal life.

In 1774 there was an article in the warrant for town-meeting to build a school-house, but the town voted not to do it. This is the first reference to such a building on the recordL The prospect of a war with the mother country probably prevented the town from undertakiDg the espense.

ThIS first Provincial Congr881 in October, 1774, ap­pointed a Committee of Safety, and provided that a fourth part of the enrolled militia should, as minute­men," be held in reaclineae fer immediate service. This gave evidence that a collision between the American and British forcea was impending. Dun­stable, with patriotic hute, prepared to aut in the common cause of national liberty. The following pledge eviDces that apirit in the verI beginning of the great struggle:

.. w. lb. IUblcriben IAkInllnto oW' COnelderaUOD Ibe preMnt dim­cult,. do b_b, 'folantaril, .n ... witb e.ch otber ID dele_ of cur CODDtI'J. Prheledc- aDd Llber&.71 'or th •• pace 0' Ill( IIIOD'ba 'rom Ibll da&e; that .... will labmlt ou_h. to lb. Law. eq .... 17 tb ... me ull !be, were la rail rorce reopecLiDI oar oftIcen IbM DOW are, or bereafter _, be ch_n In all XlUtary ht,.

.. DU.eTA ..... March let, 17111. .. Bdward Butterfield, NathaDlel Bolden. Lemuel Perbam. Georp

Bllbop, BlleD .... Preacb. "oaalban Bancroft, JohD OII&11e,. Samuel Rob,. BI_r "rencb. Philip BaUarfield. Jeralm .. 1 Oolbum. Wm. .....,...,... JoaaIbaD Sherwin, Jobn Hanblnl. ReDben LIi ..... JOhD Oam­...... John I'nnch, Zebedee Kendall • .I_ph I'env. "ObD JIanh. John Cock", .. ..,..., Da ..... .1_ BaUarlleld. B .. k .... K.ndall. a.Dr, Sbep­pud, William GI.n.... ..onalban Woodward. Tbo..... Trowbrldp. Total, 28."

The above valuable paper is owned by Dexter Butterfield.

The town voted, on the 4th of April, 1775, "to have menits-men agreeable to the desire of the Pro­vincial Congr88l," and on the 12a.h of the aame month it voted to &88888.£20 for II y' encouragement & use of y' minute men;" and they were II required to hold themeelvea in readin881 to march at the fir.t noUce.'· The notice 800D came, nor did it find the Duustable IOldiers unprepared. since manl of them had seen hard service in the old French War, and a weekly drill had long been held. Late ou the 19th of April the startling news came that blood had been shed ai Lexington and Concord; but the engagement was over before the men from Dnustable had time to reach the scene of the battle. It is said that while the battle of Bunker Hill was raging a stranger called at the house of Mrs. Jonathan Woodward, near "The Gulf," and asked for IOmething to eat. While partaking of her hospitality he began to berate Americans, and, boasting of the suCceea of the Brit.iah~ declared that all would be aubjects of King George, to wbom they owed allegiance. Incensed at bis i~o.

Digitized by Google

752 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTB.

lence, she opened the door and commanded him to I(: .. e the bouae, wbicb he ref'uaed to do, Baying he would go wben be was ready. Sbe tben aeized a chair, knocked him down and dragged him out of the hOUle, giving him undoubted evidence of one woman'l courage and devotion to the country. Eight days after the battle the town Ulembled and" voted to accept of,. powder J alDea Tyng, Esq., bought for this town." • Abel Spaulding, Lemnel Perham, ElIjah Fletcher and Au Kendall were chOl8n to join the Committee of Correspondence on the 12th of Jnne, and at the lame meeting Joel Parkhunt wu ·chMen to repre· Bent the town in the Continental Congr .. at Water­town inltead of John 1)ng, whOl8 health wu poor, and J amea 1)ng, who" had a mUltiplicity ofbDlineaa." These were trying times. Five daYI afterwards the DunBtable company, composed of fin.y men. forming a part of the MlI88I.Chuaetts regiment, under the com­mand of Col. Ebenezer Bridge, commiaaioned at Bil· lericI, Ma)'27th, wu preaent and participated in the memorable. action of Bunker Hill. Duriug that unguinar)' battle the com pan)' from Dnnstable Ihowed the bravel'7 of veteran IOldierl, 81 many of them indeed wer .. , and it wu only after tbeir ammu­nition wu gone that they left the ReId. Capt. Ban­croft lought nobly in the redoubt and wu wounded. Eleazer French had an arm shot off during the ac­tion, and picking it up, bore it 81 a trophy Irom tbe bloody field. His brother, Samuel French, had a ball shot through hil right ear. Jonathan French, another brother, W88 in the battle. William French, and Jonu Frencb, two brothen of another family, did good aenice on that dlY. The former diacharged hll gun with deliberate aim lixteen timel. He wa a shoemaker by trade, served through the WIU', and died in Dunltable at an advanced age. "From his aobriety and uprightn881 he W88 called .. Deacon William ....

At the clOle of the battle these two broth en left the hill together. When cJ'088ing .. the N ack" unlier the fire of the " Glaagow" man-of-war, they uw an officer aeverely wounded, and offered him their UliBtaoce. II I cannot liYe," he said; II take care of yourselves." They, however, rai.ed him to their shoulden and" bore him through the confUsion to a place of ufety. The luffering officcr proved to be Capt. Henry Farwell, of Groton.

Mr. Ebenezer French wa alao at the battle of Bunker Hill. He wu the grandfather of Benjamin French, Esq., who ha now in hil pMleaaion the bullet-mouldl (which are of braaa and will form twenty-four bnllets of difl'erent lizee at one cuting) the camp-kettle and mUlbt. of this brave aoldie~. He died "April 14, 1808, in the aeventY-l8venth year of his age. A lew of the Dun8table men were in Capt. John Ford'l company, of Chelmllford. They reached the fteld a Ibort time before the action began and fought bravely. While laaac Wright wa litting

exhaDlted on a bank near a houae in Charlestown, a cannon-ball came rolling rapidly, and 80 near him tha~ he could bave touched it with hil foot. Being alted why be did not ltop it, he laid, .. I then Ihould have returned home with only one leg." He wal one of the fint who enlisted. ,

During the siege of Boston many of its inhabitant. went to the other townl in the State in order toaYoid the ill treatment. of the b08tile troops. From the fol­lowing vote it appears that Beyeral came to Dunlltable, \vhere they were kindJy entertained:

Nov. 20, 1776. voted that"" Poor &; IndigeDt inhabitants 01 tbe town of Boston whicb are now in t.biB town be snpported with y. proyilioDl of thiB town ao long 81 it could be procured in S· town therefor."

Jan. 4, 1776, the General Court gave order that four tbouund blankets sbould be proyided by the reapective toWDI for theaoldien in the army, and paid for out of tbe public treasury. Dunltable ·furnilhed about one dozen of them.

On the Slat" of May, 1776, Oliver Cummings W&8 commiBBioned captain of the Dunltable companJ in tIle regim~nt of milit.ia of whicb Simeon Spaulding "81 the colonel.

Each 801dier W&8 provided with a fir.arm, bayonet, cntting IWOrd or hatchet, cartfidg.box, from fifteen to one hundred pounds of ballI, lix flints, a knaplack, blanket and canteen. The mnsket. were Jong and beavy, and very Inferior iDlt.rumeuts a compared with the needle-gunl of the present day. The ammunition was ltored in the 10ft of the meeting­hODle, and the place 01 rendezyoul lor the minute­men wal at the house of Au Kendall, wbich W&8,

lubaequently owned by Dr. A. W. Howe. At Ii meeting of citlzenl of the town, June 8, 1776,

Major Ebenezer Bancroft, Capt. 'Reuben Buuerfteld and Mr. Timothy Reed were choaen .. a committee to prepare y. Draft of a Yote," which contained many patriotic sentiments.

n WAI the reception of Inch Ipirlted resolutionl from the varioDl townl of the Province that gave the leaden of the Revolution courage to make the celebrated Declaration of Independence, wbich fol­lowed in a few weeks.

The following letter evinC«=8 the leellngs of the aoldier. at the poet of duty, aod al80 reminds the reader that the town, a yet, had enjoyed only the advantage& of a "moveing achool," and that con­tinuoU8 toil had been the lot of mOlt of the inhabit.­ante :

If 1'100 .. .,..08". Oct. 16. I1TI.

.. HoIl0n'II ra&her a: .otb.r. after -7 Du&q To ,... a:,... to ., IInIth.n and a....... 1 ... ". TalI.n Ib .. OJIlIl'I"IIDI$7 to Le& 1011 DOW that I .... W.II .. "..Dt ..... 81 __ be ..,.. (01' It, a: hope ..... L1 ..... will 1184,0D tb. llana, I .... DI lUlu much" p ... nt Olft.Y lhe a.1Rn baY. dl'o", 0,,1' lIet BlM:k h ......... ha .... u.taIMd Lon or .... a: v_ ... a: the "'811 .. _, .... CroWD pot., 01' -.. &bell'. a: w. upec& .....

b.1' Quick. I'bllilp Bu&lel'leld II &0& Belter. "'_ Ba&lel'lleld II pooIe7 1et. Rember _ to aIIluquidD (d'" 80 I a-aiD 70 ... DutiM 80 ••

.. "A •• cu. .... ••

Digitized by Google

~.

••

r I'

Il,

IiI

,:

"

DUNSTABLE .. '153 --------------,-------------------------------------

The town W88 always ready to respond to the reo peated calls for men and Vloney, and meetings were often held eit.her at the "alarm poet," or at the tavern, or at the ChUICh, to take measures for doing its part in CILI1')'ing on the war. Several of the Dun­stable soldiers sen·ed in .companies of otber townlJ, and some from other places joined tbe Dunstable companies.

/' III Dunstable, 88 welt 88 in other towns, t.here were some perSons holding Tory principles. The town promptly brought them to an account for their oppo­sition to tbe common cause. At· a public meeting held Sept. 11, 1777, Lieut. Nathaniel Holden wu chosen" to procure and lay before Y' court y' evidence y' might be had of y' Enimical disp08ition of any or

, thi" town t.hat may be complained of that they may \"e proceeded with agreeable to an act or this State."

Some of the British soldiers were quartered on Dunstable. Three were drowned while at.tempting to CroBB the river at Wic88uck hland, and t.heir re­maiOB were buried near that spot..

On the 9.h of February, 1778, the town al)proved of t.he Ar.ticles of Confederation between the thirteen States. At another IDeeting held April 28d, the town chose John Tyng, Esq., Joseph Danforth and Joel P .. rkhurst to examine the new Constitution of the State, proposed by the General Court.. After hearing the report of thiB committee, June 2d, the town " voted to reject y' Constitution for y' rollowing rea-8Ons, viz.: Because it invests y' governor wit.h too unlimited a power. 2dly, because there is not an Equal Representation. 3dly, BecaUBe y' Governor ought not to have y' 'fitle of Excellency. J. Blod­gett, Town clerk."

'fhis Constitut.ion was prepared by a committee of four members of the Council and twice t.hat number of the HOUBe of Representatives. It wu submitted to the people of the State in March, 1778, and by them rejected. The vote stood 10,000 against 2000, 88 many &8 120 towns not voting. The general ob­jections to it were· that it did not contain a declara­tion of rights, that it made representation unequal, and that the duties of State officers were not accu­rately defined.

Paper· money bad at this time greatly depreciated in value, taxes were high, many of the able-bodied men were abllent in the army, and the American cauae deemed, in the minda of many, to be sinking; yet the citizens of Dunstable still went resolutely forward to meet the.demands made upon them.

The term of service of many of the Continental soldiers had closed, and two thouaand men were now called for to fill up the sixteen depleted regiments of the State. Fifteen hundred more were to be raised as ordered by vote of Congreas. Dnnstable resolutely bore her share of t.his draft, and nobly responded to the call. Shirts, shoes and stockings were also required of the town; and since the women 88 well u men were patriotic, thoBe articles were promptly furniab.ed.

. 48

On the 15th of February, 1779, t.heparish voted £100 .. for theaupportof famaliesof t.hosePeraons this Parish have hired to Engag into Contenental Army."

The town this year appropriated £180 for public schools and other expen888, which included the pro­viding of clothing for the soldiers.

Not.withstanding the.expeOBes of the war, ihppeara from recorda of that date that the institutioOB of the gospel were supported. For about six years the pul­pit had been lupplied by such ministers 88 they were able to find and had the meaD8 to pay, and now, in bope of having a pastor of their own, they coOBidered the question of uniting with the other p'ariah in building a church and settling a minister.

On the 28d of March the Second Pariah agreed to .. Raise five Hundred Poundl for the lupport of luch minister or minifters of the gospel 88 may be caul'd to Preach to thil People." At an adjourned meeting the abQve-named sum was increased by .£500.

The 19th of May, 1780, is celebrated 88 the Dark Day. The obscurity W88 80 great that birds lought their perches at mid-day, and the people had to light candles in order to distinguish objects in their hOOBeI. The superstitious were inclined to think the day of doom W88 approaching. .. About ten O'clock," wrote Mr. Phineas Sprague, of Malden, in his journal, "it began to Rain and grew vere dark, and at 12 it WIUI almoat 88 dark as Nite, 80 that wee W88 obliged to lito our candell and Eate our dinner by candollite at Noonday." The darkneu of t.he evening of that. day wu very remarkable. .. A sheet of white paper," 88yS Dr. Tenney, .. held within a few inches of the eyes, was equally invisible with the blackest. velvet."

This darkneu might po88ibly have been caused by the burning of extensive forests in Northern New Hampshire, the smoke of which might. have fioated over a seetion of New England and obacured the sun. Alarm at the coming of the darkneBII W88 naturally increased when t.he spirits of t.he people were de­preBBed in consequence of the war. It was common to attribute unusual 'phenomena to lupernatural agency, for there W88 at that time leu acient.ific koo,.ledge than at present. The belief of the people in ghoats and haunted hou8es wu t.hen very preva­lent.. It wu generally Considered ominou8 to S08, for the first time, the new moon over t.he leR shoulder, to spill salt, or to lit thirteen at the table. A horae­shoe w.. nalled to the wats of the door to keep off witchea, and the sight of a white spider gliding down itl thread foreboded evil. The Bible, interpreted literally, W88 the guide-book of our fathers, and aelence, which sheds light upon the meaning of many a perplexing pll88l\ge in the Scripturel, W88 a word alm08t unknown to t.hem. Tho spirit of God's teach-ing they, however, usually understood. .

Another State Constitut.ion W811 framed this year by delegates choaen by the towns of the CommoD­wealth, and lubmitted, in March, to the people for their examination.

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX OOUNTY, MABBACHUSETl'B.'

It appe8I'B tbat io Dunatable there W88 a atrong oppoeition to the inatmment. It wu chiefly again at granting protection to all religiona, againat the lib­erty of the preu, againat 80 great a number of Coun· cilora and Benatora, againat the power of the Governor to march the militia to any part of tbe State, againat the appointment of all judicial ofticera by the Gover· nor, againat the Govemor and otherofticen declaring themaelves of the Chriatian religion, againat the form of tbe oath,-they beillg desiroua. that the worda "living God " ahould be included,-against the Quak­era being excused from taking an oath, and againat the time appointed for the revision of the Constitu­tion.

That instrument waa, however, ratified 88 the or­ganic law by more than two-thirds of the votea of the State. Hon. John Hancock wu the firat Goveroor chosen under it. The election W88 held or. the 4th of Reptember, and Dunltable gave aixteen votes for Hancock. The amall vote tbrown may have i6di­cated the dl .. lfection of the people io respect to the new Conatitution, and may have been owing partly to the absence of many votera in the army.

The town thia year furniahed 7500 pound. of beef which tbe General Court called for to sopply tbe arnlY, and voted to raiae £2500 for acliool and other purpoeea. In the exigencies of war, paper-money W88 iaaued to .ucb an extent that one doUar in .llver came to be equal to forty dollars in what W88 called tbe "Continental currency." The one-dollar bill had on ita face the Latio worda, .. Depr.",. rIMW,u," which is in Englilh, .. The down·trodden riIea," and wbich had, at that time, much meaning i but 80 great wu the depreaaion in ita v~lue. that a blanket bought by a aoldier cost £100. and tbe aalary of the Rev. Ebenezer Bridge, of Chelmsford, for eight montha, .. W88 I8t" at £8600. Ebenezer Frencb W88 heard to oy that he once paid $tO of it for a breakfast in New York. Thia paper-money, becoming worthl ... went out of uae the' following year and was never re­deemed.

At tbis time the country W88 paaaing t.hrough one of ita darkest perioda. The life-blood of t.he nation bad been frl:l8Iy given i there were many deaolate homes i family ties had been Bundered i many had grown gray in military ae"ice i th,e young had come to a premature manhood i cities aod dwellinp were Calling into decay, and many of the farma were half­tilled.

Dunatable, however, continued to furnu and to pay ita quotaa of '801diera, to lupport public worahip, and to make appropriation, 88 ability allowod, for the education of ita childr..,n. All claaes cheertully de­nied tbemaelves, foregoing common luxuries and de­voting themaelves to labor. No 80und W88 more frequent than that of tbe loom and .plnning-wheel, and the wives and daughters, during the absence of tbeir huabands and their broth era at tbe seat of war. were alwaya ready to help the aged man on the farmB.

The defeat and capture of the Britiah fores under Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, VL, vlrtnally termi­nated the war. In fnrnlahing m\n and money, 1188-

.. chusett. bore about one-quarter of the burden, and of tbi. the toWIl of Dunstable ita fnll ahare.

The Dews of the victory of the allied French and American forees nnder Wuhington .. 88 receivtd throughout the country with demonstntiona of joy. .. From eyery family altar ... ·oy. Mr. B. J. Le.saing, .. whf're a love of freedom dwelt, from pulpits, If'gia­lative halls, the army and from Congreaa (October 24), went up a .hout of thankaglviDg and praiae to the Lord God Omnipotent, for the .ucceaa of the allied troope, and theae were mingled with univenal eulogies of the great leader and hla companion in arma. The clouds which had lowered for aeven long yeara, appeared to be breaking, and the splendora of the dawn of peace buret forth, like the light of a clear moming after a diemal night. of tempeaL."

The Second Pariah of DunBtable had no bell at this time to ri:ag in expreaaion of Ita JOT. over the great victory i Btili, every citizen exulted in' the IDC­

ceaa of WUbington and LafayetW. The drooping apirita of the people were revived by the return of the aoldiera from their long campalgna.

The following notles of lOme men from Dunatable aetivery engaged In the War of the Revolution are at.ilI preserved :

OIIM' ~Jr •• _ • prt ... la lb ........ ct lfIalt8 .... -. 0. toller II, 1111. B. nttar .... to Da ....... aad ........ 117 NIaOftd to the towa ct 8u __ • II ... w._ .. died.

J_ 0._..,. w .. at lb. tUlq ct ~"-'7 IS, 1m ..... la • ....-.. dartqlh ...... .

J .... O'-.,..at ...... the ~ w ..... -lIoJ. aad __ u • pud oYer lb. ..Idl_ of a.DenI BaraoJ ... lIIhIeq_t to ...... c.~ ' ..... 1. Octoller.lm. B ..... perl ....... nt, wllb tile _, .. 11 •• .1_,. After tile Be.oIatloD ... __ ................... ct lb.

Do ...... militia oompaDJ • Wan- IlwM _. prt ... at the ....... ct Ba •• Bill. Oa lb.

uplratloa of lila &era of _"lee at Cuallddp," -u.a.ct aad ..... pertUnaed .11 nt,lblOllp t .. wer. J_ ~ Ilona ..... 7. 1767 .... JOIUIPIlllnClulr ct lb.

.... _ wltll'''' ... aI-q ...... at Ibe ....... of Baa. BIlL Be .... __ ....... lbl'al .. Idler t"-cla &be _r. B. _ oftea _plo,ed ... 1CIIoo1-teMh.r. .....e ............. WlUlul _ eel ... pa ....... Cor .nl_la , .........

.......... '""'" to wbom rere_ .... ......, ........... __ Ibroqb Ibe _ .... died la Do....,.. Aprtl li.1808, 1 •• 1a .-17. .... alb' .....

s-..IllwM 1uId .... 1 ~ Ibl'Olllh .Ia rtp' .... at tile ....... ct Baaker Bill. B. died la DaaIIable, aad Ia buIed Da IIMtla.·B_ BIll. .,.... ~ woaDded la Ibe _ battle; died ct 00 ____

_a after lila nlan lI_ J-'kIo ~ brvtberct tile two lut ....... w .. wit. u... Ia &be

I ....... t .. We ot tb. ReYolutloa •• ad _ .. lIeeqaeaU,. topIJaer wtlb .11 two ...... ID lb. eenlce oa Lak. a._plaia.

lVf/I'- ...... __ ... prt ... darl............ B ..... hanM4 to !lice ...... r I. Ibe old ..... DCIa Wer. B. _ ftnartl __ .~ at -.

JoAtI 0hNt ..... alNd Ina& eaperte_ ... 1DIcIa. I. die 014 ..... DCIa Wert &IId .... ed .Ia _DUJ .......... 117 .111'1 •• die BeYoiatlaa. B. _at .... apt ..... of Qaebeo. B. _ •• .., ....... cltlsn, ... lIeld .... , towa ...... ,.". K.....,. _ • lIea&8l1111l& .ader Oap&aIa JDlaa ~ at lb ..... tle of Baaker Bill. '

J .. ftooGtor_ ...... rn. &be ........ died 01_ ......

Digitized by Google

• DUNSTABLE. 755

CbloIod II ............. jt, .. a1_d,.1Iated, foIia"& bra .. l,. a& Ballk.r Bill .. d 10 o&IIer heW. dorioC the _r. B. parcJaued aad ealDrpd the b.,... _ owned .". H.ol')' IVw.1l a.. now occupied .". ble C .... deoD. B. w.o&loao th.l'reDCb War a& the ace orllz&eeD ,. .. n. H .... oommlllloDed IleoleDUlt_looel April SI. 1780. aocI JIIII&Ioe of lb. peace ID 1'"a.

J ....... IV..........,.ned ... prI ...... lhroacb tb. war. B. Uftd to he. C8DIe_rlU. aDd a .nooo ... preacbed 00 bla ODe haaclredth blrthda,.. Re retelDed the _ of bll f8culU. aoUI _ the 01_ of IIr., aDd ... all ~"ooI"'D& mao •

..... C" z..o-.I ...... JIM .... prIY.t. 10 the war. B. Ibed 0 .... •• UDC.a_ Bill. ~ ...... Bu" ..... Id. the .u.n. Uyed 00 .... eoutb .... of the ..... 00 ... t1nc·Bo_ Bill; hie eoa, Pblllp Butt.r-fte'" lI.,ed 00 the .. me lid. 0' the ...... a 11&11. ao~ tb...... Th • .. lIar-bolee of both ho_1Ilt1l remain. ~rd BaUerft.Id, Jr •• built lhe b_ DOW oWDed' b,. Dellle, Batterftelcl, _ of llleetlDC-B.,... Hili. J_ ~ _ftd ... prJftle la the war ..... _ftd ao ... _­

IDCaoD •••.• wbere b. d ...... l'II/UjI ...... JeW. broth.r of the abo.,.,'" aIIO • prJ...... 10 the

war. .l'IaIl IV .... W.D& laao the .. .,.1 ....... aocI _ killed b,. falUoC

from the ..... of a .hlp. JIJOl flirt ....... father of I.oaard Parkbant, .... prI., ... la tbe war.

aocI died at Du ..... b... Ble b_ Rood. ..... & tWIOt,. rode north of tb"t of !IIr. JOhD A. Parkhun&.

HII eon. LeounI AIrthnC, aleo ...,ed 10 tb. war. ~ ... nd .... 2'rJrlor. brotben, II.,IDC 10 the fIIIlerI,. pert of

lb. aoWD. WlDt laao the _,. ..... were neftr beard fro .. aRerwarde. DaRIaI J ..... died Sept_ber i, 1835. aced .... n..,. ... p& ,. .. n. Se

Ie burled In T,.npboroap. aDd 00 the beadl&oD. Ia writteD, II To dl. Ia ao SO b_;" aad ....... A eoldler of the "YOIUtlOD."

March 3, 1783, ~he town appropriated £30 for edu­('.ation. On the 7th of April the town caat sixteen votes for John Hancock 88 Governor, and eleven votes for Thom .. Cushing 88 Lieutenant-Governor. At the l&Dle time a committee, coDllieting of Jonathan Fletcher, Nathaniel Holden. Jonathan Emerson and Temple Kendall, reported that it w .. advieable that the toWD Ihould be divided into five dietricts for achool purpOllell, .. follows:

1. All ao the ... of the ...... I_1t BI.,er. lI. Allth. "Int ParIIb 00 the ..... rI,. lid. of the lII.rriaIacIt m.,.r.

ellceptlq Lleuleaaat Perham aocI IIr. joho Brldp. I. All the a.ooac\ ......... 00 the llnat road from IIIr. IIua Tb_peoo·.

ao Boll .. up ao Salmoo Brook. II"'DC 00 aad ao the north of aid ...... l. All ao th. weel of 8alOloO Brook, .llcepllac Mr. JIrIdp'L 6. All the remainder of the aoWIl.

In :&Iay thl8 report W88 accepted, and the diitricta were established. The HOD. Jc.hn Tyng w .. chosen representative, and it w.. voted that the selectmen sbould build a pound.

On the 3rd day of September, a dellllitlve treaty of peace between Great BritaiJi and the United States wu signed at Paris. Dunstable shared in the general rt»joicing over the welcome tidings of peace once more. The ott-uaed musket w.. nOw bung above the oaten mantel-piece.

The westerly part of the town had now become geD­erally settled, and the centre of population had advanced somewhat in that direction. It w .. thus thought advisable that tbe place of public wonhlp should be changed, aud at the meeting held Nov. 8, 1784, it was I, voted to move the meeting-house from the place it now stands' on to some other convenient place in said Parish j" it w .. also veteel that the place" be

betweeD the Dwelling-house of )I'. Jonathan Procten and the hOI18e that Mr. Jonathau Woodward now Lives in, on the north side of the rode that goes from one house to the other a little to the west of Dorth from said Procwr'i uow Bam."

ID 1785 the town raj8l!d £40 for 8chools, gave twelve votes for James Bowdoin .. Governor, and choee the Hon. John Pitts to ftpresent It in the General Court.

The 8now on tbe 22d of April w .. two feet deep and tbe surface so much incruawd with ice .. to bear up au ox-sled.

Jan. 25, 1786, tbe Second Pariah" voted I; chose Mr. John Chaney, Jun', to Lead in Singing in Publick Wonhip." .

There i8 no other reference to mU8ic on the records ofthe Second Parish; but it would lK'em from thoseoC. the church that tilt' practice of II lining out" the hymnl bad DOt yet been abandoDed. About this time cburch cboin were formed in the State, and the "deaconing out of the hymns," to wbich our worthy anceston were accustomed, w.. practiced no longt'r. The psalms and hymns of Dr. Watts al80 took tbe place of. II the Bay Psalm Book," and some of the fugue tuDes of William Billings were DOW occasionally 8ung.

The town thie year, for the fint time, elected over­seen of the poor. Tbe' poor were kindly treated, sometimes receiving a small sum of money from the town to help them in tbt'ir efforts to maintaiD them­selves, aud sometimes living in tbe family of a rela­tive or friend, who received some compensation for their expenae and trouble. The number of paulK'rs probably did DOt exceed tile number of the C!)mmit-tee appointed to tate care of them. .

In 1787 and for some time previous efl'orts wt're made to uDite the two religious bodies known .. the Fim and Second Pariahes. Thie unioD 1''' at one time nearly consummated, but w.. prevented by the donation of Mn. Sarall TyDg Winslow. Ecclesi .. ti­cal affain being now under control of the toWD, it voted iD 1787 to raise £60 for preaching, and also that services should be held alternately at the east and west meeting-houses.

OD the 21st of February, 1788, the church held a solemn fut II to look up by Prayer to the Supreme Head of the Church for his Direction in Choise of a Hinieter," but it appears that no minister was fouud to suit all the coDgregation.

On the 22ci of JUDe, 1789, what is now the town of Tyngsborough was incorporated into a district and received for ita own use· the dona~on of Mn. Win­slow, which, .. a town, it still enjoys.

'the church edifice on Meeting.house Hill w .. re­moved to Dunatable Centre in 1791 and finiahed in approved style •.

The laDd lor the lite of the building, conaiating of one acre and one hundred and thirty rods, w .. well choeen, and 1''' conveyed by Jonathau Proctor to the . town in a deed bearing date August 25, 1790, and it is

Digitized by Google

156 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASShOBUSETTS. --------------~---

deacribed .. "the land on which the school·house now atanda, and bounded beginning at the lOutherly corner of said land at a heap of stones by the road, thence running northerly about twenty-nine rode to a heap of stones by a black oak tree, theDce lOuth forty.four degrees west twenty rode to a heap of stones, t.hence BOut.h aix and a half degrees west elaven rods and a half to a heap of atones by the great road, thence east eleven degrees IOUth by the north side of the llIIid road fourteen rods and a half to a heap of atones first mentioned," Thia condition is mentioned in the deed-" t.bat the inhabitants of the laid Dunlt&ble shall, within the term of three yean from the date hereof, have caused to be erected upon the laid land a Meeting-house for publick worship and a School-House, and Iball never suft'er said land to be destitute of said buildings for more than three years at any time, and that no other building IhalJ ever be erected on said land than IUch .. shall be neceeaary to accommodate the inhabitanta when at­tending on Publick W onhip."·

David Fletcher, joiner, gave bonds to Zebulon Blodgett, town treasurer, to finilh the meeting·house at or before the lat day of July, 1794. He w .. to build thirty. three pewl and a pulpit, .. and the breast- . work in the gallery not. inferior to that in the meet­ing·houae in Tyng.boroogh."

The edifice w.. dedicated to the service of God, .. agreeable to .ncient e:nmple and more modem pract.iC8ll," on the 2d day of October, 1'198.

The ordination oUk Heywood took place on the 6th day of Jone, 1799, seve~ ministers taking part in t.he services. The expense to the town for the ordination wu twenty· three dollars.

At the incoming of the present. century Dunstable wu in a proaperoua condition. Its population had increased to 486 persona.

In April, 1800, the church chose Deacon Zebedee KeDdall, Captain J. Fletcher and Captain S. Stevenl a committee to attend tbe meetings of the aingillg­school, for the purpose of choosing leaders, and it allO invited all .. who are Ikilled in sacred harmony to come forward and &88ist the church in that part of public worship."

Efforts had been made to .introduce the b ... ·viol into the church service, but serioua objections were urged against it. One called it "the Lord'i fiddle," and another said he should get up and dance if it came into the church. At. one meeting it w .. .. voted to sU8peud the introduction of the Baas-Viol for ~he present. on account of an objection made by Lieutenant Simeon Cummings; " but on the 20t.h of March. 1804, t.he innocent'instroment triumphed over all oPPOlition, the church vot.ing that the baaa-viol be introduced into the meeting·honse on days of public worship, and that thOle who have Ikill to use it, bring it and perform on Sabbath·daya.

The Middlesex Canal, extending from BOlton to a point near Pawtucket Falll, in the Merrimac River,

w .. opeued this year. The transportation of lumber , cattle and grain from Dunltable to the metropolla w.. thua facilitated. The caDal wa about twenty· leven miles long, thirty feet wide Ind three feet deep, and served for coDveyiog merchandise from the Mer­rimac River to Boaton until the opening of the Boston and Lowell Railroad, iD 1886, wheu the canal gradually became uselellll.

The town in 1805 provided a hook containing the Constitution of the United States lor each of ita schools, and the next year voted t'100 Cor building Bve school·houaes.

The diltrict of Tlngsborough w .. inCorporated a a town Febmll')' 28, 1809. and the population of Dun· atable wu thereby greatly dimiuished.

A few 101diers from DunBtable eDgaged in what was called Mr. MadilOn'l War of 1812. The decisive victory of General Andrew JacklOn over the British forces, at New Orleans, on the 8th oC January. 1816, terminated the war, and on the 18th day of February following, Pr8llident Jam~ Madison _ued a proclamation of peace. This wu hailed with joy by the people of Dunltable. A day w .. set apart for the celebration of the event. . The people uaembled in their best attire, and wheD the 101diers had gone through with their 'evolutions, an partook of a boon·ti· lUI conation, and then, proceeding to the church. they liateued to a patriotic addreaa from the Rev. John Perkina, a Baptist minister of Ohelmsford . Dunltable shared in the general prosperity which followed the long and exhausting war. The people increased in wealth. num~rs and intelligence. A more generous Ityle of liviDg lOOn became manifest. Newlpapers were taken, and the chaise and Jersey wagon were brought into use.

00 the 2d day of September occurred what wu long knowD u .. the great gale." The wind blew with such violence from the lOutheast and IOUth a to overturn fences and foreat trees, and, io lOme in· atancee,'barns and dwelling. houses.

This w .. the severest storm that had occurred in New England lince Aug. 15, 1685, wheD, accordiog to the historian William Hubbard,· .. many hoUBeil were blown down, many more uncovered. The Indian corn w .. beat. down to the ground 10 .. not. to rise again. The tide at Narraganset.t roee twentl feet perpendicularly. The Indians were obliged to betake themselvea to the trees, and yet. many of them were drowned by the return oft.he tide before the DADal hour."

The year 1816 was exceptional for the severit.y of the cold. Froats appeared duriDg each of the sum­mer months, aud the cro>p of Indian com w .. nearly destroyed.

In the year 1817 the town raieed tsOO for Ichoola, and the same amount for preachiDg.

The church in 1817-18 was favored with an ex­tensive revival, and as many u seventy.t.hree per· IOna, maoy of whom were heads of famili., made a profession of religion. .

Digitized by Google

I'

.'

,

DUNSTABJ.E. 757

A Univeraalfat 80clety was formed by citizena of DUUBtable aDd'the toWDl adjacent, and a coDltitD­tiOD adopted Jan. 21, 1818.

The society used the old meeting· house as a place of worship, and the pUlpit was lupplied . by luch preachers u could be from time to time obtained.

The Dumber of inhabitants iD 1820 waa 684.

CHAPTER LIX.

DUN8T.4.BLB-(amtl"IUd).

0hmJ0 BrHI44-Bol4"'" III /TN w .... 0/'" BeWIfooo-~ 0w0NC BatJ IWIIUd-Nuba, Aoloa ............. 1WlrooofI OjNMrI-""o-........, o.re...uo.-18l1-80.

TaB church, though IOmewhat IItreDgthened by a revival, wall It ill unable to IUPPOrt a miDilter, and theretore applied, Feb. 7,1822, to the Maaaachuaetta Society lor PromotiDg Christian KDowledge for some aaailltaoce, representiDg that .. about ODe-half the propert:y of thil town standi OD sectariau grounds ;" that II the church had been d8lltitute of a settled min­ilter for seven years:" that" the church DOW CODlliits 01 about ODe hundred and five members ;" that II it is decidedly orthodo%;" and that ~. for Dearly three yeara put the Rev. Samuel Howe Tolman baa labored among us a part of the time :" aDd that they had giveD him a call to settle over the church for the term of Jive yean. In reply to thie petitioD the so­ciety agreed to pa:y, conditionany, '100 per aDDum towardl the IUpport of Hr. Tolman. He was, there­fore, installed over the church and society.

Dec. 24th it waa voted .. to adopt iDto our church the UBe of the Select HyoIDI lelected by Dr. Samuel Worcester, ot 8alem, MUB." Thi8 book took the place of the p ... lml and HymDI of Dr. Watts. MU8ical wltrumenta, aa the bUll-viol, violin aDd clarionet, had beeD introduct'ld into the choir, and it doel DOt appear that anyone DOW objected to their DIe in the lerviC811 of the church.

A post-office wa eetabliehed in the town OD the 18th of February, 1829, and Josiah Cummings, Jr., was appoiDted postmaster. Before the establi8hment of this office mail matter w .. receiv!,d at t.he office iD Tyngaborough.

It waa this year decided by the evangelical part of the reJigioUB IOciety to withdraw from the old meet­Ing·house, and to build a Dew ODe. An advisory council waa therefore called, which uDanimoully rec­ommeDded the proposed uDdertaking. SubsCriptiODI were at ODce takeD, a lite w .. purchued of Jaaper P. Proctor for the lum of,I00, and the present "UbataD­tial edifice, under a CODtract with WlUiam Rowe, of GrotoD, w.. lOOn erected. AI alread:y BeeD in the openiDg chapter, this buildiDg baa been much im­proved within receDt years. The dedicato.ry eerMOD

waa preached by Rev. Amos Blanchard, D.D., Dec. 21,1881.

The Orthodo% Church voted, July 9, 1881, that "for the future we meet in the new meeting-house for divine worahip on condition that the pews be rented and the renta be appropriated to the IUPPOrt of the gll8pel in the Dew house."

October lOth of the same year a ca)) to the pastor­ate of the church waa given to the Rev. Eldad W. Goodman; which he accepted.

The town, in 1884, voted to appropriate '100 for a aiDgiDg-achool, and chose Henry Parkhurst, Captain George Wright· and Cyrus Taylor a committee to auperintt'lDd the same.

On the 26th of Augult the Rev. Mr. Goodman, at hil own desire, waa dismissed from the paatorate of the church. He waa regarded a faithful minilter •

The Rev. Daua GoodaeU lupplied the church for a f~w months, declining, however, a call to lettle aa paator. On March Iii, 1887, the Rev. Levi Brigham was ordained pastor of the EvaDgelical Ohurch.

ID 1845 the town appropriated t400 for the use of public achoola. Mr.JohD Hayward, in his "Gazetteer of Haaaachuaetta," publilhed in 1846,. makes lOme er­rora in lltatementa regardiDg Dunlltable. liThe lOil," Ile laid, "is saDdy, and geDerally unproductive of other crops than hoplI and rye." This il plainiy in­correct, the land being well adapted to the growth of aU the cereals, and as good aa that of aDY other town iD this part of Middlesex CoUDty.

In 1848 the amount appropriated for public doom Willi raised to t600. .

The Worcester and Naahua Railroad, which enters the town from Pepperell, and paaaes aloDg its WlllSterD border Dear the Nashua River, into Nashua, was opeued on the 18th of December; but aa itll remote from the centre, aDd leads to Boston by a circuitous route, it haa been of little value to the place. It has DO lltation iD the town. '

The town voted, at one of its meetings, " to sell the old toWD StaDaard at auction," aDd alllO to receive Ira Han and Webb and Bowker, with their estates; from GrotoD. The Rev. Levi Brigham waa dismillaed, at hie own request, March 21st, from the pastorate of the EnngeUcal Church. He was an able pastor, and rendered the town much eeryice from an educa-' tional poiDt of view. He waa succeeded by Rev. Darwin Adami, IOD of' the celebrated achool-book maker, Daniel Adami, H.D. About thil time the meeting-houae waa eDlarged aDd repaired. Mias Lucy Fletcher gave the church a pulpit, Dr. Dauiel Adami presented to it a' clock, and Mra. Spaulding a set of chairs for the communion table. And here it will be fittiDg to meDtioD that in later yean the church h.. beeD remembered with valuable gifts. Mr. JODaa KeDdall, of FramiDgham, baa presented a beautiful communion service, and t3000 for a per­maneDt fund. Hn. Zilpha Woodward gl/:Ye t/i00 and Hu. Hary Wilaon '200 aa permanent fUDda.

Digitized by Google

758 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

The Rev. William C. Jackaon, of Lincoln, "a in-8talled over the church November 2, 1869.

The number of inhabitanta in 1860 "aa 487, of wbom 243 "ere malee and 244 femalea; 11 "tre over eighty, and 1 "a over ninety years old.

The Dun8table Comet Band wa organized Septem.

..... JoW. n.t.r, enlllted .............. In 0etaIMr I~ 1161. Ib_ ,.... prI ...... 001II .... , A ........ ....-'1 ..... a wrpaat JaDe I, 1 ... ; ........... 0ct0IIer 1~ I ....

0riI00, 1, ........ yulan~, prI ...... Caul ... , 0, I'oarteealb ..... me.t, U.B.A. ~, .. ,... ... 11IIed .............. In Ani'" 11. 1", far ....

-tIY, ODIu ... , A. Blalb Re&I_t. 0..., ......... prl ............... !n A .... ".1-. tIt_,....

ber 151h, with Hiram Spaulding .. leader, treasurer c-.. n, O. J'OI'lJ.I .. BecI-t. and collector. n haa attained a good reputation for' . Ooorrior. IV_(td). .alWed ............. In Jal, 11,1-' th ... Ikill in itl! musical performanCf'Jl, a weU al for the ~~~:'!;.I ................... In for _ ,.... • ........., 11.

gent.lemanly bearing of ita members. Ita 8e"icea 1 ... Com ... , •• 'n .. l'tJ ...... 1b ...... 1Il.

are in good demand (or proc8l8ionl and other public DUp, ..... prlftla lor &11_ ,.... ......... ID A ..... 14 ..... . I . bbo' 'ti d to ColnpaD, O. 1'ort,·I .. Beat-t. . 0CCIl810n8 n nelg nng Cl es an "UI. Da .... AtoeII, prlYDte, DI .. "ODthe; eD11lled October II ...... _ ....

On the breaking out o( the War j)f the Rebelliou ID OclullerlT. 1", Oom .... , O. "'R7.&IIINI Real-'i .. ledofcm-Ic

the town manirested great activity in the enlistmeut dJIBDIerJ at BatoD Roup, Jill, 1. '813.

and 8UppOrt. of the aoldiera. In thia patriotic effort DIoeie, J_ ....... 1 .............. ,..IID _. prI- for th_ ,-I d• bo . V I OctoIMor 14. 1 .... Com .... , A. lIeooad ReaI_D' I _ ...... aa the lIaUIe

the a lea re a conspicuoU8 part.. 0 unteers of ADI&etaa .... .u.c ........ I _DI ..... lor _ ,.... o-.a. .. promptly entered into the service or their country. 1 .... Com .... , S, Oaftlry. I'roa&lar 8en\ce. and as many a 8ixty.four aoldiera (rom DUBItable Do ...... 1'tIIrict. aDIilted ..... ..ut ..... In Jal,l4a 1-. for &llree hared ' h • i d ba I r h ' ..... I'oarteeath BalMry. s In t e prlvat on8 an tt ea 0 t e "ar. DooM, "..... .aIIIted ............. ID A ..... 31 1111 alae

Notwith8tanding the demand upon reaourcee, then -&b8, .001II .... , B, 1IIa&ll Real_a; "1IchupI liD.';"";' I", made by the war, tbe town raised, iu 1862, t400 for for .. ..utlla'. tbe RUPP0rt. of public achoola. July 26th it ,,&8 Dorlc, J_-. prlYale, th_,...., l'Itte.th BaUery •

........... ~ IV •• prlYale, &11_,.... Tw .. ty-ela&h......,. voted to borrow, if needed, 1500 (or the volunteers. ...... ~ prlYDI" tIl_,ean, Flfteelltla Ba&t.r,.

In 1863 it "a voted to put up guide-posta through. ,.,.,." Jf~ th_ ,ean, ........... ID A .... 14. l",o-pa., out the to"n, for which iL paid about too. And here o. I'lIra,·I .. ReaI-·t.

be • I f h bl' •• f b ,,..,.. A ..... Jr.. pr!YD&e. ealw.l IlepMmhar I, 1", far .... may given an examp e 0 t e pu IC SpUlt 0 t e BIG.the, Com .... , D. l'Ifty.thlrd Boat-at. OD the ... ht pNm. to young people of the town. The Dun8Labie Temper- the lIaUIe of Port B ..... D be p •• b. k....-ck .... _, &0 a_ ...... auce Union, holding regular meetinga once a month, - ....... to be eo ... ,... to ble -*her la til ..... a <II b. belncldUed

. I I . h ID beUiL O. _l1li& _. - .... b. _paa, """" mUJlIC the purcbued, lD 1889. 8 It amp-posta, "It accompany- cb .... I. the _pi..., _tell uI Jaae14, 1813. Whet __ DOble

. Ing If&mpi and ftxLurea, and caused them to be set -..1_'" be made orbl .. t out in dill'erent parta of the village. By not. only ]1'-. Cloer' .. V .. • rI.ete, Ib_ , ..... Oompaay B,I'IRy·a\n&b Beat· thua furuishing bUl arranging for the lighting of ... na; .. , ..... Dece .. ber 19. 1_ ; .. 1IItand ID J .. ..., 6.1 ....

, •• QIl.., J_ II •• • 0IaDleel'. prI ................ I ........ 18IN, for theae lampe, the aaid organization takea a very prac· three,..... 001II ... , K. 'J'h\l'tJ.&IIINI Real_a I r.r-r. tical method of letting ita light 8hine. The money 1I..-1wU, ......... prlYale, ihne ,ean, Com .... , B, nR7 ... Ia&ll Beat· expended for these lampe W&8 raised by dramaLic en. In.na; ealleted Dece .. ber 19. 1 ....

• II ........ w ........ prlYDte, abree ,--. eo. .... , B, 1'IR7.a\n&b .... tertainmenta given by the young penple in Parker's _a; .al ...... DeoeDIber 19.1 .... Hall. B,.,. J-. .nlllted A ..... 13, 1 .... prt ...... th_,.... s-.a

On the 8th of October, 1863, the old church in the __ b_ttaCaYDlry. d ed b 6 I I'ed BIto .... Bw- B •• • al ..... Aa .... 8. 188f, -..r.. v ..... Oaq&

Cent.re wa eatroy y reo t wa never 8Upp I II ..... ~ th_ , .... l'Itte.th Battery.

either with an organ or with a bell. In front of the B..".. a-.. 'rOlaDteer. prhete, th_ , ..... O-paay It, J'oar.

pulpit, on the gallery, waa the inacriptiou, .. Fini8hed IeaDth Beat-.t. in 1793." The old line ofaheda for the honN on the I.,.."., J_8.. ftlaDleer. th_ ,...., Com .... , 0, Twenty .......

• ReaI ..... a; .. 18cbupd ...... led at N ... 0rIeaa aide of the Cummon are the only memorial. that reo J ........ ......... p .. prlYaIe, .1 .. -&b8,enI ..... .......,. .. 18111, maiu of thi8 ancient church building. After tbe OoIDpaay D, l'orty·IRb Beal_'; b. _ praIIlO&ecJ toacaoponl. divi8ion or the 80clety the ReV8. Hiram Beckwith, J ..... J .... 8.. Com .... , K. nlrt,·thlrd BecI_DI, th_ '-I

RUBBell Streeter, Joaiah Gilman and William Hooper ":"~~=,ean,"Iw.l"" • .....,..Ia A ....... preached in it perinauently. The pUlpit w~ occa- 1114 ...... V~00rpe. lionallY8upplied by the Rev. Hoaea Ballou the Rey Xdoe, JfWatl, prlYDR. tb_ yean. • ... th BecI_Da; ...u.ted

, ...... 1 .. ' .... Adin Ballou, the Rev. Thoma Whitlemore, and x.u.a.. J-. th_,.... " ... ty .. pth BecI~ other clergymen. x ..... """"""'. yola.leer. tb_' ...... ·" ... "eth Jteat-t.

The names or the soldiers sent from Dunatable Into x ..... s-..I P •• Y01aDleer. prI_. In ........ for th_ ,--.~. the late "ar are aa follow8 : harllD, 18111. N.w Jlampablre Dchth JteatmeDt. x_-. '-8.. prlYDte, .DI ..... for th_ ,...., J .. ..., I, 1 ....

A""-o B-.. prI_. &11_, ...... nll'tJ_ad ReaI-.a . ..... .... _yed OM ,ear I. &II. _.,. BM.-, J_-. _ned 011. 7ear la lb. D •• ,.

&aa, IftcIoeII, .111 ..... ror th_, ..... December 19. 18118; Inuet.red ID Jan..., 6. 1884. prlnte, Como .... , B, J'IR,.aIDth "I_na.

B>oII,. ~ ... rhate, abne,.n. TW.II,,_ad BeallDa.L .......... 010 ........ yola.leer. tb_ , ...... prhat .. ColD .... ' It, I'our.

teeath BeaJm.o,&.

I'Iftb .... th .... m.DL ,..... no-., prI ..... DI .. 1DODthe, .D1 ..... A ..... 3t, 1",0-·

paD' K. Blath Besl_at. • ......", a-,. ... • olDDleer. prlYale, three JIUIto 0. .... , B. lI ...

B_poohlre ..... th BecI_a; .DIIIted .... _ ......... In Oc&olrar. 14.1881. H. died at Chait ...... II. 0., Ja1)' ~ 1-. or woa ........ cool.ed at &II. atol'1lll.,. of I'ort Wapar lila ...,. preYlouL B. _ • ..... _ at tile time of bla deatb.

Digitized by Google

'" ..

'II

..

.. k

" 'I<

II

'.

• II .. .. '",

I'

• I~

I'

I~

"

I'

.1

DUNSTABLE .. '11>9

...... IV.".,. Jr ••• DI ..... .: • prlyate ... 'fOlDDleer. Oatober 1" 1881.ID OomJlUl)' H. N •• llalllpebire BeY.Dth ...... Dt, ......... kliled .JDI, 18, uea, at th ......... of 'on W........ ID 0barled0D Harbor •

• .....,. JfWMI, .DI ............ mllltered ID A ...... 10. 18M. Ooa· paDl G. BeYeDteeDth ...... DL

Oo&onoe, ~ B.. prlYate, three , ...... T.~DIJ..uth ...... DL ~ DuioI B •• prI ..... wlDDleer. three , ...... CompaD1 O. TweDt7.

a1ltth ...... DL Died e& N •• Or ....... A ..... 80, 1883,0" d,MDtel'J'. I'IIrhr. LooIMr So, prlyaIe, YolaDleer. three , ...... CoIDpanl 0, TweDt,·

.. ltth ...... DL lWrI, au... .... OamJlUl)' B. I'Ift7'DIDth ..... Dt; eD11lted .. a

priYate (or """ , ...... nec-lJerl0. l8t3; auteNd Ia .JaDDDI'J' a. 18M.

Pwtt. ,."... B. • • DI ... JIarab t. 1886, lor three Jean. DetacluneDt 0' OIdnaace, Annal, Wa&artowa. 1'bol, z-ard B •• eDllIted A ....... leet, tor three Jean. "'rYe

Vet.rea 00rpI.

........ B.",. .... three '''''' lID.,. BW, ........ _18""'" In Huctall.186I, tbreel ...... IIDY1. llo6erIooto, II'fl"-, prlYate, three , ...... I'IfteeDth """. ......... " .. two , ...... lID.,. ......-.~. t_,ean, lID.,. BMrf, w-. OamJlUl)' B, 8Is.th .... 18 .. 1, DID. !DOD""; .Dlieted

Aqut, 81. 1861, ... w .. dllollupd at &be uplra&loa of b .. M"1ce, JaD.a, 1 ... ..... JrIaIWI .... prlYate, Com ... , B, 8Is.tb ...... t; .DIIIted lor

DI .. !DODu.., Aa .... 81. lIIlL ...... H.wr. prlYate, CoIDpaD1 G. TbIrlJ·thlrd ...... Dt, .........

ID AD .... n ......... dled e& l'aI_ath. Va.. JUDDl'J' 10, 1883. .".., " .... u.ted Aqua 8, 18M. tor three ,. .... Third "'_D&

of IDl'ull'J'. flIPr. a-,. Bo. prl ..... three , ...... CompaD1 A, 8eooDd BeIII .... t,

be .Dlilted Octoller It, 18411. and died e& 1'nderIck, Hd., 1'ebruar7 8 • 11161 •

T.....-, Jo1ra B .. .. lilted lor three lean ID the 81ltIJ_d BecI· _nL

IVoleA, .lWrW:, yolaDleer.tla~ Jean.·OOmJlUl)'.G. l'orIJ·1Int lIqI . lDeDL

WluN. ,..", wiDDleer. prlY.te, th .... ,ean. Company D. IIlneDth BecI_Dt .... Iar IDl'ull'J'; wonDded at the battle oi Oett7WDrs, JDI, I, 1183, aud died OD th. 'ollowiDI "",.

IV".., LooIMr. prI ..... ColD ... , D. l'lRJ·thlrd JIe&I_at, DI .. mODu..; .DIIIted OctOber 11. 1881; retarDed bOlDe with bla .... _Dt, and ... dIKllarpd ........ ber .. 1888.

IV/Iiiu, £II .... B., eDIIIted lor DI .. IDOD""" a prI ..... CompaD, D. 1'IftJ-tb1rd BecI-t, October 11, 18811. H.".. ID the baUI. 0' Port HudIoD. retaraed home wltb tala ......... t, aDd ... cU.abupd Septem· ber I, 1"'-Total. "-

The following from this tow~ enlisted in other places :

wuu.. IV. 0._ ..... 1'1 .. HIDD __ "'_DL .lllr-. B. X ...... D. .. ~ Q. l'IIrtA .... 8Ilttb __ b_ate JIecImeDL 0Mrf0IB. S-I/oll. ...... B. KfIig"'.

The town, under two calls, paid $3100 for boun~ies. The Bev. William C. Jackson, at hie own request,

1'81 dismir.aed from the p8ltorate of the church No­vember 13, 1867. One or more revivals of religion occurred under Mr. JackBon'l ministry. Be 1'81 long a faithful miaaionary in Aaiatic Turkey, aod, previous to hil comiog to Dunltable, W81 settled over the church in Lincoln, H8II. .

The Bev. Edward P. Kingabury, of Newton, W&II or­dained, but not installed over the church, 0:1 the 28th or November. 1869, the Rev. Eben B. Foster, D.D.,ofLow­ell, preaching the aermon. Hr. Kingsbury continued to lupply the pulpit acceptably until March 12, 1871, when falling health compelled him to retire. Be

died two weeb after returning to his home in New­ton Centre, beloved by all who knew him.

The Bev. Oharles Rockwell lupplled the church for two yean, begiuning May 4, 1871 •.

The valuation of 1. he town in 1872 1'811826,185.22. Jnly 1, 1873, the church engaged the Services of

~v. Franklin D. Anatin 8Iltated lup..,ly. . This year the town voted $2000 to defray the an­

nual e~penl88, $900 of which were for the public achoola, and $500 for the repairing of highwa,s and bridges.

The N8Ihua, Acton and Boaton Railroad, running near Flat Rock Bill, along the valley of Salmon Brook, centrally through the town, W81 opened for travel in Juoe,1873. The neremony of breaking the ground for this road took place at Wall Bill in De· cember,I871, when sp~hes were made by the Bon • Levi Wallace, then of PtlppereU, and now' of Ayer, James T. Burnap, firat superintendent of the road, sod otheftl, after which the company partook of a col­lation provided by the ladiel of Dunstable. The oc­caaion 1'81 enlivened by aalutes from a cannon and by mUlic from the Dunltable Cornet Band.

In 1878 the two hundredth auniveraary of the orig­inal incorporation of the town W81 reached. At a legal meeting of the citizeol, held in March; it wu voted to appropriate $500 for a bi-centenoial celebra­tion, to be obaerved on Wednesday, the 17th day of September following. Josiah Q~' Proctor, Dexter Butterfield, James M. Swallow, J onu Spaulding and. John A. Parkhurat were chosen a committee to make arrangementB. To thia committee were added Wil­liam N. Kemp, W88hington E. Blood, Ira B. Ball, Benjamin French and George W. Fletcher. This committee received the foUowing presents, un80licited : $50 from Dexter Boby, of Boston, 150 from A. N. Swallow, of Oharlestown and $20 from Biram Kemp, of Boston, all IOnl of Dunltable, to aid in defrayiug the expenl88 of the celebration. Benjamin Freoch· 1'" appointed chairman of the committee' of arrange-ments. .

Printed lettera of invitation were sent out to those specially interested in the welfare of t.he town. Grea' preparat.ioDl were made for the festivities of the oc­casion u the time for the anniveraary drew near. Joaiab C. Proctor 1'81 appointed president of the day; laaac O. Taylor and Jonu C, Kendall were vice­presidents; Benjamin French, chairman of the com­mittee of arrangemenLa; Dexter Butterfield, chief marahal, together with Jamea A. Davil and Andrew J. Woodward, &8IIistantL Dr. George B. Loring wu inviled to deliver the oration. Ample accommoda­tion W88 afforded by Yale's mammoth tent, aDd a good variety of refreshments were provided by C. E. Reed, a caterer from Boston.

The morning of the 17th of September dawned propitioualy. At."ten o'clock a procesaion 1'88 formed at the railroad Itatioo, which proceeded to the centre of the town in the following order :

Digitized by Google

760 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS •

Dexter Butterfteld, manbal of the day, and aida, with the Dunatable Cornet Band j two four-bone barouches, one containing GOY. William B. Wuh­burn, the Hon. George S. Boutwell, ilie Hon. George B. Loring, witb Josiah O. Proctor, F..sq., president of the day j the other barouche containing tbe Hon. E. Rockwood Hoar, of Concord, Gen. Israel Hunt, Df Nashua, together with Measn. Isaac O. Taylor and Jonu O. Kendan, vice-presidenle of tbe day. Then came in order, Capt. Cbrlstopber Roby's company of cavalry with Beventy abres, fonowed by the Pepper­ell Engine Company, No. I, thirty-three men, with the Pepperell Cornet Band, and citizens in carriages and on fool

An appropriate stand for the speaken had been erected on the BOuth 'side of the Common, and a large number of seale were provided. "Weloome HMM," and other beaut.ifnl mottoes adorned the platform. :rhe dates 1678-1878, in wreaths of flowers, ornament· IDg the speaker'1 desk, could be clearly seen by the audience. Salutes from a piece of artillery announced the arrival of the long proceasion, and many flags were waving. ·Never before had Dunltable Common been 80 richly decorated or visited by BO large a throng. As many u 8000 people were presenl

The exerciBes were opened by the reading of seleC­tionB from the Scrip~ures, and a prayer by the Rev. Franklin D. AqBtin. Animating mUBic from the DunBtable Cornet Band then fol1owed, and an origi. nal BOng of welcome, rendered with mucb eltpreaaion, by the Clark family, of New IpBwich. Josiah C. Proctor, Esq., then, in a few appropriate WOrdB ex­tended a cordial welcome to the vaat assemblage,' and read the resolution of the town in respect to the cele­bration •. He then introduced the HOIl. George B. Loring u the orator of the occasion. Thie gentle­man, rising, then gave an hiB~orical address speaking effectively for an hour and a half to an att~tiye au­dience. At the conclusion of the oration the Clark family aang "The Star-Bpangled Banner!' This.aa followed by an original song, composed by Mrs. Maria A.. Whitcomb, and by music from the Dun­stable and Pepperell Cornet Bands.

IIONG BY )(BiJ. H. A. WHITOOHB.

Suaa lIT .HK Dullft".1oK Ooa.a B"aD.

(Tou .... Yank .. Doodle.")

TIl .. &owu wu "n" fonet d .. p. Two bllud ..... 7""'" -ca, IIr ;

Th •• a1u w .... low, t ..... n .. we ... lteep. ADd ........ 1.'" wlLllde ..... tlllOlll", dr.

CHoaUL

Y"uk .. doodle, til" the pleee, Yankee doodl. daDdy;

W. like the cood, old·fUhloued d&)'8, T ... peopl. w .... eo ba .... y.

A r.w bra .. m.Il, a pllpim baud, Solllht tb .. far-oll' location ;

Th87 _w 1& wu " coodl7 IaIld, • ADd ban th'7 lIIed their llteUoIl.-<lBOaue,

• I"rom tin .. &0 &I .... th • ..wen ....

And bllllt u th'7 wan ..... ; At I .... th &I .. &own ...... ba •• "--'

ADd eo 't .... ""lied llouuIMIa -OIIODUL

No drall,lat from ChIn,,' ... 1&17 land W .. _II at anorllllu'.n,·lIr·;

Tbe .. bback cow " p •• "beYerap blaDd. 1' ... drallk black '- or ..... u. IIr.-<lBoDUL

In .. _ ...... n _ ... th. people ........

Of woolleu, &ow or linen. Their 81lnday .. Ite wblcb wan their .....

W .... ulcelylllllde b7 w_n.-<laoaUL

Th. "rle COIlId w .... aDd b ... w aDd .. k •• ADd aIIO wan cood epln_;

The ...... could pl7 t ... boe aDd rake, WbO. Dl&tI'oDa cooked th. dlDDUL

ODoaDL

YILIIk .. doodl., th .. tbe pl-, Y"ok .. doodle claud7;

w. like th. good, old·fallalOIled deye, Tb. peopl. w .... eo IIlLJIdy.

After the eJ:erciaes were closed at the apeakera' stand, the people spent some time in exchanging congratalations and reminiscences of former days, and then proceeded to the immenae tent BOUth of the Common to partake of the banquet prepared by Mr. Reed. The Rev. Mr. M. SmiLh, of TyugBborough invoked the divine blesalng, and &oout an honr w~ spent in partaking of the bountiful repast. When thiB wu concluded the Pepperell Band gave mDBic, and the president of the day felicitoUlly introduced Mr. O. O. Moore, as the tout-muter of the anniver­sary, Having spoken for a few momenta, be an­nounced aa the first toast: .. Old Dunstable I ahe divided her estate among ten BOns, and to-daYlLhe calla them home aDd bids them welcome." The re­sponse wu fa the form of the fo1)owing original poem, contributed from the pen of Mrs. Mary Rock­weli, and read by Mr. James T. Burnap:

DUNSTABL ..

)(y cblldhood'. 110 ... I wllat m .... c In th. eoaad, Dear &0 ......... tt, whan •• r 01,,"1. rOllnd I By '''rJ nation, ."rJ cllm. and &on ..... In ._tat pnIu tllel. dwellla' ............. uDl. 00 to tb.ladlau lu t ... Weltem wild, Aek blm wban Nature .... moet kIndlY_lied; H.'n polllt 701l to hI. dark, old r_ bomo, And to hie c .. eert_ wl,_ bid 70U come. 00 Id t ........ ou of tile ........ Il ........ Wh ............ ,t but etJnted e1am" aud ...- an pown, A* the poor DatI .. wbat dellpte ... y. ; H.'II polllt you &0 bl. hilt of enow bani by. Bnllsbteud lIIan ne pi_no "an CAD 81101. And b'- Ood that b. bu _ dellped To cut '1010& In .... IOIIII .... dlLJld d ..... r, RenlO.ed froul all be hoi'" Oil MI"th eo d ..... Acn. the _n, III th. But.m world, Wb .... freedom' ... n ..... ne'.r bu .... IlDtU-1ed Wb ....... penllllou I'Ulu .. Ith t7rant eW87, ' A ........... , ............. _b .. llfe away, y.te •• u ban th. beart OIlDP &0 ODe plaee,­B .... Ie bl. home, b.n dw.lle ble kindred race. To D&tIoue proad In wealth and cul&a ... tum •

• I'lOm their attaob ...... c., tao, w. pIalal7 ...;. Bow ltI'ou" bow deeP. the fe.Uo, of tbe heart J'or 0 ... cJeaI' epot oK thle areaat earth. -u put, Aud y. withIn tbat UHh epeee, .. 0IIrted, LIM 10 .. '. rIeb u-re, matlac It" world.

Digitized by Google

DUNSTABLE. '761

And th .... fair DtaMlab\e. thy cblldreD can •• To ceI.bre&e th. birth...., 01 th.lr bome. T.o bDndnd y ... I W.·II bridge u:roee time' • ..,..... Aod tDrD thoulht bull.aId on Ita •• Ifteotrace; QaJI hIek th. lor ......... 1_ that w ... h .... -In mlllial .... uo th.,. will reappear. Sho .... tb ..... OD. that _nd th.m lay. Rude aad bDtlll .... two ""olDr'" to-daJ. TheD bn.l ..... UOD. lenanl. or the wood. Untamed a"d lie""" .... prowllnl lur their lood ; .lad ..... man. ,nn"" to be le&I'eIl than they. Would II. In ambuah to ....... IIIU bls prey, Lurk round th. dw.lllop, oIyly _tch and waU Till 08 the pal .. ..,. h. coulel ..ak hll hata ; With torcll to bUrII aud tomahawk to d_roy, R.odlolth. air with wild. mad wboopa 01 joy. 00 __ Ilk. theaa lira will but brlell.J d .. 11, Trutbl, .tero aad ad. th. blstorlc pap mlll& lall. W ... th. pu& to __ t IhadI .Ith IIlbt,

And malr.e tIM p ... ot look more cl..,ly1lrllhL

hlr Dullllabl. I IOmetl_ th.y call thee old ; Thyyouthlul cIayIare DOl ,.el rully told; The peaceful lebOr 01 th,. eYeD ";ay Hu left DO lurro •• ,time ........ d...,I.,.. Thylleldl an lair. thy .oodIare brllht aad I""ID. Thy Iak. ud It_me ..... dreIIed 10 .... err Iheea ; 00 thy _b brow Is wrlt\eo eerIy UI •• Uotroddeu ,..t th. patbl or .. "" and Itdf •• Dot cb&llsea lOUD will com. tby peace lD _; ".0 DOW II beard th. rattllDg railroad car AIoDI thy wood wb ..... qul.t nlped aroulld, And th.lo .. nlgbt-blnl"IODI Ih.loDdeItlOu .... Tllltbe IaIt year of two 1001 ""DIurl. put Proclaimed. b, eq\D •• II •• 0 W"'IOIOI ruL" DuIlD_ and bDrry brio. 00 mlddla .... Tb.,.·"" r_ or youth. a war they qulckl, w .... TUrll peaceful auw- lrum th.lr calm. PDti. _-. Beetnln tbelr _te .. for propelling force. Tb. bill. are broulbt on la'" .Ith th. plaiD. And pial .. DIIIde hlliliu au ••• r hope 01 galD. IIncb of oilier 10 •• Iau heeD the late, Thy turll m.,. eome, tboulh It be rath.r IaIe, Wh.o 00 the mOrlllDI '- the Iaclcry bell SbaillD tha .... per boon 01 labor lell. WbeD wblulDI can 00 •• e.,. IIde IhaIlgo, ADd pro .. tbll place Is Delther ..... k Dor .Iow, We'll DO& attempt 10 0 .. propllatlc ken •. We bow wbat bu helD aud m.,. be ap\D I

hlr Dullllabl. I a trlbDt. we would ,.,. Th, worlh, cblldreu, 100gll_ pIIMd aw.,. I or the lint ""DtDry hlltor, conlal .. A _rllk. record, foil 01 ....,. and pal .... Deana bra .. and noble .... compelled to ,1.ld, ADd lor a _n I ••• the '01 th. lleld. No doubt that race were mID 01 IlerllDI worth. Belo.ed. reapecled. while the, dw.lt on earth. Bot 01 the ceDlDry DIIW Jut pIIMd aw.,.. More 01 th,. cblld .. D we caD know aDd .,.: 80m. ha .. heeD worthy till ... 01 th. lOll. Sa ...... tlal meD, rewenied bJ their toll ; 80me ID meehaDle aria ha ...... Dt their dar .. Their work. cIecIare th.m m.D ..... Inl pre ... ; And ..,me ha .. IODlht a lleellhood b,. trad .. Rae. boaght aDd .... d. and th ... their lOrlDD" mada ; Oth ... preferred ID learolug .. patbI to 10. 10 three prof_D. Du.labl. caD MOW He. who be .. mad. th.lr mark aDd WOD reDOWD 10 otber p&u:. thaD their DatI ••. lDWn. But time lorblde to pIII_b 10 ,,"e •• -011. _ w.'11 .. eatioD 01 th. DOted r.w. A _. tbls place m.,. w.1I be proad lD own, VIrtD. like AlDOl K.odaII .. wide are kDOwD I QaJled b, his _DIry to hllb pcata 01 trait, Ronored aud ho ..... nDmbered with tIM Jut ; ala IIr\eDdl aud reIMi •• are with DI b ....

A lid .11 who knew blml.uld hll weDlory ........ AD.,. _ u.., ItII1 p ..... 10 tell; Sh. made him coati t.l\d paal8,-Iae liked tham well. ID polltlee this Iowo h .. borne Ita part, Both part .. kDOW the trlckl or party art ; And to th. alaWlmeD who an h ... to...,., W. pa,. due boDor. -beUer thu, II bull JIll I"

hlr Dallllable I th,. ... ha .. had thalr pra\ee, And Ibellth1 deugllten.here DOt la th_...,.., To .. Won ... " Wlh .... th., .. ·.r ba .. laid their claim, To be rliid wom.n Is their hllbeet aim, Act .. II _h part wlthlD tb.lr .ph ..... oIlIr .. A faithful mother aud ."loted wile.

And DOW. fair DIlDalable, ODr work II do .. I Anoth.r ceDlDry hu for th .. begoD I ThroulhODt th,. -' .... m.,. ~ aud lemparaace nip, IDe_" .In .. aud _h .Iee reetralol ADd Wh.D III.'. cbaDp all with. are o·er. a.la mar we m .. t apon that h ••• nl,.lhon Wb ... ""ntDrl .. are DnCODDI" aud Dak.own. Aad JOJIIare aDdJ_ round th ........ thro ...

The II8COnd tout wu, "The President 'of the United States!' In response the Dunstable Band played" Amenca." The third toaet wu ~, Masaachu­setts,---{he earliest and foremoet in t.he cause of civil and religioull libert.y. The la»&e of two hundred years baa added IUIlt.re to her renown, force to her example and prominence to her high place in his­tory. All honor to the Governor I and the governed orthe old Commonwealth I "

Governor Wuhburn rose and responded happily, and among othr remarks aaid, "The influence of old Dunlltable upon those that were born here hu caUlled . them joyfnUy to return, and in the celebration dem­onstrate their full appreciation of the benefits receiYed by them from the place of their birth!'

The fourth tout wu, "Our Representative in Con­greae,-the eminent jurist, the practlcal statesman, the honest politician: old Dunlltable can trast him, and he will honor her!' Hon. E. Rockwood Hoar, M.O., pleasantly responded. The following senti­ment aft'ords a IllUDple of his remarlr:a :

"The ideu of free education were always cher­ished in DUDlltable, and will alway. be cheri.hed u long lUI the great and undying principles of jUlltice and truth shall coutinue. "

The fifth tout. "New Hiunpshire-bleak are her hills in winter, and warm are the hearts of her sbna all the year round," wu responded to briefly by the Rev. Mr. Philbrook. The Hon. Levi Wallace re­sponded to the sixth toaat," Our railroad,-the tie that binds two cities that Act-on 811 one!'

The seventh tout, "New England-her townllhips were the nurseries of Republican institutions; to-day they are the model democracies of the World," re­ceived a response ftom the Hon. George S. Boutwell, who said:

"There were three points in the history of New • England which he never liked to paaa, when New

England is concerned-namely, the muuicipa1system. the pubUc-echool system, and the religious tolerance of the forefathera. It may be aaid of the PoritaD8

Digitized by Google

762 HISTORY OF MIDDLESJt)X COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS. -------~-~ -.--~-~------ --- - ---~---~~ ~-. ---~.--- --.-----~-~-~-~-----'-----.

that they recognized the right. of government to set. up a church, in which all Bhould worship ·and Bhould pay toward ita Bupport; but t.hey were will~ng to have any church established not interfering wit.h that. church, and thus they Bhould be excused from intol­erance. The public-school BYlLtem iB due entirely to the Puritan Protestantiam which prevailed in H .... -chDBet.ta long ago. Ita first. object wu to traiu· up youth to be able to examine and judge of the Scrip­turea for themselves. He deemed it. a 1081 to the mu­nicipal BYBtem that. the towna, u townB, are not rep­resented in t.he General Court.

II The larger citiea and municipalities are absorbing and corrupt. They are to be lAved, if at all, by large legiBlative bodiN. The civil government should be m the handa of those who are well paid. The u­Bembly Bhould be large, and the coat would, of course, bit great; but we mUlt pay for government. He de­Blred to see the municipalitiea strengthened and their pride encouraged. One meanB of connecting th_ celebration~ will be by a celebration every half-cen­tury."

The eighth tout, "The City of Nashua," brought. remarb lrom Gellenft larael Hunt.

The niuth and last toast was "The Orator I)f tbe Day-by the abilit.y, reaearch, and eloquence which be baa diBplayed to-day, he hu proved himself worthy to.be a BOn of old DunBtable, and we adopt him."

Mr. Loring reaponded with a few fitting words. The Clark lamily t.hen Bang an original parting Bong, com~ed by Mrs. Mary Rockwell.

A 88lute was fired at the concluBion 01 the Binging, and t.he people having mut.ually enjoyed their meet­ing together, and with man,. felicitationB on all that wu connected with the occasion bade each otber good by. and withdrew to t.heir several homee.

The Rev. F. D. AUBtin closed hia aervicee as paator .oft.he Congregational Church in 1879. AB the reeult of a revival which occurred during that period, nine­teen were added to the church. Mr. Auatin was BUC­ceeded by the Rev. Bernard Copping, now 01 Grove­land, ){&8B. Mr. Copping continued with t.he church in Dunat.able five years. Hia labors were prospered and many improvementa were made upon the par­sonage, promoting the comfort. and conveniltnce of the building.

In August, 1885, the Rev. Henry H. Perkinl· was called by the people to be their putor, and continuee with them at the preaent date, 1890. During thiB time Beveral Bpecial expen"diturea have been made for needed improvements on t.he church edifice. A Dew bell coat.ing 1300 baa replaced the old one, whicb, through age and long usage, had begun to give an II uncertain BOund." The beautiful hymn-book .. Laudea Domiui," il now used inlltead 01 the old .. SlLbbath Hymn and Tune Book." Extenlive repairs and improvementB have been made at an expense 01 about $1600, by. which two rooml have been added to

the VeBtry for BOcial and religioua UIeB, and the whole building rendered more beautilill .and convenient. A "Young People'B Society of Christian Endeavor" has been organized and baa proved itself a very -valuable adjunct of church work. Within the past lew months the church has been Bpiritually quick­ened, and leveral have been added to the member­Ihip.

The members of the UnfvenaUI' Society coDtinue to worship in Parker'B Hall, thongh the,. contem­plate the erection of a building when pendiDg ques­tionB reepecting a location have been settled.

CHAPTER LX.

DUN8T.ABLB.-(~-,>.

BIOGRAPmOAL. DR. NATHAN CuTLu practiced in town before &be

Revolution, and was a lurgeon in the war. He lived on the river road near Cut.ler's Brook, a little Dorth of" the State line. .

DR. EBBNBUB. STARR came to DunB~ble from Dedham Boon after the Revolution· and lived bn a Kendall place in the northerly part 01 the toWD. He wu highly eawemed both II a pbysician ana a citizen. Hil death occurred September 7,1798.

DB.. MICAH ELDREDGB practiced long in DunBta­ble, liviDg near Salmon Brook. He married Bally Buttrick, 01 CoDCOrd, and had a family of twelve children, several I)f whom received a liberal educa­tion. He held variOUB oflicee in the town. He Willi

a deacon 01 the church and was twice elected repre­Bentative to t.he General Court. Tbe degree 01 M.D. Willi conferred upon him from Dartmouth College. He died in Nashna, N. H., in 1849. Hil Bon, HUR­KIAH ELDBBDGE, Bucceeded him in the practice of mediciDe at DUBItable.

DR. AOONIJAR W. HOWE practiced in town lev­eral yean. He married Mill Martha D. Butterfield. BiB death occurred in ]886.

SAMUBL MARK FLBTCHER graduated at Amherst College in 1846. He was a BOn of Capt. Mark,graod­Bon of Phineas and great-grandaon of Deacon Joeeph Fletcher, the firat settlei' 01 the name in DuBItable. He Btudied medicine in Philadelphia and practiced two years in Weaterly, R. I. He was 881istant lur­geon in the War of the Rebellion; he then practiced medicine in Denver City and Chicago, where he died, October 8, 1876. .

The BON. ISAAO FLBTCHER, grandaon of Deacon Joseph Fletcher, wu born in Joint Grall, iD the DorthWeet.erly part of DunBtable, November 22, 1784; wu graduated wilb honor at DIlrLmouth College, in the cl881 of 1808, and taught for BOme time in the academy at CheeterJield, N. H. He afterwards Btud-

Digitized by Google

DUNSTABLE. 763

ied law with MeB!'rs. Prescott & Dunbar, at Keene, N. H. In 1811 he removed to Lyndon, Vt., where he enjoyed an extenBive practice. He wu for lOme time State attorney for Caledonia County, wu allO a Representative of Lyndon in the State LegiBlature, and wu twice elected Representative to Congress, serving in that office from .1887 to 1841. He wu a prompt and energetic man, and poBIIesBed many other admirable traits of character. HiB death occurred October 19, 1842.

The Hon. Iaac Fletcher once wrote to hie BOn. Charlea B. Fletcher, u follows:

""rom 181 earJl_ ncolJectloD, 1n1 col..utalioa aad llea1th lIaY. beea feeble. aad ha" coatlaned .. to th. ~at tI ..... bat 1et'abl. to.ad ..... mach appileatiOD. labor &ad faUcu.. 0 ... rule of 181 fatller·. -, _ &hat all &II. 810...,. .... at b1 &II. chlldna mut be earaed b,th.m. ",1_. B1 tile ,nateet lad....., la raWa, polalooa aad "'becco, I ..... 1Ie~ m1"'lf or moa~1 .aOD,1I to bD1 Plk.·. ...... ArltbmeUc. aad com_aced tile IlIK\J of It durla, &II. '.lnre ,,"alap I could .,are. B1 dlat or ...... _ea. I ............. Yer1 rule, aad could .. I.,. &111 problem la tb. "lIole book. TIl. laid &II. fouadatloa for _thematlc:al Itudl., wblch lIa.,e ...... or _ to me ijlrou,b Uf.. Ilia ..... r d.· .,oted 181"'1'. wll.a opportualt1 woald &llow, wltll m .. re ~n to th. Itnd, or til'" •• _ thaa aa1 other." U ..... aid: "Ia 1808 181 fath.r came to a neoiatloa to IIItrer ... to acqaln a UbNaI ed_tloa. U. la· formed IDe &hat all lie conlel do for ... Will to at" me my time. aDd If I tIIoaabt, bJ lad....., &ad _nom1. I coDld IIIcceed la til. &Uempt, I a,I,b& ....... tbe lUt.,.r1meat, but eIIoDld I fall, tII.n would be &I...,. a Mat at lila tabl. &ad food .aoa,b &ad work .DOD,b fur me to do oa II .. rarm. TbII8 eacourapll .ad .opported b1 181 falh.r. I collec:ted .11 181 mo"'bl. .'ect .. oo ..... Ua' or cloth .. &ad • r.w book .. aDd left IIome "ltII a exed &lid .detannlaed _lotion to &ax 181 pnlu aDd ladWllrJ to tb. atmoll to acqaln an edac:atlon. WltII badpt In IIaad I took III)' departan fur Groloa to prepare for collep. Al &II .. time I w .. ~ of a101<e of ""ea, a few.beep, aa" other pn.pe1'tJ. la all to the amoout of about llJO, whlcb I _.,,,rteoIloto ea1b aad l'IIa"'" In order to draw upou •• a ...... t, ml,b& require. I did not reel m,..lf abI. to take board n .... th. -.lem1. bat.t the dJetance of a mile &ad a llelr, wilen I coald pi It cllRpar tIIaa la the '.,11",. I cnmm"aced eWIII for coli.,. 10 Sep ..... ber. 18011, and .aMnII th. I'neblll&ll cJuo In JIuot. mooth CoII.,.la l8Of. 1m.,. .. well-.,. OBoe rorall. 181 feellapla', r ..... mach, ror III)' _DI were -t.J aDd IIIJ d ... aad 1t11. bamble."

In addiUon to the other officee, already mentioned, which Hr. Fletcher held, WIS that of adjutant aud inspector-general of the mUltia of the State. Gen. Fletcher contlnned hiB clUBical Btudies through life, and to them added the study of the French language and literature. Of him his biographer .. ys: !' He WIS an indulgent parent, a kind-hearted friend, chari­table to al1, unwilling to offend or pain aey one, hos­pitable and generoul, and accomplished more for good and 1888 for evil, I think, than most othera."

AMOS KENDALL, BOn of Deacon Zebedee and Alolly Kendall, 1'1S born in the nortberly part of Dunstable, near Salmon Brook, on Sunday, August 16, 1787. His boyhood wu Bpent in hard work on his father's farm, 'and in attending school during the winter season. He had a fondnelll for booke, and employed many of his leieure hours in reading. Hie general demeanor gained for him the title of deacon. He wu fitted for collegE', partly at the academy in New Ipawich, N. H., and partly in that of Groton. In graduaUng at Dartmouth College, in 1811, he took the highest honor of his clUB. William H. Rich­ardson, Esq., of Groton, taught him the prof.ion of

law, in hie office. III the spring of 1814 Hr. Kendall removed to Kentucky, where he wu for BOme Ume employed u a tutor in the family of Henry Clay at Ashland •. Hie acquaintance with thie great states­man resulted in the formation of political viewB and upiration.. On leaving the family of Hr. Clay he commenced the pracUce of law, and lOOn af~ards became the editor of a Democratic journal, called the Argul, published at Frankfort, Ky. He exerted his inlluence and efrort for the election of Gen. Andre" Jackson to the Presidllllcy, and in 1829 received from him the appointment of fourth auditor of the treuury. He held the office of PostmlSter-General from 1836 to 1840. He introduced. many reforms into thiB department, and removed the burden of debt. In 1846 he UBumed the entire management ot the interest of Prof. Samuel F. Horse in the mag­netic telegraph, and wu the founder and first presi­dent of the Deaf and Dumb ABylum at Wuhington. He married for hie lint wife Hias Hary B. Woolfolk, by whom he had four children j and for hiB second "ife Hias Jane Kyle, by whom he had ten children. D&rtmou:.h College conferred on him the degree of LL.D., in 1849. He strongly advocated the common­echool system, and wu a liberal benefactor of good causes. He wu led to join the Calvary Baptist Church at W uhington, from hearing a Bermon by

,the Rev. A. B. Earle on, II Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian," delivered Harch 23, 1865. He "u an active member of this church, and gave to it in all 1116,000. He also contributed about 120,000 to the neaf and Dumb Asylum, 16000 to found a echolarahip in Columbia College, and about 126,000 in aid of two million echools, one of which is called Kendall's Chapel. In the autumn of 1862 he went to live at Kendall Green, in Tannton, N. J., and in 1866 visited Europe and the Holy Land. He died at Wuhington, on the 12th day of November, 1869, leaving in manuecript an Autobiography, which haB been published in a handsome volume of Beven hun­dred pagea.

Hr. Kendal1 faithfully served the Cabinet of which he waB a member, and wu so infiuenUai u to be called the President'B .. right-haud" man. He wu a leading figure in American poliUcs for nearl, a third of a century. He wu a public'Bpirited man, and an earnest Christian. As he looked at the rising Bun on a beauUful morning hiB lut words were, II How beautiful, ho" beautiful I" He lOOn closed hiB eyes in peaceful death.

The Rev. Dr. Sunderland Baid at hie funeral, .. He "u a man of, great modesty of disposition .. He . BOught no diBplay, and if he had a fault it "u that b.e wu altogether too retiring and diffident. He was an, honeat. man, purely and exactly a faithful man. Honest and faithful to his fellow-men, he wu no leIIB 10 to hiB God." Rev. Dr. Sl\DlBOn also said of him, cc From hiB youthful editorials up to hiB elaborate papen there "ere a clearneIIB and force and a fucina-

Digitized by Google

764 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSAOHUSETTS.

tion of which many still speak u having riveted their attention whenever they took np anything com­ing from hie pen. .'. • .All age and the refining influence of growing religious faith and hope mel­lowed the ripening frnit of hia lut yean, a sweemeaa and serenity of temper came over him, which made his family and eYery circle where his ho":fY loeks .were leen moving take on a new delight beeal1l8 of his presence."

Mr. Kendall thue vividly describes the diaeipline of his father's family: " Grace before and thanks after meat, and morning and evening prayen, with the reading of a chapter in the Bible and the linglng of a hymn of Sunday, accompanied by the b .. -viol, played by their eldest son while h" wu at home, con­stitnted the regular religioue exercises of the family. The father and mother never failed to attend church on Sunday, except in cue ofaickne1!8 or when abeent from home; and the entire family, one member only excepted, were required to maintain a like regularity in Sabbath oheenances. Except in lpecial C&IeI, all labor beyond the limplest preparation of food for man and beat, and all recreation, were strictly pro· hlblted on Bunday. The eYening wu spent in leam­ing and reciting the Wt'ltminlter Catechism, in read­Inl religious books, and in practicing sacred music. The whole family could sing, and, when all were present, could carry all the four parts of ordinary tunes."

A change leems to have come over the good DeL Zebedee Kendall, In respect to the uee of an innocent instrument, u indicated by the following:

II Wben Amoo _ a Utile bo,. a 1Idd1 .... aD abomllUl&loD to b .. rath ... aDd mother. 0 .. eldelt brotber. who bad quite a tute for mulc. barinl colll&ructed a ...... 101 or t.o, determlued to ..., b .. bud apoD a IIdd1e, aDd produced • .ert good I_.a&. Hot deliDI to llrilll 1& to tile b_. b. k ... ll& In a cooper'. Ibop IIOt far d ..... Dl. U .. (lliber. bun&lDllben for _lbiDI one da,. mOIlDted a beach 10 lblli hi. b .... w ......... abo .. tb. beame or tile Ibop, wb.D b .. .,. f.1I Dpon 'he DD· luck,lIddle. a......k It b,lbe DeC'" aud apoItI'Opblldal It, • ft/o It "'JIIl'" 1 __ "' .. I' dubed It h,to lb. II~.

.. Belnl OD a .1111 to hi. perenll about thlrt,y_n aDerwudl, Amoo Keudall _nt 10 m..unlln Dunolalo" OD a Bllnday. and lb.n 011& bll (alber 10 th. d.coD' ..... beaell&b tb. polplt, .. ID fonDer U ...... and 1Mre_ • .,..,. ......... /··

Mr. KendalllOmetimes wrote poetry. The follow­. ing graceful lines were sent to hla wife in 1829:-

TO A WILD J'LOWJ:R.

aT A •• "PDALL.

OD tbe .blte cll. or Blkhon •• ltb cedan o'enpread, Wben _a" aud wilda. In .... _ npaoo.

A PJ IIttl. wild 1I0 •• r reilld ap III b_. By ZeJlbyn canned .. In .... t_ It roIL

III ~tI .. DO cultun could •• er Impart. No pnteD or meado. can bout oucb a pm;

All Dll&1 •• It bI.-med. fiJr ne .. r bad art Tranoplaated III root or .D .... led 111_.

1 •• Ii aud 10Yed It; and DOW on 81, b-.& • It breII&b. oal It. IhIpuoe, I .. _a" dIlpJa,.;

)., h.rt I~ 10 m .. ' It. In -..., bloot, The dream of 81, Dllbte and the charm ofm, daye.

Aad ob, thougbt 01 replan I aot like other 1I0.er 1)0.1' droop 00 tbe air. IIf. aDd lo.ell_ IIIq1nl ;

Bat ... u- audlte lJapueel __ ... .,. boar. And .. lit IIttJe bade all U'OIlD4It .... epda ......

. -A ............... P.188.

The RBV. B-'.)[UBL Hows TOLI'-'-H wu bom here Aug. 12, 1826. He graduatcn at Dartmouth eoll8Ke in 1848, and at Andover Theological Seminary in 11S62. He WaI, for a few yean, ciW miaaionary in Bath, Me., and wu ordained u pastor of the church at Wilming­ton, Mau., Aug. 14, 1866. He wu dismissed in 1870, and became putor of the church in Lenox, Jrlau. His mind became shattered, and he committed luieide at Neleon, N. H., Oct. 6,1878. He WI8 faithful and highly esteemed in his work 18 a minister of the gospel. . . .

The RBV. JOBH Bp-'.ULDIHO, D.D., WI8 born in Mason, N. H., Nov. 80,1800. He went to Middle­bury College in 1821, from Dunatable, where he had been for some time employed in working on a farlD. Having studied theology at Andover. he Wal ordained u an evangelilt at Newburyport Sept. 25,1828. He WI8 married on ~e ame day to Mia Olive C. B. Kendall, daughter of Capt. Jonl8 Kendall. of Dun­ltable. Bhe died March 14, 1862, and he~ remaina were brought to her native town for burial. Dr. Spaulding'1 early labors were in the West. in 1841 he became secretary of the American Beamen'l Society in New York City. He delivered a Yery able histori­cal diaooune in the church at DUOItable Nov. 19, 1866. He alao published an autobiography entitled .. From the Plow to the Pulpit," which il full of in­tereat.

Aside from ita college graduates, Dunfltable hl8 sent forth into the wurld many SOOI and daughten who have been useful and honored in the seyeral stations in life which they occupied.

TBB FaDeR FA)[ILY.-The family of French claims ita origin in France. from Rollo, Duke of Nor­mandy, who married Gill. o. Giaelle, daughter of Charles the Bimple, King of France. Rollo is said to have been 10 .. mighty of stature that no horae had the lize to carry him j" coDMquently, he wu always obliged to go un foot, and received the appellation of Rollo, the Marcher. In 912 A.D., at the time of his marriage, his father-in-law, Charles the Bimple, gave him a tract of land, now known 18 modern Nurmandy, in return for which Rollo reeeiyed Ohristian baptism by the Archbishop of Rouen, and "u called Robe" from hit godfather, Robert, Count ofPariL

From Harlovan, the third IOn of Rollo, in direct line, il aid to have descended Bir Maximilian de French. whoae son, Bir Theophilue French (Freyn), went with William the Conqueror to England, and took part in the Battle of Hutings. Thue was the first branch of the French family planted in English loil, where it became firmly rooted and extended ita branches into variOUI sectionl of that OOUDtry.

I may state here that the name of French was Dot, u one might IUPpose, taken from the name of the people where the family originated, for, in searching

Digitized by Google

I ------~~ ~.

Digitized by Coogle

DUNSTABLB. '165 -----------------------;------ita etymology, it is found that.the name W8II origi­nally Fraxinul or Freyne, or, wit.h the French prefix, De la Freyne, having two ligni6.cationl, ash tree and ashen spear. The handle of the latter was made from the wood of the uh, on account of UI lightne81 and durability, and from that received ita name. The ash-tree indicates the name of an estate, while the apear suggeita warfare ormiJitary life. The foJlowin~ list, taken from a" History of the Frencb Family," by one of ita members, sho.ws tbe.various orthographic changes the name paued through before it became really anglicized :

Frane. Frene. Frein. Freyne. Freyns. Freignee. Freygne.

Freynace. Freynah. Freyn.h. Frainche. Frelnche.

Freneche. Frenahe. Freosch. Ffrench. French.

It is stated that as early as tbe eleventh ~ntury the name of Frene is found in various parts of Eng-' land.

Within 1e1!18 than 140 years from the baptism of Rollo, 88YS Lingard" the Normans were ranked among t.he mOISt polished, as well as the mOISt warlike nations of Europe, and from such men was AI-Frio, the founder of this sept, and from wholl\ his dl!llC8nd­anta, says Lodge, derive the name of De Freyne.

.. In the eatabJishment of Norman power in Eog-' land, De la Frelgne acquit'ed a tract of land, by grant, in Herefordeshire" (as it does not appear in the Doomsday Book, it must bave been after the year 1086), If wbere he established his lioe, which w .. con­tinued for centuriee." CI It is believed that thil line may be considered common to aJI the branches that subsequently diverged from iL"

.. In 1337 took place t.he celebrated tournament of Duostable, where, on the roll of Knighta who tilted there, appears the name of Monsieur Hugb De Freigne.

CI About the year 1348 a Robert Frensh w .. soized of other landa in Hererordshire, on Wh068. decease, in 1370, the custody of his estate was committed in wardship duram. miMrilallJ wed". This record is one of many that, even at this early date, evincta the transition from Freyne to French."

Individuals of the name of Freyne or French are traceable by territorial and historic notices in Norfolk from 1200, in Kent from 1270, in SU888X from 1278, in Buckiogham from 1279, in Northamptonshire from 1313, in :&.sex from 1323, where they gave the name to the )\fanor of Frenches.

In Halsted, Essex Co.,·Englaud, was born March 13, 1603, Lieut. William ~'rench, who came to America in the ship" Defence," from London, in the year 1685, and eeUled in Dunster Street, Cambridge. Hie lot w .. numbered twenty-four and contained one hundred and fifty acres. He resided on the westerly side of P"nster Skeet, about midway between

Harvard Square and Mt. Auburn Street. This estate w .. sold June 10, 1666. From him, in direct line, is deecended the aubject of this biography, Col. Jonas Harrod French. '

The following quaint list of pueengera in the .. Defence" has been preserved:

Joll.J, 1636. In the Defeace de LoRd. Mr. Tb_ BoItocke nL Hew 1kI«\ancI p. cert from MI_ J..uce of P-. of bla conform· ItJ of ,I Goa'm' or Balldo. Ho ..... .., maa. Bopr Oarlaltendla, .... 23, toke tb. othe of aHegiance aDd 8ap .. _II. Thla {oIlow the __ 01 the. la cb.,.. 01 SarlakendeD, _ODI wbom .... &be. or William I'reDob, ape! 80, and b .. wlfo, BUIltbeIb, .... as.

(See Jobn O. Hotten·. lillt 01 ~II, p. 100.)

William French was made a freeman at Cambridge ]686, and removed·to Billerica about 1662; was ita 6.rat deputy in the Colonial A.embly, one of ita lirat. selectmen and a man of prominence in ita early history; he died 1681.

Fir'" Generatiora.-William French, of England, married Elizabet.h --, and had, inter Glial, Samuel, born in Cambridge Dec. 3, 1645 [Savage sa1.s later], and died in Billerica Nov. 20, 1681. He was one of the eelectmen of Billerica in 1660, and here he mar­ried Mra. Mary, widow of Jobn Steams, by whom he had four daughte~arah, Abigail and Han­nah. He had in Billerica the authority to solemnize marriagea.

Second GeraertJliora.--8amuel', the youngest son of Lieut. William French, was born in Cambridge Dec . 3, 1645 or 1648, and settled in Dunst.able on the easterly aide of N ut.ting's Hill.

He married, December 24, 1682, Sarah, daughter of John Cummings, Sr., who had taken up lands in that vicinity, and had:

1. Sarah', born in February, 1684. 2. Samuel', born September 10,1685. 3. J068ph, born March 10, 1687; grandfather of

Colonel JOISeph French, who died IIareh 21, 1776, aged lixty-t.hree, and is buried in the old cemetery at Littles, in Nashua, N. H.

4. John I, born May 6, 1691. 5. Ebeneazer, born April 7,1693; killed by the In­

dians at Naticook, September 5,1724. He was bur­ied, with his comrades, iu the above-mentioned cem­etery, and t.he head-atone t.hat. marks hie grave bears this quaint inscription:

.. Sen l.J.,e Bod, or Tbomu Lond, wbo departed &bla 1If. ~ ,. ~, 17116 In, .... ,.r of b .. ace. Tbla 1JIIlIl, wltb "'lin more Lhat U. 10 thlagraft, ... olew In a de,b, &be IDdlallL" '

6. Jonathan', born l!'ebruary 1, 1694. 7. Richard', born April 8, 1696. 8. Alice', born Noyember 20, 1699. Samuel Freoch' was one of the firat. foundera' of the

lirat church in Dunstable, organized December 16, 1686, the Rev. Thomas Weld being pR8tor and also one of twelve to defend a garri20n established in Dunsta­ble in 1702. He was one of the selectmen of t.he town in 1725, and that year aigned a pet.ition to the Gov­ernor and Council for .. ialance in defeoding the town against t.he incursions of the Indians. He took

Digitized by Google

766 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS. ------------

Op a large tract of land in Dunstable-perhaps 180 year, he was appointed, with John Woodward &ad acree--tlome of which remains to this day in the Adford Jaquith, .. a commi~tee II to purchase a soit­hands of hi. detcendanta. He probably lived on the able quantity of land to set the Meeting HOOle for site of the hoose immediately on the eut of Nutting's the town of Dunstable." The meeting-hollle, after Hill. (1bvm Retlo'/'(u.) long contention, was finally erected on • rocky emi-

Third Generatiora (IIL).-JOBN FUNCH', bom nence now covered a growth of pine. aboot one mile May6,1691; married-and had issue: easterly from Dunstable Centrf'. Lieutenant·John

1. John, born March 1, 1719. French, Jr., as he was designated, ae"ed the town .. 2. William, born October 18, 1721. constable in 1754 and 17M. He was a farmer, and S. Hannah. occupied a good subetantial two-etory hoUle fronl.-4. Eleanor. ing the eouth, and having on the east a beautiful 5. Elizabeth. meadow, through which 80wl How'l Weld Brook, 6. Ebenezer, born in 17S2;" married Sarah Proctor, with the pine-wooded eminence on the west called

of Acton, May 10, 1765, and died April 14, 1808. He Nutting'l Hill. He died March 15, 1761, aged forty­wae a soldier in the Revolntionary War, and had, in· two yeal'll. (7btoll Reoordt.) Ur alitUl, John, the father of the present Benjamiu Fifth Gmeratiora.-Jon.s French', born Anguat 17. French. Esq •• of Dunltable. 17(!i7' ried flnt Betty Marahall; and had issue:

John French I wu by trade a wheelwright, and his . Mar born March 14. 1781. houle stood near that of Benjamin French, Eaq. A u', Jr .• born August 12, 1782. part ot it ItiU remKins. It wu UBed at one time u a S. William, born June 5. 1789. Bchool-hoUle. He bought land of his father. Samuel 4. John Marshall, born March 9, 1796. French, and the deed. dated July 4,1714. il now in Betty [Marshall] French died October 8. 1799. p08le88ion of Benjamin French. He bought the Jonu French then married Mn. Anna Mitchell. a millstone meadow of Henry Farwell in 1721, and lady of'much_personal worth- &ad beauty. who waa twelve acree of land in Mr. ThomaB Brattle's farm, of then a member of Deacon Zebedee KendaU'e family. Jonathan Taylor in 1732. His rate in 1744 was: poll, in Dunstable. She waa the widow of a Mr. Mitchell. s.. 4d.; real eatate. s.. 10d.; pf'nonal estate, 21. lOcI. by whom she-had two children. Nancy and Bela; &he (7btoIl R«»rd •. ) former of whom died of typhoid fever in Dunatable i

" He was one of a committee cholen March ye 28, the latter eettled in Athol, M .... 1744, with the Rev. Mr. Swan, toeee if anything waa A sister of Mrs. Anna Mitchell malTied Hr. Tim­due him from ye town of Dunetable before ye line othy Thompeon, of Charleatown, Ma-. Mr. Jon .. was ron betweene ye said Province." (7b1.Or& RItJord •. )' French died in 1840, at the advanced age of eighty-

He ",as a highway surveyor in 1752, and held sev- three years. He was well edocated, &ad took an eral other town officea. The da~ of his death i8 not active part in the public afl"airs of the town. At the known. early age of seventeen he, with his brother William,

Fourth Generatioll.-John French I, born March 1, shouldered their mUBkets &adjoined the Continental 1719; married Mary --, and had i88ue: Army and saw much active servio..

1. William, born July IS, 1752, W88 a Ihoemaker 0 .. crOl!8iflg the neck aner -the battle of Bonker by trade, and lived and died at the old homeetead at Hill, they found an officer badly wounded, and the base of NnLting's Hill. He was at the battle of though exposed to the galling fire from the" Glae­Bonker HilI, and was at one time during the action gow," a man-of-war, they tendered to him their aer­stationed at the rail fenCt', where he loaded his gun vices. He declined their aid, tbinlting himaelf put and with deliberate aim discharged it sixteen times in recovery, aod at the same time urged them to 8ee IUCC818ion at the enemy. He became a member of from the imminent peril to which they were QXpoaed. Captain Oliver Cumming's compaoy in 1776, and wa81 The humane brothers raised, however, the wounded at thebattle of Trenton and in ~everal other engage- officer tenderly and bore him through the caraage to menta. In hil latter days he received a peneion. He a place of safety. The wounded officer proved to be was never married. - Captain Henry Farwell, of Groton.

2. Mary', born March 21, 1754, and married Isaac A musket-ball was extracted from his Ipine. and Pike October 30.1772. he survived tbe operation -many rears [Bee Butler'.

S. John, born October 2.''1,17705. I, Hietory of Groton," p.268]. Jonas &ad William 4. JONAS 5, born August 17,1757, was baptized by served through the war, rendering efficient aid to the

the Rev. Josiah Goodhue the same year. (Ohurch country and leaving an honored name to their poe­Recorcll.) terity. Jonas French wu sometimes employed by

John French I held a lieutenant's commi .. ion as I tbe town of Dunstable as a teacher; &ad this entry early as 1752. On the 26th of October, of tbe same appears upon the recorda: "Allowed oot of dae town

---- - ----_ treasury in 1778 £S 41. to Jonas French for keeping I.,,,. line bet ... n N •• lie", .. "' .. end 1I_",,",Ie •• rua .... b. echool." He bought, Aug. SO, 1792, for £12 Is.. pew

'-rT, tTl'- No. 12 in tbe meeLing-boUle recent.ly relnoved to the

Digitized by Google

Digitized by Google

DUNSTABLE. 767 .- ------ _ ... _----;--------------------------- .. _--_._---------, --, centre. He was town clerk in 1796. The prl'aent buildings of the old French homestea,d, on the eaat lide of Nutting'l Hill and a little IOUth oC the New Hampshire line, were erected by bil handl. Two twin oaks in front oC the house are noble repreaentatives oCthe lolid Iterling qualiUel of hiJDBeIC and brother.

Si:.cth Generation-Children of Jonaa and Betty [Marahall] French:

1. Mary, born March 14.1781, lived aod died July 3, 1846, in Dunltable. She waa never married.

2. Jonas, Jr.', born Augult 12, li82, and married firat, Martha Jewelt, oC Hollil, N. H., AprilS, 1809, by whom he had leveral children. Martha [Jewett] French died July 26, 1821, aged thirty-nine, and waa buried in the Ceutral Cemetery in Duultable. Jonaa French, Jr.'. then married, aeco.nd, Mary' Pike, Nov. 20, 1824. by whom he allO had aeveral children. He died Augult 13. 1860, aged aeventy-eight.

S. William ~rench', born June 6, 1789, lived with hie father in Dunatable until the age of twenty­one, when he came to Boston and commenced bUli­neaa aa a distiller in Diltil Bou., Square. ~e married Sarah, daughter of Reuben and &rah rFarmer] Bald­win, of Billerica.

I.ue: 1. William Edward, born in Boston, April 24, 1820. 2. Sarah, born in Boston, Jan. 28. 1822-S. Harriet, born in Boston, Jan. 9, 1824. 4. Emeline, bom May 6, 1826, in Boston. 5. JONAS H-'.BBOD FUNOH, born in Boston, Nov.

4,1829. William French' died of conlumptioo July 1, 1846,

and hil widow, Sarah [Baldwin] French, died Oct. 24, 1866. They are buried lide by lide in Lioden Anoue, For. Hilll Cemetery.

John Marshall French. youngest IOn oC Jonai' and Betty [Marshall] French, born March 9, 1796.

From the above geoealogical record it appears that Col. Jonll Harrod Freoch ia of the leventh genera­tioo from the orlgioal settier of hil family in America. Hil mother,Sarah French,me Baldwin, born AUg-oIlt 6,1790, was a lineal descendant, on the paternallide, from John Baldwin, who had agraot of land In Bil­lerica in 1657, and on .. he maternal lide Crom John FarmE'r, who emigrated to this country from Ancely, Warwickshire County. England, prior to 1678. He waa a mao of diltinctlon and a large land· holder in BUlerica. He died 1728.

The motto upon the coat of arms oC the French family is: "Malo mori quam foedari "-" I would rather die than be debaaed!'

JONA.S HARROD FRENOH, IOD of William and Sarah Baldwin French. waa born in Boston, Novem­ber 4, 1829. He was educated in the Boston public Ichonll, graduating from the Englilh High Sch~l in 1845. He began bil bUlineB8 Clreer aa a grocer. He al\erwardl became largely interested in diatilling; to an other"iae varied and extenaive bUlin811 he haa

added the granite industry, managing a large in~t aa president olthe Cape Ann Grllnlte Company.

Mr. French waa married in Boston, in 1857, to Fanny E., daughter oC Newall A. and SUlan (Wyman) Thompson. Of thil union are two children-FlLnny T. and Henry G. French. In 1883 he married Nella J., daughter of William and Lucinda Pearson, of Boaton. Mr. French, in 1869, organized the Cape Ann Granite Company, t~ quarriea of which are located in Glouceater. He haa furnilhed the granite Cor nu­meroUl public buildings and monuments-notably the Boston pOlt-omce and lub-trt'aaury building, Balti­more poat-omce, the ba8e8 of the Scott monument, Waahington, D. C., 'the Ipandrel-walla of t.he great Brooklyn Bridge and the new court-houle in Boston. He waa acarcely of age when he enrolled himaelf in the City' Guarda, the favorite Boston company of those daYI. He waa elected captain oC the company, holding the position three years. He Betved two years on the ltaff oC Governor Gardnflr. In 1861 he wal commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artil­]ery of BOlton, and il to-day one of the old eat Uving commanders of that time-honored COrpl. In 186S, 1856 and 1866 he waa a member of the Common Council of the city of Boston. In November, 1861, at Camp Chaae, Lowell, he raised the regiment kno"n al "the Eaatern Bay State," afterwardl deaignated aa the Thirtieth M88I&Chuletta. In January following he Ailed in command of tbat reglmont for Ship bl­and, attached to General Banj. F. Butler'1 expedition againet New Orleana. He waa provost-marshal-gen- " eral of Louielana and lubaf'quently aerved under General N. P. Banke.

Colonel French 1'188 a delegate to the National Democratic Convention' at Cincinnati in 1880, and at St. Louil in 1888, and waa a member of the State Senate 1879 and 'SO, doing brilliant "ork on leading committeea,and waachairman ortheDemocratic State Central Committee for three years.

He waa three years president of the Loul81'iIIe, Evanlville and St. Louil Railroad and ten years a director in the New York and New England Rail­road. He haa been a director in the West End Land Company linee 1887, and haa been lince 1873 a director olthe Maverick National Bank, Boston. He II a prominent Muon and one of the founders oC St. Bernard Encampment and Revere Lodge.

J-'.XEB H. SWA.LLOW II a native of Dunlltable; was born April 14, 1821, and II the only 100 oC James and Sibbel (Parkhurst) Swallo". James Swallow waa for several years a director of the W orchester &; N aahua Railroad, waa a man of benevo­lence and left by hil will a legacy of 11000 to the Congregational Church of which he waa a member.

Mr. James M. Swallo" waa married, in 1844, to Lucinda Chapmm, youngest daughter of Davil and Rhoda Chapman. A lurvlving lIister of Mr. Swallow Mrs. Dr. O. A. Woodbury, reside. ill Naallua, N. B:

Mr. Swallow il one of the oldest Uving members of

Digitized by Google

'168 HISTORY OF MIDDr..ESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the Congregational Church in Dunatable, ~nd has held dift'erent offices in connection therewith. As a townsman be holds an influential place. He was elected when a young man to meqlbers)lip in the Board of Auessors, which, at that time was separate from the board of remaining officers. During the first t.wo years of the late Civil War he was connected with the board of town officers. At different times, when serving the town as selectman, he has given satisfaction by faithful and prudent management of affairs. In the faU of 1889 Mr. SwaUow was elected to the General Court from the Tbirty·first District of Middlesex Connty.

By occupation Mr. Swallow is a farmer. He in­berited a portion of his farm, and has made additions thereto during his Ufe. He is also one of the trustees of the City Savings Bank, of Nashua, N. H.

At the bi-centennial celebration of the town of Dunstable, a very interesting occasion wbich occnrred in 1878, Mr. Swallow was one of the committee of arrangementa. He has been a member of the Re­publican. party since ita organization, and fllls a useful place iu the Legislature, wbere he is a mem­ber of the Committee on II Fisheries and Game."

JONAS KENDALL is the third of a family of eight c~i1dren. He is the IOn of Jonas and Olive (Butter. field) Kendall, and was born February, 1804, at the homestead of the Kendalia-the English name being Kentdale-in Dunstable. M88I.

At an early age he evinced a decided taste for me­chanics, and was not content with a farmer's life. With his parent's consent, he let\ school and went to Lowell, M888., "here he learned the trade of a black­smith. From his parents be inherited the qualities of integrity, energy and perseverance. During these years of service manly traits of character were devel­oped. The filial spirit. was shown by occasional visits to his parents, and tbe feeling of attacbment to home grew with his years.

When Mr. Kendall's 'time of service was over he went to Baeo, Me., where he remained a short time. He there became acquainted with Miu Caroline Partridge, of Paris, Me.. to whom he was afterward married. In 1856 she died, leaving bim with two daughters,-Cynthia A. and Elmira C. The former is unmarried; the latter married Edmund E. Stiles; now living in Newtonville, MRIB. Mr. and Mrs. Stiles have two 8Onll, named Herbert Kendall and Percy Goldthwait. The first is now in Amherst College, and the second is a member of the Higb School in Newtonville.

In 1857 Mr. Kendall married Miu Lucy Flekher, of Amherst, N. H.,. who died in 1876, leaving no children. Reference has already been made to the fact that Mr_ Kendall was one of a family of eight children. His only brother, Chiles, resided in Dun­stable, was a deacon. of the Congregational Cburch, and lived to an advanced age. One of his sisters, Olive C. B., married Dr. Jobn SpaUlding, who WIUS

secretary of the American Seamen's Society in New York City.

Jonas Kendall's busineIB education' was acquired by the study of mechanical works, this study being ot\en protracted into the hours of night. He was aided by a keen observation and contac~ with me­cbanical arti8ta. AU his efforts were characterized by patient application.

Early in Mr. Kendall's busineIB career he had an urgent invitation to become superintendent of the shope belonging t.o the Ames Manufacturing Company at Chicopee Falls. That company then mapufactured breech-loading carbines, together with various other articles. This position he sUClCellBfully held Dntil the winter of 1847-48. He WI8 then called to Holyoke by the South Hadley Falls Company to superintend the arranging aDd building of the large mllchine­shop oC that company, and to fill the same with tools suitable for building cotton machinery. This posi­tion he retained till the close of the, affairs of the company and the final sale of the property. Imm~

diately he was invited to the superintendency of the Ames Company's shops in Chicopee; accepting, he remained until April, 1862 •. Then, from exClellllive labor, his health became 10 impaired that he was compelJed to relinquish business and seek rest. In July of the same year he purchased an estate in Bouth Framingham, to which he at once mo,ed, and where he continues to reside.

At a later period, by reluation from all care and busin8lll, with good medical advice, he so far regained his strengtb as to act. in the capaciLY of advising en­gineer in converting the large machine-shop in Hol­yoke to t.he "ell-known Hadley Thread·Mm. Since that time he .has been largely engaged in arranging and superintending the building of various dams and miJIs, in t.he performance of which he baa traveled nearly 60,000 miles.

While at Holyoke he was strongly urged by promi­nellt citizens of that place to accept the position of representative, but felt compelled, much against their wishes, to decline, as business demanded his time.

A few statements from ex-I..ieutenant·Governor Weston, of Dalton, MaBI., give a good general impres­aion of Mr. Kendall's character and efficiency: "Since a boy I have heard the name of JOllas Ken­dall used in connection with the Dames of other wise men, great mechanical and hydraulic engine~I'!I, such as John Chase, of Chicopee, and Horatio Tower, of Dalton. He was the man people relied upon to build safe dams and to examine them. To him was leA the settlement of disputed questiona. He was appointed arbitrator and his decillion was law. No one ap­pealed from Jonas Kendall's opinion or judgment. At t.imes he was seemingly cold and stern, but away from busineu was very entertaining and agreeable. He was a man of temperate habits and' wonderl\d physical endurance. Honesty was a distinguishing trait, and bisloyalty to truth wu a well-known char-

Digitized by Google

Digitized by Google

DUNSTABLE. '169

acteriatic. For many years Jonu Kendall wu con­sulted by·county commisllionel'l and town and city official.e."

The following reminiacences are from Mr. C. W. Ranlet, president of the. Hadley Falls National Bank of Holyoke, Maaa. These words are well sl1ited to help young men by showing that faithfulness and in­tegrity are foundation stones in succeuful character building.

., I til'lt became acquainted with Mr. Kendall some .time in 1848. He came to Holyoke from the Ames Company, at that time qf Chicopee Falls, 18 aaaistant in chief of General Agent John Chaae-'Uncle .lohn,' 18 he wu generally called, ,.,ho wu the founder and builder of factories an~ canals in Holyoke. Mr. Kendall occupied the position of muter mechanic and superintendent of the machine-mops. The heavy a!ld complicated machinery of the guard-gates, locks and reservoir pumps ,.,as designed and built under his oV8l'light and from plans of his own drawing. The water connections from the 'canals to the Beveral mills were all constructed under his own eye. .All theee stand complete to-day without a break or serious accident. Mr. Kendall wu a man of few words, but when he did speak, thoae who heard him knew pre­cilely what he "'tant. No one ever suspected him of receiving a bribe in the too prevalent form of a 'com­million' or perctntage in purchases or salee, and no one acquainted with him would risk a good trade by such a proposition. If any stranger.ever approached Mr. Kendall with an offer of this kind he never did it a aecond time. For integrity, fair dAaling and every quality that constitutes a good citizen, no one in Holyoke stood higher than JOO88 Kendall, and no on, ever went away with more hearty good wishea from a wide circle of friends and acquaintances."

After inaking South Framingham bis place of resi­dence he was often recalled to Holyoke by the va­rious' corporations and mill-own8l'l for consultation, advice and superviaion of matters pertaining to hy­draulic eugineering. A few y8&l'l after his reti.re-­ment the great dam showed aiKDs of weaknees, and a seri01l8 depreeaion appeared near the middle of the dam. Mr. Kendall was summoned by the MID

Water .Power Cb. for e.zamination and advice. No satisfactory ezamination could be· made without a thorough inspection of the dam itaelf; and with eighteen inchn of water pouring over the crest this wu no eaay job. But Mr. Kendall wu equal to the emergency, and with that determination so charac~ teristic of the man, he propoaed to go throug'll the dam behind the falling sheet of water. In order to do this, one mUllt crawl the whole length of the dam through open spaces between the timben, 12 by 24 inches tor 1013 feet. The timbel'l were wet and aJimy, the rock-bottom wu uneven and Blippery, and the confined air both damp and murky. The under­taking was therefore a perilous one for a man of Mr. Kendall's years. Friends tried to dit!suade him, and

49

.. ~--~--- _.-.- ------ ------pointed out the dangel'l to be encountered, advising the employment of some ycunger and more robust man. But he could rely upon 'the rflporta of no one not familiar with this kind of work. Having provided himself with a rubber suit and a strong staff' Mr. _Kendall started one morning to go under the dam through an opening in the abutment. Three strong men were employed to follow and render aid in CMe

ofaccident. Mr. Kendall being rather spare in fI..h, but wiry in muscle, went through the open spaces without much difficulty, and BOon distanced his fol­lowers. He waited, but they did not come up. He .called aloud, but no reapo1l8e came. The thirty feet of falJing water in front drowned the strongest Toice. So Mr. Kendall pushed forward alone, prC?bing the, timb8l'l 18 he went along, to see if they were sound. In the mean time the ,. Mlpm," who bad penetrated about ninety. feet, returned much fatigued and badly scared. They reported the entire impracticability of going through the dam, and the great dang8l'l attend­ing such an undertaking. People gathered on the river-banks and bulkheads watchb.g for any sigu of the. e.zplorer. Some scrutinized the rapids to see if any dead body appeared. Along in the afternoon eft"ortf were made to organize an e.zploring force for the discovery and rescue ·of the lost engineer; but after the dire accounts of those who returned no one could be found willing to take the risk. About three o'clock in the afternoon Mr. Kendall himself emerged from the opposite abutment amid the shouts of the auembled people. As he ascended the ladder he appeared somewhat fatigued, and, covered 18 he was with mud and alime, he wu not an attract­ive object to look upon. After a sltort reat In the snnmine and freah air he revived, and aeemed as "good 18 new," and jocoaely remarked to a friend: " I gueu I have broken the record for walking on al­lou.r. under trying circumstances." Mr. Kendall made a full report of his investigation to the Wale Power Co., and this led to the needed reconstruction of the dam.

In the building of several works there have been thoae who supposed. that Mr. Kendall beetowed klo much care and expense. ThOle works ~ave, how­ever, proved to be of permanent value.

Mr. Kendall hu always given freely for the sup· port of the Gospel, hss been ever ready to help the needy and h .. been a generous contributor to benev­olent, charitable and all other objects having in view the good of society.

Mr. Kendall, 18 one of the prominent citizens of Bouth Framingham, was elected to the Legislature in 1872. He hu been connected with banks and other places of trust. Several offices tendered to him have been declined. He hu not been one to seek office, but office hu BOught him. UnaasumiDg in maDner, and avel'le to notoriety, Mr. Kendall baa always poe­aeeaed the entire confidence of the different commu­ties in which he hu resided.

.

Digitized by Google