NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES

3 3433 08178671 1

I'll i

MM', I'

i iii'

If' ',

0

)^

^

^

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2008 with funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/factsrelatingtoh02gree

FACTS RELATING

TO THE

HISTORY

OF

GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS

BY

SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN
Vol. II

Gather up the fragments that remain,
that nothing be lost

GROTON
1914 ^

THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY

iV

?01117

ASTOR, LENOX AND

TILDtN FOUNDATIONS

R 1915 L

John Wilson and Son, Cambridge U.S.A.

TO

9r|)e HHemorg

OF

DR. JOSHUA GREEN

— FOR MANY YEARS A RESIDENT OF GROTON-
AND HIS WIFE

ELIZA LAWRENCE GREEN

— A NATIVE OF THE TOWN —

THESE PAGES ARE INSCRIBED BY
THEIR ONLY SURVIVING SON

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

The first volume of this work is "The Natural History and
Topography of Groton." The articles in this volume relate
to the general history of the town, and for that reason a new
title is given to it.

September 2, 1914.

FACTS RELATING TO GROTON,
MASSACHUSETTS.

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL.

George Sewall Boutwell was a native of Brookline,
Massachusetts, where he was born on January 28, 18 18. He
first saw the light on a farm then under the charge of his
father, and owned by Dr. John PhilHps Spooner, which now
forms a part of the extensive grounds of the Country Club in
that town. He was the second child of Sewall and Rebecca
(Marshall) Boutwell, another son of the same name having
been born on January i, 1816, who died on September 27,
1 8 17. When he was two years old his parents removed to
Lunenburg, the former home of his mother, where he was
brought up on a farm. In after-life he filled more dis-
tinguished public positions than ever fell to the lot of any
other citizen of Groton ; and his neighbors always took a just
pride in his political promotions. He was easily accessible
to all classes of people, and his counsels on the every-day
affairs of life were often sought and freely given. He was a
man of great shrewdness of mind with a temperament de-
cidedly judicial, and his advice was highly valued by those
seeking it. At the time of his election as Governor of the
Commonwealth Mr. Boutwell was the youngest person who
had ever held the office.

Three years after Governor Boutwell's death, some of his
friends and admirers caused a tablet of white marble to be
placed over his grave in the Groton Cemetery; and the occa-
sion was followed by appropriate exercises on May 15, 1908.

2 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

The tablet is simple and unpretentious, and bears this
inscription :

In Memory of

George Sewall Boutwell

Jan. 28, 1818

Feb. 27, 1905

Governor of Massachusetts

Representative and Senator of the United States

Secretary of the Treasury

Illustrious
Citizen, Patriot, Statesman
Consistent, Brave and Devoted Friend
I of Human Liberty.

The tablet is five feet in height, three feet in width, and ten
inches in thickness.

The exercises began with placing flowers on the grave by
the George S. Boutwell Woman's Relief Corps, No. 49,
Auxiliary to the G. A. R., the George S. Boutwell Post,
No. 48, Ayer, Department of Massachusetts, G. A. R., and
the E. S. Clark Post, No. 115, Groton, Department of Massa-
chusetts, G. A. R. ; and the singing of Sir Henry Wotton's
" The Character of a Happy Life " by a choir of boys from
the Groton School.

The exercises were then transferred from the cemetery
to the Town Hall, where letters of sympathy and re-
gret were read from the President of the United States,
the Secretary of the Treasury, the Speaker of the Na-
tional House of Representatives, and other distinguished
citizens.

The poem on the occasion was by William Roscoe Thayer,
of Cambridge, and is such a just tribute to the many excel-
lent qualities of Mr. Boutwell's character, that I am prompted
to reprint it in these pages.

TO BOUTWELL.

I marvel not that Youth,

Impassion'd for the Truth,
Cleaves but to her, as bridegroom to his bride;

Recks neither praise nor blame,

Heeds not the lure of fame.
Knows that her smile were worth the world beside.

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL.

But when in Age I find,

Young courage and young mind,
And eyes that see their morning vision clear,

Lilce him but lately dead,

Who after four-score led
Our battle-charge, I marvel and revere.

Thou gav'st him life, O State,

Who wert assigned by Fate
The noblest task of all the modern years :

To clear a little space

Where conscience should have place
To worship God, and men with men be peers ;

A clearing by the sea

Where none should crook the knee
To king or pope or other man-made lord;

A haunt where peace might dwell

With folk who lov'd her well.
But still for Duty's sake would draw the sword.

Beloved State, and true !

Thy blessed gospel flew
Throughout the West and loos'd the Old World's chains;

Thy thoughts like lifeblood run

Thro' ev'ry loyal son
Who feels the stir of freedom in his veins.

He was thy son ! he heard

In youth thy puissant word
And prov'd the obligation of thy breed ;

Obey'd thy civic call.

Rose high, nor fear'd to fall
Confessing thine instruction by his deed.

His laurel'd name shall stand

With theirs that sav'd the Land
When mad Rebellion shook our cornerstone;

His courage never quail'd

His counsel never fail'd
Till Discord ceas'd and Wrong was overthrown.

To shine in such a strife

Were crown enough for life ;
The newer labors to new hands belong ;

But when the younger brood

Set bad instead of good,
He rose, again a youth, and smote the wrong.

4 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Tho' Prudence bade, " Beware ! "

He answer'd straight, " I dare ! "
And swept like retribution on tlie foes;

Put compromises by —

Half-truth is still half-lie —
Nor barter'd his convictions for repose.

He heard but to despise

The precepts worldly-wise
That check the vanward impulse of the soul —

The sly, corrosive doubts,

The cynic sneer that flouts
All virtue and denies the unseen goal.

Years never palsied him

With disillusions grim,
Nor taught the lie that numbers most avail;

He held that not to fight

For Freedom and for Right —
Our captains — is the coward's way to fail.

He was not overborne

By ridicule or scorn.
Nor daunted by the dangers of the time ;

He even could resist

The friends whose love he missed,
The comrades of the causes of his prime.

To suffer and endure,

To keep the spirit pure —
The fortress and abode of holy Truth —

To serve eternal things,

Whate'er the issue brings.
This is not broken Age, but ageless Youth.

In the year 1902 Governor Boutvvell wrote his "Remi-
niscences of Sixty Years in PubHc Affairs," which contains a
large amount of historical information in regard to public
matters. It is a work well worth reading by anyone who
wishes to learn the policy of the Government during an
eventful period in its history. Several of the Chapters, V-IX,
contain much of special interest to the citizens of the town,
as they deal with his early career. By the consent of the
publishers of the work, Messrs. Doubleday, Page & Co.,
of New York, I reprint them, with their original headings, and
for this courtesy my thanks are due.

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 5

V.

Groton in 1835,

In the month of February, 1835, ^ ^^^^ ^^ advertisement
in the Lowell Journal, asking for a clerk in a store, appHca-
tion to be made at the office. I at once wrote to Joseph S.
Hubbard,^ a former schoolmate, asking him to call at the of-
fice and get the name of the advertiser. This he did, and
gave me the name of Benj. P. Dix of Groton. I wrote to
Mr. Dix, and upon the receipt of an answer, I went with my
father to see him. The result was an agreement to work for
him for three years. Terms, board and one hundred dollars
for the first year, one hundred and twelve dollars for the sec-
ond year, one hundred and twenty-five dollars for the third
year. I commenced my clerkship with Mr. Dix the fifth day
of March, and in the month of September my contract was
ended by his failure. His business was small, his manners
were abrupt, his capital had been limited, and his family ex-
penses, not extravagant, had exceeded his income, and bank-
ruptcy in the end was inevitable. His sales were chiefly of
boots, shoes, leather, and medicines, of which he kept the
only stock in the village.

Mr. Dix was a man of exact ways of life. The sales made
were entered each day at the close of business, the cash was
carefully counted, and the cash-book was balanced. But
these careful and businesslike ways did not save him, and in
September he made an assignment of his property to his
father Benj. Dix, and to Caleb Butler, for the benefit of his
creditors according to the preferences specified in the assign-
ment. Mr. Butler was not a creditor, but Mr. Dix, senior,
was much the largest creditor. In fact he had furnished his
son with the chief part of the means of doing business. He
was a tanner by trade, and he had gradually enlarged his

1 When I became Secretary of the Treasury, in 1S69, I appointed Hul;bard
to a minor ofifice in the revenue service in the State of Kentucky, where he tlien
lived.

6 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

business by employing workmen to make boots and shoes. A
portion of his product of leather and all his product of boots
and shoes had been turned into the son's store.

The deficiency of means on the part of the son was repre-
sented at each settlement by an addition to the debt due to
the father. The debts amounted to about five thousand dollars.
Following the assignment Mr. Dix left home, and he did not
return until the spring or summer of 1836. Imprisonment
for debt in a modified form then existed. He and his family
were proud, and he may have wished to avoid seeing his
neighbors and acquaintances while his misfortune was fresh
upon him. His wife was a granddaughter of General Ward,
who had been the rival of General Washington for the com-
mand of the army at the opening of the War of the Revolu-
tion. Mrs. Dix was proud, very properly, of her paternity,
and of her grandfather's association with General Washing-
ton, and neither from her, nor from either of two brothers
whom I subsequently met, did I ever hear a word of criticism
upon the wisdom of the selection of General Washington.
Mrs. Dix had inherited many letters written by General
Washington to her grandfather, and they were all written in a
tone of sincere friendship.

Mrs. Dix's eldest brother, Mr. Nahum Ward, was one of
the early settlers, if not one of the founders of Marietta, Ohio.
Mr. Dix went to Marietta, where he was given some employ-
ment by Mr. Ward. Neither Mr. Butler nor Mr. Dix senior,
had any knowledge of business, and I was employed by them
at a small advance in my pay, to sell the stock of goods, and
close the business of the store. After such sales as could be
made, the remainder of the stock was sold at auction the 23d
day of November. During the preceding night there was a
fall of snow, and the company came to the village in sleighs.
The winter was severe, and the snow continued to cover the
ground until the i8th of April, when the stage coaches for
the north went on runners for the last time. The summer of
1836 was so cold, that the corn crop was a failure. During
the year following corn brought from New Jersey sold for
$2.50 per bushel.

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 7

In 1835 th^ town of Groton was a place of much impor-
tance relatively. It was the residence of several men of more
than local fame. Timothy Fuller, the father of Margaret, was
living there. He was a lawyer of considerable distinction,
and he had held important public positions. He had been
a representative and senator in the Massachusetts Legislature,
speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and
a member of Congress from the Cambridge district from
1817 to 1825. He died in October, 1835.

Mr. Fuller was a man of regular and careful habits, indeed
he belonged to a family noted for their devotion to the pro-
fession of law, and for their odd manners and styles of dress.

Mr. Fuller's eldest son, Eugene, was afterwards a student
in the law office of George F. Farley. He was a good debater
as a young man, but as a student rather irregular. He went
to New Orleans to reside, became an editor of, or writer on,
the Picayune, and on a return voyage from Boston he was lost
overboard [from the steamer " Empire City," on June 2 1 , 1859].

Margaret Fuller continued to reside in Groton with her
mother and the other members of the family for several years
— until about 1841, I think. In the meantime I met her fre-
quently, although she was several years my senior. She was
a teacher in the Sunday school, and at the Sunday-evening
teachers' meetings she was accustomed to set forth her opin-
ions with great frankness, and in a style which assumed that
they were not open to debate. While she lived at Groton
she contributed to the Dial.

In personal appearance Margaret Fuller was less attractive
than one might imagine from the portraits and engravings
now seen. Her ability was recognized, but the celebrity that
she attained finally was not anticipated, probably, by any of
her town acquaintances. Her writings may justify the opin-
ion that as a writer and thinker she is in the front rank of
American women.

Samuel Dana, who had been a judge for many years, pres-
ident of the Massachusetts Senate for three terms, and a
member of Congress for one term, was also a resident of
Groton. He had been an active politician on the Democratic

8 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

or Jefifersonian side in politics, and for many years in early life
he had been the competitor of Timothy Bigelow, who had
been a resident of Groton and a leader in the Federal Party of
the State. The town supported Bigelow and returned him
to the House, where he became speaker for many sessions.
Dana as a candidate for the Massachusetts Senate was elected
by the county of Middlesex then Democratic, and for three
terms he was president of the Senate. Judge Dana was in-
terested in a small social library that was kept in a chamber
over the store. It contained Josephus, Plutarch's Lives, Rol-
lins' Ancient History, and some other standard works whose
titles I do not now recall.

Judge Dana was also interested in the organization of a
reading room club in a building connected with the store.
As clerk in charge of the store I was custodian of the read-
ing room and library. I found time to read Plutarch and
Josephus, and I was skeptic enough to question in my own
mind the passage in Josephus in regard to Jesus. Judge
Dana died in the month of November, 1835, ^^ ^^e age of
sixty. His hair was white and long, and his appearance was
so venerable that it is now difficult for me to realize that he
was not seventy-five years of age at least. His abilities were
considerable, and his descendants, in more than one instance
have shown distinguished qualities.

Two other well-known lawyers, one of them a lawyer of
eminence in the profession, were also residents of the town :
Benj. M. Farley and George F. Farley, brothers. They were
natives of the small town of Brookline, N. H. The elder,
Benj. M., had practised in Hollis, N. H., where by economy
and good care of his earnings he had acquired a competency.
At Groton he made no effort to obtain business, and acted
for the most part as an associate or aid to his brother, who
was in the enjoyment of a large practice and income, for
those days and parts.

With George F. Farley, whose age ran with the century, I
was well acquainted from 1835 until his death in 1855. ^^
was one of the small number of men that I have known who
underestimated their powers. In one respect, perhaps, this

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 9

was not true of Farley. He never appeared wanting in
courage for any legal struggle with the leaders of the bar
in New England. In the twenty years that 1 knew him he
had for his antagonists Webster, Choate, Davis, Curtis,
Franklin Dexter, and others of eminence, an4 he never failed
to sustain himself upon terms of equality. This was remark-
able in presence of the fact that he was likely to be retained
on the hard side of most cases. This was due, perhaps, to
his reputation for shrewdness, and for a quality in practice
which has been called the inventive faculty. When parties
were not allowed to testify, there was a wide field for the
imagination, and for the exercise of the inventive faculties
on the part of an advocate. He had defended, successfully,
the Ursuline Convent rioters, and he had been employed in
many desperate cases on the civil side and on the criminal
side of the courts.

In his later years he read very little either in law, history,
or general literature. His law library was meager, although
he had usually one or two students in his office. He pre-
ferred to discuss his cases with the loungers about the post-
office and stores, getting thereby the benefit of the opinions
of common men.

His manner in speaking was inartistic, and although he was
a graduate of Harvard, he indulged himself in the use of
country phrases and rustic pronunciation. His logic was
unanswerable, and his faculty of cross-examination of wit-
nesses was worthy of emulation.

He enjoyed a few books, the classics in the originals, but he
seldom indulged in a quotation. Byron as a poet, and Locke
as a logician he commended to me — the latter, Locke on the
Human Understanding, with great earnestness. Under his
advice I read it carefully, and for mental training he did not
overvalue it. Farley commenced the practice of his profes-
sion at New Ipswich, N. H., and that town elected him once
or twice to the Legislature of the State. Wishing for a
wider field, he came to Groton. It was a day of small fees,
and a good deal of the litigation grew out of the intemperate
habits of the farmers.

10 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

In New Hampshire fees were even more moderate than in
Massachusetts. If Farley had estimated his talents at their
full value and had taken an office in Boston or New York, he
could have gratified his love for money without disturbing his
relations to his neighbors. In minor ways he was acquisitive,
and consequently there came to be a pubHc sentiment which
excluded him from public employments. His political
course was not more erratic than that of many others, but
his change of position was ascribed to policy and not to
principle. In 1840 he was a Whig, in 1850 he was a Free-
soiler, and in 1855 he was a Republican. In the autumn of
the year 1855 he was elected a member of the State Con-
vention of the Republican Party.

A day or two before the meeting of the convention I was
passing by his premises where he was engaged apparently in
examining a buggy which his man had been putting in order.
The conversation turned upon politics, and I soon discovered
that he wished for a nomination to the Legislature, and with-
out admitting the fact, his remarks showed that he compre-
hended the nature of the obstacles in his way. At last he
said: "When I began I thought the main thing was to get
money; and I have got it; and it is very convenient to have
it, but it is n't just what I thought it was when I began."

He went to the convention, took a cold which developed
into a fever, and in a week he died.

VI.

Groton in 1835 {Continued).

There were two other lawyers in town, Caleb Butler, the
postmaster, and Bradford Russell. Mr. Butler never appeared
in court. He gave advice in small matters, wrote deeds and
wills, surveyed lands, and served his neighbors in fiduciary
ways. For many years he was a member, and a useful mem-
ber, of the Board of Commissioners for the County of Middle-
sex. That body laid out highways, superintended the public

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. II

buildings, and in a word did what no other authority in the
county or State had a right to do. Mr. Butler was a Whig,
and after a time his politics lost him the office of postmaster
and the office of commissioner.

With Bradford Russell I commenced the study of law, or
rather I entered my name with him and gave some night work
to the study of books bearing upon the profession. His office
was over the store in which I became a clerk in December,
1835. Russell was a graduate of Harvard, of the class of
1818. For many years two other members of that class re-
sided at Groton — Dr. Joshua Green, and the Rev. Charles
Robinson, pastor of the old society, then ranked as Unitarian.
Mr. Russell had studied his profession with Judge James
Prescott, vvho was impeached and removed from the office of
Judge of Probate for the county of Middlesex in the year
1 82 1. Judge Prescott, whom I never saw, was a good lawyer
in his time, especially in the department of special pleading.
That branch of the profession was then passing away, but
there were lawyers who lived by their skill in preparing an-
swers, rejoinders, sur-rejoinders, rebutters, and sur-rebutters.
Russell had acquired a large amount of special learning in the
law, but he had not capacity to comprehend principles, nor
could he see the application of old decisions to new cases. In
argument he was weak and inconclusive, but he was confident
in his own powers, and favored as he was at times by the acci-
dents and hazards of the profession, he gained some victories.
In the final trials at the county court he usually secured the
services of senior counsel who could meet Farley, his usual
antagonist, upon an equality of standing. Most frequently he
secured the services of Sam Mann of Lowell, as he was called.
The name of the town was affixed generally, as though the
advocate had been so christened.

Mann was able, confident, and bold. He died young, after
a brilliant career. In many cases Mann and Farley were as-
sociated. When this combination appeared, the opposing
counsel were hard-pressed, usually. In those days a story was
set afloat which, though false, gave voice to the popular notion.
When the court was held at Cambridge, Farley and Mann

12 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

boarded together at the Mansion House, Charlestown Square.
It was said that when they were associated in a case, they were
in the habit of examining and cross-examining the witnesses.
On one of these occasions, as the story went, Mann conducted
the examination, and Farley followed with the cross. Under
his hand the witnesses went to pieces. After the witnesses
left, Farley said, " We can never succeed if those are your
witnesses." Mann replied : " Oh, those are the witnesses for
the other side. To-morrow evening I will show you my wit-
nesses." When the evening came, the same witnesses came
also. They were again subject to examination and cross-
examination, and proved impregnable under Farley's hand.
An invention, no doubt, and yet the story had a run.

Although Russell was not a competitor in any sense with
such antagonists as Farley and Mann, he was in the enjoy-
ment of a practice that was sufficient for a living, and a pru-
dent man would have made it the beginning of a moderate
fortune. He had neither skill in money matters nor ordinary
economy. Hence he was always in debt. At one term of
the court he entered fifty-eight writs, and there were terms
when he had from seventy to one hundred cases on the
docket. Each of these cases gave him thirty-three and one
third cents costs for every day of the term.

Russell held the office of Master in Chancery. In 1838 the
Insolvent Law was enacted, and its administration was confided
to Masters in Chancery. Russell soon gained a reputation
for leniency in the matter of granting discharges to the insol-
vent debtors, and his business increased rapidly. His jurisdic-
tion was the whole county, and although there were several
masters in the county, his fame was such that petitions came
from Lowell, Waltham and other places where masters had
offices. I was appointed clerk in insolvency, at five dollars
a day when a court was held. In this way I gained some
needed income, acquired a knowledge of the Insolvent Law,
and more than all, I gained the acquaintance of the leading
lawyers of the county. As debtors and witnesses were exam-
ined, I may have gained something in practice. The Insol-
vent Law, amended, to be sure, has remained on the statute

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 1 3

books of Massachusetts to this day, and the United States
Bankrupt Law was modeled upon it. Indeed, there can
never be any wide departure from the provisions of that
statute, and from its principles no departure whatever can
be made.

A leading man, and a character in town, was Thomas A.
Staples. He was a native of the neighboring town of Shirley.
He was a man of large size, handsome figure, resolute in his
purposes, and vindictive in his enmities. His chief business
was that of stage proprietor, and mail contractor. He was
always in debt, and tardy, of course, in his payments. He
was involved in lawsuits, and many of his debts were paid
upon executions. His mail contracts were so large that he
sublet many of the routes, and he was always in debt to sub-
contractors. He had a stage office in Boston for a time at the
Hanover House, and after that at No. 9 Court Street. His
office was the headquarters of country traders and others who
patronized his lines of stages. In the year 1838 or later, I
was in his of^ce when Alvin Adams, the founder of the Adams
Express Company, made his first trip to New York as an ex-
press messenger. Staples afterward stated in conversation
that Adams had but one parcel, and that he loaned him five
dollars to meet his expenses. At that time Harnden's express
was in operation with an office at No. 8 Court Street. Harn-
den's company disappeared in a few years, and the Adams
Express Company became an institution that has the appear-
ance of perpetuity. At a time perhaps as late as 1850, I met
Adams on Washington Street, when he expressed the opinion
that his business was as profitable as any business in the
country.

Staples was engaged also in paper making with mills upon
the upper falls of the Squannacook River. This branch of
his business was especially unfortunate, and in 1836 he
assigned his property to Henry Woods, Daniel Shattuck, and
Joshua B. Fowle. Mr. Woods was a trader in whose employ-
ment I then was, having let myself to him when I left the
Dix store December i, 1835, for my board and $150 a year.
Agreement for one year. The assignees were all friends of

14 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Staples. The assignment was for the benefit of creditors
in order. The last named was Calvin Childs, a blacksmith,
to whom Staples owed about two thousand dollars. The
assignees proceeded to execute their trust, and as collections
were made, payments were made until all the debts were paid
except the debt to Childs. Mr. Woods died in 1841. Shat-
tuck died in 1850, and the trust was not then executed.
Fowle paid Childs six hundred dollars, but he made no settle-
ment of the trust. In 1853 Childs applied to Russell for
counsel and assistance. Russell filed a bill on the equity side
of the court. A lawyer, named Fiske, of Boston, was retained
by Fowle. Fiske answered. Russell employed the Hon.
Charles R. Train to assist in the trial, but there was no hear-
ing. In 1858 Train was elected to Congress. About i860
Russell came to me for assistance and put into my hands a
large bundle of papers relating to the case. At that time
Russell was so impaired in health that he could not aid in the
investigation. Upon an examination I found that the testi-
mony of Staples was important. He then lived at Machias,
Maine. By writing and interviews when I found him in
Boston, I became satisfied that for a hidden reason he was
resolved to have nothing to do with the case. As a last
resort, I took out a commission and submitted interrogatories.
The answers were evasive or valueless from loss of memory.
Thus the case was delayed. In 1862 I was elected to Con-
gress. Childs was an easy going man who made inquiries
occasionally, but never complained. Upon my return from a
session, about 1865, I resolved to bring the case to a close.
I examined the papers carefully, and I found full material for
a statement, although it cost labor to analyze the accounts.
At that time Russell was dead and Fiske was dead. Mr.
John Loring, a former partner of Fiske, took the case.
Loring agreed to a hearing at Chambers. Chief Justice
Chapman named a day. At the time named the clients and
counsel appeared. I presented my statement in writing.
Loring and Fowle said they knew nothing about the matter.
My statement showed a balance of between $400 and $500 in
Fowle's hands. I asked for interest. Fowle said he had been

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 1 5

ready always to pay. I contended that it was his duty long
before to have rendered an account, and made payment.
Judge Chapman, with less reason than courts have usually for
their decisions, held that as he was always ready to pay, he
was not justly chargeable with interest. I drew a decree, the
judge signed it, Fowle paid, and Childs returned home that
night. For ten years the case had been on the docket, when,
if some one had made an examination of the papers it could
have been disposed of in a day.

The controversy in New England between Trinitarians and
Unitarians had culminated in Groton about the year 1825 in
a division of the old town society and the organization of an
orthodox church under the Rev. John Todd. His successor,
a Mr. Kittredge, had charge of the Society in 1835, and for a
short time afterwards. He was succeeded by Dudley Phelps,
who was a man of ability and liberal in his religious opinions.
From 1838 to 1841 the post-office was in my charge, although
I held the office of postmaster only from February to April,
1841. Mr. Phelps was in the habit of sitting in the office and
reading every sort of newspaper from the Trumpet to the In-
vestigator. Although he was much my senior, and of differ-
ing opinions in politics and religion our relations were quite
intimate. For several years we were joint subscribers for the
four leading English reviews : — Edinburgh^ North British
Qicarterly^ and Westminster. My recollection is that he made
the dedicatory prayer at the new cemetery, and that he was
the first person buried in it. He was a man of talent and the
father of two sons, who attained distinction at the bar in
New York.

The Rev. Charles Robinson was the pastor of the old
society then Unitarian, but without question as to the plenary
inspiration of the Scriptures. He was a graduate of Harvard,
a man of learning, and a writer of good sermons. In the
delivery he was faulty to the last stage of awkwardness. His
perceptive faculties were dull to a degree without parallel in
my experience.

In 1835 and for some time afterwards, there were four taverns
and three stores at which intoxicating liquors were sold and

1 6 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

the use of such liquors by farmers was greatly in excess of
their use at the present time. In the early winter the country
farmers from New Hampshire and Vermont going to Boston,
with butter,. cheese, pork and poultry, patronized the taverns,
and gave the town an appearance of business which contrasts
with the aspect of dullness that it now wears. The prices for
entertainment at the taverns were moderate, and none of the
proprietors accumulated property.

VII.

Beginnings in Business.

In the autumn of 1837 as my second year with Mr. Woods
was approaching a close, I informed him that I proposed to
go to Exeter, N. H., attend the Academy, and then either
enter college or proceed with the study of the law. At about
the same time I corresponded with Mr. Abbott, the principal of
the Academy, in regard to terms, board, etc. Upon this
notice Mr. Woods made me a proposition to continue with
him and share the business. He offered to furnish the capital,
to give me my board, and one-fourth of the net profits. My
means were very small, the business was quite sure to yield a
profit, and the prospect of gaining a small amount of capital
at the age of twenty-three, when the partnership was to end,
controlled me and I accepted the proposition. The partner-
ship began March i, 1838, when I was two months over
twenty years of age. I had then been in Groton three yezfrs,
and I had formed the acquaintance of many young men in
the debates of the Lyceum, in business and in social ways.
In connection with the Lyceum I prepared papers which I
read as lectures. One of these papers upon banking, signed
B., appeared in the Bay State Democrat, edited by Lewis
Josselyn, the publisher. Another upon Conservatism and
Radicalism, was also printed in the Bay State Democrat. As
I did not give my name to Mr. Josselyn, and as the letters
were mailed at Groton,- he came there and after inquiries.

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 1 7

called upon me. I admitted the authorship. This acquaint-
ance continued for many years, and for many years I was a
contributor to his paper. He was elected secretary of the
Senate in 1843 by the Democratic Party. A little later I wrote
an article called " Gibbet Hill " in which I attempted to
present the tradition concerning the hill in Groton which
bears that name. That article was printed in the Yeoman's
Gazette or the Concord Freeman. For several years begin-
ning about the year 1836, I wrote one paper each year called
a lecture. Several of these papers were printed in Hunt's
Merchants' Magazine.

From 1835 to 1841 I occupied the store night and day and
it was my custom to read and write until twelve, one or two
o'clock in the morning. These were my years of hard study.
Not infrequently, when a tendency to sleep was too heavy for
study, I bathed my face and head in cold water and thus
revived my faculties — a practice, however, that I cannot
commend. Early in my residence at Groton, I formed the
acquaintance and friendship of Dr. Amos Bancroft, a friend-
ship which continued until his death in Italy in the year 1879.
It was with Dr. Bancroft that I continued my studies in Latin.
In 1835, l^e had finished his professional studies with Dr. Shat-
tuck, of Boston, then an eminent physician. Dr. Shattuck
had studied his profession with Dr. Amos Bancroft, the father
of Amos B. Dr. Amos, as he was called, was a graduate of
Harvard College in the class of Wendell Phillips, and at the
close of his professional studies he was spoken of as the best
educated physician who had entered the profession in Boston.
At the time our acquaintance began, he was entering upon
the practice of medicine, at Groton, in place of his father, who
was then about sixty-five years of age, deaf, and not healthy
in other respects, although he lived to the age of eighty
years, and then died from an accident in State Street, Boston.
Dr. Bancroft, Sr., lived in a house which stood about one
hundred feet north of my present residence, and the ofiice of
Dr. Amos was on the spot now occupied by the front of my
house. At the close of business for the day, nine o'clock in
the evening, I was in the habit of going to the ofhce and recit-

1 8 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ing my Latin lesson, after which we discussed other matters.
Upon my return to the store, I prepared myself for the next
evening's recitation. In this way I read Caesar and Virgil.
In a closet in Bancroft's office there was a skeleton. That
skeleton had a history, and possibly there may be a sequel to
it. It was understood to have been the skeleton of a man
named Jack Frost, who was tried, convicted and executed at
Worcester for the crime of murder committed at or near
Princeton. Dr. Bancroft, Sr., had been the owner of the
skeleton. Oftentimes I rode Sundays with Dr. Amos. On
the occasion of one of these drives, and after the death of Dr.
Bancroft, Sr., we passed the house of a waggish old man named
Asa Tarbell. After a little conversation Tarbell said, " I shall
be over soon for Frost's skeleton." Dr. Amos, amazed,
looked over and through his glasses, and said, at length :
" Why, what do you mean ? " Said Tarbell : " Some years
ago, your father and I were playing, and I proposed to put
up my uncle Ben against Frost. Your father agreed to the
game, and I won. I told him I had no use for Frost at that
time, and he might keep him." Tarbell's Uncle Ben was a
man of inferior size, hardly more than a dwarf, who had been
a drummer boy in the Revolution.

I bought the Bancroft estate in 1873, and my foreman, Mr.
William A. Chase informed me that he had found a skeleton
in a barrel in a shed, and that he had buried it on the place.
If again found it may lead to the suspicion that it is the,
skeleton of a murdered man, and not that of a murderer.

From 1835 to 1841, I read Locke, Say's Political Economy,
Smith's Wealth of Nations, Plutarch, Josephus, Herodotus,
Lingard, Hume and Smollett, Cicero, Demosthenes, Homer,
Pope, Byron, Shakespeare, Boswell's Johnson, Junius, The
Tattler, The Rambler, the English Reviews, French from text-
books without a teacher and Rhetoric (Blair's full edition).
Much of Blair's Rhetoric I studied carefully and with great
benefit. Some of my papers of those days were written and
re-written four times. On the law side I read a few text-
books : Blackstone, Story on the Constitution, The Federalist,
De Lohme on the British Constitution, and some other

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. I9

works, probably, which I do not at once recall. If I gained
some knowledge of the law as practised in the country, that
knowledge was gained from an acquaintance with the lawyers
of the town, with the students, and there were several usually,
and from my opportunities as Clerk of the Insolvency Court.

In the year 1836, July 4, an Act was passed by Congress,
granting to a class of widows of soldiers of the War of the
Revolution, a pension for the term of five years. The towns
of Groton, Pepperell and Shirley had supplied a large number
of soldiers, and there were many widows who were entitled to
the benefits of the Act. My acquaintance as clerk was
already large, and my studies with Russell had given me the
faculty of preparing ordinary papers, and I at once commenced
canvassing for the business. I obtained in all about fifty
cases under the Act of 1836. Subsequently I obtained other
cases under the Act of 1838. I sent the applications forward
to Washington, and in a few cases certificates were received
in return. In a majority of cases there was a delay. The
women became anxious and their visits and importunities
were annoying. In the month of January, 1839, I joined
Gen. Staples and made a visit to Washington. Staples' object
was to make mail contracts, or to arrange existing difficulties.
My purpose was to obtain action on pension applications.
Our journey was a slow one, if not tedious. From Groton to
Boston by stage, and from Boston to Stonington, Conn., by
rail; from Stonington to New York by steamboat; from New
York to Perth Amboy by steamboat; from Perth Amboy by
rail, I think, but possibly by stage to a town on the Delaware
River, Franklin perhaps. From that point to Philadelphia by
steamboat. Our journey from Philadelphia to Washington
was by rail in part and in part by stage. We passed the
creeks between the Susquehanna and Baltimore upon a
railroad.

We stopped over night in New York, and went to the Park
Theater. Another night we spent in Philadelphia, and went
to the Chestnut Street Theater. Staples had a fondness for
theaters, and on these occasions I followed his example. I
had been in a theater but once, when I saw Forrest in Boston,

20 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

in King Lear. At Philadelphia I bought a copy of Byron for
three dollars. That volume I yet have.

The Hon. William Parmenter, a Democrat, then represented
the district in Congress, and I carried one or more letters to
him — one from my employer Mr. Henry Woods, who was an
active Democrat. Mr. Parmenter was then about fifty years
of age, of heavy frame, swarthy complexion, and a man of
good natural abilities. He took me to Mr. Van Buren. We
found him alone, well dressed, polite- and rather gracious than
otherwise. Quite early in my visit, Mr. Parmenter took me
to the Pension Office, then presided over by Mr, Edwards.
Mr. Parmenter stated his business, and immediately attention
was given to my applications. In the course of a few days
some of the cases were disposed of, and in a few weeks my
docket was clear.

Caleb Butler was then postmaster at Groton. He had had
the place, probably from the days of John Quincy Adams
for as he was a violent Whig, he could not have received his
appointment from General Jackson, My employer, Mr.
Woods, was an applicant for the post-office, he being the only
Democrat in the street who had accommodations for the of-
fice. I carried papers in support of the application. Those
I gave probably to Mr. Parmenter, as I have no recollection
of any interview with any post-office official. Amos Kendall
was then Postmaster-General. He was a native of Dunstable,
and he had been a student at the Groton Academy when Mr.
Butler was the preceptor. Naturally and properly he sus-
tained his old teacher. The change however was made, and
upon the express instructions of Mr. Van Buren it was said.
Mr. Woods retained the office until his death in January,
1841, when I was appointed without any agency of my own,
but by the agency as I supposed of Gen. Staples. Upon
the election of General Harrison I was removed in the month
of April, and Mr. Butler was reappointed, an act of which I
never complained, nor had I any reason to complain.

At Washington we stopped at Gadsby's Hotel, now the
National. There I met and had some acquaintance with Mat-
thew L. Davis, " the Spy in Washington " as he called him-

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 21

self. He was a newspaper correspondent and the biographer of
Aaron Burr. He was a great admirer of Burr. Davis wore very-
thin clothing, scouted overcoats, and boasted that he slept
always in a room with open windows, and under very light bed
clothing. He was old and conceited, and as a permanent com-
panion, he could not have been otherwise than disagreeable.

At the Supreme Court I heard arguments by Webster and
Crittenden, on opposite sides. In the Senate I heard Web-
ster, Clay, Calhoun, and others in running debate, but not
in prepared speeches. The Senate then contained many
other men of note. Silas Wright, of New York ; Preston, of
South Carolina ; Benton, of Missouri ; Linn, of Missouri, more
remarkable for personal beauty than for talents. In the
House Mr. Adams was then a chief figure. His contest over
the right of petition had commended him to one portion of
the country, and made him the object of hostility to another
portion. I recall one Monday, when he had the right to
present petitions, and although they were laid on the table
without debate he was able to consume time by presenting
them singly. As the supply in his hands and on the table
seemed inexhaustible, a compromise was made finally, and
the petitions went in in mass. Of other speakers that I heard
I recall Henry A. Wise and Seargent S. Prentiss. Of their
style and quality I can say nothing. The reported speeches
of Prentiss do not justify the reputation that he enjoyed as an
orator when living.

The incident which produced the most lasting impression
upon me, when in Washington, was an interview with a slave,
a woman fifty years or more of age. I had then no love for
the system of slavery. I had read Clarkson's and Wilber-
force's writings, and I knew the history of the struggle in
England for the abolition of the slave trade, and slavery in
the British West Indies. I had also attended some anti-
slavery meetings in Massachusetts, at which the leaders, Phil-
lips, Garrison, Foster, Parker, and Pillsbury had denounced
the institution. Groton was a center of anti-slavery opera-
tions in that part of the State. Several copies of the Liberator
were taken in the town, and anti-slavery meetings were held

22 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

not infrequently. The first speech that George Thompson
made in America was made in Groton.

One Sunday morning I walked out towards what is now
called the Island. The road was marked by a rail fence, but
of buildings there were none. I went so far that I was near
the slave pen, a building now standing and which I have vis-
ited within a few years. It was of brick, enclosed within a
brick wall, and all of a dingy straw color. At a short dis-
tance from the building, I met a black woman walking slowly
away from it. I said to her: " What building is that?" At
once she was in tears, and she said : " That is the pen where
the poor black people are kept who are going down to Louisi-
ana." She had then been to visit her daughter, a girl about
eighteen years of age, according to the mother's statement,
who was to leave the next morning. She was the last of a
family of nine as the woman said, who had been sold and
taken away from her. As I was leaving I said : " Who is
your master?" She answered: " Mr. Blair, of the Globed In
the fourteen years of my manhood, that I acted with the
Democratic party, I never said anything in favor of the sys-
tem of slavery. If otherwise I might have done so, the inter-
view with that old woman would have restrained me.

VIII.

First Experience in Politics.

At the spring election of Groton in 1839, I ^^^s chosen a
member of the school committee. The other members had
been in the service in previous years. They were the Rev.
Charles Robinson, the Rev. Mr. Kittredge, Dr. Joshua Green,
and Dr. George Stearns. In the early Colonial period the
" minister " was often the school-master also. Naturally he
took an interest in the education of the children, and previous
to the time when school committees were required by statute,
he was the self-constituted guide of the teachers and schools.
Indeed, the schools were parochial. Whenever the minister

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 23

visited a school he made a prayer, and the morning exercise
in reading was in the New Testament Scriptures, — two verses
by each pupil. In 1840 the entire board was rejected, and a
board composed of school teachers and non-professional men
was chosen.

In 1838 the Massachusetts Legislature passed what was
known as the Fifteen-Gallon Law. The statute prohibited
the sale of distilled spirits in " less quantity than fifteen
gallons." It did not take effect immediately and the election
of that year was not seriously disturbed, but before the
autumn of 1839 the State was thoroughly aroused. A cry
was raised that it was a law to oppress the poor who could
not command means to purchase the quantity named, while
the rich would enjoy the use of liquor notwithstanding the
statute. The town of Groton was entitled to two members in
the house of representatives. Both parties nominated candi-
dates who favored the repeal of the Fifteen-Gallon Law. The
temperance voters put a ticket in the field, the Rev. Amasa
Sanderson, the minister of the Baptist Society, then a new
organization, and feeble in numbers and wealth, and myself.
At that time my associations were largely with Whigs, but I
was opposed to a national bank, and in favor of free trade.
With those views it was not possible for me to act with the Whig
Party on national questions or in national contests. Mr. Sand-
erson and I received about seventy-six votes, and as none of
the candidates had a majority, the town was unrepresented.

Edward Everett was Governor when the law was passed,
and he was a candidate for re-election in 1839. I supported
Mr. Everett on the temperance issue against Judge Marcus
Morton, who was the candidate of the Democratic Party.
Judge Morton had been on the bench of the Supreme Judi-
cial Court where he had the reputation of an able judge by
the side of Shaw, Wilde and Putnam. At that time I had not
seen Morton or Everett. In the year 1836 or 1837 I went to
Boston to hear Alex. H. Everett deliver a Democratic Fourth
of July oration. The effort was a disappointment to me.
A. H. Everett had a reputation as an orator, but he was far
inferior to his brother Edward. In later years I heard Edward

24 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Everett often. His genius in preparation and in the delivery
of his orations and speeches was quite equal to anything we
can imagine at Athens and by Athenian orators, excepting
only the force of the argument.

In 185 1 or 1852 I was present at an agricultural fair at
Northampton and in company with Mr. Everett. After din-
ner speeches were made. When we rode to the fair grounds
in the morning a dense river fog covered the valley but at ten
o'clock it lifted, and the day became clear. At the dinner Mr.
Everett in his speech described the morning, the dense fog, the
lifting, the sun illumining first the hills and then the valleys,
revealing the spires of the churches, etc. For the moment I
was deceived. But when he had concluded I saw him hand
his manuscript to a reporter and the speech appeared the next
morning, verbatim as he had delivered it. He knew the river
towns, and he knew that every fair day in autumn was preceded
by a dense fog, and the speech was written upon that theory.
What alternative he had prepared in case of a rain, I know not.

As a judge, and at the same time the candidate of the
Democratic Party for Governor for many years, the rank and
file of the party came to regard Judge Morton as a man of fine
abilities and sterling integrity. His abilities were sturdy rather
than attractive. In this respect he was the opposite of Gov-
ernor Everett. In the canvass of 1839 Morton was elected
by one vote in a contest of unusual warmth. This election
removed him from the bench, much to his regret, it was said
as under the circumstances he could hardly hope for a re-
election. The House and Senate were controlled by the
Whigs, and the Governor was surrounded by a council com-
posed of Whigs. The Fifteen-Gallon Law was repealed and
in other respects the government was not difTerent from what
it would have been had Mr. Everett been re-elected.

Governor Morton continued to be the Democratic candi-
date, and though defeated in 1840 and 1841 by John Davis,
he was again elected in 1843 by the Legislature, there having
been no choice by the people, a majority being required.
The Senate was Democratic by a considerable majority. The
House was equally divided at the opening of the session, and

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 25

there were four abolitionists who held the balance of power.
After several trials the Whigs succeeded in electing Daniel P.
King, of Danvers, by the help of one or more of the aboli-
tionists. There were several contested seats, and when the
house had been purged, as the process was called, the Demo-
crats were in a majority. The session was a short one. A
few political measures were passed, salaries were reduced, and
much below a reasonable compensation for those days even.
Governor Morton had a Democratic Council, but they were
not agreed in policy and the administration lost strength even
with Democrats. Its defeat, in the autumn was inevitable,
and Gov. Morton ceased to be a candidate for an office that
he had sought in twenty elections and gained in two. With
others I lost confidence in his ability, but that confidence
I afterwards regained.

He was a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Con-
vention of 1853, and in that body his ability was conspicuous.
His style was clear and logical, and his processes of reason-
ing were legal and judicial in character. In his speeches he
avoided authorities and spurned notes. He prepared himself
by reading and reflection, and the arrangement was dictated
by the logic of the case. His speeches were the speeches of
a strong man, and he was a dangerous antagonist in debate.
His reasoning was faultless and he kept his argument free
from all surplus matter.

In a conversation that I once had with him at his home in
Taunton, he said that the best legal argument to which he
had ever listened was made by Samuel Dexter. As Governor
Morton had heard Pinckney, Wirt, Webster, Mason, Choate,
Curtis and many others, the praise of Dexter was not faint
praise.

IX.

The Election of 1840.

In the early summer of 1840 the great contest began, which
ended in the defeat of Mr. Van Buren and the election of

26 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Gen. Harrison to the Presidency. The real issues were not
much discussed — certainly not by the Whigs. In reality the
results were due to the general prostration of business and
the utter discredit that had fallen upon General Jackson's pet
bank system. The Independent Treasury System, as it was
termed by Democrats, or the Sub-Treasury System, as it was
called by the Whigs, had not been tested.

The country was tired of experiments and all the evils,
which were many, that then afflicted the people, were attrib-
uted to the experiments of General Jackson in vetoing the
bills for the recharter of the United States Bank and for the
institution of the pet bank system. In truth the country was
wedded to the idea that the funds of the government should
be so placed that they could be used to facilitate business.
That idea and the practice arising from it were full of peril.
In the infancy of a country, when the resources are inade-
quate, a national bank, assuming that it is managed honestly
and wisely, may be an important aid, but time being given, it
will inevitably become a political machine in a country, like
the United States, where the political aspirations of the
people are active and the temptations to seek the aid of the
money power are always great. Even in modern times, with
a surplus of millions in the banks of the city of New York,
for which no proper use can be found, there are indications
of a purpose to return to the pet bank system under another
name.

Gen. Harrison, the nominee of the Whig Party, was then
sixty-seven years of age by the record, but the public opin-
ion credited him with several more years. His mental pow-
ers were not of a superior quality, and his life had not been
of a sort to develop his faculties. He had done good service
in the Indian wars of the frontier and as commander at the
battle of Tippecanoe he had won a reputation as a soldier.
During the war of 1812, he commanded the army of the
Northwest, and with honor. He had had a seat in each
House of Congress, he had represented the government at
the capital of a South American Republic, and all with credit,
and all without distinction. His career had been sufficiently

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 27

conspicuous to justify his friends in eulogies in the party
papers and speeches ; and neither as good pohcy nor just
treatment should his opponents have been betrayed into criti-
cisms of his military and civil life. The Democrats were un-
wise enough to raise an issue upon his military career, and
the result was greatly to their loss. His frontier life in a log
cabin was also the subject of ridicule at the opening of the
campaign. The Whigs accepted the issue, built log cabins
on wheels and drew them over the country from one mass
meeting to another. The unfortunate remark was made by a
writer or speaker that if Harrison had a log cabin and plenty
of hard cider he would be content. A barrel became the
emblem of the Whig Party. The log cabin was furnished
with a cider barrel at the door, and the emblematic barrel
was seen on cane heads and breast pins.

Mr. Webster struck a fatal blow at the error of the Demo-
cratic Party: — " Let him be the log cabin candidate. What
you say in scorn we will shout with all our lungs. ... It did
not happen to me to be born in a log cabin; but my elder
brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin raised amid the
snow drifts of New Hampshire, at a period so early that when
the smoke first rose from its rude chimney and curled over
the frozen hills there was no similar evidence of a white man's
habitation between it and the settlements on the rivers of
Canada. ... If ever I am ashamed of it, or if I ever fail in
affectionate remembrance of him who reared it, and defended
it against savage violence and destruction, cherished all the
domestic virtues beneath its roof, and through the fire and
blood of a seven years' Revolutionary war, shrunk from no
danger, no toil, no sacrifice to save his country and to raise
his children to a condition better than his own, may my name
and the name of my posterity be blotted forever from the
memory of mankind."

John Tyler of Virginia, was placed on the Whig ticket as
the candidate for Vice-President. Tyler had been a Demo-
crat and the opinions of the States Rights wing of the Demo-
cratic Party were his opinions, notwithstanding his associations
with the Whig Party. His nomination was due to the dispo-

28 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

sition to balance the ticket by selecting one of the candidates
from each wing of the party — and there are always two wings
to a party.

Of poetry the Whig writers furnished much more than was
enjoyed by Democrats. An effort was made to stay the tide
in favor of Harrison by poetry as well as by argument. The
effort was fruitless. The contest of 1840 had its origin in the
most distressing financial difficulties that ever rested upon
the country, and it was conducted on the part of the Whigs
by large expenditures of money, for those days, and with a
degree of hilarity and good nature that it is difficult now to
realize. This mav have been due to general confidence, and
to a consequent belief that a change of administration would
be followed by general prosperity.

The Whigs were not under the necessity of submitting ar-
guments to their followers, and the arguments of Democrats
were of no avail. The Whig papers in all parts of the coun-
try contained lists of names of Democrats who were support-
ing General Harrison. Occasionally the Democratic papers
could furnish a short list of Whigs who declared for Van
Buren in preference to Harrison. The most absurd stories
were told of the administration, and apparently they were ac-
cepted as truth. Charles J. Ogle, of Pennsylvania, delivered
a speech in the House of Representatives in which he mar-
shaled all the absurd stories that were afloat. He charged
among other things that Van Buren had sets of gold spoons.
The foundation for the statement was the fact that there were
spoons in the Executive Mansion that were plated or washed
with gold on the inside of the bowls. Those spoons were
there in General Grant's time, but so much like brass or
copper in appearance that one would hesitate about using
them. Another idle story believed by the masses was that
the Navy bought wood in New Orleans at a cost of twenty-
- four dollars a cord and carried it to Florida for the use of
the troops during the Seminole war of 1837-8. Isaac C.
Morse, of Louisiana, was one of the Congressional bearers or
mourners at the funeral of John Ouincy Adams, in 1848. He
was a Whig member and his district in 1840 was on the Texas

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 29

frontier. At one of the evening sessions of mourning, while
the Committee was in Boston, he gave an account of his cam-
paign, and he recited a speech made by a young orator who
went out with him as an aid. The speech opened thus :
" Fellow Citizens; who is Daniel Webster? Daniel Webster
is a man up in Massachusetts making a dictionary. Who is
General Harrison? Everybody knows who General Harrison
is. He is Tippecanoe and Tyler too. But who is Martin
Van Bulen? Martin Van Bulen ! He is the man who bought
the wood in the Orleans, paid twenty-four dollars a cord for
it, carried it round to Florida and had to cut down the trees
to land it." A fellow in the crowd cried out, " Carrying coals
to Newcastle." " Yes," said the speaker, " them coals he
carried to Newcastle. I don't know so much about the coals,
but about the wood I've got the documents."

The general public was not only disposed to accept every
wild statement, but the average intelligence was much below
the present standard, and the means of communication were
poor. If, however, there had been no canvass, the overthrow
of Van Buren would have occurred. The defeat of the United
States Bank, and the failure of the pet bank system, had been
attended by disorders in the finances, the ruin of manu-
factures, a reduction in wages, with all the incident evils.
As these evils were coincident in time with the measures, the
measures were treated as the guilty cause. Beyond question,
Mr. Clay's tariff bill contributed to the troubles.

George Bancroft, the historian, was then collector of the
port of Boston. He took an active part in the canvass in
Massachusetts. On the evening of Saturday previous to the
election in Massachusetts, he spoke at Groton in a building
afterwards known as Liberty Hall.*

* It was then an unfinished building and stood where the Willow Dale road
connects with Hollis Street. The building had been erected by a body of people
who advocated the union of all the churches. They called themselves Unionists.
Their leader was the Rev. Silas Hawley. He was a vigorous thinker, a close
reasoner, and he displayed great knowledge of the Bible. His following
became considerable. The excitement extended to the neighboring towns and
for a time serious inroads were made upon the churches of the village.

The no-creed doctrine was accepted by some who never believed in any

30 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Mr. Bancroft had a full House, but not an enthusiastic one.
Many of his hearers were Whigs, who came from curiosity, but
not to cheer the speaker. Moreover, the news of the New
York election, then held the first three days of the week,
was not encouraging to Democrats. After the meeting Mr.
Bancroft was taken to the tavern, where a supper was served
to him and to a small number of Democrats. Mr. Bancroft
was excited, and walking the room he said : " I do believe
if General Harrison is elected. Divine Providence will inter-
fere and prevent his ever becoming President of the United
States." These words of disappointment seemed prophecy,
when the death of Harrison occurred within thirty days after
his inauguration.

In his address Mr. Bancroft spoke with great confidence of
the vote of New York. There were some conscientious Demo-
crats in his audience, who remembered the remarks, and it was
with great reluctance that they gave him their votes when he
was a candidate for Governor in 1844.

The more considerate members of the Democratic Party
apprehended defeat from the opening of the canvass. As early
as June 17, the Whigs had enormous mass meetings at Boston
and Bunker Hill. The Democrats were not inert. The
Governor of the State was a Democrat and there were those
who had hopes of his re-election. In set-off of the great
meeting of the 17th of June at Charlestown, the Democrats
prepared for a similar meeting on Lexington Green, July 4.
The concourse of people was large. Governor Morton was
present and spoke. I there met William D. Kelley, who
spoke to a portion of the crowd from a wagon. He was then
employed in a jeweller's establishment in Boston.

creed, and by others who had believed in creeds that they then thought were
false. In the year 1838, Ilawley convened a " World's Convention" at Liberty
Hall, called by the wicked " Polliwog Chapel," to consider the subject of uniting
all the churches in one church without a creed.

One afternoon early in the week of the session, I saw three men walking on
the street towards Liberty Hall, with knapsacks buckled on their backs. One
of these was Theodore Parker, one George Ripley, and the third, T think, was
Charles A. Dana. In this I may be in error. Parker told me in after years
when he had a wide-spread reputation, that his first public speech was made in
that convention.

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 3 1

Groton sent a company of volunteers for the day numbering
about seventy-five men, under command of Captain William
Shattuck, then a sturdy Democrat and afterwards an equally
sturdy Republican. Shattuck was the grandson of Captain
Job Shattuck, of Shays' Rebellion. Job Shattuck had been a
captain in the War of the Revolution, and he was always an
earnest patriot. He was also a man of wealth, having large
possessions in land, and being wholly exempt from the
pecuniary distresses that harassed the majority of men, from
the close of the war to the close of the century. Job Shat-
tuck's action was due to his sympathy for the sufferers and to
his sense of justice. In every town there were traders and
small capitalists who had supplied the families of soldiers
who were absent in the service.

Either by mortgage or by executions, the creditors had
secured liens upon the homesteads of the soldiers and from
1783 to 1789 the liens were enforced. Petitions went up to
the General Court for a stay act. James Bowdoin was
Governor. The General Court did not listen to the appeal.
Daniel Shays and others organized forces for the suppression
of the Courts. Shattuck was the leader in the county of
Middlesex, and at the head of his force he broke up the
Court at Concord. Finally he was arrested. Major Woods,
who had been an officer in the war, was in command of the
Government forces. Shattuck was secreted at the house of
one Gregg, who lived near where the house of John Gilson
now stands.-^ The season was winter. It was believed that
Gregg betrayed Shattuck. When Shattuck discovered his
peril, he fled and made his way towards the Nashua River,
which was then frozen. His pursuers followed, but at unequal
pace. When he had crossed the river, he saw that the three
men in sight were widely separated from each other. Shattuck
turned, and for a time he became the pursuer. The first man
ran, then the second, but finally Shattuck fell on the ice, with

1 [There is a slight inaccuracy in this account of Shattuck's capture which I
will try to correct. He is supposed to have passed the night at the house of
Samuel Gragg, who lived where Daniel Shattuck lived when Mr. Butler's Map
of the town was made in 1828, near the site of the District School-house
No. V. on Common Street. S. A. G.]

32 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

sword in hand. His pursuers seized him. Upon his refusal
to surrender his sword, they cut the cords of his hand, and
wounded him in the leg. He was tried, sentenced to be
hanged, and confined in the jail at Concord.

The election of 1786 turned upon the questions at issue,
and especially upon the execution of the persons under sen-
tence. Bowdoin was the candidate of the " Law-and-Order
Party," and John Hancock was nominated by the friends of
the convicts. Hancock was elected by a vote of about nine-
teen thousand against less than six thousand for Bowdoin.
The convicts were pardoned, and a stay law was passed. The
demand of the Shays men was reasonable, and the Govern-
ment was guilty of a criminal error in resisting it.

The Shays Rebellion was beneficial to Massachusetts, and
it contributed to the argument in favor of the Constitution of
the United States.

The town of Groton continued in the control of Shattuck
and his friends for many years after the suppression of the
Rebellion. During that period he was drawn as a juror.
When his name was called the judge repeated it, and said,
" Job Shattuck ! He can't sit on the jury in this Court." As
Shattuck came out of the seat limping he said : " I have
broken up one Court here, and things won't be right, until I
break up another."

Something of the spirit of Job Shattuck has been exhibited
in the larger portion of his numerous descendants. They
have been devoted to liberty and just in their dealings.
These two qualities were conspicuous in his grandson, Captain
William Shattuck.

I took part in the canvass of 1840 and made speeches in
Groton and in several of the towns in the vicinity. I was also
the candidate of the Democratic Party for a seat in the House
of Representatives. There was no opposition for the nomi-
nation, although there were many Democrats who thought
that my defection the preceding year had prevented the elec-
tion of the Democratic candidates. My temperance opinions
were offensive to many, if not to a majority of the party. On
the other hand there were a number of young members of the

GEORGE SEWALL BOUTWELL. 33

Whig Party whose votes I could command. As a final fact,
the political feeling was then so strong that all considerations
yielded to the chances and hopes of success.

My opponent, and the successful candidate, was Mr. John
Boynton, afterward, and for a single year, a member of the
senate. He was a native of the town, a blacksmith by trade,
and the son of a blacksmith. He was a man of quiet ways,
upright, and known to every voter. He had been in the
office of town clerk for many years, he had been kind to
everyone, and he had no enemies. Boynton was elected,
but by a moderate majority. But for the excitement of the
Presidential election, the contest would have been very close.

The death of General Harrison and the elevation of John
Tyler to the Presidency wrought a great change in the for-
tunes of the Whig Party. Soon after the assembling of Con-
gress at the extra session, called by President Harrison, a bill
for a Fiscal Bank was passed by the two Houses, and vetoed
by President Tyler. The veto message was so framed as to
encourage the Whig leaders to pass a second bill in a form
designed to avoid the objections of the President.

In the discussion upon the veto of the first bill, Mr. Clay
assailed the President in such terms that a reconciliation was
impossible. From that moment it was the purpose of the
President to co-operate with the Democratic Party. A second
bill was passed. That was also vetoed by the President.
Early in September all the members of the Cabinet resigned
except Mr. Webster. The outgoing members gave reasons
to the public, and Mr. Webster gave reasons for not going.
Caleb Cushing, Henry A. Wise, and a few other Whigs,
called the Omnibus Party chose their part with Webster and
Tyler. The Whig Party was divided, hopelessly.

Previous to the division, a bill had passed, which had been
approved by the President, for the repeal of the Independent
Treasury System. The ardor of its enemies was such that no
substitute was provided. The expectation was that a Fiscal
Bank, or Fiscal Agent, would be created. The failure of the
bank bills left the Government without any lawful system of
finance. The pet bank system was restored, in fact. The

34 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

rupture in the Whig Party contributed to its defeat in Massa-
chusetts at the election in 1842, but the party was so compact
in 1 841 that its triumph was assured. Mr. Webster defended
his course, and with few exceptions his conduct was either
approved or tolerated in Massachusetts.

THE RICHARDS FAMILY.

A LITTLE less than three quarters of a century ago there
lived in Groton a family that has left a fragrant memory
among the older people of the town, but now is nearly for-
gotten by the present generation. I refer to Henry Augustus
Richards 's large family, of which the girls were noted for
their physical beauty. Some years ago I asked my friend,
the late Almon Danforth Hodges (H. C. 1864), who was
intimate with many of the members after they left Groton, to
give me a sketch of the family, which he did in the following
letter :

Dr. Samuel A. Green.

Dear Sir: In answer to your questions concerning the Richards
Family once resident in Groton, Mass., I send you the following infor-
mation which I have gleaned chiefly from members of the family now
living in Boston.

The eldest member of the family to come to Groton was Peter
Richards, a native of New London, Conn., and a descendant of John
Richards senior, who came before 1660 to New London according to
its historian. Miss Caulkins. John Richards senior begat John junior,
who begat George, who begat Guy senior, who begat Guy junior, who
begat Peter, all of New London, where the family was numerous and
prominent. Peter's grandfather, Capt. Guy Richards, was a Revolu-
tionary soldier; his uncle, Capt. Peter Richards, was killed in 1781
at Fort Griswold after the garrison had surrendered to the British
under Benedict Arnold, as commemorated on the monument at
Groton, Conn. Peter's father was Guy Richards junior, the first City
Treasurer of New London, and his mother was Hannah Dolbeare,
and he had twelve brothers and sisters.

THE RICHARDS FAMILY. 35

Peter Richards was born in 1778, married, on November 25, 1800
Ann Channing Huntington, daughter of Brigadier General Jedediah
Huntington of Revolutionary fame, and raised a family of nine chil-
dren, who all married and made homes of their own in different States.
He was a merchant and resided in his native town until his last child
had married and left him. Then, owing partly to poor health and
partly to parental love, he gave up business and with his wife resided
alternately with those of his children who lived in New England,
chiefly with his eldest son whose family seems to have been especially
attractive. Thus it was that he came to Groton, of which place, how-
ever, I think he was never a legal resident. In time his children
came to feel the need of a central home, where the parents, now fast
aging, could cease from wandering; and they built a house in the
quiet and beautiful village of Washington, Connecticut, adjacent to
the home of the youngest daughter, whose husband, Rev. Ephraim
Lyman, was pastor of the Congregational Church of that place. Here
Peter Richards and his wife spent their last years, tenderly cared for
and cheered by the frequent visits of those dearest to them. And
here they passed quietly away, she on the 9th day of January 1857,
and he on June 17, 1863.

The eldest child of Peter and Ann Channing (Huntington) Richards
was Henry Augustus Richards, of whom more later. The next was Dr.
Wolcott Richards, a graduate of the Yale Medical School in 1825, who
practised medicine for many years in Cincinnati. He married twice
and in his later years lived in Roxbury and Waltham, Mass., and died
in New York City. The third child, Channing Richards, was a mer-
chant, married and lived in Cincinnati, and there died. The fourth
child, Ann Huntington Richards, married Rev. James Woods McLane,
a Presbyterian minister of New York City and Williamsburgh. The
fifth child was Eliza Richards who married James Haughton of Boston,
one of the most charming men I ever met. His firm, Haughton,
Sawyer & Co., was very prominent in the wholesale dry goods busi-
ness. The sixth child, Peter Richards, with a residence in- Brooklyn,
engaged in business in New York City for many years, then retired,
and ended his days in Geneva, N. Y. He married twice. The
seventh child was Hannah Dolbeare Richards, wife of Rev. Ephraim
Lyman of Washington, Conn. She, the last of her generation, is still
living — in Clifton Springs, N. Y. The eighth child was Rev. George
Richards. He was graduated at Yale in 1840, was a tutor there and
Fellow of the University, became pastor of the Winter Street Church
in Boston, then was settled at Bridgeport, Conn., and died at Litch-

36 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

field in 1870. The youngest child, Jedediah Huntington Richards,
practised medicine in Cincinnati, but his health was poor and he
returned to the East and died in Washington, Conn.

Henry Augustus Richards, the eldest child, born in New London
November 14, 1801, for some years was engaged in the manufacture
of cottons at Uncasville, Connecticut. His health, however, was not
sufficiently rugged to stand the strain incident to his position, and in
the hope of bettering it, his mill was handed over to Charles Lewis,
son of his uncle James a wealthy resident of New London, and
he undertook the selling of the cotton goods in New York City.
The change proved, however, detrimental, and his physician ordered
a country life and out-of-door living. So he bought a farm in Groton,
Massachusetts, and here came to live in the year 1 841, just after the
death of President Harrison. The estate which he bought had been
previously owned by the father of Margaret Fuller, and in the immediate
neighborhood of the Lawrence Farm. It occupied one of the finest
sites in Groton, on Pleasant Street at the beginning of Farmers' Row.
It is now owned by the Hon. William F. Wharton, formerly Assistant
Secretary of State,

When Mr. Richards came te Groton he brought with him a wife,
five sons and three daughters, and here were born to him another son
and another daughter. The old mansion on Pleasant Street where
Timothy Fuller and his daughter Sarah Margaret had toiled amid
shadows, now was the sunny scene of hospitality, of matronly grace,
and of youthful glee and beauty. The daughters were noted for their
lovely faces and charming manners, and as they grew up it was a dis--
puted point among their admirers as to which one was the hand-
somest. According to my remembrance at a later date than the
Groton days, the young men were chronologically divided in opinion
into sets, each set deciding in favor of that girl whose age was just a
little less than their own. The daughters themselves, however, seem
to have been a unit in their judgment. They agreed with Milton :
" the loveliest of her daughters, Eve," and unanimously awarded the
palm to their mother.

The mother was Julia Ann Haughton, daughter of William and
Olive (Chester) Haughton, and sister of that James Haughton who
married Eliza Richards, as previously mentioned. She was born May
28, 1805 at Montville, Connecticut, and married Mr. Richards on
August 3, 1824 at New London. I never saw her, but her portrait,
painted by her cousin Daniel Huntington, the well-known artist of New
York, graces the home of one of her daughters. Of her charming

THE RICHARDS FAMILY. 37

personality, her wifely affection and her motherly love, I have heard
ample testimony.

The attractiveness of the Groton home was heightened by the fre-
quent presence of grandfather and grandmother Richards, and also of
the widowed grandmother Haughton, who seemed to find no place so
charming as that where these children were, and who spent her last
years with them.

Mr. and Mrs. Richards united with the Congregational Church, then
under the charge of Rev. Dudley Phelps (Y. C. 1823), and came to
know intimately the family of their pastor. The children were members
of the Sunday School, one or more of the daughters being in the class
taught by Mrs. Mary Woodbury, who quickly won the love and
respect of her pupils. Mrs. Woodbury, before and after the death of
her mother, Mrs. Samuel Lawrence, lived at the Lawrence homestead
where she often gathered the children in entertainments remembered
still with delight. Mrs. Woodbury's sister, Mrs. Eliza Green, had a
pleasant home in the village where the Richards children were made
welcome ; and she too figures largely in the sunny memories of
Groton. Indeed the family seems to have been well liked in the
place, to have found many pleasant acquaintances, and to have
formed some friendships which long survived the shock of separation
and the formation of new ties. All the children, except the young-
est, attended the Lawrence Academy. Here the eldest daughter, in
a class with five young men, was fitted for college by the principal,
Rev. James Means, whom she esteemed a most learned, kind and
efficient teacher.

Of the Groton stories told to me, I repeat one which illustrates
not only the way in which children were then brought up, but also
the curiously persistent clinging of an unimportant incident in the child-
ish memory. A few years after the arrival of the family, " tall Miss
Butler " (so described to me) paid a formal call, and of course was
received in the best room. Charles and Mary, being at home, were
brought into the parlor and perched on tall ottomans, one on each
side of the fireplace, where they remained during the call perfectly
quiet and apparently unnoticed. But when Miss Butler took her
leave, she said in words remembered to this day : " Mrs. Richards, I
really must tell you how much I admire your mantel ornaments''

Mr. Richards worked on his farm for eight years, with such appar-
ent benefit to his health that, when his brother Peter offered him
a partnership in the wool business in New York City, he did not hesi-
tate to accept the offer. He sold his farm in 1849, ^^'^ ^"^ ^^S^ after

38 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

living for a year in the house^ which Rev. Mr. Phelps had previously
occupied, the family moved to Greenwich, Conn. Here the father
bought a house and made a new home, going daily to his office in New
York City. But the previous warning of the doctors had been only
too well founded. Mr. Richards' health broke down utterly. The
death of his wife, on August 23, 1853, was a terrible blow to him,
and he followed her two years later, on June 11, 1855. The oldest
son, William Haughton Richards, a Yale graduate of 1850, of fine
mental acquirements and great charm of person, had died at Brooklyn,
N. Y. on May 17, 1855, when he was apparently entering on a career
of success as a lawyer. Thus the care of the family devolved princi-
pally on the second son, Wolcott Augustus Richards, and the eldest
daughter, Julia Augusta. A favorable offer from his uncle James
Haughton caused Mr. Wolcott A. Richards to move to Roxbury,
then a separate city, but now a part of Boston. He took his sisters
with him. His brothers, one by one, found their opportunities in
other places. Greenwich was the last place in which the family were
united in one home.

The oldest son, whose talents were displayed in many directions,
became interested in the history of his ancestors and prepared a
genealogical chart, the data of which have been printed in Morse's
Ancient Puritans, vol. iii : pp. 93-104. I append here the record of
the last generation, preceded by the male line of ancestry.

1. John ^ Richards, possibly of Plymouth, Mass. ; of New London,

Conn., before 1660 ; d. 1687. Had 8 children. His oldest son
was :

2. Lieut. John^ Richards, b. 1666, New London; d. Nov. 2,

1720, New London; m. Love Manvvaring dau. of Oliver
Manwaring of New London. Had 10 children, His 3rd child
was :

3. Capt. George* Richards, b. 1695, New London; d, 1750,

New London ; m. Nov. 14, 1716, Esther Hough. Had 6
children. His 3rd child was :

4. Capt. Guy* Richards, b. 1722, New London; d. 1782, New

London; m. Jany 18, 1746, Elizabeth Harris. Had 10
children. His oldest child was :

1 This house was built by Mrs. Phelps's father (Benjamin Mark Far-
ley) in the year 1S33, when he first came to Groton to live. It is situated
at the corner of Hollis and Main Streets, and looks to the southward.
At the present time it is owned by Mrs. Daniel Needham.

•

THE RICHARDS FAMILY. 39

GuY^ Richards, b. 1747, New London; d. 1825, New London;
m. June 17, 1773, Hannah Dolbeare. Had 13 children.
His 4th child was :

Peter® Richards, b. 178S, New London; d. June 17, 1863,
Washington, Ct. ; m. Nov. 25, 1800, Anne Channing Hun-
tington, dau. of Gen. Jedediah «Sr Ann (Moore) Huntington,
b. 1780; d. Jany 9, 1857, Washington, Ct. Had 9 children
The oldest was :

Henry Augustus '' Richards, b. Nov. 14, 1801, New London ;
d. June II, 1855, Greenwich, Ct.; m. Aug. 3, 1824, New Lon-
don, Julia Ann Haughton, dau. of William & Olive (Chester)
Haughton, b. May 28, 1805, Montville, Ct.; d. Aug. 23, 1853
Greenwich. Had i o children, viz :

Children of Henry Augustus and Julia Ann (Haughton)

Richards :

i. William Haughton, b. 1825 June 5, Uncasville, Ct. ; d. 1855.
May 17, Brooklyn, N. Y. unm.

ii. Wolcott Augustus, b. 1826 Nov. 9, Uncasville ; d. 187 1 May 9,
Boston, Mass. ; m. 1862 Sept. 10, Roxbury, Mass. Mary,
Baker Kitiredge, dau. of Alvah & Mehitable (Grozier) Kit-
tredge of Roxbury.

iii. Julia Augusta, b. 1828 July 26, Uncasville ; d. Sept. 8, 1909,
(Roxbury) Boston, Mass.

iv. Henry Huntington, b. 1830 Feb. 22, New London, Ct. ;
living 1902, California; m. (i) 1872, Laramie City, Wyoming,
Harriet A. Rice ; m (2) 1889 New Bedford, Mass. Mrs. Eliza
y. Baker.

V. James Haughton, b. 1831 Dec. 14, New York City; d. i860.
Camp Floyd, Utah, while in the employ of the U. S. Govern-
ment ; ufim.

vi. Anne Channing, b. 1834 Aug. 9, New York City; living 1902
at 50 Moreland Street, (Roxbury) Boston; m. 1858 Sept. 8,
Roxbury, William Porter Kittredge, son of Alvah & Me-
hitable (Grozier) Kittredge of Roxbury.

vii. Charles Henshaw, b. 1837 Sept. 4, New London; d. 1898
Oct. 6, Portland, Oregon; m. 1872 June 10, San Francisco,'
Cal., Mildred Elizabeth Pawky.

viii. Mary Ivers, b. 1840 April 28, New York City; living 1902 at

40 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

26 Perrin Street (Roxbury) Boston; m. 1863 July i,Eoxbury,
Danforth Comstock Hodges, son of Almon Danforth & Martha
(Comstock) Hodges, of Roxbury.
ix. Adelaide Lewis, b. 1844 Feb 3, Groton, Mass. ; living 1902
at 51 West 38th Street, New York City ; m. 1866 Oct. 10, Bos-
ton, Dr. jfames Woods McLane, son of Rev. James Woods
& Anne Huntington (Richards) McLane. Dr. McLane died
in New York, on November 25, 19 12.
X. Gu\' Richards, b. 1848 Nov. 11, Groton; d. 1858 Nov. 30,
Roxbury.

Yours very truly

A. D. Hodges, Jr.
Boston, January, 1902.

GROTON BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The following letter was written to me many years ago by
Mr. Alpheus Richardson, who kept a bookstore and bindery
at the corner of Main and Elm Streets. His business was
carried on in an ell connected with his house. He published
several books, of which the most important were two editions
of the New Testament, one of them appearing in the year
1833, and the other in 1846. Below is given the title of each
edition:

Methuen, Sept. 25, 1S51.

Dear Friend, — Yours of the 15th was received some days since
stating that you were engaged in collecting all works, etc., published
in Groton. When I resided in town I published two different edi-
tions of testaments ; one a small pocket edition, 32° size, the other a
24° size, which I published 10 or 12 years [ago] ; also a book called
the New Primer, of about 40 pages which I published seven thou-
sand and five hundred ; also a book called the Broken Vase, a narra-
tive of about 70 pages, which is all I published while I was in town,
except several small pamphlets, which is so long since I have forgot-
ten about them. I hope you will succeed in collecting all the matter
published in town and be able to get up quite a catalogue, which

GROTON BIBLIOGRAPHY. 4I

will make it appear that there was something doing in town in former
days as well [as] at present.

Yours truly,

Alpheus Richardson.

P. S. Please to give our best respects to your father and mother
and to all of our inquiring friends ; say to them that we are all well
hoping they enjoy the same.

A. R.

The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ : translated
out of the Original Greek ; and with the former translations
diligently compared and revised. Stereotype edition. Groton,
Mass. Printed and published by Alpheus Richardson. 1833.
i6mo. pp. 335, (i).

The frontispiece is a rude cut representing Christ and little
children ; the following Revelation is " An account of the
Lives, Sufferings, and Martyrdom, of the Apostles and Evan-
gelists," and also " A table of Kindred and Affinity, wherein
whatsoever are related are forbidden in Scripture, and by
our Laws, to marry together."

The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, translated
out of the Original Greek ; and with the former translation dili-
gently compared and revised. Stereotyped by Luther Roby,
Concord, N. H. Groton, Ms. Published by A. Richardson.
1846. i6mo. pp. 254.

Luther Roby, who made the stereotype plates of this later
edition, was the youngest son of James and Lucy (Cutter)
Roby, of Amherst, New Hampshire, where he was born on
January 8, 1801.

During my boyhood these two editions of the Testament
were common, particularly in the public schools where they
were used, but now they are very rarely seen. At that pe-
riod the first exercise of the scholars in the morning was the
reading of one or two verses from the New Testament.

Mr. Richardson took up his abode in the town of Methuen
about the year 1850.

42 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

EARLY RECOLLECTIONS.

Among my early recollections was a stage-driver, Henry
Lewis Lawrence by name, who drove a coach from Groton
to Lowell and afterward to Fitchburg. He lived in the three-
story building at the south corner of Broad Meadow road
and Main street, opposite to the northerly corner of the com-
mon. Mr. Lawrence was the second son of Daniel Hall and
Kezia (Shattuck) Lawrence, of Pepperell, where he was born
on November 8, 1808. His mother had ten children, who all
lived to grow up to manhood or womanhood, and all but one
was married. His eldest sister, Kezia, was the wife of Moses
Gill of Groton, a well-known innholder, whom many persons
still remember.

The mother died on October 4, 1822 — the day after
giving birth to her tenth child — aged 41 yrs. 6 mos. and
3 days.

On December 20, 1832, Henry L. Lawrence married, at
Westford, Martha H. Leighton of that town ; and they had
three children born at Groton as follows : VVilHam Henry, on
October 14, 1834; George Lewis, on August 14, 1836; Maria
Augusta, on January 9, 1839.

These two boys I knew very well and used to play with
them, though they were somewhat younger than I was. We
went to the same school, old District No. i, which stood op-
posite to the academy grounds. Many years ago Willard
Torrey gave me a list of the scholars that attended this
school in the winter of 1839-40, when he was a school com-
mittee man. At that time Edmund Dana Bancroft was the
teacher, and the paper is printed in the Groton Historical
Series (HL 151). According to this Hst the salary of the
master was eighteen dollars a month.

Both these boys served in the army during the War of the
Rebellion with great credit to themselves, and for that reason
I write this notice of them.

" Billy" Lawrence, as I used to call the elder of the brothers,
was mustered into the service of the United States on May 25,

EARLY RECOLLECTIONS. 43

1 86 1, as first lieutenant, and was appointed adjutant of the
First Massachusetts Volunteers. On the staff of General
Hooker, August 23, 1861, major, aide-de-camp, U. S. Volun-
teers, November 10, 1862. Engaged at the battles of Antie-
tam, Lookout Mountain and Peach Tree Creek. Brevet Lieut.
Colonel and Brig. General U. S. Volunteers, March 13, 1865.
Mustered out on July 10, 1866, and died at East Boston on
November 22, 1874.

For some years before his death he held a responsible po-
sition at the Boston Custom House. No native of Groton
during the war reached so high military rank as did Billy
Lawrence.

The Fitchburg Daily Sentinel, September 26, 1893, gives
a sketch of George, the younger brother, which is so com-
plete that I send it with no additions. It is a just tribute to
a brave soldier and a worthy man :

Lieut. George L. Lawrence, the first Fitchburg man to enter the
United States service for three years during the late war, died at his
home, 39 Cottage square, this morning, after a wasting illness that ex-
tended over a period of more than ten years.

Lieut. Lawrence was the son of Henry L., and the late Martha H.
(Leighton) Lawrence, and was born at Groton, August 14, 1836.
His parents moved to Fitchburg when he was seven years old, and
he attended the public schools of the town and while quite young he
went to Boston, where he was employed by Liberty Bigelow in the
office of the Grand Junction railroad.

He early developed a taste for military affairs and had been a
member of the Fitchburg Fusiliers and the Boston Fusiliers before
the breaking out of the civil war. He was a resident of Fitchburg
when Fort Sumter was fired upon, but the Fusiliers not being called
immediately into the service, he went to Boston, and on May 23,
1 86 1, was mustered into the United States service as a sergeant of
Co. G, First Massachusetts regiment. His older brother, William H.,
who was afterwards on Gen. Hooker's staff, was first lieutenant in the
same company. George was promoted to second lieutenant, August
30, 1862, and to first lieutenant, July 2, 1863. He served the full
term of three years.

After the expiration of his term of service he resumed his former
position in the office of the Grand Junction railroad. Later, he was

44 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

baggagemaster for the B. C. F. & N. B. railroad between Fitchburg
and Providence, and afterwards express messenger on the Fitchburg
railroad between this city and Boston.

Lieut. Lawrence married January 4, 1870, Florence F., widow of
Lieut. Fred H. Sibley and daughter of Harrison Smith, who, with
one son Lewis S., survives him. His aged father and one sister
Mrs. George F. Battles, are also living.

He was one of the bravest soldiers who served in the field and the
seeds of his long illness were undoubtedly sown during the trying
experiences of camp and field. His family mourn a kind and faith-
ful husband and father, and the community loses an honorable and
patriotic citizen.

Henry L. Lawrence, the father, outlived both his sons, and
died at Fitchburg on December 19, 1895, ^t the advanced
age of 87 yrs. i month and 1 1 days.

S. A. G.

"The Groton Landmark," July 8, 191 1.

TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION.

A STORY of the Civil War, as told by James Joseph O'Brien,
a member of Company B, 26th Massachusetts Infantry, Cap-
tain E. S. Clark, a charter member and first adjutant of
E. S. Clark Post, No. 1 1 5 , G. A. R., of Groton, and Past Com-
mander of George S. Boutwell Post of Ayer, Massachusetts,
about the name of a confederate soldier on the memorial
tablet in Groton.

Near the entrance to the Town Hall there is a large marble
tablet, upon which, in letters of gold, are the names, command,
date, and place of death, of soldiers who enlisted to fill the
quota of the town of Groton. The tablet is the town's me-
morial to its soldier heroes. One of these inscriptions reads
as follows :

TIMOTHY O'CONNOR,

Co. B. 26 Mass. Regt

Killed at Winchester, Va.

Sept. 19, 1864.

TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION. 45

Early in 1861, when the State of Louisiana seceded, the
port of New Orleans was blockaded, and no one allowed to
leave the city. So a great many Union sympathizers were
caught in the trap, and rushed down the Mississippi River to
Forts Jackson and St. Philip to do garrison duty, sandwiched
in with strong Secessionists, and compelled to work the big
guns against Farragut's ships. After the fleet had passed
the forts, and destroyed the Confederate navy, it proceeded
up the river to New Orleans. The Union men in Fort Jack-
son laid a plot to desert the fort that night; some two or
three hundred of them made a dash at midnight for the
Union lines. When the Secessionists saw what was up,
they gave the alarm. The commanding officer ordered his
men to man the big guns on the parapet, which they did at
once, and expected to blow the Yankee deserters to smith-
ereens. But to their great surprise and dismay every big
gun on the parapet had been safely spiked ; and Timothy
O'Connor and James O'Neill, who led the deserters, marched
to the Union lines bearing a flag of truce (which was a piece
of old mosquito netting), and surrendered to the picket guard
of the 26th Massachusetts Regiment. General Butler paroled
them at once. They might go North if they chose, or enlist
in the Union service. Many of them availed themselves of the
offer to enlist, and Timothy O'Connor and James O'Neill both
enlisted in the Groton Company, and were credited to the
quota of the town. No name is more deserving to be hon-
ored than that of Timothy O'Connor. I have been asked
why James O'Neill's name is not on the tablet. My answer
to that is he was not killed in battle. At a later period
O'Neill was transferred to the 5th United States Artillery.

Timothy O'Connor's brother John was for several years a
resident of the South before the War, but unlike his brother
Timothy, he was a rabid rebel and enlisted in the Confeder-
ate service, just after Timothy's escape. There was an old
river-boat anchored in the Mississippi River between Algiers
and New Orleans. This boat was used by the Union forces
as a prison for rebel prisoners of war. At this time there were
about two hundred prisoners on the boat. It was the custom

46 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

of some of the boys to get a pass to visit the prison-boat.
Timothy O'Connor visited the boat one day, and was greatly
surprised to find his brother John there. Thinking that his
brother might Hke an opportunity to escape, if offered him,
Timothy called him aside and proposed a scheme for him to
go over to the Union side. John heard his brother's plans ;
and when he had finished he soundly berated him for pro-
posing such an idea. Timothy had to make haste to leave
the boat for fear his brother would expose him, as he strongly
announced his allegiance to the Southern cause. An ex-
change of prisoners occurred soon afterward ; and in a severe
engagement, John was killed while fighting for the Confed-
eracy. Timothy was killed at Winchester fighting for the
Union.

WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.

In Hawley, Mr. Joseph Longley, born in Groton, Mass., Aug.
17, 1744. He was great grandson to William Longley, who, with
a part of his family, were killed at Groton, by the Indians, in 1 684
[1694?] — grandson to John Longley, who was Captain five years
in Canada — and son to Joseph Longley, who was mortally wounded
in the battle and defeat of Fort William Henry, 1758. When 16,
he was in the French war one year and helped to build the stone
barracks at Crown Point, 1760. He was five years in the revolu-
tionary war for Independence. In the first eight months' service,
1775. At Ticonderoga in '76. At the capture of Burgoyne, '77.
In December following, while in the van of 100 volunteers, under
Maj. Hull, pursuing a foraging party, 32 were cut off by the British
cavalry, near Derby, deprived of their blankets, and put in prison
at Philadelphia, where more than half died of cold, hunger, and
disease. In x\pril, '78, he, with others, were put on board a prison
ship for New York, where he was exchanged in July, and soon
after joined his regiment, and was in the battle in Rhode Island,
and in that signal retreat, under Gen. Sullivan.

"The Massachusetts Spy" (Worcester), August 24, 1836.

According to the genealogical tables in the Appendix to
Mr. Butler's History (p. 417), Joseph Longley was born on

WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 47

August 6, 1744. The date of his death was July 8, 1836,
according to the American Almanac for the year 1837, where
the following notice of him appeats under the head of " Amer-
ican Obituary," though his Christian name is erroneously
given as William : —

July 8. — At Hawley, Mass., aged 92, Willia?n \_yosepM'\ Longley,
who was one year in the French war, and 5 years in the revo-
lutionary war (p. 304).

William was an elder brother of Edmund Longley, who
was born at Groton, on October 31, 1746, of whom a bio-
graphical sketch appears in the American Almanac for the
year 1844, under the head of " American Obituary for 1842,"
as follows : —

Nov. 29. — In Hawley, Ms., Edrmmd Longley Esq., aged 96.
He erected the first framed house in H. (then called No. 7,) and
removed his family into it in 1781. He was sent for many years
to the General Court ; was the first Plantation and Town Clerk ;
held the offices of Town Clerk, Selectman, and Treasurer; was a
Justice of the Peace for nearly 50 years, and was both a soldier
and an officer in the revolutionary war (p. 313).

At Groton 15th inst, William Blodgett, formerly of Tyngsboro',
a revolutionary pensioner, at the age of 90 years and 8 months.
His descendants were 6 children, 37 grand-children, 23 great-
grand-children, and one of the fifth generation. He entered the
army at the age of 16 years, and was one of the number to guard
Burgoyne's Troops at Winter Hill ; he afterwards shipped on board
a Letter of Marque on a trading voyage in 1782. On his return
home in the brig Iris, of Boston, they captured at the mouth of
James river, in Virginia, an English brig mounting 16 guns, with
about 100 prisoners, among whom were 30 Americans in irons.
On the 2d day after the battle, they encountered a storm which
drove the American brig and the prize both on shore, and dashed
them in pieces, and all was lost except the crews, which were saved
by the inhabitants. He next entered the service of his Savior, and
remained in his service about 60 years, and as he entered the
threshhold of eternity, he repeated the following lines :

48 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

" I'm not ashamed to own my Lord,
Or to defend his cause,
Maintain the honor of his word,
The glory of his cross."

" The Boston Daily Atlas," November 22, 1852.

Another Veteran Gone. — Died in Groton, August 2nd [185 1],
Mr. William Tarbell, one of the last of the Revolutionary patriots,
aged 87. Mr. Tarbell joined the army when quite young, and was
with General Washington during the last three years of the war, but
having been appointed to draw plans and paint sketches of the various
battle fields and encampments, by the commander-in-chief, he was
never in any action during that time. He was with the army during
its encampment at Valley Forge, and his picture of this camp ground,
which was painted in the log house then occupied by Gen. Washing-
ton, is now in possession of his son in this city, and though much
faded, is still an object of great interest.

" Daily Evening Traveller," September 25, 1851.

Stevens, Maj. Thomas, Brooksville, Me., 7 May ; in his 90th year.
He was a native of Groton, Mass., and a soldier of the Revolution.

"The New England Historical and Genealogical Register" (VII. 295), for
July, 1S53.

In Groton, N. H. the 20th Nov. last, Mr. Samuel Blood, aged 67
years, a soldier of the revolution, and formerly of Groton, Mass.

"Columbian Centinel " (Boston), February 3, 1S30.

In Groton, ; Mr. Amos Davis, a soldier of the revolution,

aged 82.

"Columbian Daily Centinel" (Boston), December 6, 1834.

Isaac Farwell, born in Groton, Mass., 1744, March 28, was a lieu-
tenant at Bunker Hill, soon became a captain, and fought in the con-
tinental army till the close of the war. He died in 1791, Dec. 31,
and is buried in the Charlestown [N. H.] cemetery.

Henry Swan Dana's " History of Woodstock, Vermont " (p. 597).

In Groton, Mass. Sept. 2, Captain Zacharias Fitch, aged 86.
"Columbian Centinel " (Boston), Sept. 9, 1S20.

WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 49

Died in Groton, Mass. June 24, Mr. Isaiah Hall, aged 74, a revolu-
tionary soldier and patriot. For many years he had been gradually
declining, and devoted the principal part of his time to reading and
meditation. The word of God was his principal study and source of
comfort, and when too feeble to read himself, nothing afforded him so
much satisfaction as to hear its sacred contents often read. His last
sickness, though long and lingering, was borne with that calmness and
resignation which a firm faith in the religion of Jesus Christ imparts ;
and the remaining days of his bereaved partner will be consoled by
that hope which animated him in his last hours, and made death to
him the harbinger of eternal rest. — [Communicated.]

"Columbian Daily Centinel " (Boston), July 2, 1834.

In Pepperell, Jan. 14th, Mr. Robinson Lakin, 83, a revolutionary
soldier — he was a drummer in the company commanded by Capt
John Nutting, in Col Wm Prescott's regiment, and was in the redoubt
on Bunker Hill when the attack was made by the British army. In
this battle eight of said company were killed and eight wounded,

" Boston Daily Advertiser," February 27, 1838.

At Groton, on the 12th instant, Capt James Lewis, aged 74, (for-
merly of Billerica). In every situation in which he was placed through
a long and active life, he bore an upright and honorable character.
He was an officer of the militia during the whole of the revolutionary
war; the companion of Buttrick, Davis, and others who composed
that valiant little band that resisted a superior British force, at the
bridge in Concord, on the memorable 19th of April, 1775. -^^ ^^^'
tinued a uniform and firm supporter of those republican principles,
for which he so early stood forth, and ever supported the character of
an exemplary citizen, tender husband, and kind parent — he lived
respected and died lamented.

"Boston Patriot," Saturday, June 23, 1810.

In Groton, 15th inst. Mr. Joshua Parker, a revolutionary soldier,
79; ... .

"Boston Daily Advertiser," September 23, 1S43.

At Groton, Elnathan Sawtell, Esq. 8;^.

" Daily Centinel and Gazette " (Boston), September 3, 1836.

50 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Mr. Sawtell was a Revolutionary soldier, and he died on
August 31, 1836. His epitaph gives him the title of Lieu-
tenant, which was acquired after the War.

In Groton, 7th July, Mr. Nehemiah Whatman, a revolutionary pen-
sioner, aged 82.

" Columbian Daily Centinel " (Boston), August 5, 1835.

In Groton, Mr. David Wilson, a revolutionary soldier, aged 90.
His death was occasioned by falling into the fire, supposed in a fit.

" Columbian Daily Centinel" (Boston) February 23, 1833.

In Groton, 8th inst. Col. Samson Woods, aged 65. [A son of
General Henry and Deborah (Parker) Woods.]

" Columbian Centinel " (Boston), February 11, 1826.

In Groton, 20th inst. Lt. Pelatiah Russell, aged 77, an officer in
the Army of the Revolution, and a pensioner.

" Boston Daily Advertiser," January 27, 1831.

At Groton, Jan. 9th, Lieut Wm Parker, 71 ; he was one of the
vindicators of independence at 15 years of age, in the heat of the
battle at Bunker Hill, and proved valiant during the war, both by
land and sea.

" Daily Evening Transcript," January 23, 1833.

Mr. Sheldon writes me from Deerfield, under date of July
19, 1892, as follows:

On a pay-roll of Capt. Hugh Maxwell, Col. John Bailey's Regt.,
I find that Noah Russell, of Groton, enlisted for the war Jany. — 1 777
and died June 23, 1777.

SOLDIERS' EPITAPHS.

The following inscriptions are found on gravestones in the
old burying-ground, and will explain themselves : —

SOLDIERS EPITAPHS. 5 1

[Cherub's Head]

Here lies the Body of

Joseph son of Mr Ephraim

& M? Azubah Parker

who died Sep' 22'? 1775

Aged 5 years «S: 2 mon".

Also in Memory of M'

Nehem'! son of y': above

nam'd persons, who died

in his Country service

at Ticoiideroga Oct' 22"?

1776. In y^icf" year of his

age

Nehemiah Parker enlisted originally, on April 30, 1775, in
Captain Asa Lawrence's Company.

[Cherub's Head]

Memento mori

Here lies the
Body of M' Simon

Patch who was
wounded in y^ de-
fence of his Country
at y\ White-plains
Oct^28'^ 1776 and
died of his wound
Dec^ 3 if 1776 in y^
28'?' year of his age.

The son of Ebenezer and Sarah Patch, born July 11, 1749.
He was brought home on a litter from White Plains, New
York, a distance of nearly two hundred miles, accompanied
by his elder brother. The litter was made by fitting the
butt-ends of two small trees into the stirrups of a saddle, and
putting a sack of hay behind on the branches.

52 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Memento [Cherub] Mori

M? Abigail Kenrick
Widow of Cap]" Caleb
Kenrick, left her
pleasant habitation
in Newton, & came to
her Daughier Dana's
in Groton, on accoun'
of y*^ civil War & Sep' 5.
1775. JE. 76. was remov-
ed by dysentery, to that
place where y*; wicked cea''^
from troubling & y^ weary

are at rest.

Her maiden name was Bowen, and her daughter was mar-
ried to the Reverend Samuel Dana.

The following epitaph is copied from a marble slab in the
Lawrence lot at the Cemetery. Mrs. Bigelow's death took
place in Groton at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Luther
Lawrence. • Her husband, Colonel Bigelow, died on March
31, 1790, in Worcester, where there is a monument erected
to his memory on the Common.

Here

lie the mortal remains of

Mrs. anna BIGELOW,

relict of

Col. Timothy Bigelow

of Worcester, Mass.

She died Aug. 2, 1809,

^t. 63 yrs.

SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.

Within a period of less than twenty years three persons
have died, whose fathers were natives of Groton and soldiers
during the American Revolution, namely: Andrew Johnson
Parker (youngest child of Joshua Parker), who died at

WAR OF THE REBELLION, 53

Charlestown, on December 31, 1894; the Reverend Thomas
Treadwell Stone, D. D. (youngest son of Deacon Solomon
Stone), who died at Bolton, on November 13, 1895, and at the
time of his death the oldest alumnus of Bowdoin College ;
and Luther Lewis Tarbell (youngest son of William Tarbell),
who died at Marlboro, on July 10, 1896.

In connection with this subject, I will say that I remember
William Tarbell very well, who in my day always used to
wear a queue. In this notice of him the statement that he
made a drawing of the encampment at Valley Forge is incor-
rect. In the summer of 1783, however, he did make a rude
drawing of the camp at New Windsor just above West Point,
where he was then serving. It represents the barracks and
other features of the camp which I remember seeing very
many years ago. Presumably it is still in the possession of
the family.

WAR OF THE REBELLION.

Colonel Kimball was originally a member of the Fourth
Battalion of Rifles, which was merged in the Thirteenth Massa-
chusetts Volunteers.

enlisted with MASSACHUSETTS RIFLES.

Colonel George Hartwell Kimball died unexpectedly at his home
in Los Angeles, Cal., on Thursday from acute pneumonia. He was
seventy-one years old and leaves a wife and one daughter. Colonel
Kimball was born at Groton Sept. 25, 1841. When the Civil War
began he enlisted in the Fourth Massachusetts Rifles, and because of
his service he was promoted to be first lieutenant. He resigned in
1863. After a short stay in the East he went to Dakota and Arizona
where he was a post trader. Then, interested in grain commission
business and storage, he went to California. He was lieutenant colo-
nel and aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor Stoneman. Until 1877
he held a responsible position with the Spring Valley Water Company
of San Francisco, and then went to Southern California to make his
permanent home.

" Boston Evening Transcript," October 11, 1912.

54 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

FRANK L. HUGHES.

Here is another of the many, a few of whom still live, who fought
their last battle on the field of Chancellorsville. He is the only son
of Thomas N. and Mary C. (Curamings) Hughes, and was born
in Groton, Mass., August i6, 1845.

He was wounded on the retreat by a piece of shell striking him on
the spine. He was sent to hospital at Washington, D. C, then to
Rhode Island, from which he was furloughed home and discharged.

He was married March 21, 187 1, to Addie S. Sheppard, of Ash-
land, and has one child, Elmer C. He was a farmer's boy when he
enlisted, but has been for many years since the war a prosperous mer-
chant in the town of Ashland.

" History of the Twelfth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers in the War
of the Rebellion," by Capt. A. W. Bartlett, p. 610.

DEATH.

Wyman. — At the Soldiers' Home, Chelsea, April 8, Jackson
Wyman, late private Company A, Fifty-third Massachusetts Infantry,
62 yrs. Born in Groton, Mass. Admitted to the Home Feb. 14,
1 90 1, from Fitchburg, Mass.

" Boston Journal," April 9, 1901.

He was the youngest child of Reuben and Sally (Parker)
Wyman, and was born at Groton, on May 11, 1839. He en-
listed in Company A, Fifty-third Regiment Infantry, Massa-
chusetts Volunteer Militia, on August 31, 1862, and served
in the quota of Fitchburg until March 5, 1863, when he was
discharged for disability. He left a widow and two sons,
residents of Fitchburg.

DIED AT SOLDIERS' HOME.

Oliver L. Nourse, 65 years old, died this morning at the Soldiers'
Home at Chelsea. He was a native of Groton, Mass.^ and was ad-
mitted to the home exactly one year ago yesterday. He served in
the civil war as a sergeant in company C, i6th Massachusetts infan-
try. He was admitted to the home from Harvard.

" Boston Herald," Tuesday, May 15, 1906.

THE INDIAN WORD NONACOICUS." 55

THE INDIAN WORD " NONACOICUS."

In the library of the Historical Society there is a copy of a
book, written in Latin by Joseph Acosta, and published at
Cologne in the year 1596, which once belonged to Chief
Justice Samuel Sewall, and bears his autograph signature,
dated March 9, 1698-9. The volume is entitled " De Natvra
Novi Orbis," etc., and has been in the possession of the So-
ciety for more than a century. On a fly-leaf, at the beginning
of the book, is the following note in Judge Sewall's hand-
writing: " Nunnacdquis signifies an Indian Earthen Pot as
Hanah Hahatan's Squaw tells me March, 24. 169I:," — which
throws some light on the meaning of an Indian word. I men-
tion the fact, as I am inclined to think that the term is iden-
tical with or closely allied to Nonacoicus, the Indian name
of Major Simon VVillard's farm at Groton. William Hahatan,
Hannah's husband, belonged to the Ponkapoag tribe. His
name is sometimes written Ahauton, Nahatan, and even
Nahaughton.

As the spelling of all such words by the early settlers was
phonetic, Nonacoicus has several different forms; and it is
easy to see how the one may have been taken from the other,
or from a similar form. Another variation of the word, as
given in Sewall's Letter Book (I. 98), is " Nonna Coyacas ";
and Nonajcoyicus, Nonecoicus, and Nonacoiacus are also
found in old manuscripts.

In the original survey of the farm, returned by Thomas
Noyes to the General Court at the session beginning on
October 18, 1659, it is said that the land lies "at the place
wch is Called by the Indians nanajcoyijcus." From this it
would seem that the name was given to the neighborhood by
the red men, and not by the whites. Perhaps earthen pots
were made in that locality, as fragments of pottery, as well
as various stone implements, were formerly found there and
elsewhere throughout the township ; and this fact may have
given a distinctive name to the place.

Originally Nonacoicus included the district in Harvard now
known as the Old Mill, — two miles away from Willard's

56 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

farm, — where Jonas Prescott, of Groton, the grandfather of
Colonel William Prescott, the American commander at Bunker
Hill, had his grist-mill. John Prescott, of Lancaster, in his
will, dated October 8, 1673, and on file in the Middlesex
County Probate Office at East Cambridge, says in reference
to his third son Jonas, named above, that " he hath Re-
ceiued a full Childs portion at nonecoicus in a Corne mill
and Lands and other goods." After the death of Major
Willard, Nonacoicus farm passed into the hands of Hezekiah
Usher, and the deed speaks of the place as " Nonaicoicus
farme"; and in Sewall's Diary there are many allusions both
to Usher and his wife. Usher's will is dated at Nonacoicus,
on August 17, 1689. The judge himself was a member of
the Third Church of Christ in Boston, now known as the
" Old South," where he was a constant attendant on Sun-
days ; and the minister at the time of the writing on the fly-
leaf, was the Reverend Samuel Willard, a former preacher at
Groton, and son of the first owner of the farm. All these
circumstances, trivial in themselves, tend to show that the
Indian name of the place was familiar to Sewall. The farm
was situated on the banks of the Nashua River, in a neigh-
borhood full of Indian traditions and associations. Major
Willard's house was the first dwelling burned by the savages,
when the town of Groton was destroyed in the spring of
1676.

My friend George J. Burns, Esq., a lawyer of Ayer, who
has passed his whole life in the neighborhood of Nonacoicus,
and is withal an accurate antiquary, thinks that the name was
owing to the natural conformation of the land. The following
letter, written by him in answer to one from me, gives a high
degree of plausibility to his theory in the matter:

Ayer, Mass., May 10, 1S93.
Hon. Samuel A. Green,

30 Tremont St., Boston :

My dear Dr. Green, — Upon the west side of the Nashua River,
near the mouth of Nonacoicus Brook, there is a very peculiar natural
formation that could not have escaped the attention of the Indians ;
and it was of sufficient importance, both as a landmark, and as a post

THE INDIAN WORD NONACOICUS. 57

of observation commanding a view up and down the intervale, and
rising above the floods that periodically inundate the surrounding
lands, to have received a designation by them. While it is not alone
the only " earthen pot " in this vicinity, it is just the kind of a forma-
tion to which such a name would be particularly apphcable.

It consists of a promontory about 500 feet in length, varying from
300 to 500 feet in width, and protruding from the higher lands at the
east in a succession of irregular ridges or small hills, which surround
or enclose various hollows or basins, some of which contain water.
During the last fifteen years I have often visited the place and won-
dered at its physical peculiarities, and I have tried to imagine what
impression it made on the natives. I consider it the most interesting
and curious natural feature of the territory called " Nonacoicus," and
I am strongly of the opinion that it gave rise to the Indian name of
this neighborhood.

Yours truly,

Geo. J. Burns.

Many years ago (May, 1893) I made the remarks given above
before the Massachusetts Historical Society, in regard to the
Indian word Nonacoicus, a name well known to Groton anti-
quaries. At a period some time later Mr, Wm. Wallace
Tooker, of Sag Harbor, Long Island, wrote me a letter giving
the full meaning and derivation of the word. As Mr. Tooker's
authority is unquestioned in matters of Indian philology, I
print it with a high appreciation of the favor. I was par-
ticularly interested in his allusion to the existence of steatite
in this neighborhood. There is not a boy in town that does
not know of the soapstone quarry, formerly worked quite
extensively. At rare intervals in the vicinity Indian relics are
still found.

Brooklyn, N. Y., Oct. 21st, 1898.
Dr. Samuel A. Green:

My dear Sir : — I thank you heartily for the five interesting pam-
phlets from your hands received yesterday. It is in such researches
that I take delight. You have in Massachusetts a field almost limitless
in my specialty, i. e., Indian place names and their history. Some
one ought to assemble all your names wherever they can be found
with brief historical memoranda relating to each name. I have done

5S FACTS RELATING TO GROTOX, ilASSACHUSETTS.

this for Long Island, X. Y., and shall some day publish the result of
my labors.

There is no question but what Nunnacdquis signifies an earthen pot,
but that is not all it means. The terminal coquis is the " earthen pot."
In a manuscript vocabulary taken down by Thomas Jefferson in the
presence of James Madison and General Floyd in 1794, at Pusspa-
tuck, L. I., I find its parallel coqiiees "a pot." The prefix nnnna is
probably nana, nunoh, nanap or nunnaw, as Eliot varies it, " dry,"
hence " a dry earthen pot.'" The Indians were so very exact and
descriptive in their place names that I can hardly believe it was ever
applied to a natural feature, as suggested by Mr. Bums. It would in-
dicate either the personal name of an Indian who lived thereabouts,
called '"dry kettle," or else it has lost its locative affix, and originally
signified " a dry pot place," Ntinnacdquis-es-et, which may not refer
to a clay vessel but to those made of steatite or soapstone. Is there
a soapstone quarry in the locality once frequented by the Indians ?
Many such, as no doubt you are aware, have been discovered in
Rhode Island, Virginia and elsewhere.

Has your Society a copy of my Cockenoe-de-Long Island ? It is
now entirely out of print, and I have forgotten whether I sent one or
not. I had only a few for distribution. If the Society has none. I
will endeavor to find one.

Again thanking you for your kindness

I am very truly yours

^^'^I. WALL.A.CE TOOKER.

EARLY GROTOX ITE^^IS

We are informed fi-om Groton, that a Man. his Wife and two Chil-
dren died there of a Fever, in one Week.

And that a Woman of that Place, went to one of her Neighbours,
for something in a Chest there, on which lay two Pistols loaded, the
Woman of the House took them off and gave them to the other, while
she opened the Chest ; and stooping down to take out what she
wanted, one of the Pistols went off in the Woman's hand, and shot
her Neighbour through the Head, of which she died in a few Days.

"The Boston Xews-Letter," October 3, 1723.

Some Days ago a young Man at Work in a new House at Groton
catching hold on a \\Tong Rope, fell from the Top to the Bottom, and
was kill'd in a Moment.

"The Boston Gazette, or, Weekly Advertiser," November 5, 1754.

A GLANCE BACKWARD. 59

A GLANCE BACKWARD.

CANAL FROM BOSTON TO THE HUDSON.

The schemes and undertakings of one generation are often
interesting and suggestive to another, even when they are not
carried out or completed. Many years ago Loammi Baldwin,
a noted engineer of that period, made a survey for a canal
from Boston to the Connecticut River, and proposed, further-
more, an extension from its western terminus to the Hudson
River, with a tunnel under the Hoosac Mountain. An en-
graved plan of the survey was made by Annin & Smith, of
Boston, which showed the exact route of the undertaking.
It is found at the end of a " Report of the Commissioners of
the State of Massachusetts, on the routes of canals from
Boston Harbour to Connecticut and Hudson Rivers " (Boston,
1826), and is entitled "Plan of a Survey for a Canal from
Boston to Connecticut River, with a sketch of a proposed
Route to the Hudson. Made under the direction of the
Commissioners by L. Baldwin, Engineer."

It is interesting to note the fact that the canal followed
substantially, as might be expected, the present line of the
Fitchburg Railroad. Beginning with Charles River it passed
through Cambridge, Watertown, Waltham, Lincoln, Concord,
Acton, Littleton, Groton, Shirley, Lunenburg, and Fitchburg,
and from this place it went through Ashburnham and Win-
chendon and then followed down Miller's River to the Con-
necticut- Thence it was to pass up the Deerfield River
through a tunnel under the Hoosac Mountain, by North
Adams, and so down the Hoosac River to the Hudson.

Loammi Baldwin was a native of Woburn, and a graduate
of Harvard College in the Class of 1800. After leaving Cam-
bridge he studied law with the Honorable Timothy Bigelow,
of Groton, and practised his profession for a few years, when
he gave it up to become an engineer. In his new calling he
soon attained distinction, and his services were in constant
demand throughout the country, particularly in the construc-
tion of canals. While studying law at Groton, Mr. Baldwin

6o FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

made, in the year 1802, a fire engine, of which the town then
stood in great need; and this small machine is still in active
use, after a service of more than a century, and to-day will
throw a stream of water over the highest roof in the place.
The Canal Commissioners, in their Report (page 57), say:

The route, from the Nashua, continues over plains, on quite level
land, without any very great impediments, through the southern part
of Groton, to the Cuttecoonemugkeag, the outlet of Sandy Pond ;
thence along the southern side of that pond to Spectacle Pond, situ-
ated between Groton and Littleton. These ponds can be used as
reservoirs.

I make this extract, in order to give the name of the outlet
to Sandy Pond, as used by the Commissioners. Cuttecoone-
mugkeag is a word evidently akin to the name of the river in
Shirley, but I have never seen it applied before to any stream
in Groton. At the present time the outlet to the pond is
called Sandy Pond Brook.

Mr. Baldwin, in his Report (page 112), says: —

From Sandy Pond, in Groton, near the schoolhouse No. 11, the
vi^ater may be turned with great ease, to Spectacle Pond, into which
falls Shaker's brook. The stream from Spectacle Pond passes
through Forge Pond, in Westford, from which it is called Stony
Brook, until it drops into the Merrimack River, in Chelmsford.
From information derived from intelligent gentlemen, and from my
own observation of part of this section of country, it will be quite
easy to open a communication through the valleys of these ponds
and brooks, to the Middlesex Canal, in Chelmsford. Whether it
would be expedient to carry the main line of the proposed canal
in that direction ; or whether a branch only should be taken off
from it that way, are questions which it may be important to have
the means of settling. It will therefore add much to the valuable
hydrographic information which these surveys will furnish, to cause
a level and examination to be made, between the Nashua at Staples'
mills, and the Middlesex canal.

School-house, No. 11, mentioned by Mr. Baldwin, was situ-
ated at the crotch of the roads, a short distance east of Sandy
Pond, and is now in Ayer. Shaker's Brook at the present

SAMUEL Lawrence's recollections. 6i

time is called Bennett's Brook, named after an early settler of
the neighborhood. Staples's Mills were on the right bank of
the Nashua, near the site of William Mitchell's woollen mill in
Ayer, which was burned on the afternoon of August 4, 1873.
The heights of certain points along the proposed route of
the canal are given in the Report, and are counted from low
water mark in Boston harbor. I copy from page 113 those
which were then in Groton, but are now in Ayer, as follows :

Shaker's Brook, on line between Littleton and Groton,

Spectacle Pond, in Littleton and Groton,

Sandy Pond,

Top of under-pinning of school-house, No. 1 1

Stone's saw-mill pond, on Sandy pond brook,

Sandy pond and Bear hill brook,

Stone at corner of Nuttings barn,

Feet.

Groton,

220.28

212.54

Groton.

, 226.90

do.

237-64

do.

223.89

do.

213 03

do.

224.95

SAMUEL LAWRENCE'S RECOLLECTIONS.

The following reminiscences were written at my request,
more than thirty-five years ago, by the late Samuel Lawrence,
who was born at Groton on January 15, 1801, and died at
Stockbridge on March 18, 1880. He was the youngest child
of Major Samuel and Susanna (Parker) Lawrence, and the last
survivor of his generation. He was the only child of his
generation that was born in the present Lawrence mansion
on Farmers' Row. . The other children with the exception of
Luther, the eldest child, were born in the old Tarbell house,
which stood substantially on the same site. Luther was born
in the house, occupied when I was a boy by Stow Hildreth,
about a mile from the village on the road to Harvard. The
old elm in front of the present Lawrence farm is said, on good
authority, to have been set out in the year 1740.

My earliest recollection of Groton is the death of Capt. Henry
Farwell in the year 1804. Dr. Chaplin was the only minister. Hon.
Timothy Bigelow, one of the most prominent lawyers of the State,
resided there, and being a graduate of Harvard College, as was Dr.

62 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Chaplin, our winter district schoolmasters were all from Cam-
bridge. Dr. Oliver Prescott was the oldest physician. There were
three stores; their owners were called merchants with great pro-
priety, for the number of articles they dealt in was never dreamed
of by the merchants of Tyre or Venice. Squire Brazer was the
richest and most important ; he was quite old and corpulent, with
reddish face, and wore a blue broad-tail dress-coat, with bright
brass buttons two inches in diameter, white vest and cravat, and
deep ruffled shirt, with black trousers, a high crowned hat with very
broad brim. In the course of my Hfe I have seen some of the
mercantile magnates of Europe and this country, such as the
Barings and Rothschilds, Stephen Girard and Astor, but I have
never been so impressed as when in the presence of Squire Brazer.
My most painful early memories are with the bitterly cold church,
where there was no stove or furnace in winter.

There were two grist and saw mills, Capell's on the Nashua and
Tarbell's on the Squannacook ; on the last named river was also a
carding and clothing mill of three brothers Rockwood. At that
time all farmers kept sheep for food, but mainly for clothing. The
wool was scoured in the family, carded into rolls about eighteen
inches long and two inches in diameter by the Rockwoods, spun in
the family on a stand-up wheel, backward and forward movement of
the spinner, and generally woven into flannel by the same person,
milled into cloth, dyed and finished by the Rockwoods. Some-
times a portion of wool was dyed a dark color, and mixed with
white wool to get a pepper and salt color. The flannels for both
sexes were made in the family, as well as sheets for winter. Flax
was universally raised, rotted (stiff covering over the fibre), broken
and hetchelled, and spun on the small wheel with power from the
foot, making linen thread, which was woven into fabrics for domestic
use. The tow from the flax after hetchelling was made into a
coarse fabric for men's frocks and trousers. Men's and women's
underclothing, beyond the linen alluded to, was from the East
Indies. A cotton fabric from China, called nankeen (nankin), was
much used in summer by gentlemen. Carpets made from rags
were very common. I do not think there was any other kind in
Groton, and not one piano.

The habit then was for all who could get it to use spirits, and drink
some before dinner, — even the most temperate. The better class
drank West India rum, and the poorer class New England rum.
French brandy was seldom taken. Cider was universally used till

THE LAWRENCE FARM. 63

the temperance movement was started about the year 18 17. Dr.
Woods, of Andover, one of the leaders in this cause, told me
forty years afterward the reason he engaged in it so actively was
that he saw such abuse of ardent spirits among ministers ; for
he knew forty-four who drank so much as to affect their brains,
and he had assisted in putting four to bed on occasions like
ordinations.

At the period above mentioned there was neither a woollen or
cotton mill in the State, and but few turnpikes ; the Middlesex
canal had just been opened from Chelmsford to Charlestown.

The mode of living in Groton was economical in the extreme.
Books were rare indeed, few were published in the State, and
Paternoster Row was on the titlepage of all the juvenile literature
of that period.

In my earliest years my father's house was thronged by Revolu-
tionary officers and soldiers, and I heard so much that I almost
thought I was at Bunker Hill on the glorious Seventeenth. My
father was an orderly to Col. Prescott, and knew all about the
doings at Cambridge after the troops arrived there till they went
to Bunker Hill. These soldiers acted like veterans in consequence
of their two months' daily drilling. Enough has not been said
on this point. The claim of Gen. Putnam's admirers never was
dreamed of till long after both generals had been dead.

S. L.

Stockbridge. Sept- 5th, 1S77.

THE LAWRENCE FARM.

To the Honourable the General Court of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts now Convened at Boston —

Humbly shews Amos Lawrence of Groton that Captain Samuel
Tarbell late of said Groton Deceased — died Seized of a Farm con-
taining about one hundred acres of Land that after his Death the
same was divided into nine shares two whereof has been set off to his
son Samuel Tarbell now a Refugee in New York that the same two
shares have been since taken in execution for a Debt Due to the
Government, and your Petitioner having purchased the other shares,
it hath become necessary in order to his making a proper improve-
ment of the same that he should have the two shares aforesaid

64 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

wherefore he Humbly prays your Honours to take the matter under
Consideration and to suffer him to purchase the same
the Consideration which he gave for the other shares was sixty
pounds silver money for Each and he humbly hopes that your
Honours would not demand more of him than the other proprietors
he would further observe that the buildings are not fit to Live in
& no part can be repaired without the whole that the Fences are
decaying and the Land Continually growing the worse and these
together with the Rates Constantly arising will render the Interest
but of very Little Value in a year or two whereof he hopes for the
Interest of the Government as well as for his own inconvenience that
he may be allowed to purchase and he will pray &c

February i6th 1781 Amos Lawrance

This may Certify that the subscribers with some of the other heirs

of Captain Samuel Tarbell Deceased sold their shares in said Tarbells

Farm in Groton for sixty pounds a share to Captain Amos Lawrence

February i6th 1781

Henry Farwell
Samuel Reed
[Indorsed] Amos Lawrence^ Petition & Report Cap' Mitchell
Capt Waterman M' Lewis

Massachusetts Archives, CCXXXL 452.

Commonwealth of ) In the House of Representatives

Massachusetts — 5 March 3'' 1781

On The Petition of Amos Lawrence of Groton in the County of
Middlesex, praying that he may be allowed to purchase Two ninth
parts of the Farm in the said Town of Groton which Cap! Samuel
Tarbell deceased died seized of, which Two ninths was Set of to his
son Samuel Tarbell, & has since been taken by Execution for a debt
due to this Government

Resolved that the Committee who are appointed to sell Confis-
cated Estates in the County of Middlesex be & hereby are Author-
ized & impovvered to sell at publick or private sale as they shall
think most Beneficial for this Commonwealth, the above mentioned
Two ninths of the Farm which the above said Capf Samuel Tarbell
Deceased, died seized of, & was set of to his son Samuel Tarbell
t& make & Execute a good & legal deed or deeds of the same, &
they are hereby directed to pay the neat proceeds Arising by said
sale or sales into the Treasury of this Commonwealth taking dupli-

THE LAWRENCE FARM. 65

cate Receips therefor one of which to be lodged in the Secretary's
office

Sent up for concurrence Caleb Davis Spef

In Senate March 3'! 1781 —

Read & Concurred Jer : Powell — Presi^
Approv'd John Hancock

[Indorsed] Rec'' pge 320 Resolue on the Petition of Amos Law-
rence empowering the Agents appointed to sell confiscated Estates
in the County of Middlesex to sell the Farm mentioned March 3':
1781
Massachusetts Archives, CCXXXI. 451.

At this time the Honorable James Prescott, of Groton, was
one of a Committee of three, appointed for Middlesex County,
to sell forfeited estates. Amos Lawrence, the petitioner, was
the father of Deacon Samuel Lawrence, who died on June 20,
1785, when his son inherited the farm.

It may be worthy of note that Caleb Davis, the Speaker of
the House at this time, two years later married the widow of
William Bant, a wealthy resident of Groton, who came here
from Boston, probably on account of the political troubles
there at that period. The two following items have a certain
connection with Mr. Bant, and I print them as I find them
in the newspapers. Ezekiel Lewis was a trader of Groton,
whose shop stood on a slight elevation just north of the
Town House. Among my earliest recollections I remember
the building, but it disappeared before Dr. Amos B. Bancroft
built his house on the site. In my boyhood that whole
square between Main Street and the present railway had no
buildings thereon. It was then owned by Dr. Bancroft, Senior,
and was called the Lewis lot.

Married — At Groton, on Wednesday the 20th ult. the Hon. Caleb
Davis, Esq ; to Mrs. Mary Anne Bant, Widow of the late Mr. Wm.
Bant, and Daughter of Ezekiel Lewis, Esq ; of this Town.

" The Boston Gazette, and the Country Journal," September r, 17S3.

Died] — In this town, on Friday last [January 12], Mrs. Mary-
Ann Davis, Consort of the Hon. Caleb Davis, Esq.
" The Massachusetts Gazette" (Boston), January 16, 1787.

66 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

The two following epitaphs are taken from a copy of
Mr. Edward Doubleday Harris's " Lexington, Epitaphs," in
manuscript, now in the possession of the Massachusetts
Historical Society.

Here Lyes the

Body of Deacon

Nathaniel Lawrance

Formally of GROTON

Dec'^ at LEXINGTON

April the 14"" 1724

in the 85"^ Year

of His Age.

HERE LYES THE
BODY OF DEACO^
THOMAS TARBALL

AGED 48 YEARS
& 3 M'' DIED

BR e th

OCTO Y 8 1715

He belonged to

Groten

THE FIRST CHURCH AT WEST GROTON.

The following account of the gathering of a religious
society at West Groton, and the dedication of their house of
worship, is taken from the " Zion's Herald " (Boston), Octo-
ber 14, 1885 :

The editor of this paper [Rev. Bradford Kinney Pierce] was in-
vited to preach the sermon at the dedication of a house of worship in
West Groton, Mass., last Wednesday [October 7]. This village has
been connected with Ayer Junction, and a minister from the Confer-
ence has supplied both preaching places. Worship is held in a hall
in Ayer, and had a very incommodious room heretofore for its services
in West Groton. This year one of our enterprising and devoted
young men, Rev. H. G. Buckingham, has been the pastor of the
circuit. There is no church edifice in West Groton. The church
members, of various orders, are connected with distant bodies. The
village is small, and there was little wealth that could be summoned
in aid of a new religious enterprise. The neighbors met together and

A BRIEF SKETCH. 67

opened a subscription which proved much larger than their anticipa-
tions. And now they have a beautiful church, of the Queen Anne
style, neatly furnished, seating three hundred when crowded, with a
pleasant toned bell, and without debt. No separate church has been
organized, but they heartily invite the Methodist ministry and enjoy
its forms of service and administration of the ordinances. The ritual
of the church was used as the form of dedication. The house was
filled on the occasion. The Congregational, Baptist, and Episcopal
ministry were represented. Rev. Bros. Gould and Ichabod Marcy,
with these brethren from sister churches, assisted in the exercises of
the occasion. Everybody seemed to feel that the neat little chapel
was a great benediction to the village. We trust a blessed revival of
religion will show that the divine seal is set upon the enterprise.

A BRIEF SKETCH.

During the pastorate of Rev. Alfred S. Hudson, on May 20, 1893
the Union Evangelistical church of West Groton was formed. After
the preaching service all members of evangelical churches, who had
taken their letters and were ready to unite themselves together in a
new church with such others as desired for the first time to identify
themselves with the church of Christ, were invited to come forward.
Of the first class were Charles Bixby, Edward K. Harrington, Mrs.
Laura A. Harrington, Mrs. Mary E. Bixby, Mrs. Lynnet W. Bixby,
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gleason and Emma Gleason. Of the second
class were Everett H. Small and Miss Annie F. Blood, the last two
receiving the rite of baptism.

The creed, which was very simple, was read and assented to then,
the covenant with God and with each other. They were then pro-
nounced the Union Evangelical church of West Groton. The cere-
mony ended with receiving the right hand of fellowship. After this
the Lord's supper was administered and the congregation dismissed
with the benediction.

Immediately afterward the church came together and chose its ofifi-
cers as follows: Mrs. L. W. Bixby, clerk and treas.; Charles Bixby,
E. K. Harrington and E. H. Small, standing committee.

This brief account of the forming of the Union Evangelical church
in West Groton is written by request of the pastor.

" The Groton Landmark," Saturc'ay, May 17, 1913.

68 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

DEDICATION AT GROTON.

The meeting house of the First Parish in Groton, having been
thoroughly repaired and remodelled into a more commodious and
beautiful church, was dedicated on Wednesday, May 20, to the service
of Almighty God and the religion of His Son. Rev. Mr. Chandler of
Shirley made the Introductory Prayer and read the Scriptures. Rev.
Mr. Bates of Ashby made the Dedicatory Prayer. Rev. Mr. Wells, the
pastor, preached the Sermon. Rev. Mr. Babbidge of Pepperell offered
the concluding Prayer. After some happy allusions to the thoughts
that must fill the minds of the worshippers in leaving their old seats,
and to their present anticipations and prospects, the preacher took
for his text, i Cor. iii. 11, " For other foundation can no man lay than
that is laid, which is Jesus Christ," and divided his sermon into three
heads, viz. Jesus Christ the foundation of our faith, practise and peace,
— each of which was forcibly and happily illustrated. The discourse
was well adapted to the occasion, was characterized throughout by its
charitable spirit and practical bearing, and listened to with profound
attention and interest by a large audience. The day was pleasant, the
house was full, and the singing was of high order. We sincerely con-
gratulate this ancient society in their efforts to secure the blessings of
Public worship and a more convenient church. A floor has been
thrown under the galleries, the lower part is finished off for a town
house and vestry, and the upper part taken for the church, which is
neat and finished. The pulpit, with the communion table and chairs
are of black walnut, the expense of which was over $300. May the
society long enjoy the worship of God in the church they have thus
fitted up for his service, and long be blessed with the ministrations
of their devoted Pastor. We hope their example will be followed by
other parishes, who worship in those large and inconvenient houses
which were erected for the use of the town, when there was but one
religious society ; have pulpits of some twelve or fifteen steps ; pews
several feet square and seats facing in every direction ; in which the
worshippers are annoyed by the heavy falling of seats ; which require
double the amount of fuel that modern churches do, to warm them in
the winter, and in which, with all the means used to warm them, the
worshippers are shivering with the cold and consequently can profit
but little by the instructions imparted. No pains ought to be spared
to render our places of Public Worship attractive, not by their splen-
f

A CHURCH ORGAN. 69

dor and show, but by their comfort and convenience. We have
understood that in all cases in which churches have been thus re-
modelled, the sale of the pews has more than met the expenses, and
that there has been an increased interest on the part of the societies
in attending on the ministrations of the sanctuary.

R. B.

"Christian Register," Boston, September 19, 1840.

I can well remember how the old seats would slam down
when the worshippers would regain their places after stand-
ing up during the services. There were seats on two or three
sides of the large square pews which would lift up on hinges,
giving the occupants at times more room to stand. When
the seats were let down they made a great racket throughout
the body of the meeting-house.

A CHURCH ORGAN.

Mr. James Lawrence, son of Hon. Abbott Lawrence, has recently
given an organ to the Orthodox Society in Groton. The case of this
organ is 14 feet high, 6 1-2 feet deep, and 10 1-2 wide. It has two
banks of keys, a sub-Bass, and 20 Draw Stops, as follows : —

Great Organ. Small Organ.

Open Diapason Open Diapason

Stop Diapason Bass Stop Diapason

Stop Diapason Treble Principal

Principal Viol de Gamba

Twelfth Hautboy

Fifteenth Swell Bass

Flute Tremulent

Clarabella Couple Swell & Great Organ

Dulcimer Couple Pedals & Great Organ

Sesquialtra Couple Pedals & Swell.

This large and beautiful organ was made to order by Geo. Stevens
of Cambridge, for $1000. For mechanical finish, for richness and

70 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

beauty of tone, we think it is not surpassed by any organ we have
ever seen or heard. It has sufficient power and variety of tone to
answer any needful purpose that can be answered by those which
have formerly cost two or three thousand dollars. These noble in-
struments have, until recently, been so expensive, that but few churches
out of our cities and larger towns have been able to procure them.
But now they are so cheap that almost every religious society can
afford to furnish themselves with this noble auxiliary to the praise of
God in the place of religious worship. Societies need not anticipate
any difficulty in finding persons who can play their organ well. Get
the organ, and necessity will raise up organists, those who can play
them with taste and acceptance. There are in almost every town
young ladies who can play on the piano or melodeon, and these
young ladies, with very little study and practice, can qualify themselves
to do admirable service on the organ.

"The Puritan Recorder," July ii, 1850.

MR. BARSTOVV'S DEDICATION SERMON.

Extract from a Dedication Sermon, by the Reverend
John Barstovv, preached in the Union Meeting-house at
Groton, Massachusetts, October 7, 1888, and repeated by
request, October 13, il

Previous to the building of this house the church met regularly in
the old Academy building. On the twenty-first of November in the
year preceding the building of the church, a council was held, and
the Union Church of Christ was organized. The members of the
old church were present at the meeting, but though they were con-
sulted in reference to all the details of the new church, its creed, its
covenant, etc., they did not then unite with the church by reason of
certain legal aspects which were then important. Thirty persons —
fifteen men and fifteen women — composed the new church, all
uniting on profession of their faith in Christ. Of that number one
is with us to-day, our good brother Milo Russell. " It is a small
church," writes Mr. Todd, " but I trust its foundations are strong and
pure. I believe it to be built on the Rock Christ Jesus. To him
would I give all the glory."

MR. BARSTOW'S DEDICATION SERMON. 7 1

The heartiness and zeal which the people manifested in building
the house recall the spirit of those who built the Tabernacle in the
Wilderness and the first Temple in Jerusalem. For all the other
church buildings the money had been raised by votes of the town,
and it was made a town matter. Now no money would the town
appropriate, and the money must be raised by voluntary contribution.
We can get some idea of the enthusiasm that was manifested and of
the sacrifices that were made when we read " that almost all the
active women and girls cut off half of the long fringe of their shawls
to make a rug for the pulpit." '' Many a poor girl offers to give half
she is worth for the object," and " one lady said she would rather her
husband should sell half his farm than that the undertaking should
fail." And it did not fail. At the beginning of the following year
Mr. Todd could write, in addition to all the labor they expended,
" In one year my people have raised $8,873." The union of the
two churches, which was contemplated at the time when the name
was given to this church, was not consummated until the year 1830,
when one pastor of the first Orthodox Church (so called to distinguish
it from the present first Parish Church) with several of his flock was
formally received into the Union Congregational Church, and the two
churches became one in name, as they had been from the first in
sympathy and fellowship.^

During the sixty-two years that this house has stood, there have
been nine pastors, who have labored with the church for a year or
longer, all but two of whom have been regularly installed. The
longest pastorates have been those of Reverend Mr. Bulkley, of
thirteen years and four months ; Mr. Phelps, twelve years and eleven
months ; and Mr. Robie, nine years and eight months. The average
term of service has been six years and four months. The church
building itself has been remodelled three times. In 1846 the ques-
tion was agitated about raising the building, but it was finally decided
to raise the floor four feet, and the old Vestry was then put in. Be-
fore that time the prayer meetings were held in the little room over
the church.

The greatest change in the audience room was made in 1869,
when the choir-gallery was lowered, the old-fashioned pulpit taken
away, and new and more comfortable seats put in.

^ This refers to those members of the First Parish Church who had
from the beginning sympathized with the new Society, but who had not
as yet dissolved their connection with the old one. — Editor.

72 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

The change on which we are congratulating ourselves to-day has
long been thought desirable, and many of .us have cherished the
hope that sooner or later it might come about.

If any work was ever begun and carried on in prayer, I am sure
that this work has been. When the Spirit of God, I believe, led me
to present the subject to you on the eleventh of last March, he also
prepared your hearts to open wide to give, even as the children of
Israel, with willing hands for the carrying on of the work. I remem-
ber with what hesitancy I entered the old Vestry on the following
Saturday, not knowing what would be the result of the meeting, and
a litde later came out with a light and grateful heart at your generous
subscription of ^1800. During the following week the sum swelled
to over $3000. The movement seemed to be spontaneous ; and
whenever any movement in the interests of God's Kingdom or in
obedience to his will is thus taken up by his people, he often blesses
them far above that they even dared to expect. So has it been with
us. We planned for a chapel, without any thought of improving the
church, and lo ! we have as beautiful and attractive a vestry as any
one could wish. The church building itself has been wonderfully
improved externally, and our eyes have already caught the transfor-
mations that have taken place within. Who would have dared to
hope, six months ago, that all these changes could have been made
without incurring a large debt, and best of all, with hardly the sound
of a discordant note. And yet this is what God has wrought. And
shall I tell you the secret of our marvellous success ? In a word, I
believe it was prayer. Not a meeting of your Committee has been
held without first invoking the special guidance of our God, and
when we have been unable fully to agree at first, we have fallen on
our knees and besought the Lord to direct us, and we have heartily
agreed on the work to be done. And more than the Committee
even dared to hope has been accomplished.

That there are many things that we could improve upon were
we to do the work again, is only too true ; that others might have
done the work better, we do not doubt : but I do not believe that
any work was ever done on a church building or on any public
building where there has been more outward harmony and fraternal
good-will than has characterized our work ; and to God alone shall
be all the praise.

REV. FR. FINNEGAN GOES TO GROTON. 73

THE UNION CHURCH.

The late Reverend Dr. John Todd, in a letter dated De-
cember 2, 1826, and printed on page 175 of his Life, gives the
origin of the name Union Church, as applied to the Orthodox
Society in Groton, which is now generally forgotten. Few
persons of the present day remember the bitter controversy
that raged in New England when the Congregational churches
were torn asunder by internal dissensions, and the deep sec-
tarian feeling that followed the division of the parishes. Dr.
Todd writes : " The church was consecrated by the name of
' The Union Church of Christ in Groton,' a name of my selec-
tion, as I hope the two orthodox churches will one day be
united." At the time of their separation both societies were
considered orthodox.

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

The church in Groton, a mission of St. Mary's Parish, Ayer, was
dedicated on Sunday, Oct. 8, by the Rt. Rev. Mgr. Wm. Byrne,
D. D. P. A., of Boston, vicar-general of the archdiocese. A solemn
high mass followed, during which the Rev. T. L Gasson, S. J., of
Boston College, preached. The church was for nearly 20 years the
chapel of Groton School. It was bought by the archbishop about a
year ago, and moved from Farmers' Row, the fashionable residential
street, to its present site on Main Street.

" The Pilot," Boston, October 21, 1905.

REV. FR. FINNEGAN GOES TO GROTON.

Rev. Father Charles A. Finnegan, who for twelve years has
been a member of the Boston diocese and associated with a number
of Boston pastors as their assistant, has been rewarded for his long
and faithful service by being assigned as pastor of the Church of the
Sacred Heart at Groton. This is an independent parish and was
formerly connected with the parish at Ayer.

" The Boston Journal," February 20, 1907.

74 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

THE REV. DR. LOTHROFS REMINISCENCES.

During the year 1888 there was privately printed a small
edition of a book entitled " Some Reminiscences of the Life
of Samuel Kirkland Lothrop," which gives in an easy and
graceful style the recollections of the reverend author. Mr.
Charles Robinson, who is mentioned in the following extract
from the volume, for a short time in 1818 taught a school at
Cambridge, which young Lothrop attended. He afterward
was the settled minister of Groton.

I was sorry to lose Mr. Robinson. He was an excellent teacher,
and our little school under him was a good and pleasant one. Two
experiences with him afterwards I may as well relate here. He
studied Divinity and was settled at Groton, where he had a suc-
cessful ministry of fifteen or eighteen years, resigning about 1840.
At this time I had been four years at Brattle Street. Our church
was invited to the council to install his successor, and I went up
with Mr. William Lawrence, a native of Groton, as my delegate.
Robinson made the installing prayer, and he made it forty-five
minutes long, — spreading before the Lord the whole history of the
town and the church, as well as off'ering at the close some earnest
petitions in behalf of the new minister. During the prayer I was
in the front pew, standing next to Andrew P. Peabody, then of
Portsmouth. He was to preach the sermon (it was shorter than the
prayer), and as he was passing me to go up to the pulpit, he said,
"If Brother Robinson had begun where he left off, and remembered
that it may be taken for granted that God knows some things, he
would have done better."

After leaving Groton Mr. Robinson was settled at Medfield, and
in the summer of 1845 we had some correspondence about an
exchange. He proposed one Sunday, which I declined, proposing
another, if I had a favorable answer from him. I heard nothing;
but on that Sunday, the moment I entered my own church I saw a
head in the pulpit, and on reaching the top of the pulpit stairs found
it was Mr. Robinson, who said rather sharply, "How is this, sir?
Why are you not at Medfield? " " Because I did not hear from you,"
I answered. " There was nothing said in your note about hearing
from me," was his reply. " I think there was," I said ; " at any rate.

PETER STEVENS. 75

there is no use in disputing about it now; the mistake, whosever it
is, can't be remedied. I can't get to Medfield or you get back in
season to conduct services there. You are here, and we shall be
very glad to hear you preach." Mr. William Lawrence invited us all
home to dinner. Mrs. Lawrence, a kind hearted, excellent, hospit-
able woman, presently said to Mr. Robinson, whom she had known
at Groton, " I hope Mrs. Robinson is well, sir. I should have been
very glad to have seen her with you." The answer came short, crisp,
sharp, " My wife is dead, madam." There was an awful silence, the
tone of the answer being such that no one knew what to say. Mrs.
Lawrence was the first to recover herself. She said, " I am very
sorry, sir ; I had not heard of Mrs. Robinson's death. The children
I hope are well; I wish you had brought one of them with you."
Again the answer came m a worse tone than before, " We never had
a child, madam ! " (pp. 71, 72).

PETER STEVENS.

Salem, May lo"^ 1782

This may Certify that I Peter Stevens of Groton was taken on
Board the Ship venus, from Boston Commanded by Cap' Babcock.
was Carried into Hallifax put on Board the prison ship, from which
I made my escape ; was taken up and put on board the Attalanta
sloop of war I made my escape from her travelling towards Caper-
sue. About six or seven miles from Hallifax met a man by the name
of Albro who carried me aside gave me two Dollars and Directed me
on my Rhode, told me that if I got to Capersue to enquire for one
Cap' Foot who he knew would assist me. I got safe to Capersue by
the help of many Friends that I met with on the Rhode, I went to
Cap'. Foots and staid at his House some time with several other pris-
oners. He came on purpose with his Boat to fetch us home, and
refused pay for it, saying that he never made a practice of taking any-
thing from prisoners in Distress this is the usage I met with and
have reason to Believe hundred others have receiv'd the same from
Capt Foot. — I can but Greatfully Acknowledge his favours and sin-
cerely wish that he may meet with Due incouragement and protection
from this State —

Massachusetts Archives, 237 (Revolution Resolves, etc., 17S2, p. 19).

76 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

GEN. JOSEPH B. VARNUM.

Joseph Bradley Varnum was a prominent character in
this neighborhood during the Revolutionary period and
many following years. At the date of this letter, partisan
politics ran high in this State, but General Varnum lived to
fill some of the most responsible and honorable positions in
the Commonwealth, He had been Speaker of the House of
Representatives at Washington and for one term a United
States Senator. He was born at Dracut, on January 29,
I749~50) and died on September 11, 1821. Notwithstanding
the opposition to him from certain citizens of Groton, he was
commissioned as Brigadier-General by Governor Strong, and
some years later as Major-General. When he died in i<S2i
he had filled the long term of over forty-five years of active
and continued service in the history of military affairs in
the Commonwealth.

Groton Aug. 7. 1798
May it please your Excellency —

The present crisis in our publick affairs gives to political events,
even of a local nature, a degree of importance which they do not
commonly possess. By the late resignation of General Woods, who
commanded this brigade for upwards of ten years, the office of
Brigadier became vacant. — Pursuant to division orders which had
been issued for that purpose, the field officers of the brigade, nine in
number, assembled yesterday in Westford for the choice of General
Wood's successor. It has long been known, and that, even from
Col. J. B. Varnum's own declaration that he has anxiously desired
this appointment and has continued in the command of his regiment
many years more than is customary in order to stand a candidate for
it — . But Col. Varnum's known political sentiments not agreeing
with those of a majority of the electors, and at this particular junc-
tion, being considered as dangerous in a man high in military office,
he has not been elected, — there being but three votes in his favour
and his own vote being solitary for another person. Nevertheless,
though there were five other voters, they did not make a majority for
any person. Four of them were for Col. Benj '. Sawin — and his own
vote would have determined the election in his favour — But he had

LEOMINSTER. 77

too much independence and sense of propriety to vote for himself.
Therefore after a great number of trials, no choice was made ; and
the electors seeing the impossibility of an agreement, concluded to
give over the attempt and leave the appointment with your Excellency
and the Council according to the Constitution.

We take the liberty to address this concise history to your Excel-
lency, because from the known disposition of a certain party we are
not without suspicions that attempts will be made to impress your
mind with colourable statements — At the same time we beg leave
to add an expression of our hope, that as Middlesex seems to be
emerging from the mist of error by which she has long been remark-
ably obscured, an appointment will not now be made that shall
force her under the influence of a resUess and designing character ;
and we have the more confidence in this expression on account of
the sentiment advanced by your Excellency and the Legislature dur-
ing their late session, that it was the duty of good citizens at this
time to discountenance such characters as propagate sentiments and
opinions incompatible with the safety and honour of our Country. —
We have the honour to be
with the highest respect
your Excellency's most obedient
and very humble Servants

Timothy Bigelow
Aaron Brown
Samson Woods
Saml Dana
Ja? Prescott j un"*

Oliver Prescott Jun'^
[Addressed to]
His Excellency

Increase Sumner Esq.
Roxbury.

BEDFORD.

According to a memorandum among the Isaac Stearns
papers in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society,
the intention of marriage between John Emerson Ross, 01
Bedford, and Jane Priest, of Groton, was duly published by
Samuel Lawrence, Town-clerk of Groton, on December 5,
1776.

78 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LEOMINSTER.

The first settled minister of Leominster was the Reverend
John Rogers ; and the first marriage ceremony performed by
him in that town was that of Ezra Hale, of Leominster, and
Lydia Frost, of Groton. My authority for this statement is
found on page 15 of the Reverend Rufus P. Stebbins's " Cen-
tennial Discourse " (Boston, 1843), delivered on September 24,
1843. The date of marriage, as given in the Groton Historical
Series (I. No. XIH. 49), is June 5, 1744.

THE LAWRENCE FAMILY AT GROTON.

The following account of several Groton families is furnished in
order to correct certain errors which appear in the Rev. John Law-
rence's " Genealogy of the Family of John Lawrence " (Boston, 1869).
The leading error is printed on page 79, where it is said that John

Lawrence, born at Groton, Nov. 13, 1741, married Sarah , and

had seven children. According to the author " Mr. John Lawrence
died Dec. 26, 1799, having been thrown from a sleigh in Cambridge,
in the sixtieth year of his age, the same person, it is believed [Italics
mine], who was born in Groton, 1741. The widow Sarah died
Nov. 16, iSio, aged sixty-five years." This belief on the part of the
author, based on an entire misapprehension of facts, has led to much
confusion in the record of many families, as printed in the book. In
fact it breaks utterly the connection of these families with this line of
descent, and without authority adds another line of descendants.

Without attempting to trace the various branches as there men-
tioned, I will give the correct record of John Lawrence, together, with
an account of some of his descendants. The facts in the main are
taken from the family Bible, now in the possession of Abel Lawrence,
a grandson.

Nathaniel Lawrence, Jr., and Dorothy Chamberlain, both of Groton,
were married by the Rev. Caleb Trowbridge, on Feb. 4, 1728-9;
and they had eight children, of whom John was the youngest son,
born Nov. 13, 1741, and died Nov. 26, 1822. See Groton Histori-

THE LAWRENCE FAMILY AT GROTON. 79

cal Series (III. 388) for a reference to the funeral of " Widow Law-
rence y*" mother of John Lawrence aged S^ years," which took place
in April, 1790. John married Abigail, eldest daughter of Ezekiel

and Abigail ( ) Nutting, born Oct. 10, 1753, and died July 10,

1847 ; and they had eight children, as follows :

John, born April 4, 1777, died July 9, 1834. On July 16,
1799, he married Margaret Gragg, who died May 20, 1845.
(See Groton Epitaphs, p. 183.)

Nathaniel, born April 28, 1779, and died June, 1779.

Nathaniel, born July 25, 1780, and died July i, 1831 ; his
widow Sally died Sept. 19, 1840.

Ezekiel, born July 20, 1783, and died Sept. 30, 1789.

Abigail, born Sept. 6, 1786.

Abel, born June 12, 1789, and died May 4, 1835.

Sarah, born April 8, 1792, and died Oct. 26, 1822.

Mary, born April i, 1795.

Nathaniel, son of John and Abigail (Nutting) Lawrence, was mar-
ried to Sally Shattuck, daughter of Job and Elizabeth (Blood) Shat-
tuck, born May 2, 1790. He died July i, 1831, and his widow,
Sept. 19, 1840.

Their children were :

Nathaniel, born August 4, 1808, married Eliza Hubbard, had
two children, and died about sixty years ago.

Abigail, born Jan. 3, 181 1, and died Aug. 23, 1812.

John, born Feb. 26, 1813, and died Aug. 13, 1816.

Daniel, born June 14, 1815, and died May 15, 1843.

Abigail, born Aug. 11, 181 7, and died in Lowell, June 15, 1835.

John, born Sept. 22, 1819, and died unmarried in Townsend,
Sept. 7, 1897.

Elizabeth, born Dec. 26, 182 1, married Aug. 31, 1849, Alvin
Davis, son of Silas and Patty Davis, of Hubbardston. They
lived for fourteen years in Elmira, N. Y. ; and after her
husband's death she returned to Groton, and is now (1907)
living with her brother Abel, on Hollis Street.

Abe], born Aug. 5, 1824, was married, March 5, 1849, at
Townsend, by the Rev. Luther H. Sheldon, to Eliza, daugh-
ter of Minot and Sophronia (Hall) Baldwin, of Townsend.
His wife died at Groton, Sept. 14, 1893.

8o FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

William, born Dec. 9, 1827, and now living at Laconia, N. H.
He has been married, and has had two daughters, but the
wife and both children are dead. He died at Laconia on
September 6, 1908.

The children of Abel and Eliza (Baldwin) Lawrence are Abel
Lorenzo, born at Groton, March 2, 1850, married Nelly Payne, of
Detroit, Mich., and died there, Sept. 12, 1893, leaving two sons, both
married, of whom one, Harold Payne Lawrence, took the degree of
M.D., at the Detroit College of Medicine in May, 1905 ; and

Charles, born atTownsend, April 23, 1851, married, Aug. 18, 1880,
Fanny D. Marsh, daughter of Charles D. and Margaret (Quackenbush)
Marsh, of Marlboro; now living at Groton, no children. He died in
Boston, November 22, 1909.

The will of the first Nathaniel, here mentioned, is on file in the
Middlesex Probate Office at East Cambridge. It is dated August
30, 1775, and was received at the office on October 4, 1775; ^^^
his death must have taken place between those dates. It was not
probated at Cambridge — where the office then was — until May 28,
1776. The delay, doubtless, was due to the confusion in the neigh-
borhood during that Revolutionary period when the town was occu-
pied by the American troops. The assent to its probate was signed
by five of the children, and by a grandson Nathaniel, only son and
surviving heir of Nathaniel, Jr. In his will he mentions son John,
whom he made executor, daughter Dorothy Hudson, sons Thomas
and Isaac, daughter Abigail Gilson, and daughters Eunice and Martha.
His daughter Dorothy was married to Benaiah Hudson, of Pepperell,
on March 7, 1754, and his daughter Abigail, to Nehemiah Gilson, of
Groton, probably in the year 1765 ; and they both had large families.

" The New-England Historical and Genealogical Register," July, 1907.

AN ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCIL.

The following paper, recently brought to light, gives about
the only information we have of an Ecclesiastical Council,
held at Groton, on April 15, 171 2, which was called to con-
sider the troubles between Mr. Bradstreet, the minister, and
the church. The exact nature of the complaints then made
by his parishioners is not known, but from the answers to

AN ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCIL. 51

some of the charges, their general character may be surmised.
It has been thought that the troubles grew out of Mr, Brad-
street's Episcopal tendencies, but by the light of the manu-
script this theory seems untenable. The paper itself is not
the original report of the Council, but a contemporaneous
copy of the same. Both from the style of writing and from
the spelling it appears to be in the hand of Jonas Prescott, an
inhabitant of Groton, who at that period was prominent in the
affairs of both church and town. While he may have been
illiterate himself, like most men of his times, and unused
to scholarly ways, he became the ancestor of a long line of
families distinguished in many different walks of life.

The Council consisted of five ministers or elders, and nine
lay delegates or messengers. The ministers were the Rev.
Grindall Rawson, of Mendon, who acted as Moderator of the
Council ; Rev. John Hancock, of Lexington, grandfather of
the signer; Rev. Joseph Baxter, of Medfield ; Rev. John
Swift, of Framingham ; and Rev. John Prentice, of Lancaster.
The messengers were Thomas Wilder and John Houghton,
of Lancaster; Samuel Stone and Joseph Bowman, of Lexing-
ton ; Jonathan Boyden and Samuel Roocit (Rockwood), of
Medfield; David Ryse (Rice) and Joshua Hemenway, of
Framingham; and John Tyler, of Mendon.

At a Councel of fiue Churches Called by y'' Read mr dudly brod-
stret and the disatisfied bretherin of the Church of Crist in Groton &
held in sd Groton Aprel 15 : 1712 refering to the un hapy differince
betwen them wee the subscribers Conuened at the time and plase aboue
sd & hauing Earnstly Implored the help of all mity God and herd
& Examined Euedinces and allagations one all sids do aduise and
determin as foloueth

Impremise or Impmy That the aduise tack plase as to the furst arti-
col in the Charg which the reuernt Eldrs which were with them in
nouembr y'' \_daie omitted'] 17 10 did giue them namly that nither mr
brodstret nor others should insist one the charges mad by them that
could not be mad out Concidring the ouer of temtation thay were in
& that a contry corse mit haue a tendencey to Cast them in to further
and grater confusons

II as to thee woord raysing in y* 2 articoll the sudscribers to the

82 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

charge desiered it mit be with drawne as to mr brodstrets reporting the
story refered to in the sd Charge mr brodstret has giuen ampel satist
faction partickerly to Thomas Tarboll iuner y^ parson Imedatly
Concarned and the 4 brethren whoo sined the sd Charge publickly
de clared them selues satisfyed

III Concidring y^ unacountabol parplexity and Contridixon of
Euedinces refering to y* 3"^ articol uise y^ charge layed against mr
brodstret for abominadle Cariage towherds towerds [sk] the wife of
Samuell Keemp wee are not aboil to de termin for the present one
which side the truth lyes & there fore shall leue it to farther concidra-
tion untill wednsday y^ 18 day of June next insuing at malbray unto
which time and place we do agorne the councel hoping that thare may
bee sumthing more of lite by that time gained by the help of which
wee may be Enabled to pas to a more full determintion.

nil whers the reuorant mr brodstret is Charged with Immods-
actions at the house of Sameuell Commines one a Saturday night we
find the Euedinces in that Case so Conuyctine that we determin it to
be mr brodstrets duty to submit to the Euidences and mack satis-
faction according to gospell rull

V the fifth and sixt articls in the Charges Exhidited to us ware re-

VI caled by the disatisfyed brethren them selues & therefore we find
no reson to tack it in to our thouts too determin any thing apone them

we cannot but Expres the grat & aflicttiue sence we haue of the
lamantabl condison ouer beloued brethren are in & of the sufering
state of religion among them by reson of the long contineued and Exer-
siseing diferences & diuesons where bey their pese and quieat haue bin
ob structed & it is with Extreme sorou and aflicton of sperit wee be
hould the diffrances arision be twene y*" reurend mr dud brodstret and
the disatisfied brethren and other inhabintence be come so wide & grate
as for bid us to hope for such reconcilation betwene them as may of fer
a prouibel prospect of the con tinuance of the relation thay stand in
Each to other comfortablle to either and do therefore beleue it to
be y* most hopefull Expedaent to their peese and comfort that the
Church of Crist and in haditance of Groton do frely Consent that the
reurend mr dudly bradstt may re moue from them & wee beleue it will
Conduse to his oune Comfort to exsept that liberty when aloued him :
wee furder ad that in order to his pesoble remoue from them it is their
duty to maintaine a Du regard to his iust rits according to thare a
greement with hime upone his setlement with them in the pastorl
offise whilst this be dune wee cannot supepose thay will deel iustly with

AN ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCIL. 83

him nor comfortably for them selues & to y' prouiding to a nu setl-
ment finely we Judge it the duty of paster and pepel to humbell them
selues under the the [sic] ueru sever and Just & holy prouidence of
God in per miting saton the Enemy of souls so long to inuad & imbors
thare peese & to be uery lavvfull to in quier into the causes of God
anger & holy indignation manifest in so sore & humdling a dispershon
of prouidence touerds them and we beleue it their duty to beg that
God would shou to Euery of them where in thay haue dun a mis to be
waill it be fore God & to ask importinatly his pardoning marsey throu
the bloud of a gratious & all mity redemer to hear the fait of these
misers of iniquitys which cannot be by ouer most thout full & Cristell
Endeuers Come att lyes where not able to determin but the holy god is
the sercher of all harts beleue it tis the dudy of all parsons concarned
to consider it and to act acording ly that thay may not hue and dye
with out indeuers af ter reconceilaton to God in order to y" ob taining
for giuenes it shall be ouer prayer to god that thay may in gods time
which the lord in marsey hasen see a comfortadl eshue of all thare
trobles one the acount of which thay haue bin grat thoughts & serching
of harts we pray that ouer endeuers touers bringing one of such an
ishue may be Exceptable to god whose presence we haue desiered &
whoos rules we haue acordingly to ouer light a lowed & to thos whoo
here Desiered ouer presens with thaare and ouers result one the perticu-
lers laid before us whome we recomend to the mersefull fauer& Conduct
of gracous God and subscrid ouer selues youre serunts for Crists sack

grindall roson mod

John hancock

Josef baxter

John Swift

John Prentis

Thomas Wilder

John houton

Sameuel Stoon

Jonathan boydon

Dauid Ryse mesengers

Sameuell roocit

Josheuh hemingway

Joseph bowman

John Tyeler

[Indorsed] the ad uis. of a Counsill of eldrs &mesingers

84 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

According to the answer given to the third Article, the
Council adjourned to meet at Marlborough, on June 18, 1712.
While there is no record extant of what was then done at this
adjourned meeting, the general result of the proceedings, and
the action of the town thereon, may be gathered from the
following entries in the Groton town-records (p. 24) : —

Whereas at A Metting of the Reu'J Elders & messengers lately con-
uened At Grotton april 15 i7i2&at the meting of said Reu'^ Elders &
messengers at Malbro June 18° 1712 upon adiournmen Aduice hath
been giuen to the Reu'! M' dudley Bradstret Pastor of the church in
Grotton & to the church of Christ there that the s' church & town
should forthwith proseed to dismis the said M' Bradstret from his office
bond & Relation to them as the most probable expedient in their
Judgment to promote their peace & comfurt

In pursuance of the aboue specified Aduice the church of Christt In
Grotton declare and It«is uoted that the Reud M' dudley Bradstret is
dismised from & is discharged of his pastorall Relation & office Obliga-
tion to the church of Grotton uoted allso that our Bretheren capt
prescot simon stone Jonas prescot ir be desiered & are impowered to
present the aboue written notes of the church to the Inhabitanes of
the town of Grotton for thair concurrence & to joyn with such person
or persons as the town shall appoint to presant these uots & the
towns coucurrence therewith to the Reud M] Bradstret
Grotton July 22 17 12

At a Meting of the Inhabitants of the town of Grotton legalley
warned to consider certain uotes of the church of Christ in Grotton
Refaring to their discharging the Reud : M' dudley Bradstret from his
Pastorall Relation to tham & his office bond to sd church = uoted that
the town doth concur with the uots of the church refering to M' brod-
strets dismission as a boue expresed & that the Inhabitants of sd
Grotton doe release the sd M' Bradstret from the Relation he stands
in to them as their minister

uoted also that Nathanill Woods Ephrim Pare with capt prascot
simon ston Jonas Prascot ir Chosen by the church to present the uotes
to the town at this presant meeting of the Inhabitants be a commitey
on the behalf of the town to presant the uots of the church & town
to the Reud M' Bradstret

Grotton July 24

" Proceedings," Massachusetts Historical Society, November 9, 1S99.

WILLIAil L. CHAPLIX, ESQ. 85

JONATHAN SHEPLEY'S ESTATE.

The following extract is taken from the printed "Journal Of
the Honorable House of Representatives, Of His Majesty's
Province of Massachusetts-Bay, " under date of April 22,
1 746 : —

A Petition of Lydia Shapley and yosiah Sartell, Administrators to
the Estate of Capt. yonathan Shapley late of Groton, deceased, pray-
ing they may be enabled to give one Philip IVoolrick of said Groton,
a Deed of one third Part of a twenty Acre Lott which the said
yonathan was obliged to give in his Life time under a Penalty,
but neglected it.

Read and Ordered, That the Prayer of the Petition be granted,
and the Petitioners in their said Capacity are hereby impowred to
give and execute a good Deed of the Land therein mentioned to the
said Philip IVoolrick accordingly

A Petition of WilHafjt Tarbell of Groton, a Soldier wounded in the
Service of the Province, praying a Consideration therefor.

Read and committed to the Gentlemen appointed on the Pedtions
of poor Soldiers &c (p. 237).

WILLIAM L. CHAPLIN, ESQ.

This gentlemen, who is now under arrest for slave abduction at
Washington, is well known in this vicinity. He is a son of the late
Rev. Dr. Chaplin of Groton, and brother of the late Dr. Chaplin of
Cambridge. He was a lawyer of highly respectable talents. But for
some fifteen years he has chiefly devoted himself to promoting the
abolition movement, by editing or corresponding for papers or deliv-
ering public lectures.

His act, which has brought him under the merciless power of slave-
holding laws, is generally regretted even by most abolitionists —
both on his account, and because it promises to injure rather than
promote his cause. But probably his mind has come into such a
position, that he feels himself happy in being a martyr to such a
cause, and that he judges that he can best promote his cause, by
such a self sacrifice. If so, we may regret that he thinks differently

86 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

from us ; but we ought to allow him to act on his own convictions.
He is not a weak misguided man, led into difficulties by others ;
and whether we or he has judged best, as to what will promote the
cause of emancipation, time must determine. To us it seems that
such efforts only exasperate the slave power, and do more harm
than good. But if he chooses to give his life, as Mr. Torrey ^ did, to
sustain the opposite opinion, his position as a martyr to that opinion
should disarm all severity of criticism upon him. Prudent men, in
a crisis like this, deprecate every act that tends to make wider the
breach between the north and south. Yet in the compass of God's
plans, the ultraisms of both south and north are embraced as
elements of working out his problems. He will bring order out of
confusion and light out of darkness, and will use the folly as well as
the wisdom of all agents, as the instruments of his purposes. If
then a man of superior talents, like Mr. ChapHn, after studying his
subjects so long, comes to the conclusion that he can best promote
the end of his existence by surrendering himself as a martyr in this
form, we ought not to make him less a martyr by our sympathies,
nor more a martyr by our frowns. He is of age, let him think and
act for himself

"The Puritan Recorder," Boston, August 22, 1850.

William Lawrence Chaplin was the youngest child of
the Reverend Daniel and Susanna (Prescott) Chaplin, and
born at Groton, on October 27, 1796. He began to attend
school at Groton Academy in the year 1804, then under the
preceptorship of Mr. Butler, and entered Harvard College in
the autumn of 18 19. His name appears in the annual cata-
logue of that institution for four successive years, but he did
not graduate. He stood well in his class, and excelled par-
ticularly in Latin ; and his leaving had no connection either
with his rank or deportment. A " rebellion " broke out in
the college during his Senior year, when thirty-four of his
classmates were dismissed, but he was not in any way impli-
cated. Mr. Chaplin studied law with Judge Dana, of Groton,
and was admitted to the Middlesex bar in June, 1829, but he

1 This allusion is to the Rev. Charles Turner Torrey (1813-1846), of Balti-
more, who was detected in an attempt to aid some slaves to escape from Mary-
land, and was sentenced to a long imprisonment in the state prison, where he
died of consumption on May 9, 1846.

WILLIAM L. CHAPLIN, ESQ. 87

practised his profession for only two or three years. He had
an office for a short time in his native town, but nowhere
else.

In the early days of the anti-slavery agitation, Mr. Chaplin
was a prominent Abolitionist. On August 8, 1850, he was
thrown into prison at Washington, D. C, and treated with
great cruelty and indignity, for helping two run-away slaves
to escape who belonged to Messrs. Toombs and Stephens,
representatives in Congress from Georgia. He was subse-
quently given up to the Maryland authorities, and then con-
fined in the jail at Rockville, the shire-town of Montgomery
County, where he received much kindness. It happened, for-
tunately for him, that the sheriff of this county was a Chris-
tian gentleman, and the jailer a man of good feelings. He
was finally released on very heavy bail, provided by his
friends, and of course forfeited by him under their advice.
A pamphlet was printed soon afterward, giving a full history
of the affair, entitled : The Case j of | William L. Chaplin;
I being | an Appeal [ to all j Respecters of Law and Jus-
tice j against | the cruel and oppressive treatment to which,
under color | of legal proceedings, he has been subjected, in
the I District of Columbia and the State of | Maryland. ||
Boston: Published by the Chaplin Committee, 185 1. Oc-
tavo, pages 54.

The following extract is taken from the pamphlet : —

Thus, after an imprisonment of six weeks at Washington, and of
thirteen weeks more at Rockville, was Mr. Chaplin delivered out
of the hands of the Philistines ; not, however, till his friends had
paid for him the enormous ransom of $25,000 (p. 49).

On August 12, 1 85 1, he was married at Glen Haven, New
York, to Theodosia, daughter of Deacon Elias and Betsey
(Green) Gilbert, of Richmond, Ontario County, New York;
and they had two children, — Harriet Lawrence, born on De-
cember 5, 1852, and died on December 21, 1861 ; and Theo-
dosia Gilbert, born on April 11, 1855, who is married to the
Reverend Frederick John Clegg Walton, now of Englewood,
Illinois. Mrs. Chaplin died at Glen Haven, on April 17,

88 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

1855, soon after the birth of her second child; and she is
said to have been a woman lovely in character and noble in
purpose. During Mr. Chaplin's imprisonment she never lost
heart or hope, but bore up bravely under the cruel hardship.
Her husband survived her sixteen years, and died at Cortland,
Cortland County, New York, on April 28, 1871. In speak-
ing of Mr. Chaplin, the Reverend John Todd, D.D., the
colleague and successor of his father at Groton, writes : —

He was the youngest son, — the staff of the old man's age. He
relinquished all hopes and openings in his profession, — the law, —
that he might comfort and support his aged parents on their way to
the grave. Most dutifully did he perform every filial duty till he
had seen his parents laid in the tomb. Dr. James P. Chaplin, of
Cambridge, so successful in the treatment of the insane, was an older
brother ; and his grandfather [great-uncle]. Col. Prescott, was a com-
mander at the battle of Bunker Hill (Jbid., page 15).

For other notices of Mr. Chaplin and his family, see Vol-
ume I. of the Groton Historical Series, No. XL (pp. 5, and 19,
20); and Volume H. No. XV.

EARLY GRADUATES OF LAWRENCE ACADEMY.

In recent years, within the period of about a decade, four
graduates of Lawrence Academy have died who had reached
a remarkable age. They are as follows : —

Mrs. Sarah (Chaplin) Rockwood, who was born at Groton
on November 8, 1785, and died at Cortland, Cortland County,
N. Y., on November 26, 1889. She attended school at
Groton Academy, as it was then known, in the year 1797.
The date of her birth was duly entered in the town-records,
and the entry corresponds with that in the family Bible. Ac-
cording to the church records she was baptized on November

13. 1785-

Mrs. Sarah (Capell) Gilson, the oldest person in Groton,
died on Sunday (August 24, 1890) at the advanced age of 96
years, 9 months and 2 days. She was a woman of marked

FOR SALE. 89

character, full of early reminiscences and with an excellent
memory; her conversation always gave great delight to her
listeners. She attended the Academy in the year 1808.

Abel Blake, of Keene, N. H., who died in that city on De-
cember 22, 1894, aged 99 years and 2 months, was a scholar
at Groton Academy in 1814.

Dr. William Lambert Russell, of Barre, Mass., who died in
that town on May 6, 1899, aged 99 years, 6 months and 8
days, attended the same academy in 18 17, and graduated
from Harvard College in the class of 1826. At the time of
his death he was the oldest graduate of Harvard.

FOR SALE,

A FARM in Groton, thirty-four miles from Boston, lying on the
post road leading from Boston to Amherst ; being the most pleas-
antly situated (half a mile from the meeting-house) of any in said town.
It contains 20 acres of excellent land, well fruited, a house and barn,
and two wells of water, never known to fail. Apply to Isaac Bowers
of Grototi.

"Columbian Centinel " (Boston), Saturday, April 7, 1798.

A fine Chance for a Person, who wishes to trade in the Country.

FOR SALE,

A Beautiful Seat, for a Trader, with a general assortment of
Goods and Utensils, necessary in, and about a Store, in the centre of
the Town of Groton, 34 miles from Boston, on the Post Road from
Boston to Keen - — Consisting of one acre & half of excellent Land,
a commodious new Store, 40 feet by 20, two stories high, a good
Cellar under the whole — the upper story is finished and partidoned
into three Chambers, which are very pleasant, & convenient for a
family to live in. A Shed adjoining the Store, 40 feet by 16, con-
venient for a Wood-house, and Stabling, a good Well within ten feet
of the Store, which never fails to yeild the best of Water. A House
26 feet by 14, suitable for a Mechanick's Shop. — And about five or
six hundred pounds worth of W. India, English, Hard Ware, Crockery

go FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Ware, & other Goods ; suitable for the situation, and purchased, all
of which will be sold at prime cost — Two or three hundred pound of
the purchase may be credited two or three years, if the purchaser
should wish. For furthur particulars, apply to the Subscriber, now
trading on the Premises. David Moors. Groton, April lo, 1798.

" Independent Chronicle : and the Universal Advertiser " (Boston), Monday,
April 16, 1798, page 4.

SCHOOLMASTER.

To the honoicrable his Majesties Justices of the Court of General
Sessions of the Peace To be holdeii at Charlestown within 6^ for j1
County of Middlesex on the Second Tuesday of March 1 7 1 7/1 8

Whereas we the Subscribers Selectmen of Groton have been In-
formed that y^ Town of Groton hath been Presented by y*: Grand
Jury for want of a School Master which was to have been answered
y": Last Court but the Presentment afores*^ being variously Construed
it was at Length ordered that y": Selectmen of Groton Should be ap-
prized thereof & Certify this Court how many famiUes there is in
our Town Now these are to Certify & Informe Your honours that
There is not one hundred families which are Ratable or able To Con-
tribute anything to y" Publick & we presume the Grand Jury Niver
Intended a Grammar Schoole by said Presentment. And Ever Since
Said Court in December Last we have been Provided with a Schoole
Master To Teach Children To read & Wright as the Law in this Case
provides & Directs. Which Premises being Considered we hope
Groton Will be Discharged from Said Presentment. We have also
appointed M' John Ames to present this to your honours To whom
you may Give Credit

from yo' honours Humble Serv'.'

Simon Stone '\ o j 4 ^

f Selectmen of
JohnSheple \ ^^^^^^^_

Jonathan BoidenJ

Richard Warner

Joseph Lakin

[Indorsed] Groton Selectmen
Rep'sentation abt
a School

Considered
& Done

JOHN AMES S ESTATE. 9I

JOHN AMES'S ESTATE.

The following extract is taken from the printed " Journal
Of the Honorable House of Representatives, Of His Majesty's
Province of Massachusetts-Bay," under date of March 6,

1745: —

A Petition of Elizabeth Ames of Groton^ Administratrix to the estate
of jfohn Ames late of said Groton, deceased, shewing her late Husband
became bound to convey a Tract of Land therein mentioned to Caleb
Trowbridge of said Grotofi, but neglected to do it in his Life time,
praying she may be enabled to execute the Deed, for the Reasons
mentioned.

Read and Ordered, That the Prayer of the Petition be granted, and
that the said Elizabeth Ames be and hereby is impowred to make a
Conveyance of the Lands mentioned in said Petition and Bond, and
that such Conveyance shall be deemed as good and valid in law to all
Intents and Purposes as if the same had been made by her late
Husband J^ohn Ames in his Life time (p. 197).

Elizabeth Ames, the petitioner, was the widow of John
Ames, who died on July 30, 1743; and he was the son cf
John Ames who was killed by the Indians on July 9, 1724.

Sept. 8, 1903.
Hon. Samuel A. Green,

Mass. Historical Society,
Boston, Mass.

Dear Sir, — Having in mind our conversation in regard to an in-
cident in my early life which does not appear to me to have value,
but which to you appears otherwise, I make a statement in wriUng of
the principal facts to which that conversation related

My first visit to Boston was made from the town of Lunenburg, in
the year 1828-1829-1830. My memory does not enable me to
make a more specific statement. My father came to Boston with a
one horse wagon load of poultry, chiefly chickens and he gave me
the opportunity to see the city when it contained about 40,000
inhabitants.

92 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Our movements were slow, and we spent the first night at Water-
town with a widow lady, known as Madam Coffin, whose husband
had been a member of Congress from Nantucket and whose son
George W. Cofifin was for many years State Librarian and Land Agent.
Previous to my father's service in the war, in 1S12, he had lived with
Madam Coffin for five years in charge of her farm. She entertained
us, as it appears to me now, with great consideration. The next day
we went to Boston to Quincy Hall Market, where my father stationed
his wagon at the first stand, on the upper end, southerly side where
the contents of the wagon were sold. During the forenoon, my father
visited the corner grocery store of Joseph Mead on Lyman Place.
Mead had been a boy on a neighboring farm. During my father's
absence I made sale of the poultry and I had the unpleasant sugges-
tion upon my father's return that he thought the receipts had not
equalled the depreciation of poultry in the wagon. His suggestion
was met the next Sunday by the discovery in my trousers pocket of a
two dollar bill which I recollect was embellished, as bills were embel-
lished in those days by a red coloring which extended over a portion
only of the surface.

The following night we spent with a friend of my father's at Newton
Corner and the day following we went to the Brighton Cattle Market,
where my father bought 24 head of cattle, 9 of them being oxen for
which he paid $250. I aided in driving them home where the cattle
were deposited on the Almshouse farm, of which my father was then
one of the overseers. As you have a few facts of my early life, I will
add that I was for a brief time a salesman in Quincy market and a
drover of cattle on the highway.

Yours very truly,

Geo. S. Boutweul.

NO THOROUGHFARE.

On March 6, 1871, the town by vote shut up the thorough-
fare leading westerly from the neighborhood of Fitch's Bridge,
and at that time for some distance forming the boundary be-
tween Groton and Pepperell. The extreme western end of
this road, which many years ago was the principal thorough-
fare to Townsend, had previously been shut up by public

RUFUS HAZARD. 93

vote, or fallen into disuse, at a date now unknown to me. A
peculiarity of this highway was that the road lay wholly in
Groton, while the land abutting on the north side was in
Pepperell. The few scattered houses along this road were all
on the north side, so that it had been kept open by the town
for the accommodation of non-residents. Some surprise has
been expressed that it was ever laid out in this manner ; but
the explanation of the anomaly goes back to the time when
Pepperell was set off, on November 26, 1742, as the West
Precinct of Groton. The incorporation of a precinct car-
ried with it only the right to manage their own ecclesiastical
affairs, but not the right to lay out roads or to levy taxes for
that purpose; so that a precinct was still obliged to share
the general expenses of the parent town. In answer to the
petition for the West or Second Precinct of Groton, which is
dated May 26, 1742, the General Court established the Town-
send road as the southern boundary of the precinct, and the
northern side of the road was taken rather than the middle.
At that time the expense of supporting it came equally on
the town and on the new precinct; and the exact line of
division was of no practical importance. When the precinct
became the town of Pepperell, the condition of affairs was al-
tered, but the change does not seem to have been then recog-
nized. The old Townsend road went over Fitch's Bridge, or
rather over the bridge in that immediate neighborhood, which
was of an earlier date than the one half a mile below at what
is now called Paper Mill Village, though the latter was built
very soon afterward.

RUFUS HAZARD.

To Rufus Hazard, a colored person, for extraordinary exertions
and hazard, in attempting to save Samuel Williams, who had sunk in
Squamcook [Sqiiannacook] River. $10.

From " History of the Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachu-
setts," Boston, 15576, p. 5S.

94 TACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MULBERRY TREES.

More than eighty years ago during my early boyhood, a
craze struck our good old Commonwealth, in favor of the
mulberry tree. It was thought then that the cultivation of
this tree would encourage the care and growth of the silk-
worm, and thus indirectly be the means of adding another
industry to the occupations of our people. To such an ex-
tent did this feeling go, that the State took part in the move-
ment, and at different times published several manuals under
a Resolve of the Commonwealth. In fact a new word came
into use, now rarely or never heard — seri-culture, the culture
of the silk-worm. Several men in Groton set out on their
farms a large number of mulberry trees, in which they hoped
to enrich themselves as well as the town. I remember that
George Farnsworth on Farmers' Row had one or two fields
of this tree on his land. There was another field nearer the
corner of the road to the Red Bridge ; and one near the
Champney house. There were also a few other specimens in
scattered places that enthusiastic men hoped would be the
source of gain and profit to the owners of land. Perhaps
even now some of these trees, or those grown from their seed,
may be still living.

I am told that the silk industry in the neighborhood of
Northampton is a survival of the attempt made fourscore
years ago to introduce the mulberry tree into this Common-
wealth.

BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.

The following certificates are printed, with other similar
ones, in the " Boston Patriot and Daily Chronicle," June 13,
1 81 8, and were given at the instance of General Henry A. S.
Dearborn, who had written " An Account of the Battle of
Bunker Hill." The Account was first published in " The

BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 95

Port-Folio " (Philadelphia) for March, 1818, and was the occa-
sion of some criticism. For the purpose of answering the
strictures the author collected these papers : —

"[No. 13.]"

Certificate of the Rev. Daniel Chaplin, D.D. of Groton, and the
Rev. John Bullard, of Pepperell.

This may certify the public, that we whose names we have
given, were in the habits of intimacy with Col. W. Prescott, of Pep-
perell, a man of the strictest integrity, during most of the period
after he left the revolutionary army until his death ; that at sundry
times in conversation with him about the war, particularly about
the battle of Bunker Hill, so called, he uniformly told us, that Maj.
General Warren came to the Fort on Breed's Hill which had been
formed the night preceding, a little before the British made an
attack on the works ; that he. Col. Prescott, said to General War-
ren, ' I am happy to see you, General,' or using words to the same
effect, ' for you will now take command, and I will obey your
orders, and am relieved.' Said General Warren, to him in reply,
' I have no command here, Col. Prescott, I am a volunteer, I came
to learn actual service.' Prescott said, ' I wish then you would
look at the works we have thrown up, and give your opinion.'
Warren replied, ' you are better acquainted, Col. Prescott, with
military matters than I am.' After which they immediately parted
and met not again. Col. Prescott further informed us repeatedly,
that when a retreat was ordered and commenced, and he was de-
scending the hill, he met General Putnam, and said to him, ' why
did you not support me. General, with your men, as I had reason
to expect, according to agreement?' Putnam answered, *I could
not drive the dogs up.' Prescott pointedly said to him, ' if you
could not drive them up, you might have led them up.' We have
good reason to believe further from declarations of some of
our parishioners, men of respectability, whose veracity cannot be
doubted, who belonged to Col. Prescott's regiment and were pres-
ent through the whole service, that General Putnam was not on
Breed's Hill the night preceding, or on that day, except that just
before the attack was made, he might have gone to the fort and
ordered the tools to be carried off, that they might not fall into the
hands of the enemy in the event of his carrying the works, and
holding the ground, and that he and his men, with Col. Gerrish,

96 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

remained on the side of Bunker Hill towards the neck during the
whole action.

Signed, Daniel Chaplin,

John Bullard.
Grotoii, yune ^^ 18 18.

"[No. 14.]"
Declaration of Deacon Samuel Lawrence, of Groton.

I, Samuel Lawrence, of Groton, Esquire, testify and say, that I
was at the battle of Bunker Hill, (so called) in Col. William Pres-
cott's regiment ; — that I marched with the Regiment to the point
on Breed's Hill, which was fixed on for a redoubt ; that I assisted
in throwing up the breast-work, and in forming a redoubt, under
Col. Prescott, who directed the whole of this operation. — The
work was begun about nine o'clock in the evening of June i6th,
1775. I ^^^^ there the whole time, and continued in the redoubt,
or in the little fort, during the whole battle, until the enemy came
in and a retreat was ordered. General Putnam was not present
either while the works were erecting, not during the battle. I could
see distinctly the rail fence and the troops stationed there during
the battle, but General Putnam was not present as I saw. After
the retreat was ordered, the troops retreated towards Bunker Hill,
and continued over and on the side of the hill (I was on the side
of the hill) towards Charlestown neck.

Just before the battle commenced, General Warren came to the
redoubt. He had on a blue coat and white waistcoat, and I think
a cocked hat, but of this I am not certain — Col. Prescott advanced
to him, said ' he was glad to see him, and hoped he would take
the command.' Gen. Warren replied, ' no — he came to see the
action but not to take command ; that he was only a volunteer on
that day.' Afterwards I saw General Warren shot ; I saw him
when the ball struck him, and from that time until he expired. I
knew General Warren well by sight, and recollected him perfectly
when Col. Prescott offered him the command, and was sorry to see
him so dangerously situated, as I knew him to be a distinguished
character, and thought he ought not to have risked his life without
command on that occasion. No British officer was within forty or
fifty rods of him, from the time the ball struck him, until I saw he

CAPTAIN ASA LAWRENCE. 97

was dead. I have read General Dearborn's account of the battle,
and think it correct, particularly with regard to the occurrences at
the gateway of the redoubt.

(Signed) Samuel Lawrence.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

County of Middlesex, yime 5, 18 18.

Personally appeared Samuel Lawrence, Esq. and made oath, that
the above declaration by him subscribed, is just and true in all its
parts, according to the best of his knowledge and belief Before
me,

(Signed) Samuel Dana, ytistice of

the Peace throughout said Commonwealth.

CAPTAIN ASA LAWRENCE.

Asa Lawrence, mentioned below, commanded one of the
two companies that marched from Groton to Cambridge on
the alarm of April 19, 1775. He was a son of Peleg Law-
rence, and lived on the farm now known as the Governor
Sullivan place. It is situated on the Lowell road and took
its name from James Sullivan, who was afterward Governor
of the Commonwealth. Sullivan was the Justice of the Peace,
who took Lawrence's deposition on February i, 1779.

o. . r .1 -w To the Honourable the Council and

Mass^achusett! Bay i ^°"^^ °^ Representatives in general

Court assembled.

Humbly shewes Asa Lawrence of Groton in the County of Mid-
dlesex that he was in the Engagement of the 1 7th of June at
Charlestown and there lost goods an account whereof is hereunto
annexed — and that at the Battle of Chelsea he risqued his Life
at the Command of general Putnam to Burn one of the Enemies
armed Vessels and after many attempts he finally effected the same
whereby there was an acquisition of twelve peices of Cannon to the
Public, and also that he served seven weeks in the late Expedition
against Rhode Island as a Volunteer and has never had any reward
for said services or Compensation for his said Losses Wherefore

98 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

he prays that a due allowance may be made him for his services
and losses aforesd and he as in duty bound shall ever pray &c

Asa Lawrence
Groton 28th January 1779

A Grant of ;^ioo to Asa Lawrence for Losses sustained at
Bunker Hill May 4 — 1 780 — N° 7 1

The State ot M Bay to Asa Lawrence D' for Loss at Bunker Hill

17th June 1775

To I Gun & Bayonet 38

To I Coat 47 Blanket 3°/ 3 10

Knapsack & Tumline 12/ 12

7 10

State of )

Masstts Bay J Middlesex ss Feby ist 1779 then the sd Asa
Lawrence appeared and made oath to the Truth of the above
account before me Ja Sullivan Just Peace

Asa Lawrence Petition

Mar. 23. 1780 Coll Gerrish Capt Newton Capt Bonney
Massachusetts Archives, CLXXXIV. 3S8.

THE TEA TAX.

The following " Proceedings " are taken from " The Boston
Evening- Post," January 3, 1774. It will be noticed that the
meeting was held on the day of the Boston Tea- Party.

Proceedings of the Town of Groton.

AT a Meeting of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the
Town of Groton, assembled at the Public Meeting-House in
said Town, on Thursday Dec. i6th, 1773.

To Consider what is proper for this Town to do relative to the
large quantities of TEA, belonging to the Hon. East-India Com-
pany, arrived and expected to arrive in this Province, subject to an
American Duty.

Chose JAMES PRESCOTT, Esq; Moderator.

THE TEA TAX. 99

Then the Committee of Correspondence for said Town laid before
them a Letter which had been agreed upon by the Committees of
several Towns, to be sent to all the Towns in this Province, in order
to know their minds at this critical Juncture ; and having read the
same, as also the Votes and proceedings of the Town of Boston, at
their late Town Meetings in Nov. last : — The Town came into the
following Resolves and Votes unanimously,

That we highly approve of the Conduct of the Town of Boston at
their late Town Meetings aforesaid, and the several Resolves they
came into, relative to the TEAS sent by the East- India Company to
America. — And as we Esteem the late Act of Parliament for the
benefit of said India Company as an intollerable Grievance, and a
very subtle plan of the Ministry to ensnare and enslave the Ameri-
cans, preferring the Public Happiness to our own private advantage,
We will readily afford all the assistance in our Power, to the Town of
Boston and all other of our opprest American Brethren, and heartily
unite with them in every Constitutional method, to oppose this and
every other scheme that shall appear to us, to be subversive of
American Rights and Liberties, and dishonorary to his Majesty's
Crown and Dignity, at the risque of our Lives and Substance.

Foied, That our most Cordial Thanks be presented to the Inliabit-
ants of the Town of Boston, for their wise, prudent and spirited
Conduct at this alarming Crisis, and for their repeated Vigilance
and unwearied Endeavours, to recover and preserve the Rights and
Liberties of America.

Upon a motion made, Fofed unanimously. That the Inhabitants of
this Town, will not buy, sell, or make use of any TEA, while subject
to an American Duty.

Voted, That the Committee of Correspondence for this Town, be
desired to vvait upon the several Shop-keepers and Traders, within
this Town, and desire them not to buy, sell or any way dispose of
any TEA while subject to an American duty, as they would avoid the
odium of the Town.

Voted, That the Committee of Correspondence for this Town be
desired to forward an attested Copy of the Proceedings of this
Meeting, to the Committee of Correspondence in the Town of
Boston.

Voted, That this meeting be dissolved. — And it was accordingly
dissolved. A true Copy, Attested.

OLIVER PRESCOTT, Town-Clerk.

TOJilT

lOO FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

AT a Legal Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Groton,
Assembled May 8th, 1773.
Voted and Chose, y antes Frescott Esq ; Oliver Prescott Esq ; and
yosiah Sawtell Gent, a Committee of Correspondence for the Town
of Groton, unanimously.

Attest. OLIVER PRESCOTT, Town-Clerk.

AN OLD POTTERY.

Pawtucket, R. I., Sept. 5, 1888.
Dr. S. a. Green:

Dear Sir, — Sometime in the last century there was a pottery

between the Pollard house and my grandfather's house [Major Farns-

worth's] at Groton, on the north side of the road, near where, as I

understand, a new house has been built. It stood, say two hundred

yards easterly from where my grandfather last lived. When I was a

boy the cellar, a part of the old chimney, and great quantities of

brown sherds lay scattered around. Do you know anything about

this industry then carried on? I have forgotten the name of the

potter. He was said to have been a relation of ours, but not a

Farnsworth by name, and to have moved away somewhere. I don't

think I have heard anything about it for fifty years ; but the old

fragments were well known to my childhood.

Very truly yours,

C. B. Farnsworth.

THE FIRST BRICK HOUSE.

The first brick house in Groton was built by John Park in
the year 1791, and is still standing. It is situated on Park
Street, in that part of the town now Ayer, and in 1832 was
occupied by Nathaniel Stone, according to Mr. Butler's Map
of Groton, then recently published. On the gable, near the
eaves, at the southwest corner of the dwelling, is a small slate
tablet, with a sundial at one end, and this inscription at the
other J. P.

1791.

THE FIRST BRICK HOUSE. lOI

It is said that the late Asa Tarbell's house at West Groton
was the second brick dvvelh'ng built within the town. Many
years ago this house was partially destroyed by fire, but sub-
sequently rebuilt. It stands on the banks of the Squannacook
River, near the bridge leading to Shirley.

Stephen Hall. — Some months ago my attention was called to an
old gravestone which stands in the southerly part of Petersham, two
miles or more from the village. When the stone was originally set up,
it was placed near a brook, and in a field at some distance from the
road ; but now the brook has been dammed up, and a highway passes
near the grave, so that the stone stands on the banks of a good-sized
pond, and near the road. The inscription is very rudely cut, and
hard to read, as some of the letters are made wrong, being reversed
in the cutting. The stone itself is a natural slab, about six inches
thick, found in a field and fairly smooth on one side to receive the
epitaph. The inscription reads as follows :

This stone was [rjaised

in mem of M' Stephan

Hall who died Nov- 1 1

1760

A reference to the town-records of Petersham, under date of
March 2, 1761, shows that Hall belonged to "the Town or District
of Pepperell in the County of Middlesex," and that he was taken sick
with the smallpox in Petersham and had died there, leaving a widow
and several children in poor circumstances. A further reference to
the town-records, under date of May 21, shows that an unsuccessful
attempt was made to collect the sum of fourteen pounds from the
District of Pepperell for the necessary expenses incurred in the case.
Not only did Hall himself have the disease, but his wife and children
also ; and the town had to care for them.

At that period a District did not have all the powers of a Town,
and there was, probably, no authority for the payment of such a claim
as made by the town of Petersham. The nature of Hall's disease
would explain the lonely site of his grave, as in early times it was
thought by some that smallpox could be communicated from the
buried body to living persons.

Among the earliest settlers of Groton was Christopher Hall, who

I02 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

had land granted to him in December, 1664; and since that time
the family name has been not uncommon in the neighborhood.

Samuel A. Green.
Gfoton, Mass.

" The New England Historical and Genealogical Register" (LVII. 109,110)^
for January, 1903.

In Groton, 30th ult. Louisa, widow of Eleazer Green, 81.
" Boston Daily Advertiser," October 11, 1843.

She was the youngest child of Jacob and Rebecca (Law-
rence) Blanchard, of Groton, where she was born on April
29, 1762. Her Christian name, however, was Lucy, and not
Louisa. On April 6, 1778, she was married to Mr. Green,
who had served in the army at different times during the
Revolution. In my very early boyhood I remember her
as living in the old Richardson tavern, after it had been
given up as a public house, when she was supported by a
small pension received from the Government for her hus-
band's services during the war.

CULTIVATION OF HOPS.

Eighty years ago Groton was the center of a large hop-
growing industry. At that period hops were raised very
generally by the farmers of the neighborhood, and they
formed an important item in the business of the town ; but
this condition of things is now wholly changed. An interest-
ing paper on the subject, written by Governor Boutwell, ap-
pears in Volume I of this work (p. 65).

I am led to write these lines from the fact that fourteen
years ago a record- book came into my possession, which had
been kept by the Massachusetts Hop Company, an organiza-
tion that had its headquarters at Groton, though its life was
short. There may be a few persons now who will remember
such a Company. The records, herewith printed, show the
embers of an industry which at one time was important to

CULTIVATION OF HOPS. I03

a large section of the Commonwealth, but today has entirely
disappeared from its borders.

PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION.

Groton 3"^ May 1831
We the Subscribers hop Growers in the State of Massachusetts
thinking that the Picking Cureing and Baging of our hops can be
done to greater perfection than it now is and being desirous to raise
the standard of our hops in Market do agree to form our selves
into a Company for the above purpose and for the disposal of our
hops and we further agree to be governed by the following Rules and
Regulations Viz.

CONSTITUTION.

Article i" We will pick our hops clean from stems and leaves and
use our best endeavours to have them perfectly cured.

2"^ They shall be well packed in good baging and no more used
than what is necessary for the strength of the bag.

3^^ The Company shall chuse two Trustees whose duty it shall be
to appoint an Agent to dispose of our hops and receive all monies
from said Agent and make a Divedend of the sum to the Company
monthly during the Season of Sales.

4"" It shall be the duty of the Agent to dispose of our hops either
to the Brewers or others as he may have opportunity and he shall
account to the trustees monthly during the Season of Sales or oftener
if thought necessary by the Trustees.

5* The hops shall receive the Companies Stamp and when in-
spected shall be left at the inspection Office or at such other place as
the Agent may direct and shall from that time be considered under
his Care.

6* This Agreement we consider binding for one year.

Joseph Blanchard, Clerk

Groton, 5"' May 1831
At a Meeting of the Massachusetts hop Growers called for the pur-
pose of forming a Company organized by choosing

Abel Jewett Moderator
Joseph Blanchard Clerk
Article first voted to form Company
2"d Voted to accept the Constitution as reported by Committee

I04 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

3^^ Voted to have Company Title and Stamp which should be
called the Massachusetts hop Company

4"" Voted to recommend Oilman Stanley to the Directors for the
Company's Agent

5"' Voted and chose Joseph Blanchard and Abel Jewett Directors

and Trustees for the Company

Joseph Blanchard, Clerk

AGENTS COMMISSION.

BoxBOROUGH 16"' May 1831
To Oilman Stanley of Charlestown in the County of Middlesex
and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Merchant.

Trusting' in your care and fidelity we do by these presents pursuant
to the power and authority to us granted in and by a Vote of the
Massachusetts hop Company nominate and appoint you to be Agent
unto the said Company for the term of one year with such power as
is by the Constitution of said Company made and provided for their
Agent to be governed by.

Joseph Blanchard
Abel Jewett

Copy Attest

Joseph Blanchard, Clerk

Directors and
Trustees of
the Mass.
. hop Company

Groton Mar. 19'.'.^ 1832

At a Meeting of the Massachusetts hop Company held in this Town,
for the purpose of making arrangements for the present Year.

i'.' Voted and Chose Joseph Blanchard Moderater

2 'I Voted and Chose Richard Hall Clerk

3? Voted that the Company continue for another Year With such
other Persons as wish to become members

4"? Voted to be Governed by the Constitution of the Massachu-
setts hop Company as adopted May 5''- 183 1

5':' Voted that the Agent may git the Company hops ensured
whenever he thinks necessary

6'' Voted and Chose Joseph Blanchard Director

7"* Voted and Chose Abel Jewett Director

8'' Voted to recommend Oilman Stanley Agent for the present

Year.

Richard Hall, Clerk

EDWIN A. BULKLEY. 105

AGENTS COMMISSION.

BoxBOROUGH March 19* 1832
To Gilman Stanley of Charlestown in the County of Middlesex and
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Merchant,

Trusting in your care and fidelity we do by these presents pursuant
to the power and authority to us granted in and by a Vote of the
Massachusetts hop Company nominate and appoint you to be Agent
unto the said Company for the term of one year with such power as
is by the Constitution of said Company made and provided for there
Agent to be governed by.

f Trustees of the
Joseph Blanchard Massachusetts
Abel Jewett | hop

Copy Attest

Richard Hall, Clerk

I Company

Grotox April 29* 1833

At a meeting of the Mass. Hop Company in this town for the chois
of Officers and to transact such other Business as may come before
the Society.

First. Voted and Chose Cap'. Abram Prescott Moderator

2'^. Voted and Chose Richard Hall Clerk

3? Voted to adjourn this Meeting to the twenty-ninth day of May
next at ten o'clock A. M.

May 29'1' 1833 Met agreeable to adjournment and agree*^ to dis-
continue the Society.

Richard Hall, Clerk

EDWIN A. BULKLEY.

Rev. Dr. Edwin A. Bulkley died yesterday in New York. He was
born in Charleston, S. C, in 1826. He was of distinguished New
England ancestry, being a direct descendant of the Rev. Peter Bulk-
ley, who was one of the founders of Concord, Mass., and the first
minister of the historic " First Church " of that place.

Doctor Bulkley was graduated at Yale when eighteen years of age,
in the class of 1844, ^^^ ^t the Union Theological Seminary, New

I06 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

York, in 1847. The same year he married Catherine F. Oakley, the
daughter of Daniel Oakley, a well-known merchant of New York, and
a leading layman in the earlier annals of the Presbyterian Church.
After temporarily serving a church in Geneva, N. Y., Dr. Bulkley
succeeded Rev, Dr. John Todd as a minister of the Congregational
Church of Groton, Mass., a church of many historic associations.
His active ministry of fifty years was about equally divided between
the church at Groton and the First Presbyterian Churches of Platts-
burg, N. Y., and Rutherford, N. J. He continued pastor emeritus of
the latter church, but since his retirement ten years since had resided
in New York city upon Washington Heights. He is survived by a
wife, two daughters and a son, Edwin M. Bulkley, of the banking firm
of Spencer, Trask & Co.

DEATHS.

BULKLEY — Entered into life eternal on Monday, March 25,
from his residence, 479 West i52d street. New York, Rev. Edwin A.
Bulkley, D.D., in the 82d year of his age. The funeral service will
be held on Wednesday, March 27, at 4 p.m., from the North Presby-
terian Church, 155th street, near the Boulevard. (Subway to 157th
street.) Interment at Groton, Mass. Kindly omit flowers.

"Boston Transcript," March 26, 1907.

YELLOW DAY,

September 6, 1881.

The peculiar state of the atmosphere on last Tuesday after-
noon (September 6) caused alarm to some of our people. It
was an eventful day, as lamps were lighted up in houses, chick-
ens went home to roost, night-hawks hovered in mid-air, frogs
piped, schools were dismissed, sinners prayed, and the wicked
were full of a sense of guilt. It was so dark that stores were
lighted up, and work was stopped at shops and other places.
Other days similar to this one are on record ; but the pecu-
liarity of September sixth was the yellow hue or tinge which
pervaded everything.

See Volume I. of this work (p. 141) for an account of the
Dark Day of 1780.

LAKIN FAMILY. I07

The weather bureau will probably furnish an explanation of the
extraordin [ar]y state of the atmosphere yesterday. All day long a
heavy yellow haze hung over the central portion of New England, the
lower atmosphere being comparatively clear. Apparently it was only
a remarkable case of what is known as dry fog, with the peculiarity of
remaining suspended high over the earth's surface and strengthened
by the additions of smoke from extensive wood fires. The lower
stratum of air was not obscured at all. The dome of the state house
could be seen as clearly as usual from the hills in Brookline. But the
sky was a bright yellow all day, and gas was necessary in all the stores
and counting-rooms of this city from morning until night. The air
was so murky that gas burned white hke the electric Hght ; yet the
uniformity of the tinge of the sky showed that there was nothing like
an ordinary cloud above the horizon. Altogether it was one of the
strangest spectacles the present generation has seen, at least in New
England. The barometer showed but shght changes during the day,
and the temperature was remarkably even. The phenomenon seems
to have been specially marked in Boston, but was observed in New
Hampshire, Vermont, and Block Island. The wind reached a maxi-
mum of ten or twelve miles, but without any apparent effect, except
toward night, when the sky became somewhat clearer. Like all ex-
traordinary occurrences, the day had a marked effect upon the super-
stitious and upon the animal kingdom.

" Boston Daily Advertiser," September 7, 1881.

LAKIN FAMILY.

Among the first settlers of Groton were the brothers Lieu-
tenant William and Ensign John Lakin, who each owned a
twenty-acre right as original proprietors of the town. They
had both previously lived at Reading, where they had been
married. During the earliest history of Groton their names
appear frequently in the affairs of the town, and they seem
both to have taken a prominent part in civil and ecclesiastical
matters. William's house-lot lay on both sides of the road
leading to Hawtree Meadow, which is now known as Chico-
pee Row ; and John's was at Nod, a district lying northerly

Io8 .FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

of the soapstone quarry. From these two militia officers are
descended the numerous family of Lakins in Groton and wide
neighborhood. For facts concerning John Lakin, see an
article in The New-England Historical and Genealogical
Register (XLV., pp. 8i, 82) for January, 1891.

The following copies of old papers, now in my possession,
help to clear up some of the obscurities existing in the gene-
alogical history of the family. William Martin, whose name
appears in the first receipt, was the step-father of William
Lakin, and he, too, had previously lived at Reading. The
brothers, William and John, were sons of William Lakin, of
England, who came to this country, perhaps as early as the
year 1645, with their mother and step-father, accompanied
also by their grandfather, William Lakin, senior.

Receaved the loth of June 1646 : by me Wilt Laken of
Reding, of my ffather in Law William Martine of Redinge
the su of Twentie povnds and is in ffull payment and sat-
is faction of a legasie giuen to me by my owne ffather )> 2o''-o-o
Willm Laken of Reding tn in England : I say Receavd
by me

William Lakin^

Signd and delivrd
in the presnts of vs

Nicholas Brown

Richard Sadler :

The next two receipts relate to bequests made by William
Martin, who, according to the County records, died at Groton
on March 26, 1672, aged about 'j6 years. They are in
the handwriting of the Reverend Samuel Willard, who, like
other country ministers of that period, in addition to their
pastoral duties acted the part of scribes for the benefit of
their neighbors. The following are copies of the papers :

Groton: August. 5. 1673.

Received by my Bro Jno Lakin of Groton, ten pounds in the pay of
Ralph Dix of Reading, upon the account of a legacy of the said suiTie
bequeathed to me, by my Father William Martin in his last Will &

LAKIN FAMILY. 109

Testament : as also two ox chains, & foure wedges, & a beetle ring :
bequeathed to me in the said will : I say

Received by me.
Witnesse : William Lakin

Samuel Willard
Elezebeth Sherman

Groton. August : 5. 1673.

Received by John Lakin of Groton the full suine of fourty shillings
upon the account of a legacye of the said suiiie, bequeathed to mee by
the last Will & Testament of my Loving friend W'" Martin, deceased.

I say Received
Witnesse by me

William Lakin Sam'-^ Willard.

Elezebeth Sherman

The first of these receipts was lately given to me by Mr.
Charles Butler Brooks, of Boston, who found it among the
papers of his grandfather Caleb Butler, Esq., the historian
of Groton ; and the other two were given to me more than
sixty years ago by the late Hon. John Boynton, of Groton.
It is somewhat singular that these old manuscripts, relating
to similar transactions in the same family, should now come
together after the vicissitudes of nearly two centuries and a
half. Elizabeth Sherman, one of the witnesses, was a younger
sister of Mr. Willard's wife.

William Lakin, senior, was the oldest person among the
original settlers of Groton, and he died on December 10, 1672,
aged about 91 years.

William Martin's house-lot at Groton lay on the borders of
a large sheet of water which in his lifetime was known as
Martin's Pond, and still keeps the same name. In the record
of James Parker's land, on July 6, 1666, "the pond called
Goodman Martin's Pond " is mentioned. There is also a
Martin's Pond within the original limits of the town of Read-
ing, — but now lying in the northwest corner of North Reading,
— which may have been named after him, as he lived there
before coming to Groton. Perhaps some local antiquary of
that neighborhood can give the origin of the name.

"*rhe New-England Historical and Genealogical Register" (XLVIII. 444-
446) for October, 1894.

no FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

JOHN H. RICE.

Groton, July 31, 1843 — Shocking Casualty. —

Mr. John H. Rice, son of Mr. John Rice of Ashby, lost his life
on Saturday last, under the following circumstances. Mr. Rice, on
his return from Boston, called at the house of a brother-in-law in
Groton, and while baiting his horse, took a double barrelled gun,
which he had just repaired, and was carrying home, and went into the
woods near the house to amuse himself for a short time in gunning.

Not returning, after some hours, alarm was occasioned, and search
was made, when he was found dead with his gun lying near him. It is
evident from the circumstances that he had discharged one barrel at
some object, and while in the act of blowing out the smoke with his
mouth, the other barrel was accidentally discharged, and entering his
mouth the whole were lodged in his head, producing instant death.
Mr. Rice lived in Ashby, was 37 years of age, and has left a wife and
three children to bewail his untimely fate.

He was unusually kind and amiable, and greatly beloved by his
friends. This stroke of Providence is peculiarly severe to his aged
parents, who have lost in him an only son. — [Lowell Courier.

"Boston Daily Advertiser," August 3, 1843.

The following extract is from a letter written to me by the
late Dr. Edward Young White, from Littleton Common, on
September 5, 1903 : —

I remember about the death of Rice. My brother David S. was
the one who found him after the fatal shot. This Mr. Rice, of Ashby,
was a brother of Mrs. George F. Farley, of Groton. Rice married a
Miss Kendal, of Ashby, a sister of Mrs. Oliver Pierce. Mrs. Pierce
was a widow Vinton when Pierce married her. The day of Rice's
death he had returned from Boston coming by way of the Ridges,
arriving in the afternoon and calling at Pierces on his sister-in-law,
saying he would go out with his fowling piece after woodcock or
other birds. Not long after leaving they heard a shot but thought
nothing of it until he failed to return. When search being made,
my brother David found the body in a little path, leading up to a
pigeon stand. It was lying with the gun beside it, just as it appar-
ently would lie if the muzzle had been placed in the mouth and a

PUBLISHMENTS, ETC., FROM FITCHBURG RECORDS. Ill

Stick had been used to press the trigger — and there was also the
stick.

I was living at the time in Groton, and the next day Esq. Farley
came into Artemas Wood's store with the gun (a double barrel fowl-
ing-piece) and in his trembling and excited manner, showed to several
of us present how he felt certain that it was an accidental discharge,
caused by his attempting to blow smoke from one barrel with the
other loaded.

LIST OF PUBLISHMENTS, ETC., FROM THE
FITCHBURG RECORDS.

The following list of publishments, births, marriages, etc.,
is taken from "The Old Records of the Town of Fitchburg,"
printed in three volumes under the authority of the city of
Fitchburg. To a great extent the facts supplement the
Groton records. The Roman letters and the Arabic figures
after each paragraph indicate the volume and the page
where the several entries are found.

fitchburg May the 31 1770 —

This Day m[ Samuel Downe of fitchburgh made aplication to me
to be published to m" Eunes Wintworth of Groten II. 249

Lydia Ferwell Daughter to Zacchcus Ferwell & Lydia his wife
Born at Groton November y*" 7"" 1780 II. 359

William Ferwell Son to Zaccheus & lydia his wife Born at Groton
April 20"^ 1783 II. 360

Zaccheus Farvvell was a son of Daniel and Mary Farwell,
of Groton, and was born on June 27, 1753. Besides his two
children born at Groton, as given above, he had eight other
children, born at Fitchburg, among whom were two sets
of twins.

Publishments.

Jan 12 1825 Mr John Pingry of Groton made application to
be published to Miss Eunice Whittemore of Fitchburg III. 150

112 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

January 21 [1831] Mr Edmund Tarbell of Groton made applica-
tion to me to be published to Miss Sophia Smith of Fitchburg III. 164

September 13. 1845. Mr Samuel W. Farmer of Groton made
application to me to be published to Miss Almeda K. Dane of
Fitchburg. III. 208

September 9"^ 1847 Mr Chandler Crocker of Fitchburg made
application to me to be published to Miss Caroline Rockwood of
Groton III. 220

October 13"' 1848. Mr Samuel J. Wright of Fitchburg made ap-
plication to me to be published to Miss Rosalina Kilburn of Groton.

III. 227

Marriages.

Feb. 17 [1825] Mr John Pingry of Groton & Miss Eunice
VVhittemore of Fitchburg. III. 261

Feb. 15. [1831] Mr Edmund Tarbell of Groton & Miss Sophia
Smith of Fitchburg III, 270

Births.
Mr Clark Simonds
Abigail Pollard Simonds i" Daughter of Clark & Sally Simonds
born at Groton March 5"" 1829.

Clark Sylvester Simonds i^' Son of Clark & Sally Simonds born at
Groton February 24. 183 1. III. 389

Marriages.
Crocker, Chandler, and Rockwood, Caroline, Groton, Sept. 29, 1847.

III. 405
Farmer, Samuel W., and Dane, Almeda H., Groton, Oct. 8, 1845.

III. 408
Wright, Samuel J., and Kilburn, Rosalina, Groton, Nov. 30, 1848.

III. 422

LIST OF BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, ETC., FROM THE
TOWN-RECORDS OF WESTON.

The following vital statistics are taken from the volume of
"Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1707-1850," etc., published
by the town of Weston. The heavy-faced figures after the

BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, ETC., FROM TOWN-RECORDS, WESTON. II3

several paragraphs indicate the page of the volume where
each entry is found.

Births.

Epharim Whitney son of Nat!' Whitney and mary his Wife Was Born
at Grotton June 2*! 1722. 14

Intention of marriage.

Intentions of Marriage between M' Ira Whittemore of Weston and
Miss Betsey Adams of Groton were entered March 7I' 1812. 195

Marriages

Marriage solemnized by the Subscriber in the town of Groton. May
29. 1836. M' Nahum Wetherbee to Miss Olive Wright both of
Weston.

Amasa Sanderson
(Certificate on file) 222

By Joseph Field, D.D., of Weston.

May 6, 1849, William Dudley, Widower, Yeoman, residing in
Weston, age 41, born in Dudley, son of Thomas & Eliza Dudley
of Roxbury, and Harriet Wright, aged 22, born in Groton, daughter
of Joseph & Harriet [Hannah?] Wright of Groton. 288

Admission to the Church.

June 14. 1724. James Mirick recommend'' fro. y" Church in Groton,
rec"! here. 407

Dismission from the Church.

„ , , (Joseph Allen & ) dism & recomm'' to the Chh in

Oct: 6. 1776 }i^ ^ ,. .r [ r^ , ,0,

" (Mary his wife j Groton. 484

Death

Elizabeth Cory, widow of Samuel, living in Groton in 1804, d. at
house of Samuel Cory, 1807 (July?) 562

Genealogical items.

William Dudley, son of Thomas & Eliza, was b. in Roxbury, Oct.
I2th, 1806. He mar., ist, Emily J. Bemis ; 2nd, Harriott, dau.

114 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

of Joseph & Han?iah Wright of Groton. [Old Dudley Bible.]
Compare [extract from] p. 288 [above]. 567

Nathaniel [Whitney,] 3"^, b. Jan. 23, 1695-6, mar. Mary Child, July
20, 1721, and had Ephraim, b. in Groton; Oliver, David, Mary,
Nathaniel, Anna, Amos, Lucy, Love, Lois, and Eli, b. in
Westboro. 580

REVOLUTIONARY ITEMS.

Copies of the following two papers were given me many
years ago by the late Dr. John S. H. Fogg, of South Boston :

This is each man's Proportion towards hireng Edmund Holden as
a Soldier in Class y*" g"' in Groton.

Zechariah Fitch

3-

7-

d
6.

0.

Samuel Hemanway
Caleb Blood
Thomas Bond

2.
2.
3-

I.

7
6.

9-
3-

ID,

2.
2.
0.

Samuel Lawrence

I.

10.

5-

2.

Abel Farwell

I.

11

4.

0.

Amos Adams

0.

19.

6.

0.

Ephraim Kemp
Samuel Kemp. Jr.
Simeon Nuting
Robertson Larkin

0.
0.
0.
0.

18.
18

2.

I.

0.
0.

9-
9-

0.
0.
0.
0.

John Simonds
Benjamin Whitney
W' Rachel Spalding

0.
0.
0.

15-
I.
2.

1 1.

9-
10.

2.
0.
0.

18.

5

9-

0.

/ Gotten Proctor Se

rg!

0 i... ) Rogers Lawrance
Grotton. /, f ^ ,
J Calven Rusel

\ Ezekel Proctor

These men Ware Detach'd
from y*" 6* Rig'. Came With Lieut Aaron Parker from Westford.

Camp't Swansey. 22 June 1779.

GROTON. 115

To Col : Wills Prescott, Col. John Robeson, & Maj! Henry

Woods in the Continental Army.

Gen! as it has been Reported among us that D" Zachariah Longley
late Quartermaster in your Regiment has Wickedly detained a
part of y' milk money (So called) &c from Said Regiment untill
he y" s? Longley was call*! upon to make Satisfaction : and as we
ye Subscribers are appointed a Committee by the church of
Christ in Groton to make Enquiries into that matter We Should
be glad and take it as a favour, if you gentlemen wou'' Give us
as an impartial account as yon can of D" Longleys Conduct in
y^ matter of milk above mention'^ &c &c.

from your most Humble Servants
Isaac Farnsworth

Benj') Bancroft Jr. !- Committee
Zechariah Fitch J

Groton March y^ 2"? 1776.

GROTON.

Groton has become a good deal of a Mecca for one reason and
another, having produced many eminent men — the Prescotts, the
Lawrences, Margaret Fuller Ossoli and George S. Boutwell, and some
living celebrities and any number of budding scions of distinguished
families are at the boys' School. But aside from its historic and
personal associations, its own pastoral beauty is allurement enough
for a pilgrimage for those who love to seek out the oldest settled
parts of New England, like Ipswich and Rowley in old Essex, and
see the peculiarly English charm that is the result of occupation by
eight or nine generations of transplanted English folk in America.
There are softly rolling hills with here and there an old oak halfway
up the slope in just the right place, here and there a willow-arched
road across the meadow, and often for background some still un-
broken woods of pine or spruce and here and there a rocky pasture
dotted with savins. Then the whole is now given a peculiarly English
flavor by the Gothic chapel and the School for boys. From all points
of the town these imposing buildings dominate the view. The per-
pendicular Gothic with its high-shouldered elegance suggests familiar
pictures of English college and cathedral closes, and the gilt-top
belfry of the main building near by re-enforces the academic flavor

Il6 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

given the scene. Of course the plain old town-centre of Groton,
where Governor Boutwell lived, is an entirely different matter. The
governor, in his Httle yellow frame house, like Dr. Holmes at Beverly
Farms, might have dated his correspondence "By the Depot."
Hard by is the rather pretentious red brick town hall, with white
trimmings (not of marble, however), and the procession of digni-
taries and magnates gathered to do him the last honors had but a few
rods to walk up a straight road from the depot.

It is an altogether creditable weakness, the loyalty to locality which
always shows itself, the Listener has noted, particularly strong in
natives of Groton. Here was General Bancroft of the Elevated Rail-
road, for example, out of his loyalty to the old town and his venera-
tion for its first citizen absenting himself from his president's office in
town and giving freely of his organizing and administrative genius in
providing for all the details of the public obsequies and civic honors
down to purveying an unlooked-for luncheon to all on the special
train, which itself must have been put on through his influence.
Considering the distance between Governor Boutwell and General
Bancroft in years, in politics, and in worldly status, the loyalty and
affection he showed for town and aged statesman, made a most touch-
ing bit of a demonstration how, in spite of all we say about the blind,
overmastering worship of material success among the younger genera-
tion of America, a finely typical representative of those generations
does bow to something besides success and materialism. Nothing
could be more convincing ; and nothing could excel the perfect fitness
in its absolute simplicity and genuineness of the town's service in
the Town Hall. With orators galore upon the platform and digni-
taries four deep, the services were left entirely to the four Groton
ministers and the School, and what could surpass in completeness or
simplicity the Unitarian minister's tribute to this trait of Mr. Bout-
well's character : " SimpHcity is the model of expression which is
inseparable from a truth-loving nature. Ostentation and love of
display indicate some complexity of motive or some obliquity of
spirit. Plainness of manner bears witness to the singleness of heart.
The man who exalts truth above all things moves directly to his
object. He selects his words not for the purpose of adorning thought,
but for the purpose of giving it precise expression. He determines
upon his actions not with a view of impressing men, but with the object
of fulfilling the impulses of his heart. In dealing with such a nature
one does well to stand on the firm ground of sincerity, to dis-

PHYSICIANS OF GROTON. I17

card all the devices of artfulness, and find strength in quietness
and confidence."

Perfectly expressed ! and that Groton is able on occasion to put its
hand on the one to say the fit word, is proof this old community pro-
duced by the law of its being representatives like Mr. Boutwell of that
" remarkable civilization which characterized the development of the
little republics of New England." Here had stood behind the counter
of the country store as a young man with an active managing interest
in the town politics and " lyceum " the studious, self-educated, serious-
minded, independent clerk, who in early manhood was to be governor,
in middle life to stand with Lincoln and Grant and feel them lean on
him for support, and in age, most glorious of all, to stand like the
rock in the cataract, against the popular current bearing this republic
down rapids where he feared Carlyle's hateful prophecy of our shoot-
ing Niagara might be realized. None could look on the worn frame
of this faithful servant of the people without feeUng that he had lived
as he died " in the harness," and as much a hero as though he had
been among those who wade through slaughter to glory. There was
an undertone of hope and sympathy not unlike that described by
Mr. Mead as prevailing at Mrs. Lloyd's funeral while Rev. Charles G.
Ames spoke : " The most impressive funeral which I have ever attended
besides that was that quiet, private funeral the other day on that
upper floor in Boston where there were no crowds, where there were
only simple friends, where no word that was spoken was a word of
sadness, where every word made us feel that the time that is past and
the time to be are one, and both are now, and that this life, if we
understand it rightly, is simply a part of eternal life, and has not place
for too much sorrow and for no sorrow that weakens the mind."

" Boston Evening Transcript," Saturday, March 4, 1905, — The Listener.

PHYSICIANS OF GROTON.

In the early records of Groton there are various allusions
to persons who are called " doctors " ; but such persons did
not have the title of M. D., as at that time there were no
medical schools here authorized to give the degree. These
so-called " doctors " after reading a few medical books and
following the natural bent of their tastes, were employed by
their neighbors as family physicians.

Il8 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

In some instances these " doctors " may have been school
teachers who were always well known men in the community.
At various times under dififerent dates during the years 1742
to 1745 there are entries in the town records showing where
money was paid to Dr. Richardson for keeping school.

During this period I find the names also of Dr. Kittredge,
Dr. Prentice and Dr. Dinsmore.

March 28''' 1744 Doct Green Leaf for delvering the wife of Joseph
Jewett.

P^ Leonard Parker for fetching the doc' for arwing (Erwins) child.

—0—8—0

April 1 744 p"* Daniell Sheadd for going to the doct for experence
fisk.

In the Old Mill district at Harvard Dr. Phillip Fowler
bought land in 1749 where in the deed he is styled as of
Groton.

During the generation immediately preceding the Revolu-
tion, the science of medicine in Massachusetts was making
progress by slow but steady steps. The bond of union with
the clerical profession, existing from the earliest days of co-
lonial life, had been cut ; and there was no longer any prac-
tical connection between the two callings. Medicine had
passed through the creeping stage, and was now beginning
to walk alone. It was a long stride in advance when men
began to turn their studies in one direction, and to make a
specialty of general practice. The opportunities, however,
were few for the successful prosecution of this object. There
were neither medical schools nor hospitals, and the young
men were obliged to pursue their studies under the guidance
of practising physicians. Frequently they were bound out,
like apprentices, to their instructors, and were compelled to
do all sorts of chores around the house and barn, as well as
the professional drudgery. In those days the physicians used
to buy their own drugs and prepare their own medicines;
and it was the province of the students to pound the bark
and spread the plasters, as well as to mix the ointments and

AMOS BANCROFT. II9

make the pills. In short they were to be useful to their em-
ployers, as best they might in any way, whether in bleeding
patients, pulling teeth, or attending to other cases of minor
surgery. Sometimes they formed alliances and attachments
which lasted beyond the period of their studies. Instances
might be given where the instructor watched the develop-
ment of a fledgling doctor with all the interest of a father-in-
law. It was customary for physicians in their daily rounds
of practice to be accompanied by their scholars, in order to
show them the different forms of disease, and to teach them
the rules of diagnosis. On their return home the young men
would sometimes undergo a form of questioning, which was
considered an examination. In this way, with a certain
amount of medical reading, the main supply of doctors was
kept up. The few exceptions were persons who went abroad
to study, where of course they had the best opportunities
that science then could give. On coming back to their na-
tive land, such students brought with them the freshest ideas
and the latest expressions of medicine, which they were not
slow to impart to others. Aside from these advantages they
returned with a diploma and had the right to affix M. D. to
their names, an honor beyond the reach of those who had
remained at home.

The following sketches of medical men connected with the
town in one way or another were written some time ago.
They are now printed for the benefit of local antiquaries
who may wish to know something about them.

AMOS BANCROFT.

The following letter will explain itself:

Boston, May 28, 1913.
Dear Doctor, —

Here is a copy of the memoir of Dr. Bancroft, the original of
which is in my grandfather's handwriting. I sent General Bancroft a
copy of it, and he writes me in part as follows :

I20 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

" Of the highly prized remains of Samuel Frost I think I became
cognizant at an early age. They reposed in the loft of the carriage
house of Charles Bancroft (my father) during my boyhood, and were
regarded by the children with something akin to indifference. There
are several stories in connection therewith, which are amusing. I be-
lieve one was to the effect that they were at one time decently buried
(of course long after my grandfather's death), and then accidentally
dug up in some farming operation by some one unacquainted with
their antecedents, resulting in a suspicion of foul play. I have been
told also that the skeleton was once the stake in a game of cards. What
finally became of the thing I don't know, but I have the impression
that Dr. Samuel A. Green has some information about it."

Yours sincerely,

F. C. Shattuck.

Amos Bancroft was the fourth son of Captain Edmond
Bancroft, a farmer and Militia officer, occupying a reputable
position in society at Pepperell, Middlesex County, Massachu-
setts. His mother's maiden name was Rachel Howard, daugh-
ter of a respectable farmer in Chelmsford. She had been
previously married to Jonathan Barron, a subaltern officer in
the provincial army, who was killed in battle on the shores of
Lake George in what was called the morning fight, a battle be-
tween the English and French, the English army commanded
by Sir William Johnson. The first fruit of this second marri-
age was a daughter, who was married to Timothy Farrar, for
more than forty years judge in the courts of New Hampshire,
and who died recently at an advanced age, exceeding a cen-
tury. Amos was born May 23, 1767, in a heroic age when
fathers were wont to offer up to their country on the altar of
liberty their oldest sons. Edmond and Jonathan his elder
brothers belonged to Prescott's regiment, the oldest of whom
while encamped on the tented field spread out on Prospect
Hill, Charlestown, died of the natural smallpox. Jonathan,
a mere stripling, fired with the enthusiasm of the day enlisted
during the war, the War of Independence. He recently de-
parted at the age of eighty-six. Thomas, the third son, re-
mained at home to aid in cultivating the farm for the support
of the family and payment of the taxes levied to carry on the

AMOS BANCROFT. 121

war. He also recently died at the age of eighty-two. The
fourth son, the subject of our present notice, was sent by his
father to Harvard University, where he was graduated in the
Class of 1 79 1. He afterwards studied medicine with Dr.
Oliver Prescott, of Groton, simultaneously attending the medi-
cal lectures delivered in Cambridge by Drs. Warren, Water-
house, and Dexter. Experience as an army surgeon in the
War of Independence had impressed on the mind of Dr.
Warren the importance of a knowledge of anatomy. He
founded the medical school, taking on himself the two most
difficult branches, anatomy and surgery. I say difficult, be-
cause the people demanded skill in surgery, and at the same
time were ready to stone to death any violation of the sanctuary
of the grave, however ignominious or vile had been the life of
the tenant. At this time was confided to young Bancroft
procuring a subject for dissection. He had recourse to the
gallows at Worcester, where had been hung a murderer and
parricide. Bancroft had marked the grave, and favored by
darkness cautiously proceeded to the spot, determined to
present an acceptable offering to science. While exhuming,
he learned he was watched. He fired from a pistol a blank
cartridge, frightened from the field the conscientious oppo-
nents of dissection, and conveyed to the eloquent professor
of anatomy the subject. Ever afterwards Dr. Bancroft had
the friendship of his teachers and of his medical brethren.
This parricide and murderer had first killed his own father,
and afterwards on the hypothesis of insanity, was delivered
over to the keeping of a humane deputy sheriff", who took
pity on him, and afterwards slew this humane interceder for
his life. The bones of Samuel Frost, the name of the
criminal, born in No Town, county of Worcester, have taught
osteology in the cabinet of Dr. Bancroft to not a few who
have since been useful members of the medical profession,
his pupils. Dr. Bancroft commenced the practice of medi-
cine at Westford, Massachusetts, and on the death of Dr.
Ward, of Weston, removed to that town, where he acquired
an extensive practice. In 1811 an opportunity to purchase
an eligible farm in Groton, the residence of the accomplished

122 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

speaker of the house of representatives, the Hon. Timothy
Bigelow, Dr, Bancroft removed to Groton. Here he divided
his attention between medicine and agriculture, in both of
which he acquired reputation. The sustaining corn and the
rescued from the grave both did sound his praise. As a
physician his characteristic was discrimination, decision,
and unflinching fidehty to his patient. He enjoyed ex-
tensively the friendship of his professional brethren. His
youngest son he educated to the profession to inherit his
reputation.

As a gentleman he was courteous, as a citizen patriotic, as
a neighbor obliging, as a friend given to hospitality, as a
husband kind and faithful, and as a father he instructed his
children to prepare for independence by wholesome lessons
of self dependence. His infirmities were those familiar to
his profession and to old age. He often deferred claims for
compensation until his services ceased to be sufficiently re-
membered, and then enforced payment. He was sometimes
offensively tenacious of the rights of property, especially
where boundaries in land title were involved.

He left a widow and six children, three sons and three
daughters, the latter of whom were all married to educated
men ; the oldest daughter Abigail to the Reverend Ephraim
Abbot, of Harvard, Massachusetts; the second, Lucy Mi-
randa, to George Thacher, Esq., of Monroe, county of Waldo,
Maine ; and the third, Sarah Savage, to the Hon. Asa F.
Lawrence, Esq., Counsellor at Law, of Pepperell, county of
Middlesex, Massachusetts. He lost a few years ago an ac-
complished daughter, Mary Ann, who died of consumption.
The oldest son Charles is a farmer on the homestead, the
second is in commerce in the city of New York, and the
third, the youngest child, is a physician in Groton, his native
place.

There is a thrilling interest in the account of the last day
of his life and the incident of his death [on July 12, 1848].
At ten o'clock in the forenoon, he called on a beloved sister
of a departed wife at the house of the Chief Justice of this
Commonwealth, and at half-past ten he went to State Street,

ADAM RICHARDSON. 1 23

where he declined the further attendance of a friend, such
was his indomitable habit of independence, or rather of
self dependence.

From the Granite Bank he passed upon the south side of
the street in front of the Merchants' Exchange, when he was
knocked down by a spirited horse moving with the acquired
momentum of rapid driving over the slippery pavement not-
withstanding a vigorous effort of the driver to rein him in
until brought upon his haunches. Deaf and purblind the
aged physician was a ready victim to the stunning blow.
Senseless and with blood pouring from his ears, a vigilant
and humane police officer, stationed there by a good city
government to protect the citizens from accident, bore him
in his arms to a neighboring apothecary shop, where a re-
cumbent posture, rest, and volatiles favored returning circu-
lation and respiration. When sufficiently revived he was
conveyed in a carriage accompanied by Dr. Kneeland and
Dr. Salter to the residence of his lady's brother, Mr. Samuel
Kneeland, where the anxious wife met him to witness his
death. He revived into a consciousness of his condition and
sufferings, and exclaimed, " Help me if you can ! " Soon
after an ineffectual effort to puke, he sank into a lethargy,
experiencing a death-like one by apoplexy.

ADAM RICHARDSON.

Adam Richardson was the sixth son, and eighth child, of
Deacon Stephen and Bridget (Richardson) Richardson, and
was born at Woburn, on April 10, 1709. He graduated at
Harvard College in the Class of 1730; and the given name
of his wife was Rebecca. For some years he lived in Groton,
where he practised medicine, and where he had three chil-
dren, born between December 14, 1737, and July 6, 1743.
According to the town treasurer's book he was teaching the
Grammar School from January 2, 1 741-2, to August 13, 1745,
as at different times payment for teaching was made to him

124 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

between those dates ; and in these several entries he is given
the title of Doctor. The last date found in the records, when
any payment was made, is August 13, and perhaps about this
time he left town. On February 3, 1745 [-6] there was paid
to " William Lawrence for his keeping the Grammar School
the term of six months in said town in old tennor 60-0.0," —
which extract from the treasurer's book bears out the suppo-
sition that Dr. Richardson's service as teacher ended in the
summer of 1745. He was teaching the Grammar School at
Woburn during the years 1747 to 1749. No trace of him is
found among the files of papers at the Middlesex Probate
Office in East Cambridge.

BENJAMIN SHATTUCK.

Dr. Benjamin Shattuck was the second son of Stephen
and Elizabeth (Robbins) Shattuck, and was born at Littleton,
on November 22, 1742. He graduated at Harvard College
in the Class of 1765, and studied medicine under the
instruction of Dr. Oliver Prescott. After learning his pro-
fession, he settled at Templeton, on the special invitation
of the inhabitants of that town, where he had a large
practice.

On April 12, 1772, Dr. Shattuck married Lucy, only daugh-
ter of Jonathan and Rachel (Howard) Barron, who outlived
her husband. The widow married, secondly, on July 7, 1796,
the Reverend Asaph Rice, of Westminster. She was born at
Chelmsford, on December 19, 1753, and died at Templeton,
on April 5, 1821.

Dr. Shattuck's wife was a half-sister of the late Dr. Amos
Bancroft, of Groton. Their mother for her first husband
married Jonathan Barron, who was killed at the Battle of
Lake George, on September 8, 1755; and they had three
children, Jonathan, Lucy, and Benjamin. She married as
his second wife. Captain Edmund Bancroft, of Pepperell, the
father of Dr. Bancroft; and this kinship accounts for the

ISAAC HURD. 125

intimacy that formerly existed between the Bancroft and
Shattuck families.

Dr. George Cheyne Shattuck (i 783-1 854), Dr. Benjamin's
son, for many years was a prominent physician of Boston ;
and Dr. George Cheyne Shattuck, Jr. (1813-1893), was also
a distinguished member of the profession, and a professor
in the Harvard Medical School, who told me once that, when
a medical student himself, he used to drive with Dr. Ban-
croft on his circuit while visiting patients. A sister of his,
Lucy Cheever, died at Dr. Bancroft's house in Groton, on
December 22, 1835. Dr. George Brune Shattuck (H. C.
1863) and Frederick Cheever Shattuck (H. C. 1868), of the
next generation, are also well-known and eminent physicians
in Boston.

ISAAC HURD.

Dr. Isaac Hurd was the third son of Benjamin and Grace
(Easterbrook) Hurd, and was born at Charlestown, on July
27, 1756. He graduated at Harvard College in the Class of
1776, and immediately after leaving Cambridge entered upon
the study of medicine under Dr. Oliver Prescott. For several
months during the year 1777 he served as surgeon in the
Revolutionary army. In 1778 he settled at Billerica as a
practising physician ; and while living there, on September
13, 1778, he married Sarah, eldest child of William and Sarah
(White) Tompson, who died on June i, 1789. By this mar-
riage there were five children. After the death of his wife
he removed to Concord, where he continued to live until his
death, which took place on November 19, 1844.

Dr. Hurd married, secondly, on November 21, 1790, Mrs.
Polly, daughter of Gershom and Mary Flagg, of Boston, and
widow of Dr. Josiah Wilder, of Lancaster, who died on No-
vember 26, 1821; and thirdly, on February 3, 1825, Mrs.
Mary Bates, widow of Captain Caleb Bates, of Concord,
whose maiden name was Douglass. She came originally from
Scituate; and she died on February 22, 1854.

126 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

ALBERT JONES BELLOWS.

Albert Jones Bellows was the eldest child of Asahel
and Hannah (Valentine) Bellows, and was born at Groton
on July 28, 1804. His mother was Hannah, third daughter
of William and Elizabeth (Jones) Valentine, who was born
at Hopkinton, on March 25, 1781, and died at Groton, on
September 11, 1843. [He graduated at the Harvard Med-
ical School in the Class of 1829, and practised his pro-
fession at Milford, Salem, Charlestown, and Roxbury. He
was married, first, on February 5, 1829, to Pamela Fitch, of
Worcester ; secondly, to [ ] Cleaves, of Portsmouth,

New Hampshire ; and, thirdly, to Maria Snow. His death
took place in Boston, on December 11, 1869.

Albert Fitch Bellows, his eldest child, was an artist of some
note, and in our boyhood we were schoolmates at Lawrence
Academy. The son painted a picture which has been en-
graved, and through the reproduction is somewhat famous.
The engraving bears the title of " The Village Elms," with a
secondary legend of " Sunday Morning in New England,"
and was copyrighted in 1878. One day on meeting him in
the street, out of curiosity I asked if he did not have Groton
in mind when he painted the picture, as the view might well
apply to many a country village. He replied at once that he
did not, but that the scene lay mainly in Hadley. The view
represents the coming together or converging of two streets
in a country town ; and I am told that one street, the princi-
pal one, is supposed to be in Hadley village, and the other
in Northampton, before that town became a city, and while
it still had a rural aspect.

WILLIAM NEWCOMB STONE.

Dr. William Newcomb Stone was a son of Dr. Thomas
Newcomb and Hannah (Atwood) Stone, and was born at
Truro, on August 7, 1845. He began to attend school at

EPITAPH. 127

Lawrence Academy in i860, and remained there for nearly
three years. He studied medicine under the tuition of his
father and graduated at the Harvard Medical School in the
Class of 1869, and soon afterward joined the Massachusetts
Medical Society. He began the practice of his profession at
Welifleet, where he acquired a wide reputation as a skilful
physician.

On October 24, 1875, he was married at No. 154 Dorches-
ter Street, South Boston, to Adeline, daughter of Joshua and
Adeline (Higgins) Hamblen. She was a native of Welifleet,
and died there, on March 20, 1898, at the age of 49 years,
10 months, and 26 days. A few months later Dr. Stone died
there also, on October 17, 1898, aged 53 years, 2 months,
and 10 days. They were survived by two children, a son
and a daughter.

EPITAPH.

The following epitaph was copied by me, on September 13,
1892, from a slate slab standing near the south-eastern corner
of the Burying-ground at Charlestown, New Hampshire.
Elizabeth Shepley was the second daughter and third child
of John and Abigail (Green) Sheple, of Groton, and an aunt
of the late Ether Shepley, Chief-Justice of the Supreme
Court of Maine. The surname was originally written Sheple,
though pronounced Shepley. See also the Reverend Henry
Hamilton Saunderson's History of Charlestown (p. 628), for
an account of her own family.

Elizabeth Shepley

wife of

William Willard

Born Groton Mass. June '5"*

1759. Died Sept. 25, 185 1

J¥u. 92 yrs. 3 mos. 20 ds.

128 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

NAMING OF GROTON.

The following extract from the Reverend William Hub-
bard's " General History of New England, from the Dis-
covery to MDCLXX" (second edition, Boston, 1848), refers
to the naming of the town of Groton.

Two more Plantations or townships were this year [1655] granted,
the one at Shashin, upon a river falling into the Merrimack, called
Billerica ; the other higher above Concord, called Groton.

Thus did the inhabitants of New England, that it might not be
forgotten whence they had their original, imprint some remembrance
of their former habitations in England upon their new dwellings in
America (p. 545).

REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS.

In the year 1841, " A Census of Pensioners for Revolution-
ary or Military Services" was published under the direction
of the United States government, which gave the names, ages,
and places of residence of all pensioners then living, as well as
the names of heads of families with whom they were residing.
The list includes presumably all the surviving Revolutionary
soldiers at that period ; and among them are the names of ten
Groton men, as follows : —

Names. Ages. With whom living.

Abel Prescott. 80 Abel Prescott.

William Prescott. 72 Merrick Lewis.

Joshua Parker. 76 Joshua Parker.

William Tarbell. 76 William Tarbell.

Jacob Nutting. 93 Jacob Nutting.

Isaac Patch. 78 Isaac Patch.

Joseph Sawtell, 2d. 76 Joseph Sawtell, 2nd.

David Lakin. 89 David Lakin.

Amos Farnsworth. 86 Amos Farnsworth.

Stephen Pingrey. 82 John Pingrey.

REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS. 1 29

Abel Prescott was the second son of Jonas and Rebecca
(Bulkley) Prescott, and was born at Groton, on December 12,
1759. He was married to Hannah Spalding, of Ashburn-
ham ; and among his children were Phinehas Oilman Prescott
and Charles Prescott. He died on September 18, 1841, and
his widow on August 17, 1854.

William Prescott was the youngest son of the Honorable
James and Susanna (Lawrence) Prescott, and was born at
Groton, on September 5, 1768. At a Fourth of July celebra-
tion he was severely wounded in the hand by the premature
discharge of a cannon; and in consequence of the injury he
received a pension from the United States government. For
many years after the death of his father he lived in the family
of Major James Lewis, and after Major Lewis's death in the
family of Merrick Lewis, the youngest brother of James. Mr.
Prescott died at Groton, on August 31, 1843. ^^ was a
nephew of Colonel William Prescott who commanded the
American forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and a brother
of Benjamin who fell in that action.

Joshua Parker was a son of Ephraim and Azubah (Farns-
worth) Parker, and was born at Groton, on May 26, 1764.
He was in the army near the end of the War, and he died on
September 15, 1843. His son the late Andrew Johnson
Parker, of Charlestown, told me that he remembered his
father's discharge paper.

William Tarbell was the second son of Benjamin and
Azubah (Farnsworth) Tarbell, and was born at Groton, on
October 19, 1764. He was married, on April 8, 1788, to
Polly Simonds, of Groton; secondly, on April 24, 1823, to
Susan Blood, of Groton; and, thirdly, on May 13, 1840,
to Mrs. Sarah (Wetherbee) Nutting, of Townsend. Mr.
Tarbell's mother died on March 14, 1838, at the age of 97
years, 8 months, and 19 days, the oldest person in town at
that time; and he died on August 3, 1851, aged 86 years,
9 months, and 16 days. The date of his birth is taken from
the family Bible and differs by a few days from that given in
the town records.

Jacob Nutting, a son of Isaac and Lydia (Nutting) Nutting,

130 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

was born at Groton, on January 23, 1747, and died on May
14, 1841.

Isaac Patch was the second son of Isaac and EHzabeth
(Avery) Patch, and was born at Westford in the year 1762.
He was married in 1786 to Phebe, youngest child of Reuben
and Susanna (Chandler) Fletcher of that town ; and they had
eight children, of whom the youngest, Sophronia, was the
wife of the late Moses Titus, of Ayer. Mr. Patch died at
Groton, on October 21, 1841, aged 79 years; and his widow
on January 9, 1843, ^^so aged 79 years.

Joseph Sawtell, 2d, was the second son of Joseph and
Lydia (Jenkins) Sawtell, and was born at Groton, on May 8,
1764. He was married, on February 22, 1788, to Hannah,
youngest daughter of Ebenezer and Mary Kemp. For many
years he was sexton of the town ; and he died on March
21, 1842. Another, Joseph, the father of the late Ephraim
Sawtell, was living in the year 1840, when this list of pen-
sioners was made.

David Lakin was the youngest child of John and Lydia
(Parker) Lakin, and was born at Groton, on October 10,

1753. He died on March 3, 1846, at which time he was the
oldest person in town.

Amos Farnsworth was the eldest son of Amos and Lydia
(Longley) Farnsworth, and was born at Groton, on April 28,

1754. After the Lexington alarm, on April 19, 1775, he
marched to Cambridge in Captain Henry Farwell's company
of minute-men. At the time of his death, which took place
on October 29, 1847, he was the oldest person in town.

Stephen Pingrey was the eldest son of Stephen and Anna
(Jewett) Pingrey, and was born at Rowley, on June 3, 1759.
After the death of his second wife, which took place at Fran-
conia, New Hampshire, on June 12, 1838, in order to live
with his youngest son, John, he came to Groton, where he
died on May 8, 1844.

Many years ago I obtained the following facts from a Rev-
olutionary pension-agent, whose name I have now forgotten,
though there is no reason to doubt their accuracy.

Mrs. Olive Studley died at Groton, on March 2, 1845, aged

MOSES CHILD, 131

83 years. She was the widow of Consider Studley, who
during the Revolution had served as a non-commissioned
officer from Wrentham. They were married at Franklin in
1785 ; and at the time of her death she left three children,
namely: Mrs. Olive Rugg, wife of the late Joseph Rugg, of
Groton, Oliver Studley, and Sarah Mann Studley. Her hus-
band died at Lancaster, on December 28, 1832 ; and in conse-
quence of his military services she received from the United
States government an annual pension of forty-four dollars.

Jonathan Prentiss, a native of Groton, living in Townsend,
was in the military service of his country during the years
1778 and 1779. At one time he was a member of Captain
Kimball's company, Colonel Sproat's regiment, and was sta-
tioned at Nantasket.

Samuel Gragg, a native of Groton, and a soldier of the
Revolution, was an uncle of the late Reverend William Gragg,
who graduated at Harvard College, in the Class of 1820; and
his wife's name was Rachel Blood.

MOSES CHILD.

By his Excellency George Washington, Esq. Commander in Chief
of the Army of the United Colonies.

To MosES Child Esq!

The Honourable the Continental Congress, having lately passed a
Resolve, contained in the following words, to Wit,

"That two persons be sent at the expence of these colonies to
" Nova Scotia to inquire into the State of that Colony, the disposition
" of the Inhabitants towards the American cause, & the condition
"of the Fortifications, Docks, Yards, the Quantity of Artillery &
" Warlike stores, and the Number of Soldiers, Sailors, & Ships of
" War there, and Transmit the earliest Intelligence to General
" Washington."

I do hereby Constitute and Appoint you the said Moses Child

to be one of the persons to undertake this Business ; And as the

132 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Season is late & this a work of great importance, I entreat & request,
that you will use the utmost dispatch, attention and fidelity in the
execution of it. The necessity of acting with a proper degree of
caution & secresy is too apparent to need recommendation.

You will keep an Account of your expences, and upon your return,
will be rewarded in a suitable manner for the fatigue of your Journey
& the services you render your country, by conducting & discharg-
ing this business with expedition & fidelity.

Given under ray hand this 24 day of Nov' 1775

G° Washington
[Modern indorsement]

Autograph of Washington, Commission of Moses Child, 1775

DAVID HENRY FELCH.

David Henry Felch is the fourth son of Benjamin
Franklin and Mary Elizabeth (Bennett) Felch, and was born
at Groton, on September 19, 1856. He attended school at
Lawrence Academy, first, in the year 1868, during the latter
part of the preceptorship of the Reverend William Pope
Aiken; and, later, at the opening of the present main build-
ing in the autumn of 1871, where he was under the charge of
the Reverend James Fletcher. On July 4, 1868, the former
building, a structure of wood known as the Academy, was
burned to the ground. This was replaced by the present
brick-and-stone edifice, which was dedicated with appropriate
services, on June 29, 1871. Mr. Felch graduated at Lawrence
Academy in 1872, after which he passed one term at Phillips
Academy, Andover, and later a short time at Phillips Exeter
Academy. Next he entered Bowdoin College where he
graduated in the Class of 1874. Subsequently for a short
period of time he was employed by the American Express
Company, after which he studied law in the ofifice of Charles
Sidney Hayden, of Fitchburg, later Mayor of that city, and
he also took a year's course at the Harvard Law School. He
was admitted to the bar in 1880, and immediately afterward
went west, establishing himself as a lawyer at Cheney in the

LAWRENCE PLAYGROUND. 1 33

Territory of Washington, which became a State in 1889.
Here he soon became prominent in various matters, educa-
tional as well as professional. He has steadily declined to
enter political life, though often urged so to do.

On September 2"], 1899, Mr, Felch was married to Minna Ro-
setta, daughter of Frederich and Marie Louise Fehly. His wife
was a native of Illinois, where she was born in 1866 ; and her pa-
rents were Germans, who had settled at Freeport, Illinois. By
this union there have been born a girl, and a boy who died in
infancy. During his life on the Pacific coast he has written
much for the eastern press, particularly for the Fitchburg Sen-
tinel. His career as a lawyer has been a successful one, and
he has become a man of mark in the great North-west.

Mr. Fetch's father, whom I knew well, was employed in
various capacities about the station at Groton Junction from
the time when the Fitchburg Railroad, the Worcester and
Nashua, and the several other railroads were built, forming
one of the busiest junctions in the country. So many pas-
sengers changed cars at this place, now known as Ayer, that
Mr. Felch became a well-known character to the travelling
public. He died on May 31, 1895, aged 75 years, 10 months,
and 22 days; and his widow, on April 21, 1898, aged 73
years, 5 months, and 5 days. He was a native of Greenfield,
New Hampshire; and she was a native of Groton. His par-
ents were Daniel and Ruth (Walker) Felch ; and her parents
were Elijah and Mary (Green) Bennett.

LAWRENCE PLAYGROUND.

Harvard graduates who admire the artistic new fence with
its imposing gates around the college grounds may be interested
to know that the old fence — upon which so many former grad-
uates have sat and chatted — was not completely destroyed. A
section including about 500 or 600 feet with the old posts, forty-
two in number, now stands on each side of the main entrance to
the Lawrence Playground at Groton. The posts are of granite,
with dimensions at the top about twelve inches by thirteen.

134

FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

The playground, consisting of 14-I acres, is centrally sit-
uated in the village on Broad Meadow Road, and was given
to the town by the late Amory Appleton Lawrence. He
was a graduate of Harvard in the Class of 1870, and was one
of a committee in charge to construct a memorial gateway
for his class. While acting in that capacity he saw the work-
men digging up the old fence, when it occurred to him that
for the sake of former associations it should be preserved.
So he bought a large section from the contractor and had
it shipped to Groton, where it was set up anew.

On the front of the right-hand post at the entrance is a
bronze tablet with the following inscription :

THE

LAWRENCE

PLAYGROUND

and on the back of the same post is another tablet bearing

these words :

GIVEN BY

AMORY A. LAWRENCE

TO THE

TOWN OF GROTON

A. D. 1901

IN MEMORY OF THE MANY

LAWRENCES

WHO HAVE LIVED

THERE

JOSHUA GREEN S DIARY, 1 7 75- 135

On the fourth post at the right of the entrance is a smaller
tablet with these words :

liiiiiftefflSii

THESE

POSTS

WERE A PART
OF THE FENCE

AROUxND
HARVARD

COLLEGE
CAMBRIDGE
FOR MORE
THAN HALF
A CENTURY

Mr. Lawrence's residence and his extensive farm were
in the neighborhood of the playground, which adjoins the
Shumway Athletic Field belonging to Lawrence Acad-
emy. These two playgrounds, the Lawrence and the Shum-
way, used both for health and pleasure, comprise more than
twenty-five acres of land conveniently situated for the pur-
pose.

JOSHUA GREEN'S DIARY, 1775.

The following paper was found among the manuscripts of
the late Henry Williamson Haynes, my classmate at Harvard
College. The Diary is still in my possession, and I have in-
serted a few entries not copied by him. The signature
" J: Green jun-, " written at the top of the titlepage, is that of
my grandfather (H. C. 1784).

May 25, 1848. I borrowed of Mr. Samuel A. Green, of Groton,
Mass., an almanac [Nathanael Low's] for 1775, "^ which his grand-
father, Mr. Joshua Green, then a boy in the third class at the Boston
Latin School, had inserted several blank leaves, upon which he wrote

136 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

some manuscript notes, with the dates annexed, the most important
of which I have here transcribed.

[January] 13'!' Being y" Queen's Birthday Latin Scliool did not
keep. VVritg School broke up.

24':' A small detachment from each regiment here sail'd for Marsh-
field.

[February] 3',' Aunt S. TCdwards's funeral.

20"' Lent H: G: O. [Harrison dray Otis] my drawing Book — ret!

26'!' Col" Leslie's expedition to Salem !

[March] 6','' Oration' delivcr'd at the Old South Meet^-house by
I)()(t| Joseph Warren after which a number of y'; otiticers of y'. army
in particular Cap' 15: Chapman of y' 18".' Ai [l>hink'\ of y'. royal
Jrish put on their hats when y''. town was U[)on business, nominating
])ersons, hold': up y\ hands in y'! negative after a full vote, iV when
y'. motion was mak^' for yl next Oration, rais^; their voices strik*-' y! Canes
on y' floor, <!v by other indecent iV insolent conduct as far in y' power
endeavord to affront the 'i'own, <.\: if possible make a disturbance.

9';'' Col'.' Ncsbitt w'.'' a party of y': 47''' carried 'riuj. Ditson jim. of
Billerica thro' y': Street (on a truck) tarr'd tV featherM, on a i)re-
tence y' he had bo't a gun of a soldier, tho* not in regimentals.

16'.'' After sevl days wait'- on Cen' Cage a remonstrance was made
to him by y'. Selectmen of Hillerica ag' Col': Nesbitt's conduct last
Thursday.

I I"' A mock Oration at Br: Cofi": H" before a number of oflicers
of y'. army to revile y': patriots of liberty.'

24'!' M; Jn': Ifanunatl died.

[April] 1 1"' Nathan Viles 10 Cop'." for carry^' Bacon to Waltham.

4 Lent H G O — draw"-' book — ret!

6: Mock-Congress of y" Officers of y'. Army who went in proces-
sion from y'. Ik. Coff : Mouse dress'd in scarlet Rocjuelors iV white
wigs up to y"" 'i own 1 louse in one of y"! upper chambers,

17')' Observ'd by yt Officers of y": 4'!' or Kings own regim' in mem-
ory of y'. defeat of y'l rebels 1746.

19")' Last night all y': (irenadiers & y'. light Infantry of y': army
went in y". Men of Wars boats over Charles River to Cambridge &
from thence to Concord, after liavg kill'd S Men at Lexington, iS; (his
morn*' were follovv'd by Marl Tiercys Brigade of regim':, y': whole body
were attaek'd iV oblig'd to retreat to Charlestown, with y''. loss of 65
kill'd, I So wounded, (!v 27 missing.

21. \\x\V'- School did not keep.

' 'I'his or.itioii u.is (Iili\ireil on Manh 15.

JOSHUA GREEN S DIARY, 1 775. 137

24'!' Bro't my books liome from Lntin School.
[May] 5'!' Came out from Boston to go to Westfield.
ii'l' Fast day.

Reinforcement or regim'^ sent Gage ; viz!
Light Dragoons

Col"

i; Col?

Maj'^

men

I

7'.'' Geo. Preston

Jn'l Blaqwere
Foot

Sam' Birch

120

22"^

The' Gage

Jf Abercromby

Jn'? Campbell.

420

35-

F H\' Campbell

Cha:' Heathcote

R ' Allen.

d?

40.

S: Rob: Hamilton

Ja'- Grant

]iV Grant.

d?

44.

J* Abercromby*

J? Agnevv

Jn" Beckwith.

de

45-

W" Haviland

Jn? Tullikens

H* Monckton

d.'

49.

A\c\' Maidand

H> Calder

Ja' Mercer.

d:

63-

Fr' Grant

Ja? Patterson

J Anstruther.

d?

3060
* killil .U Hunker Hill

[June] 5"' Went to M: Ballantine's School.

Gen! Lee to Gen' Burgoyne

June 7 : 1785. " I serv'd several campaigns in America last War,
c^ cannot recollect a single instance of ill behavior in the provincials,
where the regulars acquitted themselves well. Indeed we well remem-
ber some instances of the reverse, particularly where the late Colonel
Grant, (he who lately pledg'd himself for the general cowardice of
America) ran away with a large body of his own regiment, and was
saved from destruction by the valor of a few Virginians."

" Is it possible M' Howe sho'd be prevail'd upon to accept of such
an office ! The brother of him, to whose memory the much injur'd
people of Boston erected a monument, sho'd be employ'd as one of
the instruments of their destruction 1 "

1 7'," Battle at Charlestown.

[J"ly] L^ ^^^^ drawing of the Colony seal]

The seal of the M.assachusetts Colony with a sword aims at quiet
rest under liberty.

Distinction of yf different ranks of y ' Officers in y': Continental
Army und! Gen' Washington.

For y'' General a black cockaile & a broad scarlet ribbon from
y^ left shoulder to y;' right hip but being und' y"" coat is seen only
across his breast.

138 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Major General a blk cockade w* a purple ribbon as above.
Aid de camps, a blue.
Col°, Lf Col°, & Major a scarlet cockade.
Captains a yellow cockade.
First & Seel Lieutf a green
[August] Albany to Will's Creek [distances given].

Fort du Quesne to Will's Creek [ " " ].

Quebec to Albany [ " " ]•

[September] From Boston to Newport [and other places, with
distances].

28 : Went from Westfield to Glastenbury.

[October] Third Class at S° Grammar School, Boston, April 1775,
viz : H: G. Otis, Dan! Boyer, Jn° Hubbard, Sam! Taylor, J: Green,
Eben' Bass, Nathan Frazier, Foster Penny, Sam! Lamb, Isf Davis,
Chasf Basnet, W'" Dorr, Sam : Borland, Benj'^ Homans, Jn° Erving
Waldo, Benj'? Bracket, Josh] Paine, Jon^ Swift, Jam! Lowe, Jack
Gardner, Gilb! Deblois.

[November] i. Return'd from Glastenbury to Westfield.
23'? Thanksgiving Day in this Province.
25 : P"! Mr Sanders 30J for a p' shoes.

[December] 9* Paid Mf Hitchcock 12s for a p! of Wash Leather
Breeches.

28'!' Town Meet? when y^ follow? Gent™ were chose a Com'":'' of
Inspection & Correspondence, &c.

LI Dan! Sacket Df Mather

U John Kellog Col"? Moseley

Ens : Dan! Bag Col"? Parks

Ens : Zach] Bush Cap! Df Moseley

My Bohan King L' Dan! Fowler

Sj'. D^ Weller, jun : U S? Noble

Sj! Oliver Ingersol.
NB A new Com":'= chose at next March Meet?

ASA AND PHEBE GREEN.

The facts below, although not connected with my family,
were given to me in 1889 by the late William Berry Lap-
ham, of Augusta, a distinguished historian, who wrote the

SOME INDIAN WORDS. 1 39

histories of several towns in Maine and other works re-
lating to that State.

The following I copy from Rumford (Maine) town records.
This family was a roving one, and lived in various places before they
came here from what is now Mexico [Maine] in 1828.

Asa Green married Phebe [Prescott, both of Groton, June 5,
1805]-

Children :

Ezra, b. Groton, Mass.,

March 29, 1806.

Sereno, b. Tyngsboro, "

December 4, 1807.

Joel P., b. ''

August 31, 1809.

Oren, b. Mercer, Maine,

February 26, 18 11.

Harriet, b. " "

November 15, 18 12.

Andrew J., b. " "

November 8, 181 4.

Elmira, b. " "

August 5, 1816.

Dolly W., b. PI. No. 8,

July 29, 1818.

Ransom N.,b. " " "

January 10, 1821.

Julian, b. " " "

October 24, 1822.

Calista, b. " " "

September 8, 1824.

Abigail T., b. " " "

June 12, 1826.

Asa, Jr., b. Rumford, March 31, 1829.

SOME INDIAN WORDS.

Geographical names of Indian origin furnish now one
of the few links in New England that connect modern times
with the prehistoric period. In the absence of any correct
standard either of pronunciation or spelling, which always
characterizes an unwritten language, these words have been
greatly distorted and changed, and thus have lost much of
their original meaning, but their root generally remains.
As the shards that lie scattered around the sites of old Indian
dwellings are eagerly picked up by the archaeologist for
critical examination, so any fragmentary facts about the
Indian names of places are worth saving by the antiquary
and scholar for their historical and philological value.

The spelling of these words varies, as at first they were

I40 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

written according to their sound and not according to their
derivation. It is rare to find an Indian word in an early-
document spelled twice alike. In the lapse of time these
verbal changes have been so great that an Indian now would
hardly recognize any of the words by sound.

The following is the copy of a letter written by Mr.
Lincoln Newton Kinnicutt, of Worcester, and will explain
itself. The writer of the letter is one of the few scholars in
the State, who have made a critical study of Indian place-
names found in this neighborhood. A few years ago I asked
Mr. Kinnicutt to give me the benefit of his philological learn-
ing, and tell me the meaning of certain Indian words, which
he has now done. By his compliance with my request he
has placed me under great personal obligations.

Worcester, September 22, 191 3.
My dear Doctor Green : —

When yon asked me three or four years ago about the meaning of
the Indian place names in Groton, I promised you that some time I
would try to translate them and you have reminded me once or twice
of that promise.

This summer I was obliged to study the Indian names in the
vicinity of Pemaquid, Monhegan, and York, Maine, and at the same
time I remembered my promise and examined the Indian names
mentioned in " Groton during the Indian Wars."

When the American Antiquarian Society wrote to Dr. J. Hammond
Trumbull in regard to the meaning of the word " Massachusetts" he
replied, " I very willingly give you as much as I know and add what I
guess." Please read Dr. Trumbull's answer again and emphasize
every word of it before reading my ideas in regard to the Groton
names.

I believe, in attempting to give a meaning to an Indian place name,
one should know and see, if possible, the locality and then try to look
at it from the Indian point of view for one must bear in mind that
these names were almost always very descriptive. They served as
geographical guides to the Indians and each area within a twenty or
thirty mile radius had its descriptive distinguishing place name. It is
very interesting to find that sometimes Indian names translated seem
to give additional proof or disproof of some local tradition, of some
accepted statement and sometimes of some historical incident.

SOME INDIAN WORDS. 141

If, at any time, you wish to use any of these translations in your
writings about Groton you are at perfect liberty to do so, with no
obligation to give any credit to me. Some time, if I ever publish
another monograph on Indian names, I might possibly use them.

I only hope that although my possible solutions may not prove
satisfactory to you, that you will believe that I have given my best
knowledge and my best guessing.

Very truly yours,

Lincoln N. Kinnicuit.

Babittasset, " name of a village in Pepperell." This is a most
interesting name, and I have not given up all hope of a solution ; but
at present I will not venture to make a suggestion.

Baddacook or Badacock, as spelled in the land grant to Nicholas
Cady the third of eleventh month 1669, a pond in the eastern part of
Groton. The Natick word Padtohquohhan, used as a verb, means,
" to thunder," from a verb which signifies, to hear, to be heard. The
Quiripi has the word, padak, he heareth. The termination, ock, is
found in many Indian place names (" from ' ohke,' variations auke,
aug, ag, ac, oche, ock, og, oc, uc, Ogue, signifying ground, land, place
not limited or enclosed." — Trumbull). I think that the original sig-
nification of the word may have been, a place where one hears, or
echo place. It would be very interesting to know if at the present
day there is any spot near this pond where there is a noticeable echo
but of course the destruction of the woods may have destroyed it,
even if any ever existed. Also another translation may be the, " place
where it thunders," signifying a locality where severe thunder storms
were frequent. It must always be borne in mind that the spelling of
Indian names was only as they sounded to the individual writer and
it is for this reason so many different forms are given for the same
word. The letter " B " is seldom used as an initial letter in the Na-
tick tongue and from an examination of various names about Groton
I believe there was a mixture of dialects of the Algonkin language.
Indian tribes living within fifty miles of each other in New England
had individual differences in the sound and use of certain letters. On
the borders of Rhode Island and Gonnecticut there were four or five
different dialects with very marked differences in the sounds of the
letters and in the names of objects.

Cataconamog, Catecunemaug, or Cateconimoug, Gatacoona-
MUG, a pond in the southeast part of Lunenburg, and southwest part

142 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

of Shirley, now Shirley reservoir. The name is also given to a stream,
which rises in the western or central part of Lunenburg and flows
through the pond, and through Shirley into the Nashua. It is proba-
bly from Kehche or K'che-quon-amaug, " the great long fishing
place." As the stream, from the river to the pond, is a series of
small ponds, this is the natural signification of the name, and proba-
bly was first applied to the pond, and stream between the pond and
river. Kehti, " greatest, " " principal " ; quinni, variation quon,
"long," amaug, "fishing place."

Chicopee, a district in the northern part of Groton. This name is
used in several places in Massachusetts and has various spellings :
Chequapee, Chickopee, Chicabee, Chicopee. It is probably from
Chickee or Chekeyeu, " it rages " or " is violent," and Pe, the root
of names of water in nearly all Algonkin dialects, " raging or rushing
water." Originally this name in Groton was probably applied to
some stream. Chikkup also was the name for cedar tree, and
Chikkuppee an adjective meaning, " of cedar." Possibly the name is
a corruption of Chikkuppee-auke, and was first applied to cedar
land.

HuMHAW^, a brook in Westford. This name must be much cor-
rupted, and probably is only a part of a long word, and is un-
translatable.

KissACOOK, a hill in Westford. Kissenaug is the name of a pond
in Middlebury, Connecticut, and Kisnop, the name of a brook in
Salisbury, in the same State. Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull does not
attempt to translate either of these names and therefore I certainly
shall not attempt to translate Kissacook.

Massapoag, a pond lying partly in Groton and partly in Dunstable,
also a pond in the southern part of Lunenburg. The name is from
Massa, " large," variations (Missi, Mashhi) and paug, " standing
water." This same name occurs with some variations throughout
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and was applied to
the large pond in the locality. Massapaug, Mashipaug, Shepaug,
were probably the same. Dr. Trumbull says Sebago, lake in Maine,
was the equivalent, the initial " M " having been lost.

MuLPUS, name of a brook in Shirley. This is not an Indian name.
The Rev. Seth Chandler, in his History of the Town of Shirley, writes
" Tradition saith that it derived its name from a Frenchman by the
name of Multipus, who lived in Lunenburg, near its source."

Nagog, name of a pond in Littleton. This certainly is not a water
name but has been transferred from some near locality to the pond.

SOME INDIAN WORDS. I43

This has been a very common usage throughout New England. I
am inclined to believe that the word is a corruption of Natuag, Nai-
yag, Noyack, meaning a point or corner of land. Eliot wrote the
word Naiag or Naiyag, '•' a corner or angle," and without doubt it
was used by the Indians as a boundary mark. Naig-og would mean
corner land,

Nashoba, the old name of Littleton now applied to a hill in that
town, as well as to a brook in Westford. It was the name of a small
tribe of Indians who lived near Nashoba Hill, and was the name also
of the Indian town which Daniel Gookin, writing in 1674, says was
the " sixth Indian Praying Village." Of course the similarity between
the name Nashua aud Nashoba is very striking but in its present form
I cannot venture a translation. Neshobe was the name of an Indian
scout or spy who gave valuable aid to the Green Mountain Boys,
1 770-1 780. He lived on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain.
Possibly he was a descendant from the old Nashoba tribe. An island
in Lake Bomeseen is now called " Neshobe." There is a tradition
that the word Nashoba meant " the hill that shakes," " that at times
certain rumbling noises were heard and vibratory motions were felt."
There is no trace of this signification in the word.

Nashua, Nashaway, Nashaue, Nashawogg, a " river running
through Groton." These are all different forms of the same name from
Nashaue-ohke, "the land between." The river takes its name from
the land. This root occurs in a great many Indian names in various
localities, mutilated sometimes in many ways. Ashawog, Assawog,
Natchaug probably conveyed about the same idea. Shawamug meant
the half-way fishing place. Nasaw, "between," "in the middle of"
(Cuok, Langue Algonquine.)

Naumox, the name of a district, near the Longley Monument, lying
west of the East Pepperell road. It may have been a place name,
although much corrupted and changed. The letter " x " is very sel-
dom found in a place name, however, as a termination, even with all
the corruptions and changes that such names undergo. The root,
I think, is aum, or om, " a fish-hook (Eliot, Indian Bible, Matt. xvii.
27), aumani, " he is fishing," aumanep, " a fishing line." Nawmock-
set would mean, in my opinion, the country (or land) near the fishing
place, — and this takes care of the letter " x," — set is a locative suffix
often used, and signified "near," or "at."

Namucksuck was the Indian name of a place on the west side of
the Thames River (Miss Caulkins, New London, 123). That name
designated "a fishing place at the outlet," — name, "fish," auk.

144 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

" place," suck, '' at the outlet or mouth of a stream." Thus the name
could easily have become Naumuchs or Naumox. Nameaug, or
Nameock, from Name-auk, was the Indian name for New London,
" fishing place." If this is a place name, I think that on account of
the many streams, ponds, etc., in the locality, the root namohs, " fish,"
which we find all through New England enters into its composition in
some way.

Another possible solution is that the word is derived from Nayseu-
mauauk, which would probably signify "the place where he carries
or bears on his shoulders." This same root, in my opinion, appears
in the word Manomet, in Plymouth County. Mai, " a path," and
Nayeumau, " the place where they carry across on their backs."

NissiTissiT, a river running through original Groton township. I
cannot translate this.

NoNACOicus, a brook in Ayer, though formerly applied to a tract
of land. Sometimes the word is abbreviated to Coicus. In looking
over my notes in regard to this name I find that in 1905 I made the
following memorandum. Dr. Samuel A. Green found a writing prob-
ably relating to this name in a book once loaned by Judge Sewall ;
and on a fly leaf at the begirming of the book is the following note in
Judge Sewall's handwriting ; " Nunacoquis signifies an Indian earthern
pot, as Hannah, Hahatau's squaw tells me March 24, 1699, which
throws some light on the meaning of an Indian word." George J.
Burns, Esq., of Ayer, wrote as follows, " Near the mouth of the Nona-
coiocus brook there is a succession of irregular ridges of small hills
which surround or enclose various hollows or basins." (Proceedings,
Massachusetts Historical Society, 2d series, viii., pp. 209-211.)
From this I believe the original diminutive and name may have been
Nunae-ohkuk-es-et. Nunae, " dry," ohkuk, " earthern pot," es, di-
minutive et, "at or in," "at the small dry earth pots," or possibly
" at the small earth pots where water sifts through," derived from
Nanah-kinig, a sieve. Nunae-cowaewesuck, or Nunae-koowas, " dry
pines."

NuBANUSSUCK, a pond in Westford. This name must have belonged
to the stream which flowed from the pond, as the termination signifies
(sauk, suck, " outlet "), not to the pond itself. In its present shape it
is untranslatable.

Petaupaukett, a name of pond in the original petition to the gen-
eral court for the grant of the town and used in connection with the
territory and the neighborhood. It is sometimes written Petapawage
and Petapaway. In a letter written to you December 22, 1S77, Dr.

SOME INDIAN WORDS. 145

Trumbull says " Petaupauk," and other similar forms literally means,
''a place into which the foot sinks," represented by the Chippeway-
petobeg, and the Abnaki-potepaug, a bog or marsh.

QuosoPANAGON, a meadow in Groton, " on the other side of the
river." In my notes referring to the name Quasaponikin, made in
1905, I find the following: "A hill in the N. E. part of Lancaster,
also the same name given to a meadow and brook in the early records
of the town. A village in Lancaster is now called Ponikin. I believe
this name applied first to a shallow part of the river near where the
brook enters the Nashua. The northern Indians have the word
Poonichuan, "where the current stops." The Natick dialect has
Ponquag, " a ford," also Penaekinnu, " it spreads," and Josiah Cotton
gives Pongqui as " shallow," in his vocabulary. Dr. Trumbull says in
his definition of Quassapaug, K'chepaug, " greatest pond," a name
easily corrupted to Quassapaug. (Trumbull, Indian Names of Con-
necticut, p. 59.) Quassaponikin corrupted, from k'che-ponquag-
in, would mean, "at the greatest fording place." Probably the
same name in Groton would signify a fording place, although the name
m Groton is spelled Quosopanagon.

Shabikin, Shabokin, Chaboken, etc., early name of a tract of land
in the northwest part of Harvard, formerly a part of Stow Leg. I
believe this name must have been originally Chepiohkin. "Chep-
iohke," the Indian name for "hell," "the place apart," " the place of
separation," with the locative suffix in or en. A curious indication
that this was the original signification is the fact that the pond in this
tract of land has always been called " Hell Pond." " Shabikin " seems
to have been the original designation of that part of Stow Leg which
includes Hell Pond. (Nourse, History of Harvard, p. 72.) "The
pioneers always called it Hell Pond, and so it is recorded in the worn
and yellow documents of their day that have come down to us."
(Ibid. p. 66.)

Squannacook, a river in the western part of Groton, rises in the
northern part of Townsend, forms the boundary between Shirley and
Groton, and flows into the Nashua. Possibly the name is a corrup-
tion of Squamicuk, which would mean salmon place, m'squamaug,
"salmon," and auke, " place," or with ut would signify the "place
for taking salmon." We know from early records there were many
salmon in these rivers, however this is not a satisfactory explanation.
It is also the name of a village in western part of Groton. A very
similar name is found in Rhode Island. Squannakonk is the name
of a swamp in Rehoboth, where Annawon was captured by Captain

146 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Church, in 1676. Mr. Drake (in his edition of Mather's Brief His-
tory, p. 180) says that this name probably signifies " Swamp of
Night," but Dr. Trumbull wrote : " I can make nothing of this name :
it is certainly corrupted, and has lost at least one (initial) syllable."
(Church's Philip's War, part I, p. 163, note.)

Tadmuck, a brook and meadow in Westford. This name is vari-
ously spelled in the old documents, Tatnoc, Tadnick, Tadnuck, and
Tadmuck. The last is more general and is adopted as the true one.
Tadmuck, Great Tadmuck, and Little Tadmuck were all meadows
and more or less swamp land and I have very little doubt that it has
the same signification as Tatamuckatakis, the name of a neck and
creek in Long Island. That name belonged originally to the meadows
bordering the creek, and the word signified, " meadow that trembles,"
from "tata," "to shake," "to tremble," and moskehtuash " grass,"
"pasturage." (Tooker.) The last syllable may have been lost and the
different dialects may have accounted for some change. Certainly the
Algonkin roots in this word authorize the translation. Maskituash,
"grass or hay." (Roger Williams.)

Unquetenassett, a brook in the northern part of Groton. The
first syllable " unque " is probably the same as ongkaue, "beyond,"
" further," and the last syllable is a locative, but in its present form I
cannot translate it.

Wabansconcett, found in the original petition for the grant of the
town of Groton and used in connection with the territory of the
neighborhood. Waban, a sachem living at Nonantum in 1676, prob-
ably owned much land about Groton, for a deed of 1683 of "all and
every part of that Tract of land which is called Groton " was signed
by Thomas Waban, of Natick, and a few other Indians. Thomas
Waban is supposed to have been the son of Waban the Sachem, the
first Indian to receive the gospel from John Eliot and who became
one of his most trusted and efficient workers among the Praying In-
dians. Waban, " the wind," keon, signifying " going over," and the
locative set, "at or near." Possibly the name signified, " where the
wind blows." The elder sachem probably took his name from some
part of his land at Groton, as was customary.

THE FIRST OPERATION UNDER ETHER. 1 47

CALEB BUTLER (D. C, 1800) TO EPHRAIM ABBOT
(H. C, 1806), OF WESTFORD.

Groton, Aug. 10, 1836.

Dear Sir, — On examining my old minutes I find there was an
uncertainty respecting the distance from Prescott's hill to Westford
Meetinghouse, & as I made that no part of the route from Lowell to
Worcester, I never corrected it. I have now measured a base line
from Prescott's to another hill, of 350 rods, by which I find the dis-
tance to be 18 1 7 rods. I also find the distance of Jo. Ingall's
[Joe English] hill from Prescott's to be — 24 Miles 279 rods. Unco-
noonock, 26 miles 66 rods. The groves 40 miles 227 rods, Kysarge 54
miles 154 rods, what you call Mt. Washington about the last distance.
I suspect your needle was attracted in the bellfry about one degree
to the east, & in making these calculations I have so estimated
the bearings of the objects.

It only remains to be ascertained, whether I see from Prescott's
hill, the same mountain which you see at Westford & call Mt. Wash-
ington. When you have leisure, on a clear day & will come to
Groton, I think I can satisfy you on this score.

Yours in haste,

C. Butler.

THE FIRST OPERATION UNDER ETHER.

A LIFE of Dr. Wm. T. G. Morton, of Boston, the discoverer
of the anaesthetic properties of sulphuric ether, was published
at New York in the year 1859. It was written by Dr. Nathan
Payson Rice, and is entitled " Trials of a Public Benefactor,
as illustrated in the Discovery of Etherization." In this book
is given an account of the first operation ever performed on
a patient, while under the influence of ether, which was the
extraction of a tooth. The subject was Ebenezer Hopkins
Frost, a native of Groton now dead, who is still remembered
by many persons. He was a son of Solomon and Dorcas
(Hopkins) Frost, and was born on December 7, 1824. He
became quite noted as a singer and teacher of music, and
was a member of the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston.

148 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Dr. Morton tried first on himself the experiment of inhaling
ether, and after describing the effect it produced he goes on
to say :

Delighted with the success of this experiment, I immediately an-
nounced the result to the persons employed in my establishment, and
waited impatiently for some one upon whom I could make a fuller
trial. Toward evening, a man, residing in Boston, came in, suffering
great pain, and wishing to have a tooth extracted. He was afraid of the
operation, and asked if he could be mesmerized. I told him I had
something better, and saturating my handkerchief, gave it to him to
inhale. He became unconscious almost immediately. It was dark
and Dr. Hayden held the lamp, while I extracted a firmly-rooted
bicuspid tooth. There was not much alteration in the pulse, and no
relaxation of the muscles. He recovered in a minute, and knew
nothing of what had been done to him. He remained for some time
talking about the experiment. This was on the 30th of September,
1846. This I consider to be the first demonstration of this new fact
in science. I have heard of no one who can prove an earlier demon-
stration. If any one can do so I yield to him the priority of time
(pp. 62, 63).

Immediately after the operation Frost gave a certificate
corroborating these statements, which is printed in the book,
and signed by him as then living at No. 42 Prince Street,
Boston. Nearly twenty years afterward he died at Fitchburg,
on September 7, 1865.

GENEALOGICAL ITEMS.

A Mistake Corrected. — Mr. Butler, in his History of Groton
(p. 449), prints a list of illegitimate births that have occurred in the
town before the year 1782, giving the names both of the mothers and
the children. It is not claimed that the list is complete, but in one
case at least it is incorrect, and by implication unjust to the memory
of a worthy family. It is there stated that Eleazer, son of Phebe
Lawrence, was born " 24 d. 1 2 m. 1675 ; " and this is the only instance
where the date is given, without mentioning specifically the name of

GENEALOGICAL ITEMS. 149

the month. The birth does not appear at all in the Groton records,
but in the Middlesex County Records at East Cambridge it does
appear that " Eleazer son of Phebe Lawrence [was] born 24, 12, 75."
The entry is made with three others, where in each case the name
of the father is given, but not that of the mother. The omission to
give the father's name was doubtless due to the fact, that Thomas
Danforth, Recorder at Cambridge, read the return made at the time
by Janies Fisk, clerk of the Writs, as Phebe instead of Peleg, which
was the father's name ; and from this fact the confusion has arisen.
Mr. Butler probably thought that Phebe was not married, and so
placed her among the unfortunate women in the list. There is no
other record to show that there was a Phebe Lawrence in Groton at
that period.

Now to the main support of my theory : Eleazer, the third child of
Peleg and Elizabeth (Morse) Lawrence, was born on February 28,
1674-5, as appears by another entry in the records made a few years
later, which is only four days after the time assigned in the list.
Without doubt the two Eleazers were one and the same person. See
the Groton Historical Series, Vol. L, No. XIIL (pp. 9, 10).

Parker. — -William Parker, of Groton, married first, on March 30,
1736, Susanna Kemp ; and secondly, on January 9, 1755, Mrs. Sarah
(Boynton) Richardson, of Pepperell, born in the year 17 21. She
was the eldest child of Nathaniel and Hannah (Perham) Boynton, of
Westford, and the widow of Abiel Richardson, a native of Billerica.
By the second marriage there were three children, namely :

Susanna, who married Samuel Lawrence of Groton ; Ruth, who
married Samuel Taylor, of Dunstable ; and Elizabeth, who married
David Rogers, of Concord.

Widow Sarah (Boynton | Richardson) Parker, after the death of
her second husband on February i, 1 761, married thirdly, on July 23,
1767, David Taylor, of Concord. See Volume I, of the Groton
Historical Series, No. X. (p. 28) ; also No. XHL (pp. 31, :^;^).

Lieutenant William Parker died in Groton, January 9, 1833, aged 71.

Mercy and Mary. — Some time ago I sent a query to the New
England Historical and Genealogical Register, about the interchange-
able use of the names "Mercy" and "Mary," which" was printed in

150 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

the April number (p. 225) for 1896. Since then I have noted two
other instances of the kind which are here given : —

In Dr. Bond's History of Watertown (p. 309), under Jennison, the
author mentions " Mercy (' Mary ') bap. Ap. 22, 1753 " — evidently
showing that he had found both forms of the name.

Again, in the second edition of Binney's History of the Prentice
Family (p. 172), the author speaks of one Mary Jennison, and then
adds in a note that in the Lancaster records she is called Mercy
Jennison. These two women were not identical, though bearing the
same name, as the first one was married in 1774, and the other
died in 1756.

I do not think that any misspelling of the word " Mary " clears up
the confusion or explains away the difficulty.

TWO LAW-STUDENTS, AND THEIR
FIRST CASE.

James Dana and Thomas Hopkinson were graduates of
Harvard College in the Class of 1830; and soon after gradu-
ation, for a term of one year, they were fellow law-students
under the instruction of Judge Samuel Dana, of Groton. His
office at that time was in the building just north of Mr. Dix's,
and nearly opposite to Mr. Hoar's tavern. It was afterward
made into a tenement-house, and subsequently burned on the
morning of October 26, 1884. While engaged here in the
pursuit of their chosen profession, these two law-students had
their first case in court. The late General Dana, of Charles-
town, gave me the following account of it; which will call up
in the minds of the older citizens of the town the recollection
of Training-day, when the militia companies used to meet on
the Common and go through with certain evolutions, then
called drilling:

More than half a century ago, two young Harvard graduates were
reading law in a quiet country town in this State, when one day in
April a notice, of which the following is a copy, was served upon
each of them : •

TWO LAW-STUDENTS, AND THEIR FIRST CASE. 151

Groton, April 15, 183 1.
To Thomas Hopkinson of said Groton :

You being duly enrolled in the Company at Groton, within whose bounds you

reside, and commanded by Capt. , are hereby ordered to appear,

armed and equipped as the law directs, on the Common in front of the Meeting-
house in Groton, on the first Tuesday of May next, at one o'clock, in the after-
noon, for inspection, exercise and discipline. Fail not of appearance at your

peril.

, Clerk.

The students at once endeavored to inform themselves upon
military law, and found that to be " armed and equipped as the law
directs," they must provide themselves with a good musket or fire-
lock, with a bore sufficient for balls of the eighteenth part of a pound,
a bayonet and belt, two spare flints, a priming wire and brush, a
knapsack, a cartridge-box to contain not less than twenty-four car-
tridges suited to the bore of the musket, each cartridge to contain a
proper quantity of powder and ball.

Unfortunately, although they had been members of the Harvard
Washington Corps in college, they did not own the aforesaid im-
plements of war or any of them, and had not any bank account to
draw upon for the "wherewithal." What was to be done? There
seemed no alternative but to " run the gauntlet," and they did ; and
failed to obey the summons, and only had the privilege of hearing
at a distance the notes of " Yankee Doodle " and " Hail Columbia "
from the inspiring fife and drum.

They soon heard that those college fellows were to be " put over
the road ; " and erelong the constable entered and served a sum-
mons upon each, as follows :

Middlesex, ss. To the Sheriff of said County, or either of his Deputies, or
either of the Constables of the town of Groton, in the County aforesaid,
Greeting :

[L. S.]

In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby required
to summon Thomas Hopkin.son, of Groton, in the County aforesaid, to appear
before me, Caleb Butler, Esquire, one of the Justices of the Peace for the
County aforesaid, at my office in said Groton, on the second Monday of June
next, at two o'clock in the afternoon, then and there to show cause, if any he
has, why judgment should not be rendered that he has forfeited the sum of four
dollars for neglecting and failing to appear at the meeting for inspection, exer-
cise and discipline of the Company in said town, commanded by Capt.

, on the Common in front of the Meeting-house in said Groton, on the

first Tuesday of May, inst., at one o'clock in the afternoon.

152 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Hereof fail not and make due return of this writ and your doings thereon unto
myself, on or before the said hour of the said third day of June.
Dated at Groton aforesaid, the sixteenth day of May, A. D. 1831.

Caleb Butler, Justice of the Peace.

The students decided to stand trial, and act as lawyers for each
other ; and they studied the law pretty thoroughly, fearing that they
might make a failure on their first attempt in the legal forum.

On the day appointed they presented themselves before the
Justice ; and soon ten other delinquents, mostly farmer boys, filed
in, causing an overflow in the small office ; and the court was ad-
journed to the hall of the neighboring tavern, which was then kept
by Joseph Hoar.

As it was noised through the village that those college boys were
to be put on their trial before Mr. Justice Butler, and that they were
foolish enough to attempt to play the lawyer for each other, there
was quite a gathering of the villagers, who came to witness some
fun.

Bradford Russell, Esquire, a legal light of Groton, appeared as
counsel for the complainant, and the proceedings began. The case
against Thomas Hopkinson was called. The Court, after ordering
him to stand up, read the complaint and inquired : " Thomas Hop-
kinson, what say you to this complaint? Do you plead guilty, or not
guilty?" Hopkinson. ''Not guilty." "Have you any counsel?"
" Yes, your Honor ; my friend James Dana is to defend me." Court.
"Mr. Russell, proceed with your case." "Yes, your Honor;" and
he offered his documentary evidence, and his witnesses in support
of the allegations in the complaint, and then said, "We rest our
case here."

Mr. Dana, for the defence, then arose and addressed the Court
as follows :

" May it please your Honor, our defence will consist of eleven
points, some of which we flatter ourselves will be considered an
ample defence to the annoying and unjust prosecution of innocent
law-abiding citizens of this ancient town ; and we trust that our
defence will be such that the complainant and his associates will
not have opportunity to gratify their spleen against those college
fellows, — a fellowship of which we are in no way ashamed, but
justly proud."

Mr. Dana then elaborated six of his points, and proceeded :

" We have now presented and argued six of our points. Our
seventh point is that although we are liable to be enrolled in the

TWO LAW-STUDENTS, AND THEIR FIRST CASE, 1 53

Massachusetts Militia, the law requires that notice of such enrol-
ment shall be seasonably given to a citizen thus enrolled. The
reason for this is obvious ; otherwise a citizen might be dragged
away to fight in battles in defence of his country, before he has any
information or knowledge that he is a soldier ; and further, such
notice affords him time and opportunity to procure a priming wire
and brush, twenty-four cartridges, and the numerous other weapons
of war required by Massachusetts Militia Law. My client has not
receiv'ed any notice of his enrolment. The learned counsel for com-
plainant, ingenious as he is, has not offered any evidence of such
notice to our client ; and he cannot, for it is not a fact. Without
waiving the force and strength of our six points, we confidently
assert and maintain that this seventh point is conclusive, and fatal
to the maintenance of this prosecution."

The Court. " Mr. Dana, you may rest a minute." " Mr. Russell,
have you any evidence or proof, or can you produce any, that notice
of his enrolment was given to the defendant?" "I regret to say
that I am afraid we don't possess such evidence, and that we cannot
procure it." T/ie Court. " Then I rule the point well taken, and
that it is fatal to the maintenance of the prosecution. Thomas
Hopkinson, stand up ! This Court orders that you be discharged ;
you may go without day."

" The next case is a complaint against James Dana, of Groton,
which I will read. James Dana, do you plead guilty, or not guilty?"
" Not guilty, your Honor." " Have you engaged counsel? " " Yes,
your Honor, I have retained my friend Thomas Hopkinson to
defend me."

Esquire Russell having finished his case for the prosecution, Mr.
Hopkinson for the defence addressed the Court : —

" May it please your Honor, our defence is substantially the same
as that made by our brother Dana in the prosecution against ourself,
which has just been tried before your Honor."

The Court. "Mr. Russell, you have not offered any evidence
that notice of his enrolment was given to Dana, the defendant.
Can you procure or produce any?" ''I fear not, your Honor."
"Then the Court orders that you be discharged, and go without
day." Mr. Hopkifison. " We thank the Court for the correct
ruling."

The other ten delinquents, rough-looking country boys, were sit-
ting in a row, and with strained eyes and wide-open ears had listened
to the foregoing. After Hopkinson and Dana were thus summarily

154 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

discharged, they were all in great glee, for they knew they had not
been notified of their enrolment. In their ignorance they had not
engaged counsel.

They had a consultation in whisper, when one of them, who
seemed to act as boss or leader, beckoned Mr. Hopkinson and Mr.
Dana into another room. " How much will you charge to defend
me and the other nine? " "Ten dollars, — one dollar a head. What
is your name?" "Hateful W. Parkins."^ "There is an old rule,
and it is a good one, * Pay as you go.' Go back, collect your
money, and pay the coin down." This was done, and the fee
pocketed.

The Court. "The next case is that of Hateful Parkins." "All
ready." "Have you any counsel?" "Yes, Mr. Hopkinson and
Mr. Dana, the young lawyers^, will defend me and the other nine."
The Court. " I will read the complaint ; " which is read. " Hateful
Parkins, what say you to this complaint ? Do you plead guilty or not
guilty ? " Whereupon Mr. Hopkinson whispered to Parkins, " They
have got your name wrong ; don't answer, keep dumb ! " The Court
repeated the question, but Parkins kept dumb. Whereupon the
Court, under some excitement, said that he would be obliged to
commit the defendant for contempt of court, and continued, " Par-
kins, why don't you answer?" Parkins. "My name ain't Hateful
Parkins." " What is it?" " Hateful W. Parkins." Whereupon Mr.
Hopkinson moved the Court that the complaint be quashed and
dismissed, because of misnomer in the complaint.

Mr. Russell then moved for leave to amend the complaint by
simply adding the capital letter "W." after the word "Hateful"
wherever it occurs, so that it would read " Hateful W. Parkins "
instead of " Hateful Parkins." To this motion Mr. Hopkinson
objected that upon every principle of good pleading as stated by the
best writers of elementary law, as well in England as in our own
country, misnomer in a criminal complaint is not a matter that can
be amended. The complainant takes his risk. For aught we know
there may be forty Hateful Parkinses, but this defendant is not one
of them. The complainant must be sure and get the right " pig by
the ear." Unfortunately for him, he has got the wrong one now, and
he must take the consequence. Mr. Russell, in reply, insisted that
his proposed amendment ought to be allowed ; but the Court said
that unless he could produce some authority to the contrary, he
would not allow the motion to amend. Mr. Russell admitted that he
^ This name is fictitious.

JOHN FARRAR. 155

had not any such authority at hand. Whereupon it was ordered that
the defendant, Hateful W. Parkins, be discharged.

The next case was that of Barnabas Blackwood,^ who pleaded not
guilty, and Mr. Russell put in his case.

Mr. Hopkinson for the defence then stated that the defence in this
case and the eight others was the same as in the cases of Mr. Dana
and Mr. Hopkinson ; namely, want of proof of notice of enrolment.
The Court said to Mr. Russell that unless he could furnish such
proof in this case and the others, he should be obliged to decide in
favor of the defendants. The counsel regretted his inability to
furnish the proof. The Court said : " It is of no use to waste time.
It is ordered that Barnabas Blackwood and the eight other defend-
ants be discharged, and this Court is adjourned without day."

There was a suppressed giggle all along the line of ten. The com-
plainant and his numerous sympathizers wore long and wry faces.
The crowd emerged, when the jolly ten formed in line before
the tavern, and Parkins called out, "Three cheers for our young
lawyers," which were given with a will. Before the next May Train-
ing the embryo lawyers had said good-by to the old town of Groton.

JOHN FARRAR.

John Farrar the writer of the following letter was a graduate
of Harvard College in the Class of 1803, and from the year
1807 to 1836 was the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and
Natural Philosophy. While keeping school at Groton he
boarded in the family of Major Joseph Moors, who com-
manded one of the Groton companies at the Battle of Bunker
Hill. He hved near the site of the present Groton School,
and a large part of his land is now owned by that institution.

Groton Jan. nt 1803
Dear Sir, — After leaving you at Concord we proceeded on our
journey as fast as the badness of the road would permit us to travel and
arrived at Groton about 6 in the evening. We tarried at Mr. Hall's
tavern near the meeting house over night and the next morning were
conducted to our respective districts. On the friday following I

1 This name is fictitious.

156 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

opened my school with about twenty schollars. The number has
been increasing since so that now I have about fifty. With respect
to my boarding place I have such an one as I could wish. I live
with one of the first farmers in the County of Middlesex. Maj,
Moors, the gentleman's name, keeps about forty head of cattle
besides sheep, horses, turkeys, hogs, &:c. &c. He sometimes raises
seven or eight hundred bushels of rye nearly as much corn and
between ten and fifteen thousand weight of hops. His hops this last
season brought him in upwards of one thousand dollars but they cost
him more labor to prepare them for the market than to get his hay. Last
year they were cut off together with large fields of rye, and apples in
all probability sufficient for one hundred & fifty beryls of cyder, by
a most remarkable hail storm near the first of June. The hail stones
were many of them as large as partridge eggs and fell in such quan-
tities and with such violence as to break all the glass in the side of
buildings facing the wind, and to cover the floors of houses with soot
and black hail stones. The storm happened on Monday when it was
very warm ; and altho' it lasted but an hour and an half the hail stones
were knee deep in a certain tray fashion places near here on the Fri-
day following. Parson Write of Boulton [Bolton], preaching here the
succeeding Sunday, picked up hail stones in the road and carried
home for a show. Orchards were so stripped and bruised that they
have borne but little since ; and large dints in buildings about here
still remain as monuments of this tremendous storm.

I live, Sir, with a very hospitable and benevolent people. My
accomodations are very good. I live about one quarter of a mile
from school & about two miles from meeting.

We have today, Sir, experienced a very pleasant and agreeable
commencement of a new year. While it reminds of the benevolence
and the continued mercy of Providence, ought it not lead us to
reflect on the quick succession of years, on the shortness and the
value of life, to consider and to correct the errors of the past year,
and to fortify our minds with such principles of virtue and piety, as
shall preserve us in the pleasant and peaceful paths of wisdom. You,
Sir, and the rest of the family, whether at home or absent I most
cordially wish a happy new year, and many yet to come. I acknowl-
edge the debt of gratitude. I feel a tender attachment to the family.
Every new scene of life leads me to value more and more highly those
habits and principles imbibed in early youth, for which I am indebted
to kind and obliging Parents. I wish, Sir, to hear from home,
particularly of the accident which James lately met with, of his

TWO BALLOONS PASSING OVER GROTON. 1 57

health, of Samuel's, what Becca is doing &c. &c. My health, Sir,

God be praised, is good, and think not, Sir, that I am unconscious of

the important blessing.

[Addressed] John Farrar.

Deac. S^im' Farrar Lincoln

Dr. Samuel A. Green, the Groton historian, is authority for the
statement that the late ex-Governor Boutwell in a personal talk with a
student at Lawrence Academy in Groton, said : " If you wish to take
a college course, I trust you will be able to do so. But there are
three things you must have in order to succeed : Industry, integrity,
and civility. You cannot get along without civility." This advice
made so much impression upon the boy that his grandfather has the
words printed on a little card for distribution.

From "The Listener" in the " Boston Evenmg Transcript," April 5, 1905.

TWO BALLOONS PASSING OVER GROTON.

Among my early recollections many years ago is going with
my father one afternoon to the north part of the town in order
to see whether a balloon, sent up from Nashua on that day,
would be visible in Groton ; and I remember my disappoint-
ment in not having the expected view. Within a short time
I have learned that the date of this ascent was August 29,
1838, now more than three quarters of a century ago, and
that the balloon came down in Windham, New Hampshire.
The gas v/as made on the grounds within an enclosure, and a
fee for admission was charged.

A balloon ascension was made from Lowell, on July 4, 1882,
by James Allen, of Providence, Rhode Island, accompanied
by Charles L. Knapp, of Lowell, which took a westerly course.
The balloon first made its appearance to the Groton villagers,
coming over Gibbet Hill, and passed directly over my place, so
near that conversation was carried on between the aeronauts
and persons below. It continued on its course beyond West
Groton and Shirley, and disappeared in that direction. The
wind was light and its progress slow. I have seen a letter written
by Mr. Knapp, which gives the following particulars of the trip:

158 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Ascension made from North Common, Lowell ; left at 4 : 53,
P. M. ; passed directly over North Chelmsford, 5 : 06 ; Groton, 5:32;
West Groton, 6 : 02, — and 17 miles from Lowell. Then over Shir-
ley, Lunenburg, and plumb over Fitchburg at 6 : 45, landing near
Gardner depot at 7 : 20, P. M.

A balloon ascension was made from Fitchburg on the after-
noon of July 4, 1888, by Malvern Hill Allen, of Providence,
who is a son of James Allen, the veteran aeronaut, mentioned
in the preceding paragraph. The ascent was made from the
Fair grounds at half-past four o'clock, when'_the_^balloon took
an easterly direction and sailed away toward Groton. It
passed over the Nashua River at a point near Fitch's Bridge,
crossed the Great Road a little north of the village of Groton,
and then continued in its easterly flight. With numerous
other persons I watched it from James Lawrence's house on
Farmers' Row for twenty-five minutes, while it remained in
view ; and it was a beautiful sight. I took the bearings of the
course, and, after consulting a Map of Middlesex County, ven-
tured the guess that the balloon would come down in Dracut;
but the descent was made in the adjoining town of Pelham,
New Hampshire, after an aerial trip of 50 minutes.

At this time the young aeronaut was only nineteen years
old, and the ascension from Fitchburg was the third one ever
undertaken by him alone and on his own account. His first
ascent was made from Ridgway, Elk County, Pennsylvania, on
July 3, 1886, and his second from Carlisle in the same State,
on October i, 1887. Mr. Allen, the father, has three sons
now engaged in the art of ballooning, his eldest son James
K. Allen being in partnership with him; and he himself has
been interested in the science of aeronautics for a period of
thirty-five years.

TWO BALLOON DESCENTS IN GROTON.

It is said that lightning never strikes twice in the same
place ; but from the following it seems that balloons some-
times come down in the same neighborhood.

On July 4, i860, as a part of the usual city celebration on

TWO BALLOON DESCENTS IN GROTON. 1 59

that day, a balloon ascension was made from Boston Common
by Samuel King, in company with his sister Mrs. Porter, and
Edwin Bradbury Haskell, of " The Boston Herald " newspaper.
The party left the Common, shortly after six o'clock in the
afternoon, in the balloon known as " The Queen of the Air; "
and the descent was made a little after one o'clock in the
morning, on the hill, immediately south of Snake Hill and
contiguous to it, in the open field behind Sumner Graves's
house, in the south part of Groton. " The Boston Daily
Advertiser," July 6, i860, gives the following account of
the trip :

"The Queen of the Air" went over the harbor, Charlestown,
Cambridge, through the valley of Charles river, touching a ledge
in Waltham, and finally landed in Groton, at one o'clock yesterday
morning. At the time they landed, it was rainy and uncomfortable.
The aeronauts were unfortunate in getting shelter. After applying
to several of the residents, finally they found a good Samaritan in
the person of Mr. Valencourt Stone, who came out with a lantern, and
piloted the balloonists to his house, and paid them great attention.

Eleven years later, the same aeronaut made an ascent from
Fitchburg, on September 27, 1871, under the patronage of
the Worcester North Agricultural Society, and came down
on this identical hill. The landing was made near Mr.
Graves's house, on the west side of the road to Harvard, while
the previous landing was on the east side of the road, nearer
the summit. His descent at this particular spot was not influ-
enced by design, any further than that it was a cleared field,
and a good place to alight. On the first occasion Mr. King
came down in the night time, and, of course, received no clear
impressions of the neighborhood. Approaching the hill dur-
ing the second trip, he did not recognize it as the place of his
former landing; nor was he aware of the fact until told by
one of the bystanders, after the descent.

I remember seeing the balloon, on the afternoon in ques-
tion, floating along through the air, just before the descent,
at which time Mr, King was busily engaged in waving the
American flag, distinctly visible to a large number of persons
gazing at the novel sight.

l6o TACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS,

"The Fitchburg Reveille," September 28, 1871, has the
following account of the start :

The Balloon Ascension, which had been announced for Tuesday
[September 26], but failed to come off, took place at a quarter
to five o'clock [on Wednesday]. The airship, with its soUtary
passenger, rose gracefully and sailed rapidly away in an easterly
direction, wafted by the light, west wind, which was blowing at the
time. We learn by telegraph, that Prof King landed safely near
Groton Junction.

•' The Fitchburg Sentinel," September 30, gives this ver-
sion :

The balloon ascension which had been postponed from the
previous day [Tuesday] on account of the rain, took place at 'a
quarter to five [on Wednesday]. Prof. King, the aeronaut, after
leaving terra firma in his Air-ship " Aurora," rose to the height
of about half a mile, and then borne by a slight breeze, floated
slowly off to the eastward, and after an hour's sail, landed in the
town of Ayer, without mishap.

It is certainly a singular coincidence that an aeronaut,
going up from Boston Common, and sailing westward, in a
circuitous direction, should make a descent on a hill thirty
miles away; and that the same man, some years later, going
up from Fitchburg and sailing eastward, should come down
on that identical hill, twelve miles away from the starting-
point, — and this without any design or intention on his part.
It seems to have been one of those accidents, which illustrate
the French proverb that " Nothing is tnore probable than the
improbable."

THE SOUTH MILITARY COMPANY.

The following copies of original papers were given me,
many years ago, by John S. H. Fogg, of South Boston, in
whose possession they were at that time. They relate to the
South Company of Groton, then commanded by Timothy
Bigelow, who afterward became Speaker of the Massachusetts
House of Representatives, as also did Luther Lawrence, to

THE SOUTH MILITARY COMPANY.

i6i

whom one of the warrants is addressed. Tyler Bigelow, one
of the private soldiers, was a cousin and subsequently a
brother-hi-law of Captain Timothy, and father of the late
Honorable George Tyler Bigelow, formerly chief-Justice of
the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. Loammi Baldwin, Jr.,
another private, was afterward a distinguished civil engineer,
who built the Government dry docks at Charlestown and at
Norfolk, Virginia. For many years there were three military
companies in the town, known respectively as the North
Company, the South Company, and the Groton Artillery;
and occasionally they would parade together through the
village streets, and drill as a battalion.

Middlesex ss. To John Reed sergeant. Greeting.

In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are
required to notify and warn

Joseph Stone sergeant. Ezra Farnsworth.

Sam". Reed sergeant.
Saml. Paine sergeant.
Rufus Moors corporal.
Thomas Mead corporal
Peter Chase corporal.
Jonas Trowbridge fifer
John Fitch fifer.
Josiah Hazen fifer
John Kemp drummer
Amos Davis Jr. drummer
John Adams Jr. drummer
Benj" Buttrick
Thaddeus Bailey
Timothy Blood
Oliver Blood 3'*
Jonathan Bennet
Edward Bolton
Jonathan Cooper
Samuel Cooke
Moses Chase.
Samuel Dodge
Abel Davis
Ephraim Farnsworth.

Abel Farnsworth.
David Fletcher.
Eli Flint

Benj" Farnsworth
Stephen Farrar.
Henry Farwell Jr.
Silas Farwell
Sam! Farnsworth
Zachariah Fitch Jr.
Thomas Gass.
Phineas Gould
Nathan Hubbard Jr.
Daniel Hart
Elias Hart
Joseph Hemenway
Amos Harris.
Noah Humphreys
James Kendall
Ebenezer Lampson.
Amos Lampson Jr.
Abel Morse
Abijah Nutting
Phinehas Nutting.

Jonathan Nutting
Moses Nutting
Hezekiah Spaulding
Thomas Bennett Jr.
Simon Page Jr.
John Parke.
Elijah Paine.
John Robbins Jr.
John Rockwood
Alpheus Richardson.
Amos Stone Jr.
Caleb Symmes
Phineas Stone.
Sylvanus Smith.
Abraham Symonds.
William Symonds.
Abel Swallow.
Joseph Sawtell 3"^
Peter Tarbell
John Trufant.
Amos Tarbell
Joseph Wright
Asa Wheeler
Parker Wetherbee.

l62 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

All belonging to the South Company in Groton, in said County
commanded by me of which Company you are the first sergeant
and clerk, to appear on the publick parade, or training field, in said
Groton on Thursday the 4"' day of July next, at one of the clock in
the afternoon, with their arms and equipments compleat, for the pur-
pose of military instruction and exercise. And in case you cannot
conveniently notify and warn the said persons as aforesaid yourself
you are to cause the same to be done by some other non-commis-
sioned officer belonging to said company, by giving them, or some
of them, orders for that purpose in my name. Hereof fail not, and
make return of this warrant with your doings thereon to myself at
or before said day. Given under my hand & seal this 4"* day
of May in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and
ninety nine.

Timothy Bigelow Captain.

Groton, June 25'*' 1799-

In obedience to the within warrant I have notified and warned
all the within named persons (or caused the same to be done by a
sergeant) to appear at the time and place.

John Reed.

Middlesex ss. To Luther Lawrence Greeting.

In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are
required to notify and warn

Amos Davis Drummer James Farnsworth.

David Darling Jonas Phillips

Joseph Bullard Isaac Hall

William Shiple Eli Faulkner

Timothy H. Newman Samuel Phips

Benjamin Page Jun^ Daniel Swallow

Phinehas Gould William Stearns

Aaron Jewett. Abel Holden

James Kendall Jabez Parker

Loammi Baldwin Jun! Asa Jinneson

Tyler Bigelow Stephen Kemp.

William Lawrence John Wright.

Ezra Farnsworth Daniel Richardson
David Fletcher

All belonging to the South company in Groton in said County
commanded by me of which you are also a member to appear on

DIARY OF REV. EBENEZER PARKMAN. 1 63

the public parade or training field in said Groton on Tuesday the
third day of May next at one of the clock in the afternoon with
their arms and equipments compleat for the purpose of exami-
nation with a view of arms, and for military instruction and exercise.
Hereof fail not and make due return of this order to myself or the
commanding officer at said time and place. Given under my hand
and seal this eleventh day of April in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and three.

Timothy Bigelow Captain.

Middlesex ss. Groton, April 28, 1803.

In obedience to the within warrant I have given legal notice to all
the persons within mentioned (except Amos Davis, Tyler Bigelow,
and Daniel Richardson who are out of town) to appear at the time
and place within mentioned for the purposes within mentioned.

Luther Lawrence.

DIARY OF REV. EBENEZER PARKMAN AND THE
TARBELL AND RICE CHILDREN.

On June 20, 1707, Sarah, John, and Zechariah Tarbell
were carried away from Groton by the Indians into captivity.
In the winter of 1739, the boys came back to Groton in
order to visit kinsfolk and see their native town. The
Diary tells of their conferences with relatives of the Rice
boys of VVestboro, who were taken captives on August 8,
1704, and in 1740 visited their native place.

1739 April 23. NB. Capt. Eager from Court gave advice to
M^ Rice to go down to Boston to Confer w't' Two Men who had been
Captivated from Groton w? y^ were but Ladds & had dwelt w'l' y" In-
dians ever since : whose English Names were Tarbell — Capt. Kel-
logg being likw. at Boston who was ready to serve y? as an
interpreter.

April 26. NB. Mr Seth Rice came up from Boston where he had
Conference w^I; y*= Tarbells of Groton & w'!' Capt. Kellogg upon y*
Affair of his Brethren's coming down from Canada.

1740 April 2 \. Nigh to Evening came Mr. John Henry Lydius
from Boston, upon his return to Albany : & lodgd here.

1 64 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

April 2^. yi) Lydius pursued his Intention Home.
August 6. Letter from Mr. Lydius of Albany, informing that
y^ Rices of Canada desire one of their Brethren of New England
would go up to Albany and meet them on Sept. 6, next : in Order
to their making a Visit hither. M:' Seth Rice here with the Letter.

Sept. 15. NB. This Day arriv'? M: Eliezer Rice from Albany
with his Brother Ozorongoughton and Mf Tarbell for a Companion
& Interpreter.

Sept. 16. I rode ... as far as Mr Seth Rice's where I saw the
Captives. . . . Towl' Ev? y^ Captives came to view y^ old House
where M' Rice usd to dwell, and they were at my House, Some
number of y^ Neighbours accompanying y"?

Sept. 1 7. I rode to y"" South & South West of y^ Town, was at
old Mr. Rice's. The Chief had been there and remember^ y'' Old
Gentleman. They went down w'.'' him to view y" Place whence he
was carryd away Captive. NB. I wrote to y" Govf concern^ y^
Captives.

Sept. 20. M' Rice returnd from Groton.

Sept. 24. Having xtd". no return from y^ Gov' touching y'^ Cap-
tives with us, I waited on his Excellency, w? told me y" Gov': &
Council had directed the Secretary to write me an Ansf and he had
done it, but knew not where it lodgd, or where it miscarried. . . .
NB. I wrote to Capt. Tarbell.

1740 Sept. 27. Eliez! Rice rode to Groton for M: Tarbell in
order to his going down, at ye Coinand of y^ Gov! to Boston.
Sept. 28. Mr Tarbell came after Meeting from Groton.
Sept. 29. The Captives went to Boston. In y'^ middle of y=
Night, W. Sables came from y'' Secretary w'!' another Letter concern-
ing y'^ Captives, the first having Miscarried. But I had already
taken effecl Care.

Oct. 5. The Chief Rice not well, was at my House at Eve as he
went from his Br: Ward's to his Br: Seth's.

Oct. 6. Charles Rice and other N^"^ Dind with y"^ Captive w° was
grown better. . . . Several Neighbours at Eve.

Oct. 9. The Captives went off: desiring Pray'.^ in o": Congregation
for y™ NB. Capt. Tarbell of Groton returned home. I rode 2 or 3
Miles with him to Shew him y^ Road. NB. his leveUing Rice & his
Brother &c.

CHURCH SILVER GIVEN TO THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH. 1 65

THE INDIAN ATTACK OF JULY 27, 1694.

The following extract is taken from Captain Lawrence
Hammond's diary, which was given to the Massachusetts
Historical Society with the Belknap Collection, on March 11,
1858. The entry is found under the date of July 27, 1694,
and furnishes some details, hitherto unknown, of the attack
made at that time.

The Indians Set upon Groton burnt 2 Houses, kild 22 persons —
found dead, 13 more missing, they were pursued by about 100
Horse but they returned without finding them.

CHURCH SILVER GIVEN TO THE FIRST
PARISH CHURCH.

The Church of Christ in Groton, so called in former times,
and now represented by the Unitarian Society often spoken
of as the First Parish, has an interesting collection of church
silver, the earliest piece dating back to the early part of the
eighteenth century. An interesting description of this col-
lection is given in a large work entitled " The Old Silver
of American Churches," by Mr. E. Alfred Jones, privately
printed at Letchworth, England, in 1913, for the National
Society of Colonial Dames of America. Accompanying this
is a photographic reproduction of five pieces in one view,
including one from Jonas Prescott, two from Jonathan Law-
rence, one from Josiah Sartell, and one from his widow Mary
Sartell. The article contains biographical sketches of the
givers from notes furnished by Mr. Lawrence Park, and Rev.
Pemberton H. Cressey, minister of the church, of Groton.
The measurements of the different pieces, the makers' names,
and reproductions of their marks are given, as well as copies
of the several inscriptions on the pieces.

JONAS PRESCOTT'S BEQUEST.

In his will, made on December 28, 1723, Jonas Prescott
bequeathed " to the Church of Christ in Grotton fiue Pound

1 66 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

money to be paid by my Executer within six months aftar
my deceas." He was the grandfather of Colonel William
Prescott; and his death took place on December 31, 1723,
three days after the date of his will. There is a silver cup
belonging to the Society, v\hich bears the following inscrip-
tion :

The Gift of Jonas Prescott Esq' to y" Church of Groton

Perhaps it was bought with a part of the legacy. This cup
was made by Andrew Tyler, of Boston, who died in 1741.

JONATHAN LAWRENCE'S BEQUEST.

By his will, made on August 27, 1725, Jonathan Lawrence
bequeathed to the town of Groton, as follows :

Item I give and bequeath To the Town of Groton One Hun-
dred Pounds in Good Bills of Publick Credit or other Specia to
the Vallue thereof out of my Estate, to be paid by My Executor
within five years after my Decease unto Such persons as Shall be
Deputed and Appointed by the Said Town to Receive it to be by
them (With my Executor) Layed out & Disposed of toward yf pur-
chasing & procuring of a Good Meeting House Bell and the putting
it up. &c.

Item I give to the Church of Christ in Groton fourty Pounds
to be paid by my Executor (After named) within four Years next
after my Decease to be Layed out & Disposed of for the procuring
of Some Silver Vessel or Vessels for the Churches use as they
shall Order. Also I give To the Church of Christ in Groton
Twenty Pounds to be Let out or otherwise Improved to the best
advantage the profits and Income arising thereby, to be annually
paid out and accoumpted for to the Settled or ordained Minister or
Ministers of Said Town Successively from Time to time forever
(the Twenty pounds not to be diminished &c)

In his will he mentions his brother Enoch, and his cousin
William Lawrence, who was the executor of his estate. He
was a son of John and Elizabeth Lawrence, of Watertown,
where he was born about 1657, ^^^ died at Groton, on Sep-
tember 19, 1729, in the seventy-third year of his age.

The Church of Christ in Groton, now known as the First

CHURCH SILVER GIVEN TO THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH. 1 67

Parish or Unitarian Society, has in its possession two silver
tankards bought under this bequest. They were made by
Jacob Hurd, and each bears the following inscription :

The Gift of

Lie!!! Jon a" Lawranc

to the Church of

Christ in Groton

Ob^ Sep!"^^' 19*

17 29

The following entries taken from the Church Records
relate to the purchase of the tankards:

At a Church Meeting in Groton, Jan? 11'!' 1733/4 Voted That
y^ Persons appointed (by this Church at y^ meeting the 14"' of Sep'
Last) to Lay out the 40^ Legacy given to this Church by m' Jona-
than Lawrence in his Last Will — do Lay out y^ s'^ 40^ for Procuring
some Silver Vessel or Vessels, according to y' Best Prudence ; or as
upon Proper Enquiry they shall think will be most for y* honour of
y^ Donor : as well as of the Lords Table And Deliver s'i Vessel or
Vessels to this Church as soon as they can with Conveniency. . . .

Caleb Trowbridge Pastor

The Legacy was put into William Lawrence's "hand by the
Churche order," followed by the entry below :

After some time The Above appointed brought 2 Silver Tankards
to y" Churches Acceptance & frely giving m y' time & Trouble
Rec^. r churches Thanks ^aleb Trowbridge Pastor

These tankards were made by Jacob Hurd, of Boston, who
died in 1758.

JOSIAH SARTELL'S BEQUEST.

By his will, dated September 3, 1775, Colonel Josiah Sartell
made liberal provisions for the support of the minister of the
town, but unfortunately the will is not now on file in the Mid-
dlesex Registry of Probate at East Cambridge. Mr. Butler,
in his History of Groton (pp. 208-212), makes copious ex-
tracts from it, undoubtedly using the original document,
and for that reason I take his version. Three clauses are as
follows :

l68 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

My will is, and I do hereby give and bequeath to the town of
Groton, forever, the annual income or rents of that piece of land
in said Groton, where John Archibald now dwells, to be applied
towards the support of the gospel minister in said town.

My will is, and I do hereby give and bequeath to the town of
Groton the sum of one hundred and thirty-three pounds six shillings
and eightpence, the interest of which, one year after my decease, to
be annually applied towards the support of the gospel minister in
said town for ever.

My will is, and I do hereby give and bequeath to the town of
Groton for ever (after the decease of my wife,) all the buildings
and lands which I have heretofore given her during life, [two farms,]
to use and improve for ever ; and positively order, that the same be
not sold, but that they be rented out, and the premises kept in good
repair forever hereafter, and that the overplus of the rents be annually
applied towards the support of the gospel minister in said town ; and
this to be under the inspection and direction of the three senior
selectmen by choice in said town for ever.

There is reference, in the account of his executor, Isaac
Farnsworth, to delivering the "wrought plate" to the Church,
which may refer to the seven silver cups in its possession,
each engraved with the inscription :

The gift of

Josiah Sartell Esqr

To the Church

in Groton

MRS. MARY SARTELL'S BEQUEST.

The first clause in the will of Mary Sartell, widow of
Colonel Josiah Sartell, made on November 28, 1789, is

First, I give and bequeath to the first Church in the Town of
Groton aforesaid my Silver Tankard, and the Sum of Fif-
teen pounds Lavvfull money, to be for the use of said Church
Forever.

Mrs. Sartell was the widow of Colonel Josiah Sartell, who
died on August 30, 1784, aged 74 years; and she died on

CHURCH SILVER GIVEN TO THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH. 1 69

March 30, 1790, aged 80 years. In her will she gives a large
number of household utensils "To my Maid PhiUis, formerly
Servant," who was the last survivor of negro slavery within
the Hmits of Groton. The following entry is found in the
town records :

Phillis Walby, servant to Josiah Sartell, Jan., deceased, died at
Groton, aged 79, February , 182 1.

The Church has now in its possession two silver cups, on
which is inscribed the following : —

The Widow

Mary Sartell

to the

Church of Christ

in Groton

1792

These were made by Samuel Bartlett, of Concord, Massa-
chusetts, who died in 182 1.

The Church has also three other silver cups inscribed as

follows :

The Gift

of the

Widow Mary Sartell

to the

Church of Christ

in Groton

1792.

Presumably these cups were bought with her bequest, or
perhaps made from the silver of the tankard; but I see no
reason for the verbal changes in the two inscriptions.

JOSIAH SARTELL'S BEQUEST.

At my request Clement Hugh Hill, Esq., a member of the
Suffolk Bar, kindly furnished me with a clear and short
account of the suit brought to recover possession of the two
farms devised by Josiah Sartell to the town of Groton. The
farms are contiguous, and situated on Chicopee Row.

lyo FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Boston, Oct. lo, 1896.

Dear Dr. Green, — The case of William Brigham and wife vs.
Samson Shattuck, as it appears in 10 Pickering's Reports, 306, was
thus :

The will of Joseph Sawtell [sic], of Groton, executed in 1775,
contained these two provisions : " My will is and I do hereby give
and bequeath [devise] to the town of Groton forever, after the
decease of my wife, all the buildings and lands which I have hereto-
fore given her during her life, to use and improve forever, and
positively order that the same be not sold, but that they be rented
out, and the premises kept in good repair forever hereafter, and that
the overplus of the rents be annually applied towards the support
of the gospel minister in said town ; and this to be under the inspec-
tion and direction of the three senior selectmen by choice in said
town forever."

" And as to the remainder of my estate, both real and personal,
and residue of the same not heretofore disposed of, my will is, and
I do hereby order my said executors, at their own option, to dis-
tribute the same to and among the poor of said town and church of
Groton, as I have heretofore been used to do."

The widow of Joseph Sawtell died in 1790, and the town entered
into possession. Subsequently it procured an act of Legislature
authorizing the sale of the devised premises and the reinvestment
of the proceeds. The estate was sold to Job Shattuck, Jr., and
was by him conveyed to the tenant in 1821. This writ of entry was
brought in the right of the female demandant, niece and heir-at-law
of the testator, on the ground of forfeiture for breach of condition
in selling the same. The case was argued at October term, 1830,
in Middlesex, by Samuel Hoar for the demandants, and Daniel
Webster and Luther Lawrence for the tenant. No report of the
arguments is published. Chief Justice Shaw delivered the opinion
of the court, which held that the prohibition of any sale of the estate, if
a condition, was what we know in law as a condition subsequent ; that
a contingent reversionary interest capable of being devised would have
remained in the testator, but that he had devised this to his executor
by the second clause above quoted. Consequently no interest in the
estate descended to Mrs. Brigham, and she and her husband had no
standing in court. This rendered it unnecessary to decide the more
important questions which the case seemed to involve. It is, how-

TOWN SEAL OF GROTON.

171

ever, now well settled that a legislature may authorize the sale and
reinvestment of proceeds of lands devised like this estate, under a
condition against any sale.

Very faithfully yours,

C. H. Hill.
Hon. Samuel A. Green.

Mr. Hill died at St. Leonards-on-Sea on December 12,
1898. He was a graduate of Williams College, and an active
member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

TOWN SEAL OF GROTON.

The following letter relating to a Town Seal will explain
itself. It was printed, first on a sheet for limited circulation,
and, later, in the Annual Report of the Selectmen for the
year ending March 19, 1898. It was adopted by a vote of
the town on April 4.

Boston, March 16, 1898.
Michael Sheedy, Jr., Esq., Groton:

Dear Sir, — Agreeably to your request I send herewith a design,
as given above, for a Town Seal of Groton. For the convenience of
the voters, who are the final judges in the matter, I have had it
printed, so that at a glance its general effect may be more readily
seen. The design is a simple one, and is intended to typify the
character of its inhabitants.

The Bible represents the faith of the early settlers of the town, who
went into the wilderness and suffered innumerable privations in their

172 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

daily life as well as danger from savage foes. Throughout Christen-
dom to-day it is the corner-stone of religion and morality. The
Plough is significant of the general occupation of the people. By
it the early settlers broke up the land and earned their livelihood ;
and ever since it has been an invaluable help in the tillage of the

soil.

Very respectfully,

Samuel A. Green.

THE EARLIEST NEWSPAPER PRINTED IN
GROTON.

The Groton Herald, " Devoted to News, Literature, Moral-
ity, Agriculture, Politics, Arts, Sciences, &c. &c. — James F.
Rogers, Editor," was first issued on December 5, 1829, and
appeared regularly every Saturday thereafter until September
4, 1830, when it was merged in " The Lowell Weekly Journal."
It was published by Stacy and Rogers, and the first number
contained the following advertisement :

NEW PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT.

STACY & ROGERS.

TT/'OULD respectfully inform the inhabitants of Groton and its
VV vicinity, that they have estabhshed a new Printing Office in
this town and are ready to receive orders for printing, in all its va-
rious branches. They have furnished their Office with entirely new
type, of the most recent cast, suitable for the execution of

BOOKS,

PAMPHLETS,
CATALOGUES,
BLANKS,
CIRCULARS,

SERMONS,
POSTING BILLS,
SHOP BILLS,
BANK CHECKS,
CARDS, &c. &c.

S. & R. having obtained a good assortment of type, feel assured
that they can give satisfaction to all who may favor them with their
custom. J6^° Orders from a distance will meet with prompt attention.

Dec. 5.

The Herald was printed "next door to the Post Office," at
that time in the north end of the building since known as

THE EARLIEST NEWSPAPER PRINTED IN GROTON. 1 73

Gerrish's Block, but which was moved away in July, 1885.
It was a creditable newspaper, and will bear a favorable com-
parison with the journals of that period. Between December
12, 1829, and July 3, 1830, it contained thirteen chapters of a
history of the town, of which Mr. Butler wrote the first eleven,
and Mr. Lemuel Shattuck the other two chapters. On June 5,
just six months after the paper was started, Mr. Rogers's
name is dropped as editor, though he still kept up his con-
nection with it, as one of the publishers. In the number for
August 21, appears a story entitled " Henry St. Clair," by J.
G. Whittier, which is probably one of the earliest literary pro-
ductions of the Quaker poet. The subscription price was two
dollars a year in advance.

The "Lancaster Gazette," December 8, 1829, noticed the
new journal as follows :

Groton Herald. We received on Saturday last the first num-
ber of a new paper, printed in Groton, on a fair sheet. It is to be
independent in its politicks. All such papers, well conducted, de-
serve encouragement. We extend to the editors our professional
sympathies, and can only wish that the harvest may be abundant
for all the labourers.

Messrs. Stacy and Rogers were the pioneer printers and
publishers in Groton, and as such deserve a passing notice.
The senior member of the firm was George Whittemore Stacy,
born in Boston, on March 13, 1809, who died in the town of
Milford, Massachusetts, on January 16, 1892. He learned his
trade as a printer of Dutton and Wentworth, who conducted
a large establishment in Boston. While a resident of this
town he was married, on January 18, 1830, to Sarah, daughter
of John and Rebecca (Weston) Boit, of Groton ; and here two
of their three children were born. She died at Mendon, Mas-
sachusetts, on May 25, 1834, aged 25 years and 27 days, leaving
an infant two or three weeks old. He was married, secondly,
on October 16, 1834, to Sarah, daughter of Wing and Mary
(Gaskill) Kelley, of Milford, who died on October 14, 1887;
and they have been blessed with a large family of children.
After leaving Groton Mr. Stacy resided first at Milford, and

174 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

later at Mendon. Soon afterward he studied for the ministry,
and was ordained, on May 4, 1836, at Carlisle, where he was
settled for five years over a Unitarian Society. Subsequently
he was minister, for short terms, of liberal societies in Boylston
and Gardner. He v/as an early abolitionist, and has always
been an outspoken advocate of temperance and other reforms.
With decided views on public matters, he never fails to express
them on proper occasions.

The junior member of the firm was James Ferguson Rogers,
a son of Silas and Rebecca (Ferguson) Rogers, and born at
Newburyport on June 6, 18 10. He learned his trade as printer
of Ephraim Allen, publisher of " The Newburyport Herald."
He was a clever writer, and the editor of the newspaper. He
had a decided taste for poetry, and wrote some good verses.
His customary signature was " Cleo," though sometimes he
used the initials " J. F. R." or " R." alone. After leaving
Groton in the autumn of 1830, he worked at his trade. Dur-
ing this period he was a frequent contributor to the press ;
and many of his poetical effusions were printed in the New
York Mirror, Philadelphia Album, Philadelphia Gazette, La-
dies' Magazine, American Monthly Magazine, Literary Mag-
azine, Essayist and other periodicals. While on his way home
to Newburyport he died of cholera in New York on July 5,
1832, after an illness of only a few hours. The " Columbian
Centinel," July 9, 1832, under " Deaths " has the following
notice of him :

In New York, 5th inst. of the cholera morbus [cholera?], Mr.
James Ferguson Rogers, printer, in the 2 2d year of his age. Mr. R.
was a native of Newburyport, Mass. and was distinguished for his
superior literary attainments, which, together with his unassuming
deportment and gentlemanly manners, drew around him a large
circle of friends, who deeply lament his sudden and untimely death.
It may afford some consolation to know that every attention was
paid to him during his short but painful illness.

More than twenty-five years ago, through the kindness of
Mrs. Rebecca Helen Noble, of Haverhill, a younger sister of
Mr. Rogers, I was enabled to examine a journal kept by him

THE EARLIEST NEWSPAPER PRINTED IN GROTON. 1 75

during a short time. It is evident from the entries that he
was a keen observer of things, and from the style a writer of
considerable merit. If he had lived a few years longer, he
would have won a reputation either as a journalist or a man
of letters. The first entry in the diary was made on March 28,
183 1, and the last one on November 14 of the following
autumn. It begins thus :

March 28, 1831. The reasons why and wherefore I have con-
cluded to keep this journal, are simply these : — I consider myself
to be a wandering and unsettled being whose life will be made up
of events which happen by chance and accident and by keeping an
account of the every-day occurrences of my life, I shall be able to
judge at any time whether the balance of virtue or vice be on my
side. As the established merchant keeps an account of every little
transaction in business, so should the " citizen of the world " make
his entries of incident, upon the same principle. Knowledge is com-
modity — and this is what we are daily receiving. Another reason
why a journal will be of great utility, is that many things that would
otherwise be forgotten will herein be preserved ; — it will be a por-
trait of the inner man — the day-book of the heart, and a guide by
which we can shape our future course more correctly by observing
the defects in that road we have just travelled over.

In sketching the period of his Hfe passed at Groton, he
writes :

The winter of 1829 found me the Editor of a paper in the town
of Groton in Massachusetts. Here, although a mere boy, I placed
myself in a responsible situation. But I was cheered on by the
success of my writings, and, so far as I have knowledge, gave gen-
eral satisfaction to my readers. Involved in all the difficulties which
attend the life of an editor, I pressed forward and got through won-
derfully. Here I was obliged alternately to be poet, politician,
novelist, and everything else that is required in a country paper.
Wrote verses for the ladies — praised the crops for the farmers —
looked grave with the parson and cunning with the lawyer ; and in
fact did everything which a country editor is always obliged to do,
even unto folding and carrying papers, sticking type and working
at press, and in short becoming a perfect Caleb Quotum in real
life.

176 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Before the first year had elapsed, the income of the concern being
small, and not relishing the manner of the majority of the people, I
resolved to relinquish the publication and try my fortune elsewhere.
— Accordingly I disposed of the establishment, and again took up my
residence in Boston. But it was not without some gloomy feelings
that I left Groton. It is a beautiful spot, and I have left there many
warm friends, and a great many cold and indifferent acquaintances.
But I am convinced that a person who is born and bred in cities,
can never gain popularity among the great body of our country
people. There is a difference in the comprehension of things which
can be accounted for only by the limited knowledge'of country
people and the extensive advantages of those who reside in cities.
Here in this place also I was engaged in a small love affair ; but as
it did not amount to much it is best to say not much about it. I

will just remark, however, that Sarah B proved herself to be a

coquette — that I proved myself to be a warm-hearted fool who can
love anything upon earth that appears to love me — and it is better
the flame, or rather the smoke, was so soon extinguished.

About this time a prospect of business called me south ; but
when at my journey's end I was disappointed in my plans and I was
obliged to journey back again. In the city of New York I was
taken sick, but I pushed forward for Boston where I was under the
care of a physician two or three months.

From the time I resigned my editorship at Groton, I have been
a constant contributor to several literary works, and have studied
incessantly besides attending to daily business ; for a man, espe-
cially a novice, must do something more than spin out his brain, in
order to get his bread.

The following entry in the diary was written presumably
at Philadelphia. The name of the article would indicate to
a native of the town that the scene of the story was laid at
Groton, as it was.

Tuesday, May 10 [1831], wrote the "Legend of Gibbet Hill"
for the Philadelphia Album. Drew some characters from real life,
two young ladies, who were once particular friends of mine. True
portraits — expect to get into a scrape — can't help it, I have
always been wanting to say something.

These extracts from the journal show something of the
writer's character. Rogers had a good deal of poetic

FREDERICK A. ELDREDGE, DUNSTABLE, N. H. 1 77

ardor, and some of his printed verses are full of anima-
tion. He held a ready pen, and saw the humorous side
of things.

FREDERICK A. ELDREDGE, DUNSTABLE, N. H.

The following communications will explain themselves.
Mr. Wright, the author of the note to me, was born at South
Canaan, Connecticut, on February 12, 1804, graduated at
Yale College in the class of 1826, and died at Medford,
on November 22, 1885. Mr. Dickson, the writer of the
letter to Mr. Wright, was born at Groton, on August 8,
1809, graduated at Yale College in the class of 1832, and
died at Quenemo, Osage County, Kansas, on July 5, 1882.
The allusion in the letter is to Frederick Augustus El-
dredge, of Dunstable, New Hampshire, a member of Mr.
Dickson's class, who, after the trouble at New Haven, en-
tered Dartmouth College, where he graduated in the cor-
responding class. He was a son of Dr. Micah and Sally
(Buttrick) Eldredge, and born at Dunstable, Massachusetts,
on March 25, 18 10. He was fitted for college at Groton
Academy by Mr. Wright, at that time the head-master of
the school, which will account for his interest in the matter.
After leaving New Haven Eldredge was engaged in teaching,
and intended to enter the ministry. He died at Dunstable
(now Nashua), New Hampshire, on January 13, 1836, less
than four years after his graduation. It is needless to add
that he belonged to an old New_ England family of excellent
stock; and the little tempest was caused by his swarthy com-
plexion. While at college Eldredge roomed with Dickson
in Mrs. Mills's house.

His father, Dr. Micah Eldredge, practised his profession for
many years at Dunstable, living first on one side of the State
line and then on the other. It may be noted here that the
running of the Provincial boundary between Massachusetts
and New Hampshire in the year 1741 nearly bisected the

178 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

old town of Dunstable, and created two towns of the same
name, adjoining each other, one in each Province. This con-
dition of affairs continued until January i, 1837, when the
New Hampshire township, by legislative enactment on De-
cember 8, 1836, put aside its old name and took that of
Nashua. Dr. Eldredge was a representative from Dunstable
to the Massachusetts Legislature in the years 1809 and 181 1,
but, at the writing of the letter, he appears to have been liv-
ing on the New Hampshire side of the line. He removed to
Groton in the year 1826, where he remained for two years,
living on what is now Hollis Street, in the house occupied
by the Reverend John Todd when Mr. Butler's Map of the
town was published. He left Groton early in 1828, and went
to Dunstable (now Nashua); and he died on July 2, 1849,
at Milford, New Hampshire. The honorary degree of M. D.
was conferred upon him by Dartmouth College in 1841.

Boston, Dec. 20, 1884.

Dear Dr. Green, — As you are born Historian, you have a
better right to Dickson's letter than I have, so I commit it unre-
servedly to your hands, to make such use of it as you see fit.

Yours truly, Elizur Wright.

West Springfield, July 17, 1832.

Dear Wright, — I received your letter of inquiries respecting
our friend Eldredge, while attending our Senior examination at
New Haven, last week ; and I will endeavour to answer your ques-
tions as, far as I can recollect the circumstances. Though from the
time that has elapsed since, and not having laid up the particulars
for future use, I can give you only a general outline of the affair.

The student's name was Grimke, of South Carolina, son of the
celebrated lawyer Grimke. The tutor was Jones. What he said
with regard to the complaint at the time I know not. Jones wrote,
not to Eldredge's father, but to Mr. Nott, minister in Dunstable,
N. Hampshire, where Dr. Eldredge lives. The object of his writing
was (as I understood from Jones himself afterwards) not to satisfy
himself (Jones), as to Eldredge's being a white man, but, he said,
he thought if he could have a letter from some one in Eldredge's
place, it would satisfy the scruples of the Hon. Southerner (who,

FREDERICK A. ELDREDGE, DUNSTABLE, N. H. 1 79

by the way, had no more to brag of as to looks, than Eldredge).
All I know of the feeling of the Faculty on the subject, is what I
gathered from a conversation with Prof Goodrich on the subject,
when Eldredge took his dismission : the amount of which was that
the Faculty thought Eldredge had been badly treated, — that they
had done what they could, without making it worse, to remedy the
evil, and that he (Goodrich) thought Eldredge had sufficient reason
for leaving the College.

On the part of the students, there was a good deal of feeling,
both for and against Eldredge. Most of the Southerners joined with
Grimk^, while most of the rest of the class were indignant both at
Grimke', and that Jones should take any notice of such a message,
otherwise than to spurn it and reprimand the bearer. Eldredge
was most shamefully treated after the affair broke out, which was
the first or second term Freshman year, and was kept up till the
end of Sophomore year, when Eldredge took a dismission. I
never would have borne half that he did ; and it would have been
much better for him to have left at the beginning, for it had so
much effect upon him, that his last year there was little better than
lost, as it regarded his studies. It got into the next class, as it was
in ours, so that after Grimke and his gang were expelled in our
rebellion, Eldredge had no more peace than before. Not unfre-
quently while about the college yard, he would be insulted by these
gentlemen, so sensitive at the idea of negro blood, though I shrewdly
suspect but few of them could be found without a spice of the
Darkee in their veins. Nor was this all, his windows were broken
two or three times Sophomore year, to say nothing of Freshman
year. Finally, he left on account of the negro aftair, started by
Grimke'. It would be no more than fair to state that probably, Jones
would not have noticed the complaint, had it come from almost any-
one besides Grimke. G. was a haughty, overbearing fellow, and
despised by a great part of the class, though he had Jones completely
by the nose, as was manifest even in the recitation room.

Eldredge went to Dartmouth College, where he was doing well
the last time that I heard from him. I have not been in Groton since
last fall. Brother Walter has left Groton. Mr. Todd has had a call
to go to Salem, Mass. Whether he will go or not, I am unable to
say. I made out to stick by old Yale, til I had my name read off in
Latin. I shall make them one more visit to get my A. B. ; and, if I
do not have too much to do, between this time and that, perhaps I

l8o FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

may show them how Massachusetts boys can write Disputes. I have
been teaching school in this place about three months. They wish
very much to have me continue here, but I shall not, unless they
raise their price a good deal. You know that chaps in my circum-
stances are looking out for money. Have you got a good school for
me in Ohio?

Yours, &c,, C. Dickson.

[Addressed]
Prof. Elizur Wright,
Hudson, Portage County,
Ohio.

JONAS LONGLEY PARKER.

On the morning of Thursday, March 27, 1845, the town of
Manchester, New Hampshire, was thrown into the most in-
tense excitement by the announcement that Jonas Longley
Parker, collector of taxes and a well-known citizen of that
town, had been murdered during the previous evening, in a
thick clump of pines, just east of the village. Robbery was,
undoubtedly, the object of the atrocious crime, as Parker was
wont to carry large sums of money about his person. It is
known that the murderer took a pocket-book containing
several thousand dollars from a side pocket in his coat, while
he overlooked a wallet in his trousers with $1,635. Large
rewards were at once offered for the criminal, both by the
town and State authorities. Several persons were arrested at
different times on suspicion, but their guilt was not estab-
lished. A full account of the affair is given in Potter's His-
tory of Manchester, New Hampshire (pp. 619-624).

Jonas L. Parker, the victim, was a native of Groton, and
born in the house, near the Cow-Pond meadows, where Mrs.
Susanna (Blood) Prescott was cruelly murdered during the
night of November 11, 1885. His remains were brought to
Groton for interment in the Parker tomb, on the north side of
the old Burial Ground.

THE BAR AND THE CLERGY. l8l

The town records contain the following entry:

Jonas Longley Parker, son of Jonas L. Parker and Elizabeth, his
wife, born in Groton, Feb. loth, 1810. Murdered and robbed at
Manchester, N. H., at about y^ past nine o'clock in the evening of
the 26th of March, 1845, ^g^d 35 years.

BBIDGE CARRIED AWAY.

fi@* Fitch's bridge over the Nashua river at Groton, was carried
away by the freshet, a day or two since.

" Lowell Weekly Journal and Courier," March 7, 1851,

THE BAR AND THE CLERGY.

Rooms of the Historical Society, Oct. 27, 1887.

Mv DEAR Dr. Green, — I write down at your request the
anecdote of Luther Lawrence which you heard me narrate some
time ago.

Luther Lawrence was an intimate friend of my father, who
esteemed him very highly. I have seen him at my father's house
in my early childhood ; and I remember often hearing my father
speak of him, after his death, especially of his wisdom and hu-
manity in his provision for the well-being and moral character of
the operatives, during the early days of the cotton manufacture at
Lowell.

The story is this : Mr. Lawrence, when a young lawyer, lived at
Groton. He started one day to go to Boston in a chaise. Mr.
Dana, better known as Judge Dana, then also a young lawyer, was
his companion. They stopped late in the forenoon at Watertown
to bait their horse and get some dinner. There was an ordination,
I believe, perhaps a dedication, going on in the town, a great affair
in those days. People had come from far and near. The green
about the church was filled with carriages, and the church crowded.
Dr. Channing was to preach the sermon.

Mr. Lawrence observed to Mr. Dana that he would like to hear
the sermon, but he supposed it would be impossible to get in. An

l82 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

old chap named Samson Woods, a well-known character of that
period and a neighbor of the two lawyers, was in the bar-room.
Said he, " You can come with me, I'll get you in." Woods started
for the church, and the young men followed with some hesitation.
When they came to the middle door, leading to the broad aisle,
Woods marched boldly up. The door was guarded by two con-
stables, who crossed their staves to prevent his entrance. " You
have seats reserved here for the clergy, I believe," said Samson.
" Yes," hesitatingly replied one of the constables. Woods passed
in, and Lawrence and Dana were following when the official staves
were again interposed. Woods turned round, with great dignity,
" You will admit my deacons, of course." " Yes," said the officer,
still more reluctantly. Lawrence and his companion went in, but
as they passed, he heard one of the constables say to the other,
" There must be a hell of a church somewhere."

Geo. F. Hoar.

WILLIAM BOYNTON WAIT.

More than thirty years ago I received a letter from William
Boynton Wait, Esq., Vice-President of the Merchants' Na-
tional Bank of Little Rock, Arkansas, telling me that he was
born at Groton in the year 1808, and making inquiries about
the town. I at once began a correspondence with him ; and
he subsequently wrote me from Little Rock, under the date
of March 11, 1884:

My father, Levi Wait, was born at Groton, February 26, 1780,
and died in Albany, N. Y., December 22, 1823. He was married
to Betsey Jones, of Acton, April i, 1807. My mother was the
daughter of Hannah Jones, whose first husband, Capt. Isaac Davis,
was in command of the Acton company at Concord Bridge, where
he fell on April 19, 1775. I believe he was the first officer killed
in the Revolution.

My father moved with his family to Albany in 181 7; and in
1824, when I was sixteen years old, I went to Boston consigned by
my mother to the care of her old Groton friend, Abraham Moore.
He placed me in a grocery store, where I remained until July 1829,

PRISONERS TAKEN AT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 1 83

and then I came West to Cincinnati. While in Ohio I was a store
or steamboat clerk until December, 1830, when I came here to take
a clerkship in a store at the old Post of Arkansas. I have been in
trade or business of some kind in Arkansas since the year 1834,
most of the time at this point.

During the early part of the year 1887 I happened to be
in Little Rock, when I availed myself of the opportunity to
call on Mr. Wait. I found him to be a gentleman of the
old school, who well represented the dignity of the town of
Groton. The years sit lightly on his shoulders, and he would
pass for a much younger man than an octogenarian. He has
accumulated a handsome fortune, which he is now enjoying
in leisure and with liberality. He told me that he was born on
Farmers' Row, in the house occupied by J. K. Bennett, — as
laid down on Mr, Butler's Map, — near the road leading to
the Red Bridge, but which in my boyhood was known as the
Amasa Sanderson place. Mr. Wait has been at Groton but
once in seventy years, and that was soon after the late War
of the Rebellion, when he came with a son to revisit the
scenes of his childhood. He became a resident of Arkansas
six years before it was admitted into the Union as a State.

PRISONERS TAKEN AT THE BATTLE OF
BUNKER HILL.

In " The New-England Chronicle : or. The Essex Gazette "
(Cambridge), September 14, 1775, is given a list of American
prisoners, who had been taken at the Battle of Bunker Hill
and confined in Boston jail, with their places of abode.
Among the names are the following from Groton and its
neighborhood :

Lieut. Col. Parker Chelmsford.

Capt. Benjamin Walker .... Chelmsford.
Lieut. Amaziah Fassett .... Groton.

184 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Oliver Stevens Townsend.

Amasa Fisk Pepperell.

Archibald M'Intosh Townsend.

David Kemp Groton,

Stephen Foster Groton.

The list comprised thirty-one persons, of whom twenty had
died at the date of the newspaper, including all those men-
tioned above. Captain Walker died on August 15.

DEATH OF HON. JOSIAH KENDALL BENNETT.

It is a painful duty for us to record this week the death of this
most estimable man.

Friday afternoon, Jan. 23, at about a quarter of five o'clock,
Judge Bennett breathed his last. Friday preceding his death he
attended to his court duties, and Saturday he was prompt at his post
at the usual hour of opening of court in the morning. Saturday he
was much weaker than on the preceding day, and from that time he
grew weaker and weaker until death ended his suffering. For nearly
a year previous to the death of the Judge he could not speak above
a whisper, which was an indication that the disease of which he died,
consumption, had become fairly seated. For a number of years
previous to this he had not enjoyed good health.

Mr. Bennett was a graduate of the class of 1853, of Harvard Col-
lege. The junior year of his collegiate studies was spent at Yale
College, in New Haven, Conn. While attending to his studies at
Harvard College he held the prominent position of Professor of
Latin, Mathematics and the Classics at Mystic Seminary, in Med-
ford ; and at the close of his usefulness in thia institution of learning,
he became Principal of the Hopkins classical school in Cambridge,
and taught one year, when it was, by special act of the legislature,
discontinued. This classical school was under the supervision of the
trustees of Harvard College.

During his stay in Cambridge he attended the Law school, and
when he closed his law studies he moved to Boston and practised
law on Court street, in the office of Lyman Mason. He also had
offices at Groton and Groton Junction.

DEATH OF HON. JOSIAH KENDALL BENNETT. 185

He was an excellent scholar and a man possessed of high literary
attainments. By his studiousness he became an expert as a trans-
lator, and could read and translate fourteen or fifteen languages,
among them the Sanscrit, Norse and Anglo Saxon. A number of
his translations from the German and other languages have been
published ; and they were eagerly sought for by the press. He has
written for the Bibliotheca Sacra, Congregationalist and other papers,
and received the award for the prize article which he wrote for the
Bibliotheca Sacra. He has been a valuable contributor to this paper
for some time past.

He served as one of the Trustees of Lawrence Academy for ten
years or more, and held a number of offices. He was a member of
the executive committee, committee of finance, examining committee,
and was secretary of the Board of Trustees, which offices he held at
the time of his death. He was a member of the Board of School
Committee of Groton, for a number of years, and closed his connec-
tion with the Board last fall. A large portion of the school reports
were written by him from year to year, extracts from which were fre-
quently incorporated in the report of the Board of Education. In
the earlier part of his life he taught school in Groton. He was a
member of the Groton Musical Association since 1858. He was
a member of the Orthodox church, clerk of the parish a number of
years, and had been superintendent of the Sabbath school.

He was appointed Judge of the First District Court of Northern
Middlesex at Ayer, by Governor Washburn, July, 1872, which posi-
tion he held since the court has been established. It was a good
selection and he was admirably adapted for this post of honor.

Owing to his continued ill health, and by the advice of his physi-
cian, he moved to Ayer with his family about two months ago. His
remains were taken to Groton for burial, and the funeral services were
held at the Orthodox church. By the request of Mr. Bennett, the
Rev. Wm. M. Parker of West Boylston, formerly the pastor of this
church, preached the sermon and his remarks of the deceased were
very appropriate and just. His death has cast a gloom over the
entire community. If he had lived till next month he would have
been forty-three years of age. He was a gentleman, a scholar, a
good citizen, a man of excellent judgment and good common sense.
His place cannot be easily filled. Groton and Ayer mourn his loss.
We sadly miss him.

[" Public Spirit," Ayer, Thursday, January 29, 1874.]

l86 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Judge Bennett was the son of Josiah Kendall and Lu-
cinda (Nutting) Bennett, and born at Groton, on February
4, 1831.

STARCH-FACTORY AND PAPER-MILLS.

In the spring of 1832 the following Act was passed by the
General Court of Massachusetts ; and under the authority of
the enactment a company was organized at Groton for the
manufacture of starch.

A mill was built for the purpose on the Groton side of the
Squannacook River, three-quarters of a mile above the village
of West Groton, but the undertaking did not prove to be a
success. It stood on the site of the present paper-mill in
that locality; and the place is shown on Mr. Butler's Map of
Groton. It was expected that this new industry in the town
would help the farmers of the neighborhood by encouraging
the cultivation of potatoes which were to be used in making
starch, but the scheme was a failure.

CHAP. CXXVII.
An Act to incorporate the Dana Manufacturing Company.

Sec. I. Be zV enacted by the Senate and House 0/ Representatives,
in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That
Oliver Sheple, Samuel Dana, Samuel Dana, Jr., Oliver Sheple, Jr,
James Dana, and Washington Sheple, their associates and assigns
be, and they hereby are constituted a corporation and made a body
politic, by the name and style of the Dana Manufacturing Company,
for the purpose of manufacturing cotton and woollen goods, iron
wares, and starch from any materials, in the respective towns of Gro-
ton and Shirley in the county of Middlesex, and for this purpose
shall have all the powers and privileges, and be subject to all the
duties and requirements contained in an act passed the twenty third
day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and thirty, entitled " an act defining the general powers and duties of
manufacturing corporations.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the said corporation may take

STARCH-FACTORY AND PAPER-MILLS. 187

and hold such real estate, not exceeding in value the sum of two
hundred thousand dollars, and such personal estate not exceeding
in value two hundred thousand dollars, as may be suitable and con-
venient for carrying on the business aforesaid.

[Approved by the Governor, March 13, 1832.]

The building was subsequently used as a paper-mill, and
burned many years ago, on June 7, 1842. Soon afterward
another mill was erected on the same site, which was bought
on October 22, 1852, by Lyman Hollingsworth of Jephthah
Richardson Hartwell. The plant was sold in 1881 by Mr,
Hollingsworth to Messrs. Hollingsworth and Vose, of Boston,
who still own it. The senior partner of this firm is a nephew
of the former owner. The product of the mill is a Manilla
paper of high grade, of which about three tons are made
daily. On August 7, 1889, I visited the mill when they were
making a paper, which is sent to England in boxes, for the
manufacture of sand-paper, and very likely to be returned
here in that form. In the stock-houses there were two
hundred tons of old cordage, more or less, ready to be
ground up and used in connection with "wood pulp," which
enters largely into the composition of the article. Last year
a new dam, a solid granite structure in place of the original
one, was built; though, in times of low water, steam-power
is required to turn the machinery.

The direct road from the village of West Groton to the
paper-mill, — perhaps three quarters of a mile in length, —
was laid out by the County Commissioners on April 13, 1838.
An attempt was previously made by interested persons, in
the spring of 1832, to have the same piece of highway built,
but it did not meet with success, as it was then adjudged by
the Commissioners to be " not of common convenience and
necessity." Of course the road was opened in order to accom-
modate the business of the new factory.

The paper-mill on the Nashua River, at the Paper Mill Vil-
lage, was originally a wooden structure, and built in the year
1 841 by Oliver Howe, who owned the saw-mill and grist-mill
in close proximity; and here the manufacture of Manilla

1 88 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

paper was carried on. During more than a century there has
been a dam at this place across the river, and in early times
there was, also, a ford known as the Stony Fordway or Stony
Wading-place. Among the Massachusetts Archives at the
State House is a rough plan, made probably about the year
1740, which gives the names of the bridges, etc., in this neigh-
borhood, at that period. It is found in the volume marked
on the back " Maps and Plans " (XVI. 6), and bears the
catalogue number 1482.

About the year 1846 the property, on which stood these
several mills, was sold to the brothers John Mark and Lyman
Hollingsworth ; and on September i, 185 1, Lyman sold his
share to the other brother, John Mark, who rebuilt the paper-
mill, making it of brick, but the building was very soon after-
ward burned. The following item is taken from the " Boston
Daily Journal," Monday, June 7, 1852:

Paper Mill Burnt. We learn that a paper-mill, dwelling-
house and out-buildings adjoining, situated in Groton, and owned
by Mr. J. M. Hollingsworth, were totally consumed by fire on
Saturday [June 5].

The mill was at once rebuilt, and soon again in operation.

J8^"J. M. Hollingsworth's extensive and costly paper mills, at
Groton Junction [Paper Mill Village], are nearly ready to go into
operation. Mr. H. intends to manufacture first quality book paper,
employing about 35 hands.

" Lowell Weekly Journal and Courier," May 20, 1853.

On March 7, 1865, Mr. Hollingsworth, just before his death
on April 6 of that year, sold the property to his brother Ly-
man ; and eleven years later it was burnt for the second time.
The "Boston Evening Journal," Friday, May 26, 1876, has
the following account of the fire :

Mill Burnt at Groton, Mass.

The large paper mill of Lyman Hollingsworth at North [?]
Groton was destroyed by fire on Thursday afternoon [May 25].
It gave employment to about fifty workmen and was valued at

STARCH-FACTORY AND PAPER-MILLS. 1 89

^140,000. The insurance is placed in the following companies:
Etna, Hartford, and Phoenix of Hartford ; Home of New York ;
North British and Mercantile ; Springfield Fire and Marine ; Fire
Association of Philadelphia ; Meriden Fire ; Roger Williams of Provi-
dence, and Shawmut of Boston. It is divided as follows : On mill,
$50,000; machinery, $24,000, and on stock, covering the probable
loss, $8,000. It is not yet known how the fire occurred.

The mill was again rebuilt, this time by Lyman HoIIings-
worth, and the manufacture of book paper continued, now
with a daily product of about five tons. On December 13,
1 88 1, the establishment was sold to Messrs. Tileston and Hol-
lingsworth, of Boston, and in July, 1889, by them transferred
to the Tileston and HoUingsworth Company, of Boston, a cor-
poration organized under the laws of the Commonwealth.

During the autumn of 1882 Messrs, Tileston and Rollings-
worth caused a suitable stone to be placed by the wayside,
near the mill, bearing the following inscription, which will
explain itself:

NEAR THIS SPOT

JOHN SHATTUCK,

A SFXECTMAN OF GROTON,

AND

HIS SON JOHN

WERE KILLED BY THE INDIANS,

May 8, 1709,

WHILE CROSSING STONY FORDWAY,

JUST BELOW THE PRESENT DAM.

1882.

For many of the facts in this article I am indebted to
Charles William Jenks, of Boston, who for a long time was
connected with the mill. After graduating at Harvard Col-
lege in the Class of 1871, he came to Groton and remained
ten years, during which time he was engaged in the business
of paper-making at this mill. Mr. Jenks writes me, under
date of September 28, 1889:

I was at Groton from the year 18 71 to 1881. When I went
there we thought two tons a good day's run, but when I came away

I go FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

we had nearly doubled that amount^ without any radical change in
the mill, being assisted in the increased product by the use of wood
pulp. I think the mill now makes about five tons, steam-engines
having been put in.

WILLIAM AUSTIN, JR.

William Austin, Jr., whose death is recorded below, was
a son of the Honorable William and Charlotte (Williams)
Austin, and born at Charlestown, on September 15, 1811,
and died at Groton of typhoid fever, on January 8, 1835, at
the house of Mrs. William Farwell Brazer. He graduated at
Harvard College in the Class of 1831, and, while yet an un-
dergraduate, as well as afterwards, he had taught District
School, No. I. For several years he was engaged to a young
lady of Groton, who took care of him during his last illness.
His father was the author of " Peter Rugg, the Missing Man,"
a tale of some note, which first appeared in the "Norfolk
Republican" (Roxbury), September 8, 1827, and the two
succeeding numbers, though it was afterward considerably
enlarged and otherwise changed, and printed in " The Boston
Book" for the year 1841. It was said that a remark of the
son, when a lad, prompted the writing of the story.

In Groton, 8th inst. Mr. William Austin, Jr. of Charlestown, 23,
a graduate of Harvard University, of the class of 1831.

" Boston Daily Advertiser & Patriot," January 10, 1835.

On the 8th inst. Mr. William Austin, Jr. 23.

The many friends of Mr. Austin will need no recital of the striking
and interesting traits of his character to quicken their recollection of
all that he was, and no portrait of ideal excellence to enhance the
sense of their loss. The world at large, unconscious of his merit,
will deem his praise but the customary tribute to the departed, or
ascribe it to the partial voice of friendship. But it is imposed as
a sacred duty on the witnesses of his mental and moral worth, that
they do not permit his virtues to pass with him unacknowledged to
his untimely grave. His character was most rare and estimable.

WILLIAM AUSTIN, JR. I9I

Whatever may have been his share of what are generally considered
brilHant quaUties, he possessed in an uncommon degree for one so
young, those which the well-disposed and thoughtful usually acquire
only with .increasing years and experience. He was most remark-
able for the strength of his religious principles, and his constant appU-
cation of them in all his actions, even the least important. Many
may perhaps be found, who would as readily as he avoid injuring the
rights or feehngs of another ; but he did not stop here ; those who
have not witnessed can hardly realize how active was his benevolence,
and how constantly he was devising means to confer obligations, as
far as in his power, on all with whom he had any connexion.

In 1 83 1, on leaving the University, at which he had been distin-
guished, he engaged in the office of instruction, for which he was
highly qualified, though not by his talents and acquirements alone.
His zealous industry had rendered him a very respectable scholar
for his years, yet his efforts were not directed wholly, nor princi-
pally to the acquisition of knowledge, but rather to the formation
of a pure and elevated character. He was modest, mild, and en-
gaging in his manners, and never failed to secure the respect and
affection of his pupils, by his kindness to them and becoming re-
spect for himself All his qualifications, however, may be inferred
from the circumstance that he was recommended and patronized in
the undertaking in which he was engaged at the time of his death,
by many of the most competent judges in the community. His
quiet and serious temper had given the sacred profession in his view
more charms than any other. He accordingly joined the Theo-
logical School at Cambridge in order to prepare himself for it, but
after a short time, being convinced that its duties were incompatible
with the bodily complaints to which he was predisposed, he relin-
quished the cherished object of his hopes with cheerful submission,
and turned to seek some other path in which to make himself hon-
ored and useful to society. Two years since, disease laid a heavy,
blighting hand upon him ; but, though his friends were never after-
wards wholly free from anxiety on his account, no apprehensions of
his actual immediate danger were entertained by them. His death
fell upon them with awful suddenness. It was finally occasioned by
a violent fever, which his broken constitution had not strength to
resist. It will be long before the numerous friends he had secured
wherever it was his lot to be called, will cease to feel and deplore
this great loss to themselves and the community ; — but the remem-

192 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

brance of his virtues will afford a great and lasting consolation to all,
who believe that sincere and unremitted exertions for the attainment
of excellence are of any avail. Surely his generous, blameless spirit
can have no ill to fear, through whatever untried change of being he
may be called to pass. This thought shall hush our grief at being
torn from him whose memory is blended with a thousand endearing
recollections of the past. May it, as it ought, for the future, encour-
age us to follow his bright example, and so to incline our hearts to
wisdom, that we may hope, " the dread path once trod," to be reunited
to him in a better and happier world, to part no more forever. S.

" Boston Daily Advertiser & Patriot," January 15, 1835.

SIGNOR BLITZ.

SiGNOR Antonio Blitz is most pleasantly associated with
my early recollections, and in after-life was numbered among
my friends. Nearly a half-century ago I first saw him give
one of his inimitable exhibitions, so amusing to small chil-
dren and so wonderful to those of a larger growth ; and
the impressions then left on my mind have never been ef-
faced. In later yearg" he passed his summers at Groton,
where he made as many friends among the townspeople as
he had by his public performances at an early period among
the young folks, throughout the country. I remember, one
afternoon, his telling me that he had on that day put the
finishing touches to his book, which has since been published
and widely circulated under the title of "Fifty Years in the
Magic Circle" (Hartford, 1871).

On July 23, 1863, Signor Blitz was married, secondly, to
Helen Eliza, daughter of Jonas and Eliza (Adams) Eaton,
who was born at Groton, on September 17, 1827, and died
at Westfield, New Jersey, on October 23, 1904. The cere-
mony was performed at her father's house by the Reverend
Henry Martyn Dexter, D.D., at that time the pastor of the
Berkeley Street Congregational Church, »Boston. In the
town-records the entry of the marriage describes the groom

SIGNOR BLITZ. I93

as a " thaumaturgist," and the son of Antonio and Amelia
Blitz. Mademoiselle Marie Van Zandt, the noted prima
donna of the present day, is a granddaughter of Signer Blitz ;
and during her girlhood she passed many months at Mr.
Eaton's dwelling, and attended school in the town. She is
remembered with much interest and pleasure, not to say
pride, by many of her former playmates.

The following obituary notice is taken from the " Boston
Evening Transcript," January 30, 1877:

Signer Blitz, whose death at Philadelphia [on January 28] was
announced yesterday, was born in Deal, Kent County, England, on
the coast, June 21, 1810. When about the age of twelve he learned
something in legerdemain. In September, 1823, his father sent him
in the care of a special attendant to Hamburg, where he made his
first appearance in public. His first appearance in his native country
was in Dover in December, 1825. After travelling through England,
Ireland and Scotland, he started for America, leaving Liverpool on
the ist of August, 1834, and arrived in New York in the early part
of September, making his initial bow before an American audience
at Niblo's Garden some weeks later. After a visit to Boston he went
to Philadelphia (which he afterward made his home) and established
himself in a large hall at Eight and Chestnut streets. The Quaker
City seemed to suit the artist so well that after making an extended
tour of the country he returned, and permanently established himself
in the Assembly Buildings, where, during the later years of his life, he
performed to large audiences. He was a great favorite, being very
affable in his manners, and it will be a long while before the pleasant
memories of Signor Blitz, and his wonderful boy " Bobby," are effaced
from the minds of the residents of Philadelphia. About fourteen
years ago [July 23, 1863], his first wife having died, he married a
Miss Eaton, of Groton, Mass. This lady survives him, but the chil-
dren are those of his first wife. He was the father of the celebrated
opera singer Mme. Van Zandt, who is now in England, and also of
Mrs. Melz, residing in New York city. During the later years of his
life he performed only for the benefit of charitable institutions, having
amassed a large fortune for himself and family by his previous efforts.
The automaton trumpeter, the never-failing egg-sack, and the Sphinx
were the results of liis creative fancy. During his life he performed
before many of the reigning sovereigns of Europe.

194 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

DANIEL FARNSWORTH.

The following notice taken from "The Continental Journal,
and Weekly Advertiser" (Boston), January 2, 1777, shows
the want of postal facilities which existed during the Revo-
lutionary period. At that time there were but few post-
offices in New England, and letters for Groton were sent first
to the Boston Office, and afterward forwarded through pri-
vate channels. This explains the statement that " letters are
uncertain."

To Mr. DANIEL FARNSWORTH, of Groton, iti the state of
Massachusetts-Bay :

SIR,

nPHE privateer you are concerned in has taken and sent a prize

-*- to a safe port. I take this method to acquaint you of it,

as letters are uncertain. When I see you shall be able to give a

more particular account about it.

From your friend and humble servant, D. R.
Providence, December 25, 1776.

MRS. SARAH PERRY.

Sarah Lawrence was a daughter of Colonel William
and Susanna (Prescott) Lawrence, and born at Groton,
on March 12, 1732. She was married on October
23» 1755. to the Reverend Joseph Perry, second pastor
of East Windsor, Connecticut, a graduate of Harvard
College in the Class of 1752. He was born at Sherborn
on August 13, 1 73 1, and died at Windsor on April
21, 1783. Mr. Perry married, secondly, Mrs. Naomi
(Ridgely | Gedney) Verstille. The following tribute to Mrs.
Perry's memory was printed as a broadside at the time of
her death :

MRS. SAR.\H PERRY.

195

DIED AT EAST -WINDSOR,

The 28th of August, 1778, in the 47th Year of her Age,

Mrs. SARAH PERRY,

The amiable Confort of the Rev. JOSEPH PERRY,
Paftor of the Firft Church in that Town.

SHE was born in Groton in the Maf-
fachufetts-Bay. Her father was the
honorable Colonel William Laurence of
that place, and her mother belonged to the
ancient and honorable Prefcot family. She
was married, about twenty-three years ago,
to Mr. Perry, with whom fhe ever after
lived in the clofeft mutual friendfhip, and
moft endearing conjugal affection. She
was excellently well calculated for the
ftation in life, which providence allotted
her. The piety and virtue, the great
(hare of wifdom and prudence, with which
file was endued, the remarkably good ce-
conomy which (he obferved in the manage-
ment of her domeftic affairs, the cheerful-
nefs and generofity with which (he ever
entertained the many flrangers and nu-
merous acquaintance, which the well
known hofpitality of the family invited to
call upon them, rendered her a crown to
her hufband, an honor and bleffing to her
children, and an object of the ell:eem of
all to whom (he was known. Her charity
to the poor, and compaffion for the (ick,
forrowful and didreffed were a confpicu-
ous part of her chara6ler, which greatly
endeared her to the people amongft whom
(he refided, who manifefted their regard
for her, in the feafon of her weaknefs and
diftrefs, in a manner that was exceeding
refre(hing and comforting to her and the
family, and honorable to themfelves. Her lad
ficknefs, which was of long continuance and

very diftreffing, it being of the heftic kind,
and attended with peculiar difficulties,
fhe endured with exemplary chriftian pa-
tience and fortitude. During the whole
of her ficknefs (he manifefted a firm be-
lief in the divine perfecSlions, and the all-
fufficiency of the power and grace of the
Redeemer, and was fupported by a com-
fortable hope of falvation thro' the atone-
ment and mediation of Jefus Chrift ;
though fenfible of her many imperfefti-
ons, and the great deceitfulnefs of the
human heart, fhe expreffed herfelf with
becoming caution, fear and modefty, with
refpect to the fincerity of her faith and
repentance. But as her difTolution ap-
proached her doubts diminifhed ; and for
feveral days before (he died, being in the
clear and full exercife of her reafon and
underftanding, with which (he was fa-
voured from (irft to laft, it pleafed GoD to
increafe her faith and hope to fuch a degree
of affurance, and ftrong truft and confidence
in Him through the Saviour, as not only
raifed her above the fear of death, but
produced in her an entire willingnefs to
leave her neareft earthly friends, who were
exceedingly dear to her, in the hands of
God, to whom with alacrity flie commit-
ted them, and caufed her earneftly to long
for the time of her departure. She left
to mourn her death, befides a very affec-
tionate hufband, fix children, and a babe
but three weeks old.

196 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

GROTON AS A SHIRE TOWN.

On May 10, 1643, the Colony of Massachusetts Bay was
divided into four counties : namely, Middlesex, Suffolk, Essex,
and Norfolk; though the Norfolk County of that period did
not comprise in any respect the same territory now known
by that name.

Middlesex is therefore one of the oldest counties in the
Commonwealth, as it is one of the largest in population. In
the year 1729 an attempt was made to divide it and form a
new county from the northwestern section. The subject is
referred to in the Reverend Wilkes Allen's History of Chelms-
ford (p. 44), where the author says that a committee was
appointed by the town of Chelmsford in 1729, and the next
four years, to meet with committees from other places in order
to carry out the plan. He then gives a list of the towns which
were to be embraced in the new county, as follows: Groton,
Townsend, Pepperell, Dunstable, Merrimack, Dracut, Litch-
field, Chelmsford, Westford, Littleton, Concord, Bedford,
Billerica, and Tewksbury. At that time Merrimack and
Litchfield were considered as belonging to Massachusetts ;
but after the new Provincial line was settled in the spring of
1 74 1, both these towns fell on the New Hampshire side of the
boundary. It is a mistake, however, to include Pepperell in
the list, as that place was not incorporated for many years
after this period, either as a precinct or a district. Both
Bedford and Westford were set off as towns on September 23,
1732, and Townsend was granted on June 29, 1732 ; but, being
new settlements, and expecting soon to be made towns, they
were interested in the scheme. Tewksbury was incorporated
on December 23, 1734, and probably took no part in the
movement.

Rufus Campbell Torrey, Esq., in his " History of the Town
of Fitchburg, Massachusetts" (1836 edition), refers to the
same subject, and says that the inhabitants of Lunenburg in
the year 1729 chose Captain Josiah Willard as their agent
" to join with others to consider what may be best in order to

GROTON AS A SHIRE TOWN. 1 97

divide the county of Middlesex." The scheme resulted, on
April 2, 1 73 1, in the formation of Worcester County, which
took eight towns out of Middlesex, besides others from Suf-
folk and Hampshire ; though it was not the same affair as the
one mentioned in the History of Chelmsford. Mr. Torrey
furthermore says :

In a little more than two years after this, attempts were made to
form a new county out of the counties of Worcester and Middlesex,
of which Groton was to be the shire town. These attempts in a short
time were abandoned (p. 35).

Further particulars of this movement are given in extracts
from the printed Journal of the Massachusetts House of Rep-
resentatives, under the respective dates of June 15 and 17,
1736, as follows :

On a motion made and seconded by divers Members, Ordered,
That the House will enter into the consideration of the Petition of
Benjai}iui Prescot, Esq. ; and Capt. jfoseph Blanchard, for them-
selves and others, praying for a division of the Countys of Middlesex
and Worcester on Thursday next the I'jih. currant in the forenoon
(page 49).

According to the order of Tuesday last the House enter'd into
the consideration of the Petition of Benjamin Prescoi, Esq. ; and
Capt. Joseph Blaiichard, Agents for Grotoji, Dunstable, &c. praying
f jr a new County to be erected partly out of Middlesex and partly
out of Worcester Countys, as entred the t8M. of Jtme last, and 26ih.
of March and referred ; the same being read, with the respective
answers thereto, and some debate being had, the following Vote
passed, viz. In answer to the within Petition, Ordered, That the
prayer thereof be so far granted as that the Towns of Groton, Dun-
stable, Littleton, Wesford, Dracut, Nottingham, 'Townshend, Lu?ien-
burgh, and Harvard, with the Towns lately granted, and lying
Northerly and Westerly of the Towns afore enumerated, and not
already included in any County, be and hereby are erected into a
separate and distinct County by themselves, to all intents and pur-
poses in the Law, and that the Petitioners have leave to bring in a
Bill accordingly. Sent up for Concurrence (p. 51).

The question of dividing the county does not appear to
have been brought forward again for nearly thirty years. In

1 98 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

the Journal of the House of Representatives, June 6, 1764, the
following entry is found :

A Petition of Capt. Abel Lawrence and others, Agents for several
Towns in the County of Middlesex, praying that sundry Towns in the
County of Middlesex and Worcester as mentioned, may be erected
into a separate County.

Read and Ordered, That the Petitioners insert Copies of this
Petition in all the Boston News Papers three Weeks successively,
that so the several Towns in the Counties of Middlesex and Worcester,
may shew Cause, if any they have, on the second Wednesday of the
next Session of this Court, why the Prayer thereof should not be
granted. Sent up for Concurrence (p. 39).

The petition is given in " The Massachusetts Gazette.
And Boston News-Letter," August 23, 1764, and sets forth
the reasons for the division. It is as follows :

Province of the )
Massachusetts-Bay. )

To His Excellency Francis Bernard, Esq; Captain-
General and Governor in chief in and over His MAJESTYS said
Province ; and to the Honorable His Majesty's Council, and House
of Representatives, in General Court assembled at Boston, Decem-
ber, A.D. 1763.

THE Petition of the Subscribers, Agents for the several Towns
and Districts, viz. of Groton, and District of Shirley, and
Pepperrell., as also the Towns of Westford, Lyttleton and Townshend,
in the County of Middlesex, and the Town of Lunenburg, and the
Township oi Ipswich- Canada [Winchendon], and Dorchester- Canada
(so called) [Ashburnham] in the County of Worcester,

Humbly sheweth,
THAT Your Petitioners and their Predecessors, inhabiting the
several Towns and Districts aforesaid, from the first Settlements of
said Towns and Districts have, and still do labour under great Diffi-
culty and Burthen, by Reason of the great Distance they live from
the usual Place of holding the several Courts of Justice within the
Counties aforesaid, as well as the Courts of Probate in the same
Counties; many of the Inhabitants living fifty, some forty, and few
less than thirty Miles from the Courts of Probate aforesaid, which
renders it at all Times very difficult, and sometimes impossible, for

GROTON AS A SHIRE TOWN. 1 99

poor Widows and others to attend the Probate Courts, and other
Courts of Justice, without great Expence ; by Means whereof, many
times Action are and necessarily must be continued, to the great
Cost and Charge, oftentimes, to poor Orphan Children, and others
who are necessarily obliged to attend said Courts ; and this almost
inconceivable Difficulty and Burden daily increases, in Proportion
to the Increase of the Inhabitants of said Counties, which are now
so large, that the Inferior as well as Superior Courts are frequently
obliged to adjourn over Sundays, in order to finish the necessary
Business of said .Courts, to the great Cost and Damages of many
poor Witnesses and Jurymen, and others who are obliged to attend,
&c. Wherefore Your Petitioners, in behalf of themselves and the
several Towns and Districts aforesaid, most earnestly pray Your
Excellency and Honors to take their difficult Case under your wise
Consideration, and pass such Acts and Laws, as that the Towns
and Districts aforesaid, together with the Towns of Chelmsford,
Draciit, Dunstable and Stow, in the County of Middlesex, and the
Towns of Harvard and Leommster, in the county of Worcester (or
such of said Towns and Plantations, or any others, as Your Excel-
lency and Honors shall think fit) may be erected and incorporated
into a separate and distinct County, and that the same may be in-
vested with all the Privileges that other Counties have and enjoy
in this Province ; or otherwise grant Relief as Your Excellency and
Honors, in Your known Wisdom and Goodness shall see meet, and
Your Petitioners in behalf of themselves and the several Towns they
represent, as in Duty bound, shall ever pray.

Abel Lawrence -.

Oliver Prescott

jfonas Cutler \ Agents for Groton.

James Prescott

yosiah Sartell

jfonath. Lawrence '\

Thomas Warren \ Agents for Lyttleton.

Joseph Harwood J

jfonas Prescott ^

William Fletcher \ Agents for West/ord.

Jabez Peep [Keep] J

Benjamin Brooks )■ Agent for Townshejid.

William Prescott )■ Agent for Pepperrell.

Hezekiah Saw tell \ Agent for Shirley*

200 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS,

In the House of Representatives,
JUNE the 14th, 1764.

READ, and ordered, That the Petitioners insert Copies of this
Petition in all the Boston News Papers, three Weeks succes-
sively, that so the several Towns in the Counties of Middlesex and
Worcester may shew Cause (if any they have) on the Second Wednes-
day of the next Session of this Court, why the Prayer thereof should
not be granted.

Sent up for Concurrence,

Thos. Clapp, Speaker Pro Tempr.

In council, Jujie 14. 1764, read and concurred.

A. Oliver, Sec'ry.

It will be seen that the spelling of some of the names of
these tov^ns differs from the modern method. Lyttleton,
Townshend, and Pepperrell were formerly common ways of
writing them. It is somewhat doubtful how Littleton got its
name ; but Townsend was so called from Viscount Towns-
hend, a member of the Privy Council; and Pepperell from Sir
William Pepperrell, the hero of the capture of Louisburg,
who always wrote his surname with a double " r." While,
therefore, these forms were correct more than a century ago,
long and good usage has now decided against them.

It is useless at the present time to speculate on what might
have been, if the prayer of the petitioners had been granted.
It would have materially changed the destiny of Groton, which
was to be the shire town of the new county.

In February, 1765, the following petition was presented :

Province of the | To his Exceellency Francis Bernard Esq' Cap-
Massachusetts Bay j tain General and Govener in Cheiff in and
over his Majestys s'i Province and to the Hon-
ourable Council and house of Represantatives
in Gineral Court assembled at Boston Febru-
ary A.D. 1765

Humbly shews — The Subscribers agents for several Towns in the
County of middlesex, that they in behalf of their Constituents in

GROTON AS A SHIRE TOWN. 201

February A.D. 1764, Perfered a Petition to the General Court then
sitting ; shewing forth the Disadvantages the said Towns and others
Laboured under by reason of their Great distance from the several
Courts of Justice in the said County of middlesex and other reasons
mentioned in said Petition, the Petition was Taken under Con-
sideration at the last may session when the Honourable Court
ordered the the [j/<:] several Towns in the Countys of middlesex,
and Worcester should be Notified, which was done in .the Publick
Prints, that at this Present Session the said Petition was Taken under
Consideration and a Com-" Chosen to Examine into yf afair which
has been done and as your memorialist are Informed the majorty
of the Com"-"^ agreed and thereupon Reported that y,^ s? Petition
should bee Dismissed which report as your memorialist are Informed
is accepted by the Honourable Board (how True we dont know)
but if it should so happen, we Pray this Hon— house not to accept
of said report, how Ever if we should be so unfourtunate as not to
have the Prayer of said Petition Granted we Earnestly Pray that
they rnay at Least be so far releived as that one Inferiour Court
may be held in or near the town of Groton in s'' County and that
the Inhabitants of the northerly part of said County of middlesex
may be otherwise releived in regard to the Transacting their Pub-
lick afairs, as much as Possibley may be and your Petitioners in
behalf of themselves and Constituents as in duty Bound shall Ever
pray.

Abel Lawrence
BENiAMiN Brooks James Prescott

Jonathan Lawrance Jonas Cutler

EpH- HlLDRETH OlIVER PrESCOTT

Jonas Prescott W- Prescott

In the House of Rep"" Feb'' 8 1765

Read and Ordered that the Pet'^ serve the several Towns con-
cerned in the event of this Petition with copies thereof that so they
shew cause if any they have why the prayer thereof should not be
granted

Sent up for concurrence

James Otis Speak': pro. Tempore

In Council FebrY 15. 1765. Read and Nonconcurred.

A Oliver Sec^

Massachusetts Archives, XIJV. 540.

202 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

On February 6, 1776, an Act was passed removing the
November term of the Court of General Sessions of the
Peace and Court of Common Pleas from Charlestovvn to
Groton, presumably on account of the disturbances of the
War. Two years later, on September 23, 1778, this Novem-
ber term was transferred to Cambridge, to take the place of
the May term, which in turn was brought to Groton, where it
remained until June, 1787. The sessions of the Court were
held in the First Parish Meeting-house ; and the Court was
sitting there during the famous dark day of May 19, 1780,
when candles had to be used.

The following notice adjourning the Court of Common
Pleas, appointed to be held at Groton, appears in " The
Boston Gazette, and the Country Journal," May 12, 1783, and
is signed by three Justices of that Court. It is impossible
now to learn the circumstances under which the adjournment
took place, but they may have been similar to those men-
tioned in a Resolve, here reprinted immediately after the
advertisement from the newspaper. On the docket at East
Cambridge no explanation is given, but under date of May 20,
1783, it is there recorded that the Court, by proclamation of
John Tyng, and James Prescott, Esquires, two of the Justices,
was adjourned to the first Tuesday of June, which fell that
year on the third day of the month.

WHEREAS some Circumstances that must happen will render
it necessary that the Court of Common Pleas, by Law
appointed to be holden at Groton, within and for the County of
Middlesex, on the 3d Tuesday of May Inst, should be adjourned
to some future Day : All Persons concerned are to take Notice, that
the same Court will be adjourned to the first Tuesday in June next,
then to proceed to Business Jurors Parties and Witnesses will govern
themselves accordingly.

By Order of Tliree of the justices of the same Court.

N. B. As the Court of Common Pleas will adjourn as above, it is
probable that the Court of General Sessions of the Peace will be
adjourned in like Manner.

GROTON AS A SHIRE TOWN. 203

Middlesex, ss ") 'H^'^HE Clerk of the within mentioned Courts is
May 9, 1783 S J. directed to pubhsh the within Advertisement

in the papers, and to send Copies thereof to the several Parts of
the County.

A Fuller,
James Prescott,
Samuel Phillips Savage.

A true Copy of the Originals filed in the Office of the Courts
abovementioned, May 9 1783.

Attest. THAD. MASON, Clerk

The following Resolution was passed by the General Court,
on May 2, 1787, and is found in the printed volume of" Re-
solves " (p. 280), where the chapter is numbered XXXI.

Resolve adjourning the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, and
Court of Common Pleas in the county of Middlesex^ to the fourth
Tuesday in May inst. May 2, 1787.

Whereas by reason of the sitting of the Supreme Judicial Court,
at Concord^ on the second Tuesday of May instant, the sitting of
the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, and Court of Common
Pleas, at Groton, on the Tuesday following, may be attended with
inconveniences.

Resolved, That the said Court of General Sessions of the Peace,
and Court of Common Pleas, by law to be holden at Groton, within
and for the county of Middlesex, on the third Tuesday of May in-
stant, shall be holden at Groton aforesaid, on the fourth Tuesday
of the same month, and that all writs, processes and recognizances,
returnable to, and all appeals made to the said Court of General
Sessions of the Peace, and Court of Common Pleas, appointed by
law to be holden at Groton; and all matters, causes and things, that
have day or that might have had day, been moved or done at, in, or
by the said Courts, at the time so appointed for holding the same,
shall be returnable to, and may be entered, prosecuted, had, moved
and done at, in, and by the said Courts, at the time herein appointed
for holding the same. And the Secretary is hereby directed, to pub-
lish this resolve, in the two next Adams and Nourse's, Hall's, and
Charlestown papers.

It is highly probable that Shays's Rebellion, which broke
out in the summer of 1786, had some connection with the

204 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

removal of these sessions from Groton. The uprising in
Middlesex County was confined exclusively to this neighbor-
hood, and the insurgents always felt a bitter spite against the
Court of Common Pleas, which they had tried so hard to
abolish. The action of the Legislature in making the change
seems to have been in part retributive.

During the period when the Courts were held here, Groton
was a town much more important relatively, both in size and
influence, than it is at the present time. According to the
National Census of 1790, it was then the second town in pop-
ulation in Middlesex County, Cambridge alone having more
inhabitants. In that year Groton had 322 families, number-
ing 1,840 persons; and Cambridge, 355 families, numbering
2,115 persons, while Lowell had no existence. Charlestown
had a population of 1,583; and Newton, 1,360. Reading, with
341 families (19 more than Groton), numbered 1,802 persons
(38 less than Groton). Woburn then had a population of
1,727; Framingham, 1,598; Marlborough, 1,554; and Wal-
tham, 882. Pepperell contained 1,132 inhabitants; Shirley,
6tj\ Westford, 1,229; and Littleton, 854.

The Court House at Concord was burned down early on
the morning of June 20, 1849, during a session of the Court.
The County Commissioners declined to rebuild, and left the
matter to the next General Court. On February 13, 1850,
Mr. Boutwell, then a member of the Legislature, presented to
that body a petition of Nathaniel Pierce Smith and others,
that the terms of the Court of Common Pleas ordered to be
held at Concord, should be held at Groton ; and the question
was duly referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. The
subject was followed up, on March 18, by petitions from
Pepperell, Townsend, Shirley, Littleton, and other neighbor-
ing towns, in aid of Mr. Smith's petition, which all took the
same course. On March 26 the committee reported leave
to withdraw, which recommendation was carried on April 8,
after a long debate. One week later the matter came up
again in another form on April 15, when the project for a
change was defeated for the last time.

GROTON PROBATE COURT. 205

GROTON PROBATE COURT.

At my request, some years ago, the late Ellis Ames, Esq.,
of Canton, furnished the following account of the Probate
Courts held here, which forms a fit supplement to this article.

No statute in the Provincial period regulated the times and places
of holding Probate Courts. I suppose the Probate Judges held
their Courts at the Court House on days of which they had before
given notice to the public.

By the Constitution of Massachusetts, which went into effect on
October 25, 1780, the Judges of Probate were required to hold their
Courts at such places, on fixed days, as the convenience of the
people should demand, and the General Court was required from
time to time thereafter to appoint times and places for holding Pro-
bate Courts, until which appointments the Courts were to be holden
at such times and places as the respective Judges of Probate should
direct.

The General Court did not, by any law, fix times or places for
holding Probate Courts in Middlesex County until, by a statute
passed June 14, 1813, a Probate Court was ordered to be held at
Groton on the first Tuesday in March, on the second Tuesday in
May, and on the third Tuesday in October.

A change was made in the law by statute passed February 14,
1822, when the Probate Courts in Groton were required to be held
on the first Tuesday of May, the last Tuesday of September, and
the last Tuesday of December.

By a law passed on March 20, 1832, the Probate Courts at Groton
were required to be held on the first Tuesdays of May and Novem-
ber, which was continued by the Revised Statutes of 1836.

By statute of 1856, Chap. 273, the first Tuesday of November
was changed to the third Tuesday of October. By statute of 1857,
Chap. 78, the Probate Courts at Groton were required to be held
on the fourth Tuesdays of May and September, which last provision
was carried into the General Statutes, and by the statute of March
30, 1866, these two Groton Probate Courts were removed to be held
at Cambridge, since which time no Probate Court has been held at
Groton.

October 20, 1877.

206 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

During my boyhood the sessions of this Court were held in
Mr. Hoar's tavern.

An Act was passed by the Legislature, on June 15, 1821,
authorizing the Judge of Probate to hold a special Court at
Groton, on the second Tuesday of August of that year. After
1858 all the Groton Probate Courts were held at the "Junc-
tion" (now Ayer), until they were abolished by the statute of
March 30, 1866.

ADDRESS OF THE HON. SAMUEL A. GREEN

AT THE HORACE MANN SCHOOL

FOR THE DEAF, IN BOSTON,

November 10, 1897.

On this occasion, as a representative of the family, I have
been asked to say a few words about Francis Green, in whose
memory the bronze tablet, to-day for the first time, is exposed
to public view. It is now the opinion of all persons interested
in the subject, that he was the earliest American advocate in
behalf of the education of the deaf; and the present exer-
cises are intended to commemorate his labors as a pioneer
in this branch of instruction. Under these circumstances a
simple narration of certain events in his life may be in keeping
with the requirements of the occasion, and a short account
of his philanthropic work may be worthy of passing notice.

Francis Green belonged to an old New England family, be-
ing a descendant in the fourth generation from Percival and
Ellen Green, who sailed from London for these shores in the
spring of 1635, and were living at Cambridge during the next
year. He was the second son of Benjamin and Margaret
(Pierce) Green of Boston, where he was born on August 21,
1742; and a grandson of the Reverend Joseph and Elizabeth
(Gerrish) Green of Salem Village, now Dan vers. His great
grandparents were John and Ruth (Michelson) Green, of
Cambridge ; and his great-grandfather was an only son of
Percival and Ellen Green of that town, and was Marshal-
General of the Colony, following his father-in-law, Edward
Michelson in the office.

ADDRESS AT HORACE MANN SCHOOL. 207

Fortunately for our purposes, during the later years of his
life, Mr. Green wrote out some of the main incidents of his
career, telling how he became interested in the deaf, and what
he had done by the aid of his pen toward their education, and
also giving a sketch of his family for several preceding gener-
ations. This account he entitled : " Genealogical and Bio-
graphical Anecdotes of the Green Family, Deduced from the
First American Generation by Francis Green for his Children's
Information, 1806."

Many years ago the original manuscript was placed tempo-
rarily in the hands of my father, the late Dr. Joshua Green, of
Groton, who copied it for the use of his branch of the family.
Without doubt it was indirectly through the copy then made
that the authorship of" Vox Oculis Stibj'ecta" — a work well-
known to scholars interested in the education of the deaf —
was first recognized and identified. The simple fact was pre-
viously known that the writer of the book was an American,
and that his name was Green, but nothing more.

Taking some interest in the manuscript myself, and think-
ing that the statements there recorded might be also of inter-
est to others, I made a short abstract of the account, and sent
it to Mr. Chamberlain, editor of "The Gallaudet Guide," a
monthly periodical, then published in Court Square, Boston,
and devoted to the cause of the deaf. The article was printed
in the number for November, i860, and — as I had hoped, but
hardly expected — it attracted the attention of two or three
persons, who cared enough about the matter to write to me
for further facts concerning Mr. Green's history. Among
these correspondents was Mr. Samuel Porter of Hartford, at
that time the editor of the " American Annals of the Deaf
and Dumb " (Hartford), who is still living at the advanced
age of nearly ninety years. In a letter from him, dated De-
cember 27, i860, he wrote, asking for more details, and also
expressing his deep interest in the subject. At his request
I prepared another paper, entitled " The Earliest Advocate
of the Education of Deaf-Mutes in America," which appeared
in the "American Annals" for March, 1861. In the main
this account was an amplification of the other one that had

208 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

been printed previously in "The Gallaudet Guide." Perhaps
it is not too much to say — and I can give Mr. Porter as
authority for the assertion — that through these two articles the
authorship of " Vox Ociilis Subjecta " became definitely known
to scholars who were studying this special branch of learning.

As a boy, young Green received his education partly in
Halifax, Nova Scotia, and partly at the Boston Latin School,
from which he was admitted into Harvard College during the
summer of 1756. His collegiate course there, however, was
but a partial one, as circumstances beyond his control com-
pelled him to leave Cambridge at the end of his Freshman
year, though he was allowed to take the degree of A.B. with
his class in 1760, a favor granted only under very exceptional
circumstances. The year before his entrance at college his
father had procured for him an ensign's commission in the
Fortieth Regiment, with the understanding that he should
have leave of absence from the army until he had completed
his four-year's course. In 1757, on account of the war with
France, orders came from the Commander-in-chief that all
officers, without regard to rank, should join their respective
commands. On the reception of this news. Green repaired
immediately to his regiment in Halifax, with the expectation
that his leave of absence would be renewed; but in this he
was mistaken. From his father, who was Secretary to Gen.
William Pepperrell, commander of the expedition against
Louisburg in 1745, he appears to have taken a fancy for mili-
tary life. He now made up his mind to join his lot with that
of the army; and in this branch of service he remained for
nine years, selling out his commission in 1766, at which time
he held the rank of lieutenant. During these early years of
his life he was stationed at different places in Nova Scotia
and Canada, and saw some active service in the West Indies.

After leaving the army he took up mercantile pursuits in
his native town, but during the political troubles, then breed-
ing here, his sympathies were with the Crown, and in March,
1776, he left Boston on its evacuation by the British, and sailed
away with the fleet. For a while he lived in Halifax, and for
some time afterward in New York, until 1780, when he took

ADDRESS AT HORACE MANN SCHOOL. 209

his departure for England, where he remained for four years
longer. While abroad, he gave much time and thought to
the cause of the deaf, and he wrote a book on the subject, the
same work to which reference has already been made under
the title of" Vox Oculis Sitbjecta" London, 1783. Returning
to America in 1784, for some years he made his home at
Preston, Nova Scotia, and in June, 1797, he took up his abode
at Medford, where he lived until his death, which occurred
on April 21, 1809.

During these last twelve years of his life, sometimes under
his own signature, and at other times under that of " Philoco-
phos," he wrote much for the newspapers, particularly for the
"New England Palladium" (Boston), on his favorite topic;
and he also made translations from the French on the same
subject, which were likewise printed in the " Palladium."
These various productions from his pen served to call public
attention to a matter that lay near and dear to his heart, and
without doubt they stimulated a sentiment which to-day is
felt throughout the land. It seems almost a suggestion of
fate that the " Sarah Fuller Home for Little Children who
cannot Hear," organized less than ten years ago, should have
been established in the neighborhood of Mr. Green's dwell-
ing place, in a city which, through his writings, is so full of
early associations with this interesting class of boys and girls.

Francis Green was married, first, on October 18, 1769,10
his cousin Susanna, youngest child of Joseph and Anna
(Pierce) Green of Boston, who died on November 10, 1775.
His mother and her mother were sisters, and his father and
her father were brothers, thus forming a double cousinship
between himself and his wife. By this union there were five
children, of whom one was deaf; and through this son the
father became interested in the class of children, which makes
him the subject of these exercises this afternoon. He was
married, secondly, on May 19, 1785, to Harriet, daughter of
David and Sarah (Seymour) Mathews, of New York. Her
father was Mayor of that city during several years of the
Revolutionary period. By this second marriage there were
six children.

210 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TIME.

By Tempus.

**Time is money," the economist cries.
Take care of the precious minutes,

Lose not a single second as it flies,
For an age is made of minutes.

" Time is money," the prodigal replies,
And then he scatters what he gets.

To care for expense is unwise,

For we '11 take time to pay our debts.

["American Journal of Numismatics" (Boston) for April, 1874.]

INDEX.

INDEX.

Ames, John, 91.

Austin, William, Jr., 190.

B

Balloons, 157.

Bancroft, Amos, 119.

Bar and Clergy, 181.

Barstow, John, 70.

Bedford, Mass., 77.

Bellows, Albert Jones, 126.

Bennett, Josiah Kendall, 184.

Blitz, Antonio, 192.

Boston, 1828-30, 91.

Boutwell, George Sewall, reminiscen-
ces, I ; visit to Boston, 1828-30, 91 ;
elements of success, 157.

Brick house, first, 100.

Bulkley, Edwin Adolphus, 105.

Bunker Hill, battle, 94 ; prisoners
taken at, 183.

Burns, George J., on " Nonacoicus,"
56.

Butler, Caleb, to Ephraim Abbot, 147.

Canal, Boston to the Hudson, 59.
Chaplin, Daniel, on Battle of Bunker

Hill, 95.
Chaplin, William Lawrence, 85.
Child, Moses, 131.
Church organ, 69.
Church silver, 165.
Council, Ecclesiastical, 1712, 80.

Dana, James, first case, 150.
Deaf, Francis Green, and education
of the, 207.

E

Eldredge, Frederick Augustus, 177.
Election of 1839, 22 ; of 1S40, 25.
Epitaphs, soldiers', 50.
Ether, first operation under, 147.

Farms for sale, 89.

Farnsworth, Claudius Buchanan, old
pottery, 100.

Farnsworth, Daniel, 194.

Farrar, John, 155.

Felch, David Henry, 132.

Finnegan, Charles A., 73.

First church, dedication of meeting-
house, 1840, 68.

Fitch's bridge, 181.

Fitchburg Records, in.

Frost, Ebenezer Hopkins, in first oper-
ation under ether, 147.

Genealogical items, 148.
Green, Asa and Phebe, 138.
Green, Joshua, diary, 1775, 135.
Green, Francis, " Vox Oculis Subjecta,"

207.
Green, Louisa (Blanchard), 102.
Green, Samuel Abbott, Address, Horace

Mann School, 1897, 206.
Groton, in 1835, 5; bibliography, 40;

early items, 58 ; by " Listener," 115;

naming of, 128 ; as a shire town,

196 ; Probate Court, 205.

H

Hall, Stephen, gravestone, in Peters-
ham, lOI.
Hazard, Rufus, 93.

214

INDEX.

Hill, Clement Hugh, on Joseph Saw-

tell's will, 170.
Hoar, George Frisbie, bar and the

clergy, 181.
Hodges, Almon Danforth, Richards

family, 34.
Holden, Edmund, 114.
Hopkinson, Thomas, first case, 150.
Hops, cultivation of, 102.
Hurd, Isaac, 125.

I

Indian attack, 1694, 165.
Indian words, 139.

K
Kinnicutt, Lincoln Newton, some In-
dian words, 139.

Lakin family, 107.

Lawrence, Asa, 97.

Lawrence, Eleazer, 148.

Lawrence, George L., 43.

Lawrence, Henry Lewis, stage-driver,
42.

Lawrence, James, gift of church organ,
69.

Lawrence, Jonathan, bequest, 166.

Lawrence, Samuel, on Battle of Bunker
Hill, 96.

Lawrence, Samuel, Jr., recollections,
61.

Lawrence, Sarah, 194.

Lawrence Academy, 88.

Lawrence family, 78.

Lawrence farm, 63.

Lawrence play-ground, 133.

Leominster, Mass., 78.

Longley, Zechariah, 115.

Lothrop, Samuel Kirkland, reminiscen-
ces, 74.

M

Massachusetts Hop Company, 102.

Mercy and Mary, 149.

Mulberry trees, 94.

N

Newspapers, earliest, 172.
Nonacoicus, 55.

O

O'Brien, James Joseph, story of the

Civil War, 44.
O'Connor, Timothy, 44.

Paper mills, starch factory and, 186.
Park, John, first brick house, 100.
Parker, Jonas Longley, 180.
Parker, William, family, 149.
Parkman, Ebenezer, diary, 163.
Pensioners, Revolutionary, 128.
Perry, Mrs. Sarah (Lawrence), 194.
Physicians, 117.
Pottery, old, 100.
Prescott, Jonas, bequest, 165.

R
Rebellion, soldiers in the, 53.
Recollections, early, 42.
Revolution, soldiers in, 46 ; sons of the,

52 ; items, 114.
Rice, John H., 1 10.
Rice children, captives, 163.
Richards family, 34.
Richardson, Adam, 123.
Richardson, Alpheus, books published,

40.
Road, old Townsend, 92.
Roman Catholic Church, 73.

Sartell, Josiah, bequest, 167, 169.

Sartell, Mary, bequest, 168.

Schoolmaster, 17 18, 90.

Seal, town, 171.

Shattuck, Benjamin, 124.

Shepley, Elizabeth, 127.

Shepley, Jonathan, estate, 85.

Silver, church, 165.

South Military Company, 160.

Stacy and Rogers, 172.

Starch factory and paper mills, i86.

Stevens, Peter, 75.

Stone, William Newcomb, 126.

Tarbell, Asa, brick house, 101.
Tarbell children, captives, 163.

INDEX.

215

Tea tax, 98.

Thayer, William Roscoe, poem "To

Boutwell," 2.
Time, a poem, 216.
Tooker, William Wallace, on " Nona-

coicus," 57.

U

Union Church, dedication, 70; name,

73-

V

Varnum, Joseph Bradley, 76.

W

Wait, William Boynton, 182.
Watertown, Mass., ordination, 181.
West Groton, first church at, 66.
Weston records, 112.
Willard, Elizabeth (Shepley), 127.

Yellow day, 106.

^

w

i I