Bristol County, Massachusetts - Chapter 19: Dighton.1, 1883 (part 2 of 3)

" How looks to-night the interior of the chapel of the Foundling Hospital? Dark and lonesome, no doubt, with its heavy galleries and sombre pews, and the great organ, - Handel's gift, - standing there, mute and grim, between the ascending tiers of empty seats. But never, in my remembrance, will it cease to present a picture more impressive and touching than words can say. At least three hundred children, rescued from shame and penury by this noble benevolence, were ranged around that organ when I saw it, and, in their artless, frail little voices, singing a hymn of praise and worship. Well nigh one hundred and fifty years have passed since this grand institution of charity, - the sacred work and blessed legacy of Capt. Thomas Coram, - was established in this place. What a divine good it has accomplished and continues to accomplish, and what a pure glory hallows its founder's name. . . . No man ever did a better deed than he, and the darkest night that ever was cannot darken his fame."1

And so we take our leave for the present of that whilom, worthy resilient of the South Purchase, Capt. Thomas Coram. In him was seen a large development of what Herbert Spencer terms altruism, the opposite of egoism, and the motto he adopted was

-Those familiar with the stories of Charles Dickens will recall in "Little Dorritt" the warm-tempered and equally warm-hearted Tattycorain. taken from the foundling hospital by Mr. Meagles, as a maid for his little daughter, ami the description as to how the name originated. "The name of Iieadle being out of the question," said Mr. Meagles, "and the originator of the institution for these poor foundlings having 1" en a blessed creature named Coram, we gave that name to Pet's little maid. At one time she was Tatty, and at one time she was Coram, until we got into a way of mixing the two names together, and now she is always Tattycoram."

Capt. Coram was probably the first builder of large vessels in this vicinity; probably the business was carried on here after he returned to England, but there is no record or tradition that such was the case. There was an abundance of excellent oak to be had here, and it was the common material for the frames of houses and other buildings. About the middle of the last century one John Reed, perhaps a descendant of the John previously mentioned, carried on the building of vessels in what is called Muddy Cove. That was before the road was laid out and the bridge built over the mouth of the cove, which must have been deeper then than it is now, though it is probable that the vessels that Reed built were small.2 This ship-yard was, it is supposed, on or near the site of Mr. H. M. Simmon's lumber-yard. John Reed owned and lived in the old Andrews house, near the cove.

During the period from 1785 to the commencement of the war of 1812, several firms carried on the shipbuilding business here. Most of the vessels built were small coasting sloops, ranging from twenty to seventy tons ; but some were larger craft, ships and brigs, intended for the European or the West Indian trade, or it may be for the bringing of slaves from Africa, although it is not known that any ship-owners of this town were engaged in the last-named business. Among those engaged in building vessels during the period mentioned were the firms of Bowen & Hathaway, and Smith & Wardwell.3 Their yards were just

- The bridge across Muddy Cove was built by Capt. Elkanah Andrews about the year 1772. John Reed was the contractor, and lost all of his property in the job, Capt. Andrews becoming the owner of his house and land north of the cove. The road was laid out at the same time from the Widow Stetson's house (for many years long afterwards the residence of John P. Perry) to Capt. John Pierce's house, at what is now called Luther's Corner. Capt. Andrews lived in the house on the south side of the cove, afterwards owned by James Spooner, and remodeled in later years in the Grecian style of architecture by his son, Joshua Spooner. Capt. Andrews did a large business in shipping hay, fish, and other commodities to Southern ports. His store and wharf were in front of his house. He died in 1787.

3 Smith <fc Wardwell's yard was on the north side of the wharf now known as Whitmarsh's wharf, and Bowen & Hathaway's yard was on the south side. David Bowen, one of the latter firm, was horn in Dighton, and was one of twin brothers, the other being named Jonathan. David was an active business man. He died suddenly of hemorrhage at the early age of thirty-six, having acquired, during the few years he was in business, property to the amount of eight or nine thousand dollars, a respectable sum in those days. John Hathaway, his partner, was also born in Dighton, and was an influential citizen. He represented the town at the General Court for a number of years in the early pan of the century. His son, John Hathaway, Jr., was town clerk for several years. He removed to Boston, became a thriving merchant in that city, and acquired a handsome property. His daughter, Frances, is the wife of Hon. Moses Kimball, of Boston, and his daughter, Margaret, is the wife of Mr. Frank Kendall, manufacturer, of Watertown.

Josiah Wardwell came from Bristol, K. I. He married a daughter of his partner, James Smith. The house stood on the site of the residence of the late Capt. William Cobb. It was burnt nearly fifty yearduring a heavy snow-storm. His partner's house was on the opposite corner, and is yet standing.

below the town-landing, known as Zebulon's Landing, from one Zebulon Reed, who used to occupy it. One of our townsmen can remember seeing on the stocks in these yards at one time two ships and two brigs. There were six grog-shops in the south part of the town at that time, rum being nearly as common a beverage then as water is now ; on special occasions, such as a house-raising or vessel-launching, it was furnished to the crowd without money or price.

William Ellery. - Among the residents of Dighton during the Revolutionary war was William Ellery, signer of the Declaration of Independence and member of Congress. When the British took possession of Newport in 1776, Ellery found a refuge at the house of Capt. Rufus Whitmarsh, near the Lower Four Corners, in this town. Here he resided for several years when not at his post as a member of Congress. During his absence from Newport, his house in that town was burned by the British, and his property otherwise greatly damaged. The house he lived in while here is still standing, as was mentioned in the first part of this sketch. Of Ellery's life while residing here not much is known. He was away so much of the time that probably the Dighton people saw but little of him.1 The following is a portion of a letter written by him, while in this town, to his friend, Gen. Whipple:

" Dear Sir, - Before you will receive this your lioise will be at Joshua Sandfords, the very next farm to the ferry farm in Bristol. My son, who takes the horse to Sandfords, will leave this with him to be transmitted to you by the first opportunity. . . .

" Notwithstanding the French fleet hath deserted you, yet Btill I hope to eat tautauog with you at Newport. The island must not be relinquished. If it should, how inglorious to our arms, how destructive to the State of Rhode Island. But I will not harbor so disgraceful an idea. In full confidence that such an assault will be made upon the enemy's lines as will convince the world that the infant States of America are able to go alone, and Count d'Estaing that we can do without him, I continue to be, with great esteem, etc.,

The assault on the British lines that Ellery was hoping for was not made, the enemy having been so strengthened by reinforcements as to render them superior in numbers to the Americans. Gen. Sullivan was therefore obliged to retreat, which he did in a masterly manner, in good order. The retreat to the main land was well timed, for the next day Sir Henry Clinton arrived, after which it would have been impracticable to cross with the army to the main shore.

Ellery's death, which occurred on the 15th of February, 1820, when he was ninety-two years old, was like the falling into a peaceful sleep. " His end," says his biographer, "was indeed that of a philosopher. In truth, death in its common form never came near him. His strength wasted gradually for the last year, until he had not enough left to draw in his breath, and so he ceased to breathe. The day on

1 In Scribner's Magazine, a few years ago, was published a diary or journal, written by Ellery, and describing his horseback journeys from this town to the seat of government.

which he died he got up and dressed himself, took his old flag-bottomed chair without arms, on which he had set for more than half a century, and was reading Tully's offices in the Latin, without glasses, though the print was as fine as that of the smallest pocket-bible. The physician stopped in on his way to the hospital, as he usually did, and perceiving that the old gentleman could scarcely raise his eyelids to look at him, took his hand and found that his pulse was gone. After drinking a little wine and water, his physician told him his pulse beat more strongly. ' Oh, yes, doctor, I have a charming pulse, but,' he continued, 'it is idle to talk to me in this way. I am going off the stage of life, and it is a great blessing that I go free from sickness, pain, and sorrow.' He was then placed in bed, and sat upright, continuing to read Cicero very quietly for some time. Presently they looked at him and found him dead, sitting with the book under his chin, as a man who becomes drowsy and goes to sleep.

" Ellery was fond of profound study and elegant literature, reading to the end of his life the works of distinguished writers in theology, intellectual philosophy, and political economy. His mind and affections never seemed to grow old, but only to ripen with age. His conversation never lost its humor, richness, and variety, its freedom and temperate earnestness. In stature he was of moderate height, his person neither spare nor corpulent, but indicating perfect health and an easy mind. His head and features were large and impressive. Only three weeks before his death he wrote a long letter containing remarks on Latin prosody, and on the faults of public speakers, written, too, in a strong, close hand, that might be expected from one in middle life."

What a charming picture of a serene old age and a painless euthanasia do these extracts disclose, and what an argument for the immortality of the soul does this old man of ninety-two with his mental powers untouched by age present! Titian, dying of the plague at the age of ninety-nine, and painting almost to the last, and Ellery, at ninety-two writing in a firm hand criticisms on the orators of the day and on Latin prosody, go far to prove the truth of the French savant Flourens' theory that the natural life of man is at least one hundred years.

William Ellery was born at Newport, R. I., Dec. 22, 1727; after graduating at Harvard, he commenced his career as a trader at Newport, then practiced law, and in 1776 was elected to the Continental Congress, of which body he soon became one of the leading members. He was in Congress eight years, and was afterwards collector of customs at Newport until his death. The signatures of Ellery and of his colleague, Stephen Hopkins, to the Declaration of Independence display a striking contrast, Ellery's being firm and bold, and that of Hopkins tremulous and uncertain, from the palsy that afflicted him. "I was determined," Ellery used to say in after-years, "to see how they all looked as they signed what might be their death warrant. I placed myself beside the secretary, Charles Thomson, and eyed each closely as he affixed his name to the document. Undaunted resolution was displayed in every countenance."

Commodore Talbot. - Commodore Silas Talbot was a native of this town. He distinguished himself in the Revolutionary war on both the ocean and the land. His parents were Benjamin and Zipporah Talhot. The house they lived in, and iu which Silas, the ninth of their fourteen children, was born, has long since been torn down. It stood in the lots, with (inly a cart-path as a way of approach, between the road leading from the Lower Four Corners to Pitts' Corner and Hunter's Hill, and southerly of the house now owned by Isaac Pierce. Benjamin and Zipporah were buried in the family cemetery near by, with several of their children. They were poor, hard-working people, unable to do much in the way of education for their children, and Silas was early in his boyhood placed on board a vessel as cabin-boy, perhaps as good a school as he could have had for the work he had to do in after-life. He was born Jan. 21, 1751. When he was twelve years old his father died, and as his mother had other children younger and weaker than he to support, he was necessarily thrown upon his own resources for the future. He learned the stone-mason's trade, then considered a very lucrative one, and removed to Providence, R. I. In 1822 he married a young lady named Richmond, and went to housekeeping in Providence, then a small town. He engaged occasionally in mercan-' tile speculations, "iu which," says H. T. Tuckerman, who wrote his biography, "he exhibited more than ordinary boldness and sagacity. An instance is related of his sailing down the river when lumber had unexpectedly risen to a high price, intercepting a vessel thus loaded, purchasing the cargo, and making -ales in town at an enormous advance."

When the Revolutionary war broke out Talbot and a numher of other young men hired an old Scotch drum-major who had deserted from the British army to drill them in military tactics in the loft of a sugarhouse. In June, 1775, he was commissioned as a captain in one of the three newly-raised Rhode Island regiments, and went to Boston with the regiment to take part in the siege of that town. He next went with the army to New York, at which port was a ileet of British men-of-war. Here he was placed, at his own request, in command of a fire-ship, in which he sailed up the Hudson River some fifteen miles, anchoring a short distance above Fort Washington. Soon after he had cast anchor three of the enemy's war vessels sailed up the river and anchored a few miles below where he lay. A night attack was immediately resolved upon. " At two o'clock in the morning," says the biographer, " they weighed anchor and dropped slowly down with the tide. The nearest of the ships was the 'Asia,' of sixty-four guns, whose tall spars and towering hull no sooner loomed upon the gaze of Talbot's hardy band than they steered directly for her broadside. Unsuspicious of any danger, it was but a moment before her little adversary had flung her grappling-irons that the 'Asia' fired, and then a scene ensued that baffles description. . . . In an instant the darkness of a cloudy night gave place to a red, flashing glare that revealed the fort, the waters, and the fields with the distinctness of noonday, and brought into vivid relief the huge vessels of war, now alive with their startled crews, who hastened to the relief of the ' Asia,' some pouring water on the rising flames, others disengaging the fire-ship from her side."

The attack was unsuccessful, at least in destroying any of the enemy's ships, but it served the purpose of driving them from their position into the lower bay, and it likewise had an encouraging effect on the American cause. Congress passed a vote of thanks to Capt. Talbot, and he was at once promoted to the rank of major. He had remained too long on the fire-ship, being the last to escape, and he was severely burned. It was some weeks before he recovered from his injuries.

We next hear of Maj. Talbot in the defense of Mud Island, in the Delaware River, and here he displayed his accustomed daring. His arm was broken by a musket-ball, and he received a wound in the thigh. He returned home to recover from his wounds, and as soon as his condition permitted joined the Conti nental army under Gen. Sullivan's command, on the mainland of Rhode Island, where he rendered essential service in superintending the building of eightysix flat-bottomed boats, intended to carry one hundred men each, for the transportation of the army to the island. These boats were calked by candle-light, and Talbot, wearied by his unceasing efforts to forward the work, was accustomed to sleep under the boats, while the din of the calking-mallets was ringing over his head. An incident of the campaign will illustrate the cool daring of this born leader of men. The crossing from the mainland was commenced on Sunday, the 9th of August, and the light corps, to which Maj. Talbot was attached, marched down the road towards Newport until within a cannon-shot of the enemy's lines. Talbot was then sent forward alone by Col. Laurens, who was in command of the corps, to reconnoitre. He had neared the enemy's outposts, when he saw three British artillerymen in a garden, foraging for vegetables. Without hesitating an instant he jumped his horse over the wall and threatened them with immediate death if they stirred. Thinking that lie was one of their own officers, they made some apology for being absent from their posts, and gave up their hangers. He then drove them before him to the American lines as prisoners of war.

Count d'Estaing's departure with the French fleet to Boston rendered the retreat of the American army from the island a necessity, and in the retreat and the fight which preceded it Maj. Talbot's aid was very efficient, and was commended in the dispatches of the commanding officer to Congress. His next exploit was the capture of one of the enemy's armed vessels. The British, in order to close the east passage, had anchored a vessel of some two hundred tons in the passage, off a point of land called Fogland. This vessel had formerly been in the naval service, but had been cut down to one deck, and was armed with twelve eight-pounders and ten swivels. She had a crew of forty-five men, and her deck was protected from boarding-parties by strong netting. She was named the " Pigot," and was commanded by a lieutenant named Duulap. This armed galley effectually prevented any American vessels from passing up or down Seconnet River, to the great annoyance of the people of Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts.

Maj. Talbot resolved to capture or destroy the " Pigot," but his project was for some time coldly received by Gen. Sullivan, who deemed it impracticable, but at length consented to furnish a draft of men for the purpose. The major immediately selected a sloop in Providence named the "Hawk," and armed her with two three-pounders and sixty men. Before he could get at the " Pigot" he would have to pass one of the enemy's forts at Bristol Ferry and another at Fogland's Ferry, in Seconnet River, and both forts were safely passed in the night.

After reaching the upper end of the island, the " Hawk" drifted silently down the Seconnet River, with a kedge lashed to the jib-boom to tear the nettings of the enemy. The Fogland fort was passed without alarming the sentinel, although he could be seen pacing back and forth before the barrack lights. Fearing that he should miss the object of his search in the darkness, the major cast anchor just below the fort, and sent a boat forward with muffled oars to reconnoitre. The men in the boat reported the " Pigot's" situation, and the anchor was again hove up, while the strong ebb tide swept the " Hawk" down upon her prey. They were soon hailed by the watch on the deck of the " Pigot," but making no answer a volley of musketry was fired at them, but before the " Pigot's" guns could be brought to bear the kedge on the "Hawk's" jib-boom had torn away the netting and was caught in the shrouds, while her crew leaped on the "Pigot's" deck and drove every man below excepting her commander, who fought gallantly in his night-clothes, but was soon captured. Not a man was killed on either side. The prize was carried into Stonington. For this daring exploit Maj. Talbot again received the thanks of Congress, and was promoted to be a lieutenant-colonel in the army, while the Assembly of Rhode Island presented him with a sword. The next vear he was made a captain in the navy, although there was no man-ofwar for him to command. He was, however, authorized to arm a naval force to protect the coast from the cruisers of the enemy. Lack of money and lack of vessels made the task a difficult one, but the captured " Pigot" and a clumsy sloop called .the " Argo" were finally equipped and manned, the" Argo" being the flag-ship. Her armament consisted of twelve small guns and her crew of sixty men.

In May, 1779, Capt. Talbot sailed from Providence, and soon captured the " Lively," of twelve guns, and two privateer brigs from the West Indies. The prizes were carried into Boston amid great rejoicing. Talbot then cruised about in search of a Tory privateer named the "King George." She was commanded by a Capt. Hazard, a Rhode Islander. She carried fourteen guns and eighty men. One fine day, when about forty leagues from Long Island, the " King George" was seen, and the " Argo" bore down upon her, giving her a broadside when near enough, and then ranging alongside, Talbot and his men leaped on board, and the " King George" was surrendered without the loss of a man on either vessel.

Not long afterwards the " Argo" fell in with a large armed ship, and a desperate fight, lasting four hours, took place, the vessels being all the time within pistol-shot of each other. Nearly every man on the quarter-deck of the "Argo" was killed or wounded. Capt. Talbot had the skirts of his coat shot off, and hia speaking-trumpet was pierced in two places by bullets. At length the mainmast of the ship fell and she surrendered.

After this fight the owners of the " Argo" reclaimed her. Capt. Talbot then took command of a privateer called the " George Washington." But now his good fortune deserted him. He fell in with a fleet of British men-of-war, two of which gave chase and captured the " Washington" before night. Her commander and crew were carried to New York, and thrust into the hold of the Jersey prison-ship.1 The horrors which they endured while in captivity were almost too much for their endurance, nor was their condition improved when they were transferred to another hulk called the " Yarmouth," in which a deadly fever soon broke out. Only Talbot's strong constitution and iron will enabled him to survive through the dreadful imprisonment. He was finally carried to England, and exchanged for a British officer. When he arrived home he had been absent two years. Not long afterwards he married his second wife, a Miss Morris, of Philadelphia, and buying the forfeited estate of Sir William Johnson, in New York State, he removed there with his family and engaged in farming. In 1793-94 he was again before the public, now as a

1 Capt. James Briggs, of this town, was also for a time immured in that floating hell, the Jersey prison-ship, as was also Rev. Thomas Andros, of Berkley, who wrote au account of his imprisonment.

member of Congress, and he was soon appointed to the command of one of the six ships that Congress had decided to add to our little navy. When hostilities commenced with France in 1799, he was placed in command of the frigate "Constitution," and was on the West Indian station.1 In 1801 he resigned his command, thinking himself unjustly treated by the Secretary of the Navy, who had given precedence to Commodore Truxton. His decision was evidently unjust, as Commodore Talbot was the senior officer, and had performed greater services for the country than Truxton. But republics are proverbially ungrateful. The remainder of his life was passed in New York City, where he built a handsome house, and where he married his third wife.

'' In person," says his biographer, " Capt. Talbot was tall and graceful, in features determined but attractive. A portrait of him, painted by Benjamin West, is in possession of his descendants in Kentucky. . . . He was an accomplished gentleman, with a dignity of manners that stamped him for a leader, and yet with a frank urbanity of spirit that endeared him as a companion. He was thirteen times wounded, and carried five bullets in his body. In private life, the elegant hospitality he exercised, the ardor of his personal attachments, the winning grace and self-respect of his manners, his acquaintance with life in all its phases, and a certain generous nobility of feeling rendered him in his prime one of the best specimens of a self-made American officer the country has produced. He died in the city of New York on the 30th of June, 1813, and was buried under Trinity Church. No monument has been erected to his memory, but his gallant deeds are inscribed on the immortal records of the war of independence, and his name is enrolled among the patriot heroes of America."

Such is the picture that has been handed down to us of Commodore Silas Talbot. Brought up in poverty, with little of the education to be derived from schools, and cast upon his own resources at an early age, he showed himself equal to any station to which his energy, sagacity, and bravery caused him to be promoted; he possessed in no small degree "that strong divinity of soul that conquers chance and fate."

Hodijah Baylies. - Although not born in Dighton, Maj. Hodijah Baylies, aide-de-camp to Gen. Washington, was a citizen of this town for many years. Maj. Baylies was born in Uxbridge, Mass., Sept. 15, 1756. His father's name was Nicholas, and his mother before her marriage was Elizabeth Parks. His ancestors were Quakers, and resided in the parish of Alvechurch, county of Worcester, England. His grandfather, who was named Thomas, came over from England with his son Nicholas and a daughter named Esther in June, 1737. He returned to England the next year, but came back under a contract with one Richard Clarke, of Boston, as a clerk in an ironworks, bringing his wife and two daughters with him. Another son, Thomas, came over later, and for some years kept a store in Taunton, and was interested in the manufacture of iron. Nicholas, Maj. Baylies' father, settled in Uxbridge, but after the death of his brother Thomas, Jr., which occurred in 1756, he moved to Taunton, and was a large land-owner and manufacturer of iron in that place.

Hodijah Baylies was the youngest of eight children. Two of his brothers, William and Thomas S., were residents of Dighton, and were prominent men in the town. They will be more particularly mentioned hereafter. Hodijah graduated at Harvard College in 1777, and almost immediately entered the army as a lieutenant, his first service being on the Hudson River. When Gen. Lincoln was appointed to the command of the Southern Department, Lieut. Baylies was selected by him as one of his aids. In the campaigns that followed he took part in much hard fighting at Savannah, Charleston, and elsewhere, acquitting himself creditably in whatever situation he was placed. He was in the city of Charleston during the memorable siege by the British, and when Lincoln finally surrendered to Clinton on the 12th of May, 1780, he was included among the prisoners of war. He rejoined the army as soon as his exchange was effected ; was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and having been selected by Washington as one of his aids, remained in this position until the end of the war. He stayed for some time with Washington at Mount Vernon after peace was concluded, receiving a brevet as major in the army. He returned to the North in 1784, and married Elizabeth Lincoln, daughter of Gen. Lincoln, who resided in Hingham, in this State. After residing for a time in Hingham he removed to Taunton, and engaged in business as a manufacturer of iron, the works being at Westville. The anchors for the frigate " Constitution" were made at the Baylies Forge.

As soon as the Constitution of the United States had been ratified in 1789, Maj. Baylies was appointed collector of customs at Dighton, and at once removed to this town with his family. His father had died in Taunton two years before, in his ninetieth year. Maj. Baylies held the office of collector of customs until 1809.2 In 1810 he was appointed judge of probate for the county of Bristol by Governor Gore, holding the office until 1834, when, at the age of seventy-eight, but in the full vigor of his mental faculties, he re-

2 The following are the names of the collectors who held the office after Maj. Baylies: Nathaniel Williams, from 1809 until his death in 1823; Hercules Cushman, from 1823 to 1S25; Seth Williams, Esq., son of Nathaniel, from 1825 to 1820; Dr. William Wood, from 1829 to 1833; mthI Horatio Pratt, from 1833 to 1834. In the latter year Dr. P. W. Leland was appointed, and the office was removed to Fall River. While Dighton was the port of entry the custom-house was not, as at present, in a building costing half a million of dollars, but the books were kept at the residences of the collectors.

signed. During bis later years he was known as Judge Baylies, his military title being seldom used in connection with his name. He owned a fine farm in Digbton, of some two hundred acres in extent, including the woodland, some of which was heavily timbered.1 The house that he bought was a tavern during the Revolution, and was remodeled and enlarged by him. He had four children, - William G. (who lived in Boston, and died in 1848), Edmund, Amelia, and Benjamin L. Edmund was born in 1787, at Hingham, engaged in commerce in Boston early in life, and made several voyages to Russia, acquiring a handsome fortune. He married a Miss Eliza Payson, and bought a residence in Taunton, not far from the Neck-of-Land Bridge.2 Amelia married Dr. Alfred Wood, formerly of this town, but now residing in Taunton. Benjamin L. never married ; he lived at the homestead until his death, a few years since. Judge Baylies died April 26, 1843, in the eightyseventh year of his age. His wife had died twenty years before, at the age of sixty-three. She is said to have had an excellent judgment and a kind heart, gifts that were inherited by her daughter Amelia.

Maj. Baylies was said to have been one of the handsomest men in the army. His deportment, while showing his military training, was yet easy and graceful, and his manners were polished and engaging. While he was in the army, Robert Treat Paine, the jurist and statesman, who knew him well,

1 A large tract of this woodland was termed the Pine Swamp, and is still known by that name, although the timber was cut off a few years ago. It was probably the only large tract of the primeval forest in the town, and was an interesting spot, to visit. The trees were of various sorts, chestnut, hemlock, and pine predominating. The swamp is evidently the bed of a filled-up lake. In some places a fifteen-feet pole can be thrust down without reaching hard pan. On the south side is a steep bill or ridge of gravel that was formerly covered with large chestnut- and hemlock-trees, under which there was always a twilight gloom even at midday. This ridge of gravel is probably a terminal moraine, piled up by the action of ice in the glacial period. Another smaller bit of the primeval woods is found on the Baylies farm, near the river, and is now called Simmons' Grove, from Mr. C. N. Simmons, the present owner of the farm. This grove is noted for tbe clam-bakes that are annually held there by the Methodist ami Baptist Societies. The trees are chiefly white-oaks, and the grove gives one a good idea on a small scale of the appearance of the forest at the time when Winslow and Hopkins made their journey from Plymouth to Pokanoket, and found the trees " standing not thicke but a man may well ride a horse among them."

It was on the northerly slope of the steep Pine Swamp Hill, however, that the solemn grandeur of the primeval forest impressed itself most strongly on the lover of nature. As in the land of the Lotus-Eaters, it seemed there to be always in the afternoon, and on dark cloudy days to be very late in the afternoon, "'twixt the gloaming and the murk." It was in some such bit of wild woodland scenery, no doubt, that Longfellow wrote these lines, -

"This is the forest primeval : the murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Bearded with moss and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight Stand, like Druids of old. with voices sad and prophetic, Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms."

- Edmund Baylies had three children, - Elizabeth, Ruth, and Edmund Lincoln. The latter, who was commonly called Lincoln Baylies, was born in 1829. He married Nathalie E. Ray, of New York. In 1869 he went to Europe, being much out of health. The change did not prove as beneficial as was hoped, and be died at Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 28, 1869. He possessed in a marked degree the good sense and probity characteristic of most of the Baylies family. He left four children.

said to his mother, "Your son, madame, has all the elegance of the British officers, without any of their vices." The vigor of his mental faculties was sustained to the last. " His perceptions," says a writer in an obituary notice in a New Bedford paper, " were clear and acute. His conversation, marked by strong sense, abounding with anecdotes and interesting reminiscences of the Revolution, exhibited, almost to the last days of his life, the liveliness of youth, without any of the garrulity of age, always tasteful, animated, and correct."

Judge Baylies' father, Deacon Nicholas, was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and force of character, of excellent judgment, and of sterling integrity, respected by all who knew him. It was remarkable that in those days of dram-drinking he was a practical teetotaler, not tasting of ardent spirits, it is said, for more than sixty years. He left eight children, sixty-five grandchildren, and thirty-five greatgrandchildren.

Dr. William Baylies. - William Baylies, brother of Hodijah, was born in Uxbridge, Nov. 24, 1743, and graduated at Harvard in 1760. He was a man of fine mental endowments, and held many positions requiring high intelligence and a sound judgment. He was a member of the Provincial Congress which convened in 1775. During the Revolution he was often in the councils of the State. In 1784, while in the State Senate, he was appointed by Governor Hancock register of probate for Bristol County and a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was a member of the State Convention which ratified the Constitution, and in 1800 was an elector of President and Vice-President. He also represented his district in Congress fur four years. He was an original member of the medical, historical, agricultural, and humane societies of this State, and was an early member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was, besides, a skillful physician, and practiced medicine in Digbton for many years. He died in 1826. His son, Hon. William Baylies, LL.D., statesman and lawyer, was born in Digbton, Sept. 15, 1776. He practiced law for many years in West Bridgewater, and there the poet, William Cullen Bryant, studied law under his tuition. He died in Taunton, Sept. 27, 1865, and was buried in the old cemetery on the hill in Dighton. On the reverse of this monument is the following eulogium, far more deserved than are many of the flattering words of praise to be found on tombstones:

"This stone commemorates the virtues of one pure alike in public and in private life, and honored and beloved in both. An upright statesman, a persuasive lawyer, a prudent and faithful counselor, sincere in word and purpose, calm and kind in temper, equitable in judgment, wise in action, who never lent his great talents to the aid of injustice, and abhorred the gain that is acquired in making the worse appear the better cause. He lived a long, useful, and spotless life, and left a noble example to the generation which comes after him."

William Baylies, and his father, the doctor, before him, owned the farm now belonging to the heirs of the late Silas P. Briggs. The house was formerly owned and occupied by Rev. Nathaniel Fisher. Another of Dr. William Baylies' sons who was buried on the hill burying-ground was Samuel White Baylies, couaselor-at-law, who was born June 22, 1774. and died Sept. 13, 1S24. He practiced his profession in this town. Dr. Baylies' other distinguished son, Hon. Francis Baylies, of Taunton, author, statesman, and diplomatist, was born in Dighton, but was buried in Taunton. Dr. Baylies' daughter Elizabeth married Hon. Samuel Crocker, of Taunton. His wife was Bathsheba White, daughter of Hon. Samuel White, eminent as a lawyer.

Not far from the Baylies monuments on the hill are those erected to the memory of Capt. John Clouston and his wife Hannah, who was a daughter of Capt. George Bowers. Capt. Clouston died in 1782, in his forty-second year. In the Revolutionary war he commanded the armed vessel " Freedom," and was almost a second Paul Jones, being very successful in taking prizes in the British Channel, and thus, like Jones, bearding the English lion in his den. Capt. Clouston was a native of Scotland, and perhaps had inherited from his remote ancestors some of that animosity towards the English that prevailed among the Scottish clans in the olden time.

Thomas S. Baylies. - Thomas Sargeant Baylies, son of Nicholas and brother to Hodijah and Dr. William Baylies, was born Oct. 18, 1748. He lived at North Dighton for some years and was a farmer. He had besides some connection with the iron-works established by his father on the Three-Mile River, in Westville, Taunton. He married Bethia Godfrey, of Taunton, for his first wife. His second wife was Deborah Barnum. He had fourteen children, and he died Oct. 30, 1835. He was a man of considerable influence in town affairs, was representative in the General Court for three years, and was one of the selectmen for a number of years. George Baylies, son of Thomas S., was a merchant in Boston. Horatio married Rhoda Pratt, of Dighton. Henry married Deborah Walker, of this town. Charles married Keziah Round ; he was a carpenter and resided at North Dighton. Alfred married Rebecca D. Sproat ; he settled in Taunton and was a wrell-known physician there. Nicholas married Susan Stone and moved to Baltimore; he had fourteen children. John, son of Thomas S., married Mary Shaw ; he resided in New Bedford. John's daughter Charlotte married Charles T. Congdon, Esq., one of the editorial staff of the New York Tribune. Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas S., married George B. Atwood, Esq., of Taunton. Hannah married John N. Washburn, and Eliza A. married James Sproat, Esq., formerly clerk of the courts.

been collecting information, genealogical and historical, relating to the family. He informs me that when in England in 1860, he visited Alvechurch, the home of Nicholas, father of Thomas Baylies, previously mentioned as the first of the name to come over to America, and searched the parish records, making extracts of such portions as related to the family in old times. After he had made a large number of extracts he was accosted by the curate and informed that he must pay half a crown for each extract he had made, the whole amounting to between twenty and thirty dollars. After a somewhat warm controversy in regard to the iniquity of such a charge, a compromise was effected and he was permitted to take away the extracts he had made at a somewhat reduced rate, although the amount that he had to pay was a large sum, when it is considered that he did the copying himself. Such is the mode of doing business in some parts of the "tight little island." Alvechurch is about a dozen miles from Birmingham. Dr. William Baylies was one of the original proprietors of the old Dighton and Berkley Bridge, and was active in securing the incorporation of the company of which he was a member. The act of incorporation commences as follows: "Feb. 24, 1801, Samuel Tobey, William Baylies, Thomas B. Richmond, George Ware, Benjamin Crane, Luther Crane, and Thomas Carpenter (2d), with such other persons as are now associated, or shall hereafter become associated, are incorporated in the Dighton and Berkley Bridge Company." The building of the bridge was strenuously opposed by those interested in the coasting business in Taunton and other towns on the river, as the following paper drawn up at the time to lay before the Legislature will show. The paper is interesting as showing the extent of the trade and manufactures of Taunton at that time.

"First. There are sixteen coasting vessels owned and employer} above the place where. the said bridge is intended to be built, drawing from six to seven and a half feet of water, ten of which pass and repass to Providence, Bedford, etc., twenty-five times each a year, at least; the other six pass and repass to and from New York, Philadelphia, Connecticut, New Jersey, etc., at least eight times each a year, freighted wholly with the manufactures of Taunton and the neighboring towns out, and generally bringing back raw materials and grain, making in the whole five hundred and ninety-six times the said vessels will have to pass said bridge in a year, being a damage to the voyages of the smaller vessels of at least twelve shillings, and of the larger vessels of at least twentyfour shillings each time they have to pass said bridge, amounting to four hundred and five pounds four shillings a year.

"Secondly. As there are three difficult, rocky, and dangerous places to pass above and below the place said bridge is to stand, unless at slack water, by reason of the rapidity of the current . . . from five to fifteen minutes detention would render it unsafe attempting to pass said places, by which detention they would frequently lose a fair wind, and be detained several days; besides, Lhe -aid vessels now pass up and down at all times of night, which they could not do if -aid 1 ridge is built, to their great damage. There are also frequently vessels passing up and down that are not owned in the river.

"Thirdly. That there are at least three millions of bricks made in Taunton a year, nearly all of them transported down said river, which business jives employment to a large number of men and teams, and which must be stopped if there is any additional expense in getting the bricks to market.

"Fourthly. That there are manufactured in Tauuton and vicinity eight hundred tons of ironware, at least, the furnaces at which it is made depending in a great measure upon ore freighted up Taunton Kiver, and that there are seven hundred tons of bar-iron slit and rolled j in Taunton, and made into nails, shovels, etc., giving employment to a large number of men, the greater part of said manufactures being car- i ried down said river, the vessels engaged in the business bringing back corn and provisions to supply the workmen employed, and we believe j that if there is any further obstruction to the navigation of said river the said business will eventually be destroyed.

" Fifthly. We believe that a bridge across said river will be of no considerable advantage to the public, as there is no considerable place of business on the river below Tauuton, and but very few people cross the ferries, at one of which, not a mile below where it is intended to build said bridge, does not bring into the ferryman more than six or seven pounds a year, and the other ferry, about two miles below where the said bridge is intended to be built, does not more than pay the expense of boat and tender." 1

Notwithstanding the weighty arguments advanced against a bridge in the foregoing paper, the commerce of Taunton was not destroyed by its being built, and it has since survived the building of two more bridges across the river. But, whatever effect they may have had on Taunton, the railroad bridges have cut off to a large extent the maritime commerce of Dighton to the great benefit of Somerset.2

Mary Baylies, a sister of Nicholas Baylies, father of William Hodijah and Thomas S., married Col. Ezra Richmond, of Dighton, who served in the British army in the old French and Indian war, but where I am unable to state. He was a justice of the peace, and filled several responsible civil offices. He was a man of considerable influence in his day. He lived in the house built by Jared Talbot, opposite the old meeting-house on the hill, and he died Sept. 15, 1800, aged eighty-two years. His son, Thomas B. Richmond, Esq., was also a justice of the peace, and filled the town offices of town clerk, selectman, and assessor. He married Elizabeth Fales, and lived on the old homestead. They had seven children. Their son Charles married Sarah Crocker, of Taunton, and was one of the noted manufacturing firm of Crocker & Richmond, of that town. Thomas B. Richmond's daughter, Elizabeth F., married Rev. Samuel Tobey, , of Berkley, and his daughter Harriet married Job Gardner, who formerly carried on the business of

2 Besides the injury done to the commercial interests of Dighton by j the railroad bridges, they have, by practically converting the river into j a canal, deprived us of an important source of aesthetic gratification. Formerly the river, for nine or ten months in the year, was enlivened by the white sails of various sorts of craft, but all that has been changed; ugly and noisy little tugs, with uglier barges in tow, or strings of schooners under bare poles, have taken the place of the white wings of the coasters. A vessel under sail is one of the most beautiful and inspiring objects that man has created, especially when beating against a strong wind ; a river without vessels or boats under sail is deprived of half its beauty. It is easy for one who has always lived within sight of a navigable river to sympathize with John Buskin, when he says in the "Stones of Venice," "that without any manner of doubt a ship is one j of the loveliest tilings man ever made, and one of the noblest; nor do I ] know any lines out of divine work, so lovely as those of the head of a ship, or even as the sweep of the timbers of a small boat." And this beauty of line can only be seen to its greatest advantage when the vessel is careening under sail.

globe-making, in a building that stood near Andrews' wharf, in Dighton, and was afterwards used as a shipcarpenter's shop by Col. Darius Perry, a ship-builder of this place.

Another sister of Nicholas Baylies, named Esther, married Capt. Robert Holmes, of Dighton. They came over from England together and fell in love on the voyage. They had a son named Robert, who was also a sea-captain. He came home from a voyage sick with the smallpox, and died at the early age of twenty-two. Their daughter Mary married Abiel Whitmarsh, of this town. Capt. Robert Holmes, Sr., was cast away and lost on Cohasset Rocks during a terrible storm. Before leaving home he had mentioned to his wife Esther, that if she had a son born during his absence, he should probably never return alive from the voyage, as in his family for many generations the father had died without seeing the son. A boy was born during the absence of the father. Such superstitions were more common at that day than at present.

I have devoted considerable space to the Baylies family, but they were a prolific race, and not a few of them were prominent in public affairs, acting their parts creditably. The blood must have been of a good strain to produce so many worthy and capable men and women, notwithstanding the saying that has been handed down in the family that they were all descended from Old Nick, in allusion to the ancestral Nicholas of Alvechurch.

Period of the War of 1812. - Judging from the town records, the military history of Dighton during the war of 1812 might be as brief as the famous chapter on the snakes in Iceland, in the old history: "There are no snakes in Iceland." So there is no military history of the town during the last war with Great Britain to be found in the records. Many of the able-bodied citizens must have served in the army and the navy, but no statement is made of their number, nor are any of the names of the soldiers given. No doubt the people here, as elsewhere, had thought and talked a great deal about the long series of insults and aggressions we had endured from the mother-country, and which made reparation on her part the only alternative of war. The Federalists, with whom the war was not popular, were in a minority here.

On the 19th of June, 1812, President Madison, urged on by the fiery zeal of his political advisers, issued his proclamation of war. On August 31st a town-meeting was held, at which it was voted to support the government of the United States in the war, and to pay each man drafted into the service five dollars a month, in addition to the government pay. At another meeting the men who went in defense of New Bedford, when that port was threatened with an attack from the enemy, were voted a like sum in addition to their pay from the State. This is all the in-' formation to be got from the town record- in regard to the war of 1812. Nor are the names of the men who served in the war to be found among the archives at the State House. Inquiring at the adjutant-general's office, I was told that the old record books concerning the war of 1812 had been sent to Washington upon demand of the general government some years ago, and that the State authorities had never been able to get them back, although they had endeavored to do so. Dighton was represented in the roster of the Fourth Regiment, Second Brigade, at that time, by Senior-Maj. Abraham Briggs, who held the office until the disbandment of the regiment. Dighton then had three companies of militia, Ezekiel Francis being captain of the first company, Simeon Talbot of the second, and Hezekiah Anthony of the third. These companies were a part of the Fourth Regiment of the Second Brigade, Joseph E. Reed, of Troy (now Fall River), being the lieutenant-colonel commanding the regiment.

At the conclusion of peace between the United States and Great Britain, the people of this town, Democrats as well as Federalists, no doubt rejoiced as heartily as the people of any part of the country, for the chief industry of the town after farming, the building of vessels, had been at a standstill while hostilities had lasted. Immediately after peace was declared the deserted ship-yards resounded with the ring of the carpenter's axe and the calker's mallet. Vessels were in great demand to fill the places of the nearly seventeen hundred destroyed or captured by the British cruisers during the war.

During the progress of the war disputes and divisions between the north and south parts of the town had culminated in the secession of the north part, and its incorporation on the 8th of June, 1814, as the town of Wellington, named after the Iron Duke. The exact causes of the separation are not well known" at the present time, but it is probable that matters relating to the ministry and the meeting-houses had some connection with the difficulties that led to the secession of the north part, and, possibly, political dillerenees and disappointed politicians may have been among the causes. Two cotton-manufactories had recently been built at North Dighton, which had increased considerably the population and taxable property of that part of the town, and it was estimated that more than three-fifths of the population and property were on the Wellington side of the line. The men in the north part who engineered the bill for the new township through the Legislature, seem to have been shrewder in looking out for their own interests than their neighbors of the south part. The dividing line, after leaving the Segreganset River, a short distance above its mouth, followed the east and west roads most of the way to the Rehoboth line. In the act of incorporation the north side of the road is the dividing line, throwing the whole cost of keeping these roads in repair upon the town of Dighton. Then the paupers, of whom there were twenty, were divided equally between the two towns, which was unjust to Dighton, Wellington having more population and more property. The people of Dighton afterwards petitioned the Legislature to rectify these matters, but nothing came of the petition. The Buck Plain meeting-house, which had been used as a townhouse, was in Wellington, and the town-meetings of Dighton were now held in the school-house that stood a short distance east of the Lower Four Corners, and which was much too small for the purpose.1

At the first town-meeting in Wellington, Gamaliel Church was chosen moderator; Joseph Gooding, town clerk; Thomas B. Richmond, Nathaniel Wheeler, and Nathaniel Pierce, selectmen ; David Williams, Hezekiah Anthony, Matthew Briggs (2d), Ephraim Gooding, and Thomas Pierce, assessors; and Ephraim Gooding, town treasurer. Ninety-three votes were cast. By the division Dighton was left with only one selectman, Dr. William Wood.2 At a town-meeting held soon after, Capt. Rufus Whitmarsh and Salathiel Jones was chosen to fill the vacancies. Ninetyfour votes were cast in the Dighton meeting. The people of Wellington did not find that their condition and prospects were improved by being set off as a separate township. On the contrary, their taxes were increased, for they had now a set of town officers whose services must be paid for by themselves without the help of the people of Dighton. After about a dozen years' separation they were glad to give up their autonomy as a separate township and to resume business under the old name. The town was reunited to Dighton Feb. 22, 1826. The following is the petition of the Wellington people to the General Court to be again united with Dighton :

" To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General Court assembled : "The undersigned petitioners, being inhabitants of the town of Wellington, humbly showeth: That iu the year 1814 the town of Wellington was set off from the town of Dighton ; that great inconveniences have arisen from this measure, and that it would be for the m«tual benefit of the inhabitants of both towns to have the same again united into one town by the name of Dighton.

1 This school-house was afterwards sold by the town ; it was purchased by Ebenezer Stetson, who moved it over opposite the Congregational meeting-house, and made a dwelling-house of it. Stetson had lost one of his legs in the Revolutionary war. He was a tailor by trade, and added to that occupation the duties of sexton. There are many who will recall his familiar appearance as he rang the meeting-house bell on Sundays, standing with the stump of his leg on the back of an old chair for support, and pulling away lustily at the bell-rope while he talked with the people who loitered in the porch belore the services commenced. His stern features and sterner voice had an awe-inspiring effect on mischief-loving boys, though he was in reality a kind-hearted man.

2 Dr. William Wood was a native of Swansey. He practiced medicine in Dighton for many years. His name has been mentioned in the list of collectors of customs for the port of Dighton. He died Jan. 17, 1833, in the sixtieth year of his age. His first wile was Mary Mosier, of Dartmouth ; his second was Mary Ware, widow of Dr. George Ware, and his third wife was Bridget Briggs. Dr. Alfred Wood, his son by his first wife, also practiced medicine here for many years, and was also interested in the nursery business. His daughter, Adeline, by his second wife, married Dr. Charles Talbot, of this town, lately deceased. By his last wife he had two sons, - William and Daniel.

which Wellington only uses, and which is situated nearly in the territorial centre of the two towns, but which both towns decline to repair.

A similar petition, signifying that Barkis was " willin','' was sent from Dighton, signed by Hodijah Baylies and fifty-four others. Among the town officers of Wellington during its brief existence were Joseph Gooding,1 Jonathan Jones, and Harvey Harnden, town clerks; Thomas B. Richmond, Nathaniel Wheeler, Gamaliel Church, Thomas S. Baylies, Nathaniel Pierce, Ephraim Gooding, George Walker, Peleg Francis, John Walker, Barnabas Crane, Matthew Briggs, Neh.emiah Walker, Benjamin Trafton, and David Perry, selectmen. The representatives sent to the General Court were Nathaniel Wheeler, in 1816,

1 The Goodings of this town can trace their ancestry back to the beginning of the seventeenth century. George Gooding, third son of Matthew and Joannna, was born in 1G33, at Huutworthy, parish of North Petherton, in Somersetshire, England. While he was yet a young man he came to America, and settled first in Taunton and afterwards on the South Purchase, of which he was one of the earliest settlers, and was the clerk of the proprietors. He married, in 16S6, Deborah Walker, daughter of James Walker, of Taunton. Their only son, Matthewr, was born June 12, 1695 ; in 1723 he married Abigail Richmond, of Middleborough. Joseph Gooding, son of the last couple, was born in Dighton July 1, 1729. He married Rebecca Macomber, of Taunton. Joseph Gooding, Jr., the oldest son of the last couple, was born March 6, 1773, in Dighton; he was the town clerk of Wellington, referred to above, and was a watchmaker by trade. He married Betsey Austin, of Dighton. They had six children, - Abigail, Albert, Joseph, William, Betsey, and Charles Henry. The latter now owns and occupies the family homestead near the Dighton and Berkley bridge. He married Mary A. Talbot, u£e Briggs. His brother Albert married Abigail B. Williams, daughter of Nathaniel. Betsey married Samuel Thaxter, of Fall River. Rebecca married Dr.L.yuian Bartlett, of New Bedford. The old family Bible, two hundred years or more old, is still extant, though sadly dilapidated through the hard usage of colonial days, when Bibles were read more than they are at the present day. The George Gooding, first above mentioned, was one of the proprietors of the South Purchase, and there is a deed extant, written on parchment, dated Feb. 24, 1689, in which is conveyed to him for a consideration of ten pounds one share of laud in the South Purchase by Nathaniel Shove, son of Rev. (leorge Shove, of Taunton. At the bottom of the deed is the following memorandum by the purchaser :

" This is to declare that my father-in-law, James Walker, gave me the money that bought the laud mentioned in the deed, for which I humbly thank him."

Another branch of the Gooding family, of which George E. Gooding, Esq., is a representative, is descended from George Gooding, born in 1723. He was the son of Matthew, and brother to the first mentioned Joseph. George had a son named Ephraim, born in 1704, and Ephraim a son named Ebenezer, born in 1794, who was the father of Deacon G. E. Gooding, above mentioned.

Another old family homestead near the Dighton and Berkley bridge is that of the Standish family, lineal descendants of the doughty old pilgrim, Miles Standish, whose courtship Longfellow made the theme of one of his poems. The present representatives of the family in this town are Thomas D. Standish, his sou James C., and a daughter. David Standish, brother of Thomas D., died some years ago. The brothers were ship-carpenters by trade.

The Great September Gale of 1815. - The great cyclone and tidal wave of Sept. 23, 1815, are still vividly remembered by some of our townspeople, while younger generations have heard them so frequently talked about that they seem to many almost as if occurring within their own remembrance. It was probably the most destructive gale that has visited New England since its settlement by white men. The storm commenced on Friday, the 22d, with a high northeast gale and heavy rain, which continued until the next morning, when the wind veered to the east ; between eight and nine o'clock it shifted to the southeast, blowing almost a hurricane, and sending a tidal wave up the bays and rivers along the coast twelve feet higher than the highest springtides. Had the wind continued to blow in the same direction the tide would probably have risen much higher, but at half-past eleven A.M. the wind suddenly changed to the west, and the tidal wave subsided as rapidly as it had arisen.

If less damage was done in Dighton by this fearful gale than in Providence, Newport, and other large towns, it was only because there was less property to be destroyed. A large brig broke from her moorings and went ashore above the town landing. When the tide fell she was so far inland that she could not be launched, and was sold at auction for less than the old iron was worth. A new ship, just completed, also went ashore near the town landing. Ways were laid, and repeated efforts to launch her were made. Her owners had nearly given up the idea of getting her off, when one day, while the workmen were at dinner, the ship suddenly started and slid gracefully down the ways and into the river, to the great astonishment of the laborers on their return from dinner. In some of the houses near the river the water rose nearly to the chamber floors, and they would have been swept away by the heavy waves that dashed against them had it not been for the huge, old-fashioned chimneys which held them in their places. Fortunately no lives were lost, although one old bedridden lady, named Bourne, had a narrow escape. When the tide entered the house she was placed by her friends on the top of a chest of drawers, while the family were driven up stairs by the rapidly-rising tide. Soon the old lady's retreat was overflowed, and she would have been drowned had not one of the floor-boards overhead been loosely fastened, so that those in the attic could take it up, when a hole was broken in the lath-and-plaster ceiling of the room below, through which the old lady was pulled up. That was in the old Cartwright -house, that stood on the corner, near the town-landing ; it was afterwards moved off and used as a carpenter's shop. Nearly all the fences and walls for some distance from the river were destroyed, trees were uprooted, the wells were filled with salt water, the outhouses demolished, and many fowls and domestic animals drowned. When the waters subsided people went searching among the wreckage that strewed the line of high-water mark for their missing goods and chattels.

An aged lady, who lived on Richmond Hill at the time, tells me that she could see the great waves dashing over the houses that stood near the river, which seemed like a raging sea, while large oak-trees, in a grove near by, were snapping off like pipe-stems as the fiercer gusts of the cyclone struck them. Windows for many miles inland were covered on the outside with a film of salt deposited by the briny scud lifted from the waves and borne along by the gale. In Providence several hundred buildings were destroyed, and the damage was estimated at a million and a half of dollars. The coast was strewn with wrecks, and several men from this town were lost by shipwreck. There have been many heavy September gales since, but that of 1815 is still known as the September gale. Long may it retain that honor.

First Congregational Society. - The founding of the First Congregational Society of this town, with Rev. Nathaniel Fisher as its minister, has already been sketched as far as the few existing documents relating thereto will permit. Mr. Fisher appears to have been a worthy man and a faithful minister. When age and infirmities overtook him the society procured him an assistant, Rev. John Smith, at an annual salary of twenty pounds. Towards the last of his life Mr. Fisher found great difficulty in collecting his salary, and in 1871 he was compelled to bring a suit against the town for the non-payment of his rates, and recovered fifty-three pounds for the deficiency of two years. It is probable that the more mercenary of those who were thus obliged to pay for some years the preacher's salary, when he was no longer able to preach, may have had misgivings as to the wisdom of the custom of hiring a minister for better or for worse as long as he should live, and would have been able to sympathize with the old farmer whose property had been mostly swallowed up by the doctor's bills for his wife's protracted sickness, when he expressed the wish that Betsey might get well or - something. Mr. Fisher was buried on the Will burying-ground, but there is no inscribed stone to mark the spot, nor a tablet anywhere to record that such a man ever lived and preached in this town. Towards the last of his ministry the Quakers and Baptists were released from paying their rates to support the minister, which added to the burthen of those belonging to the society. In 1768 the following-named Quakers were thus released by a vote of the town: Edward Shove, Asa Shove, George Shove, Theophilus Shove, Edward Southwick, Michael Smith, Samuel Baker, William Boyce, and Ephraim Chubb. These all live on the east side of the river.

came from Plainfield, Conn. He graduated at Princeton College. Mr. Smith was generally liked by the society, but how long he continued to preach does not appear ; he was still the minister of the society near the close of the century; he was finally dismissed in good standing.1 When he left Dighton he went as a missionary to Canandaigua, in New York State, and was instrumental in the purchase and clearing of six hundred acres of land in that town, and the founding thereon of a seminary of learning. He thence removed to Kentucky, where he died about the year 1820, at the age of seventy-five years, leaving four sons. One of his grandsons was Prof. W. B. Smith, of Union Theological Seminary.

The successor of Mr. Smith was Rev. William Warren, of New Ipswich, N. H. He graduated at Dartmouth College in the year 1800, and was ordained in 1802. He married Clarissa Davis, of this town. He commenced to preach under favorable circumstances. He was very popular in his society for some time, but after eight or nine years he became inattentive to his ministerial duties, and devoted a part of his time to the practice of medicine. He gave up his salary, excepting what individuals were pleased to give him, became intemperate in his habits, and was dismissed in 1815. When he left Dighton he either carried with him all the records of the church or destroyed them, as they were not to be found afterwards. He removed to Salem, where he practiced medicine with considerable success, but his morals did not improve, and in 1820 he was excommunicated. For a number of years after he left here there was no regular preaching in the First Church, which declined greatly in the number of its members until only a few were left. In 1826, Rev. William Torrey preached here for a short time.

In 1827, Rev. Preston Cummings was engaged, and was installed December 26th. He preached till 1835, when he was honorably dismissed. He was followed by Rev. Jonathan King, who stayed for a year, and was dismissed in 1837. In 1838, Rev. John Shaw was installed as pastor. He was dismissed in 1843. Mr. Shaw was followed in 1844 by Rev. Joseph H. Bailey. Mr. Bailey died the same year, much lamented by the church and society. In this year the church received two donations of money, the interest on which was to be devoted to the support of the ministry. The donations were from Deacon Samuel Walker and Samuel Walker, Jr., and the amount was about seven hundred dollars. As the church could not hold property, even in trust, the donations were transferred to

1 At the time Mr. Smith was settled there wrisa warm, though friendly, contest between those of the society who were in favor of having him for the minister and those who were in favor of a Mr. Staples, who had been preaching on probation. The question as to which of them should be settled over the society was put to vote in the Buck Plain meetinghouse, those in favor of Mr. Smith being directed by the moderator t<> go on the women's side of the house (the sexes were kept apart in the meeting-house in those days), while those in favor of Mr. Staples went on the men's side. The former was found to be the larger party.

the society. After Mr. Bailey's death Rev. Malachi Bullard, of Med way, preached three months, and Rev. E. B. Claggit filled the pulpit for a short time. Rev. William Walker, of Dighton, a licentiate preacher of the Baptist order, also preached occasionally. In 1845, Rev. George Brown, from Maine, filled the pulpit, hut left at the end of a year. In 1852, Rev. E. Newhall stayed for about two months. In 1853, Rev. Ezra Newton was called. Mr. Newton stayed till August, 1855. He was followed in 1856 by Rev. E. Sanford, of Raynham, who remained until May, 1860. Mr. San ford's successor was Rev. E. Dawes, who preached until 1879, when he received a call to the pastorate of a church in Lakeville. Mr. Dawes was followed by Rev. E. J. Moore, and he by the present pastor, Rev. William B. Green.

The brick meeting-house, the place of worship of the Central Church and Society, which formerly met in the Buck Plain meeting-house, was built in the year 1826. It was dedicated on the 1st day of May, 1827.

Second Congregational Society. - When the referees from Attleborough had stuck up the stake on Buck Plain in 1768, as the proper place to build a meeting-house to replace the one burnt on the hill, there was much dissatisfaction among the people living in the east and south parts of the town. The stake on the plain might be in the exact geographical centre of the township, but it was by no means in the centre of population. The business and wealth of the town were chiefly along the lower streets, nearer the river, where were also to be found the best farms and more than half of the population. Nevertheless, the meeting-house was built on the plain, and the people in the eastern and southern sections of the town paid their proportion of the cost, and went regularly up among the scrub-oaks on Sundays for many years, facing many a bitter northwester on the way to meeting. Meanwhile they had resolved to have a meeting-house nearer their homes, and their efforts in this direction resulted in the raising and covering of the Second Congregational meeting-house, now occupied by the Unitarian Society, near the Lower Four Corners. So much had been accomplished by the new society just before the Revolution. During the war the resources of the people were too heavily taxed in meeting the calls of the government for men and money for them to raise the amount required to complete the new meeting-house, which was consequently left in an unfinished state, without windows or doors. While in this condition the building was for some time used as a sheep-pen by Capt. Rufus Whitmarsh, who owned the adjoining farm. After the war two tracts of land were given by Col. Sylvester Richmond and Joseph Atwood for a ministerial fund for the use of the Pedo Baptist Congregational Church and Society at the Four Corners. In February, 1797, it was voted by the society that the trustees of this property should immediately sell the wood and timber on the land, and that six hundred dollars of the money arising from the sale should be devoted to repairing the meeting-house, the remainder to be nut at interest, and the interest to be used in the support of a minister. The house was accordingly repaired,1 and in 1798 the Rev. John Smith undertook to heal the breach in the two societies by preaching alternate Sundays at Buck Plain and at the Four Corners, but this arrangement did not last long, and when Mr. Smith left Dighton a permanent separation between the two societies took place. The Rev. Mr. Allen preached for a short time after Mr. Smith's departure, as did also Rev. George Barstow, and both were invited by the society to settle with them, but probably the salary offered (four hundred dollars) was not a sufficient inducement to these gentlemen, as both declined.

In June, 1803, the society met, and voted " that Mr. Abraham Gushee be and is hereby invited to take upon him the pastoral charge of the society by settling with them in the ministry of the gospel." It was then voted to pay him four hundred dollars a year as long as he should remain with them, in case he accepted the offer, and Thomas B. Richmond, James Briggs, and Josiah Wardwell were chosen a committee to notify him of the society's proposals. Mr. Gushee accepted the call, and was ordained Sept. 23, 1803, eleven churches being invited to attend the ordination by their pastors or by delegates. Mr. Gushee was the pastor of the society for more than half a century. He was born in Raynham, Sept. 19, 1775, and graduated at Brown University in 1798. His ancestors were French. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, about one hundred and fifty French Huguenots came over to Massachusetts, where large numbers of their posterity are still to be found. Among these refugees were two brothers, Henri and David Gachet, who came from Rochelle, France. Their name has since been Anglicized into two distinct names, the descendants of the older brother, Henri, writing it Gassett, and those of

1 The steeple of the meeting-house was not added until a generation after the house was finished as above stated. The four timbers forming the corners of the square tower were long, heavy sticks, and as to getting them upright was beyond the engineering resources of the carpen. ters who were to build the steeple, they called upon Capt. Anthony Shove to superintend the job. Capt. Shove procured ship's tackles, and with the aid of shears and a windlass, readily hoisted the sticks into their places. After the square tower was finished the spire was built inside of it, and Capt. Shove also superintended the hoisting of that into position.

Capt. Anthony Shove, father of the writer of this sketch, was born in Freetown, March 21, 1787. His parents, Joseph and Lois, were Quakers. He was a descendant of Rev. George Shove, of Taunton, one of the original proprietors of the Taunton South Purchase. Capt. Shove married Abby Bowen, daughter of David Bowen, ship-builder of this town. They had five children, two daughters and three sons, - Joseph, David B., and George A. Capt. Shove in early life was a shipmaster, making voyages to England and up the Mediterranean. He was chairman of the board of selectmen for several years, and was four times chosen to represent the town in the Legislature, viz., in 1840, 1841, 1846, aud 1852. He was also postmaster for a number of years. He died suddenly Jan. 2, 1858. His widow survived him fourteen years.

David converting it into Gushee. When the division between the Orthodox or Evangelical Congregationalists and the Unitarians took place, Mr. Gushee joined the latter, and ever afterwards preached the Unitarian doctrines. Mr. Gushee died Oct. 25, 1861, at the age of eighty-six years. In person he was tall and somewhat spare of flesh, and he was erect and dignified in his bearing. In his best days his sermons were wellwritten, able discourses. Mr. Gushee's first wife was Bathsheba Tobey, daughter of Samuel Tobey, of Berkley, by whom he had seven children, - Maria, Almond, Frederick A., Horace, Silas T., Julia A., and Bathsheba. His oldest son, Almond, practiced medicine in Warren, R. I. He married Elizabeth Williams, daughter of Nathaniel Williams, Esq., of Dighton.

In 1861 the Unitarian meeting-house was remodeled and repaired at an expense of nearly two thousand dollars, the old galleries, pulpit, and pews were taken out, the two tiers of small windows were changed into one tier of long ones, and other improvements were made, including the purchase of an organ. Rev. Francis Le Baron received a call from the society, staying with them one year. Mr. Le Baron, like Mr. Gushee, was of Huguenot descent. He was a man of fine presence, of an enthusiastic and poetic temperament, which characteristics were displayed in his discourses, and, while he was genial and companionable, he was, perhaps, not altogether without a consciousness of possessing culture and intellectual gifts superior to most of those with whom he associated. After leaving Dighton he gave up preaching, and removing to the West, engaged in the manufacture of barrels by machinery, in company with Rev. William Chamberlain, formerly a Universalist preacher in this town.

Mr. Le Baron was succeeded in 1863 by Rev. Fiske Barrett, who resigned in 1866, and was followed by Rev. J. L. Hatch, who stayed one year. In 1868, Rev. Mr. Kelso supplied the pulpit. Mr. Kelso was a Spiritualist, in the best sense of this unpopular term. Mr. Kelso's successor was Rev. F. E. Kittredge, who stayed until 1874, when, owing to domestic troubles, he resigned and weut West, where he procured a divorce from his wife and married a Western lady. He was succeeded by Rev. John Wills, an Englishman, who resigned in 1876, and was followed by W. H. Reeby, now of Norton, and he by the present pastor, Rev. Obed Eldridge.

The ministerial fund is now between five and six thousand dollars. After the sale, in 1797, of the wood and timber from the land donated to the society, about one thousand dollars remained as a permanent fund when the bills for repairing the house were paid. The trustees named in the act of incorporation, which was approved by the Governor June 25, 1798, were William Baylies, Silvester Richmond, John Hathaway, Hodijah Baylies, Joseph Atwood, Silvester Atwood, Jr., David Andrews, George Ware, and Thomas B. Richmond. They were authorized to hold

The George Ware mentioned as one of the trustees was Dr. George Ware, who died Jan. 7, 1805, aged forty-four years. His father had practiced medicine before him in Dighton, and was also named George. He died Feb. 16, 1771, aged thirty-seven. They were both considered skillful physicians, as was also Dr. William Ware, brother of the first George, who practiced medicine for many years in this town. He died about the year 1764, leaving a widow and several children. His widow, who was a daughter of Eliakim Walker, afterwards married Col. Thomas Church. Dr. William Ware lived on the Broad Cove road. He owned the farm now belonging to Weston Earle. The old farm-house was torn down some years ago. Dr. George Ware and his son George lived on a farm about a third of a mile east of Pitt's Corner. It is still known as the Ware farm, and contains the family burying-ground. A story has been handed down concerning the first Dr. George and the selection of a site for the family burying-ground, which is to the following effect: The doctor had searched his farm over in vain for a suitable place for the family cemetery ; where the land was not wet and swampy it was covered with rocks. In this dilemma he offered a friend who was making him a visit five dollars if he would find a suitable spot on the farm for a burying-place. After considerable search the gentleman announced that he had found the right place, which was where the family burial-lot was afterwards walled in. Dr. Ware assured his friend that the spot was altogether too wet for the purpose, and that whoever was laid there would have the rheumatism in their bones. " Well, it may be as you say, doctor, but it is the only place that is at all suitable on your farm, and, considering how you will be situated hereafter, the wetness of the soil ought to be a recommendation." Dr. Ware was too fond of bantering others to be offended when the tables were sometimes turned upon himself. His friend's decision was accepted without further demur, but whether the five dollars were paid over or not tradition does not state. George Ware, Sr., married Mary Winslow.

Dr. George Ware the younger married, in 1785, Polly Andrews, daughter of Capt. Elkanah Andrews. They had eight children. Their oldest daughter, Polly, was the second wife of Capt. Seth Talbot, of this town. Capt. Talbot represented the town in the Legislature in 1829. He was father of the late Dr. Charles Talbot, who had a large practice as a physician for many years in this and neighboring towns. Dr. Talbot was formerly postmaster, and in 1874 represented the Tenth Bristol District in the Legislature. He was a man of large influence in town affairs, and was a leading member of the Unitarian Society. He was born in Dighton, March 30, 1811, and died June 6, 1880. He graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1835.

Capt, Seth Talbot's brother, Capt. Eben Talbot, was captain of the second company of Dighton militia from 1814 to 1817, and held the offices of selectman and assessor for several years.

The Baptist Church - In the year 1771 there was a general revival among the Baptists in Rehoboth and in the adjoining towns. Sixty members were added to Elder Wick's church in Rehoboth. Quite a number of these new converts were Dighton people, to whom it was a great inconvenience to attend meeting at such a distance. Enoch Goff and other members were therefore allowed to hold meetings in this town. Mr. Goff was in favor of communion with those who had not been immersed. Being a man of considerable force of character, other members were led through his influence to adopt similar views, and the result was that a church was organized in the west part of Dighton in 1772. Mr. Goff was chosen pastor of the church, and as they had no meeting-house he was ordained in the barn of a Mr. Briggs. The sermon on the occasion was preached by Elder Lyon, of Canterbury, and Elder Jacob Hicks gave the hand of fellowship.

Not much is known of Elder Goff s early life. He was born in Dighton, Nov. 3, 1740, was baptized in 1771, and began to preach the same year. During the Revolution he served for a short time as a private in the army. In person he was short in stature, but strongly built. Though intensely earnest and zealous in his religious belief, he was yet cheerful and social in his intercourse with his friends and neighbors, and was liked by all who knew him. The members of his church were to him as his children. When invited to the pastorate of a church in Providence, he answered, "I cannot leave my family." The reply was that he was expected to bring his family with him. "But my family is very large; there are two hundred and fifty members in it." He was a shoemaker by trade, and supported his family by making and mending shoes, as he never had a salary. He was an illiterate man, having attended school but very little. He had a stentorian voice, which in summertime, when the meeting-house windows were open, could be heard for a long distance. In 1781, David Simmons (or Seamans) was ordained as his colleague. In 1780 the church completed the meeting-house, which had been commenced some time before, the site being near the Rehoboth line. It was a small structure, had rough benches instead of pews, and had neither stove nor fireplace. The circumstances attending its dedication were in the highest degree impressive, for it was dedicated on the " dark day," May 19, 1780, a day of intensified gloom, which must have strangely affected the congregation of farmers and their families, many of them, no doubt, illiterate and superstitious, who had assembled at the dedication. The sermon on the occasion was preached by Elder Knapp. In 1796 a larger and better finished house was built, about one mile north of the first one, and which has been known ever since as Elder Goff's meetinghouse, although it is not now in possession of the denomination to which he belonged. Elder Goff's congregation came from other towns besides Dighton and Rehoboth, and there were members of his church in Freetown, Berkley, Somerset, and Taunton. At one period his church consisted of more than three hundred members. He continued to preach regularly until 1806, when, his health failing, Elder Ephraim Sawyer was called to the pastorate, although Mr. Goff still preached occasionally. The oldest records belonging to the church commence in 1807, when there were one hundred and ninety-one members. In 1808 there was a revival, and fifty-seven were added to the church. The next year there was a schism among the members, and the trouble continued for two years, when thirty members were excluded for having em'braced what the majority considered erroneous doctrines.

From November, 1807, to October, 1813, two hundred and sixty-two members were received into the church. But while so many were received, the strictness of the discipline caused many to be excluded after having been members for a short time,' while deaths and removals further diminished the number, so that in 1826 there were only one hundred and thirty-nine belonging to the church.

Elder Goff died March 17, 1810. His widow, Deborah, died in 1816. They had two children, Deborah and Shubael. In 1813, Mr. Silas Hall, of Raynham, came to labor in the church, and was ordained the same year. He remained only one year. In 1816, Mr. Bartlett Pease, of New Bedford, was ordained pastor. In 1820 sixty-five members were added to j the church. Mr. Pease left in 1821. During his stay i there was quite a large party in the church in sympathy with those who were excluded in 1811 for having become infected with what was termed the I " heresy of Unitarianism." In 1821 a Mr. Lovejoy was called to preach. Lovejoy seems to have accepted too literally the apostolic saying about being all things to all men. His sermons in the church were of the orthodox, Trinitarian pattern, but when he met with the factions that had been excluded he expressed views that were radically Unitarian. Mr. Lovejoy was dismissed at the end of a year, and his dismissal was so unacceptable to many that the party who were in his favor withdrew from the church and held separate meetings. Thirty members were excluded soon afterwards, including two of the deacons. The Unitarian faction finally obtained possession of the meeting-house, which, under the name of the Christian Baptist Society, they retain at the present time, the Rev. Otis W. Bates being now the pastor.

1 The following entry in the church records of 1S2R shows that at that date there were sporadic cases of a disorder that has since become almost an epidemic. At a church meeting " Brother Green reported, in relation to Sister Lewis, that he had found her gilty of an incurable eavle, having divorced hir husband and married again, contra to the laws of God."

From 1822 to 1827 the church had no settled pastor ; in the latter year Mr. Caleb Greene, of New Bedford, was ordained. At this time the church numbered only one hundred members. Mr. Greene remained until 1831. In 1832, Eev. John Reed was called, and stayed till 1836. He was followed by Mr. J. L. Wittemore, who was ordained in May, 1837, and remained until 1840. The next year the church was without a pastor, and had but forty-one members. They were accustomed to meet in the school-house at the Lower Four Corners, and sometimes at private houses. In 1842 the church voted " to make an effort to build a meetingdiouse at the Four Corners, and that the church be located there." The house was completed in 1845 at a cost of about sixteen hundred dollars, the whole amount having been raised and paid before the dedication.

During the period they had been without a meeting-house they had been supplied with preachers for most of the time. Mr. John B. Parris, a licentiate, was with them for about a year and a half. Caleb Blood and Charles F. Colver, then students at Brown University, also preached for a time, as did also Alexander W. and Samuel Carr. After the dedication of the new house, Mr. James Andern was ordained pastor Nov. 13, 1845. The sermon on the occasion was by W. H. Shailer, D.D. Mr. Andern remained about a year, and was succeeded in 1847 by Rev. Edwin Stillman, who stayed until 1851. While he was here there was a revival, and seventeen persons were baptized.

During the ten years that followed Mr. Stillman's departure the church was without a resident pastor, excepting for six months, when Rev. S. A. Thomas preached. They were generally supplied with preaching, however, and there were some additions to the church. At that time it was classed as one of the feeble churches," and received aid from the Taunton Baptist Association, to which it belongs. In 1861, Rev. L. Kinney commenced to preach. Mr. Kinney's successors have been Rev. Mr. Latham, Rev. Mr. Horton, Rev. J. C. Boomer, and the present pastor, Rev. A. W. Carr, who has been with the church since 1874. Within a few years a handsome parsonage has been built near the church by the society, and an organ purchased. There are eighty-four members in the church at the present time.

First Methodist Episcopal Church. - Not much is known in regard to the early days of the Methodist Church at North Dighton. If records were kept of the proceedings in the church and society at that period, they are not now to be found.