Plymouth County, Massachusetts - Biographical sketches (5 of 6 so headed), 1884 (part 1 of 3)

Biographical sketches

THOMAS TRACY BOUVE. I Thomas Tracy Bouv6 was born in Boston on the 14th of January, 1815. He was placed in a private school in early childhood, where reading and spelling were taught, and transferred from it to a public school (the Eliot) at the age of seven. Reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and grammar were the studies pursued, and in these he became sufficiently proficient to enable him to receive the Franklin medal when twelve years of age, at which time he graduated, aud entered the English high school, then in Pinckney Street.

School-day life at that period was very different from what it is at the present time. There were then at the Eliot several hundred boys between the ages of seven and fourteen, and all placed in two large rooms, each of which had class divisions rising from either side of a central passage between them. One room, the lowest, was devoted to writing and arithmetic, the other, over the first, to grammar, geography, and reading. Each department was in charge of a head master, and of an assistant, who was called the usher. A very considerable portion of the time of some of the teachers was occupied in the punishment of offenders, and the noise of the rattan, as blows were struck upon the hands held out to receive them, daily shocked the ears and hearts of those who sympathized with the victims of cruelty, while the heroism manifested by many of the sufferers in bearing the blows without a cry, when each descent of the rod made a blue mark across the hand or wrist, cannot be forgotten.

The boys were then all Americans with possibly a very few exceptions. A considerable number of the older ones, or such as were members of the higher classes, were detailed as a fire-brigade ; and upon a public alarm of , fire they rushed from the school, taking with them each a fire-bucket from many which hung in the halls of the building, and ran to the scene of conflagration. Here the boys were placed in lines to pass water in their buckets from neighboring pumps to the hand-engines playing upon the fire. Our subject was one of the number who thus at the age of twelve acted :is a fireman.

The stay of the young boy at the English high school was but brief The reduced circumstances of his father, resulting from severe and prolonged illness, led to its being thought best that the lad should leave school and enter a store for the sake of the small salary that he might earn. He accordingly entered a dry-goods store and remained there until the failure of his employer, two years afterwards. At fifteen years of age he entered the employment of Lyman & Ralston, who were the proprietors of extensive* ironworks on the mill dam property, and where it is believed the first locomotive-engine made in Massachusetts was built. This business being given up after two or three years, he became a clerk in the employ of several corporations of which George W. Lyman was treasurer, and with him, and afterwards with the well-known and highly-respected Patrick T. Jackson, who was treasurer of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company, pas.sed several years with great satisfaction to himself, and with the respect and regard of those whom he served.

While thus engaged and even from the time of leaving school, feeling keenly the want of a liberal education, he ever sought to make up for this deficiency by study, and having early imbibed a love fur scientific investigation, was led to read much relating to chemistry, mineralogy, and geology. Li order to advance in such and kindred studies, he soon found that it would be advantageous to become acquainted with the Latin and French languages, and accordingly gavo much time to their acquisition.

When about twenty-five years of age, he became a partner in the well-known commission iron house of Curtis, Leavens & Co., afterwards Curtis, Bouve & Co. This house was prosperous, and he remained a partner in it for about thirty years, when being invited by the government of the Glendon Iron Company to become its treasurer, he did so, and has since conducted its affairs successfully, and, it is believed, to the satisfaction of all interested. He is at the present time, also, a director in one of the oldest of the national banks in Boston, as well as in several manufacturing corporations in this and other States.

Outside of his business occupations, Mr. Bouve's work has been very largely in a scientific direction. Soon after the formation of the Boston Society of Natural History he became a member, and in 1841 was elected to tlie otfice of cabinet-keeper. In 1842 he became curator of geology, and in 18G3 curator of geology and paleontology, which office he held until 1867. He was also curator of mineralogy from 18U5 to 1870. At this date committees of the several departments of the museum were formed in place of curatorships, and he has served upon some of these up to the present time. From 18G1 to 18C5 he held the office of treasurer of the society, and took an active part in raising the funds necessary in the erection and completion of the museum building on Berkeley Street. In 18GG he became second vicepresident, which jiosition he held until 1S70, wheu he was elected president of the society, succeeding the celebrated naturalist. Dr. Jeffries Wyiiian, whose health compelled his withdrawal from the office. He retained this position for ten years, resigning in ISSO, and receiving at this time marked testimonials of great respect and regard from the members.

Mr. Bouve is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American xVssociutiuii for the Advancement of Science, a corresponding mL-uiber of the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, etc. In 1850 he received the honorary degree of A..M. frutu Harvard University.

The published contributious of Mr. Bouve are nut numerous, and may mostly be found in the -- Pruceediogs of the Boston Society of Natural History." In 1880, at the request of that society, he wrote for its memoirs a history of the society from its formation, in 1830, and which was also published in u separate volume. He has passed the leisure hours of the past year or two in studying accurately the geology and botany of Hingham, intending to contribute the result of his labors toward the cunteniplatcd work on the history of the town.

Although holding active membership in various charitable societies, Mr. Bouve's principal working interest has been in that of the Temporary Home for the Destitute. In the Infancy of this institution, when it was lacking in means sufficient for its work, he served as treasurer, and took uu active part in bringing it up to what it is, - one of the best among the charitable institutions of the city. He afterwards became its president, holding the position for many years, and only relinquishing it from inability to attend to all the duties incumbent upon liiiu in tiie several positions in which he was placed. He is yet a member of the institution, and uiucli interested in the proceedings.

Mr. Bouve hiis always felt a strong interest in public affairs, although his tastes have nuver led him to take any active part in political action. He never has held, or desired to hold, any public office. He was an early abolitionist and a member of the Vigilance Committee of Boston, formed to aid runaway slaves, aud he subscribed to the fund raised for the purpose of providing arms and supplies for the early settlers of Kansas, to enable them to defend themselves from the murderous attacks of the slave power, then attempting to establish slavery upon that free soil. He was a member of the Free Soil party from its formation, and subsequently of the Republican party, always earnestly advocating its principles. When the war of the Rebellion opened he strongly felt that it should be what it finally became, - a war of einancipatiou, aud cheerfully saw his eldest sod I euguged in the military service of his country as soou as his ago permitted him to enter it.

Mr. Bouve was married, at the age of twenty-four, to Miss Emily G. Lincoln, of Hingliam. They have had seven children, of whom five survive.

Ebed L. Ripley

EBED L. RIPLEY. Ebed L. Ripley is a representative of one of Hing- Lum s oldest lamilies. lie is a lineal descendant of William Ripley^ who came from Hingham, Norfolk County, England, in ship " Diligent," 1G3S, with his wife, two sous and two daughters, and settled in Hingham, Mass., on a lot of laud which was granted him on the " Main Street, Lower Plain.'' This land has been in the possession of his descendants to the present time, and the handsome residence of Mr. Ebed L. Ripley now stands on what is thought to be the identical site of the cottage of his great ancestor, nearly two centuries and a half ago. William Ripley died July, lliuG. Juhn', his eldest son, married Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Peter Hobart, who was the first minister in Hingham. They had six sons and one daughter, of whom Fettr^ was fifth. He was born Oct. 21, 1(368, married Sarah Lazell, April 27, 1G9^>, and had three sons and three daughters. He died April 22, 17-12. Peter*, his second child and eldest Son, was born Oct. 25, 1095. He married Silence Lincoln, Jan. 5, 1721. They had three .sons and five daughters. He died April, 1705. Nchtiiiiah,^ his son, was born April 2, 1727, married Lydia Hobart, June 4, 1752 ; to them were born five sons and two daughters. He died Aug. 10, 1709. His eldest sou bore his name. Neliemiali'' was born April 18, 1755, married Priscilla Lincoln, Feb. 24, 1780. They had nine children, six sons and three daughters. Mr. Ripley died March 5, 1829. Kied\ his youngest .son, was born Nov. 15, 1793 ; he married Leah Jones, Nov. 23, 1820. Their children were Mary Burr, married John K. Corthell ; Joan Joue.s, also married John K. Corthell ; and Ebed Lincoln liijili-y, whose portrait accompanies this sketch. Ebed L. was born May 23, 1831, was educated at the common schools of his native town.

and in 1848 went to Boston as clerk in the wholesale clothing-store of Fearing & Whitney. He remained with them till Jan. 1, 1855, when he was admitted as a partner, and* the firm became Fearing, Whitney Ik. Co. July 1, 1855, the firm was dissolved by the death of Mr. Whitney, aud a new firm was formed, styled Fearing, Rhodes & Ripley. July 1, 185S, Mr. Fearing retired, and the firm became Rhodes & Ripley, and has remained the same, or Rhodes, Ripley & Co., to date. They have been very successful in business, and now rank among the leading wholesale clothiers of Boston. Mr. Ripley is ;i thorough business man, as is evidenced by his ri.ie from an ordinary clerkship to the proprietorship of the establishment. He is a worthy representative of that numerous class of men in New England whoiu we call "self-made." Hifl geniality of disposition aud wholesouled heartiDes!> of manner not only makes those who are bis acquaintances his friends, but even the stranger is made at once to feel at home in his presence. The same spirit of enterprise which has brought to him success in his business affairs he exhibits in all matters pertaining to the welfare and public improvement of his native town. It wa:- largely, if not chiefly, through his persistent and unflagging efibrts that Accord Pond water was introduced in 1880 into Hingham and Hull, and his services in thia regard were acknowledged by his being chosen president of the Hingham Water Company, which position he has held to the present time. The same year (1880) he was chosen presideut of the Hingham Agricultural and Horticultural Society, and has been re-elected every year since. He is a trustee of the Public Library in his town, and an earnest advocate of liberal education and progressive thought. He is a member of the First Unitarian Parish, and active in the management of its afl^airs. He has supported the Republican party since its organization, and in 1884 was chosen its delegate from the Second Congressional District of Massachusetts to the National Republican Convention at Chicago. He married, Dec. 23, 1850, Henrietta, daughter of Setli S. Hersey; she died Aug. 14, 18G8. He married as his second wife Elizabeth II. M. Ilersoy, daughter of Henry Hersey, Jan. 3, 1871, by whom he has six children, three boys and three girls.

The town of Plympton was originally included withia the limits of Plymouth. The history of its territory therefore is as ancient as that of Plymouth itself. When incorporated it included the whole of the town of Carver and parts of Halifax and Kingston, comprising in all thirty-six thousand five hundred and six acres. The rich meadow lands and heavily-wooded swamps, with which this territory abounded, early attracted the first settlers, who sought grants from the Colony Court of farms to remain contiguous to their dwellings in Plymouth. As early as 1(J40 the records show that the grants began to be made, and the meadows of Colebrook, of Laken- j ham, and Colchester, as they were called, were divided among the settlers according to their respective application and wants. At a later period, Winnatuxet, or the New-Found Meadows, began to be granted to persons whose lineal descendants still reside within the borders of Plympton. The Colebrook and Lakenham Meadows, within the present bounds of Carver, included the South Meadows and the Wenham region respectively. The former name was probably either corrupted from Coldbrook, or derived from James Cole, who had an eftrly grant in that neighborhood. The latter name was suggested by the numerous ponds or lakes within the territory to which it was applied, the termination " ham" meaning merely " borough," " district," or " town" or " village." The Colchester and Winnatuxet Meadows, within the present limits of Plympton, derived their names from Colchester Brook, one of the tributaries of Jones lliver, and Winnatuxet lliver, which rises in Carver, and flowing through Plympton and Halifax finally empties into Taunton lliver. Colchester again was a name brought from England, while Winnatuxet was the Indian name of the country along the borders of the stream.

The first grant of laud within the ancient bounds of Plympton was made to John Jenny, on the '2d of April, lCo8, by the Court of Assistants. On that day it was ordered that all the residue of the lands reserved fur the mill, whereof the five or six acres aforesaid is a part, is with Mr. Jenny's consent granted to Gabriell Fallowell, and Mr. Jenny hath other lands granted him in lieu thereof at Lakenham." On the ICth of September, 1641, at the General Court, -' IMr. Jenny is granted as much more upland as will make his farm at Lakenham two hundred acres, and when that is used then to have more added to it, in lieu of some land he hath yielded up at the town to Gabriull Fallowell." At the same date James Cole was granted "fifty acres of upland at Lakenham, and some meadows to be laid to it upon view." On the id of November, 1640, "the several persons following are granted meadowing in the North Meadow, by Jones River : to Mr. John Done twelve acres, to Mr. Thomas Willet twelve acres, to John Reyiior ten acres, to Mr. Charles Chancey ten acres, to Mr. Stephen Hopkins twelve acres, to Nathaniel Souther seven acres, to Phineas Prat( six acres, to Mr. William Paddy ten acres." This meadow bordered the upper waters of Jones lliver, and was chiefly within the original limits of Plympton. At the same session of the court " the several persons following are granted meadowing in the South Meadows towards Agawam - Colebrook Meadow : to Edward Bangs ten acres, to Manasseth Kempton ten acres, to Jonas Cooke ten acres, to Andrew Ring five acres, to Nicholas Snow ten acres, to John Morton five acres, to Ephraim Morton five acres, to Joshua Pratt five acres, to Mr. Hubert Hicks ten acres, to Samuel Hicks five acres, to Nathaniel Morton six acres, to John Faunee six acres, to John Jenkins six acres, to Mr. Ralph Smith eight acres, to Thomas Pope five acres, to Richard lliggins six acres, to John Smaley five acres, to Anthony Snow five acres." And again, at the same court, " the West Meadow, called Lakenham, by Dutey's, was granted to Richard Sparrow five acres, to Edward Dotey six acres with upland, to Bridget Fuller ten acres with upland, to Mr. John Atwoud eight acres with upland, and to James Hurst tlie meadows that Goodman Cuuke should have had.'

on the lauds granted to them, and most, either :>old them or lost them under the order of the Colony Couii that, non-residents should surrender tlieir grants when leaving; the town of Plymouth, in wliich the granted lands were situated. A few other grants of a similar character were made by the court in the above territory, but when permanent settlers suuglit lauds they received their titles from the town of Plymouth by grants in open town-meeting, and their grants are recorded in the town books. Thus in lUGO the town grunted fifty acres to Tliomas Cushman near the Winnatuset Meadows. In 16(J2 twenty acre.s were granted to John Rickard and twenty to James Cole, Jr., on the north side of Lakenham ; thirty acres to John Harmon, at or near Winnatuxet ; and a parcel of land was granted to John Dunham at Swan Hole. Other grants were made to Jonathan Shaw, John Barrows, Richard Cooper, Adam Wright, Stephen Bryant, Samuel Sturtevant, Samuel King, Ephraim Tiukham, John Bradford, Richard Wright, George Bouuni, John Barnes, Giles Rickard, Edward Dotey, and William Harlow, and among these names may be found the names of those who may be considered the first settlers of Plymptou.

In lt)D5 the number of families settled in the southwestern section of Plymouth had increased to about forty-five, and the difficulty experienced in attending public worship had become so serious that a petition was sent to the General Court for the incorporation of a new precinct. The only action taken by the town of Plymouth, as shown by the records, is disclosed by the following entry : " At a town-meeting held at Plymouth on the 15th of July, 1C95, upon notice given at said meeting that Mr. John Wadsworth and Mr. Samuel Sprague were to come to run a dividing line between said town and our remote inhabitants on the westernmost part of said town, the town made choice of Maj. Biadford, Lieut. John Bradford, Ephraim Martin, John Doty, and James Warren to meet these gentlemen and to request them not to run any line in our township until the General Court are more thoroughly informed of our circumstances with reference to our lands in that part of our township ; but if those gentlemen see cause still to go on in running said line, then to oppose them in their proceeding thereon." The result, however, was that the prayer of the petitioners was granted, and the following entry appears in the records of the General Court of the province under date of Tuesday, Nov. 20, 1G93 :

'* Upun perusal of the report of a committee of this court, appoioted to view the situation of the remote iobabitiints of the wcaterljr part of the town of Plymouth, with the nutobei- of 7U families there reaitiiDg, and to propose a line in order to malwiug a division between thera and the body of :>aid town fur setting up the worship of God in said precinct, and having considered of what was otfered by the agents fur the said town of Plymouth. The court do approve anJ allow of the ilivisional line stated by the said committee, viz., e.xteQding from Jones River Pond, so called, unto Jadutban Uobbins, bis present dwelling, with this variation only so as to leave out of the said line the dwellings of the said Itobbins, Beuajah I'ratt, John Pratt, and Eleazer Dunham, to make a distinct [>recinct for Betting up the worship of God and support of a learned and ortbodo.v inini>try amongst themselves, being remote from tho present place of public worship in said town, and do grant and order that all the inhabitants, except as aforesaid, that are or shall hereafter settle within the said line, uud their lands and estates lying there, shall stand charged towards the seltleiucnt and support of such a ministry in manner as the law rulating to tho maintenance and support of ministers doth direct and provide, and to be assessed thereto by two or more assessors, as shall from time to time be elected and appointed by the major part of eaid inhabitants for that {)Ui'pose, which said inhabitants may also nominate and appoint a collector to gather and pay in the same as by order, under the hand:^ uf such assessors, shall be directed, provided, nevertheless, that all lands lying within the said precinct belonging to other persons in said town not inhabiting there shall he free from all such a:)sessments, and not st^ind charged towards the support of the ministry in said place, nor shall any lands belonging to any of inhabitants lying in parts of tho town be charged towards the support of the ministry at the town, and that all the wood and timber being or growing within the said jirecinct shall remain and continue to the use of the commoners or proprietors as formerly, and do further order that wherein, and so suon as the inhabitants of said precinct shall have procured a learned and orthodox minister to preach the word of God among them, they shall be freed and exempt from paying towanis the support of the ministry at the town, and for so long time as they shall enjoy and have such a minister continued with them."

After the incorporation of the new precinct called the Western Precinct of Plymouth, David Bosworth was chosen clerk, and Isaac Cushman was engaged to supply the pulpit. After preaching three years, Mr. Cushman was ordained, Oct. 27, 1698, and probably before that time a meeting-house was built. This house stood on the southerly end of the green opposite to the old lane, which leads east by the house of William S. Soule, and, in 1714, when a new meetinghouse was built, it was sold to Benjamin Soule and converted into a barn after its removal to his farm. It had no steeple, and had a gable on each side with valleys running from the centre of the roof to each corner. Mr. Cushman, the first minister at Plympton, was the son of Elder Thomas Cuahman, of Plymouth, and was born in 1G48. He married Rebecca, daughter of Giles Rickard, in 1G75, and died on the 21st of October, 1732. He continued his ministry until his death, and was buried in the old Plympton burial-ground, where his grave-stone still stands. His house stood on the high ground, near the easterly end of a small piece of ti-esh meadow, the water from wliich runs across the road about forty rods north of the burial-ground. The first recorded precinct meeting was held iu January, 1701.

In 1701-2 an important action was taken by the town of Plymoutii, of which Plympton was then a part, with regard to the common lands within the town. In that year a list of proprietors or freemen williin the town was prepared, two hundred and one iu number. To each of these proprietors a thirtyacre lot was granted, and in the following year it was voted that all the remaining ungranted lands lying about the village, within a tract of a mile and a half square, should be held by the town in its municipal capacity. All the common lands ungranted outside of this tract were surrendered to the two hundred and one proprietors as ati association of individuals distinct from the town. In December, 1704, the proprietors organized and chose Thomas Faunce tlieir clerk. Proprietors' books were opened, in which records of meclings and grants of land were kept as long as any ungianted lands remained. Rossiter Cotton, the last clerk, was chosen March 31, 1790, and during his incumbeuey, iu the early part of this century, the books were closed. These records are contained in two volumes, which are deposited in the town house at Plymouth. Copies of these two volumes, bound in one, are deposited in the office of the register of deeds for Plymouth County. In January, 1704-5, the association granted to each member a twenty-acre lot, and soon alter a sixty-acre lot. In 1703 they granted to certain individuals, for the purpose of a sheep-pasture, a tract of land three miles square, the centre of which W;i3 at the head of Cobb's meadow. The .southeasterly boundary of this tract was a little north of the South Meadow road, and the northwest within the limits of the present towns of Plympton and Kingston. The sheep-pasture was afterwards abandoned, and in the mean tinie Plympton and Kingston having been incorporated, a claim of joint ownership of the land was made by these towns. A long and spirited controversy ensued, which re:)Ulted iu the establishment of the claim of Plymouth to the sole ownership, and from time to time tracts of land were sold until the whole was disposed of.

After the incorporation of the town of Plympton the proprietors were known as the Plymouth and Plympton proprietors. In 1705 all the swamps within the jurisdiction of the proprietors were divided into thirty-nine lots, which were subdivided into shares and distributed among the proprietors by lot. The proprietors' records contain a description of these lots and the names of those to whom the shares fell. The first eighteen of these lots were in the South Meadow; the nineteenth and twentieth were near the Wareham line; the twenty-first was at Swau Hole; the twentysecond included Doty's cedar swamp and four small swamps in its neighborhood ; the twenty-third included Cobb's Swamp; the twenty-fourth, Blackwater Swamp, in Kingston; the twenty-fifth, the Jones lliver Swamp ; the twenty-sixth, Bearce's swamp, iu Halifax ; the twenty-seventh, eighth, and ninth, Colchester Swamp, in Plympton ; the thirtieth and thirty-first, Turkey Swamp, in Plymptou ; the thirty-second included three lots, one at the north end of Turkey Swamp, one at Monponset Meadows, and the third at Pimpkin Bridge, in Halifax ; the thirty-third, fuurtli, and tifth, on Monponset Neck, in Halifax; the thirty-sixth, seventh, and eighth, in King's swamp, in Halifax; and the thirty-ninth adjoined Monponset Pond, also in Halifax. In 1710 the remainder of the lauils. containing thirty thousand acres, were divided into ten great lots, and from time to time distributed. The first of these lots extended from the West Ponds and the South Meadow road, eight miles, to Wareliam ; the next seven, between the first lot and I fallway Pond River; the ninth is bounded by the .Mast road, Half-way Pond, Long Pond, the Heiriug Path, and the Sandwich road; and the tenth lies east and west of the Sandwich road below the Herring Path. Plans of the ten great lots and of the South Meadow swamp-lots are deposited in the Plymouth Registry of Deeds.

Ou the 14th of January, 1706, Elkanah Cushman, Benjamin Soule, Benoni Lucas, and Isaac Cu.>ihtuan were appointed by the precinct their agents to secure a township, and in the same year a petition was presented to the General Court of the province, praying that the precinct might be incorporated as a separate township. A request was also submitted to the town of Plymouth to assent to their petition. The records of that town state that, on the 13th of May, 1700, " the request of the inhabitants of the upper .lociety in the .said township, to be u township by themselves was discussed, but none of their agents appearing to move for it, and the town discerning a coldness in their prosecution of the matter, the town voted that the town-clerk should signify to them, as they discerned in them a coldness to prosecute the matter, the town were not willing to thrust them away, but were as indiffereut as they in the matter." The action of the town indicated no opposition to the scheme, and when further pressed by the agents of the Western Precinct, the town voted, on tlie 3d ot' March, 1707, "that they con.sent that they be a town, according to their petition, with this proviso, that whatsoever real estate ratable doth now belong to, and is, or shall be, improved by any io the old town, eitiier by himself or tenant, during their livinjj; here, shall be rated here, notwithstanding their being a town, and so the like of any estate that belongeth to any of them that iieth in the old town of Plymouth, to be rated to them, they or their tenants improving it as aforesaid."

'- timt in answer to the petition of the inhabitants of a tract of lunJ in the aoutb\vci>terly purt of the town?hip of I'lyiiiuuth, Ijiayiii;^ to hiive tho grant and privileged ol' a town, having obtained ii vote of the town of Plymouth for the same witli an addition of sundry families, ordered that a townshi|) be gnintcd to the petitionera to bti called Plyutpton, according to tho phit thereof exhibited, viz., beginning at the western corner-bouud of Plyuioutb township where it meets with Uridguwater line, and frum theiiuo tUo southwesterly side thereof is bimnded by the line between Plyuiuulh and Middleboro' until it meets with the bounds of Rochester unto the place where the aaid lino crosses the river called Wankonquag Uiver, and from thencu the ^uutheastcrly cud thereof is bounded by the said Wankonquag Kivcr up stream unto two pine-trees set near together, each of theui marked V L, standing in the swampy ground about five poles to the north of a broad spring hole at the head of >aid Wankonquag Kivcr, and from llicncc the northeast aide tlicreof ruuiii-tli northwest a quarter of a point westerly about live miles and a lialf and lifty pules to a black-oak tree marked 1* L, statnling by the south side of the southerly road from Plymouth to Middleboro*, and from thence north seven degrees westerly four miles to a black-oak marked P L, standing on the south side of the road from Plymouth to Bridgewater, and from thence northwest two degrees northerly a mile and a half, and sixtytwo ]>oles to the northerly tine of said Plymouth township at the place where the river runneth out of the pond called Jones' River Pond, and from thence the northerly end thereof is bouniled by said Plymouth town-line unto the westerly cornerbouml thereof first mentioned, the petitioners to pay all the taxes iia part of the town of Plymouth as formerly until March next."

No record exists, nor has any reliable tradition come down to us, concerning the origin of the name which was giveu to the new town. Id the absence of these it is natural to turn to the old country, from whence so many New England names were derived, and to look there for its source. About five miles from old Plymouth iu England is a town bearing the name of PlymptOD, once of some importance and a considerable market town. It is now a somewhat decayed borough, chiefly remarkable for its ancient guild hall containing a portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds, who Was a native of the town. It is not improbable that one or more of the earliest settlers of the town, which is the subject of this narrative, may have been natives of that ancient borough. If such were not the case, it is possible that the proximity of the borough to the old English town may have suggested a name for a town, which bore to Plymouth in New Engiand nearly the same geographical relation.

As the act incorporating the town of Kingston not only illustrates an event in the history of Plympton, but has an appropriate place in a history of the county of Plymouth, of which this narrative is ;l part, its insertion in these pages needs no apology. It was passed on the 16th of June, 1720, and is as follows :

"Whereas, the town of Plymouth, within the county of ' Plymouth, is of great extent for length, and lies cniiimo>liously ; for two townships, and the North precinct theruuf being of late ' sufficiently filled with inhabitants, who labor under great dilli- I cultics on several accounts, and have tlierefon? addrc:'se(l tlit- I court that tboy may be aetotf a distinct and separate town::'hip. j it is liereby enacted, Ac, i "That all lands lying within the said North precinct in [ Plymouth aforesaid, particularly described and bounded by au I order of court passed at the present session, be and hereby are j set olT and constituted a separate township by tlie name ot

Kingston, and that the inhabitants of the said township be I vested with the powers, privileges, and immunities that tlie in- I liabitants of any town of this province by law are or ought to be i vested with: Providefi, that nothing in thi.- act contained shall ! be construed, deemed, judged, or intended to himlcr or prcju- I dice the right and interest of all or any persons what::oever in ' any of the common and undivided lands uithin the town^s of

Plymouth and Kingston aforesaid, but the s:imc .-liall remain ' as heretofore ; Provided aUo that the inhabitants of the said I town of Kingston shall be liable and subject ( notwitliistauding [ there being set otf and constituted a township as aforesaid) ti^ ' pay their proportion of all province, county, and town rates ^ for this present year in the towns to which they respectively ' belonged, and shall bo accordingly assessed in &uch towns in

' *' In CouDCti ordered that the bounds of the North precintc in the town of Plymouth, intended to be erected iuto a township by the name of Kingston, shall be as followctb ; that is to

** Beginning at a heap of stones above the highway, being the bounds between the lands of John Sturtevaut and the land^ which did belong to Joseph Sturtevant, deceased; and from thence the line between the two precincts iu Plymoutli to run North 45i degrees East down to the salt bay ; and fruui thence on the same course to Duxbury town tine; and then from the first-mentioned heap of stones South about 46A degrees west up into the woods to a great remarkable rock commonly calk-d Nick's Hock by the Southeast side of a cartway ; and from thence on the same oourse one hundred and forty-four rods to a stake set in the ground and other stones laid about it by the northwest side of said cartway \ and from thence south 67 dc- "rees west unto two red>oak trees marked with stones about thciii in the line of Plymptoii townslii|> by llic Northwest aide of the olil i;ountry road thiit leads from Plymouth town to Middlcboio' and the line between Plymptuii and Plymouth North Precinct north about 7 de;,'ree=i west unto a great black-oak formerly marked by the southeast aide of a roadway near the hill called Brewers' Hill, the said tree being a former bound of Plympton townshi|i; and from thence North 47i degrees West about 4U8 rods to a heap of stones on a cleft rock ; and from thence north ab.>ut 5 degrees we.-t about 2-.'S rods to a long stonu set in the ground and other stones laid about it about :; rods to the westward of the old cellar which Wiis Thomas Shurtlell's ; and from thence North :1 degrees West about a mile and forty-two rods to the west corner-bound of the land which did belong unto Peter West, deceased, being a (line-tree marked by Jones River pond; and from thence over said pon.l North S degrees West unto the South corncr-liound of Jonathan Crocker; and from tbeoce between the said North precinct and the town of Pem. broke North about 4:j degrees East about 1U7 rods by the range of the said Crocker's land unto the North corner of the UOth lot which now belongetli unto William Cook; and from thence East unto the Northwest corner of Elnalhan Fisk ; and from thence by tlie range of the said lot, being in number the 127th lot, East Southeast unto the Northeast corner of said lot at the brook called sign brook ; and froui thence the said Hue between the said North precinct and the town of Duxbory to run iu a straight line to the ancient corner bound between the towns of Plymcmlh i Duxbury, beiug a. heap of stones by a white-oak tree marked to the Northward of the brook called Mile Brook; and from thence by the bounds between Duxbury and Plymouth until it come down to the bayj and from theuce by the Duxbury line over the bay until it meet with the lino first mentioned."

But these boundaries, cooiprehentling an area of thirty-six thousand five liundred and six acres, have been so many limes changed and circuinsciibed lliat at litis day lite territory of the town has bc-eu reduced to eiiiht thousand six liundred and thirty-four acres, or about thirteen sciuare miles. The first change was made in 172li, when thirteen hundred and six acres were annexed to the new town of Kinj;ston, incorporalcd in that year.

The next change was made in 1734, when five thousand nine hundred and ninety-four acres were taken by the act incorporating the town of Halifax, and made a part of the new town. By the provisions of tliat act a few iuhabitanls, with their estates within the area annexed to Halifax, were exempted from the operation of the act, and consequently remained in Plympton. These exceptions left on the line between Plympton and Halifax two protuberances, irregular in shape, and bounded by various courses, into the an-lcs of which the Halifax lines fitted like parts of a geographical dissecting map. One of these protuberances, contaiuiug about four hundred and ninetyseven acres, was removed by its annexation lo Halifax by an act of tlie General Court, March IG, 1831, and the other by a readjustment of the line between Halifax and Plympton, under an act passed Feb. 6, 1863. The readjusted line begins at an angle in the line of the town of Middleboro', at a stone monument marked M. P. H. ; theuce ruiiuing, as the needle now points, north ihirty-lwo dcTces, west fifty-three rods, to a stone monument marked P H, standing in Nathan Fuller's field; thetice tiuitli fifty-seven degrees, forty-five luiuutes, east six liundred and seventeen rods, to a stone monument marked P H, standing where once was Adam's Hock ; thetice the same course, two hundred and seveutyfouf rods, to a stone monument marked P II, staiiJitig un Turkey Island, so called ; thence north twetity-lour degrees, thirty minutes east, two hundred and .-eveiitysix rods, to a stone monument marked P 11, statiJiiig at the northerly end of a wall ; theuce north fortythree degrees, twenty minutes east, three liutuhed and forty-eight rods, to a stone moniitiient maiked P H, standing on the margin of Jones River Pond ; thence northerly to a stone monument marked P P II, standing on Widgeon Point, so called, at an atigle of the line of the town of Pembroke.

The act incorporating the town of Halifax pas=ed July 4, 1731, having the same bearing in this narrative as that incorporating Kingston, is inserted as follows :

-* Whereas the lands situate in the northerly part of the North Precinct in Plympton, the northerly part of the East Precinct in Middleboro', and the southerly part of the town of Pembroke, is competently tilled with inhabitants who are desirous to be sett otT a distinct and separate town, and that they may be vested with all the [towers and privileges of a tu\vii, be it enacted, &.c.

'* That all the lands lying in the northerly part of the North Precinct iu Plympton, the northerly part of the I'^ast i'recinct of Aliddleboro', and the southerly part of the town of Peuibroke, as hereafter bounded and described, be and hereby is set oil and constituted a separate township by the name of Halifax. The bounds of said township to bo as followeth, viz. : Uegmning at a white-oak tree marked on four sides standing on the bank of Uridgewater Itivcr, being the northwest corner-bound of a lot of lantl formerly belonging to Mr. Standish ; thence the bounds iu Middleboro', extending north 7y degrees east 74 roils to a redoak marked on four sides, which is the northeast corner of said Standish's land; thence south Ifi degrees east about 111) rods to a maple standing near Standish's house; thenco north 22 degrees east 260 rods to a white-oak marked on four sides ; theiico north 10 degrees east Itit rods to a white-oak formerly marked on the southerly side of the Uridgewater Road ; thence north 12 degrees east lUl rods to u stone standing in the Uridgewater line on tbe south side of Seatucket Brook, so-called, it being a corner-bound between the towns of Plympton and Pembroke ; theuce the bounds iu Pembroke extending north 20 degrees east by a range of marked trees in the Bridgewater line 701 rods to a smalt ash. tree formerly marked 60.70 standing in a narrow swamp, being the northwest corner-bound of tbe tlOtli lot in the majors purchase ; thence south 07) degrees east lliO pules to a white-oak tree marked tfU.70 standing in the cedar swamp range ; thence south about 2il degrees east, through the cedar swamp, about 61 2 rods to tbe mouth of Mouponset Pond ; froni thence east one-half degree north about 67 1 rods to a white-oak tree marked on four sides standing by a corner of Jones River Pond, a little to the northward of a run of water; thence bounded by t^iiid nonil until it meet:) with a tine extending from a large Bplit rock III Turkey Swuuip^ a little to the southward of thebridge, north 30 degrees east unto the said pond; thence extending in Plympton ^outh 3(1 degrees we?t about 460 rods unto the aforesaid rock in Turkey Swamp; from thence south 63* degrees west 394 rods to Adam's Rock, so-calle.l, standing on the west side of a highway that leads from Mr. John Waterman's to Plympton Mceting-house; thence south 50 west 610 rods to Middleboro' townline 40 rods southeastward from Mr. Ebenezer Fuller's bouse; tbencu in said town-line south -'i3i degrees cast 50 rods; from theucc through Middlcboro's extending south 60 degrees west 200 rods; from thence north SOA degrees west 60 rods to a small bwamp birch standing on tlic west side of Raven liruok ; and thence still north 601 degrees west .".S3 rods to a brook at the upper corner of Kbenezei' Cobb's land, and still on the same point in range about 2'JO rods to Bridgowatur ttivcr, below the mouth of Winnutuxct River; and from thence by said Bridgewater Uivcr to the bounds tirst mentioned.

.\nd the inhabitants of the said land before bounded and described be, and hereby are, invested with the ]iower.<i, privileges, and immunities that the inhabitants of any of the towns within the province are or ought bylaw to be vested with; Provided, the inhabitants of the said town of Ilalifa.x do, within the space of two years from the publication of this act, settle a learned, orthodox minister, and provide for his honorable support among them, and likewise provide a sehoolma.'ster to instruct their youth in reading and writing; only ilia to be undcrsliiod that the land of Dr. Polycarpus Loring, adjoining to bia dwelling-house, and the lands lying on the fuutheasterly side of the land that the North precinct voted to the petitioners the 3id of June, 1734, belonging to Messrs. Ebenezer Standisb, Zechariah Standisli, Zechariah Soule, Jabez Newland, Ignatius Loring, .Samuel Bryant, Joseph Phinney, Nathaniel Bryant, John Battles, and their families, dwelling within tho bounds of said township, shall still be and remain to the aforesaid town of Plymjiton. Nothing in this uot shall be construed or understood to excuse any of the inhabitants of the town of Plympton, Middleboro', and Pembioke, petitioners respectively, from paying their proportionable parts of all former taxes, and also the priiportionato tax that shall he laid on the said towns for the current year."

Still aiiotlier change was made by the incorporation of the town of Carver, on the 9th of June, 1790, which took a further area of twenty thousand and scventy-6ve acres from. the territory of the old town. The moveuient resulting in tlie incorporation of tliis town began a.s early as June 3, 1731, when Joiin Carver and sundry otiier inhabitants of the soutiiern part of tlie town of Plympton sent a petition to tiie General Court .sliowiiig that tlie said town is of groat length (though narrow), and so filled with inhabitants as to allow of two lueetiug-houses and luini.sters, and that the ]iotitiouers have been put to great difficulties and exp(.iises iu attending on the public worship of God by reason of the remoteness of the meeting-housis, and, therefore, praying that the town may be divided into two precincts by the bounds either of the two conbtablcricks, or of the two military companies in the said town, and that the ministers be maintained by a general tax of the whole town. A committee was appointed by the court to perambulate and view the premises, and on the 16th of March, 1731/2, the committee reported through its chairman, William Clarke, that " they repaired to the town of Plympton aud perambulated and carefully viewed the lands petitioned to be a township or precinct with the other parts of the towu of Plympton, after which the inhabitants of the said town appeared, whose allegations for and against the prayer of the petition we fully heard and considered, and upon the whole are of opinion that the prayer of the petition be granted, the petitioners paying one-third part of the aged and Rev. Isaac Cushman's salary during his life, as it ;ippears to us they are one-third part of the ratable estates of said town." This report was read in Council, and it was " ordered that this report be accepted, and that the petitioners with their estates and families be set off a scpamte precinct by the following boundaries, viz. : beginning at the line of Plymouth or Kingston, where a west line from thence will strike the head of Annasnappit Brook, and thence in a straight line to the north aide of the land of Jabez Eddy, where he now dwells, and from thence on the same range to the line of Middleboro', and so home to Rochester, and that the inhabitants of the said precinct be vested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities that other precincts within the province do or by law ought to enjoy." It was also ordered that " Edmund Tilson, Isaac Nye, Elisha Weston, Eleazer Cushinan, Eleazer Rickard, and Ephraim Tilson be and remain to the old precinct, according to their petition, and until tlie further order of this court, and also that the ministerial lands belonging to the old town shall still solely remain to them, and the new precinct to have none of the i.ssues and profits thereof."

The papers presented to the court in aid of the new precinct show that the following persons were then the residents in the south part of the town :

Tlie=e uames are still familiar ones in that part of the tuwii of Plyuipton which is now Carver, aud those who bore them may be considered the fathers of that towu. Jlost of those who bore the names of Cuahmau, Sturtevaut, Standish, Bosworth, Waterman, Luriu;^, Cushiuj;, Wrii;ht, Bradford, Thomas, Perkiii.s, ijamp.-ioii, Churchill, Harlow, and Bryant remained iu the old precinct. These were all venerable names. Kobert Cushmau, who came in the -' L'orlane" in 1G21, aud left with Governor Bradford his sou, Thomas, then a boy of fourteen years of age ; Samuel Sturtevant, who appeared in Plymouth as early as 1643; Miles Standish, of the " Mayflower;" Benjamin Bosworth. who came from England in 16o4 to Hiiigham, and afterwards to Plymouth ; Robert Watermau, of Plymouth, in IGoS ; Thomas Loriug, who came from Asminster, England, in 1635, and settled in Hingham ; William Wright, who came to Plymouth in the " Fortune" in 1621 ; William Bradlbrd, of the " Mayflower ;" William Thomas, who settled in Plymouth in 1636, and afterwards in Marshfield ; Abraham Perkins, who settled in Hampton before 1639; Abraham Sampson, who came over in 1629; John Churchill, of Plymouth, in 1643; William Harlow, of Lynn, in 1637, and afterwards of Plymouth ; and John Bryant, who settled in Plymouth before 1636, were their ancestors, and few towns have retained down to the present generation so much of the Pilgrim blood unadulterated by the admixture of foreign elements.

But the descendants of those who had secured the incorporation of the South Precinct of Plympton discovered that a mere parochial separation failed to meet their convenience and necessities. In 1790 a suceea.>ful eti'ort was made to obtain an act of incorporation as a separate township, and on the 9th of June in that year the following act was pas.sed, providing 2

-'I'bat (be lands bcrcaftcr described, viz.: bcgiuniuj^ at tbe wviit line uf tbe town of Kin^aton ; tbcnco running west so as to :9trilve the bead of Auoisnappet lirook, so ealled; tbeaeecuntinuio;:; tbe satue course on a straight line to the north .side of the land of James Vauj^ban ; tbcnco the same course to the line of the town of jMiddleboro' (it being the dividing line between tbe North and Soulb Precincts iu the said town of Plympton) ; thence on the lino of the said town of Middlcboro' tilt it comes to the line of tbe town of Wareham ; thence on the line of the said town of \Varcham till it comes to the line of the town of Kingston aforesaid j tbcnce on said Kingston line to the brstmeotioned bound, with all the lobabitaots dwelling on the lauds above described, be, and they arc hereby, incoriiorated into a town by the name of Carver; and tbe said town is hereby invested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities to which towns within this commonwealth are or may be entitled, agieeablc to tbe constitution and laws of tbe commonwealth.

"That the inhabitants of the said town of Carver ahall pay all the arrears of taxes which have been assessed upon thcui, and their proportionable part of the tax granted in Mureh la?t, together with their proportion of all debts that are now due from tlie said town of Plyuiptoo, and shall &up])ort any poor per:;On or persons who have heretofore been inhabitants of that ijart of Plympton which is now Carver and shall not have olitaincd a legitimate settlement clocwhcre {when they become chargeable), and such poor person or persons may be returned to the town of Carver in tbe same way and manner that paupers may by law be returned to the town or distiict to which they belong.

'*That the inbabit:\nt3 of the said town of Carver shall be entitled to receive their proportion of all debts and monies due to the said town of Plympton, and also their proportionable part of all the laboratory stores, and common and undivided lands belonging to the said town of Plympton agreeably to the last State tax assessed upon the said town.

"That Ephraim Spooner, Est)., be, and be is hereby empowered to issue his warrant directed to some principal inhabitant, requiring him to warn and give notice to tbe inhabitants of tbe said town of Carver to assemble and meet at some suitable place in the said town, as soon as conveniently may be, to choose all such olhcers aj towns are required to choose at tlieir annual meetings in tbe months of March or April annually."

" Whereas dibputes have arisen respecting the dividing lino between tbe towns of Plympton and Carver, for preventing uf which in future it is enacted that tbe dividing-line between tbe said towns shall be the same line that is now known and established as the dividing-line between the Xorth and .South Precincts in said towns, when they were both Plympton, and shall forever hereafter bo so considered ami understou'l."

The remaining boundaries of Plympton are as follows: Beginning at the Halifax line and the corner of Pembroke on the shore of Jones River Pond, the line runs easterly into the pond, one hundred aud four rods along the Pembroke line to the line of Kingston, and thence south six degrees east hve hundred and sixty-one rods along the Kingston line ; thence south seven degrees eiial by the line of Kingston two hundred and twenty rods ; thence south fortyeight and a half degrees east by the Kingston line four hundred and fifty-five rods; thence south nine degrees east by the same line four huudred and twenty-five rods to the corner of the town of Carver. The Carver line haa already been described in the act incorporating that town. The Middlcboro' line begins at the southwesterly corner of the town, and runs north thirty-one and a half degrees west two hundred and eighteen rods ; thence north thirty-two degrees west one huudred and ninety-six rods; thence uoith thirty-six degrees west three huudred aud aixty-thrce roJs ; and thence north ihirty-six degrees west fiftytwo rods to tlie Halifax line, which has been already described. These various acts of incorporation and descriptions of boundaries, thouf^h perhaps unintere>tin;.; to the general reader, may not be without value for occasional reference.

Following' now the history of the old precinct from which the South Precinct, afterwards incorporated as the town of Carver, was separated in 1732, the first feature of interest was a grant made by the town of Plymouth on the 16th of March, 1701/2, of thirty acres of land to be laid out for the use of the ministry in the upper society, as the Second (or Plympton) Precinct was called before its incorporation as a town, " and a convenience for a burial-place and trainingplace, as near the meeting-house there as may be convenient." This grant included the old burial-ground, the green, and strips of land on its southerly end and easterly side, which have since been sold.

In 1730 the bounds of this grant were agreed to by the town and the owners of adjoining lands, and their agreement was entered in the records as follows :

'* AVherena, we the subscriber?, being chosen and appointed by tlie town of Plympton at their annual uieoting in the month of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and thirty, as agents fur the aaid town, to review and settle the bounds of a tract of land formerly laid out in said town for a uiiui.>try lot and for a conveniency of a training-place and a burying-plnce for said town, and whereas said tract of Iiind is bounded round by the lands appertaining unto sundry persons, whofc names arc also hereunto subscribed, whom we have given legal notice to, and from the best information and the records of Ihc lands abovesaid, we have mutually agreed with theui, the owners of the lands adjoining, severally, that the boundaries hercutter mentioned shall abide and remain as a dividing-line between every of these tracts of land adjoining and the tract of land appertaining unto the said town of Plympton (that is to say>, to begin at a rock which is the southwest corner bound of the ten acres of land laid out to Isaac Sani)>son ; and thence to extend forty poles and about twelve feet due south to a stone set in the ground, with stones about it, in the range of John Wright's land : and thence by the ninge of his land southeast four degrees southerly seventeen poles to a red-oak tree stunding in the way that goeth from lienjamin Weston's to the Meeting-IIousc, which is the southeast corner-bound of said Wright's fifty-acre lot; and from said tree the lino extends north seventeen degrees oast tweuty-seveo poles to a red-oak treo with stones about it, which is the bound of the four and a quarter acres of land formerly laid out unto Edward Weston at the head of his old lot; and from thence cast live degrees north thirty-nine poles to a red-oak tree, marked with a heap of stones about it, which is a cornerbound of the land between John and Benjamiu Weston ; and thence on the same range by the land of John Weston twentynine poles to the white-oak stump with a heap uf stones about it, which is the corner-bound of the hundred-acre lot of land formerly laid out to Adam Wright; and thence bounded by the rang.- of said hundred-acre lot north three and a half degrees ea.->t lifty-two poles to a stake and stones standing in the range, which is the southeast corner-bound of the three acres of land formerly laid out to Benjamin Soule, deceased, appertaining unto his sons, Benjamin and Ebenezer; ami thence west twenty degrees north eight poles to a stake and lieup of stones; and thence to extend north three and a half degrees east sixty poles by the land of Benjamin and Ebenezer Soule, aforesaid, to a, stake standing at the north end of their stone wiill ; and thence to extend east twenty degrees south eight poles to a stake and stones about it, which is the northeast corner-bound of the eight acres laid out to Benjamin Soule, deceased; and thence to extend north three and a half degrees east 5i.\teen poles to a redoak treo, marked on four sides, with a heap of stones about it; and thence to extend east three and a half degrees south about twenty poles to a stake and stones standing by a rock in ;i ).icce of swamp ground; and thence to extend north ten poles and about six feet to a rook which is a corner-bound of Mr. IsMac Cushman's land ; and thence bounded by bis laud west twentyone degrees north forty-one poles to a white-oak tiec standing on the north side of the highway, which is a corner-bound uf Sylvanus Sampson's land, and thence leaving two poles for a highway on the southerly side of said tree ; and from .-aid two poles the line begins at a stone standing in the ground on a sandy plain in an old cartway ; and thence extends by the land of Isaac Sampson south three degrees east until it cometh to the southerly end of Isaac Sampson's stone wall, to a stone set in the ground; and thence south, leaving forty feet for a highway, to a stake and stones; and thence to extend west three and a half degrees south thirty-five poles to a cedar stake and a heap of stones, which is the northeast corner bound of the ten acres of land belonging to Isaac Sampson ; and thence to extend south one and a half degrees east forty-three poles and a half to a stake and stones, which is the southeast corner-buunil of the said Isaac Sampson's ten-acre lot; and thence west three degrees south forty-three poles and a half to the rock first mentioned. Now the line or lines thus run and boundaries thus settled, we, David Bosworth, Ignatius Gushing, and Joseph Lucas, on the behalf of the town of Plympton, on the one part, and Isaac Cuabman, Isauo Sampson, John Wright, Benjamin Weston, John Weston, Benjamin Soule, and Ebencier Soule, owners of the land adjoining, on the other part, have mutually agreed that the same shall stand and remain as a full scttlemeut between the said minister's lot, training-place, and burial-place aforesaid and the lands adjoining, as is before cxpreased. In witness whereof the parties to these presents have hereunto set their bunds and seals the fourth day of February, 173n/l."

Up to the time of the incorporation of the Southern Precinct the town and precinct were identical. And even after that time the First Precinct continued to be controlled by the town, and parochial and municipal affairs were blended. On the 20th of September, 1731, the town chose Jontithan Parker as the successor of their old pastor, Isaac Cushiuan, who was then advanced in age, and who died in the next year. Mr. Parker was ordained on the 22d of December, 1731. He was born in Barnstable in 1705, and graduated at Harvard in 172t). His ministry continued up to the time of his death, which occurred on the 24th of April, 1770, and some of his descendants, still living in the town, are among its most respected inhabitants. His house stood on the west side of the green, south of the present meetinghouse. It should be mentioned that duiing tiio ministry of Mr. Cushman a new meeting-house was built to take the place of the former structure, in accord- | anco witli a vote of the towo, passed Sept. IG, 1714. The old structure to be removed so soon roust have either failed in size to meet the growing wants of the | precinct, or it roust have been so rude in its construe- j tion as to liave fallen into a premature old age. The new lueeting-house fronted the south, was plastered on its walls but not overhead, had no garret floor, and neither porch nor steeple. As was the custom of the tiroes, its floor was left open and spaces granted to individuals to build pews as they were needed. The coumiiitec of the precinct, after the completion of the meeting-hDuse,recoraroeiided that permission be gran ted to Francis Cook, Nathaniel Fuller, Samuel Bradfield, Thuroas Shurtleff, Robert and John Waterman, William ShurtleiT, Samuel Sturtevant. Jonathan Shaw, David Bosworth, Benjamin Eaton, John Cole, Benjamin Soule, and Nathaniel Harlow be permitted to build pews on the floor, and George Bryant, Ebenezer Lobdell, and Isaac Churchill in the galleries.

During the ministry of Mr. Parker a third church Was built in 1772 on the green, twelve rods north of the .site of the old one. It was fifty-seven feet long and forty-five wide, and had fifty windows, forty-five pews, four seats near the pulpit, and twenty-seven pews ill the galleries. Unlike tlie old church, it fronted the west. Mr. Parker was succeeded by Ezra Sampson, who was ordained Feb. 15, 1775, as an associate of Mr. Parker, who died in April of the next year. Mr. Sampson was a native of Middleboro', and graduated at Yale College in 1772. He resigned April 4, 17'JG, and removed to the State of New York, where it is believed by the writer tliat he died. Mr. Samp.son was succeeded by Ebenezer Withington, a graduate of Brown University, who w.is ordained Jan. 31, 1798, and, after a short ministry of three and a half years, resigned July 21, 1801. The successor of Mr. Withington was John Briggs, also a graduate of Brown University, who was installed Dee. 2, 1801, and resigned June 21), 1807. Elijah Dexter succeeded Mr. Briggs, also a graduate of Brown University, and was ordained Jan. 18, 1809. The pastorate of Mr. Dexter was a long and useful one, extending to May 2, 1851. During his pastorate liis son, Henry Marty u Dexter, was born in Plynipton, who, by his high attainments as a theologian, antiquary, and scholar, has won honor for his native town, as well as for liiiunelf. Charles Livingston succeeded Mr. Dexter, and was ordained Oct. 15, 1851, who, in his turn, has been followed by Josiah Ballard, Joseph W. Tarletoii, Philip Titcoinb, Benjamin F. Grant. George II. Shaw, and J. V. Hartshorn, the present incumbent, as acting pastors of the society.

Up to the year 1827 the town and precinct acted together as one, and the two were idoiilical. The town settled the ministers, appropriated their salaries, and built and kept in repair the churches. lu that year, on the Itith of April, the town, in its purocliiul capacity, reorganized as the First I'recinct in l'lym[jt()n distinct from the town in its municipal capacity, and from that time the town and precinct have been separate and distinct. Before that time all meetings of the town were held in the meeting-house, and, a.s if in recognition of their parochial as well as municipal character, the pastor of the precinct was invited and escorted to the meeting-house to open the mertings witii a prayer. It is probable that the naiuo meetinghouse, so common in New England, is derived from the municipal use to which the early places of worship were put, and the propriety of adhering to the name after the abandonment of the use is questiuiiable.

Town-meetings continued, however, to meet in the old church until the new church was built, in 18o0, after which they were held in the hall of Josiali T. Ellis until the town house was built, in 1850. The new meeting-house now standing on tin' we.sieily side of the green was erected in 1830, on land piesented to the precinct by Jonathan Parker. The land adjoining it, devoted to burial purposes, was bought afterwards of Zaccheus Parker, the son of Jonathan. The old training place has been abandoned as a meeting-house site, and been permitted to enjoy a condition of disuse and neglect. The eye of a stranger can see that, properly graded and ornamented and surrounded by a good roadway, it would become a spot which could not fail to attract some of that incre;ising number of persons wlio are seeking f(uiei and rest iis essential features of either a suumier or permanent residence.

The method adopted by the Plympton Precinct of divesting itself of its municipal clothing and as.^umiug simply the parochial garb will explain to many readers how the old territorial parisiies of New lOngland, which were once towns, have broken the ties which bound them to the townships, and, as parochial organizations, have become heirs to the gianis and property of the old municipal precincts. This method has been more than once opposed, and tlie right to adopt it disputed, but a decision of the Su|)reme Court of Massachusetts in the case of Millord against Godfrey and othei-s, reported in the second volume of Pickering's Reports, page 91, settled the (juestion. In that ease where a precinct owning a meetinghouse became, upon their own application, incorporated into a town, after which for thirty-live years the meeting-house and all parochial affairs were under the sole luaoagcmeDt of the town, but from some proceediDgs of the town, such as exempting certuio iuliabitauts from taxes for the support of public worship, it could be inferred that the town acted with reference to the continued existence of the precinct, and as their agent it was held that the precinct might reorganize themselves, that the meeting-house continued to be their property, and that while they had the control of it uud llio occupancy of it for the purposes for which it was built, the use of it for municipal purposes did not give such an exclusive possession as would enable the town to maintain an action of trespass against any person for pulling down the meeting house by the authority of the precinct.''

This case illustrates precisely the situation and history of the Plymptou Precinct and many others in New England. The Western Precinct of Plymouth was incorporated in 1695, and built a meeting-house in 1G98 ; was, on its own petition, incorporated as the town of Plympton in 1707 ; its parochial att'airs and records were blended with the municipal aflFairs and records until 1732, when the Southern Precinct of Plympton was incorporated ; after that the present territory of Plymptou formed the First Precinct of that town until the incorporation of Carver, in 1790, and from that time until the reorganization of the precinct, in 1827, the precinct again acted in its double capacity of town and precinct, finally succeeding as the First Parish of Plympton to all the rights and privileges of the old Western Precinct of Plymouth, incorporated in 1695, and inheriting the parochial capacity and authority of the town.

Having followed the current of church history, the narrative now turns to the exclusively municipal history of the town. The first town-meeting was held on the 1st of March, 1707/8. when William Sliurtlefi" was chosen town clerk, and Caleb Loring, Samuel Sturtcvant, and Benoni Lucas were chosen selectmen. These men may be considered the fathers of the town. Mr. Shurtleif was the son of William Shurtleff, who appeared in Plymouth at an early date and removed to Marshfield about 1660. The father married, in 1665, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Lettice, of Plymouth, and was killed by lightning June 23, 1666. When struck he was holding a son in his arms, who remained unharmed, but whether it was William or a brother Thomas, neither history nor traditiun states. William, the son, married, in 1683, Susanna, daughter of Barnabas Lathrop, and granddaughter of Rev. John Lathrop, wl>o settled in Scituaio ill 1034. He removed to Plympton, and many of his descendants are now living in the two divisions of the old town. Caleb Loring was a son of Thomas

Loring, of Plympton, and grandson of Thomas, who appeared in Hingham before 1637. He married Lydia, daughter of Edward Gray, and granddaughter of Thomas Lettice, and had a large family, which is still largely represented by its descendants in Plympton and other parts of the Old Colony. His wife's mother, Dorothy (Lettice) Gray, married for a second husband Nathaniel Clark, the notorious councillor of Andros, during the latter part of whose life liis wife, living apart from him, resided with her dauglilcr in Plympton, where she died and was buried. Samuel Sturtevant was a son of Samuel, who appeared in Plympton as early as 1643, and brother of John, who married Hannah, daughter of Josiah Winslow, the brother of the Governor. His children married into the Standish, Bosworth, and Shaw families, of Plympton, and their blood runs in the veins of more descendants in that town than bear the name. Benoni Lucas was the sou of Thomas, who came to Plymouth, and married before 1658. He was born in Plymouth in 1659, and that part of Plympton which is now Carver contains many of the name among its inhabitants.

At the next town-meeting held on the 21st of February, 170a/9, the selectmen reported the following list of inhabitants qualified to vote in town-meetings :

Before the incorporatiou of llie town tlie old burialplace, ODe acre in exteut, which was a part of the grant made by the town of Plymouth to the precinct in 1701/2, was laid out by a vote of ihe precinct passed May 30, 1706, and cleared under an agreement with the precinct by Benjamin Suule and Isaac Cushmau.

About the same time the first mill, which was a mill for grinding corn, was built near the second mill-puud on the Winnatuxet lliver. An old bed or channel of the river ran from the south to the north side of the poud and back to the south side, and near the turn of the river on the north side of the pond the mill wus built. The wheel of the mill, according to the memoranda of Lewis Bradford, turned horizontally and the siiaft was upright, with the mill-spindle on the upper end, so that the stone turned witli the wheel. Such a mill was called a gig-mill. Mr. Wright afterwards built another mill just above the bridge over the old Plympton cotton factory pond, and on its northerly side. Some yeans after, Mr. Wright sold a privilege eitlier to Nathaniel Thomas, of Marshfield, or to his son, Joseph, who early became an inhabitant of Plympton, and built a forge at the dam where the shoestring factory now stands. A short time before the forge was built, a grist-mill, which Was the third mill of that character erected in Plympton, was built on the same dam, known as Weston's grist-mill. This mill had a fulling-mill attached to it to meet the wants of the people, who, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, in common with those in other parts uf the Old Colony, spun and wove all their own cloth on domestic wheels and looms. The two first saw-mills were built, one on the Bridgewater road near the Lobdell estate, and the other at the head of the factory pond. In addition to the forge of Mr. Thomas, another was built at a previous date by a Mr. Mallinson, near the rolling-mill pond.

Adam Wright was evidently an active, enterprising man, who made use of all the opportunities which ihe times and the location offered. He was the son of Richard, and probably grandson of William Wright, a native of Austerfield, England, who came in the "Fortune" in 1621. Richard married Hester, a daughter of Francis Cook, of the " Mayflower," and died in 1691, at the age of eighty-three years. Adam, the son, had two wives, Sarah, daughter of John Soulc, of Duxbury, and Mehitabel, daughter of Robert Barrow or Barrows. He died in 1724, about eighty years of age, leaving a large family, whose blood has come down to the present generation with no loss uf the vigor with which it was impregnated by its enterprising ancestor. Josepli Thomas was the greatgrandson of William Thomas, of Marshfield, already referred to. The records of the town show that he was not only a man bearing the burdens and responsibilities of private business, but one also repeatedly called by the town into the management of municipal affairs. Of Mr. Mallinson the writer knows nothing. If not a non-resident, it is probable that his citizenship was a temporary one, ending with the special burliness in which he was engaged.

One of the first acts of the new town was in lounection with schools, and on the 2l3t of February, 1708, it was voted that the selectmen be iii=tructed to provide a schoolmaster, and this vote was repeated for many years at the annual town-meetiugs. On the 25th of the same month a road was laid out to Lakouham. It ran '' from Barnes' bridge to John Carver's ten-acre lot of land, to a red oak tree marked, and from thence, on the eastward side of John Bonurn's land, on John Carver's land, to the northwest end uf said Carver's laud, and thence through Abiel 8hurtleff'a land to the old causeway, and from the old causeway to the old path from South Meadows to Lakenham, and then along the path or by-way that now is till it comes from Pope's Point to Lakenham, and (hen, crossing that path to the westward, to a red-oak marked, and so by said marked tree till it comes to a walnut-tree marked, and from thence runs northerly to the old road or by-way, and then to Lakenham in the old road between Jonathan Shaw's and Benoni Shaw's land, which was laid out by the selectmen of the town of Plympton the day of the year aforesaid." On the IGth of Febrnary, 1701), 'a way was laid out by the selectmen of the town of Plympton, and by them ordered to be ri'cordid, viz., from the meeting-house in Plympton to Plymouth line, which is as followeth, viz. : we begin where the old road comes into Lakenham path, and so along the old road till it comes to the eastward side of Joseph King, Sr.'s land, and from thence to the southerly side of the road by a range of trees marked some distance from the road till you come to Nathaniel Harlow's field, and from thence to his house, and from thence to Deacon Rickard's land, so through said land by a range of trees marked till you come near John Rickard's house to a red-oak tree marked, and so along a road till you come to a corner of the field uf Deacun Rickard's, and so along the range of the old lot uf said Rickard till you come to the old road, and si) along the road till you come to the Plymouth line." These two roads were the two earlie.'-t laid uut by the town, and furnished belter means of comiuunicatiuii than had before existed between the two sections uf Plympton and between the Central Village and Plym-

At the Marcli lueetiug in 1708, William Shurtleff i was again chosen town clerk, and the succession of incumbents of that office up to the present time haa been as follows :

No record is uiude of tlie choice of a motlerator uutil 172-1. Who presided at town-meetings before that time, whether the clerk or selectmen or a moderator wiiose election was not thought worthy of record, there are uo means of determining. Since that time the following persons have officiated at annual meetings :

No record is to be found in the town books of the choice of a town treasurer until 1717, until which time it is very probable that the finances of the town were managed by the selectmen. Since 1717 the following persons liave been chosen to that office:

The first representative to the General Court was chosen in 1719. It is probable that before that time little interest was felt by the town in matters outside of the organization of its own municipal affairs. Indeed, in many scattering years afterwards the town voted formally to choose no representative. From 1719 down to the year 1857, when representative districts were established by law, making Haiison, Halifax, and Plympton a representative district, the following persons have represented the town in the General Court : diSereat periods dwelliog in the town. It will be noticed that now nnmeii were constantly making their appearance, and gradually enlarging the circle, once confined to those whose ancestry has already been described. Kev. Jonathan Parker had come in from Barnstable and founded a family wiiich ever since liis day has occupied a prominent position in the town. John Avery Parker, of New Bedford ; Oliver Parker, the manufacturer; Jonathan Parker, for many years the treasurer and representative of the town ; and in the present generation Zaccheus Parker and his son, the late Lewis B. Parker, have all illustrated in their character and lives the genuine Puritan spirit and vigor of blood so largely possessed by their ancestors. William Churchill had come in from Plymoutli, the son of John, who came to Plymouth in l(j43, and in him, too, Plympton found a source of pure Pilgrim blood, which has flowed in an untainted stream through the veins of a numerous posterity. Joel Ellis had come in, tlie son of Samuel, and grandsou of John, the ancestor, who married, in 1(545, Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Freeman, and settled in Sandwich probably at the date of its settlement, iti 1639. Ignatius Gushing had come in from Scituate, the grandson of Matthew, wiio came over in 1G38, and settled in Hingham, and Edmund Weston, from Duxbury, the son of Edmund, who came to Boston in the "Elizabeth and Ann," in lti35. Nathaniel Harlow had come in from Plymouth, the sou of William, who appeared in Lynn in 1637, and afterwards removed to Sandwich, and finally to Plymouth, the ancestor of a family whose name may be found in all parts of the Old Colony ; and Josiali Perkins had come with his father, Luke, from Hampton, where his grandfather, Abraham, was an early settler, and his descendants, too, have beeu and continue to be men in whom the town often confides the management of its affairs. Benjamin Soule had come in from Duxbury, who married a Staudish, and was the grandson of George Soule, who cume in the " Mayflower ;" and Jabez Newland came, who, haviug married a daughter of Ebenczer Slandish, of Plympton, settled in the town, and was for a time active in promoting its welfare. David Bosworth came in from Plymouth, the son of Benjamin, of Hull, and married Mercy Sturtevant, a daughter of one of the earliest settlLMS of the town. Ebenezer Standish had come in from Duxbury, the grandson of Miles, and some of his descendants bearing the name may still be found within the limits of the township. Besides these the Lobdells and Shermans and Booneys and Bisbees and Uaywards and Leaches and Holmes and Gaunetts and Ripleys and Fullers and Bryants had come in from various parts of tlie Old Colony, all mingling together, and leaving a posterity which exists to-day as free from foreign ingredients as any community which can be found in the length and breadth of the land.

Up to the time when the incipient stages of the Revolution began to appear, little occurred to break the monotony of the town's agricultural life. In those days, and indeed until a very recent period, the fields of Massachusetts were depended upon for the support of its people, and little or iidthing lor the consumption of man or beast came from beyond its borders. In fact each district and town \vm expected to raise its own supplies, so difficult vvcn: the methods of communication, and coriseciuenily those towns which possessed agricultural advantages were thrifty and prosperous. Plympton was favorably situated at the central point of diagonal lines crossing the county of Plymouth, and the cjuiot which now characterizes its streets and roadways muat be in striking contrast to the comparative bustle and activity which prevailed when it lay on the great thoroughfares between the various prominent towns of the county. Even up to the time of recent railroad intercommunication, Plympton was the chosen spot for political and religious conventions, being equidistant from the remote corners of the county. But though remote from steam communication, and suffering from a general stagnation of manufactures and agricL.lture and trade, it muat not be thought that it has met with its death, and that it is beyond the hope of resurrection. In the evolution of a new country, with the rapidly-shifting scenes which must attend such a process, there must be at times an overflow here and a drainage there until a level is reached, from and above which a general rise must eventually occur, lifting every locality to a higher plane of prosperity and wealth. Our country, even in New England, is still new ; its waves of population have not yet settled to a rest ; everything ia still in a formative condition ; towns here and there may grow rich and others grow poor, but we must be assured that the time will come when the rich will overflow and the poor will begiu to prosper and rise.

Concerning the passage of the Stamp Act, which in many towns created serious alarm, little was done by the town of Plympton. In 1766, when the co.^^t of the disturbances and riots caused by that act began to be counted, a vote was passed in town-meeting expressing the opposition of the town to any payment to the Lieutenant-Governor or others of any compensation for the damage which the disturbances had occasioned. In 1768 it was voted to concur with the iiihabitiiiits of Boston in tlieir determination to cease the importation of British j^oods. On the 21st of September, in ihat year, it was voted " to choose a committee of one to go to Boston in order to act witli a number of gentlemen chosen in Boston and other towns in the province, to meet at Faneuil Hall on the li2d inst., in order to take into consideration , the dangerous situation we apprehend this province is in, ina=much as Governor Barnard has dissolved the General Court at a time when we apprehend there is danger of a speedy French war, and at the same time we are threatened with being deprived of our civil and religious liberties, and for them to do what they shall think most for the honor of his majesty and tlie liest good and safety of this Province."

On tiie 11th of July, 1774, it was voted " not to purchase or consume any goods of any kind imported from Great Britain after the 1st of October next, until our liberties are restored." This resolve was passed by a vote of ninety-seven to fifteen. At the same meeting, George Bryant, Seth Gushing, William Ripley, Samuel Lucas, Thomas Savery, and Josiah Perkins were chosen a committee to consider and re- | port on the condition of public att'airs, and subsequently reported as follows :

" AVe, the sutiscribeis, bcin;^ chosen a c-oriimitteu to t.ake into ' coasideriitioo the precarious state and dangerous situatiun in . wliicli Chu public all'airs of this Province are now under, and which threaten j^rcut distress through ail the colonies, beg leave to report.

pleased to return unto us, and appear for our deliverance, and save us from the diatreas we are now laboring under, and prevent lieavicr calamities coming upon us. We also recommend this town by no means to he concerned in purchasiug or consuming any goods imported from Great Britain after the first day of October ne.\t and until our grievances are removeil, and with regard tu entering into any combination respecting purchasing goods imported from Great Britain, we humbly conceive it would be very impruilent to act anythiug of that uature until the result of the Congress fhall be made public, and upon the report thereof we advise the town to be very active in pur- ' suing the most regular method in oriler tu promote the good of ' the public and the nourishing state of the same."

It was voted to send the report to the town clerk of the town of Boston, and the same committee, with David iVIagoon, James Harlow, John Bridi;ham, John Shaw, Isaiaii Cushman, and Isaac Churchill added, \ wa.s instructed to consider the result of the Congress , when readied, and report to the town what action it was expedient to take in the premises.

both the parochial and municipal complexions which characterized the meetings of the town. In the one we discover the peace-loving spirit of the gospel, which puts its faith in God ; in the other we discover the more secular and practical injunction, " to keep your powder dry." On the 21st of the following September, Josiah Perkins, William Ripley, and Thomas Savery were chosen a committee to draw up ami report instructions to Samuel Lucas, the representative of the town to the General Court, and the following instructions were subsequently reported aud adopted:

-' Whereas, we the subscribers, being chosen a couiinittee to draw up instructions for the representative to the General Court, we have done it in the following uumner. la the lirst place. we advise him by no means to be aiding or consenting to any transaction to be done at the General Court that is inconsistent »iih our cliarter rights and privileges, and also if in case the Government should adjourn the Court to Boston, we advise him by no means to give his attendance, unless the Government be so good as to remove his forces out of the town."

Samuel Lucas, the representative, was also chosen to attend a Provincial Congress, at Concord, on the 11th of October. On the 3d of January, 177'>, Samuel Lucas was again cho.sen a delegate to Provincial Congress, to be held at Cambridge on the 10th of February. At the same meeting the town voted not to pay the minute-iuen any regular pay, but instructed the selectmen to provide for such as could not provide for themselves. In March, 177r», Seth Gushing, who was then acting as representative, was instructed to act as a delegate to Provincial C'^"o'''^^* as the successor of Mr. Lucas.

At this time, in the early part of 1775, there were four military companies in Plympton, and these companies were called into active service to march to Marshfield on the 19th of April, the very day on which the battles of Concord and Lexington were fought. Unlike other towns in the county. Marshfield in its municipal capacity had taken ground against the initiatory steps of the Revolution. It had passed in town-meeting resolves condemning the disturbances caused by the Stamp Act, and other resolves condemning the destruction of tea. Its most pronounced loyalists had been so seriously annoyed by the patriots of other towns, that, at their re(|Uest, Capt. Balfour with a company of Queen's Guards, numbering one hundred and twenty men, was sent in January, 1775, to Marshfield for their protection. The presence of these troops was such a menace and insult to the people of the county, that the First Regiment of the county militia marched on the lUth of April to attack them. On the arrival of the rejiiment at Marshfield, on the 20th, it was found that in consequence of the battles of the day before. Gen. Gage l»aJ sent orders for the immediate return of Capt. Balfour to Boston, and that in obedience to that order liis embarkation had been effected only an hour or two before. The regiment consisted of six or seven hundred men, and Capt. Balfour afterwards stated that if he had been attacked he should have surrendered without firio*; a gun. Thus Marshfield not only narrowly escaped furnishing the first battle-field of the war, but also furnishing a victory with the moral effect of which that of the skirmishes of Concord and Lexington would present no comparison.

The officers of the First Regiment were Theophilus Cotton, of Plymouth, colonel ; Thomas Lathrop. of Plyu)outh, lieutenant-colonel; John Gray, of Kingston, first major; and Seth Cushing, of Plympton, second major. The Plympton companies in this regiment, all of which went to Marslifieid, were under the command of Capt. John Bradford, Capt. Thomas Loring, Capt. William Atwood, and Capt. Nathaniel Shaw. The members of Capt. Bradford's company were as follows :

William Atwood, capt. James Murdock, lat lieut. Joseph Barrows, 2d lieut. William Washburn, sergt. John Shaiv, sergt. Joseph Atwood, sergt. Simmons Barrowa, corp. Roland llummond. Jabez Muxam.

Whether the soldiers who served at this time were credited to the town as a part of its quota in the war eaiiiiot be ascertained. It is certain, however, that tlie rolls containing their names were returned to the State authorities, and it is probable that many of the survivors became pensioners of the government. In 177G the following members of Capt. Nathaniel Shaw's company, which represented the south part of the town, now Carver, were sent to Boston on temporary tervice :

Francis Shurtlert', Ut lieut. Joseph Cule, 2d lieut. Tiinuthy Cobb, scrgt. SaiuuttI Luuas {'M), sergt. Conaidur Chase, sergt. Samuel Vuughan, sergt. John Lucus. i^urp. Kbenuzer Uausoui, drummer. Sylvanua Stephens, 6fer. llL-zckiab Cole, Nehemiah Cubb.

In the same year the following members of one of the Flympton companies, then in command uf James Harlow, were sent to Boston on temporary service:

On the 20th of April, 1778, William Ripley, Samuel Lucas, Thomas Savery, Isuiuh Cushman, and Elijah Bisliee were chosen a committee to take into consideration a plan of government sent to the town for approval, and on their report it was rejected by a vote of fifty-five to seventeen. On the same day one hundred pounds were appropriated for the benefit of - tlie famiiics of soldiers. In this year the followini; \ recruits were raised for three months' service in Rhode ' Island under Gen. Sullivan: From the company of i Capt. James Harlow, Nathaniel Sherman, Josiah ! Cushman, and Samuel Wright; from the company of : Capt. Thomas Sampson, Barnabas Harlow, corporal, Peleg Sampson, and Samuel Gardner; and from the company of Capt. George Hammond, James Murdock and Josiah Barrows, Jr. In the autumn of the same year the following recruits were enlisted for temporary service in and about Boston, under Gen. Heath : From the company of Capt. Sampson, Peleg Sampson, Thomas Churchill, Arthur Chandler, and Francis Cook ; from the company of Capt. Shaw, John Shaw, Benjamin Shaw, James Howlaud, James Vaughan, and Samuel Cobb. In the same your Ichabod Finney, Joseph Perkins, and Zachariah Cushman, from the company of Capt. Sampson ; Joseph Crocker, Samuel Cobb, and Asa Dunham, from the company of Capt. Shaw ; Simeon Bonney, Jr., and Joseph Whiting, from the company of Capt. Harlow ; and Barsillai Besse and Ephraim Barrows, from the company of Capt. Hammond, enlisted to march to Fishkill for nine months' service. In the same year Seth Churchill, Jr., Benjamin Bryant, and Seth Johnson, from Capt. Sampson's company ; Barnabas Cobb, from Capt. Shaw's company; Nathaniel Pratt, Jr., and' Joseph Whiting, from Capt. Harlow's company ; and William Washburn, from Capt. Hammond's company, enlisted for eight months, and marched to Peekskill, N. Y. In the same year David Churchill, Jr., James Soule, and Joseph Churchill, from Capt. Sampson's company ; David Wood, Jr., John Dunham, and Samuel Lucas (3d), from Capt. Shaw's company ; Jacob Wright, Joseph Wright, and John Bisbee, from Capt. Harlow's company ; and Daniel Bumpus, from Capt. Hammond's company, enlisted to march to Providence on six mouths' service. In the same year Ebenezer Cushman and Amos Jeffrey, of Capt. Sampson's command ; Joseph Lucas, Jr., and Benoni Shaw, of Capt. Shaw's ; Josiah Ripley, sergt., and William Sampson, of Capt. Harlow's ; and Joshua Perkins, Jr., of Capt. Hammond's, were sent to Cambridge under Gen. Na-

In the same year Sylvanus Braniliull, Samuel Bryant, and Asa Sturtevant enlisted for two yuai-s' .service, and Josiah Harlow, Thoma,s Lushert, Noah Pratt, James Dunham, Jr., John Bates, Elijah Rickard, Noah Fuller, Zephaniah Doten, Benjamin Lucas, John King, Asa Barrows, Juphet Benson, Benjamin Blossom, Ebenezer Perkins, Peter Thayer, Noah Eaton, Isaac Thayer, Benjamin Fuller, Abner Harlow, Reuben Bisbee, and Jacob Bryant for eight months.

In the same year Noah Sherman, Joho Stephens, and John Sherman, from Capt. Shaw's company, enlisted for temporary service under Gen. Heath in and about Boston.

On the 19th of May, 1779, the new constitution whicli was submitted to the town was rejected. On the 2d of August Seth Cusliing and George Hammond were chosen delegates to the convention to be held in Cambridge, to consider the question of confederation. In that year the following men enlisted for three years' service.

In the same year Zebedee Chandler, Nathan Wright, Benjamin Pratt, and Gideon Shurtleff, respectively, from the companies of Capts. Sampson, Ilarlow, Shaw, and Hammond enlisted for six months* service in Rhode Island, and in the same year Eleazer Holmes and Noah Eaton from Capt. Harlow's company ; Seth llaridall, Barnabas Jackson, and Ford Bryant from Capt. Sampson's ; Benjamin Barrows and Joiin Washburn from Capt. Hammond's; and Simeon Dunham Irom Capt. Shaw's company, enlisted for nine months' service in the Continental army.