Worcester County, Massachusetts - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 12 of those read), 1889

The Revolution. - On the breaking out of the Revolutionary War few towns in the Commonwealth rallied to the cause with such spirit and unanimity as the town of Sutton. The first gleaming ray from the torch of liberty kindled to a flame the whole surrounding region, and volunteers flocked to its standard in great numbers. Long before the battle of Lexington they had formed a band of ''minute-men," well mounted and armed, and under the command of Colonel Jonathan Holman, who had been a veteran in the British service in Canada during the old Frencli War.

As soon as the news of that fight reached them they sprang to tlieir saddles, and, riding with all speed through the whole night, reached Concord just as the enemy were retreating to Boston.

It was not thirty days after that fight before Sutton and the neighboring towns had raised a full regiment of ten companies, all volunteers, and they were on the march to the field of action.

They were organized under the command of Colonel Ebenezer Larned, of Oxford ; marched to Roxbury, where they arrived more than two months before Washington came to take command of the army.

Another regiment was immediately formed of men coming from "Sutton, Oxford, Sturbridge, Charlton and Dudley, including adjacent lands," and placed under the command of Colonel Jonathan Holman, of North Sutton.

lu tile Houee of Representatives : The House made clioice by ballot of the foHowing gentlemen for Field Officers of the Fifth Regiment of Militia in the County of Worcester, viz. : Jonatbiin Holman of Suttou, Colonel ; Daniel Plympton, Lieut. Colonel ; William Larned, First Major ; Jacob Davis, 2d Major.

This regiment, being composed largely of men from Sutton, and under the command of a Sutton officer, was usually known and styled as "The Sutton Regiment." It was destined to a very severe and longcontinued service of nearly two years, during which it was engaged in many battles with the enemy, and finally, if we accept the evidence of a high British authority, in the great decisive battle of the war, the battle of Saratoga.

In the battle that ensued Colonel Holman's regiment was actively engaged, and that they acquitted themselves bravely may be justly inferred from the fact that after the battle this regiment was designated " to take possession of Fort Edward, and to hold it, until the dispersion of Burgoyne's army," which they did.

This battle, followed by the surrender of Burgoyne and his whole army, virtually ended the war in New England. The British, after fighting the obstinate Yankees for two years and a half, became discouraged and moved the theatre of war down South.

January 19, 1770, there was a call for more men, and a levy was made upon all the towns in the Stale, ihe number to be raised being apportioned according to the size and strength of the towns.

two ; Hardwick, twenty-nine ; Shrewsbury, twentyfive; Bolton, twenty-three; Lunenburg, twenty; Sturbridge, seventeen ; Westboro', seventeen ; Charlton, sixteen ; Douglas, fifteen ; Grafton, fifteen ; Dudley, twelve ; Leicester, thirteen ; Uxbridge, thirteen ; Oxford, eleven ; Northbridge, six ; and so on.

In a levy made upon the towns for blankets, they were apportioned as follows: Lancaster, tliirty-three ; Sutton, thirty ; Brookfield, thirty ; Worcester, twentyseven ; and so on in lesser numbers.

In the Provincial Congress held at Watertown, May 1, 1775, provision was made for the support of the people who had been driven from their homes in Boston by the entrance of the British army.

The evidence, therefore, appears to be conclusive, that in the great and arduous struggle to gain our independence, Sutton ranked among the forty-three towns in Worcester County as the third, Brookfield and Lancaster alone having a better record, they being larger towns.

Sutton may well be proud of her contribution to the grand result; and, in common with all the towns of the Commonwealth, her glory is still more enhanced by the fact brought out by Charles Sumner, in his celebrated debate with Senator Butler, of South Carolina, in which he provd bi/ docamentnry evidence from the War and Treasuri/ Departments, that, in the Revolutionary War, Massachusetts alone furnished more men, and more money, than all the Southern States combined.

April 1.5th. The President issues his proclamation calling for seventy-five thou.sand of the militia of the several States to " re-possess the forts, places and property " which had been seized, " to maintain the perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs loug enough endured."

April 29th. An impromptu meeting of citizens of the town was held for the purpose of discu.ssing the situation, and a committee appointed to draft a series of resolutions for the action of a meeting of the town called for the day following.

April .30th. At the meeting of this date the feeling of indignation at the atrocity of the act of firing on the national Hag, of patriotic devotion, and of determined purpose to crush rebellion, w;us in full harmony with that which prevailed throughout all the loyal States. In view of the peril of the hour, and the necessity of wise action, it was proposed that the proceedings be opened with prayer ; and it is recorded that the Rev. Mr. Hawkins, being called upon " to address the

On motion of E. J. Mills, it was " voted that a Committee chosen at a meeting held last evening to present the subject for action to-day be invited to do so now, and the Hon. J. D. McCrate, Chairman of said Committee, responded in the following resolutions:

Res'^lved, That in this niuMt unnatural contest, waged against otir Country by a band of traitors in the Southern States, we, the inhabitants of Sutton, believing that the whole strength of the country should be exerted in an official manner to put down rebellion, call upon the Government of the United States to make no terms or compromises with traitors, but to carry on the war in such a niajiner, and with such force as will strengthen the union sentiment which we believe still exists in portions of the rebellious .States, and intimidate and overwhelm those who, regardless of all obligations, seek a division of our beloved Country.

Refolved, That we are neither advocates of nor believers in the right of Secession, That we regard the coni*se taken by the self-styled Seceding States as Revolution without justifiable cause, and that the Government of the Country is therefore bound to put it down by the sti'Ong arm of force.

Resolved, That we appropriate the sum of six thousand (SfiWO) dollars fol the specitic object of taking care of the families and of uniforming such of the inhabitants of this Town as shall enlist either for the war or for three years or raore, and shall be called out to serve for that period, and be accepted by the regularly constituted authorities of the Country.

Refolved, That the above sum, or whatever portion thereof he necessary, shall he expended under the direction of a Committee of three, to be chosen at this meeting.

August 2d. The town " Voted to offer a bounty of one hundred and fifty ($1.50.0(») dollars to any person who, on or before the eighteenth day of August, will enlist as a Volunteer in the Army of the United States as one of quota of twenty-eight men from Sutton, the same to be paid as soon as such person shall have been accepted and mustered."

August 23d. The call for nine months' men was promptly responded to by the town, which " voted to take measures to procure by enlistment our quota of troops, and to pay to each person enlisting as one of said quota a bounty of one hundred and fifty (.fl50.0<l) dollars."

Two were commissioned officers. The whole amount of money appropriated and expended on account of the war, exclusive of State aid, was twenty-five thousi'ud one hundred and eighty dollars and fourteen cents (!?2."),180.14). The amount of money paid by the town for State aid to soldiers' families during the war, and afterward repaid by the State was as follows: In 1861,1501.91; 1862, $2,410.71 ; 1863, $3,212.70 ; 1864, Sil,725.76; 1865, $1,901.26. Total amount, $9,752.34.

The ladies of Sutton furnished a great many articles for the soldiers during the war, to the money value of about one thousand dollars. Among the articles were shirts, drawers, socks, lint, bandages and other useful stores. They were forwarded to the front generally through the Sanitary and Christian Commissions.

There was, upon July 4th, a large and enthusiastic gathering of the citizens of the town in the grove a little east of the house of Mr. F. H. Marble.

A procession of citizens and Sunday-school children was formed at the Congregational Church, under the direction of Messrs. Edmund J. Mills, Amos Batcheller, H. S. Stoekwell and Charles H. Chase, marshals ; and, escorted by the O.xford Brass Band, marched to the grove, where appropriate services were held under the direction of E. J. Mills, president of the day. Prayer was ofl'ered by Rev. W. A. Benedict, the Declaration of Indeitendence read by Miss Hattie A. Holbrook, and patriotic speeches were made by Rev. H. A. Tracy, Messrs. I. B. Hartwell, Reuben R. Dodge, J. W. Stoekwell and Rev. W. A. Benedict.

Old-time and modern songs were sung, and stirring music was given by the baud. As the day wore on to its close the crowd slowly and reluctantly dispersed, some, at least, praying that they who shall upon the same ground celebrate the nation's bi-centennial, may look upon our flag studded with many new stars, still proudly waving over an undivided people, who have maintained their civil and religious institutions in their integrity, strengthened their government by the promotion of virtue and intelligence, and made as rapid progress in the second as in the first century of the nation's life, in all that constitutes true national greatness.

Sutton a Farjiing Town. - Sutton is pre-eminently a farming town, and has ever been noted for its advanced position in agriculture. Its fine stock has been remarked at all cattle fairs, from the first exhibition of the Worcester County Agricultural Society to the present time. Its fine oxen have been sought after from all the adjoining country.

When Daniel Webster was in England and was asked at one of their fairs if he had ever seen as beautiful oxen, he replied, " Yes ; at the fair in Worcester County, Mass., and they were raised in Sutton."

From the earliest times to the present, trained oxen have been a specialty in this town, though now the horse is fast usurping the place of the slower ox. Nor have the farmers of this old town been behind in other branches of good husbandry. The grass crop is im mense ; the fruit product is equal to that of any^town of its extent in the State, while in mixed farming it takes high rank, and well it may, for its soil is naturally productive, and its culture has been thorough ; therefore its farmers are intelligent, prosperous and enterprising. They are the conservative force that has influenced the acts of the town, shaping its policy and carrying forward its history. Their moral influence is seen in the liberal policy of the town, the advancement of the school, and the support of the ministry, and they can to-day take pleasure in the neatness of their dwellings, the beauty of their fields, and their

The Homes of Sutton. - And now, gentle reader, a glance at the homes of Sutton. A history of these is really the history of the town ; for in these homes the influences, secret and silent, direct and open, conscious and unconscious, have been in operation that have molded the characters of the men and women of the town, and established them in those principles which they have exemi)liHed in every line of action. They were men who knew what it was to go out into the wilderness and fell the trees, build houses, subdue the soil, found churches and schools, establish civil government and put in operation the variul forces by which social order is maintained and social progress advanced.

And they were equal to the W(nk. They were not what may be called educated men, and yet they were not ignorant. They had good common sense, sound judgment and strong purpose. They knew what the rights of men are, and possessed the independence to assert, and the will to maintain them.

Most of these homes were Christian homes, and all that were not professedly so were occupied by those who sincerely respected religion, and contributed, by a cheerful payment of the " ministry tax," to the support of the institutions of the Gospel. -Ml had seats in the house of God, and few were the families that did uot make their arrangements to be represented there upon the Sabbath ; and from these homes has naturally grown the history of the town.

Those who went out from us may have reflected honor on our history, but those who remain, the quiet, unnoted ones, have moulded the character of the town, and to them belongs the praise. Of them it may truly be said, "Son, thou wast ever with me, and all that I have is thine." In the church and in the support of the Gospel in all these "meeting-houses," in the town-meeting and the responsibilities of State, in the school and the support of education, in the moral and social life nurtured within its boundaries, has been sown the seeds of character that we now look back upon and read in history. Their names known to comparatively few, their characters known only within the family circle, have yet an influence felt in the community, and broadening through time. Therefore, in closing, let our last, best words be for the noble lives, lived within our borders, which have prepared these beautiful hillside fields, and dotted them with happy homes; these villages, prosperous and enlarging their borders, because of local interest and local pride; these churches, with their uplifting influence, and these schools, nurseries of learning. In these lie the foundation of character, wherein is enfolded the future, not only of our town, but of the State and nation.

Membersof the Provincial Congress: 1774, Edward Putnam ; 1775, Captain Henry King, Elder Amos Singletary ; Member of United States Congre.ss :