Berkley Town (part 1 of 2)

Berkley Town

" Westward the course of empire takes its way ; The first four acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day ; Time's noblest offspring is the last."

These prophetic words were uttered by Lord Berkeley, under the enthusiasm excited by the prospect of his emigrating to the New World, for the purpose of converting the American savages to Christianity, and the founding of a university in the Bermudas.

From this celebrated man, preacher, writer, scholar, philanthropist, and metaphysician the town of Berkley undoubtedly derived its name, for tradition says, "In 1735, when certain inhabitants, living in the southerly part of Taunton and the northerly part of the South Precinct, or Purchase, then Dighton, asked the Great and General Court, for reasons set forth in their petition, for an act of incorporation as a new township," the name of Berkeley was suggested by some one who had probably formed an acquaintance with George Berkeley, then late Bishop of Cloyne, who just before that time had resided at Newport, R. I.

The suggestion and adoption of the name of so distinguished a Christian philosopher and poet reflects great credit upon the taste and liberality of religious sentiments of all parties interested, for it will be remembered that Episcopalians were seldom complimented in such manner, even in the " Old Colony," whose fame was never shadowed by religious persecution.

Bishop Berkeley was a remarkable man for that or any other age, remarkable for his broad Christianity, benevolence, and original philosophical ideas, which, like other new ideas, are always an easy subject of ridicule and misrepresentation.

And Dr. Johnson said to an advocate and defender of Berkeley's theories, with whom he had held a conversation, when the latter rose to depart, " Pray, sir, do not leave us : we may perhaps forget you, and then you will cease to exist."

While his premises and conclusions have not been fully accepted by the philosophy of the present clay, they very considerably modified former views upon various subjects relative to metaphysics.

Bishop Berkeley presented to Harvard and Yale Colleges his large and valuable library, and to the latter some valuable real estate on Rhode Island, from the proceeds of which to found a scholarship, which has become immensely valuable. More than two hundred students have availed themselves of this

He also sent to the town named in honor of him a present of a church organ, to be used in public worship. The services of an organist were not available in those days, and this, added to the fact that there was an unmistakable prejudice among those primitive worshipers against instrumental music in church, resulted in a neglect of the courtesy, and the organ was left in Newport, and, it is said, yet remains there to this day in Trinity Church, in a state of complete preservation and in constant use. As an example of the sentiment that prevailed then against instrumental music in church, it is related that forty years after the present of the organ the feeling was so far compromised as to allow the use of a bass-viol at the closing singing, when the congregation joined. A venerable man would rise and go out, slamming his pew-door in evident ill humor. Upon being remonstrated with for his discourteous behavior, he replied that " he would not stay and hear that bull roar."

But in this respect, and in others as well, there has been an entire change in the feelings and practices of religious worship and modifications of religious belief, and no one could be found who would now say that instrumental music in church was " an invention of the devil to catch men's souls."

The change in the spelling of the word Berkley was probably due to the carelessness of the engrossing clerk of the General Court, an error that has been perpetuated, and can be accounted for in no other manner. This is a matter of regret, as certainly the name of the town should have conformed to the original orthography.

"Whereas, The southerly part of Taunton and the northerly part of Dighton, on the east side of the Great River, is competently filled with inhabitants, who labor under difficulties by reason of the remoteness from the places of public meetings in the said towns, and have thereupon made application to this court that they may be set off a different and separate parish, and be vested with all the powers and privileges that other towns in this province are vested with.

" Be it therefore enacted by Hit Excellency the Governor, Council, and Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the southerly part of Taunton and northerly part of Dighton, on the east side of the Great River, as hereafter bounded, be and hereby are set off, constituted, and erected into a separate aud distinct township by the name of Berkley, the bounds of the township being as followeth, viz. : Beginning at the Great River, at a forked white-oak tree, at the landing-place between the land of Abraham Tisdale and Micah Piatt; from thence to extend in a straight line to a dam known by the name of Little Meadow Dam ; from thence to a tree with a heap of stones around it in the said little meadow; from thence to extend in a straight line until it intersected the line of the precinct, which includes a part of Taunton and a part of Middleborough, opposite the dwellinghouse of John Williams; from thence to extend on said precinct line to the maple-tree which is the corner bounds of Middleborough, Freetown, Dighton, and Taunton; and from thence bounded by Freetown until it comes to a little knoll or hillock of upland, being the bounds between

Dighton, Freetown, and Assonet Neck ; and thence bounded liy tlie land of Mr. Edward Shove till it comes to Taunton River; and then bounded by said river till it comes to the first-mentioned bounds.

"And that the inhabitants thereof he and hereby are vested and endowed with equal privileges and powers and immunities that the inhabitants of any of the towns within this province are or by law ought to he vested with.

"Only it is ho understood that John Spurn, Nicholas Stephens, John Tisdale, Abraham Tisdale, Isaac Tisdale, and Ebenezer Pitts, and their families and estates, are not to be included in said township, but are to belong to the towns of Taunton or Dighton, as formerly.

"And the inhabitants of the town of Berkley are hereby requested, within the space of two years from the publication of this act, to procure and settle a learned Orthodox minister of good conversation, and make provision for his comfortable and honorable support, and also to erect and finish a suitable and convenient house for the public worship of God in said town.

" Provided, also, That the inhabitants included within this township that heretofore belonged to Taunton shall, from time to time, pay towards the repairs of Weir bridge in proportion to the remaining part of Taunton, according to their assessment in the last province tax, and also their proportion of the rates and taxes already made iu Taunton.

"And that part of the new township which belonged to Dighton pay their proportion with the said town of Dighton of the arrears of their outstanding rates already made, and of the debts due from the said town of Dighton, and also their proportion of the charge for the maintenance of the present poor of the town of Dighton.

Organization of the Town. - At a legal town-meeting, warned according to the General Court's order, and held May 12, 1735, at the house of Elkanah Babbitt, with Gershom Crane moderator, and Abel Burt town clerk, Nathaniel Gilbert, John Burt, and Gershom Crane were chosen selectmen, and Joseph Burt, John Paull, and Benaiah Babbitt for assessors. These officers, it was voted, should all serve without compensation for their labors.

" Voted, To assess or raise the sum of fifty pounds for the use of the town, part to be paid to the scholar which shall be hired to preach to us, the other part for the same use if wanted, or otherwise, as the town shall apply it."

" Voted, That the three selectmen go and hire Mr. Tobey, if they can agree with him, to preach in our town of Berkley one-quarter of a year."

'' Voted. That Gershom Crane, John Paull, Joseph Burt, and John Burt, under John Burt, procure the timber, divide the work, and proportion it among the inhabitants equally [equitably], and that each man who labors on said meeting-house shall be allowed four shillings per day, and lads or boys proportionally, as the committee shall see fit."

" Aug. 3, 1736. Voted, To give Mr. Samuel Tobey one hundred pounds in bills of credit, such as passeth between man and man, or silver at twenty-six shillings per ounce, annually, so long as he, the said Tobey, continueth in the work of the ministry in our town."

" Sept. 27, 1736. Voted, That the assessors of our town of Berkley forthwith assess or make a tax of three hundred pounds for Mr. Tobey, - two hundred pounds for his settlement, and one hundred pounds for his salary this present year."

" Voted, That Elkanah Babbitt, Gershom Crane, John Paull, Abiel Atwood, and Abel Burt be a committee to let out our meeting-house as cheaply as they can to finish after a decent and comely fashion or manner."

Rev. Samuel Tobey. - Berkley became a distinct town in 1735, as has been already stated, and two years subsequently a church was organized with Rev. Samuel Tobey as the pastor. Mr. Tobey was a native of Sandwich, Mass., and a graduate of Harvard College, of the class of 1733. He was ordained Nov. 23, 1737, he being but twenty-five years old. His ministry continued until the time of his death, Feb. 13, 1781, a period of nearly forty-four years. Notwithstanding Mr. Tobey kept the church records with the greatest fidelity, there are none of his manuscripts that have been preserved, nor is it known that he ever published any of his writings.

The year following his ordination Mr. Tobey was married to Bathsheba Crocker, a daughter of Timothy Crocker, of Barnstable. Twelve children were the result of this union, of whom the two youngest, Paul and Silas, were twins.

" As a preacher, he was not brilliant, but grave and honest in declaring what he believed true and essential. As a ' master of assemblies,' he was firm and impartial. He was of a full countenance, and uncommonly engaging in his person and manners. All revered him as a man of eminent abilities and of great common sense and unaffected appearance. The children not only revered but loved him, especially when he came into the schools and talked to them as a father. He seemed to regard all the people not only as his flock, but as his children.

" The structure of his sermons was formal, according to the manner of ministers of that time, who made many divisions of their subjects. His style was open, and so plain that the unlearned could understand and remember the truths uttered. In his devotional ex- ercises in the pulpit he was somewhat formal, using nearly the same expressions in many of his prayers. That he was edifying and attractive to the common people is evident from the fact that he was highly esteemed in his deportment and public services f6r nearly three generations."

Rev. Thomas Andros. - After an interim of six years, during which the pulpit was variously supplied, Rev. Thomas Andros, of Norwich, Conn., was ordained in 1788, March 19th, and for forty-seven years occupied the pulpit, at the end of which time, admonished by waning strength and the existence of differences that time had developed in the church and society, he asked for and received a formal dismissal from his pastoral charge, and retired, not to a life of idleness, but, on the contrary, to the end of his days was an active worker in all the great reformatory movements of the day. His early life having been passed amid hardships and privations, he fully appreciated and estimated the value of those advantages he failed to possess or enjoy, and he worked faithfully to increase an interest in popular education in the town, and gave an impetus to it whose influence was undoubtedly permanent and lasting. The Taunton Association of Ministers, on the occasion of his death, said of him, " Mr. Andros was an eminent example of self-taught men, a warm patron of education, and a deeply-interested friend of the rising generation. As a preacher, he held high rank ; as a pastor, he was affectionate, laborious, and untiring in interest, both for the spiritual and temporal welfare of his people, to whom he ministered for more than forty years."

The early life of Mr. Andros was an eventful one. He lost his father in his childhood, and consequently upon his mother devolved the care and responsibility of rearing and educating four children in comparatively straitened circumstances. They removed to

Plainfield, Conn., in the vicinity of which her relatives resided. There being few or no public schools in that day, and means being limited, it may readily be inferred that the advantages of mental culture enjoyed by Mr. Andros were small indeed. To a son of Mr. Andros is the writer indebted for the narration of the following thrilling events of his personal history:

"At the breaking out of the Revolutionary war in 1775, though but a youth of sixteen years, he was the first to enroll himself as a soldier in the Continental service, and shortly after joined the American army, then encamped at Cambridge. After the evacuation of Boston, he was engaged in the battles of Long Island and White Plains, and under Gen. Sullivan was engaged in the conflict at Butt's Hill. In 1781 he enlisted on board a private armed vessel, but his cruise was destined to be a short one, for they were captured by an English frigate and condemned to the 'old Jersey prison-ship' in New York Harbor. In a manner singularly providential he succeeded in effecting his escape, and after suffering incredible hardships and innumerable perils, finally reached the home of his mother.

" A severe illness prostrated him for many months after his self-restoration to liberty and home, his recovery from which was well-nigh miraculous. It was probably this near approach to death, by which the doors of the future world were, as it weiv, opened wide before him, that fixed his subsequent career, and led him to dedicate the remainder of his life to the work of his Redeemer."

After recovering his health he devoted himself for several years to a careful preparation for the ministry under the Rev. Joel Benedict, of Plainfield, Conn., and received his first call to fill the pulpit at Berkley made vacant by the death of Rev. Samuel Tobey. To give a lengthy dissertation upon the merits of Mr. Andros would far exceed the limit and object of this work, the design of which is general rather than personal history, but a few words more may not be amiss to illustrate as far as may be the superior ability of this man, who for half a century was a leading spirit in the locality under consideration.

Mr. Andros, though in the main adhering to the views inculcated by the most eminent New England divines of that period, was notwithstanding an independent thinker. Quoting from Mr. Sanford again, " He never preached that Christ made atonement by his death for the elect only, and not for all mankind ; or that justifying faith consists in one's believing that his sins are forgiven, and that he is one of the saved ; or that man, in regeneration, is as passive as a child in being born into the world; or that man is unable to repent; or that no mere man, since the fall, is able perfectly to keep the divine commands. He is remembered never to have believed or preached that the sin of the first man is imputed to all his posterity, and that in him all sinned, and that each brings sin enough into the world to subject him to the loss of heaven. Neither did he preach that Christ's righteousness is made over or transferred to believers, but rather that he teaches us how we may acquire the righteousness which is acceptable by faith and good works. He strenuously enforced that men have the power of choice, are responsible for their moral acts ; that no divine agency operates in men to harden or tempt them to sin, but rather to restrain them from it."

As a patriot and politician, he never hesitated to be pronounced in his opinions, and it was questioned by his friends whether his strong partisanship was not too strong for one who occupied so public a position, and whether the judicious use of some finesse on his part would not have proven "the better part of wisdom." His Thanksgiving and Fast-day sermons were usually political ones, and especially attractive to those who agreed with him, as well as to those who held opposite views. In one of that ilk he took occasion to speak of Mr. Jefferson in the following denunciatory language : " He is the object of my soul's most implacable abhorrence." It is but just, however, to say that in after-life he acknowledged his misconception of Mr. Jefferson's religious and political views, and actually joined the party of which the author of the Declaration of Independence was the founder and acknowledged exponent. Too favorable a notice cannot be made of the influence he exerted upon the cause of education, both with reference to the common schools, of which he was an avowed friend and defender, and also to the higher branches, in which he had many private classes and pupils. In his daily walks of life he exerted a strong influence upon the generations already risen to adult age, he fully indorsing the aptness of Pope's memorable epigram, -

He also examined teachers for public schools, and drew about him a corps of teachers whose acquirements and ability to impart knowledge were unequaled in those days and rarely surpassed in these.

During Mr. Andros' ministry a circumstance occurred which will illustrate his native shrewdness. A master-mariner living near the line of Berkley, in Taunton, who had come from a trip to Albany, * " beat" up to Grassy Island, then meeting a " head tide," anchored his vessel, went on shore, intending to walk home, a distance of two miles. Passing by a clump of bushes, a hen fluttered out, announcing in unmistakable language the presence of her nest. Examination of the spot disclosed a newly-laid egg, upon which the sailor transcribed " Woe to the inhabitants of Barkly." The writer of this minatory prophecy had procured in Albany a graphite pencil, a thing almost unknown in those days. The egg was warm and moist, the plumbago united chemically with the shell, and so intimately as to be apparently a part of it. The owner of the hen, a pious lady, was horrified when, upon gathering up her eggs at night, she found the one already alluded to, and in perfect consternation took it to Mr. Andros, hoping he might explain the calamity it appeared to portend. The minister shut his eyes closely, as was his wont, and said, " It was not the Lord's doings, for He would have known how to spell Berkley." This ready answer quieted her fears.-

Mr. Andros represented his town twice in the Legislature after he retired from active ministerial service. His last sermon was preached the 5th of October, 1845, and the following December 30th he died from the result of a succession of apoplectic attacks.

He was twice married, first to Miss Abigail Cutler, and after her death to Miss Sophia Sanford. The former had nine children and the latter eight. Five of his sons were master-mariners, and made many foreign voyages. Another son, the late R. S. S. Andros, was a well-known New England writer and poet. Another son, Milton Andros, is at present a distinguished attorney-at-law in the- State of California. Descendants of other members of his family still attest to the wide-spread influence of this man, whom the writer deems the one of all others whose life gave a coloring to the affairs of this town of Berkley, both educational and spiritual, and without whose brief personal history a methodical record of the important events which concern this town could not be written.

The next settled minister was the Rev. Ebenezer Poor, of Danvers, Mass. His pastorate was about two years in duration. He was esteemed an interesting preacher. He was succeeded by Rev. J. U. Parsons, who was installed in 1838 and dismissed in 1840. He was the author of a series of school readers and some religious works. In 1842, Eev. Charles Chamberlain, formerly tutor in Brown University, was ordained as the successor of Mr. Parsons, and resigned his charge in 1844. Since that time the pulpit has successively been supplied by Rev. Messrs. Eastman, Gould, Gay, Richardson, Craig, Smith, Lothrop, Davis, Babcock, Bessom, Barney, Chamberlain, and Parker.

This society - the Congregational - now occupies the third meeting-house, all of which houses have occupied the same and to many a sacred spot. It is a large and well-arranged house and in good condition. Adjacent to the meeting-house is a neat and attractive parsonage, having a desirable location. This society is in a very healthy condition financially, the annual rent of the pews and the income of the "ministerial fund" placing the society above pecuniary anxiety.

In 1848 a division in the Congregational Church and Society occurred from causes which it would be unprofitable to lift the veil of oblivion from now. Some twenty members of the church and a number of the society withdrew and organized the "Trinitarian Congregational Society in Berkley," March 1, 1848, and built a comfortable house called the

" Chapel." Rev. L. R. Eastman was the first pastor, commencing his pastorate the first Sabbath in April, 1848, and left in March, 1856, being a pastorate of eight years.

Rev. James A. Roberts having been invited to fill the pulpit made vacant by the resignation of Mr. Eastman, he entered upon his ministry the first Sabbath in April, 1856, continuing his pastorate until the last Sabbath in September, 1872, a period of more than sixteen years. He retired then, as he said, " to rest," thinking perhaps that he might be able to reenter the pulpit again. But he never rallied, and in the following November, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, he "rested" from his labor.

Mr. Roberts was born in Trowbridge, England; preached in a Dissenting Church in London and elsewhere three thousand nine hundred and forty-two times; came to America and was settled as pastor of the South Congregational Society in New Bedford, where he remained several years; went back to England, and returned to New Bedford again. He preached four thousand seven hundred and seventyseven times in America before his pastorate in Berkley, and in Berkley he preached fifteen hundred and fifty-five times. He resigned his pastorate in New Bedford and retired to his farm in Lakeville. Soon after he entered upon the ministry in Berkley he removed thither, bought a house and lands, where he lived ever after and where he died.

Mr. Roberts was a man beloved by all who knew him well for bis geniality, good practical sense, and for his benevolence. He was loved particularly by the children and youth with whom he became acquainted, and there are those who remember his kindly and wise suggestions and admonitions and have treasured them up. As a preacher, he was generally interesting, his sermons short, but generally well considered; his manner of delivery animated, and sometimes highly expressive; his prayers remarkably comprehensive, earnest, and sympathetic. He was free from that arrogance peculiar to his nationality; his adopted country was his country, and few "to the manner born" were more patriotic. His love of the cultivation of fruits and flowers was almost unbounded, and to this work he devoted much attention and displayed much taste. His love for his parishioners, the heathen world, and for the whole human family was demonstrated whenever he could do them good by word or by deed. His remains lie buried in. the cemetery with the Rev. Samuel Tobey and with the Rev. Thomas Andros, a worthy companionship of noble men.

In 1873, March 1st, the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Berkley was organized, a large part of Mr. Roberts' church and society joining with the Methodists and occupying the " Chapel," where they worshiped until 1875, when the Methodist Society built a very pleasant, neat, and commodious building at an expense of seven thousand five hundred dollars, and it is understood that this building is paid for. This church and society has prospered, and although some of the members have made great exertions to put this society upon a firm foundation, they have done it willingly, cheerfully, - "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver," - and having " cast their bread upon the waters," it is confidently hoped that " they shall find it after many days." The clergymen of the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Berkley have been Rev. Mr. Wright, one year; Rev. Mr. Ewer, three years; Rev. Mr. Nutter, one year; Rev. Mr. Humphrey, two years ; Rev. Mr. Burn, three years.

There is a Methodist Episcopal Church also near the pleasant village of Myrickville, in the eastern part of the town, which was formerly a part of the city of Taunton, but was annexed to Berkley in 1878. The congregation though small, the numbers are increasing and the prospects of the church brightening. It seems to have a location which required some house of public worship established, as there was none for miles around.

John Crane is the first person named as a schoolteacher, there being a small sum voted to pay him for keeping school. Jonathan Crane likewise was paid for the same purpose. Both of these schools were of short duration. Then the town employed Rowland Gavin, an Englishman of good attainments. He taught in different parts of the town some two months in a place, in such buildings as could be secured for the purpose. His penmanship was exceedingly good. Each scholar had a blank-book prepared by sewing a number of sheets of paper together. The "master" would write the arithmetical examples into each scholar's book, and the scholar would write the solution, the " master" having the only arithmetic in the school. Reading- and spelling-books also were scarce and expensive, and the pecuniary means of the parents small. Grammars and geographies were not used in school in those early days. But, notwithstanding the many disadvantages under which those scholars labored, a knowledge of reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic was attained almost incredible when compared with the proficiency of the scholars of the present day, measured by the difference in length of school, convenience of studying, abundance of text-books upon all desirable subjects, and teachers who have in turn had ample means of qualifying themselves for their important duties, important not only in developing the mental faculty in the direction of science, but important also in the shaping of the moral character of those committed to their charge. But then the parents and children prized their slender opportunities and made good use of them. Their few books were used at home at odd hours in the daytime, in the evening by fire-light, it may be, and it sometimes was so. The bodily exercise, from which none escaped, the absence of heated rooms, which none enjoyed, gave to their minds a clearness and vigor not attainable perhaps in any other manner.

The difficulties which had to be surmounted also added ibrce to their characters. Here, then, is an instance of the resulting beneficence of the law of compensation that permeates all of the works of God, who so kindly tempers the storm to the shorn lamb.

But soon after the settlement of Rev. Mr. Tobey, and during his pastorate, the condition of the schools improved quite evidently and continually. In 1763 the town began to build school-houses, which were more comfortable and more conveniently located than the extemporized school-rooms that had heretofore been available. Some young men had measurably qualified themselves, under Master Gavin's teaching and at home, for the position of elementary teachers, and the winter schools and winter evenings were utilized to a creditable degree. Thus the soil was being gradually prepared for the future harvest. Soon after the settlement of Mr. Andros in 1787, a new impetus was given to education, largely through his instrumentality, which is stated elsewhere, but aided by other causes also. The war of the Revolution had exhausted the pecuniary resources of the whole country. But the advent of peace, the formation " of a more perfect Union" by the adoption of the Constitution, the confidence in the administration of Washington, the unparalleled success of the financial policy of Hamilton began to recuperate the palsied hand of industry, and better times dawned in the horizon, its influence was felt all over the country. In 1793 the town was divided into four school districts, afterwards into five, then into six, and after the accession of Assonet Neck the number of school districts in town in 1799 was seven. In 1794 the town voted one hundred and twenty pounds to the four school districts to build their school-houses, which money had been raised for the enlargement of the meeting-house. In 1800 the scholars belonging to the several school districts between the ages of four and sixteen were over four hundred, and the population one thousand and thirty-four. In 1865 the population was eight hundred and eighty-eight. In 1880 the population was nearly one hundred less than eighty years before, and the children between five and fifteen years of age only one hundred and sixtythree, and notwithstanding the town had had three accessions of inhabitants and territory from Taunton in the mean time, particularly that of Myrickville, together with the adjacent and surrounding neighborhood, it being an important and very desirable acqui- Bition to the town. Although the schools have been becoming small and smaller for the last forty years flntil the scholars are less than one-half in number than there was then, yet the town's annual appropriation has increased from three hundred dollars to fourteen hundred dollars for support of public schools.

Some of the pupils of Master Gavin had under difficulties acquired a taste for study, which increased as they advanced in science until they in turn were well able to teach what they had been taught by their master and were advancing to a higher plane. Capt. Joseph Sanford, Rev. Levi French, Col. Adoniram Crane, and Capt. Giles G. Chace were among the first and most able teachers which the town has ever had, and their services were sought in many of the surrounding towns, and each of them taught for more than thirty winters. Then there arose a succession of juniors, some of whom taught many years in the common schools and in higher branches of learning and in academies; such were James, John, Enoch, Alpheus, and Baalis Sanford, brothers, and sons of Capt. Joseph Sanford, and Silas A. Benjamin, who taught during most of his life; Daniel and Abrathar Crane, brothers, and sons of Benjamin Crane ; Ebenezer Hervey, who taught here, in Taunton, and elsewhere in New Bedford for more than thirty years, and taught in all more than a half-century. William M. and B. L. Cornell, brothers ; David French, Darius Phillips, Daniel S. Briggs, Enoch Boyce, Thomas C. Dean, Dr. S. Hathaway, Walter D. Nichols, P. Chester Porter, Thomas P. Paull, etc.

Since their time of teaching females have been most generally employed, and their success has been quite satisfactory, and they, as a class, have in that department an enviable record. It has been said in the past, and not without reason, that this town furnished more common school teachers according to its population than any other town in the commonwealth. And in this respect there has been perhaps as little decadence as in any other; for while we have but comparatively few male teachers in active service, our young ladies with commendable ambition have come to the rescue, have prepared and are now preparing themselves thoroughly for the discharge of their duties in this most important field of labor; for the public school, with its mental and physical discipline, its inculcation of noble thoughts and precepts, reinforced by good and patriotic instruction at home by the fireside, is the bulwark of an enlightened liberty, of freedom and equality under the law. They also shape the law itself. The school-houses and their surroundings generally are such as reflect great credit upon and are an honor to the town. The improvement in this respect came gradually and rather tardily, but it has come nevertheless at last.

The inhabitants of Berkley during the war of the Revolution were, with a few exceptions, in favor of the war and of the declaration of independence. There was a little "Tory" feeling manifested. Some of the anti-Whigs fled to the provinces of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick, some others were arrested and imprisoned, but enlisted out into the colonial forces. Considering the population and the means of the town, it furnished its full proportion of men.

In 1774 the town voted that the resolves of the Continental Congress be strictly observed in every particular, and a committee was chosen to see that the vote of the town was regarded by the people.

In 1775 the town directed that the militia train onehalf a day in each week, and receive one shilling therefor; and each minute-man when called into active service receive five dollars as a bounty.

1776, voted seventy-five pounds ten shillings as an additional bounty to the soldiers ordered to New York, and all soldiers be exempt from paying any part thereof. Voted to assess two hundred and thirty-four pounds wherewith to pay soldiers' bounty.

1777, voted to give each man required to fill our quota in the Continental army ten pounds in addition to what is given by the General Court. The term of enlistment was for three years.

How many enlisted in the Continental army or were drafted into it I am unable to ascertain, but, judging from the number of pensioners, their number must have been considerable. Capt. Joseph Sanford, Josiah Macomber, Samuel Paull, William Evans, Ezra Chace, and Paull Briggs were pensioners.

In 1778 voted six hundred and twenty pounds to pay soldiers in the Continental army ; voted one hundred and fifty-four pounds twelve shillings to pay soldiers; also voted thirteen hundred and twenty pounds and nineteen shillings to pay soldiers hired by the town ; also to sixty-four soldiers who had been employed in the defense of the coast, from three to ten pounds each.

Col. John Hathaway commanded a regiment in the war. It is said of him that he was a very sanguine patriot, never even in the darkest times doubted for a moment the ultimate success of the colonies under Washington. In the absence of his chaplain he officiated himself in a voice which was widely heard.

After the close of the war a militia system was inaugurated which required all able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five to report themselves at a given time and place, "armed and equipped as the law directs," with gun, bayonet, knapsack, cartridge-box, priming wire and brush, and two spare flints ; sometimes in May called " May training," and also in the fall a regimental or brigade muster. These were great events for children and youth, and for children of an older growth as well. The stirring drum and the shrill and inspiring fife, and then the brigade band, with its bugles and other horns, trombones and bassoons, would cause the smouldering military and patriotic fires to blaze forth in the breasts of the old crippled veterans till they, too, felt like shouldering their crutches and keeping "step to the music of the Union." Under this system Abner Burt, Jr., was adjutant, Adoniram Crane was colonel. Among the captains were Samuel French, Sr., Joseph Sanford, Christopher Paull, Freeman Briggs, Giles G. Chace, Giles Leach, Nathaniel Townsend, John Dean.

Capt. Giles G. Chace, in the war of 1812-15, was ordered to New Bedford to repel an expected invasion of the British, but the enemy, thinking probably that " discretion is the better part of valor," sailed away, and the campaign was a bloodless one.

But after a number of years the militia system fell into disrepute. Election of company officers was a mere farce, electing such as would not or could not serve, and then adjourn the meeting without day, -

In 1864, near the close of the Rebellion, there was an attempt made to revive it, and an "act" of one hundred and eighty sections was passed by General Court, but the system was too dead to be revived, and " it rests."

When Fort Sumter was fired upon, April 12, 1861, by the deluded rebels of the Montgomery government, called the " Confederacy," and a call was ; made by President Lincoln for seventy-five thousand volunteers to defend the flag of the Union, a meeting of the town was called, at which it was resolved unanimously to respond promptly to the call, and that every effort should be made to encourage enlistments. A committee was appointed to take charge of the matter. Bounties were successively offered to volunteers, - first one hundred dollars, then one hundred and fifty dollars, and finally two hundred dollars bounty, in addition to the bounties offered by the State and by the general government, and also in addition to the State aid extended to all volunteers' parents if dependent upon the volunteers for support, and extended to the wife and minor children of the volunteers. The town's quota was filled promptly I at every " call," and some of our enlisted men went to the credit of other towns which were "short." But our brave men did not volunteer because they liked the pomp and circumstance of war, nor because liberal inducements were offered (though those that had families dependent upon the avails of their industry would not have been as likely to enlist, not knowing how their families would fare in their absence) ; but they periled their own health and lives that a nation might live. Theirs is the roll of honor, and, in common with all soldiers of the Union army, are entitled to a nation's gratitude.

Alexander B. Crane, colonel of an Indiana regiment; S. N. Crane, captain of a Colorado company ; S. V. Dean, captain of a Pennsylvania company. Col. Crane and Capt. Dean were both made prisoners. Rev. James Nichols, chaplain of One Hundred and Eighth New York Regiment, who by great exertions in behalf of the wounded at Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Fredericksburg, impaired his health, came home to Rochester, N. Y., and died February, 1864.

Assonet Neck. - Assonet Neck was peculiarly the camping-ground of the Wampanoag Indians. They retained possession of it longer than of any of the surrounding country, on account of the convenience of the oyster, clam, and other fisheries.

At the close of King Philip's war it was taken possession of by the Plymouth Colony, who sold it to Taunton in 1678 for the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds.

Subsequently it was bought by six proprietors, namely, George Shove, Walter Dean, James Walker, James Tisdale, William Harvey, and Richard Williams. It became a part of Dighton at its organization in 1712, and the town of Berkley in 1752 voted " to grant the request of a number of the inhabitants of Assonet Neck to be inhabitants of the town of Berkley," but it does not appear that any legislative sanction was applied for at that time. In 1798 the following petition was presented to the town of Berkley, and the request granted :

"The subscribers, inhabitants of that part of Dighton called Assonet Neck, being desirous to be annexed to the said town of Berkley, with equal privileges of the town of Berkley, therefore request that a meeting may lie called as soon as convenient to see if the town will grant our request, and you will oblige your friends,

This peninsula embraces nearly two square miles of land, being about two miles in length and of an average width of less than a mile. It lies between the Taunton River and its Assonet branch, and in some respects seems to be of a different geological formation from the mainland with which it is joined, being less sandy, and having a more rolling, uneven surface.

The celebrated Written Rock, called " Dighton Rock," is situated in the northwestern part of this neck, on the eastern shore of Taunton River. There has been much curiosity and interest manifested concerning the inscriptions found thereon, thousands of persons, some from a great distance, having viewed them. There are many theories about their origin, and there will be probably many more until the figures and lines are entirely effaced. For an exhaustive

Many of the leading and most numerous family names mentioned at the organization and in the early history of the town have become obsolete in this town entirely, or live mostly in some few remote descendants, such as Gilbert, Paull, Burt, Crane, Babbitt, Nichols, Andros, Tobey, French, Tubbs, Dean, Sanford, Hathaway, Axtell, Briggs, Chace, Shove, Newhall, and Peirce. But these families are by no means extinct. Their descendants are to be found in the business centres in this and almost every other State and Territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific, distinguishing themselves in the various professions, judiciary, agricultural, mechanical, and manufacturing pursuits, and in trade. In short, Berkley, like other purely agricultural towns in New England, is steadily being drained of its youthful and enterprising population, who are attracted to more remunerative fields and pursuits. Although Berkley is almost exclusively a farming town, its soil can be called good or in a high state of cultivation only in exceptional cases and localities. The soil is generally sandy, with unmistakable evidence in the far distant past of the deposit of immense icebergs or bowlders of ice upon the surface, which with the continual and incessant surging of the water acted upon by the wind caused them to settle deeply, and when the atmosphere was warm enough to melt them there was a considerable cavity or " hollow," "Timothy's Hollow" being the most considerable. These "hollows" seem to correspond in shape to the stria? in this vicinity, which seem to have been nearly south, or ten degrees east of south, invariably. In some parts of the town it is rocky and almost covered with bowlders piled up promiscuously in profusion and in disorder, pointing back to an antiquity which geology itself cannot determine with certainty. The eastern and northeastern part is plentifully covered and interspersed with bowlders of rocks; there are also Bryant's and Skunk Hills, which are notable hills, which with Apes' Hill constitute the most considerable hills in the town. The original houses and barns were quite rude, as they were generally in the Old Colony, and in these days could not be considered comfortable, but from time to time, according to the pecuniary means or taste, or perhaps both, the owners have improved their dwellings, not in the direction of elegance, but in that of coziness and comfortableness. The houses are well built and finished, painted, and surrounded by some evidences of taste and a desire to improve what has come down from the former generation, which is true progress. The ladies cultivate flowers in summer and winter, which is elevating and ennobling, for who that cultivates and loves a vegetable flower cannot neglect the more beautiful human flower that needs even more careful and assiduous cultivation, and will so much more appreciate it as the dawning mind is developed into the intelligence of youth and the affections of manhood and womanhood. " These are my jewels," pointing to her children, said one who scorned the thought of counting rubies or diamonds in comparison with those precious immortals. The barns in town are in a very good and comfortable condition, many having cellars under them, for the man who is merciful is merciful to his beasts. At the centre or common are two churches, a chapel, and a school-house, which will be mentioned elsewhere. There were two hundred and thirty-five dwellinghouses in town in 1881. The common, "Half-Way Plain," will undoubtedly some time be completely ornamented with trees again, and it may be inclosed, but it is hoped that no vandalism will exist to again destroy the young saplings as heretofore. The public cemeteries have had much attention of late, compared with that which was formerly bestowed.

There are many neat monuments and, it may be humbler, but equally affectionate tributes to the ancestors or the loved and the lost. " Whenever I visit a strange place and desire to know the degree of civilization which veneration and Christianity has wrought I visit their churchyard, - not to see their splendid and costly monuments, but to see the unpretending but unmistakable tokens of an abiding affection for those whom they have succeeded. It shows that their predecessors are not forgotten." This was said by the greatest of novelists, and perhaps the greatest delineator of character since Shakespeare. There are two public burying-grounds, one at the centre and one in the south part of the town. In both cases a nucleus was bequeathed to the public for that purpose, and in both cases more territory has been purchased to enlarge it, and both are properly inclosed, and many family inclosures are tastefully arranged. There is also another burying-ground in Assonet Neck, known as the Deane burial-ground, where most of that name have been buried, together with some of their relatives of different name. This ground also is well inclosed.

There is but little wealth and less poverty in this town. If there is not luxurious living, neither is there scarcely any suffering for the want of the material comforts of life. Berkley was once largely engaged in ship- or vessel-building, and owning and sailing them. Vessels are not built here now, and while the town furnishes many master-mariners, the vessels which they command are mostly owned elsewhere and hail from other ports.

In 1868, D. S. Briggs, Esq., communicated to the Bristol County Republican the following statistics of the commencement and aims of vessel-building in Berkley:

The Hon. Samuel Tobey, about the year 1790, then full of enterprise, and possessing a large share of ambition, commenced the work of ship-building in this town. He built six ships for the European trade, and four smaller craft for the West India trade. Elkanah Hatheway, about 1804, built three schooners and two sloops. Ebenezer Crane, in the year 1808, built two sloops of thirty-five tons each, nearly one mile distant from the Taunton River, near the South Cemetery. These vessels, when completed, had trucks placed under them, prepared for the purpose, and were drawn to the river with the united strength of forty yoke of oxen and some one hundred men who led the way, hauling by a rope. It is said one barrel of West India rum was provided for the occasion.

Darius Newhall, from 1804 to 1815, built two brigs, three schooners, and five sloops. Nehemiah Newhall, from 1813 to 1826, built two ships, five brigs, three schooners, and three sloops. About 1815, three vessels were built near the northerly part of the town by Edmund Burt and others. In 1827, at the town landing, near Jedediah Briggs' wharf, a steamboat and a schooner were built. Earlier two other vessels had been built at the same place.

From 1820 to 1866 twenty-six schooners, eight brigs, one bark, and five sloops were built by Henry Crane, George Crane, Simeon Briggs, Edward Babbitt, and others. Thus during a period of threefourths of a century some hundred vessels were built, varying in size from thirty-five tons to five hundred tons measurement.

Hon. Samuel Tobey, son of the Rev. Mr. Tobey, deserves more than a passing notice here. He - Judge Tobey, as he was called - was justice of the peace, representative to the General Court, State senator, and judge of the Court of Common Pleas. His personal appearance was commanding ; he was for half a century the most influential man in this town, and his influence was exerted for what he considered the best interest of the town. He was patriotic and publicspirited, kind to those who were in affliction, or who were by any means destitute ; he was esteemed a man of learning and of a remarkably sound judgment. No other man in town was so looked up to and venerated as was Judge Tobey. Possessed of an indomitable will and perseverance, whatever he desired to do he did with all his might. His political partisan conviction and friendships were strong, and he was conciliating towards the opinions of those whose opinions were adverse to his. The firm of Samuel Tobey & Son ( Apollos) were engaged in trading in dry-goods and groceries for about fifty years, also in ship-building, in navigation, in farming, and other enterprises which constitute the business era in the history of the town. Judge Tobey was the master-spirit concerned in the building of the second meeting-house in 1797 and 1798. But the firm meeting with losses at sea, and other losses, became embarrassed financially, closed up their business, made an assignment, and their property was sold, the creditors making provision for them and their families' comfortable support.

Other justices of the peace have been Apollos Tobey, Samuel French, Levi French, Barzillai Crane, Adoniratn Crane, Jabez Fox, John Dillingham, William S. Crane, Ephraim French, Jr., A. B. Crane, Nathaniel Townsend, Walter D. Nichols, William Babbitt, Giles L. Leach, Daniel S. Briggs, Ebenezer Williams, and Charles Bissell. The duties required of a justice of the peace in this town are almost wholly ministerial, there having been no criminal business to attend to, and all civil suits are tried in higher courts. This town could well dispense with jails, houses of correction, juvenile reformatory institutions, and State's prisons. Although it pays its proportion annually towards supporting these penal institutions, T do not remember the committal of any citizen of this town upon any criminal charge whatever.

Town Officers

There are few towns in this commonwealth which can show so large percentage of educated men during the first half of the nineteenth century. Many of these scholars obtained their education under difficulties, but they overcame them all. They have all made their mark in their professions. Of those who attended the ministrations of Mr. Andros alone, thirteen were ordained ministers, eight of whom graduated at Brown University and one at Union College, - nine Congregationalists, one Episcopalian, one " New Church," one Presbyterian, and one Baptist, - " a greater number than in any other church in the county."

Some of these scholars deserve particular notice. The Sanford brothers were a remarkable family. They educated themselves largely by their own industry. They were all clergymen, remarkable for sound judgment, and held in high esteem by their parishioners, lived long and useful lives, and when age admonished them to retire from the ministry they retired. Rev. Enoch, the survivor, nearly ninety years of age, is still quite strong in body and mind. He is the author of several local histories and sketches, etc. The Crane brothers likewise were a distinguished family. They, too, obtained an education largely through their own exertions. Silas A. Crane, D.D., after graduation became tutor in Brown University, took orders in the Episcopal Church, and discharged his clerical duties to the close of his life. For a long time he was at East Greenwich, R. I., - a most excellent man. Benjamin, after leaving college, taught an academy, then entered into business as a trader, but returned to teaching again, in which employment he spent most of his life. He was an able

Daniel attended Brown University and Union College, was teacher in New England and at the South, was well versed in Latin, Greek, and other languages, in poetry and in history, lives in Ohio, and is a man of literary tastes and pursuits.

A man of culture, Gardner Dean, an evangelist, well known in almost every State from New England to Illinois, somewhat eccentric, but had many admirers.

James Nichols, Assistant Professor of Languages, Union College; clergyman, Presbyterian. On account of his voice he left the ministry and became principal of the Geneseo Academy, Livingston County, N. Y., continued there many years, removed to Rochester, N. Y., bought the " Female Academy," made it a success, and since his death it has been successfully continued by his widow, a well-known teacher, and their daughters.

Levi French, clergyman and teacher, of good merit, taught North and South. He was a man of acute intellect and of large general knowledge. He was an accurate surveyor of land, a good mathematician, and a safe counselor.

Charles G. W. French, lawyer in Sacramento, Cal. He was appointed United States chief justice of Arizona Territory, which position he has honorably filled for many years.

Thomes Tobey, Richmond, a life-long clergyman, whose long and useful life is still well preserved. He has lately retired from the ministry in Taunton ( Westville), where his pastorate had endeared him to his parishioners for more than twenty years. His whole ministry of fifty years.

Shadrach Hatheway, a practicing physician for a great number of years in his native town. His knowledge and judgment in his profession is highly prized by the members of his profession, and he is considered careful and skillful by his patients.

Berkley has a suitable town hall, in which townmeetings, elections, etc., are held, and in which other town business is transacted, and the standard weights and measures and the books and documents - some of which are very valuable - are kept. It is conspicuously located upon the park or " common."

This town also has an almshouse, connected with a good farm of about one hundred acres, consisting of mowing, tillage, pasture, and woodland, costing, with the stock, etc., thereon, about five thousand dollars. There were but three inmates in it in March, 1882, ages ranging from seventy-nine to fifty-six years of age; cost of supporting them, not reckoning the natural decay of buildings, in 1881 and 1882, was less than one hundred dollars. But the outside pauper expenses at the insane hospital and private families and partial support amounted to seven hundred dollars. The superintendent of the almshouse has from one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars salary annually, together with the board of his family. The town is entirely free from debt. Its roads and bridges, considering the sparseness of the inhabitants and the number of miles of road to be maintained, some of them difficult to repair, are above the average condition of the roads in similarly situated towns.

1815. Mr. Andros' salary was increased fifty dollars and was then fixed at four hundred and fifty dollars annually, and so remained to the end of his ministry.

In 1798 there was a subscription paper started and completed with $259.50 volunteered for the " purchase of a bell for the new meeting-house in Berkley." A meeting of the subscribers was then held, and they voted to purchase a bell of six hundred pounds weight, chose Samuel Tobey, Simeon Burt, and Luther Crane a committee to purchase a bell in Boston, and the aforesaid committee purchased a bell of Paul Revere of 635 pounds weight @ 2/7 per pound, amounting to $273.37 ; carting home, $2.75 ; total, $276.12.

Persons moving into the town without its consent, and in the opinion of the town likely to become chargeable, were warned according to the law to leave the town within a specified number of days or they would be proceeded against. There are frequent warnings of this kind on record.

In the early history of this town vocal music received great attention. Singing-schools in winter evenings were frequent, and most pleasant reunions of the young and older people, who were scattered in their homes over a considerable territory. The singing-schools were mostly taught by some of the best singers in town. Later Deacon G. San ford taught singing-schools for many winters. Col. Adoniram Crane was also teacher of public schools and singing-schools in this and other towns, both in Plymouth County and in Dukes County.

He was a man of dignified and commanding personal appearance, an excellent town officer, and as a singer he was well known in this and the neighboring towns as well for the great compass of his voice, his fine musical taste, and the correctness of his ear. To appreciate his singing in church he must have been heard. He was chorister in the First Church some forty years ( when present), and in the Second Church from its organization to the close of his life. He was president of the Beethoven Society, composed of the best singers in the neighboring towns. After his death, A. B. Crane, a good singer and musical composer, became chorister in his stead.

The mechanics of the present generation belonging originally to this town have emigrated mostly to other places, where better opportunities for employment offer. In fact, Berkley seems to have been and now is a good town to emigrate from. In the past, everything considered, there were a goodly number in the various trades. Carpenters and builders, Ebenezer Pierce and two sons, Simeon Chace and two sons, Reuben Phillips and three sons, Samuel Phillips, and Ebenezer Dean. At present there are Benjamin F. Coombs, J. D. Dillingham, Frank Phillips, Dean P. Westgate, Timothy E. French, William Boyce,

Henry Hatheway. Wheelwrights and carriagemakers, Enoch S. Hatheway, Ellery Strange. Theophilus Shove was cabinet-maker and undertaker for a period of more than a half-century. There were in the past a great number of ship-carpenters, who worked at home and in many other places, also William K. Evans, machinist and inventor. Blacksmiths in the past, John Perkins, Tisdale Porter, John Clark, William S. Crane, Thomas Strange; present, James Wade, William H. S. Crane, James Maguire, George Macomber. Carriage manufacturer, S. W. Luther. Masons in the past, Joseph Sanford, John Briggs, Amos Briggs; at present, Nathaniel Case, David Hoxie, Jr., Arza Harmon. Shoemakers (they used to go from house to house and make the family shoes ; they were not kept for sale in country stores), George Sanford, Enoch Babbitt, George Briggs, Thomas Burt, Adoniram Cummings, and many others. Now this business is confined almost exclusively to repairing. Of stores there were those of Samuel Tobey & Son, Simeon Burt, Levi S. Crane, Jabez Fuller, Abiel B. Crane, Ephraim French. There is a variety store at Myrickville, Mr. Macomber's. which has a run of business, and is the only store in town.

The records of the town of Berkley are remarkably legible and well written, and have been well preserved. Some of the records are remarkable specimens of good penmanship. They are such.records as citizens of the town may well greatly prize, and proudly hand them down to posterity for their imitation.

The First Congregational Church had during the eighteenth century ruling elders as the first officers of the church. They were Daniel Axtell, Jacob French, John Paull, Ebenezer Crane. The deacons, Gershom Crane, Daniel Axtell, Jacob French, John Paull, Samuel Tubbs, Ebenezer Crane, George Sanford, Ebenezer Winslow, Samuel Tobey, Luther Crane, Tisdale Briggs, Barzillai Crane, James Hathaway, Thomas C. Dean, Isaac Babbitt.

Around and near the common or centre of the town there are a number of fine, commodious, and tastefully-arranged dwellings, among the best in town, very pleasantly located. It is a very pleasant locality for country residences. The Berkley postoffice is near by. It was established about 1818, and has a daily mail. The postmasters have been Asahel Hatheway, Abiel B. Crane, Joseph D. Hatheway, and Daniel S. Briggs.

There is also another post-office at Myrickville, at the junction of the New Bedford and Boston and the Newport and Boston Old Colony Railroads, which also has a daily mail. William Simms, postmaster.

At the Bridge village, called also West Berkley, there are a number of neat and comfortable dwellings, occupied by shipmasters, mechanics, farmers, etc. Here is the Berkley and Dighton bridge across the Taunton River, which gives name to the village. The first bridge was built in 1806, and was a tollbridge. Liberty was given by the Legislature to remove it, the draw being too narrow, it was claimed, for the larger class of vessels which were required to transact the increased and increasing business of Taunton higher up on the river. Accordingly it was removed, after standing about forty-five years. In 1872 a bridge, to be built by the county, was chartered and soon after built under the charge and to the acceptance of the county commissioners, and it is a great public convenience. In the first half of the present century this was a busy village, largely engaged in vessel-building and other business, most of which has been discontinued. In 1800, Berkley had 115 dwelling-houses. In 1880 it had 235 dwellinghouses, 9686 acres taxed, about $400,000 taxable property, 276 polls taxed, and rate of taxation $9 per $1000.

from one settlement to another to get a cheese-hoop. He had with him a small dog, whose restlessness probably gave warning of some strange person near. The man took the hint and ascended a large pine-tree, hoping to be concealed among the thick branches ; but his dog, true to his instinct, remained at the tree. The Indian attempted to drive him away, but finding that the. dog was unwilling to leave his suspicion was aroused. He examined the tree, but at first discovered nothing, and endeavored to call the dog away, but to no purpose. In making another examination he saw something which caused him to shoot at it, when down came Babbitt dead. The Indian related his exploit to some other Indians, and they in turn to the settlers, who found and buried him. There is a stone erected to commemorate the event and the place. The inscription reads, " Babbitt Killed by Indians 1675." Tradition also has different versions, but there always is a man, a dog, an Indian, and a cheese-hoop ; in each that the man was killed.

Berkley, as has been noticed elsewhere, is almost exclusively an agricultural town. It has no valuable water-power, and, as has already been said, the soil in some parts of the town is sandy and other parts rocky and hard, with some exceptions. The most valuable crop is hay. The salt marshes of Assonet Neck have considerable value. Indian corn was an important crop and should be still. Potatoes, turnips, etc., are raised for market. Horticulture has some attention. One of the best horticultural gardens in the county, G. F. Wilbur's, is in the north part of the town. There is some fruit-raising also. Some parts of the town are well adapted to the raising of apples, pears, and small fruit. There is also some woodland, which in the past has furnished timber for vessels that were built here. But in these days of the general use of coal for fuel, wood is of less importance than formerly. But the early settlers were an industrious and brave people. They were as noble, pious, prudent, and sensible people as settled any part of the Old Colony. There have been many large families reared and educated, who have in turn founded and educated families in other localities which considered and prized them as among their most valued citizens. Having been reared to habits of industry, prudence, and integrity, they have distinguished themselves among distinguished men and women wherever they are found. There was formerly a considerable and a prosperous business in the preparing and marketing of shingles, mostly cedar from North Carolina swamps. A gang of men would be hired and carried to the swamps, a " cabin" built in the swamps, the trees felled, sawed into blocks of the proper length, then split into the required thickness, shaved, bound in bundles, shipped northward and sold. Those shingles were valuable for their durability. At present that business is discontinued here. Annual income of the oyster fisheries of Assonet Neck, and of the shad and alewive fishing privileges belonging to the town, amounts to about the sum annually raised by taxation for the support of the public schools, or about fourteen hundred and fifty dollars.

Biographical Sketches William Babbitt

" Edward Bobit," the ancestor of the Babbitt family in New England, was "subject to do military duty" in Taunton in 1643, as shown by the records of the General Court. He married Sarah Fame, daughter of Miles Fame, of Boston, 7th month 7th, 1654. He was a land-owner in North Purchase in 1668, and was one of the " committee to view damages done to the Indians in 1671." He and Sarah, his wife, had children, -

Edward Babbitt, son of the first Edward, married Abigail Tisdale, Feb. 1, 1683. She was probably a daughter of John Tisdale, Jr., and born July 15, 1667. Their son Edward was born Feb. 14, 1686, and married for his second wife Elizabeth Thyre, Dec. 22,

1698. He gave five acres of land towards purchasing a house for Rev. Mr. Dan forth in 1688. He was one of the proprietors in 1689, and was of Dighton, May 26, 1720. His will is dated Feb. 5, 1727, in which be mentions his wife Elizabeth, sons Benajah, Erasmus, Seth, Nathan, Edward, Nathaniel, and George, and daughters Sarah Thyre, Abigail Burt, Ruth, Hannah, and Waitslill. His wife Elizabeth and son B*enajah were his executors. His will was proved March 20, 1732-33.

John Babbitt, the son of Benajah, was the grandfather of William Babbitt, tin- subject of this sketch. He married for his second wife Lydia Myrick, and resided at "the Farms" in Berkley. William Babbitt is the son of Peter and Martha (Briggs) Babbitt. He was born at " the Farms" in Berkley, March 22, 1817. He received his early education at the district schools, and resided at Berkley Common from the age of twelve to that of twenty-six, when he was united in marriage with Mary Dean Burt, the marriage occurring Aug. 23, 1842.

In 1844, Mr. Babbitt settled on the place where he now resides. He has followed the lumbering business, chiefly in North Carolina, shipping his lumber to Rhode Island and other parts of New England. Although starting empty-handed, with no resources but his energy and industry, he has achieved a fair degree of prosperity and gained an honorable standing among his fellow-citizens. He is highly esteemed as one of the self-made men of his period.

A Whig originally in politics, he has been since the dissolution of that party a Republican, and has served his town in the capacity of selectman for many years, being always elected when he would allow himself to run for the office. In 1861 he served in the Legislature, and also in 1872, on several important committees, among others the Committee on Claims. He was for several years deacon of the Second Congregational Church of Berkley, and is highly esteemed as a worthy and public-spirited citizen and an honorable representative of one of the oldest families of the town.

Philip H. Fletcher

Philip H. Fletcher is the son of William and Jane Fletcher, and was born in Prince Edward Island, Sept. 12, 1813. His parents were poor, and at that day there was no provision made in the county of his nativity for the free education of the children of the poorer classes. Consequently, about the only means available to young Fletcher to obtain even the rudiments of an education was the Sabbath-school in his native; place. At the age of seven he went to live with his maternal grandfather, John Lane, with whom he remained till about fifteen, his time beinu -pent on the farm. He then returned to his father's home, and five years later emigrated to the State.-, stopping firsl in New .Jersey, where he remained about a year, when he became engaged in the railroads of chat State,

His health failing, he located his family in the town of Berkley, Mass., and engaged in peddling general merchandise through the surrounding country. This occupation he followed twenty-eight years, during which time, however, he undertook a number of contracts on different railroads, in the carrying through of which he manifested much pluck, enterprise, and energy, and met with good financial success. He then sold out to his sons his interest in the peddling business, and gave his attention to agricultural pursuits, to which his chief energies have since been directed.

Mr. Fletcher has always been a temperate man both in theory and practice. He is a man of sincere conviction and earnest purpose, strong willed and determined when once he is convinced of the correctness of his course. These qualities have not unfrequently made him enemies among the class not holding such views as himself, and on more than one occasion he has suffered pecuniary loss through incendiarism and other means at the hands of those of the vicious class whose enmity he had incurred.

Mr. Fletcher has been many years selectman and collector in his town. In church matters he has always been liberal and earnest. A few years since, when the movement to build a new Methodist Episcopal Church at Berkley was inaugurated, Mr. Fletcher was not only one of the largest contributors, but one of the most active workers to achieve the success of the enterprise. He was one of the building committee under whose supervision the structure was erected, and he furnished the larger part of the funds necessary to its construction, waiting for reimbursement until the various sums subscribed should be paid in. Though he is not now a member of this church, yet he does not regret his donation or his labors in its behalf.

It had long been one of the cherished aims and objects of Mr. Fletcher's life to visit the Old World and see face to face its numerous places of interest; to view the scenes where have been enacted so many of the events which have shaped the destinies of nations, and particularly to visit Palestine, the cradle of our civilization, and the place made holy and sacred by the birth, residence, and crucifixion of our Saviour. Early in December, 1871, he set sail from Boston for Liverpool, where, after a pleasant voyage, he arrived December 14th. He then visited most of the principal places of interest on the European continent,embracing London, Paris,Turin, Florence, Rome, Naples, the volcano of Vesuvius, and Pompeii ; thence across the Mediterranean to Alexandria, Cairo, the pyramids, etc. ; through the Suez Canal to Port Said ; thence to Joppa and Jerusalem, and to all the places of historic interest in the holy land, among which maybe mentioned Mount Carmel, Mount Tabor, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, Damascus, Baalbec, Beyrout,

Smyrna, and Ephesus. He then proceeded to Athens and Constantinople, where he crossed the Black Sea to Odessa, Russia; thence through Poland and Hungary to Vienna, Austria, from which point he returned through Germany to Paris, and via London to Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, and to Belfast, Ireland, visiting the famous Giant's Causeway; thence to Dublin, Queenstown, and home, where he arrived April 14, 1872, four months and a half, into which was crowded more of pleasure, instruction, and benefit than in any other like period in the whole of the seventy years of his life.

Mr. Fletcher married, May 14, 1835, Cynthia A. Greene, daughter of Waterman Greene, of Rhode Island, granddaughter of Nathan Greene, and most probably a descendant of Gen. Greene, of Revolutionary fame. She was born Sept. 22, 1814. To them were born nine children, only three of whom are now living, - Sarah J. (deceased), born July 19, 1837; Permelia F. (deceased), born Feb. 5, 1840; William H., born Aug. 27, 1841 ; Violetta F. (deceased), born June 24, 1843; Mary E. (deceased), born Feb. 14, 1845 ; John E. (deceased), born Jan. 8, 1847; George F., born Nov. 26, 1848 ; Eliza A. (deceased), born Jan. 2, 1851 ; and Louis P., born Aug. 26, 1855. Of those now living, William H. is married and has six children ; he resides in Trenton, N. J. George F. is married, has three children, and lives in Raynham. Louis P., now a widower, has one child, and resides with his father in Berkley.

Walter Dean Nichols

Walter Dean Nichols, son of Abiel and Delia (Briggs) Nichols, was born in Berkley, Mass., on April 28, 1814. Not much is known of the life of William Nichols, the ancestor of the Nichols family in Bristol County. He was born in Scotland in 1689, came to this country, settled in Berkley, and married Joanna Paull, daughter of John Paull, of Berkley, previous to 1721. He died in 1754. He probably practiced medicine, as he was called doctor. The union by marriage with the Paull family doubtless was a source of strength. His son, James Nichols, was one of the most prominent men of Berkley at his time, and was honored by the town with numerous offices of trust. He was a man of large executive ability and was engaged in numerous real-estate operations of magnitude in various parts of the county, as county records show. He was born in 1732, married Esther Dean, of Berkley, about 1764, and died 1792. He was grandfather of Walter D. Nichols, and also of Dr. Thomas G. Nichols, recently deceased.

Walter D. Nichols is a self-made man, having received the limited education which he obtained in early life previous to the age of sixteen, at which period he was apprenticed to the trade of a painter, and served his time in Fall River and New Bedford. In 1834, at the age of nineteen, he began schoolt f c>v teaching in the town of Richmond, Ontario Co., N. Y., where he taught five months, and in the spring of 1835 went to Albany, N. Y., and worked at his trade as a painter. lie removed thence to Red Hook, on the Hudson, in Dutchess County, N. Y., where he remained several years, and in 1836 was united in marriage to Lucinda Hervey, daughter of James Hervey, of Berkley, Mass.

After his marriage Mr. Nichols settled at Red Hook. In the autumn of 1836 he removed to Toledo, Ohio, where he remained two years, at the expiration of which he removed with his family to his native town of Berkley, where he has since resided. Mrs. Nichols died Oct. 20, 1845, and in 1846 he married for his second wife Nancy H. Dean, daughter of Samuel Dean, of Berkley. The children by the first marriage were Fidelia L. (deceased), Fanny A. (deceased), Mary A. J., and Jesse G. ; by the second marriage, Mary N., Walter D., Caroline M., Emma C, Sarah E., James H., James M. D., and Frank H.

Mr. Nichols was one of the " Argonauts of '49" ; he visited California via Cape Horn, and was six months on the voyage, and after a varied experience of four months in the newly-discovered " Ophir," he returned home by the way of the Isthmus of Panama. His life has been somewhat varied, he having followed his trade as a painter, and also fishing and farming, besides devoting a considerable share of his time to teaching. He has taught in all about thirty winters.

In local politics he has taken an active part, first as a Whig, during the existence of that party, and since as a Republican, and has held every office in the gift of his townsmen, serving as selectman for a number of years. In 1855 he was a member of the House of Representatives, and in 1864-66 he was a member of the State Senate, and the last year served on theCommittee on Valuation. He has taken an active interest in all public affairs in his town, particularly in matters of education, and is the author of the history of Berkley in this work.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Nichols, born at the old homestead, are widely scattered. The only surviving daughter by the first wife is Mrs. Charles H. Clarke, formerly of Cambridge, Mass., now a resident of Milwaukee. Nancy N. Street, eldest child by the second marriage, is a practicing physician (homceopathist) in Cincinnati ; Walter D. is a farmer in Kansas ; Nancy D., wife of Dr. W. W. Freeman, resides in Anoka, Minn.; Caroline M. (now Mrs. Alden) aud Emma C. are proprietors and teachers of the Kindergarten in Providence, R. I. ; Sarah E. (Mrs. George E. Royce) resides in Berkley, Mass.; James M. D. is a resident of Colorado, and Frank H. lives with his brother in Kansas.

The name Crane is variously spelled Crain, Crayne, etc., but all were originally one family. Jasper Crayne was one of the first settlers of the New Haven Colony, and one of its leading and most influential members. He was one of the signers of the first or

Source changes here: from History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, by Hurd, Duane Hamilton, [from Old Catalog] Ed, published 1883; 12,082 words in this source stream.

Berkley Town

Digliton,Freotown, and Assonet Neck ; and tltence bounded by the land of Mr. Edward Sbove till it comes to Taunton River; and then bounded by said river till it comes to tlie first mentioned bounds.

"And that the inliabitauts thereof be and hereby are vested and endowed witli equal privileges and powers and imniunilies that the inhabitants of any of the towns within this province are or by law ought to be vested with.

"Only it is be understood that John Spurn, Nicholas Stephens, John Tisdale, Abraham Tisdale, Isaac Tisdale, and Ebenezer Pitts, and tlieir families and estates, are not to be included in said township, but are to beloTig to the towns of Taunton or Dighton, as formerly.

"And the inhabitants of the town of Berkley are hereby requested, within the space of two years from the publication of this act, to procure aud settle a learned Orthodox minister of good conversation, and make provision for his comfortable and honorable support, and also to erect and finish a suitable and convenient house for the public worship of God in said town.

" Provided, also. That the inhabitants included within this township that heretofore belonged to Taunton shall, from time to time, pay towards the repairs of Weir bridge in proportion to the remaitiing part of Taunton, according to their assessment in the last province ta.\, and also their proportion of the rates and taxes already made in Taunton.

" And that part of the new township which belonged tu Dighton pay their proportion with the said town of Pighton of the arrears of their outstanding rales already made, and of the debts due from the said town of Dighton, and also their proportion of the charge for the maintenance of the present poor of the town of Dighton.

Organization of the Town. - At a legal town-meeting, warned acenrding to the General Court's order, and held May 12, 1735, at the house of Elkanah Babbitt, with Ger.shom Crane moderator, and Abel Burt town clerk, Nathaniel Gilbert, John Burt, and Gershom Crane were chosen selectmen, and Joseph Burt, John Paull, and Benaiah Babbitt for assessors. These officers, it was voted, should all serve without compensation for their labors.

" Voted, To assess or raise the sum of fifty pounds for the use of {he town, part to be paid to the scholar which shall be hired to preach to us, the other part for the same use if wanted, or otherwise, as the town shall apply it."

" Voted, That the three selectmen go and hire Mr. Tobey, if they can agree with him, to preach in our town of Berkley one-quarter of a year."

Voted. Tiiat Gershom Crane, John Paull, Joseph Burt, and John Burt, under John Burt, procure the timber, divide the work, and proportion it among the inhabitants equally [equitably], and that each man who labors on said meeting-house shall be allowed four shillings per day, and lads or boys proportionally, as the committee shall see fit."

" Aug. 3, 1786. Voted, To give Mr. Samuel Tobey one hundred pounds in bills of credit, such as passeth between man and man, or silver at twenty-six shillings per ounce, annually, so long as he, the said Tobey, continueth in the work of the ministry in our town."

" Sept. 27, 1736. Voted, That the assessors of our town of Berkley forthwith assess or make a tax of three hundred pounds for Mr. Tobey, - two hundred pounds for his settlement, and one hundred pounds for his salary this present year."

" Voted, That Elkanah Babbitt, Gershom Crane, John Paull, Abiel Atwood, and Abel Burt be a committee to let out our meeting-house as cheaply as they can to finish after a decent and comely fashion or manner."

Rev. Samuel Tobey. - Berkley became a distinct town in 1735, as has been already stated, and two years subsequentlj' a church was organized with Rev. Samuel Tobey as the pastor. Mr. Tobey was a native of Sandwich, Mass., and a graduate of Harvard College, of the class of 1733. He was ordained Nov. 23, 1737, he being but twenty-five years old. His ministry continued until the time of his death, Feb. 13, 1781, a period of nearly forty-four years. Notwithstanding Mr. Tobey kept the church records with the greatest fidelity, there are none of his manuscripts that have been preserved, nor is it known that he ever published any of his writings.

The year following his ordination Mr. Tobey was married to Bathsheba Crocker, a daughter of Timothy Crocker, of Barnstable. Twelve children were the result of this union, of whom the two youngest, Paul and Sihis, were twins.

" As a preacher, he was not brilliant, but grave and honest in declaring what he believed true and essential. As a ' master of assemblies,' he was firm and impartial. He was of a full countenance, and uncommonly engaging in his person and manners. All revered him as a man of eminent abilities and of great common sense and unaffected appearance. The children not only revered but loved him, especially when he came into the schools and talked to them as a father. He seemed to regard all the people not only as his flock, but as his children.

" The structure of his sermons was formal, according to the manner of ministers of that time, who made many divisions of their subjects. His style was open, and so plain that the unlearned could understand and remember the truths uttered. In his devotional exercises in the pulpit he was somewhat formal, using nearly the same expressions in many of his prayers. That he was edifying and attractive to the common people is evident from the fact that he was highly esteemed in his deportment and public services for nearly three generations."

Rev. Thomas Andros. - After an interim of six years, during which the pulpit was variously supplied. Rev. Thomas Andros, of Norwich, Conn., was ordained in 1788, March 19th, and for forty-seven years occupied the pulpit, at the end of which time, admonished by waning strength and the existence of difterences that time had developed in the church and society, he asked for and received a formal dismissal from his pastoral charge, and retired, not to a life of idleness, but, on the contrary, to the end of his days was an active worker in all the great reformatory movements of the day. His early life having been passed amid hardships and privations, he fully appreciated and estimated the value of those advantages he failed to possess or enjoy, and he worked faithfully to increase an interest in popular education in the town, and gave an impetus to-it whose influence was undoubtedly permanent and lasting. The Taunton Association of Ministers, on the occasion of his death, said of him, " Mr. Andros was an eminent example of self-taught men, a warm patron of education, and a deeply-interested friend of the rising generation. As a preacher, beheld high rank; as a pastor, he was affectionate, laborious, and untiring in interest, both for the spiritual and temporal welfare of his people, to whom he ministered for more than forty years."

The early life of Mr. Andros was an eventful one. He lost his father in his childhood, and consequently upon his mother devolved the care and responsiljility of rearing and educating four children in comparatively straitened circumstances. They removed to

Plainfield, Conn., in the vicinity of which her relatives resided. There being few or no public schools in that day, and means being limited, it may readily be inferred that the advantages of mental culture enjoyed by Mr. Andros were small indeed. To a son of Mr. Andros is the writer indebted for the narration of the following thrilling events of his personal history:

"At the breaking out of the Revolutionary war in 1775, though but a youth of sixteen years, he was the first to enroll himself as a soldier in the Continental service, and shortly after joined the American army, then encamped at Cambridge. After the evacuation of Boston, he was engaged in the battles of Long Island and White Plains, and under Gen. Sullivan was engaged in the conflict at Butt's Hill. In 1781 he enlisted on board a private armed vessel, but his cruise was destined to be a short one, for they were captured by an English frigate and condemned to the ' old Jersey prison-ship' in New York Harbor. In a manner singularly providential he succeeded in effecting his escape, and after sufl'ering incredible hardships and innumerable perils, finally reached the home of his mother.

" A severe illness prostrated him for many months after his self-restoration to liberty and home, his recovery from which was well-nigh miraculous. It was probably this near approach to death, by whicli the doors of the future world were, as it were, opened wide before hiin, that fixed his subsequent career, and led him to dedicate the remainder of his life to tlie work of his Redeemer."

After recovering his health he devoted himself for several years to a careful preparation for the ministry under the Rev. Joel l^nedict, of Plainfield, Conn., and received his first call to fill the pulpit at Berkley made vacant by the death of Rev. Samuel Tobey. To give a lengthy dissertation upon the meritsof Mr. Andros would far exceed the limit and object of this work, the design of which is general rather than personal history, but a few words more may not be amiss to illustrate as far as may be the superior ability of this man, who for half a century was a leading spirit in the locality under consideration.

Mr. Andros, though in the main adhering to the views inculcated by the most eminent New England divines of that period, was notwithstanding an independent thinker. Quoting from Mr. Sanford again, " He never preached that Christ made atonement by his death for the elect only, and not for all mankind ; or that justifying faith consists in one's believing that his .sins are forgiven, and that he is one of the saved ; or that man, in regeneration, is as passive as a child in being born into the world : or that man is unable to repent; or that no mere man, since the fall, is able perfectly to keep the divine commands. He is remembered never to have believed or preached that the sin of the first man is imputed to all his posterity, and that in him all sinned, and that each brings sin enough nto the world to subject him to the loss of heaven. did lie preach that Christ's righteousness is nade over or transferred to believers, but rather that le teaches us how we may acquire the righteousness vhich is acceptable by faith and good works. He trenuously enforced that men have the power of ;hoice, are responsible for their moral acts ; that no livine agency operates in men to harden or tempt hem to sin, but rather to restrain them from it."

As a patriot and politician, he never hesitated to be )ronounced in his opinions, and it was questioned by lis friends whether his strong partisanship was not 00 strong for cue who occupied so pulilic a position, ind whether the judicious use of some finesse on his lart would not have proven " the better part of wislom." His Thanksgiving and Fast-day sermons vere usually political ones, and especially attractive

0 those who agreed with him, as well as to those vho held opposite views. In one of that ilk he took iccasion to speak of Mr. Jefierson in the following lenunciatory language : " He is the object of my oul's most implacable abhorrence." It is but just, lowever, to say that in after-life he acknowledged his nisconception of Mr. Jefferson's religious and poliical views, and actually joined the party of which the luthor of the Declaration of Independence was the bunder and acknowledged exponent. Too favorable

1 notice cannot be made of the influence he exerted ipon the cause of education, both with reference to the :ommon schools, of which he was an avowed friend md defender, and also to the higher branches, in vhich he had many private classes and pupils. In his laily walks of life he exerted a strong influence upon be generations already risen to adult age, he fully ndorsing the aptness of Pope's memorable epigram, -

He also examined teachers for public schools, and Irew about him a corps of teachers whose acquirenents and ability to impart knowledge were un- >qualed in those days and rarely surpassed in these.

During Mr. Andros' ministry a circumstance oc- ;urrcd which will illustrate his native shrewdness. \ master-mariner living near the line of Berkley, n Taunton, who had come from a trip to Albany, ' beat" up to Grassy Island, then meeting a " head ade," anchored his vessel, went on shore, intending ;o walk home, a distance of two miles. Passing by I clump of bushes, a hen fluttered out, announcing ,n unmistakable language the presence of her nest. Examination of the spot disclosed a newly-laid egg, jpon which the sailor transcribed " Woe to the inliabitants of Barkly." The writer of this minatory prophecy had procured in Albany a graphite pencil, a, thing almost unknown in those days. The egg was w.arm and moist, the plumbago united chemically with the shell, and so intimately as to be apparently a. part of it. The owner of the hen, a pious lady, was horrified when, upon gathering up her eggs at night, she found the one already alluded to, and in perfect consternation took it to Mr. Andros, hoping he might explain the calamity it appeared to portend. The minister shut his eyes closely, as was his wont, and said, " It was not the Lord's doings, for He would have known how to spell Berkley." This ready answer quieted her fears.

Mr. Andros represented his town twice in the Legislature after he retired from active ministerial service. His last sermon was preached tlie 5th of October, 1845, and the following December .30th he died from the result of a succession of apoplectic attacks.

He was twice married, first to Miss Abigail Cutler, and after her death to Miss Sophia Sanford. The former had nine children and the latter eight. Five of his sons were master-mariners, and made many foreign voyages. Another son, the late R. S. S. Andros, was a well-known New England writer and poet. Another son, Milton Andros, is at present a distinguished attorney-at-!aw in the State of California. Descendants of other members of his family still attest to the wide-spread influence of this man, whom the writer deems /he one of all others whose life gave a coloring to the affairs of this town of Berkley, both educational and spiritual, and without whose brief personal history a methodical record of the important events which concern this town could not be written.

The next settled minister was the Rev. Ebenezer Poor, of Danvers, Mass. His pastorate was about two years in duration. He was esteemed an interesting preacher. He was succeeded by Rev. J. IT. Parsons, who was installed in 1838 and dismissed in 1840. He was the author of a series of school readers and some religious works. In 1842, Rev. Charles Chamberlain, formerly tutor in Brown University, was ordained as the successor of Mr. Parsons, and resigned his charge in 1844. Since that time the pulpit has successively been supplied by Rev. Messrs. Eastman, Gould, Gay, Richardson, Craig, Smith, Lothrop, Davis, Babcock, Bessom, Barney, Chamberlain, and Parker.

This society - the Congregational - now occupies the third meeting-house, all of which houses have occupied the same and to many a sacred spot. It is a large and well-arranged house and in good condition. Adjacent to the meeting-house is a neat and attractive parsonage, having a desirable location. This .society is in a very healthy condition financially, the annual rent of the pews and the income of the "ministerial fund" placing the society above pecuniary anxiety.

In 1848 a division in the Congregational Church and Society occurred from causes which it would be unprofitable to lift the veil of oblivion from now. Some twenty members of the church and a number of the society withdrew and organized the "Trinitarian Congregational Society in Berkley," March 1, 1848, and built a comfortable house called the

" Chapel." Rev. L. E. Eastman was the first pastor, commenciug his pastorate the first Sabbath in April, 1848, and left iu March, 1856, being a pastorate of years.

Rev. James A. Roberts having been invited to fill the pulpit made vacant by the resignation of Mr. Eastman, he entered upon his ministry the first Sabbath in April, 1856, continuing his pastorate until the last Sabbath in September, 1872, a period of more than sixteen years. He retired then, as he said, " to rest," thinking perhaps that he might be able to reenter the puljiit again. But he never rallied, and in the following November, in the eighty-fourtli year of his age, he " rested" from his labor.