Leicester Town (part 3 of 6)

The life of the town in the last century was primitive and rural. The cattle ran at large, and the office of " hog rieve " was no sinecure. In the town records are voluminous minutes of the special marks which each person adopted to distinguish his own cattle; and of the horses, cows, hogs, " hifl'ers," " steares," etc., which had " strayed " and were " taken up in damiag." The (luestion annually came up whether " horses might go at large, being fettered and clogged as the law directs,'' and whether " hoggs " should "go at large, yoked and ringed as the law directs."

Even the best of the houses were devoid of architectural attractions, and of the conveniences and comforts which we regard essential. They are described as "small, low one-story buildings,"' with a "front room and kitchen," and in some cases an added bedroom. The hinges of the doors were of wood ; there were no handles ; and the wooden latch was raised by a " latch string '' passing through a hole to the outside. The fire in the immense fire-places served to scorch one side, while the other was freezing. The hard necessities of frontier afforded little opportunity for adornment.

The people generally rode on horseback, the women often seated behind the men on pillions. In 1790 a lady, attended by her husband, rode from Leicester to Vermont on horseback, holding a child two years old in her arms. In 1733 there were four chairs in town. Daniel Henshaw's family came to Leicester in a chaise in 1748. In his account-book that year and onward there are charges for the use of a " chair." The rate from Leicester to Boston or Maiden was three pounds. There was not a "buggy wagon " in town till 1810. Books were rare. Thomas Earle was repairing watches in 1768 and later. In Daniel Henshaw's account-book is a memorandum of his verbal agreement to " take care,'' for a year " of his watch when wanted, for one cord of wood.'' Watches, clocks and looking-glasses, however, were evidently rare. The hour-glass measured the hours, and " dinner-time" was indicated by the shadow at the " noon-mark " on the window-sill.

In 1722 the town voted that if Joseph Parsons would build a" corn-mill itshould not be taxed." Themill was soon afterward erected at the outlet of " Town Meadow," where Sargent's brick factory now stands. The first saw-mill was built by Captain Samuel Green, at Greenville. He also, in 1724, built a grist-mill on the same stream, where Draper's grist-mill now stands. The " Mill lot " of Thomas Richardson also came, probably, into his possession, so that he became the owner of the original mill lots. The second saw-mill was

There was plenty of land, and land which had been secured at low rates. But, although the first distribution was on equitable terms, the equality of ownership did not long continue, and it came to pass, in the buying and .selling of " rights," that some of the farms contained from twelve to fifteen hundred acres.

Even that early period of labor and struggle was not exempt from class distinctions and jealousies. Some of the families that came early to Leicester were in those days regarded as rich. Some were well-educated and refined. Coming'thus from Boston, which had been settled a hundred years, their style of dress and their manners were doubtless somewhat in contrast with those of some of their neighbors. Soon after the family to which reference has already been made came to town, the congregation, one Sunday, was startled by the entrance of a man dressed in small-clothes, a green calamanco coat and gold-laced hat, and with a cavalry sword hanging at his side, which thumped against the floor as he strode to his seat. When asked, at the close of the service, the occasion of this remarkable display, he said, " It is to let the Henshaws know that there is a God in Israel."

In 1722, when there were hardly fifty families on the scattered farms in the wilderness, the Indians of Maine and Canada resumed hostilities. This war is called " Lovell's War," from its most tragic incident, " Lovell's fight," in which Colonel Lovell routed the savages, but lost his own life on the shore of the beautiful lake in Fryeburg, Maine, which bears his name.

There were no general engagements in this region, but the frontier towns were harassed and kept in fear four years by roving bands of Indians, who lurked in the woods waiting to shoot down or capture their unsuspecting victims. The tidings that Worcester was threatened, and that three men had been shot and scalped in Rutland, naturally alarmed the people of Leicester. Although there are no traditions of similar attacks here, the marks of bullets in the fortified King h<)use remained for a century afterward. In a letter to Lieutenant-Governor Dummer, Thomas Newhall gives information that " a man reaping here, informs us an Indian had got within seven rods of him, and, looking up, he had a certain discovery of him ; and stepping a few rods for his gun, he saw him no more, but hastened home."

Draper, also, in his " History of Spencer," informs us that " the earlier .settlers of the town were frequently alarmed and disturbed by small parties or individual Indians prowling about the neighborhood, or through the town." Indians were also said to have been seen

Leicester

In 1722 two Worcester men were sent to Leicester as scouts. In the correspondence of those years there are affecting references to the sad, anxious and defenceless condition of the people. In an appeal for help from Worcester, in 1724, to Colonel John Chandler, of Woodstock, who had command of the defensive forces in this vicinity, there is this significant reference to Leicester : " As to Leicester, the people there more need help from us than are able to render us any." Colonel Chandler himself, in a letter to Lieutenant-Governor Dummer, seconding the request for protection, expresses his regret, in view of the disappointment of " the poor people of Worcester, Leicester," etc., in not receiving it, and pleads for " consideration of the distressed circumstances of the poor people of these towns." Soon after, twentynine soldiers were posted in Leicester.

The next April the Lieutenant-Governor gave Colonel Chandler notice of the approach of several parties of Indians from Canada, and ordered him to visit and warn the towns. The whole region was soon thrown into consternation by tidings that two companies of Indians were between them and "the Warchusetts," and the citizens of Leicester applied to the Lieutenant-Governor for speedy assistance of soldiers to defend them. "Our number of inhabitants," they write, "is very small, and several were much discouraged ; it was so late last summer before we had soldiers that we were exceedingly behind with our business." That year the towu was, by the General Court, released from the payment of the "Province tax" of seven pounds, on account, as the people in their petition say, "of being a frontier," and "being very much exposed and reduced to very low circumstances by the late Indian war."

The house of the minister was, at the first, surrounded by a "garrison" or stockade, and in 172G this defense was, by vote of the town, repaired and strengthened. There was also a garrison on the place of Judge Menzes, the outlines of which, near the Henshaw place, remained till the middle of the present century. A house at Mannville was also fortified. The house of John King, between Leicester and Greenville, was made a fort. This house still stands, a solitary relic of those early times.

After its early trials and struggles, the town seems to have prospered generally as a farming community. Some of the early inhabitants were men of means, as well as of culture and standing, and other valuable families came into town. The farms gieatly increased in value, and, with the building of better houses, the removal of the forests and the laying out and improvement of roads, the prosperity and comfort of the people were increased. Still, the growth of the place was slow, and there were repeated periods of great trial and depression. After forty years, there were less than one hundred families in the Eastern Precinct. At tlie time of the Declaration of Independence the population was ten hundred and seventyeight. There was no increase during the war. At the opening of the present century the number was eleven hundred and three.

During a considerable portion of the last century the town, like other communities, suffered from the depreciation of the currency, and losses from State loans and private banking enterprises. These difficulties confronted the settlers almost at the first, and were increased by the heavy demands made necessary by successive wars ; in the time of tlie Revolution paper-money depreciated so rapidly that it became necessary to rate its value every few weeks. It finally became worthless.

Even in these circumstances money was counterfeited, and in 1747 we find the town voting Mr. William Green the sum of "2 pounds towards the counterfeit bill he took as town treasurer."

The danger of small-pox at times called for town action. The question of establishing an inoculating hospital was evidently a subject of controversy. It was finally disposed of in 1777 (after'being repeatedly deferred) by a vote "that the physician provide a hospital at his own cost, subject to the selectmen." September 17, 1792, the town " voted to have smallpox in town by inoculation."

At the March meeting in 1771 the town voted " that a list i)resented by the selectmen of the names of those persons who have come into town, and the place where they came from since June 1, 1767, be put on the town records, in order that posterity may know when and from whence they came, and that the selectmen be directed to present such a list at the town-meeting in March for tlie future." Such a list was presented every year; notices were recorded of persons who came to town until the year 1786 ; and as late as 1793 certificates were recorded of persons taken into houses and families.

On the afternoon of July 10, 1759, the town was visited by a remarkable cyclone. Two numbers of the Boston Post of that time are largely devoted to the details. It struck the tavern-house of Mr. Samuel Lynde, the last on the road to Spencer, passing from southwest to northeast. The house was lifted a considerable distance from its foundations, " and in the space of two minutes tore all to pieces." Several persons in the house were severely injured. "A little girl, being also at the Door, was carritd by the Force of the Wind upwards of 40 rods, and had an arm broke." Four women were afterwards found in the cellar, "but could give no account how they got there." Articles from the house were found in IIolden, ten miles distant, and " a watch was taken up above a mile from where the house stood." The barn and farm buildings were " torn to pieces," and a horse was killed. Trees were torn up by the roots, and fences broken down. A negro " standing at the door of that House was carried near 10 Rods Distance in the Air," and was so much injured that he died; and " a Pile of Boards ('tis said 7,000 Feet), being near the house, was shivered to Splinters, and carried to a great Distance, so that there was not Pieces large enough to make a Coffin to bury the Negro in."

It is said that purchasers who drew lots on the Connecticut Eoad, near what is now the line between Leicester and Spencer, expected, as was natural, that this would be the centre of the town, with all the advantages of such a position. But favorable as that locality might have been as the site of a village, the basis of separation between the two parts was laid at the beginning, when the eastern half was selected for )>rior occupation. After disposing of the eastern portion, I he [iroprietors divided the western half among them.selves, and the farms began slowly to be taken up. Befoie 1725 there were only three families in this part of the town. The two sections were so far apart, and the circumstances of their early settlement were so unlike tliat their interests were never identical. There were differences with reference to laying out roads and the adjustment of appropriations ; and the western portion was not satisfied to be without a minister, and desired to have the money raised by them for the ministry used for a minister in their pare of the town. They also wished to be exempted from taxation for the schools, the advantage of which they did not enjoy. In 1741 the inhabitants petitioned to be " set otf" as a town. The General Court readily passed an act of incorporation, but it was vetoed by Ciovernor Shirley.

In 1744, July 18lh, they were incorporated as a parish, and called ''The Westerly Parish of Leicester." Five years later both precincts petitioned the General Court " to erect the west pait of Leicester into a distinct and separate town." A bill of incorporation wiis passed, but it was vetoed by Lieutenant- Governor Phlpps, on the ground that it would increase the number of representatives to the General Court. The House protested against the arbitrary action of the royal executive, but without effect. In April, 1753, the precinct was made a district, with all the prerogatives of a town except that of sending a representative to the General Assembly. The bill was signed by Lieutenant-Governor Spencer Phipps, April 12, 1753, and his honor condescended to have the town called after his own first name. In 1775, upon the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the town assumed its right to send a representative to the Assembly, and in 1780 the right was made constitutional.

Upon the incorporation of Paxton, February, 1765, a strip of land two miles in width was set off to that town ; and when Ward (now Auburn) was incorporated, April 10, 1778, the town parted with a small tract of land.

Chapter Il French And Revolutionary Wars

heiceiter in th« French Wars^Tjouisbourg - Massacre of Fori Wdliam Henry - Quebec - O'lotiel Willuim Ueushaw - llevoluliowiry War - Leading Patritjts - Totrtt Meetings - ^^ Instructions^^ - Comiuitli'e of Corrfjtpondeuce - " Mimitf-men " proposed - Tea - Courts - l^ovincial Congress - AmmunUion Stored - 19^ of April - Colonet William Ifeushaw's Orderly Books - Bunker Hill - Peter Siilem - Provinci^d Congress^Suspected Persons - War Expenses - SoHiers - Leicester Men in the Service.

French War. - The history of the connection of Leicester with the wars of the last century shows how true it is that the life of a little settlement in the interior is identified in all its interests with the great movements of society and of nations. The people of Leicester had a somewhat prominent part in shaping, as well a,s in determining, some of the great issues which distinguished the last century. The convulsions of the old world, and the conflicts between the old world and the new, were felt on the hills of Leicester. While the people of the town were occupied with their arduous labors, and were struggling with the difficulties of a new country and of frontier life, they also accepted their full share of the service, and the burden of these exhausting wars in which the energies of the province were so largely engaged during the middle portion of the century.

The colonies loyally and heartily supported the mother country in the French wars from 1744 to 1763, and accepted with enthusiasm the hardships and sufferings of the several campaigns. They saw the perils to which their own settlements were exposed by the alliance of the French with the Indians, and comprehended, to some extent, the magnitude and importance of the great struggle between England and France for supremacy in America. "Our people," wrote Benjamin Henshaw, of Connecticut, " are prodigious/t/ spirited to help in the work."

In the several expeditions and engagements of the war of 1744 many Leicester men took part. The earlier enlistment rolls are not to be found, and therefore the names of most of these men are unknown.

In 1745 the Legislature of Massachusetts planned an expedition for the reduction of the fortress at Louisbourg, on the island of Cape Breton. Tht:re are no means of knowing to what extent Leicester responded to this call. Captain John Brown commanded a company in the expedition, and was present at the surrender of the place. James Smith died in the expedition. Other Leicester men shared in the terrible hardships of the six weeks' investment of the fortress. The next year a French fleet was sent to recover the place, and to ravage the coast of New England. The approach of this fleet caused great alarm, and an attack on Boston was expected. In September Captain Nathaniel Green, " in his Majesty's service in Leicester," received and executed an order from Colonel John Chandler for an immediate draft of twenty-five men, with ammunition and provision for fourteen days, to march for the defence of Boston. The fleet, however, was scattered by a storm, a pestilential fever broke out among the men, the whole expedition was given up, and the two admirals, in their chagrin, took their own lives. In the winter of 1747 and 1748 men were .sent to Colraine, and to Fort Massachusetts, in Williamstown, for the protection of that region against Indian attacks ; and others enlisted in the "Canada expedition."

In the French and Indian War, which broke out in 1754, still larger demands were made upon the town for soldiers. Leicester was represented by its soldiers, in the earlier campaigns of this war, under General Winslow, and at Crown Point. In 1756 fifteen men enlisted in the expedition against Crown Point. They were in the company of Captain John Stebbins, n the early settler by that name, but then a resident of Spencer. In that year twenty men from Leicester joined the army, only two ol whom were conscripts.

Thomas Newliall had command of a company of cavalry. Nathan Parsons, a native of Leicester, and son of the first minister, was present at the surrender and the " Massacre of Fort William Henry," as was also Knight Sprague, then a boy of 16 years. Governor Washburn, in his history, gives in detail Mr. Sprague's reminiscences of that terrible scene in whieh men and women were the victims of the wild and drunken fury of the savages. "Sprague escaped after being partially stripped, and made his way to Fort Edward. On the way he passed his captain, who had been entirely stripped and many women were in no better condition. The yells of the savages, the groans of the wounded and dying, the shrieks of the aft'righted women and frantic soldiers, and the dead who lay scattered around them, made it a scene of unsurpassed horror. Fifteen of his own company of fifty were killed soon after leaving the fort."

In the final struggle of that war, in which Quebec was taken by General Wolfe, and Canada was wrested from the French, a large number of Leicester men participated. The names of twenty-three are given in Washburn's History. Dr. Thomas Steele, of Leicester, was surgeon's mate in the same campaign and there were probably other Leicester men.

It was at this time that Colonel William Henshaw began his distinguished military career. He received a commission as second lieutenant March 31, 1759, in Colonel Timothy Euggles' regiment, in the company of Captain Jeduthan Baldwin, and served from May 10th to November 28lh, in two campaigns.

He kept a diary of the daily experiences of these months, which is now in the possession of his granddaughter, Miss Harriet E. Henshaw, of Leicester. Marching orders were received on the 9th of May. " The Carriages to be loaded by Day Break to Morrow Morning, and all the Troops that have passed Muster to gett themselves ready to march to Morrow Morning by Sunrise." The troops were conveyed on horseback and in carriages. It was a journey of fourteen days through the forest and over " the mountains." They passed through the "Land of Contention," the disputed territory between the States, and, at length reached Albany, where they " drawed Tents and Provisions, and encamped on the Hill 100 rods from Albany City." They were stationed most of the time at Fort Edward and Crown Point.

"In the month of June," Lieutenant Henshaw writes, " I was taken from the Provincials and did duty in one of the British regiments under General Amherst, which aftbrded me opportimity of becoming acquainted with discipline." The severity and inhuman cruelty of the British "discipline" are evinced by such entries as the following : " Sentenced 200 lashes each ; " " Two E. I. men whipped, One 1000 lashes, the other 500 lashes.'' While he was at Fort Edward, news was received of the taking of Ticonderoga, upon which the " other prisoners were pardoned." Here, also, the news of the taking of Quebec was received.

The Revolutionary War. - In the preliminary stages of the Revolutionary struggle the town of Leicester acted a prominent and distinguished part. There were men here of unusual ability. Some of them were well educated, and many were trained for military service in the French wars. Several of the leading families were intimately associated with the Revolutionary leaders in Boston. Hon. Joseph Allen was a nephew of Samuel Adams. Adams, Warren, Otis and Hancock often met at the house of Joshua Henshaw, in Boston, before his removal to Leicester, to discuss and mature their plans. Other leading citizens were in the confidence of the Revolutionary leaders.

There was then no mail service, but early and confidential information was received by couriers on horseback, respecting the movements of the English and the plans of the patriots.

The records of the town show what a power the town-meeting was, in which, as the revenue commissioners of Boston complained, " the lowest mechanics discussed the most important points of government with the utmost freedom," and with what effect it unified and voiced the spirit of the people.

During all the years of British aggression, of the war, and the period which followed, in which the state and the federation were taking form, they came together in these meetings, in " the first meetinghouse," and deliberated upon the great questions of principle and policy involved in the Declaration of Independence and the organization of government on the basis of personal liberty. From these townmeetings there issued manifestoes really statesmanlike in their grasp and expression.

The whole original township acted together until 1775. The people were truly loyal to the King until they saw that war was inevitable. Some of them, the Dennys, the Stebbingses, the Southgates and others, came directly from England to Leicester. The town had heartily responded in former wars to every call of the mother country. They approved the " Protestant succession" and were ready to hazard " their " lives in defence of -' the person, crown and dignity " of the King; but they were equally ready to maintain their own rights and to resist every encroachment upon their own liberties at whatever cost.

Nearly ten years before the war began, the town, with the districts of Spencer and Paxton, adopted the practice of giving formal instructions to their Representatives to the General Assembly, and, from time to time, of passing resolutions representing their opinions upon public affairs.

In October, 17G.5, having elected Capt. John Brown Representative, they proceeded to give him formal instructions in "this critical juncture." The Stamp Act had been passed and was soon to be enforced, and Courts of Admiralty had been ordered for the trial of offenders without jury. The excitement occasioned by these acts had been so great that a mob had, in August, burnt the house of Lieut.-Gov. Hutchinson, With these facts fresh in mind, the town and districts gave extended and specific instructions to their Representative, in whose "ability and integrity" they confided. They declared their " inexpressible grief and concern" in view of the "repeated taxes," and especially the "Stamp Act," which they "had no voice in Parliament in making;" and expressed their alarm at the "unparalleled stretch given to admiralty jurisdiction," "by which every man is liable to be carried a thousand miles before a Court of Admiralty," "tried without jury," "amerced," "taxed with costs," and, if unable to pay, " to die in prison in an unknown land, without friends to bury him." They also expressed their disapproval of all "tumultuous ravages," and especially that " wherein our Lieut.-Gov. suffered," and their surprise that he should "charge the outrage to the province, thus representing them as an ungrateful and disloyal people."

In the summer of 1768 the colonies were aroused by new acts of oppression. The General Assembly of Massachusetts was dissolved by the Governor, and not allowed to meet again while it refused to withdraw an appeal to the other colonies. A sloop-of-war was anchored in Boston harbor, and troops were ordered to Boston to subdue the rebellious spirit of the people. In consequence of these proceedings the citizens of Boston called a conference of towns. Ninety-six towns responded. The call was issued September 14th, and five days afterward we find the citizens of Leicester in "the first meeting-house," called together hastily, and without due notice, to act upon the proposition. The proceedings of this meeting were legalized at the next March meeting, and thus recorded. Capt. John Brown was chosen delegate to the conference, " without any authority," and, in resolutions which breathe the spirit of fervent loyalty to the King and devotion to the English Constitution and the Magna Charta, and which yet declare the "dissolution of the 'General Court' a real grievance," instructed "to give his advice and use his influence that all rash measures be prevented, and every mild one adopted that may be consistent with Englishmen claiming their rights." The hour of rebellion had not yet come, but it was rapidly approaching.

In January, 1770, a meeting was called to " see if the town will come to any note or vote about the purchasing of goods of those that import from Great Britan, contrary to the agreement of the principal merchants in Boston and most others on the continent." A vote of thanks was passed to those merchants who were thus "sacrificing their own interest for the good of their country." The call for this meeting was prepared by William Henshaw, and was signed by twenty-eight persons. They asked the town to vote that those who should offend by purchasing the prescribed goods " shall be deemed enemies to America, and as such shall be recorded in the town's book of records," and the town appears to have adopted the proposal.

In May following, a military company of forty-six men was formed for drill. The next year the town bought one hundred pounds of powder, also bullets and flints.

In 1772 Committees of Correspondence were organized under the leadership of Samuel Adams. They proved to be one of the most eflective agencies in advancing the Revolutionary cause. Two years later, Daniel Leonard, the Tory writer, pronounced them " the foulest, subtlest and most venemous serpent ever hatched from the egg of sedition. It is the .source of the rebellion. I saw the small seed when it was planted ; it was a grain of mustard. I have watched the plant till it has become a great tree." They were at first voluntary bodies, but were afterward recognized by the Legislature. The date and manner of the appointment of the committee in Leicester are not known. It was in existence and in correspondence with the Boston committee in January of 1773, within less than four months after the introduction of the system. Later the committee was chosen annually by the town.

Of the first committee William Henshaw was the chairman and Thomas Denny, Joseph Henshaw, Rev. Benjamin Conklin, Hezekiah Ward and Thomas Newhall were members, together with William Green, Samuel Green and Joseph Sargent, who. were added the same year.

A convention of the Committees of Safety in the county assembled in Worcester in August, 1774. The meeting was opened with prayer by Rev. Mr. Conklin, of Leicester, and William Henshaw was made clerk.

Joseph Henshaw and Thomas Denny were also prominent members. The Leicester and Worcester committees were appointed a committee for the county, to conduct correspondence, and call a county congressional convention. The convention was continued by adjournment till May 31, 1775.

It was in accordance with the recommendation of Col. William Henshaw in the convention, and upon his motion, that the famed companies of "Minute- Men" were organized, who in the emergency proved, as he in his motion expressed it, "ready to act at a minute's warning." He also presented the resolution in response to which six thousand men came to Worcester, armed and officered, and prevented the assembling of the Inferior Court. At thistime Judge Steele, of Leicester, was compelled, with other justices, to sign an assurance that the court would stay proceedings. He was also forced to make a written apology for a letter of congratulation which he, with other justices, had sent to Gov. Gage upon his assumption of command at Boston.

Early in the year 1773 the town and districts again met to instruct their representative, Mr. Thomas Denny, and to pass resolutions. The meeting was "full,'' and continued till a late hour. "The votes were unanimous." These resolutions and instructions contain a brief but comprehensive statement of the wrongs, and a declaration of the rights of the province. They were still loyal to the crown, but they resolve, " We have a right to all the liberties and privileges of subjects born within the realm of England; and we esteem and prize them so highly, that we think it our duty to risk our lives and fortunes in defence thereof.'' Mr. Denny was re-elected in May, and again instructed.

The patriots of Boston were greatly encouraged by the response of the towns of the interior. Two weeks after the instructions had been given to Mr. Denny, the Boston Committee of Correspondence wrote to the committee in Leicester, acknowledging the receipt of a copy of the proceedings, and added, "We think it must supprize our Oppressors to read your very ingenious and sensible Eesolves, and your Instructions to your worthy Representative."

To this letter the committee replied at length, through Colonel Henshaw : " We have paid, and are still willing to pay due obedience to laws, - made by our own consent, - and lawful authority ; but he who tamely submits to 'the tyrannical Edicts of the British Parliament and Ministry,' is unworthy even of the name of ' an American.' "

In November, 1778, four days before the arrival in Boston of the vessels loaded with tea, the Boston committee, in a long letter on "that worst of plagues, the detested tea," wrote to know the sense the "towns have of the present gloomy situation of our public affairs." To this the Leicester committee replied in no doubtful terms, expressing obligation to the committee in Boston for their " vigilance," and for their " late proceedings and manly resolutions in regard to the detestable tea sent here by the West India Company," "and as you have requested our advice, we shall, as a committee, freely give it: and that is to go on as you have begun, and on no account suffer it to be landed, or pay one farthing of duty." This was two days before the tea was thrown overboard. Joshua Henshaw is understood to have been one of the " tea party."

On December 27 the town and districts responded. They were loyal still to the crown, and ready to hazard their lives in its defence, but they asserted their provincial rights of property and person, denounced the Stamp Act as " a usurpation of authority to which no power on earth is entitled, and contrary to the fundamental principles of our happy Constitution ;" and promised to oppose, " at the hazard of their lives and fortunes," any impositions unconstitutionally laid upon imported articles.

They also resolved "That we will not use any tea in our families or suffer any to be consumed therein while loaded with a tribute contrary to our consent, and that whoever shall sell any of th.at destructive herb shall be deemed by us inimical to the rights of his country as endeavoring to counteract the designs of those who are zealous for its true interests." They enforced these proceedings by choosing a committee of fourteen to " inspect any teas sold or used in the towns and districts and report the names of offenders at the annual meeting."

The objection of the people to " that destructive herb" was not to the tea nor to the tax, but to its imposition by a government in which they had no representation, and in 1781 we find the town voting to license persons " to sell Bohea tea and other Indian teas, according to the law of 1781," imposing " excise duties.''

One of the acts of the crown which awakened special alarm, and against which the people indignantly protested, was that which provided that the judges of the Superior Court should be paid out of the royal treasury. Chief Justice Oliver was the only judge who accepted this provision, and the House of Representatives took prompt measures for his impeachment. Upon the meeting of the court in Worcester in April, 1774, the grand jurors, instead of coming forward to be sworn, presented a written protest, refusing to serve if Justice Oliver was to sit with the court. This protest was drawn up by Col. Wm. Henshaw. " By his own confession," it declares, "he stands convicted, in the minds of the people, of a crime more heinous, in all probability, than any that might come before him." The chief justice, however, was not present, and the business of the court proceeded without interruption. In a subsequent letter to the court, a draft of which, as well as the original protest, is in the possession of his granddaughter, Col. Henshaw, after explanations and the expression of satisfaction at the course of the judges, makes complaint of what he styles " a great hardship," and at that early day recommends the course which now universally prevails in the courts. The complaint was of " having a foreman imposed upon jurys by the Court, which we think ought to be chosen by the Jurors." The reason given is that "the Jurors who live in the vicinity are better acquainted with the abilities of their neighbors than the judges can be." " We hope," he writes, " that this error in appointing a Foreman will be soon rectified, & the power vested in the Jurys to choose their own foreman by a fair Vote, which we think would be of vast utility to the Public and for the facilitating business & saving expense to the County."

The year 1774 was one of agitation and preparation. Repeated acts of oppression were effectually exhausting the loyalty of the people to the mother country, and the spirit of resistance was growing more determined. Eighteen town-meetings were held this year, and repeated instructions and resolutions were voted, some of which rank with the ablest and most eloquent manifestoes of that period. They cover the whole range of questions involved in the struggle, and counsel the most determined resistance. In May they protested against the Port Bill. In July resolutions, prejiared by a committee, were adopted, which clearly, comprehensively and eloquently discuss the issues of the hour, and declare the duty of citizens loyal, at the same time, to the Province and to the rightful authority of the Crown. It is a dignified and determined declaration of rights, by the town of Leicester and the districts of Spencer and Paxton assembled, "not tumultuously, riotously or seditiously, but soberly and seriously, as men, as citizens and as Christians, to take into our consideration the present distressed state of our affairs." They pledged themselves not to purchase goods imported from England, and to have no dealings with those who import such goorfs while the duty on tea is continued, unless " other measures of redress be recommended by General Congress." They also urge the people to "associate together, and discourse and inform themselves of their rights and privileges as men, as members of society and the English Constitution."

In September Thomas Denny was chosen Eepresentative to the Great and General Court, which, driven from Boston, met the next month in Salem, and instructed to be sworn only by an officer appointed under the charter, and to refuse to be sworn by the Lieutenant-Governor. The Legislature was prorogued by the Governor, and immediately resolved itself into a Provincial Convention or Congress.

Mr. Denny was delegated to represent the town in this '' convention '' at its meeting the next month in Concord, - " An assembly," as they suggest in their instructions, " in which at this dark and difficult day, perhaps the most important business will come before you that was ever transacted since the settlement of North America." " Everything now conspires to prompt the full exertion of true policy, valor and intrepidity." The instructions are under ten "particulars." They urge, since " charters have become bubbles," resistance to all compromise, and " compliance with the advice of the Continental Congress." They urge an " endeavor to have the militia of the Province put on the most respectable footing, and that every town be supplied with one or more field pieces, properly mounted and furnished with ammunition. A militia composed of the yeomanry and proprietors of the country is its surest defence : therefore we esteem it a matter of the last necessity that they be properly disciplined and taught the arts of war with all expedition, as we know not how soon we may be called to action."

They demand restitution for the removal of arms and ammunition from Boston and Cambridge, and for loss and damage resulting from the blockade of Boston. They urge the encouragement of arts and manufactures, by granting premiums and preventing importation, recommend intercolonial correspondence and the apprehension and trial of persons " inimical to their country."

Mr. Denny died soon after the assembling of the Congress, and Col. Joseph Henshaw was chosen his successor. He was briefly instructed to promote wiih all his influence "any plan for the common good, generally adopted by the Congress," and urge upon it "an immediate assumption of government." " Particular matters will no doubt turn up in the course of the session, which, as we, your constituants, are not now apprized of, so cannot particularly instruct." This was January 9, 1775.

The anticipated " matters " were not far in the future. When they did " turn up " they found the people in this hot-bed of treason ready to convert their resolutions into actions. The standing company of the town was under the command of Capt. Thomas Newhall and Lieutenants Benjamin Richardson and Ebenezer Upham. An "independent company of volunteers," formed in 1770, had been reorganized, with Seth Washburn as captain and William Watson and Nathaniel Harrod as lieutenants.

The town had also made some provision for ammunition. The minute-men had met weekly for drill, under an officer of the regular army, whom they had hired.

In February the Committee of Safety and Supplies of the Provincial Congress decided to remove the powder stored at Concord to Leicester; also eight field-pieces, shot, cartridges and two brass mortars, with bombs. The letter of Joseph Henshaw to his brother, whom he styles "Brother Billy," gives minute directions with reference to the storing of the six or seven hogsheads of powder in the barns of Colonel Henshaw, Major Denny, Captain Newhall and Captain Green. It was afterward decided to distribute these stores in correspondence of these years the greatest secrecy was observed. The letters were often without signature, and often signed by fictitious names.

In March there were rumors of the movement of the British forces, and Colonel Henshaw and Joseph Allen walked to Worcester over the snow-drifts on " rackets " to ascertain their truth. It is said that at one time Mr. Allen had his knapsack and his trunk, with his wedding suit, packed, not knowing whether he should first be called to battle or to his marriage.

The scenes of the 19th of April, and indeed of the period which immediately followed, are graphically given by Governor Washburn in his history. Many of them were told him by the actors themselves, who have long been dead.

Early in the afternoon of the 19th of April an unknown horseman rode rapidly through the village, stopped long enough before the blacksmith's shop to say, " The war has begun ; the regulars are marching to Concord," and then hurried on to alarm the towns beyond. " I saw," wrote Col. Wm. Henshaw, "the express that came from the town of Lexington, informing that the enemy had killed several men in that town." The blacksmith, who was Captain Seth Washburn, dropped a ploughshare on which he was working, rushed into the road and discharged his musket. The members of the companies were called together from all parts of the town. At four o'clock every minute-man was on the common. They were uniformed, but they came with their Queen's arms, and with their powder-horns and shot-pouches. Members of their families and other friends were assembled to render assistance and to bid them God speed.''

Dr. Honeywood, an P^nglishman - the physican of the place - had never till that hour had confidence in the ability of the province to resist the power of Great Britain, but when he saw that little company of resolute, determined men, who had come at a moment's warning, some of them leaving their plows in the furrows, he said: "Such men as these will fight, and what is more they won't be beat."

The pastor of the church. Rev. Benjamin Coijklin, himself a " hifjh liberty man," was present, and before the company started, as the men leaned upon their muskets and all heads were uncovered, committed them, in prayer, to the guidance and protection of the God of battles. "Pray for me and I will fight for you," said the captain to his venerable mother, and then gave the order, " Forward ! "

Within three hours after meeting on the Common, the company marched. They halted in front of the house of Nathan Sargent, in Cherry Valley, and Mr. Sargent, to supi)ly the need of the company, melted down the leaden weights of the family clock, and distributed the bullets to the company.

There were forty-three men in the company. Captain Thomas 9. Newhall, with the standing company of the town, consisting of thirty-four men, marched a western towns followed. The march of the companies was rapid till they reached Marlborough, where they heard of the retreat of the British. Lights were burning in every window on the way through the night. Regimental oflicers in town were equally prompt in joining their commands.

A part of the company returned after a few weeks' service. Others enlisted under Captain Washburn for eight months. There were fifty-nine men in this cotfipany, most of them from Leicester. The embargo of Boston and its occupation by the regulars rendered it necessary to call upon the towns to contribute for the support of its poor. Thirty-six were apportioned to Leicester. In May Leicester was also required to furnish one barrel of powder and twelve muskets for the use of the province.

Colonel William Henshaw, who reached Cambridge on the forenoon of the 20th, was a member of the council of war, and, with Colonel Gridley and Richard Devans, reconnoitred the heights of Cambridge and Charlestown. The report of the committee is signed by Colonel Henshaw, as chairman. It recommended the fortification of Bunker Hill and the construction of redoubts between Charlestown and Cambridge. Colonel Prescott was detailed to execute this plan, but decided to fortify Breed's Hill, instead of Bunker Hill. On the 27th of .Tune Colonel Henshaw was commissioned adjutant-general of the Provincial army, under General W. Ward. Upon the arrival of Washington, he was, on the 3d of July, superseded by General Gates, adjutant of the American army. He was, however, persuaded to remain as assistant of General Gates. The Orderly Books, in four volumes, covering the period from April, 1775, to October, 1771), are in the possession of his granddaughter. Miss Harriet E. Henshaw, of Leicester, and are an invaluable treasure. The first volume was published by the Massachusetts Historical Society, as its centennial s'olume. It contains the roster of the regiments, the " Parole " and " Countersign " for each day, the " Officer of the day " and " Field-oflicer" and the general orders from April 20, 1775, to September 26th of the same year.,

On the day of the battle of Bunker Hill, Captain Washburn's company, which formed a part of the regiment of General Artemas Ward, in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Ward, marched from Cambridge, by way of Lechmere Point, and took position at the rail-fence, "fraliantly covering the retreat." It was to them a thrilling hour. They saw the hurried movement of the troops, they heard the beat of drums, the roar of British artillery and " the cracking of musketry over in Cliarlestown." Just before marching. Captain Washburn addressed his company in words of counsel and encouragement and committed them to God in a fervent prayer. " Some of them often spoke," says Washburn in his history, " in their old age, of the unfaltering confidence with which, after this, they went through the experiences of the day." On their way to Charlestown Neck, they were met by a man. on horseback, supposed to be Dr. Benjamin Church, afterward proved to be a traitor, who inquired of Lieutenant-Colonel Ward to what point he was marching. He answered, " To the hill." " Have you not had counter-orders?" "I have not." " You will have soon," he said, and commanded the regiment to halt. Most of the regiment therefore remained behind ; but Captain Washburn stepped forward and said, "Those are Tory orders ; I sha'n't obey them. Who will follow me? " The entire company followed the captain, and two other companies with them left the regiment and moved on toward the scene of action, exposed to the shot of the British fleet ; the captain gave any who might be afraid the privilege of going back. Not a man of that brave company left the ranks. " Then we'll all go together," said the captain ; and the whole company started on " double quick " and ascended the hill. Charlestown was on fire and the enemy were advancing on the redoubt. A ball lodged in the cartouch-box of the capt.iin. The company for a time fought at the rail-fence, but were soon obliged to retreat. Several of thecompany werewoundedand borne from the field under i'ue. One of the two strands of Daniel Hubbard's cue was cut ofl' close to his head by a ball. Abner Livermore'a canteen was shot away and rolled toward the enemy. His brother Isaac ran and secured it, saying, " I'll be darned if the regulars shall have that rum." Samuel Sargent lost the contents of his canteen, but saved the ball that pierced it. Four balls passed through the captain's coat and one through his wig. Israel Green, a native of Leicester, had three sons in the battle, one of whom was killed, the second died of wounds received, and a third was killed in the battle of Monmouth.

Among the soldiers in this battle was Peter Salem, a negro, and formerly a slave. He was a native of Framingham, and in Colonel Nixon's regiment. It was the shot from his musket which killed Major Pitcairu, just as he mounted the redoubt and shouted, " The day is ours." After the war he came to Leicester, where he remained until, in his old age and poverty, he was taken to the poor-house in Framingham, where he died.

In July of this year the inhabitants of Leicester, having chosen Hezekiah Ward Representative to the Provincial Congress, instructed him with reference to his duties. " To this important now," they say, " posterity will look back with joy and admiration, secure in the enjoyment of their inestimable liberties, or with keenest sensations of grief, while they drag the galling chain of servitude." He was directed to comply with the orders of the Continental Congress, to oppose the accession to power of those who had proved inimical to their country, or had failed to give it their support, "waiting the tide of events;" to watch " with jealous yet candid eye the disposition and motions of the American army, always remembering the importance of preserving the superiority of the civil power over the military ;" to urge the execution of the laws against immorality and vice; and to act for the interest of the cause in relation to other specific matters.

In May, 1776, instructions were given to Seth Washburn, as Representative to the General Court, urging the utmost deliberation and caution in the measures of the court for protection and organization. At the same meeting it was " Voted by the inhabitants, then present, unanimously, That in case the Honorable the Continental Congress should declare these Colonies independent of Great Britain, they would support said Congress in effectuating such a measure at the risk of their lives and fortunes."

With this declaration this remarkable series of instructions and resolutions ends. They cover a period of nearly eleven years previous to the Declaration of Independence. There is hardly a question involved in the controversy with the mother country, or the policy of the colonies, which they do not discuss. In clearness and breadth of view, in forethought and wisdom, in felicity and eloquence of expression, and in fervent, self-sacrificing, courageous, invincible patriotism, they are hardly surpassed, even in the historic productions of that period. Bancroft, in his history, quotes from them, as illustrative of the spirit of the time.

But the time for manifestoes had now passed ; the time for action had come. Henceforth the work of the town, as its records also show, was enlisting soldiers, raising bounties, hiring soldiers, providing for the purchase of ammunition and entrenching tools, and the pay for carting provisions, buying beef and clothing for the army, aiding companies that had done more than their share of service, authorizing the selectmen "to supply the necessities of life to soldiers," abating the poll-taxes of soldiers, caring for soldiers' wives, providing for families of officers and soldiers and fixing the prices of commodities. There was no authorized government and all diflicultiee were settled by arbitration.

The people were also careful to guard themselves against treachery. Too many of the leaders of the Revolutionary movements were here to render the toleration of spies safe, and the people were too much in earnest to bear patiently the opposition of men "inimical" to the cause. In 1774 the selectmen, through Colonel Henshaw, had informed at least one suspected man that his " residedenee " would be " peculiarly disgustful to the Inhabitants." "And as wellwishers of the peace and order of the town, we think it advisable that you move from hence as soon as may be ; as the people, roused with the insults they have already sustained, will, in all probability, pay you a visit less respectful than the Intimation you now receive." Three years later Colonel Henshaw was instructed, by vote of the town, to " procure what evidence he may be able of the iuimical Disposition of any inhabitent of this town toward the United States of America, which inhabitent may be so voted to be, in the opinion of the town." One such man was at tliat time voted, in tlie opinion of the town, " inimically disposed." In July of the next year it was " Voted that the selectmen be directed to prefer a petition to General Court, that William Manning and family may be removed from this town."

When the Declaration of Independence had been adopted it was, in accordance with the direction of the Council, copied on the town records. .

These minutes are full of interest and instruction. They show the true character of the people and the power of their deliberation and united action. Lord Germaine did not speak without provocation when he said, " This is what comes of their wretched old town-meetings."

According to a report made to the town in 1784, the town paid in bounties, from 1776 to that time, £9268 6». (probably equivalent to about $11,000 in coin) to 244 soldiers. It is estimated that the town raised for the expenses of the war over $18,000, in addition to State taxes. There were twenty-eight requisitions upon the town for soldiers. These were filled by more than 254 men. Beside these were the men who marched on the 19th of April and at least thirty who enlisted for three years in 1777 and 1778. Some of these soldiers were veterans of the French wars; others were boys of sixteen years.

It is to be remembered that the population of the town in 1776 was only 1078, and that it decreased during the war. There were in Leicester in 1777 only 212 men over sixteen years of age, and the names on the muster-roll were less than half the number of enlistments and re- enlistments in the quotas of the town. The valuation of the town seven years after the close of the war was only $140,000.

In 1781 the town was divided into ten classes, which were each to furnish their proportion of soldiers upon requisition of the government. So exhaustive was the demand that it was necessary to hire substitutes from other places to meet it. The town was repeatedly under the necessity of electing new selectmen and assessors, on account of the absence of the regular incumbents in the army. Women worked in the fields, because all the male members of their families were in the war, and farmers sold their cattle to raise money for the payment of taxes.

The number of commissioned officers from Leicester was large, in proportion to the size of the town. Col. William Henshaw, to whom we have already referred, was in command of a regiment in the battle of Long Island. He was with a picket-guard which was cut off from the main body by a superior force of Hessians, and cut its way through with great gallantry and little loss of life.

Col. Seth Washburn was fifty-two years old when the war began. He was in the battle of Bunker Hill, and afterward, though not ip the army, was mustermaster for Worcester County and served the cause on several important committees.

Col. Samuel Denny marched as lieutenant-colonel with the minute-men, on the 19th of April, and served as colonel during the early part of the war.

Lieutenant Joseph Washburn was at the battles of Saratoga and Monmouth; and also at Valley Forge. Captain Thomas Newhall was in command of the standing company on the 19th of April, and was muster-master for Worcester County. Captain John Holden served through the war, and was present at the storming of Stony Point. Captain John Brown commanded a company in the French War, and was in the battle of Bunker Hill as a sergeant. Eev. Benjamin Conklin was probably a chaplain.

Joseph Bass, of the " water service," who resided in Leicester after the war, was one of the heroes of what Irving, in his "Life of Washington," calls the " gallant little exploit " on the Hudson, the attempted " destruction of the ships which had so long been domineering over its waters," by means of fireships. Washburn, in his history, gives an extended narrative of the affair. Bass had charge of one of the sloops, the " Polly," which was supplied with inflammable materials, and which, under heavy fire of artillery, he fastened to the tender of one of the frigates, setting it on fire and destroying it with most of the men on board. Bass, with all his men, leaped into the life-boat, and rowed away without injury. The frigates escaped, but were prudently withdrawn from so dangerous a locality.

Solomon Parsons was severely wounded in the battle of Monmouth. He was shot, his thigh was broken, and afterwards, as he lay upon the ground, he was robbed, stabbed and roughly dragged about by the enemy, and narrowly escaped being run over by cavalry and artillery. He lay all the afternoon of that terribly hot day, in the sun, until he was rescued by Lieutenant Joseph Washburn.

burdens and sufferings of the people in the gloomy period of the Revolution, and the strain upon their resources and fortitude. They did not flinch when the time came to test the sincerity and value of their resolutions. They well redeemed the pledge to maintain the cause of independence at " the risk of their lives and fortunes."

Chapter Iii

SMt OonMlution: Oloectinns, Adoption - Jealotmj of JiighU - Shayt' Insurrtction : Causes, Convention, High Feeling, Dinpersion of the Inmirfjents, Cuptuin Day, Oitfh of Allegiance - Fine for Non-Iiepresentation in the General Conrt - Slavery in Leicester - '* Instructivns " - Jews ; Aaron Ijopez - Rivera Letter to Oilonel Ilenshow.

Soon after the Declaration of Independence measures were taken for the organization of a Constitutional Stale Government. These movements were, however, regarded premature and ill-advised. In October, 1776, the town voted that the House of Representatives of this State ought not to institute any new form of government at present, and chose a committee " to show the court why the town objects to settling a new constitution.'' Some of these objections stated were that there was no provision for amendment, that the town was not fully represented, that they were not allowed a Representative, and " that a number of the first principal inhabitants'' were " in the service." The Constitution first formed was rejected by the people.

In 1779 the town voted unanimously to send two men - Seth Washburn and William Henshaw - " to frame a Constitution of Massachusetts." These gentlemen were prominent in the convention. The Constitution was the ne.xt year approved by the town, article by article, by a large majority.

Struggling against the oppression of the mother country, the people were equally jealous of any encroachments upon their rights bj' the government they were seeking to organize and establish. In their various resolutions and other acts in the later years of the last century there is evidence of their determination to secure a government " of the people, by the people and for the people." They protested against "monopolies.'' In 1777 they earnestly condemned the act of the General Court, calling in bills of credit and sinking them in a loan, as "cruel and oppressive" and " grinding the faces of the poor." In .Tanuary of the next year they raised twelve hundred pounds and loaned to the State. In 1787 they instructed their representative, Samuel Denny, to oppose the excessive tax on farmers and on polls ; also to oppose high salaries, as in present circumstances it was not well to "support courtly dignity." They expressed themselves as opposed to the " support of commerce," so "aa to prevent their giving due encouragement to our own manufactures.'' The location of the Legislature appears to have been a subject much agitated, and at the same time the town declared " the setting of the General Government in the town of Boston is a Matter which the Citizens of this Commonwealth are not generally satisfied with," and advised that its removal to some other place be tried by " experience.''

The eight years' struggle of the Revolution had hardly ended when the State was threatened with a formidable civil war. It was the natural reaction from the long-continued strain upon the endurance of the people. They had been taxed to their utmost limit ; all interests had suffered ; the people were impoverished ; the currency had depreciated and finally became valueless ; the State had no credit; the condition of the Government and of the community was one of bankruptcy; and thousands of suits were brought before the courts, and forced sales y/ere numerous. Some of the acts of the Legislature were regarded as oppressive. General conventions were held in the county to confer with reference to these complaints. Two of these were in Leicester. The presence of wise and loyal men like David Henshaw and Col. Thomas Denny was a check upon rash action. When at length the dissatisfaction developed into insurrection, under the leadership of Daniel Shays, the town withdrew its delegates. The excitement was intense and the sentiments of the people were divided, some sympathizing with the insurgents and joining their ranks. As in the War of the Roses the parties had their distinctive badges, the insurgents a green sprig and the supporters of the Government a white fillet of paper. The Rev. Benjamin Conklin, loyal to the nation and the commonwealth as in the days of the Revolution, was repeatedly forced to leave his home and hide himself to escape seizure by the insurgents in the night.

The same loyal leadership and the same patient devotion to the government which were conspicuous in the Revolution, held the town to a wise and patriotic course. Every njan in town over twenty years of age was by vote required to take an oath of allegiance to the State, and the list of those who thus complied was to be reported at town-meeting.

The excitement and peril of the rebellion culminated in Worcester, in December, 1786, in an attempt of the insurgent army to prevent the opening of the court. The house of Mr. Joseph Allen, then residing in Worcester, was guarded by a sentinel, who opposed him with a fixed bayonet to prevent him from going to court. Seth Washburn seized the guard and wrested his musket from him. Lincoln, in his "History of Worcester," states that Justice Seth Washburn himself was also met by the guard, and that two friends who " seized the gun presented to his breast " were arrested and detained in custody.

in a snow storm of such severity and cold so intense that many of his men were overcome and some were frozen to death, Luke Day, one of the insurgent captains, reached Leicester with one hundred and fifty men, but was prevented by the storm from Joining the main body at Worcester. Scant courtesy did the rebels receive from the sturdy patriots of that day. When this same Day, on his way from Worcester to Springfield on a cold winter day, entered the house of Natlian Sargent and made free to warm himself by the fire and ostentatiously announced himself as Capt. Day, he soon found himself, with hat and sword preceding him, floundering in the snow-drift outside. Several Leicester men participated in the march through drifting snow and were present on the 3d of February when the insurgents, upon the approach of the State forces to their rendezvous at Petersham, fled without the firing of a gun, so completely discomfited that, as Lincoln in his "History of Worcester" expresses it, " had an army dropped from the clouds upon the hill the consternation could not have been greater.'' Dr. Austin Flint was one of the number, having, as he said, volunteered "to help drive the Mobiles out."

During all the later years of the century persons who engaged in trade or kept public-houses were required to take a stringent oath of allegiance to the republic.

For many years the salaries of representatives to the "Great and General Court" were paid by the several towns. The town in 1789 was fined for not sending a representative ; and in a memorial, an ancient copy of which is before the writer, the town petitioned to have the fine remitted.. The memorial bears date of May 10, 1790, and is strikingly illustrative of the straits into which the people had been placed. They were still in debt for money borrowed to be loaned "to the Commonwealth " and for the payment of " soldiers," and for the erection of a "House of Public Worship," and they were "at a greater expense than most towns for repairing their roads owing to their hills being wet and rocky."

Slavery has never existed undar the Constitution of the State of Massachusetts. There were slaves in the Province tijl the time of the Revolution, but the Constitution adopted in 1780 declared the right of "all men to enjoy and defend their lives and liberties." The number of slaves in Leicester wa.i small; still they were here ; Titus and Cain, and Csesar, and Quashi, and Prymus, and Pompey, and Will, and Pegg, and Jenny, and Dinah, and Prince, and Jethro the last person buried in the burying-yard by the church ; but they were treated as wards rather than as slaves. They lived, and worked, and ate with the families, in some cases were paid wages, and in repeated instances were set free. Mr. Ralph Earle not only freed his slave Sharp, but also gave him in 1756 a farm of thirty acres. But slavery, even in its mildest form, was discordant with the spirit of a freedomloving people. In 1773 the town gave expression to its views on the subject in instructions to its Representative, Mr. Thomas Denny: "And as we have the highest regard for (so as even to revere the name of) liberty, we cannot behold but with the greatest abhorrence any of our fellow-creatures in a state of slavery."

An interesting episode in the history of the town was the settlement here, in 1777, of a colony of Jews. Mr. Aaron Lopez, who was carrying on an extensive business in Newport, R. I., that year removed to Leicester, Newport being then in the possession of British troops; with him came several other Jewish families. There were about seventy persons in all, twelve of them being slaves. He built, on the part of the present Common now owned by the Academy, a house in the central room of which he " kept store," in which, in the words of H. G. Henshaw, Esq., he "carried on a successful trafic in Bohea and Gunpowder teas, serges, calamancos,," and doubtless a variety of other articles. Mr. Rivera had a store on the site of the hotel. "They were too patriotic to refuse in payment for their commodities Continental bills, the currency of the times ; but felt rather scrupulous about holding such treacherous paper over the Sabbath, and were careful to pass it ort' to the farmers in exchange for neat stock or erain." They were strict in the observance of Jewish law. They carefully observed the seventh day, and also refrained from business on Sunday. A child having incautiously tasted of pork, at a neighbor's house, was treated with an emetic, by way of purification.

Mr. Lopez was a man of high character and standing, courteous and attable in manner, of extensive commercial knowledge and strict integrity in business, hospitable and benevolent. His style of living was for those days elegant. His stock in trade at the time of his death was valued at .fl2,000, and hi.", estate at $100,000. Abraham Mendez and Jacob Reed Rivera were other prominent members of the colony, and carried on business, though on a smaller scale. On the 20th of May, 1782, Mr. Lopez, while on his way, in a sulky, to Providence, accompanied by his family in a carriage, was drowned before their eyes at Smithfield, R. I., in Smith Pond, into which he had driven to water his horse. At the close of the war the company returned to Newport, followed by the respect and regard (if the people, with whom they had found a hospitable and congenial home. After their departure a friendly correspondence was maintained and probably an interchange of visits. One of the letters remains. It was written by Mr. Rivera to Col. Henshaw, in a clear and beautiful hand, and the whole style and spirit of the letter are indicative of the intelligence and high character of the writer, and of his appreciation of the friendship of the people of Leicester, and of the value of our national institutions. " I am happy," he writes, "to find my countrymen (the Spanish nation) begin to divest themselves from bigotry, ignorance and indolence, and adopt in their room learniiifr, liberty and liberality of sentiments in religions matters. That system, with propper encouragements to arts and sciences, make no doubt, will, in time, enable them to arrive to that state of perfection that will class them with all other civilized and enlightened nations, and enrich that impoverished nation, and I am confident to say. great advantages will derive to that nation in particular, and the whole world in general, from the American Revolution."

Chapter Iv

First Congregational Chltrch. - The records of the First Congregational Church previous to the settlement of the Rev. Zephaniah Swift Moore, in 1798, are lost, with the exception of a few detached pages. The exact date of organization is unknown. The town was incorporated in 1714, and the farms purchased by the settlers began to be occupied soon afterward. It is not probable that church privileges in .some form, and church organization were long neglected. A meeting-house had been built in 1719. It stood on the Common, nearly in front of the present church. It was a small and very plain, rude structure. It had a door in front and one on each end. It was clap-boarded, but not painted. It was without a porch, belfry, gallery or pews. The windows were small and lighted with diamond-shaped glass. It was sealed to " the great girt," but probably not overhead. Like all the churches of the time, it was without heating apparatus of any kind. Later, individuals built in it their own pews on the " pew ground " or " pew spots." There were comfortless " body " seats, the women sitting on the west side and the men on the east. Galleries were added about 1728. Repairs and modifications were made from time to time, by the addition of pews, placing seats in the galleries, adding in 1743 twelve feet on the back side, putting on a new "ruff," moving the pulpit to the back side, re-covering the house with " the old clap-boards taken off the back side," putting up steps, and in 1764 a sounding-board. In this house the people from all parts of the town came together to worship God. In it they held their town-meetings and all other public gatherings, and it was here that they earnestly, courageously, eloquently and with statesman-like ability and forethought enunciated the principles of liberty on which our republic was founded.

The first town action with reference to the settlement of a pastor appears to have been taken November 28, 1720, when it was voted that Mr. David Parsons be our Gospel minister. Two days later a call was sent him by a committee. In this letter they write, " Rev'd Sir, we with one heart and consent Do call and Invite you to be our Minister in the Work of the Gospel amongst us, if you see Cause to accept and see your way clear to remove; but alas if we reflect back upon ourselves, we can't but see we are utterly unworthy of so great a Blessing; but if you have such a Blessing to bestow on us, as we hope you will be, we desire forever to praise his name for his Goodness to us ward." He was to "have the fortyacre lot next the Meeting House," and "rights," "as other forty-acre lots," and a salary of sixty pounds, and sixty pounds settlement. As he hesitated to accept on these terms, thirty individuals agreed to add to the amount, so that the salary should be seventyfive pounds, and the settlement one hundred pounds.

Rev. David Parsons was born in Northampton in 1680, graduated from Harvard College in 1705, pastor of the church in Maiden twelve years, where he had a church quarrel and lawsuit with the town; installed at Leicester in 1721, dismissed March 6, 1735, and died in Leicester, where he was buried October 12, 1743. Whitney, in his " History of Worcester (bounty," gives the date of his installation as, "by the beA accounts now to be had, September 15, 1721," but the town records Indicate that he was already pastor early in the year. The town, " reduced to low circumstances by reason of the Indian War," soon found it difficult to comply with the conditions of settlement, and petitioned the Legislature for aid, which was granted to the amount of ten pounds. But the salary continued to be in arrears and Mr. Parsons appealed to the Legislature, and the town was notified to show cause. This was the beginning of a quarrel which lasted for sixteen years. Within six years the town, which had regarded itself "unworthy of so great a blessing," voted "that the town be willing that Mr. Parsons should remove, and remain out of this town." The town strenuously endeavored for years "to be relieved from Mr. Parsons' bondage," but in those days such an endeavor was attended with insurmountable difliculties. Memorials were made by the parties to the Legislature, complaints to the Quarter Sessions and appeals to the General Court. Those who were conscientiously opposed to Mr. Parsons were released by act of the Legislature from his support upon six months' notice, on condition of providing "an able orthodox minister, generally to dispense the Word of God among them," or attendance and taxation in some neighboring congregation. The General Court passed an act releasing the town from Mr. Parsons' support, but the act was vetoed by Governor Belcher. ''Six Worcester gentlemen came as mediators," but were unsuccessful. There were differences among the people and changes of town action in relation to the subject. Successive councils were called, one of which sat four days in Watertown, and adjourned to Boston, where it was continued four days longer. The result of this council reproves Mr. Parsons for "any rashness in his words, and hastiness in his actions," and shows that he had been arbitrary, had called the meetings of his opposers a " Mob," had assumed power not belonging to "a pastor according to the constitution of these churches;" that he, with "rash and injurious " expressions, had ordered the deacon " out of his seat," and had recognized the minority, composed of his friends, as the church, and received members into the church without due authority. But they judged, "as a former council did," that he had been "shamefully treated with respect to his support," and deprived of his "just and full title to lands in Leicester." The communion service had been withheld from his use and that of the church. "They had opposed his going into the pulpit on the Lord's Day," and "set up another in opposition to him," and had withdrawn from public worship to " private assembling.'' "The like was never done in this land before." He was at length dismissed by a mutual council. This controversy with the town, however, continued and he provided that his grave should not be with that of his people, but in his own grounds. The stone stood for many years near the Paxton Road ; it for a time was losf, but at length was found in the house upon the place, used as the floor of the oven. It has now found a resting-place in the church building, together with that of Mrs. Parsons.

More than a year intervened before the settlement of the next pastor. In December a fast was appointed " in order to make choice of a minister." The Rev. David Goddard was the choice of the people. He was born in Framingham, September 26, 1706 ; graduated at Harvard in 1731 ; ordained June 30, 173G; and died January 19, 1754, at Framingham of " the great sickness," in that region, of which in the town of Holliston, tifty-four out of a population of four hundreil died in six weeks. He was a man of devoted piety, morbidly conscientious, sympathized with the people in their financial straits, and was in full sympathy with the great religious movements of his time. In the afternoon of October 15, 1740, Rev. George Whitefield preached in Leicester, and in January, 1742, Rev. Jonathan Edwards, of Northampton, spent several weeks here in evangelistic labor. In connection with this work there were evidently some extravagances. Dr. Hall, of Sutton, while preaching here, was disturbed by " a woman somewhat troublesome," "frequent in fainting fits." Mr. Parsons, however, like Mr. Edwards, was judicious and cautious, and discountenanced all excesses ; and his ministry was fruitful in spiritual results.

The Rev. Joseph Roberts, the third pastor, was born in Boston in 1720, and graduated from Harvard College in 1741. He was ordained October 23, 1754. His avaricious disposition soon occasioned dissatisfaction, and he was dismissed by council, December 14, 1762. He removed to Weston, where he was an active patriot, and was a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1779. Engaging in business, he lost, and refusing to pay the debts of the company, was in prison, as a debtor, three years. He became a misanthrope and a miser, and lived like a beggar. He died April 30,1811, at the age of ninety-one. After his death bags of money were found in his house, the bags so rotten as to burst when lifted.

His successor was Rev. Benjamin Conklin, who was barn in Southold, L. I. ; graduated from Princeton in 1755 and installed November 23, 1763. He was dismissed, on account of failing health, June 30, 1794, and died in Leicester, January 30, 1798. Dr. Moore, in the church records, gives his age as sixtysix years and six weeks. The inscription on his grave-stone is, "aged 65 years." He was a prominent adviser and actor in the Revolutionary struggle, a member of the Committee of Corre.spondence, and supposed to have been at one time a chaplain in the army. He was respected and beloved by his people, and the record of his patriotism, in the struggle with England and in the Shays' insurrection, adds lustre to the annals of the town. It is related of him that when asked if he would preach in the pulpit of a distinguished Unitarian minister, his answer was, "Yes, I would preach on Mars Hill if I could get a chance."

Rev. Zephaniah Swift Moore, D.D., was ordained January 10, 1798. He was born in Palmer, November 20, 1770; graduated from Dartmouth College in 1793; and was dismissed October 8, 1811; made prefessor of languages in Dartmouth College in 1811 ; president of Williams College in 1815; and of Amherst in 1821. He left a permanent influence upon the church and the town. He was a man of marked intellectual power and literary culture. His style was clear, simple and persuasive. When he was called to Dartmouth College, his people regarded his appointment as little less than robbery. When he left town they accompanied him in carriages, and the children stood, with uncovered heads, in long lines on each side of the way while he passed.

Professor William Tyler, D.D., of Amherst College, describes him as " a man of medium size, but commanding presence, weighing some two hundred and forty pounds, yet without any appearance of obesity, neat in his dress, retaining the use of short breeches and long hose, which were particularly becoming to his person. In his manners there was a union of suavity with dignity, rare anywhere, especially in persons bred in the country, which marked him as a gentleman of the old school, one of nature's noblemen, and which, while it attracted the love of his pupils, invariably commanded also their respect." Rev. Dr. Thomas Snell, of North Brookfield, in his funeral sermon charalcterizes him as " by nature a great man, by grace a good man, and by the providence of God a useful man, a correct thinker and a lucid writer, a sound theologian, instructive preacher and greatly beloved pastor, a wise counselor and sympathizing friend, and a friend and father especially to all the young men of the infant college in which he was at the same time a winning teacher and a firm presiding officer."

Rev. John Nelson, D.D., was the sixth pastor of the church. He was born in Hopkinton, Mass., May 9, 1786. He was graduated from Williams College in 1807, and studied theology with Rev. Samuel Austin, D.D., of Worcester. He remained pastor of the church till his death, December C, 1871, a period of fifty-nine years, nine months and two days.

It is said that there were twelve hundred sleighs on and around the Common on the day of ordination, and that there were three thousand people assembled, only a portion of whom could, of course, enter the church. It was during the ministry of Dr. Nelson that the church had its principal growth, there being at the time of his settlement only sixty-five members. He was an interesting and animated preacher, a favorite in. the surrounding churches, and honored and beloved by his own people. He received the degree of D.D. from Williams College, in 1843, was a trustee of that college from 1826 to 1833, and of Amherst College from 1839 to 1848. He was a trustee of Leicester Academy from 1812 to his death, in 1871, and president f}om 1834. He was for many years a corporate member of the American Board of Commis-iouers for Foreign Missions. He was chaplain of the local regiment of militia sixteen years from 1812. He was often appointed to preach on public occasions, and was personally identified with the great moral and religious movements of his time. " Dr. Nelson descended from a strong, intelligent and pious ancestry. He early became a Christian, and united with the church. He was profoundly reverential and consecrated in spirit. He was preeminently judicious and considerate in action, and singularly broad and catholic in his moral and religious judgments. Forgetful of self, he was always thoughtful of the happiness of others. Nurtured in a genial and happy home, inured to labor and hardship in his struggles for an education, brought while in college into the atmosphere of a great religious awakening and intense missionary zeal, and actively associated with the great moral and religious movements of his time, he vviis trained and fitted for the ministry which he accomplished. His qualities were of the enduring kind. He loved his people and he loved his work. He was pastor of the church for nearly sixty years, and his loving, pure and gentle spirit won for him the lasting respect and affection of his people, and of all who knew him." '

The fiftieth anniversary of his settlement and marriage was celebrated May 6, 1802. His sermon was from Job 32 : 7 : "I said days should speak ; and multitude of years should teach wisdom." Governor Washburn presided at the after-dinner exercises, and addresses were made by several clergymen. Rev. George Blagden, D.D., presided at the golden wedding. The occasion was as interesting a< it was rare.

In consequence of failing health it became necessary for Dr. Nelson to have a.ssi&tance in the pastoral office, and on the 4th of March, 1851, the Rev. Andrew C. Dennison was ordained; as his assistant. He was born in Hampton, Conn., June 27, 1822; was graduated from Yale College in 1847, and from Union Theological Seminary in 1850. He was dismissed in March, 1856, and afterward settled at West Chester and Portland, Conn. He is now pastor of the Congregational Church in Middlefield, Conn.

Rev, Amos H. Coolidge, the present pastor of the church, was born in Sherborn, Ma.ss., August 17, 1827, graduated from Amherst College in 1853 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1856. He was ordained April 21, 1857. The day was made memorable by one of the most remarkable snow-storms of modern times. Eighteen inches of snow fell, and the furious winds blew it into drifts which made the roads impassable. Only about one hundred persons attended the services, and but a small fraction of the council was present. The sermon was by Rev. Prof. Austin Phelps, D.D., of Andover Theological Seminary.

The second meeting-house was built in 1784, a little in the rear of the old site. The pulpit was in front octagonal. It had over it asounding-board, and just below, the "deacons' seat." There were galleries on three sides of the house, which, with the pulpit and deacons' seat, wore painted to resemble shaded marble. The pews were square, and each seat was hung upon hinges. In prayer-time they were turned up and their united fall as the congregation resumed their seats justified the fears of the Philadelphian, unused to such an amen, in his movement to escape from the house. A belfry and steeple were added afterward, and in 1828.' the building was moved back to the location of the present church building. In 1829 the interior was entirely renovated. A bell and a clock, made by George Holbrook, of Brookfield, were placed on it January 13, 1803. The bell was re-cast in 1810 and again in 1834, and about the year 1834 Joshua Clapp, Esq., presented the town with a clock. The first organ was purchased in 1827, the second in 1844 and the third in 1867. The house was first warmed by fires about the year 1821.

For more than sixty years the singing was purely congregational. The hymns were read by the deacon, and then suug line by line by the congregation. In 1780 a choir, by permission, occupied the front seat in the gallery. There was a short trial of sound between the deacon and the choir, in which the choir gained the permanent advantage, not, however, without greatly scandalizing some of the members, and causing them to leave the house.

Bible-reading formed no part of the service here in the last century. The first Bible thus used was published by Isaiah Thomas, and was presented to the society by Col. William Henshaw. It was read for the first time by Dr. Moore, May 4, 1800. The first action with reference to "apian of Sunday-school" was taken May 3, 1819, and at first the schools were held in school-houses in different parts of the town. It is believed that before the year 1887 there had been but three regularly elected superintendents. The first was Deacon Joshua Murdock. Deacon Christopher C. Denny was elected in 1848, and Hon. Charles A. Denny April 6, 1862. He resigned after twenty-five years' service.

The parish was at first identified with the town, and its business transacted in the regular town-meeting till 1794. After this time those voters who had not withdrawn to other societies met after the regular town-meeting, on the same day, until February 9, 1833, when " The First Parish of Leicester" was organized.

Friends' Meetini;.' - Until about eighteen years after the incorporation of Leicester the people of the entire original township worshipped together on Strawberry Hill. A Society of Friends was then organized. It belonged to the " Yearly Meeting of Friends for New England," a body composed of several " Quarterly Meetings," each made up of minor " Monthly Meetings," which, in turn, embraced subordinate " Preparative Meetings,'' containing one or more "Meetings for Worship." The Meeting here was not only a Meeting for Worship, but a Preparative Meeting. "The Leicester Preparative !Meeting"was at first a subordinate of the Smithfield, R. I., Monthly Meeting, but after the division of that Meeting m 1783, it became subordinate to the Uxbridge Monthly Meeting.

In 1732 Ralph Earle, his three sons - William, Robert and Benjamin - Thomas Smith, Daniel Hill, Nathaniel Potter and Joseph Potter declared themselves to the clerk of the town to be Friends and asked, on account of conscientious scruples, to be released from

1 For most of the facte relating to the *' Friends' Meeting," the writer is indebted to Dr. Pliny Earle. The history of the Baptist Chnrcli was written by Rev. H. E. Estes, D.D., and that of the Second Unitarian Church by Rev. S. May. The writer is indebted also to Rev. D. K. Mc- Orath, the parish priest, fur the facts relating to the Roman Catholic Church.

paying " any part of the tax for the Seport of the minister or ministers established by the Laws of the province." At the Smithfield Monthly Meeting, held January 29, 1739, according to the records, "Friends at Leicester make report to this meeting that they have agreed upon a Place for Building a Meeting-House at the Burying Place between Ralph Earle's and Nathaniel Potter's; and this meeting doth appoint Benjamin Earle, Nathaniel Potter, Thomas Smith and John Wells, all of said Leicester, to take Deed of the same; and Benjamin Earle, Thomas Smith and Nathaniel Potter are appointed to undertake for Building said House.'' The same meeting afterward contributed "four Pounds" toward its construction. The lot on which the house was built was a part of the farm which Robert Earle received from Ralph Earle, his father, with a small tract from the farm of Nathaniel Potter, located by the brook, and added in order that the horses of the worshippers, let loose to feed during the service, might have water. The land was conveyed to Samuel Thayer, of Mendon, Mass., on the 13th of August, 1739, and by him to the persons appointed by the Monthly Meeting on the 27th of December of the same year. It was " to go entire and without any division unto ye survivor and survivors of them, and to the heirs and assigns of ye survivors or survivor of them forever.'' The U.^bridge Monthly Meetings were held here three times in the year, and for a time the Smithfield November Quarterly Meeting. Washliurn describes the house built at this time as "a low, one-story building, twenty by twenty-two feet." It was sold, removed and converted into a dwelling-house in 1791, and has since been destroyed. ,

The second meeting-house was built in 1791. It remained many years after the meetings were discontinued. Its location was secluded and singularly attractive. It was surrounded and shaded by ancient forest trees, and stood amid the graves of the worshippers of successive generations, some of them buried without reference to family relationship, and with graves marked simply by rough head-stones. It was of two stories, the upper floor being upon three sides a gallery, connected with the lower by an oblong opening in the centre. On a part of the lower floor were elevated seats for ministers, elders and overseers. The men were separated from the women by a partition, the upper part of which was hung on hinges so iis to open and form one audience-room. The object of this partition was to sei)arate the sexes at the busine.ss meetings, the women as well as the men holding a meeting of their own, the two being theoretically upon an equality. The house was taken down about twelve years ago.

In 1826, according to Washburn's history, the society had about one hundred and twenty members. This number was probably never exceeded. The last minister of the Gospel, recognized by the Yearly Meeting, who was a member of the Leicester Meeting, was Avis Swift, wife of Josiaii Keene. Slie re^-ided in Leicester from about 1812 to 1820. Slie was born in Nantucket, and was " a woman of much religious experience, of superior intellectual powers and of a large intelligence, and was greatly beloved by all who hud the privilege of her acquaintance." She afterward lived in Lynn, where she died. In consequence of the removal of members from town, the society became reduced in numbers and the meetings were discontinued in 1853. -

The Quakers, as the Friends are generally called, were adverse to ])ublic life. They could not conscientiously take or administer an oath, and they were originally disposed to separate themselves as much as practicable from " the world's people." This disposition diminished with the lapse of years. Dr. Pliny Earle, to whom we are indebted for most of the facts of this history, truthfully says that " during the first quarter of the current century a no inconsiderable part of the most intelligent and highly cultivated society in the town was to be found among them.'' Early in the last century they in theory and practice renounced slavery. They were in this respect evidently in harmony witli the sentiment of the people of the town, which found, as we have seen, an early and emphatic public expression. The Friends, however, were first to adopt the anti-sla.very principle as one of the canons of their organization, and remained true to that principle in all the struggle.

In 1827, May lf)th, a boarding and day school for young ladies was opened at the house of Pliny Earle, situated at the junction of Mulberry and Eirle Streets, and continued until 1839. It was known as the "Mulberry Grove School," and was taught by Sarah Earle and her sisters Lucy and Eliza ; the farm-house near being used for the recitation rooms. Sarah Earle was principal till her marriage,in 1832, when she was succeeded by Eliza. The French language and painting were taught ; but it was professedly an English school, and the instruction was characterized by great thoroughness. The public examinations were in the Friends' meeting-house. At one of them Governor Emory Washburn, being present, remarked that he liad often heard of the excellence of the school, but " the half had not been told."

Greenville Baptist Chuuch. - Some of the first settlers in Leicester were Baptists, and among them Dr. Thomas Green. He was dismissed from the First Baptist Church in Boston to aid in forming a church in Sutton in 1735. At least eight other persons residing in Leicester - Thomas Eichard-!on, Daniel Denny, ElishaNevers, Martha Green, Joshua Nichols, Abiathar Vinton, Batbsheba Nevers and Lydia Vinton - had been baptized in Sutton and Leicester by a Baptist minister, named John Converse, three years before. On the 28th of September, 1737, Dr. Green and Benjamin Marsh were ordained associate pastors of the church in Sutton, " and September 28, 1738, by mutual agreement, the brethren in Leicester be-