Plymouth Town (part 25 of 54)

Sir Fernando Gorges fitted out a ship for a voyage to America, placing the vessel under the command of Jlr. Henry Challuung, with whom he sent the Indians, Matilda and A.sseunict, but this ship was captured by a Spani^h fleet and carried to Spain (and Gorges adds), " where the ship and goods were confiscated, theiuselves made prisoners, the voyage overthrown, and both luy natives lost." But Asscumet was afterwards recovered.

The Lord Chief Justice Popham, at about the same date, sent out a vessel to aid that commanded by Challouiig, and I'opliam's vessel was commanded by Martin Prim, and sailed from Bristol, in England. Concerning Henry Challoung and ship the old narrative coniinues : " But not hearing by any means what became uf him, after he had made a perfect discovery of all those rivers and harbors, brings with him the most exact discovery of that coast," etc.

That company left England May 30th, and arrived on the 8th of August. The old chronicler wrote: " As soon as the president had taken notice of the place, and given order for landing the provisions, he dispatched away Capt. Gilbert, with Skitwarrcs, his guide, for the thorough discovery of the rivers and habitations of the natives, by whom he was brought to several of them, where he found civil entertainment and kind respects far from brutish or savage natures, so as they suddenly became familiar friends, especially by the means of Duhamdu and Skitwarrcs."

In 1611, Edward Harlow, as master of a vessel, attempted to discover an island supposed to be near Cape Cod, but ascertained that the supposed island was, in fact, a part of Cape Cod, and at Monhigon Island. Harlow captured three Indians, named Peclimo, Monopet, and Pekenimne, "but Peckmo leapt overboard and got away ; and not long after, with his consorts, cut their Boat from their sterne, got Iter on shore, and so filled her with sand and guarded her with bowes and arrowes, the English lost her."

Harlow next proceeded to an island called by the Indians Nohono, where he captured an Indian, called Sakaweston, that he succeeded in carrying to England, where, after residing many years, this Indian enlisted as a soldier and participated in the wars of Bohemia.

Harlow's voyage of discovery, that had been turned into one of depredation and disgraced by the cruelty of man-stealing, was now proceeded in, when they came to what was then called Capoge or Capawick (now known as Martha's Vineyard), where he indulged in more man-stealing by the capture of two Indians, named Conecomem and Epenow, and then, with five captive Indians, returned to England.

" Whilo I wns luboriDg b^' what means I might be^t continue life in my hinguishing hope?, there come one unto me bringin;^ \vith him anutivouf the IslHUii ol'Cupiiwick, uphice seated on the southward of Cape Cod, whose name was Kpunewe, a ]>er£on of goodly stature, strong, and well proporlionetl.

'*Tlii3 man was taken upon the main by force, with some twenty otlicrs, by a ship of London, tliat endeavored to sell ihem for alavcs in Spain, but being understood (hat they were Americans, aud being found to be unapt for tlteir u?cs, they would not meddle with them ; this being one of them they rolutcd, wherein they exprest more worth than those that brought them to the market, who could not but know tliut our nation was at tliat time in travel for settling of Christian colonies upon that eontiticnt, it being an act much tending to our pi-ejudicc when wc came into that part of the countries.

" He was a goodly man, of a brave aspect, stout, and sober in his demeanor, and had learned so much Kngltsh as to bid tho.-e that wondered at hiin * welcome,' ' welcome,' "

-' Thomas Hunt, the master of this ship, when I was i^one, thinkiuj: to prevent that intent I had to make there a plantation, thereby to keep this abounding country still in obscurity, that only he and some few merehauts more mii;ht enjoy wholly the benefit of the trade and profits of this euuiitry, betrayed fourand-twenty of those poor salvages aboard his ship, and most diahoiiestly and inhumanly, for their kind usatre of me and our men, carried them with liim to jMalaya, aud there for a little private gain sold these silly salva.L'es for rials of eii:ht, but this vile act kept hiai ever after from any more employment to those parts."

Some time iu lOl'J, Capt. Thomas Dermer, in the employ of Sir Fernando Gorj;es, came with a ship to Martha's Vineyard, where he found the Indian Epenow, who had recently escaped from hi.s captivity among the English. Some of the ship's crew being on shore, u fight ensued between the sailors and some Indians headed by Epenow, in which encounter some of the natives were slain, but succeeded in killing all the sailors on shore, the one who remained in the boat only escaping. Capt. Dermer went on shore and, as it appears, was glad to escape with his life, for the ancient record of that event says "the captain himself got on board very sore wounded, and they had cut off his head upon the cuddy of the boat had not his man rescued him with his sword, and so they got away." Thus narrowly escaped with his life Capt. Thomas Dermer, the first white man wlio set his foot within the limits of what became the township of Middleboro'. Thus, perhaps at the expense of wearying our readers, have we minutely detailed the principal occurrences upon the New England coast from the date of the discovery of the New World by Columbus, in 1492, till near the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in lG20,so far as those occurrences particularly concerned the aborigines of this country, and were calculated to iiiHucnce them in their conduct towards their European visitors from far over the sea.

Of Capt. Thomas Dermer oue ancient record says that in this encounter he received fourteeu wounds, and adds, " But he being a brave, stout gentleman, drew his sword and freed himself" " This disaster forced him to make all possible haste to Virginia to be cured of his wounds;" as it will be recollected that this being iu 1619, a European settlement had then existed at Jamestown, in Virginia, twelve years, but none as yet had been peru>anently located iu any part of New England, and wounds received in what afterwards became Massachusetts were therefore forced to seek an English cure In Virginia, that then btiiig the nearest place at which sucli healing assistance could be found. The Indiau Squanto, a/inx Tisi|uantum, some writers have conjectured, was with Capt. Thuinas Dermer in his perilous encounter and narrow escape just described, and if so, Squanto or Ti.>-i|uaiituni may have been, and probably was, the pcrsini alluded to by the ancient writer who, describing the event, said " his man rescued him with a sword, and so got him away." Squanto, u/i'«s Tis(|uantuni, it may bu advisable to recall to the minds of our readers, was one of the five Indians that George Waymnuth seized and forcibly carried away from Pema([uid in 1G()5, or fourteen years before Capt. Dermcr's encounter with the natives at Martha's Vineyard, and it is highly probable that Sijuanto, uliua Tisquautum, accompanied Capt. Dermer iu his voyage to Virginia, when tlie latter there sought to be cured of the wounds he had received from the Indians at Martha's Vineyard.

At what time in 1G19 this fight between the seamen under Capt. Thomas Dermer and the Indians at Martha's Vineyard occurred, it is now difficult, if not, in fact, impossible with certainty to detciniine, but soiue time during that year Cajit. Dermer went to Patuxet (now Plymouth), from whence he traveled a day's journey westward into the country, to a place called Nemasket (now Middleboro'). We are fortunate enough to be able to give an account of many of the particulars which characterized that journey of Capt. Thomas Dermer to Nemasket (now Middleboro';, and among which we will first notice its principal object.

A few years before 1019 a fishing-ves.sel was east away upon or near Cape Cod, and those of the crew who escaped a watery grave became prisoners to the Indians. Thomas Morton, of Merry Mount celebrity, in writing of that matter, said, ''It fortuned some few years before the English came to inhabit at new Plimmouth, in New England, that upon some distast given in the Massachu.ssets Bay by Frenchmen then trading there with the natives for beaver, they .set upon the men at such advantage that they killed luany of them, aud burned their sliipp, then riding at anchor by an island there, now called Pcdduck's Island, in memory of Leonard Peddock, that landed there, distributing them unto five sachems, which were lords of the severall territories adjoyning. They did keep them as long as they lived, only to sport theniselves at them, and made these five Frenchmen fetch them wood and water, which is the gencrall worke they require of a servant.

" One of these five men outliving the rest, liad learned so much of their language as to rebuke them for their bloudy deede, saying God would be angry with thuin for it, aod that he would, in his di^- pleasuif, distroy them ; but the salvages replyed, and said that they were so many that God could not kill tlicni."

The :^aine story was differently told by the noted and justiy-di.stinguished Capt. John Smith, of Virjiinia. lie informed that a fishing-vessel was cast away, and a sailor, whose life was saved, was captured by llio Indians, and while their prisoner, told them that lie feared his God would destroy them. Smith said that the prisoner was a Frenchman, and he contiuueil liiat the Indian king made the prisoner stand upon the top of a hill, and collected all his people about it, that the man might see how numerous they were. When the Indian king liad done this he demanded of the Frenchman whether his God, that he told so much about, had so many men, and whether they could kill all these. On his assuring the Indian king that he could, they derided him as before.

It was some time in the year ltil9, and probably in the month of May, that Capt. Thomas Dermer, in some kind of water craft, came to what was then known ill the Indian tongue as Patuxct (^now Plymouth), and if in May, his coming to that place was at lea^t one year and a half earlier than the landing at the same point of the Pilgrims, which occurred in December, 1620.

That visit of Capt. Dermer was principally, and laigely, if not, in fact, wholly, with the object, desire, and intent to find and rescue from captivity one or both of the Frenchmen alluded to in these narratives of Thomas Morton, of Merry Mount (now Quincy), Mass., and Capt. John Smith, of Jamestown, Va.

At Patuxet (now Plymouth), it is said that Capt. Dermer fell into the company of the Indian Squanto, alius 'I'isquantum ; but what probably would be much nearer the truth would be to say that the Indian came with Capt. Dermer to Patuxet, and the firm adhesion and faithfulness of Squanto, alian Ti^quantum, to Capt. Dermer may have been just what led him to deem it the proper time, when thus attended or accompanied, to attempt the liberation of those captives, and to rely so implicitly, as the sequel showed, that Dermer did upon this Indian's powers of diplomacy. Concerning that visit and its results, Capt. Dermer, under date of Dec. 27, 1619, wrote as follows:

'* WIiL-n r arrived at luy savaj^e's native country I travelled along a day'a Journey to a place ualled Nammadtaquet, where tinding inhubilaut:^ I didpaLchcd a me:i3enger a day'a journey farther west to Pouanoliet, which bordereth upon the sea; whence came to aeo me two king?, attended with a guard of fifty armed men, who being well satiaticd with that, my savage and I diacouraed unto them, gave mc content in whatever I dciiiauded, where I found that former relationa were true.

** Here 1 redeemed a FrcnchoiaD, and afterwards another at ! M.ia^tnehuail, who three years since escaped shipwreck at the I northeast of Capo Cod."

When Capt. Dermer came so near being slain by I the natives at Martha's Vineyard, the ancient historic account of that event ended with the words, " liis man rescued him with his sword, and so they got away;" and that rescuer, it is believed, was the Indian Squanto, alias Tisquantum ; and whctlicr .so or not, this Indian did save the life of Capt. Duriner at Neniiiskct, - for the latter in another letter distinctly said that the Indians would have killed him at Nemasket had not Squanto entreated hard for him ; and Dermer added, " their desire for revenge was occasioned by an Ijfcglishman who, having many of them on board, made great slaughter of them when they offered no injury on their parts," - and the constancy with which such brutal acts were being committed by the representatives of nations deemed civilized upon and against people regarded ;us barbarous, would naturally lead one to deem the kindness of the red heathen almost or quite miraculous that they ever allowed a white Christian to escape death when in their power. Of the two kings who came to visit I Capt. Dermer at Nemasket (now Middleboro') in I 1619, one doubtless was Massasoit, and the otht-r was perhaps Quadequena, his brother. This was the first instance in which a native king of this section of the country was " interviewed" by the representative of a European power, the conference with Dormer being within the limits and upon the soil of what still continues to be the ancient and time-honored town of Middleboro', and a^ near as can be ascertained occurred in May, 1619, while that of Massasoit with Governor Carver, at Plymouth, was not until the 22d of March, 1621, or almost two years later. It is seriously to be regretted that some measure was not taken to perpetuate a knowledge of the precise spot where that conference between Massasoit and Capt. Thomas Dermer occurred, and we hope that it is not too late even now to revive or renew that knowledge which long-continued neglect has permitted to sink into oblivion, and covered by the shades of forgetfulness. Facts equally as much lost to sight and to mind are frequently by cue cause or another, as if sometimes by pure accident, unearthed and resurrected that were thought long since to have gone to accompany the lost arts, and let us hope that this very desirable evidence may in its discovery be equally fortunate, that the sons and daughters of Middleboro' with commendable pride may be able to point unerringly to the spot where the chief ruler of this laud, nearly two years before the lauding of the Pilgrims

Mr. Drake's book concerning the Indians .says, - '- One of the most renowned captains within the domains of Massasoit was Caunbitant, whose residence was at a place called Jlettapuiset, in the present town of Swansey."

-' In August, 1021, Caunbitant v\as supposed to be in the iuteie.-tuf the NaiianansetH, and idotlin-; with tbeiu to uvurlhiow Massasoit; and beioj; at NcuiasUet, seeking to di-aw the lieai-ts ol" Massasoit's subjeL-ts t'loui liini, speal<ing also disdainfully of u.^ (the Eugli^h), storuiing at tlie peaco between Nauset Cuuiulaquid and us, anil at Ti?C[Uantiiui, the worker of it; also at Tokauiliatuun and one lloboniok.

" Tokambauion went to biiu, but the other two would not; yet put their lives in Iheir lianils, privately went to sec if they could hear of their king, and, lodging at Nemasket, were discovei'ed to Caunbitant, who set a guard to be?et the house and took Ti-oquantuu), for he had said if lie were dead the English had l(>^t iheir tongue.

" llobbouiok seeing that Tisquantum was taken and Caunbitant holding a knife at his breast, being a strong and stout luun, broke fi'oui thetn nud came to New I'liuioutb, full of fear aud sorrow for Tisquantum, whoui be thought tu be slain."

Nu time was lost by the Plymouthians in sending out a military force, under Capt. Miles Standish, to regulate matters at Ncmaskot. Of how many men lh;it force con.iistcd it is at this date difficult, if not in fact impos.iible, to determine. One ancient authority .-ays that only ten men were sent, and another swells the number to fourteen, and this courageous body uf citizen soldiers, with the undaunted Standish as c:iptain, and the Indian Hobbomok as guide, started to revenge the supposed de:ith of Tisquantum, and, after a toilsome march, came to Nemasket (now Middhboro').

*' Del'ore we came to the town (/.^., the Indian settlement at Nviiia>ket) we sat down and eat such as our knap:iacks alforded ; that being done we threw them aside, and all snub things us might hinder us, antl so went on and beset the house, according to our last resolution.

" We charged theui not lo stir, for if Caunbitant were not there we would nut meddle witli them; if be were, we cauie principally for him, to be uvengetl on him for the supposed

" At length, perceiving our principal ciiils, they told u= Caunbitant was returned home with all his train, and that Tisquantum was yet living and in the town; then offering some tobacco and other audi as they had to eat."

In this scene of confusion or " hurley burk'y," as tlie early writer called it, two guns were fired by the English at random, but to the great terror of the Indians generally, and the Indian buys seeing tliat the squaws were protected, lustily cried out, -- Neun.squaes ! Neeusquaea I" which signified I :iui a .-<|Uaw '. I am a squaw ! and the Indian women sought ]in;tcction from the friendly Indian, Ilubboiuuk.

"This attack upon a defenceless house was made at luidniglit, and must have been terrible in an inconceivable degree to its inmates, especially the sound of the English guns, wliich few, if any of them, had ever heard before."

The ancient narrator added, " But to be short, we kept theui; we had and made theiu make a fire that we might see to search the house ; in the ineiin time Hobbomok gat upon the top of the house, and called Tistjuantum aud Tokamahanion, and those Indians soon came together, with several other natives, some of whom were armed, and others so disconcerted by tliis nocturnal visit as to put in their appearance entirely naked."

The English quickly seized and appropriated the bows and arrows of those Indians that caiue armed, promising, however, to return these arras to the owners the next morning. At daylight the English released the Indian prisoners, and then rejiaired to the wigwam of Tisquantum, who appears then t(j Ikivc been a resident of Nemasket (now Middleboro';, where the soldiers took breakfast and then held a court-martial, a report of the proceedings in which has come down to us in the words following :

"There in the midst of them we manifested again oitr intendment, assuring them that, although Counbitant had now escaped us, yet there was no place shouUl sccuie him and his from U3 if he continued his threatening us and provoking others against us, who had kindly entertained him, au<l never intended evil towards him till he now so justly deserved it.

" Moreover, if iMassaauyt did not retuin in safety from Nui-- rohigganset, or if hereafter ho should make any insurrection against him, or offer violence to Tisquantum, llnlximok, or any of Massasyt's sulijects, we would revenge it up. .11 him to the overthrow of hiui and his."

History Of Middleboro'

"We were sorry for it, though themselves procured it in not itayin;; io tlio liouse ut our commaQj ; yet, if they would retuin liuiue with ud, our »ur^eon should heal tbeui.

"At this ofifcr one inna uod li woman thut were wouoded went home with us, TtaquiiQtum and many other kno^vn friunds accompiinyiiig us, uml olToring all help tliat mijjht he hy carriagu of any thing we had to ease ua.

Let it be observed that the date of ibis occurrence was only seven or eight months after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, and this was, therefore, the first military expedition in which the people of Plymouth Colony participated. We have already remarked that it was within the limits of what is now Middleboro' that the first conference between the English and a chief ruler of the Indians occurred in New England, and probably in any part of America north of Virginia, and we will now add that the first warlike expedition in Now England had its objective-point at Nemaaket (now Middleboro'), and here, too, was held the tir.-it or earliest court-martial of which a record has bfL-n preserved in the whole United States and British provinces.

As a result of these proceedings at Nemasket, a treaty was, on the loth of September, 1621, made with Caunbitant and several other sub-chiefs and principal men of influence among the Indians, whose names were as follows : Ohquamehud, Cawnacome, Obbatinnua, Nattawahunt, Caunbatant, Chickataubuk, Quadeijuana, Huttmoiden, and Apannow.

The Indian Cawnacome, who united in making this treaty of peace, is supposed to have been identical with the sub-chiei', sachem, or sagamore, Concconani, ruler of the. Indians at and near Maomet, on Cape Cod. Obbatinnua was doubtless the chief at Siiawmut (now Boston). Nattawahunt was also known as Vashoonon, and subsef|uently took up his residence in what was called the Nipmuc country (now the county of Worcester), his wigwam standing near what was called Magus Hill. Quadequana was brother to Massasoit, and Chickataubut was sachem of Passonagesit, the country about Weymouth, although Mr. Drake, in his excellent book concerning the Indians, says that

" The residence of the family of Chickataubut was at Tehticut, now included in Middlcborougb. He was in obedience to Massasoit, and, like other chiefs, h:id various places of resort to suit the ditfcrcnt seasons of the year, - sometimes at A\^essaguscu8- set, sometimes at Ncponset, - and especially upon that part of Namaskct called Tehticut.

" In the first settling of Plimouth some of the company, in wandering about upon di.-'covery, came upon au Indian grave, which was that of the mother of Chickataubut.

" When this came to the knowledge of Chickataubut he complained to hia people and demanded iuimediaTe vengeance. When they were assembled he thus harangued them :

"' When last the glorious light of all the sky was underneath this globe, and birds grew sileut, I began to settle, as my cuatom is, to take repose.

" ' Before mine eyes were fast closed metboH I saw a vision, at which my spirit waa much troubled, and trembling at that doleful sight a spirit cried aloud.

"'liehold! my son, ivhom I have cherished, sec t"lie jiaps that gave thee suck, the hands that clasp thee warm, and fed thee oft, canst thou forgot to tako revenge of lho?o wild people that hath my monument defaced in a despiteful manner, disdaining our ancient antiquities and honorable customs.

"* Thy mother doth complain, implores thy aid against this thievish people now come hither; if this be sultcred, I shall not rest in quiet within my everlasting habitation.'"

" Mourt's Relation," an early English authority, goes far to establish the truth of the foregoing concerning this dastardly outrage, when it says, " We brought sundry of the prettiest things away with us, and covered the corpse up again, and," he added, " there was a variety of opinions amongst us about the embalmed person."

The evidence is pretty conclusive that the English sustained two attacks from the Indians as a result of desecrating this grave and some otiicr depredations committed by them. One of these attacks being made just as the white people were landing IVoni a boat, and the other at Namskekit.

The Indian name Chickataubut, when translated into the English language, signifies a housc-a-fire, a singular appellation, one would think, to give as the name of a chief of a tribe or ruler of a people.

Chickataubut is generally thought to have held dominion over a tribe known aa Massachusetts Indians, and aa such he controlled a large section of the country now constituting the State that took its name from the tribe he governed.

But inasmuch as Chickataubut, at least for a time, established the chief seat of his empire at Titicut, we shall therefore consider his biography as part of the aboriginal history of Middleboro'.

On the 14th of June, 1631, the Massachusetts Bay government ordered that Chickatoubut should pay a small Leaver-skin to satisfy one of the English for a pig that some of his Indians had killed, and to show that they appreciated that even-handed justice expressed in the old adage, " Sauce for goose should be sauce for gander," also enacted, Sept. 27, 1631, that '- Josias Pluistowe, for steulinj^ lour baskets of cold from tLe Indians, is ordered to letuni ihem eiglit liaakets, to bo fined five pounds, and hereafter to be called by tlie name uf Josias, and not Mi., as he furmerly used to be," and the accomplices of Plaistowe wlio iiad no title of Mr. to lose or money to pay ill fines, were each sentenced to be publicly whipped, and thus showing a marked distinction in the manner that the authorities of the M;i3sachusetts Bay Colony meted out justice when compared with that of Plymouth people, so pious as to icin/c at the piracy practiced on the grave of Chickatoubut's mother, and who had '-sought thus far freedom to worship (lod" and rob graves, praying over those they plundered and endeavor to perfect praises to a just God from the uiouths of human hyeuiis. The brutal, careless, and thoroughly unfeeling manner in which " Mourt's Relation," a Plymouth production, disposed of Plymouth people's participation in that dastardly outrage, should cover the memory of those miscreants with everlasting coutcmjjt. Here it is, " We brought sundry of the prettiest things away with us and covered the corpse up again. There was variety of O|iinions amongst us about the euibalmed person, ' but there can properly be no variety of opinion among our readers of the true character of those who committed this outrage and shamelessly published the disgraceful fact to the world, or of the government that suffered the act to go unpunished.

The ancient record says of these Indians, " They were put in the bilboes," and we furtlier learn that Chickataubut was required to beat them, and he did. It was about this time that Chickataubut visited Governor Wintlirop, at Boston, and presented the latter with the gift of a hogshead of corn.

" Not long alter he ealied on Gtjvei uor Wiuihrop and desired to buy elolhed for hiiu:^elf; Ibe governor inforuied him that l<!ngli?h :iagunioreH did not u&e to trueU, but lie ealied biu tailor and gave him orders to make him a suit of elotlica, whereupon he gave the governor two large skins of coat beaver.

set meat before tbem ; but he would not eat till the governor had given thanks, and alter meat he desired him to do the like, and so departed."

In 1633 the smallpox became quite prevalent amung the Indians, and spread with fearful ravages and disastrous results, Chickataubut being among its victims. He died in the month of November, 16'S.\, and thus perished the moat distinguished ruler amung the Indians, whose home was within the present g(.M)gr;iphical limits of Middleboro'.

Tisquantum, who for a time also resided at Nemasket (^now Middleboro'), died at a place called by the Indians Manamoyk (now Chatluiiu), on Cape Cod. The disorder of which Squanto, uliun TiMjUantum, died was a fever, attended with a jirofuse bleeding at the uo.se, that the Indiana said was a fatal symptom. Governor Wiuslow, of the Plymouth Culuny, attended by S(|Uanto, alias Tisquantum, had goue to Cape Cod to purchase corn of the Indians, and the Governor wrote, " But here [Chatham], though they had determined to make a second essay, but God had otherwise disposed, who struck Tisquantum with sicknos, inasmuch that he there died." Squanto desired the Governor that he would pray for him, that he might go to the Englishman's God, ;iud he also bequealhed his things to sundry of his English friends, as remembrances of his love.

By the English the death of Tisquantum was accouuted a great loss. He died in the luontli of December, 1G22, only about two years after tin: landing of the Pilgrims at Patuxet (now Plymouth).

The Indian chieftain had a son, whose name was Wampatuck, sometimes also called Josiah Sagamure, of Massachusetts, who sold a tract of euuntiy that became the town of Braintree and that part now Quincy. In the deed he said that he made this sale with the consent of his wise men, viz.: Squamog. his brother Daniel, and old Ilahatun, and William Mananioniott, Job Nassett, Manuntago, William Naliunton.

".Josias or Josiah Wampatuek was sachem of Mattakesetl, aud from deeds which be gave must have beeu the oivoer of much of the lauds southward of Uoston.

"In 1853 he sold Timothy llatherly, James Cudworth, Joseph Tildon, Humphrey Turner, William llateb, John lloare, and James Torrey a large tract of land in the vieinity of Accord Pond and North Itiver.

"In iee2 ho sold Package Neck, now called Piekade. lying between Naiuassaket Itiver and a brook falling into Teticutt River, viz.: the most westerly of Ihc tliree small brooUes thai do fall into the said river; likewise all the mcudou upon said three brooks, for X21.

History Of Middleboro'

Siven tu hia son and George Wampeg and Jul.., Wumpowca." ; ^^^^j^^ ^^j ^^^1^^ SatisfactioD for SOUie COMCeivcd in- Josiali or Josias Wampatack, in or before August, '. juries supposed to have been done by tlie En^'liih to 1G44, j;raiited to tlie Titicut Indians three miles on j the Indians, and to continue the league of peace and each side of the Taunton River, and this Titicut ' friendship between them.

plantatiuu was carefully guarded over ever after in i Their rough, rude path in the forest led thcMU all grants of lauds by the General Court in this part \ through what still continues to be the westerly part of of the colony. The grantees were also instructed not i Plymouth, thence ou through the present township to encroach on the Indian settlement, nor to molest of Carver into Middleboro', meeting, probably, in no the Indians. An Indian named I'omponoho, alius ' part of all that solitary journey, with a single human Peter, on the '20th of November, 1672, conveyed by being, and causing them to realize the feelings of deed all the Indian laud north of Taunton River, Alexaudcr Selkirk, as expressed in the words, - with certain expressed exceptions, to Nicholas By ram, j ^^ of all r survey,

Concerning the sales of lands made by Tuspaquin, j they set out upon this journey through an almost trackthe Black Sachem, so called, see aboriginal history I less wilderness, their eyes were relieved and hearts of LakeviUe, as a part of those lands sold by Tuspa- ! gladdened at what they saw, and, as did the great quin now lie within the incorporated limits of Lake- I apostle when he came in sight of the three taverns, ville, and a part are still included and remain in Mid- ! so doubtless did Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopdleboro'. ! kins " thank God and take courage" as they caught

The first or earliest European visitor to the locality spawn or eggs of shads, boiled with acorns, that afterwards became the township of Middleboro' The shad was a fish very abundant in Taunton was Capt. Thomas Dermer, that visit occurring more , River at that date, and from the name applied to the than a year before the landing of the Pilgrims at bread, it is probable that this, at some seasons of the Plymouth, and as the object, details, and results of year, might have had the addition of Indian-meal or that visit have already been given in the aboriginal pounded parched corn, but this visit being in June, chapter of this town's history, it would be a super- perhaps the last year's crop of Indian corn was exfluity to repeat the same here, and, in brief, suffice it ' pended, and it was several moons too early for a new to say that visit was paid to Nemasket (now Middle- harvest, and some weeks before they could regale boro') in or near the mouth of May, 1619. themselves upon the luxuries of " roasting ears."

Two years later Middleboro' was again visited by But such as the Indians had they liberally gave to the Europeans, for on Tuesday, the 10th day of June, their visitors, who, although realizing that " better is 1621, at about nine of the clock in the morning, ' a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins, taking the j hatred therewith," did not fail to notice that the Indian Siiuanto, alias Tisquantum, for their guide, | acorns were musty, whereat Tisquantum told tlieui to started off from Plymouth to find the residence of ] go a few miles farther, where they should find more Massasoit, the greatest commander among the sav- ' store and better victuals. Said Mr. Winslow, " We ages, partly, as they said, to know where to find him, i went and came thither at sunsetting," and as the if occasion required, to discover the number, strength, i glorious luminary of light was upon that long sumand power of those he governed, and also to prevent I mer's day just sinking below the western horizon, diuse clusleriug wigwams crowning the hilllops upon b(jtli sides of Tauntou Kiver, at what was then, and until now, nearly three hundred years after, still called Titicut, gladdened the sight, and soon oovered tile forms of the weary Pilgrims.

Upon the high ground on the Middleboro' side of Taunton River at Titicut, and a little west of where the Congregational meeting-house now stands, the Indians, with an eye to proper defense, some time erected a kind of fortification that came to be called the " Indian Fort," but they did not flee to it fur protection on the approaeii of the Pilgrims, - Winslow and Hopkins, - with the, to them, indispensable Tisquantum. No, there was no command from sub-chief issued to for these tired travelers were upon the white- winged message of peace instead of the proclamation of war; they souglit kindly to confer with, to counsel, benefit, and instruct the natives, instead of injure or deceive tliem, and therefore

" Here," said Mr. Winslow, '- we found many of the Namascheucks fishing upon u weir which they had made on a river which belonged to them, where they caught abundance of bass. These welcomed us also, and gave us of their fish, and we them of our victuals."

It was on the hill a little west and not far from the present Congregational Church edifice at Titicut, in Middleboro', that Winslow and Hopkins spent the night of June 10, 1621.

Mr. Winslow added, " The ground is very good on both sides of the river, it being for the most part cleared. Thousands of men have lived there which died in the great plague not long since, and pity it was and is to see so many goodly fields, and .so well seated without man to dress and work the same."

At Titicut, now North Middleboro', six Indians joined with Tisquantum as an escort to Winslow and Hopkins, on their way to Mount Hope Bay. After a pleasant visit to Massasoit, spending Wednesday uight, Thursday and Thursday night, early on Friday

I The next visit of Europeans to Middleboro' was I made near the last of August or early in September, 16U1, or some three months after the pleasant interj view and mutual exchange of civilities just described, I and in its features and details was quite the opposite as that of Winslow and Hopkins was on an embassy of peace, while this, which so soon succeeded it with Capt. Miles Standish at the head, a drawn ^Wurd in j his hand, with his heavy-armed tuu.^keteeis close upon his heels, was one of war, and as we dislike to -' repeat grievances," the account of that sud, .-sorrowful, and in some respects disgraceful and in all respects disagreeable transactions, together with all its unple:isaut and bloody details, will be left, oidy to appear in the aboriginal chapter of this town's histury, to which the reader is referred, while we turn our thoughts to the consideration, and our pen to the description, of circumstances, occurrences, and facts equally instructive and beneficial to ac<niire, and f.ir more agreeable to contemplate.

Among those pioneers of European de>ceiit that became actual settlers in Middleboro', and who may properly receive prominent notice ami particular mention, was Jacob Thomp.son, Esq., who was an prigitial member of the First Congregational Church in Middleboro', a man who won distinction in liis day as a surveyor, and also as a magistrate. He surveyetl the " twenty-six men's purchase," and divided it among the proprietors in lots, and also the proprietaries of several of the neighboring towns. Hi' is said to have been a man of great weight of character, and took the lead in the successful effort made by the First Congregational Church in this town to rid itself of the ministry of Mr. William Palmer, who was turned out of the pulpit of this church and society, and deposed from the ministry altogether. Several of Mr. Thompson's letters to the neighboring ministers on that subject are still carefully preserved and extant. He was considered a man of sound piety, and a? a pillar in the church greatly respected. To be a little more explicit, Jacob Thomp.son was a .selectman nf Middleboro' from 1697 to 17U1, both years inclusive, re-elected in 1706, and served until 172S, with the exception of the year 1710. Representative to the General Court in 1716 and 171'J.

In the local militia of the town Jacob Tliompson was ensign as early as 1700, lieutenant in 1701, and captain in 1708. He received the commission as a justice of the peace for the county of Plymouth, to date from July 22, 1720. Jacob Thuuipsun, Ea(|., wns elected town clerk of Middleboro', March 14, 1706, and by successive aoDutil elections continued in that ofiBce for the term of thirty consecutive years, when lie was out of office one year, and then re-elected and served seven years more. As treasurer of Middleboro' Jacob Thompson was elected in March, 1730, and servud eij;lit yeais.

Francis Coombs was one of the selectmen of Middleboro' as early as 1674, and re-elected to that office ill 1GSU-S2. He was on the 30th of October, 1678, licensed to keep a tavern or inn, now called a hotel, but tliL'M usually designated as an " ordinary," at Middleboro', and at the same date also licensed to sell at retail, beer, wine, and liquors. Francis Coombs died Dec. 31, 1682, and his tavern license was renewed to Mrs. Mary Coombs, July 1, 1684.'

Isaac Howlund was among the pioneer settlers at Middleboro'. He was a son of the Pilgrim, John Howland. Isaac Howlaud married Klizabeth, a daughter of George Vaughan. Isaac Howland served under Capt. Benjamin Church in King Philip's war, and was with that officer wlien be captured a body of Indians that he took to Bridgewater. Concerning tliat matter Capt. Church said, that he pursuing sent Mr. Isaac Howland with u party on one side of the swamp while himself with the rest ran on the other side, agreeing to run on each side until they met on the further end, placing some men in secure stands at that end of the swamp where Philip entered, concluding that if they headed him and beat hini back, that he would take back iu his own track.

" Captain Church and Mr. Howland soon met at the further end of the swamp, it not being a great one, where they met with a great number of the enemy, well armed, coming out of the swamp ; but on sight of the English they seemed very much surprised and tacked siiort.

" Captain Church called hastily to them and said, if they fired one gun they were all dead men, for he would iiave them to know that he had them hemmed in with a force sufficient to command them, but if they peaceably surrendered they should have good quarters, (Sic."

' That tavern was probably kept upun the same spot 03 the public-huuao some tifty or sixty years ago kept by Capt. Aboer liarrow:^. Some portion of that liouBe is very old, aud perhaps the ideutical building where the Coombs tavern was kept. A daughter of Francis Coouibs married a Barrows, and had a son whose name was Coombs Uarrows,

"They being well treated with victuals and drink, had a merry night, and the prisoners laughed as loud as the soldiers, not being so treated a long time before."

Isaac Howland while serving in this war or iu the local militia after the war, attained to a position that entitled him to the rank of nn ensign. Isaac Howland was a surveyor of highways at Middleboro' in 1672, constable in 1674, and grand juryman iu 1682. In 1683, Isaac Howland was elected a selectman, and served in that office five years, re-elected in 1692, 1695-96, 1700-3. Isaac Howland was iu 1689 cho.sen a representative to the General Court for the colony of New Plymouth, and served therein five years, and when that colony had been merged in the government of the province of the Massachusetts Bay he served one term more. He died in 1724.

John Thompson was an early comer to and a pioneer settler in Middleboro'. He was a selectman of this town in 1674 and again iu 1675, and. King Philip's war coming on, probably no selectmen were chosen for 1676 or 1677, and if there were, the record of such election is now lost. He was re-elected a selectman in 1680, and served in that office for eight consecutive years. John Thompson was a representative to the General Court from Middleboro' in 1674, and again in 1675 ; also re-elected representative in 1680, and served until 1686, or seven years more. He was also grand juryman in 1680.

A lineal descendant of John Thompson, at the bicentennial celebration of the incorporation of this town (Oct. 13, 1869), gave the following account:

" I am the sixth generation in lineal descent from John Thompson, who was born in the North of England in 1513, and landed at Plymouth in May, 1635.

"He located about twenty rods west of the Plymouth line, in what was then Middleboro' (but now Halifax), where he built a log house, which was burnt by the Indians at tlte commencement of Philip's war.

"She replied that there had been a number of srjuaws there, and they were uncommonly friendly and very helpful, - went with her to the garden and assisted in pickiug bean^.

" He applied to tiie Governor and Council at Plymouth for a comuiifdiOD, but, con:iidering tlie small number of men, they gave him a lieutenant's commission.

The speaker at the same time exhibited tlio sword, the gun, and brass pistols formerly owned by Jolin Thompson. This guu-stock and barrel is seven feet four and a half inches iu length. The barrel is six feet one and a iialf inches long ; the lock is ten inches long; whole weight of gun, twenty pounds and twelve ounces ; the calibre, twelve balla to the pound.

John Nelson was another of those pioneer settlers at Middleboro' deserving our notice. John Nelson was a son of William Nelson, of Plymouth, and wife, Martha Ford. William Nelson and Martha Ford [ were married Oct. 29, 1640, and John, the son, was born in 1647.

John Nelson was constable of Middleboro' iu lliliQ, the year of the town's incorporation, and held that office again in 1684. He was a selectman of Middleboro' for the years 1681-83, and again in 1685- 36, and grand juryman iu 1675.

John Nelson was three times married. His first wife wa.i Sarah Wood, a daughter of Henry Wood, of Middleboro'. John Nelsou and Sarah Wood were united in marriage Nov. 28, 1667, and she died March 4, 1675. John Nelson's second wife was Mrs. Lydia Baruaby, the widow of James Barnaby, of Plymouth, and daughter of Robert Bartlett and wife, JJary Warren. Lydia was born June 8, 1647. After the death of wife, Lydia, John Nelson took for a third wife Patience Morton, a daughter of Ephraim Morton, of Plymouth, and wife, Ann Cooper.

The cliildren of John Nelson by wife, Sarah Wood, I were John and Martha, both of whom died in child- j hood, John dying June 5, 1676, and Martha, Feb. I'J, 1676. '

- That garrison was for a abort time probably maintained upon a i»ieco of land now owned by the heirs of the late Col. Peter II. Peirce, and is that spot from which tradition says that a white man tired at and killed an Indian who was standing upon wliat is still called the " Indian Hock," on the opposite side of the Nemasket P^iver. The place was soon abandoned to thti Indians, the white people all Ueeing to Plymouth.

I The children of John Nelson and second wife, j Lydia Bartlett Barnaby, were Samuel Nelson, boru j July 4, 1683, and Joanna Nelson, born in 16S'J. I The son, Samuel, married three times, viz., first, iu I 1704, Hannah Ford; second, Bathsheba Nichols; and ! third, Sarah Holmes.

j The town voted to give William Hoskins a load of j fish, taken at the herring weir and delivered at his house, for one year's service as town clerk. It should be borne in mind that the public records of Jliddleboro' from the date of incorporation, in 1669, to King Philip's war, in 1675, a period of about six years, are lost, and are supposed to have been burned by the Indians in that war. Authentic dates in the history of this town before that year are derived Iroui duplicate copies or returns of elections that were .-ent to Plymouth before that war began and were thus preserved, and but for which very little could now be learned of what transpired in Middleboro' during the first seven or eight years immediately succeeding the date of its incorporation.

John Benuet held a leading position among the early settlers of European descent in ftliddloboro'. He is said to have been the son of Peter Beiinct, of Bristol, in England, from whence John emigrated to Virginia iu 1665, and concerning whom the curliest records of the First Congregational Churcli in .Middleboro' has the following entry :

10, being the second Sabbath in that month, and chosen by a full consent to that office some considerable time before, who formerly dwelt at Beverly, wliom God in a way of his providenee sent to dwell in Middleboro' to be serviceable there in cliuieh and town."

This election to the office of deacon appear^ to have been in 1695. He was chosen town clerk of Middleboro' March 28, 1693, and served theiein thirteen years; elected a selectman in 1692 and served two years, elected again in 1695, 1697, and 1698. He died March 21, 1718, aged seventy-six years. [lis wife was Deborah G rover. Tlicy were married at Beverly in 1671. She died Match 22, 1718, aged seventy years.

John Morton. His Dume appears auoDg those who represeiitiid the town in the General Court, a position tliat he filled for the years 1072 and 1673. and he was a surveyor of the highways in 1G75. Tradition says that he was a son of George iMorton, who came to America in the "Ann" in 1G23. John Morton was an early coiner to Middleboro', where he built a house near the river, and coocerning the destruction of which are two somewhat disagreeing traditions. One tradition is that the house was accidentally destroyed by fire while the family were absent and at meeting on Sunday. The other tradition is that the house was burned by the Indians in King Philip's war. He is said to have built the southeast or oldest portion of what caine to be known as the " old Murton house," a large dwelling of rectangular shape, about sixty feet in length and thirty feet wide, with a gambrel roof and two stories high. This house wa.s taken down in 1870. It appeared to have been erected at three different times. The oldest part had been standing nearly two hundred years.

Geor;.;e Vaughan appears to have been the first or earliest tavern-keeper in Middleboro', his license for the setting up which business dating from July 5, 1669. He was constable of the town in 1675.

Joseph Vaughn was one of the selectmen of Middleboro' for many years. He was first elected to that oflBce in the year 1689, and last in the year 1722, having performed the duties of that station twentyfive years. He united with the First Congregational Church in Middleboro', March 9, 1710. He was twice married, - first, in 1G80, Joanna Thomas. She died April 11, 1718, in the sixty-first year of her age; and he for a second wife, in 1720, married Mercy Fuller, the widow of Jabez Fuller. Her maiden name was Wood, and she died March 2, 173-1, in the eighty-first year of her age.

In the local militia of Middleboro' Joseph Vaughn was comiuiisioued ensign as early as the year 1700, promoted to lieutenant iu or about the year 1705, and to captain in March, 1716. He commanded a company that embraced all the local militia of the town.

Samuel Wood. He was a selectman of Middleboro' in 1G84, and again in 1689, 1691, 1693, and 1C9-1, and surveyor of highways in 1673 and 1674, and constable in 1682. He was one of the original members of the First Congregational Church of Middleboro'. Rebecca, his wife, united with that church May 27, 1716. She died Feb. 10, 1718, in the sixty-seventh year of her age. Samuel Hall died Feb. 3, 1718, in the seventieth year of his age.

Ebenezer Tinkham was elected a selectman of Middleboro' in 1690 and 1691, and again iu 1696 and 1700. He was one of the original members of the First Congregational Church of Middleboro', chosen in or about 1695. He died April 8, 1718, in the seventy-third year of his age. He married Elizabeth Liscora, who was also one of the original members of the First Congregational Church of Middleboro'. She died in 1718, aged sixty-four years.

At a period a little later than the arrival of those pioneer settlers in Middleboro' whose names have been given, there came to this town from Sulem a man named John Raymond, who in King Philip's war had rendered remarkable good service in the company commanded by Capt. Joseph Gardiner, being present and participating in what is probably the greatest battle ever fought on New England soil, the taking of the Indian fort in the Narragansett country on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 19, 1675. John Raymond is said to have been the first soldier who succeeded in entering the gate of the fortification on that bloody afternoon, in the most sanguinary conflict that New England had then or has since seen. His captain, Joseph Gardiner, fell dead soon after entering the well-constructed and desperately-defended work, being shot with a bullet through the head.

During that singular infatuation of the people still known as the prevalence of the witch delusion in Salem, this veteran soldier, John Raymond, fled for his life from those he had thus defended, and for whose protection he had exposed both life and limb, and in Middleboro' sought safety from fanatical persecution and insane madness. It is gratifying to contemplate that in Middleboro' this brave man, illtreated and unappreciated patriot, found a city of refuge and haven of rest, that here

After coming to reside iu Middleboro' John Raymond, the Narragansett soldier, became a member of the First Congregational Church, here gathered a " soldier in the army of the Lord ;" and here at his death had his burial; and here his grave remains until this day. The date of his admission to membership in the Congregational Church was April 29, 1722, when he was said to have been in the seventyfourth year of his age, and if so, he must have been born in or near the year 1648, and was a little less

June 5, 1725, the noble old veteran wont to an inspection by the great Searcher of all hearts, and pab=ud in grand review before the God of armies and Lord of liosts. Seventy and seven was the number of the years of his earthly pilgrimage, in whieh he was required to watch and fight and pray.

The name of Sauiiiel Eddy appears among those of the twenty-six men who in Jlarch, 1GU2, purchased of the Indian sachem, Wampatuck, a tract of country that afterwards became the First Precinct in Middleboro'.

Samuel Eddy, together with his brother, John, sailed from Boxted, in England, Aug. 10, 1630, and arrived at Plymouth in November following, having been twelve weeks at sea.

Governor Winlhrop says, concerning tiie vessel that brought these brothers, " they had sixty passengers, and lost but one," and he further added, that cue of the Eddys told him, " he had many letters in the ship for me."

In 1633 his servant, Thomas Brian, was brought before the Governor and assistants lor running away, brought back by an Indian, and " whipped before the governor."

The Christian name of his wife was Elizabeth, concerning whom, in the early colonial records, we find the following: " 1651, Elizabeth, wile of Samuel Eddy, arraigned for wringing and hanging out her clothes on Lord's-day ; fine 20s., but remitted." " 1660, Elizabeth Eddy summoned for traveling from Plymouth to Boston on Lord's-day. She answered that Mrs. Saffin was very weak and sent for her with an earnest desire to sec her in her weakness. The court thought they saw not a sufficient excuse, and saw cause to admonish her, and so she was discharged."

I He was a surveyor of highways at Middleboro' in ' 1675, grand juryman in 1673, 1670, 1681, 1683, ; and 1685, and a selectman in 1604. I Samuel Eaton was among the twenty-sis men who ' purchased what became the First Precinct in Mid- I dleboro' of the Indian sachem, Wampatuck, said purchase made in the month of March, 1662, and said Samuel Eaton also became one of the pioneer settlers ' of Middleboro'.

He was the son of Francis Eaton who, with his wife, Sarah, and his sou, Samuel, constituted a part of the Pilgrim band who came to .America and landed at Plymouth in the month of December, 1620, from the deck of the " Mayflower."

Chapter Iil Civil Histouy

At a session of the Colonial Court, hulden at Plymouth in the month of June, 1669, an act of incorporation was obtained that found a place u[ion the public record in the words following :

" At this court the court {^runted that Nuuia.-^3akett sUuW be a. township, and tu be called by Lite iiume of Middlcbcrry, aiul bounded with Plymouth bound^i on the ea^tCl-Iy side, and witli the hound of Taunton on the westerly ^ide, and with the bounds of Bridgcwuter on the uurtherly side or end, and uu the southerly aide or end to extend six luilca from the wading-plaee, and at the end of said six miles to run enst tu Plymouth line, and from the said line west to Tuuntun line, and in case the west line runs to the southward of Taunton line, then to run until we come up to the southeruiost jiart of Taunton hound:, and then stjuare off north to it."

The wading-plaee noticed in the act of incorporation was where the bridge on the Plymouth road now crosses the Nemasket River, near the Star Mills.

This description does not properly apply tu the township of Middleboro' at the present time, for the reason that a portion of the town in a northerly direction was in 1734 set off and made to constitute a part of the township of Halifax, and in 1853 about one-third of its remaining territory upon the southwesterly side was detached, set otf, and made to form a new and distinct town, known as Lakeville.

For uiauy years previous to the setting off of Lakevillo, MidJIeboro' in its territorial limits was the lari;cst tuwn in the State, containing nearly ouo hundred s(|uare miles.

About six years intervened between the date at which Middleboro' was incorporated as a town and \ the breaking out or comuieneement of Kiug Philip's war, and yet the inhabitants ot" European descent had increased only to about sixteen families, and these ([uickly left all their possessions here and fled for refuge to Plymouth, and there remaining until that bloody and disastrous conflict was ended.

Tlie.se proprietors, being still at Plymouth, wore there convened together upon the 27th day of June, 1677, and voted '' that we do unanimously agree by the peruiissioii of God and by his gracious assistance to make a beginning again in order uuto the repossession of our lands and re-edification of our demolished buildings and habitation which some of us were, before the late and sad war, in actual improvement and possession of, and to make such orders aud conclusions as may hopefully have a tendency uuto the laying a foundation of a town and pious society in that place."

Not last or least among tlie numerous losses sustained by the people of Middleboro' in that "sad war" was the total destruction of the public records of the town, a loss that they sadly lamented and endeavored to make up for and supply from recollection and extracts from the colonial records kept at Plymouth, whereby much was regained and retrauscribed, while the evidence, doubtless, of many equally valuable fact.s was irretrievably lost, the fire kindled by an infuriated Indian's torch having forever wiped these from earth's book of remembrance, and consigned to a grave that never gives up ita dead, whose ashes are, by the mantle of oblivion, hid beyond the hope and power of a resurrection.

Chief among the civil oflBcers of a New England town are, and for many years has been, the selectmen or " fathers of the town," as these are not uufrequcntly designated.

Laws concerning these otBcers began to find a place upon the statute-book of Plymouth Colony as early as 16G2, or seven years before the town of Middleboro' was incorporated. Here Ls a copy of the act of 1CG2:

" It is coacted by the court, That io every Towne of this jurisdiction there be three or live CeleclioeD chosen by the Townsmen out of the freemen, such as shall be approved by the Court, for the better munn;5ing of the afairea of the respective Townshipes : and that the Celectmen in every towne, or the major i p'te of thoui, are hereby impowered to beare and determine | all debtee and diQerenues ari:iing between p'^ioo and p'aon ' wttbin their r&^pective Townshipes not exccedin<; forty shilling!*; as alsuu they are lieerby impowered to hcure and deteruiine all differences arising betwixt any Indiana mid the Kiiglinh uf theiro respective towntdiipes about damage done in Corn by the Cowea, Swine, or any other beastes lu'lonj^ing to the Inhabitants of the said respective town^bipe^ ; and the detcriiiiiiatioa uf the abovesuid dirtcreDces nut being aatislycd as was agreed, the p'ty wronged to repaire to some -Magistrate for a warrant to receive such award by distraint.

" It id further enacted by the Court, That the said Celectmen in every Township approved by the Court, or any of ihem, .-liall have power to give forth sumuiuus in his Ma'tic's name to rc- ([uiro any p'sons complained of to attend the licaring of the cu:ie, and to summon witnesses to give testimony upon th:it account, aud to determine of the Controversye.s according to legal evidence; and that the p'sons complaining shall serve the summons themselves upon the p'sons complained against, aud ia case of theire non-appearance to proceed on notwithstanding in the hearing and determination of such contruvcr>y as comes before them, and to have twelve-pence apiece for every award they agree upon."

"That one or two of the selectmen whom the Court shall appoint in each Township of this Jurisdiction bee heerby impowered to aduiinister an oath in all ca:<es committed to them, as alsoc to grant an execution for auoh p'sons as neglect or refuse to pay theire just dues according the vcrdictc of tlie said p'sons; and that the said Selectmen in every towne bee under oath for the true p'rfurmance of tlieire odico ; and if any p'son lindd himselfe agreived with verdict of said Selectmen, Then they have thciie liberty to appeale to the next Court uf his Ma'tie huldea utt Plymouth, provided that forthwith they put in Cecuritie to prosecute the appeale to effect and alsoc enter the grounds of theire apeales ; and in ctue any towne doc neglect to chosc and p'sent suoh yearly unto the Courts of Election, That every such Towne shal bee lyable to pay a tino of live pounds to the Countrey's use.

"It is enacted by the Court, That the Celectmen in every Township of this goverment shall take notice of all ?ul-1i p':sona th^t arc or shall come into any of the Townships wiihoiit the approbation of the Gov'r and two of the Assistance, according to order of the Court, aud the said Celectmen shall warne the said p'sons to aply themselves for approbation a»jcording to order, which, if tliey shall refuse or neglect, the said Celectmen are heerby impowered to require the p'son or p'sons to ajipc-er att the next Court to bee holden att Plymouth, and to require Cecuritie for theire appeerance, which, if any refu.-i; to doe, the Celcetnien sbal) inform the Constable of the Towne where heo livelb, which said Constable shall forthwith carry the said p'son or p'sons before the Gov'r or some one of the Assistance of this Gov'rment.

'* Whereas, the Court takes notice off great neglect of frequenting the publicko worship of Uod upon the Lord's day : it is enacted by the Court and the authoritio thcrcoff, That the Ce- Icct men of each Township of this Gov'r mcnt shall take notice of such in their Towushipps as neglect, through prophannes and slotlifulnes, to come to the publicko worship of God, and shall require an account of them, aud, if they give them not falislactiou, that they returne theire names to the Court."

" It shulbe lawful! for either plaintiffe or defendant to require a subpena of any Celectmen of the same Town where tho witnesses live to require any p'son to appeer before some one of the Cclectment of the same Towne to give evidence before some

** It is ordered by the Court and the uuthoritie thereof that tbo choice of Celectuien be speciticd in the wununta that are Bent dowuc tu the several Tuwue^ for the cliuice of his Ma'iiu's officers, and theire nuinei to be returned into the Court under the Coustuble'i hand, and to be called in Court to take theiro outh, as i3 in isuuh cuiee provided ; and if in case any providcuou prevent theire apueerance, then to appeer before ijomo Magistrate of this Gov''ment within one month after the said Court, to take oatli, under the penalty of twenty dhilling>."

"That the Poor May be provided for as Qece--v=ity requireth. This Court ordcrcth that the Celecttuen in eaeh Towuo sliall take care and .-^ee that tiie poor in theire respeetivc Towues bo provided for, and are lieerby Iinpowercd to relieve and provide for them according as necessitie, in theire doscretion, doth require, and the Towne shall defray the charge thereof.

"And the Celect Men of the several Towns are hereby required to give in a list of the names of such us mispend their time, whether House liolders or others, and all single per.-ons that live from under Family Government or will not be governed by their Parents or Masters where they live, that so the Court may pioeeed with them as the case may require."

1 From 1660 to l67o no returns of elections to be found among the culouiul tiles or records, and those kept (if, indeed, any wci'o kept) in town were lost and probably burned by the Indians in iCing Philip's war. ,

- The records of the town from 1G76 to 167U were lost in King Philip's war, - probably burned, the town vacated by its inhabitants of European descent. I

John Bennett. 1721. - Capt. Jacob Thompson, John Bennett, and Lieut. Ichahod Southworth. 1722. - Capt. Jacob Thompson, Capt. Joseph Vaughan, and

John Bennett, Elkanah Leonard, and Jacob Thouip-on. 1736. - Capt. luhabod Southworth, John Bennett, Jacob Thoinpaon, Elkanah Leonard, and Benjamin White, E>q. 1730. - John Bennett, Capt. Nathaniel Southworth, Jacob

Miller. 17J5. - Elias Miller, Elder Mark lla^kcll, and Joseph Tinkhnm. 17 Jli. - Elias Miller, Elder Mark iladkoll, and Joseph Tinkham. 1757. - Elius Miller, Lieut. Tboma:i Nelson, and Joi^eph Thompson. 1758. - IJeut. Thomas Nelson, John Thompson, Gershom Cobb,

1864. - Joseph T. Wood, Ira Suiith, and Alpheua K. Biabop. | I860. - Joseph T. Wood, Joahuu .M. Eddy, iind Abiah^i Miller. IS66 Joseph T. Wood, Joshua II. Eddy, and .Vbishai T. j

Clark. 1867. - Jnscpli T. Wood, Joshua M. Ed.ly, and Thoina.i Smith, ' IS68. - J...scph 'r. Wood, Thomas .'^Hiith, and Joshua M. Eddy. l.Sti'J. - Joseph T. Wood. Thomas Smith, and Lewis Leonard. [ 1^*70. - Joscpli T. Wood, Lewis Leonard, and Isaiic S. Cush- |

Cobb. IS72. - Jojeph T. Wood, Lewi8 Leonard, and Stillinan Benson. 1S73. - Iose|ib T. Wood, Lewis Leonard, and Stillman Benson. 1871. - .loseph T. Wood, Lewis Leonard, and Sylvester F.

" It is inacted by the Court, That there abalbe in every Towno within this government a Clakk, or eomo one appointed and ordained to keep a Rkgistkk of the day and yeare of the marriage, byrth, and buriall of every man, woman, and child within their Township."

" And the Town Clerk or Register keeper of every Town shall exhibit a true and perfeet copy into March Court annually of all the Marriages, Births, and Burials of the year past.

Although MidJleboro' waa incorporated aa a township in June, 1GG9, no record has been preserved of the eluclion of a town clerk until William Hoskins was unanimously chosen to that office, May 24, 1081, and the town in its corporate capacity agreed with him that his compensation for keeping its public records should be a load of fish, taken at the herring weir and delivered at his house, for each year's service. He probably served as town clerk about twelve years, being succeeded in that office by John Bennct, who was elected thereto March 28, 1693. All town records kept in Middleboro' from tlie date of incorporation, June, 1CG9, to the commencement of King Philip's war, in June, 1675, were lost in that war, and probably burned by the Indians, which accounts for the deQciency of a public record for the first six ycar.i in this town's history.

TOWN CLERKS. Oiviny date of election nnd term of aervice, William Iloskins, May 24, 1681, twelve years. John Bennett, March 28, 1033, thirteen years. Jacob Thompson, March 14, 1700, thirty years. Nathan Bassett, .March - , 1736, one year. Jacob Thompson, March 16, 1737, seven years. Seth Tinkham, March 14, 1744, one year. Jacob Thompson, Maroh 5, 1745, three years. Ebenezer Sproutt, March 28, 1748, seven years. Joseph Tinkham, Maroh 31, 1755, twelve years. John Morton, March 23, 1767, eight years. Abuor Barrows, March 13, 1775, six years. Nathaniel Wilder, March 5, 1781, six years. Jacob Bennet, March 5, 1787, one year. Nathaniel Wilder, March 10, 1788, two years. Cyrua Keith, March 1, 1790, Afteen years. Sylvauus Tillson, March 11, 1805, seventeen years. Isaac Stevens, May 8, 1822, eight years. Reelund Tinkham, March 3, 1830, two years. Foster Tinkham, March 5, 1S32, three years. Allen Shaw, March 9, 1835, eleven years. Jacob B. Shuw, March 9, 1846, three years. Everett Robinson, March 5, 1849, two years. George Pickens, March 10, 1851, four years. Andrew M. Eaton, March 18, 1855, six years. Sidney Tucker, March 11, 1361, two years. John Shaw, Jr., March 9, 1863, one year. Cornelius B. Wood, March 7, 1864, seventeen years. Charles T. Thatcher, March - , 1881.

Town Treasurers

Deacon Jonathan Cobb, March 1, 1711, four years. John Bennett, Jr., March 7, 1715, seventeen years. Samuel Tinkham, March 17, 1732, three years. Simon Lazel, March 17, 1735, one year. Jacob Thompson, March - , 1736, eight years. Benjamin Tucker, March 14, 1744, one year. Jacob Thompson, March 5, 1745, three years. Elias Miller, March 28, 1748, nine years. John Thompson, March 14, 1757, ten years. Capt. Ebenezer Sproutt, March 23, 1767, two years. John Morton, March 27, 1769, six years. William Bennett, March 13, 1775, four years. Nathaniel Wilder, March 1, 1779, twenty years. Qeorge Morton, March 11, 179U, eix years. Levi Peirce, March 11, 1805, two years. .Sylvanus Tillaon, March 2, 1807, fifteen years. Levi Tinkham, May 8, 1822, five yeara. Isaac Stevens, April 2, 1827, three years. Reeland Tinkham, March 3, 1S3U, one year. Foster Tinkham, April 4, 1831, three years. Allen Shaw, March 11, 1834, twelve years. Jacob B. Shaw, Mareh 9, 1846, three years. Everett Robinson, Maroh 5, 1849, two years. George Pickens, March 10, 1851, four years.

Andrew M. Eaton, March IS, 1S55, six yeara. Sidney Tucker, March 11, 18C1, two years. Jolin Sha.w, Jr., March 9, 1363, one ye:ir. Cornuliua B. Wood, March 7, 1S64, seventeen years.

Deputies to the Plymoutli Colony Court. - John Morton represented tlie town of Middleboro' at the Colonial Court of Plymouth in 1072, and ajraiit in 1C73. and he was succeeded by John Thompson in l»i74 and 1G75, when, the English settlement at Middlcboro' being entirely broken up by King Pliilip's war, no deputy appears thenceforth to have been chosen for that town until lUSO, when John Thompson was re-elected to that office, and served seven years, viz., to and including 1080.

Then came tlie troubles witli and interruption of the government by Sir Edmund Audros, during which Middleboro' had do deputy, and the records of this town, in common with those of many otlier towns, show a hiatus. From 1089 until 1G9-, Isaac IIowlaud served the town of Middleboro' as a deputy in the Colonial Court, when what had been the colony of New Plymouth became a part of the " Province of the Massacliusetts Bay in New England," and deputies were thenceforth known as representatives to the Great and General Court.

New England

IIEI'RESENTATIVES TO TUE GENEUAL COURT OF THE PROVINCE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN NEW ENGLAND. IG'JL'. John Thuinp^^ou. . I74.*I. Elkaimli I.eouaid, Esq.

Mandamus Councilor

He Joes not appear to have been sworn into that oflBce, and the fact that he was appiiintotl was very dutuai:in<; to his reputation among; his neiglibors and townsmen of Middlcboro'.

Ill the First Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, that convened at Salem, Oct. 4, 1774; at Concord, October 14tli; at Cambridge, October 17th and November 23d; and dissolved Dec. 10, 1774, Capt. Ebenczcr Sproutt was the member from Middleboro'*

County Commlssioners

The board of county commissioners liave duties very similar to, if not, in fact, identical with, those of a former board of public ofiBcers known as commissioners of highways, which board, as also the Court of Sessions, was abolished, to give place to that of county commissioners. Thomas Weston, of Middleboro', was a member of the board of commissioners of highways when the same was abolished.

Justices of the Peace. - The commi.-?sion of a justice of the peace has in Massachusetts been usually made to continue in force for the term of seven years, if the person appointed behave himself well in the said office. At the expiration of seven years many commissions have been renewed, and then in numerous instances persons have served in that commission for long periods, and not infrequently until the date of their death. In what follows only the dates of the first or original appointments are given, although many of the persons named had the appointment several times renewed.

Trial Justice

Coroners. - The term of tiiue of whiuli iho couimissioD of a coroner continued to run or be iu legal operation has been subject in the State of Maasachusetts to several changes, and for a long time was a life appointment ending only with the decease of the holder. That was afterwards so clianged that the term of continuance was made to close at the end uf .^eveii years. The office in Massachusetts at the present time is practically abolished, that of medical esarnincr being made to take its place in nearly all its former duties.

Ecclesiastical History

To speak or write concerning the earliest events iu the religious history of a Massachusetts town, incorporated so early as that of Middieboro', is from necessity to communicate something concerning the sect denominated Congregationalists, or, to be a little more explicit, to tell a part of the story of Trinitarian Con- KreKationalism.

Said Sprague in his " Annals of the American Pulpit," " Congregationalism may be said to have been born in England, to have passed some of its earliest years iu Holland, and to have migrated to these Western Shores in the ' Mayflower' ; and though this is not the only country in which it exists it is that probably iu which it has reached its most vigorous maturity." The sauie author continued, " It is well known that though the Congregationalists as a distinct sect originated with Robert Browne, from whom they took the name of Rrownists, yet their principles were so maccriully modified under John Robinson that he, espefially in view of tlie relation he sustained to the ]'lyiuuutli Cliurch, njay be considered as the father of at least New England Conj^rcgationalism."

It is proper, therefore, to look to the church at Leyden as the legitimate exponent of those principles by which New England CoogregatioDulists were originally distinguished.

In regard to their doctrinal views they were thorougiily Calvinistic, though their venerable pastor did luit fail to remind the first emigrants, in his farewell address, that even that great man of God, John Calvin, saw not all things.

That no church ought to consist of more members than can conveniently meet together for worship and discipline ; that any church of Christ is to consist only ol' such as appear to believe in and obey Him ; that any competent number of such have a right, when conscience obliges them, to form themselves into a distinct church ; that this incorporation is by some contract or covenant expressed or implied ; that being thus incorporated they have a right to choose their own officers; that these officers are pastors or teaching elders, ruling elders, and deacons ; that elders being chosen and ordained have no power to rule the church but by the consent of the brethren ; that all elders and all Christians are equal in respect of powers and privileges; that baptism is to be administered to visible believers and their infant children, and no others ; that the Lord's Supper is to be received sitting at the table ; that ecclesiastical censures are wholly spiritual and not to be accompanied with temporal penalties; that no days are to be regarded holy but the Christian Sabbath, though it is proper to observe occasionally days of fasting and thanksgiving ; that all human inventions or impositions in religion arc to be discarded. The same views of Christian doctrine which wei-e brought hither by the original colonists were after a few yeai-s authoritatively embodied in the Cambridge platform, and at a still later period in the Saybrook platform, both of which are still in some sense recognized standards, though both have lost in a great degree their practical force. The common impression seems to be that "for the first century after the landing at Plymouth there was little or no difference of doctrinal views entertained among the ministers of New England, and yet toward the close of the seventeenth century some old controversial pamphlets discovered that there existed the germ of a more liberal party even then, and which caused the stricter Calviuists to detect what they considered signs of defection ; and these foreshowings of things they regarded as portentious, came more seriously to be realized immediately after the great Whiteficldian revival, when the Calvinistic and Arminian differences that had perhaps long secretly existed in the New England Church become too openly revealed to be kept longer hid. For a time the Calvinists and Arminians, though regarding each other with a considerable degree of shyness and distrust, were not formally separated until the liberal party became avowedly Unitarian, when the lines between Trinitarians and Unitarians became distinctly drawn ; and thus it is that now, an hundred years later, we have the Trinitarian and Unitarian Congregationalists in many Massachusetts cities and towns, both sects tracing back to a common origin ancestry or '- mother church," and which separation for a time existed in Middleboro' ; but these differences being soon after reconciled and rentd healed, the first and original Congregational Church of this town reunited in " one faith and one baptism" as Trinitarian Congregationalists.

The pioneer English settlers at Middleboro' were at first embodied as a worshiping congregation under the religious teaching of Samuel Fuller, who was among the twenty-six original or earliest purchasers that bought of the Indians by deed bearing date of March - , 1662, a tract of country that afterwards became the First Parish or Precinct in Middleboro'.

Samuel Fuller, of Middleboro', was a son of the pilgrim Samuel Fuller, a celebrated surgeon and physician, to whom both the pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and also planters of Massachusetts Bay were much indebted for his successful treatment of the diseases of these then new settlements.

Dr. Samuel Fuller was deacon of the Plymouth Church, as is shown by the authority of iMorton's " New England Memorial," that says, " He was deacon of the church and forward to do good in his place, and much missed after God removed him out of thf world."

paring the latter for the gospel ministry, to the labors of wliich he applied himself, as before stated, iti iMiddleboro', and to whose pious zeal may at least doubtless be credited in part the establisliu»cnt, in different parts of that town, of three relii^ious conj:regations among tlie Indians. These Indian churches were gathered at Nemasket, Titicut, and Sowoaiset.

The religious meetings of the Nemasket Church were held abuut a mile southeasterly of the present locaiion of the "down-town meeting-house," so called ; the Titiuut, at an Indian village, in what is now North Middleboro' ; and the Sowomset, at the locality familiarly known as " Betty's Neck," then in Middleboro', but now in Lukeville.

So successful had been the efforts put forth to Christianize the red heathen tliat at the commencement of King Philip's war (June, 1675), although the white inhabitants of Middleboro' consiiiutcd sixteen families, yet the Indian converts at Sowomset numbered thirty-five persons, and the three churclies combined made a membcrsiiip of ninety souls, who from '* nature's darkness" professed to have been brought to a knowledge of the marvelous light of the uospel, and ten years later the churches at Nemasket and Titicut numbered seventy, and that at Numatakesett, alias Betty's Neck, forty, or one liundred and ten in the three worshiping congregations, so that the '* redeemed from sin" among tlie Indians of Middleboro' doubtless outnumbered *' such as shttuld be saved" among the white inhabitants in tlie proportion of two or three to one.

It is a fact worthy of notice that these Indian congregations sat under the preaching of the Indian missionary, a scholar of Cambridge College, now Harvard University, and who assisted Eliot in translating the Bible into the Indian language, and who was, perhaps, the earliest among the natives to proclaim the gospel, which "glad tidings" may have been the more readily received and implicitly believed, because listened to from the lips of John Sausamon.

All records pertaining to the organization of a church among the pioneer English settlers at Middleboro', if indeed any such records were kept prior to King Philip's war, are now lost, and it was not until the return of those settlers from Plymouth, where they had taken refuge during that conflict, that records are known to have been made, reliable copies of which have been preserved, and from wliich we learn that a church was formed, Dec. 2G, 109-4, old style, but as we now compute time, Jan. ti, 1G*J5.

"December 2fi, 161)4. A church of Christ wud gathered at , Middk-burough, furiiierly called by the heathen Xj,iii:iS3ucui, a { fishing jilacf, ut) some say.

"The persond and their naiue:^ that entered into ehutch fcli lowship, some of them metubera uf IMyiiiouth church bel'ure I being didmitsed from Plymouth fur lliat intent; iouic of them menihera uf other churches dwelling here then, and ?omc that ! were never in L-hurch fellowship before that time, uhuie named i are as fotloweih :

I '* Not being present by reuson of sickness in their famil_> . yet I after owning ihe covenant of the rest, being in the e>teem of the I rest, it is as wull as if she were there present at tliat usseuibly. I " Ebenezer Tinkhaui, Isaac Billiogton, Jacob Tomson ; these I then baptized.

I "Also Lidia Bumpu?*, the daughter of Wcibra iJumpus. j "II. In urder to the gathering of a church it pleased Ciod, who hath the hearttt uf all men in his hands, to mo\e upon the hearts of those to desire a church may be gathci eil tn tlii; place, to desire and seek it of God, and Divine I'luvidcnce mailu way for it.

" Letters were sent for ministers and brethren to assist in the work, namely: to Plymouth, Sandwich, and Barnstable; and the Elders sent Mr. John Cotton, Mr, Huulaud Cotton, Mr. Jonathan Uussell, and brethren to assist them.

" Mr. Samuel Fuller, then ordained to be a Teacher to that church, who had lived there auit preached the woril aunmgst Ihcni, whose preaching God had made beneficial to di\crs of them, and made choice of by mutual consent.

"John Bennct, Sr., our brother, ordained Deacon in the church of Middleborough March lUth, being the :>ecund Sabbath in that month, aud chosen by a full eousent to thai utlica some considerable time before (who formerly dwelt at Beverly), whom God, in the way of his providence. Sent to dwell tn Miildleburough, to be serviceable there in church und tuwn. " AuTiCLKS ov ouu CiiitiSTiAV FAnu. "Then also read, owned, and acknowledged by us, at the church gathering:

"I. That the Holy Scriptures, contained in tlic Old and New Testaments, are the word uf God, and arc given by inspiration of Gud to be the rule of faith and life.

" II. That there is but one only living and true God, and that in tbu unity of the Godhead there arc three persons yyi' one substunee, power, and eternity, - God the Father, tiod thu Son, und Gud the Holy Ghust.

"III. That this one (iod - Father, Son, and Holy Glio>t - made the whole world, and all thiugs therein, in the space of six days, very good.

*' V. That our lirst parents, being seduced by the subtilty of Satan, eating the forbidden fruit, sinned against God, and fell from the estate wherein they were created; aud that all man-

*' Vr. Th;it God, in his eternal purpose, chose and ordained the Lord Jesua, bid only be-jotten Son, to be the one and only mediator between God und man, the I'roplict, Priest, and Ktn^, the head and Saviour of h'\A church.

*' VII. That Je?u3 Christ, the second person in the Trinity, is the very and eternal God, of one substance and equal with tlte Father: und when the fullness of time was come the Son

" XVII. That the bodies of men after death turn to dust and :)ee corruption, but their souls which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal substance, immediately return to God who gave them; the souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness, are received into heaven and the souls of the wicked, are cast into hell.

nature, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the ' persons that have lived upon earth shall appear before the judgwomb ()f the Virgin Mary, of her substance, so that the God- j mcnt seat of Christ to give an account of their thoughts, words,

"Vni. The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of biriisclf upon the crui-ei, hath fully satisfied the Justice ' of bis Father, aud purchased not only a reconciliation with God, ;

" IX. Tliat the elect of God are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ by the etfectuul application of it to their souls by his word and Spirit.

'-X. That Justification is an ^.ct of God'a free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sins, aecepteth and accountetb their persons rigbtetms in his :>ight, not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience :ind full satisfaction of Christ imputed to them by God, and received by faith alone.

*' XI. That sanctitication is a work of God's grace, whereby the elect are renewed in the wliole man after the image of God, and arc i-nablcil more aud moru to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.

-* Xir. That whomsoever God hnth accepted in Jesus Christ, effectually called and sanctified by bis Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the slate of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end aud be eternally saved.

" XIII. That the grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the word, by which, also, and by the administration of the sacraments and j>ra}'er, it is inureiised aud strengthened.

"XIV. That the visible church under the gospel is not confined to one nation as it was under the law, but consists uf alt those throughout the world that profess the true religion according to the gospel order and their children; and is the kingdom of our Lnrd Jesus Christ, the house and family of God; and that unto lliis church Christ hath given the ministry, grace, and ordinances uf God, for tlie gathering and perfecting of saints to the end uf the world; and doth by his own presence and spirit according to his promise, make them elfectual thereunto.

'* Forasmuch as it bath pleased God, wliu tiath commanded us to pray daily that bia kingdom may come, and be advanced, and hath given direction in his holy word, and manifold encouragements to bis poor servants to seek and set forward his worship and the concernuienta of his glory; we do, therefore, personally present ourselves this day iu the holy presence of G«id, to transact with Him this great afl'air of His kingdom and glory, and of oar own salvation, and humbling ourselves before the Lord for all our sins and the sins uf ours, earnestly praying for pardoning mercy and reconciliation with God through tlte bloud of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the gracious presence and assistance of His holy spirit, under a deep sense of our own weakness and uoworthinoss, and with an bumble cuntidence in his favorable acceptation ; caob of us for ourselves and all of us jointly together, enter into a holy covenant with God and one with one another; that i« to aai/. We do according to the terms und tenor of the everlasting covenant first give u|> ourselves and our offspring unto the Lord God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, OS the one only true and living God ; All-suUicient and our God, in covenant; and unto our Lord Jesus Christ uur only Saviour, our Prophet, Priest, and King; the only mediator of the covenant of grace, promising and covenanting through the help of His grace to cleave to God and to our Lord Jesus by faith in a way of Gospel obedience with full purpo.se of heart as his covenant people forever.

"And we do also by this act of confederation give up ourselves one unto another in the Lord according to the wilt of God, promising and engaging to oleave and walk together in Ituly union and communion as members of the saute mystical body and as an instituted church of Christ, rightly instituted and established iu the true faith and order of tlie Gospel ; further obliging ourselves by this our lioly covenant to keep and maintain the holy word and worship of God committed to us and endeavor faithfully to transmit it to our posterity, to cleave unto and uphold the true gospel ministry as it is established by Jesus Christ in bis church, to have it in due honor and esteem for the work's sake; to subject ourselves fully and word, as also the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Clirist, n:imely. Baptism and tlie Lord's Supper, and all parts of the onlinary religious worship of Gud, besides solemn fasting:^ and thanksgivings, upon special occasions, wliieli are in their several times and sea^ions to he used in ii huly and religious manner.

in ttie dispensation of the word, the administration of the sacraments - the Lord's Supper - to members in full communion and without ofi'eoce, and Baptism to visible cliureh members and their infant seed, as also for the due application of the holy discipline, with love, care, aud faithfulness: watching one over anutber and over the children of the covenant growing up with us, and all in obedience to the blessed rule and government of

-'This our holy church coveuaot we do, ia most solemn muaner, take upon our souls iu all the parts of it, with full purpose of heart as tlie Lord shall help us, and according to the measure of grace received, we will walU before and with God fully, steadfastly, and constantly in the discharge of all covenant duties each to other; and the Lord keep us forever in the thoughts and imagination of ilie hearts of us his poor servants to estahlish our hearts unto Him ; and the good Lord pardon every one of us that prepareth his heart to seek the Lord (iod of his fathers. Amen."

Tlio foregoing, pertaioiug to the earliest records, as also the " articles of Christian faith" and Chinch Covenant," are all copied from -' An Historical Account of the First Church iu Middlehoro', Mass.," as published in book-form by that church iu 1854.

Rev. Samuel Fuller, first pastor of the First Church iu Middleboro', was one of the twenty-six original English purchasers of what, with otlier purchases, was iucorporated as a township under that name, June - , 1()U9, or about seven years subsequent to the date of that fir.st purchase, and he was also aiuoug the earliest actual settlers of European descent, and from the cummenceuient of that settlement the religious teacher of those who had here come to uiake for themselves a home in the wilderness.

In IGSU, the next year after the returu of these settlers to Middleboro' from Plymouth, where they had taken refuge in King Philip's war, Samuel Fuller, with two othei's of those twenty-six original purcluisers, viz., John Thompson and Francis Coombs, were elected selectmen of Middleboro', and the same year the towu Voted to provide Mr. Fuller with a house-lot, to consist of twelve acres of laud, whcreuu he seemed to have already erected a house, which tradition .saitli stood a little east of the Dr. Sturtevant house, so called.

The town also voted to Mr. Samuel Fuller a yearly salary of twenty pounds, to be paid one-(|uarter in silver aud the remainder in coru, at two shillings per bushel, or wheat at four shillings per bushel; and the town also I'urthor voted " to turn out and fence his field, aud every one that did not was to pay a bushel of corn," being actuated, as were God's still tuore ancient people, with zeal to rebuild the waste places of Jerusalem, so were those of this his more modern Israel to rescue from the spoil done by the red heathen, for in both instances it appears that " the people had a mind to work" (Nehemiah iv. (i).

Let it be ob.served that from the date of that first purchase and earliest settlement to the breaking out of King Philip's war was thirteen years, which sanguinary conflict caused the purchase to be vacated by its English inhabitants almost four years, added to which nearly sixteen years after their return weie suffered to pass before this church was regularly gathered and organized, or their religiou.s teacher ordained as a Christian minister.

From the date at which Mr. Fuller began hi> labors as a religious teacher at Middleboro' until that of his ordination was evidently a jioriod of sunnthirty-two years, and although he died before the close of the same year in which he was ordained, yet had the people of Middleboro' sat under his preuuhiiig nearly thirty years.

"Here lyes buried y*-' body of y^' Rev. Samuel Fuller, whu departed this life Aug. y* 17'*', lOUJ, in y*-' 71'*' year of his age. lie wua y"-" 1^' uiinister of y"^ Church of Christ in Miildlebo rough."

John Bennet, the first or earliest deacuu of this church, was a sou of Peter Bennet, of Bristol in England, and John was probably burn there in or about 1642. He emigrated to America, arriving in Virginia iu 1G65; lived awhile at Beverly, aud froui thence removed to Middleboro' ; ordained deacon March 8, 1695. He died March 21, 1718, aged seventy-six years. He was a selectman of Middleboro' in 1602, '93, '95, '97, and '98. He was elected town clerk March 28, 1693, and probably served thirteen years.