Plymouth Town (part 32 of 54)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

History Of Plympton

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The above li.st, as perfect as the defective rolls at tlie State- House and private papers in tlie hands of the writer can make it, covers six hundred and thirtysix separate enlistments. According to the United States census of 1790 the population of Plympton was nine hundred and fifty-six, and that of Carver eiglit hundred and forty-seven, making the population of Plympton during tlie Revolution about eighteen hundred. It is not probable that many towns can boast, as it is possible for Plympton to do, of having furnished enlistments nearly e(|ual in number to onethird of tlieir population. Of course, it must be borne in mind that in the above computation the several enlistments of the same soldiers are counted. It is apparent that the military spirit of the town was peculiarly active. For some time before the war four militia companies existed within her borders, and as early as 1701, before the incorporation of the town, when it existed only as a precinct, a training-place was provided for its inhabitants by a vote of the town of Plymouth. When the war broke out, the old parent town, with a much larger population, contained only the same number of companies. The number of men in Plymouth of whom nominal military service wa.s required was much larger, but a large portion of them were members of the alarm-bands only, which were simply annexes of the train-bands, and only liable on special occasions to be called upon for active duty.

The Revolutionary history of Plympton must not be closed without special reference to Deborah Sampson, a native of the town, who in male entire enlisted as a soldier in 1782, and served without detection until October, 1783. She was a descendant from Abraham Sampson, who came from England about 1G29, and settled in Duxbury. Isaac Sampson, son of Abraiiam, was one of the earliest settlers of Plympton, and married Lydia, daughter of Alexander Slaudiah, and granddaughter of Miles. Jonathan Sampson, son of Isaac, married Joanua Lucas in

1721, and had a son, Jonathan, who married Deborah, daughter of Eliaha Bradford, of Kingston, and greatgranddaughter of Governor Bradford. The last Jonathan, of Plympton, was the father of Deborah, the subject of this sketch, who was Ijorn Dec. 17, 1760. Her great-great-grandfather, Alexander Standish, married Sarah, daughter of John Alden, and it will thus be seen that her ancestry was a distinguished one, and that tlie blood of Bradford, Stundish, Alden, Lucas, and Sampson mingled in her vein.s. At the age of five years she lived for a short lime with a maiden lady by the name of Fuller, and then entered the family of Mrs. Thacher, probably the wife or widow of Peter Thacher, of Middleboro'. At the age of ten she became an inmate of the family of Deacon Jeremiah Thomas, of 31iddleboru', and there probably remained until she enlisted, a part of the time teaching one of the schools of that town. In May, 1782, having secured a male dress, made by a tailor in Middleboro' of cloth spun and woven by herself, she disappeared from that town, first going to New Bedford with the expectation of there shipping on board of a privateer. Not liking the appearance of the oflScers of the vessel, she traveled to Wrentham and Dedham, and finally to Bellinghani, where, under the name of Robert Shurtlcff, she enlisted on the 21st of May as one of the quota of the town of Uxbridge. She was attached to the company of Capt. Wells, in Col. Shepard's regiment and Gen. Patterson's brigade, and in the descriptive list of the company was described as five feet seven and a half inches high, with hazel eyes, inclining to blue. From Bellingham she was sent to Worcester, West Point, Harlem, and White Plains. Her company was afterwards transferred to Col. Henry Jackson's regiment, and, according to her own statement repeatedly made, took part in the siege of Yorktown, and witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis. The surrender took place, however, Oct. 19, 1781, and if the above date of her enlistment be correct this passage in her history must be omitted. Her own statement was that she enlisted in May, 1781 ; but certain records in Middleboro' seem to make the statement a doubtful one. It must be left, therefore, a mooted question whether, on the one hand, the records in Middleboro' are incorrect, or whether her statements, made probably some years after the enlistment, are founded on an imperfect recollection of her service.

In June, 1782, she was wounded iu the temple and the groin, and though sent to the ho.spilal, her sex escaped discovery. The bullet in her groin she extracted with her own hands, and thus the wound in that locality was coDcealed from the eyes of the sur- geon. Iq the summer of 1783 she was attacked by a fever and sent to a hospital in Pliiladelphia, wliere Dr. Binney, tlie pliysiciaii in charge, discovered her disguise, and caused her to be removed, - first, to the apartments of Mrs. Pariier, the n)atron, and then to his own house, llepresentations were at once made to Gen. Patterson, as whose aide-de-camp slie liud served tor a time, and on the 23d of October, 17S3, slie wa.s discharged. In November she returned liome, and April 7, 1784, married Benjamin Gannett, a farmer of Sharon. After her discharge she received the following certificate :

" Tliii may certify that Rubeit SUurtlelf waa a :jul Jici- in uiy Ue^iinunt in tbu Cuucinuutal army tor tlie toivn of Uibritlj^e iu the Cuinnionwealtli of Massiichu^ett;?, and wiid unlisted fur the terni of three years ; that he had the conliilence of hid othcers, did Ins duty as a faithful and good soldier, and was honorably diichai'^ed tlio army of the United States.

"War Dei'.vrtsiknt, March II, 1805. '*Siit, - -You are hereby apprised that Deborah Kannett, who served as a soldier in the army of the United Slates during the late llcvolutiouary war, and who was severely wounded therein, has this day been placed on the Pension list of the United States at the rate of four dollars per month, to commencu on the tirst day of January, 180:^. You will be pleased to enter her name on your books and pay her or her legally-authorixed attorney on application accordingly.

" Whereas, it appears to this Court that Deborah Gannett enlisted under the name of Robert Shurtletl', in Capt. Wells' company in the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment May 21, 1781, and did actually perform the duties of a soldier in the late Arcoy of the United States to the 23"! of October, 178a, for which she has received no compensation; and, whereas, it further appears that the said Deborah e.xhibited an e.vtraordinary instance of female heroism by discharging the duties of a faithful gallant soldier, and at the same time preserved the virtue and chastity of her sex unsuspected and unblemished, and was discharged from the service with a fair and honorable character; Therefore, Resolved, that the Treasurer of the Commonwealth be and hereby is directed to issue his note to said Deburah for the sum of thirty-four pounds, bearing interest from October 2^1, 1783.

Deborah Gannett died in Sharon, April 21), 1827, at the age of sixtyeigiit years, leaving her husband, Benjamin, who died Jan. 1), 1837, at the age of eighty years, and a son, Capt. Earl B. Gannett, who died June 9, 1845, at the age of Qfty-niue years.

In 1832 aQ act was passed by Congress awarding pensions to widows of soldiers, and iu aceoidaiiee with the spirit of this act, a special provision w.is made for the payment of a pension to Benjauiin Gannett as the hu.iband of a deceased soldier, and he received the same during the remainder uf his life.

For some years after the Revolution Plyinptuij, like most small towns, felt the buideus which the war had imposed, and the drain on its finaiicial resource-, which the constant demand for men and means had caused. It was not until the early part of the [ireseiit century that a new wave of activity and enterprije began to set in. Up to the time of the llevulutiun the occupation of tlie people had been chietiy cmifiiied to agriculture. A few saw-mill* and grist-mills were in operation, and the old forge, erected by Joseph Thomas and afterwards owned by Joseph Scult arid a l^Ir. Beachani, of Boston, had kept steadily at work. Where the tack-factory now stands an old rurn.iee. erected iu or about 1713, had manufactured luure or less castings, and in the latter part of its c;iieer, :it the beginning of the Revolution, was engaged in the manufacture of canuon and cannon-balls from die ore found iu the ponds of the neighborhood- During the Revolution, however, tliis furnace ceased operations, and Mr. Gideon Bradford, its last manager, removed to Charlotte Furuace, in the south part of what is now Carver, where it is said the first hollow-ware in this country was cast. To the Parker family belongs the credit of creating that revival of business which, during many years, while, in anticipation of steam, the water-power of the country held undisputed sway, made Plympton an active and prosperous town. Rev. Jonathan Parker, the second minister of the luwii, married Ruth, daughter of Rev. John Avery, of Truro. His childreD were Ruth, Jonathan, John Avery, Elizabeth, and Avery. He married for a second wife Lydia, daughter of Joseph Dartlett, of Plymouth. His son, Jonathan, born in 173G, on account of a blindness which had afflicted him from early manhood, was able to make little use of the intellectual vigor he had inherited from his father. He married, in 1765, Abigail, daughter of Polycarjms Loring, and had Oliver, born in 17tJG; Polycarpu.s, 1767; John Avery, 1769; Ruth, 1771; Jonathan, 1774; Jacob, 1776; and Abigail, 1778. He bought a privilege on the Wiunatuxet River of James Allen, Jeremiah Allen, John Brown, and Martha Brown in 178G, on which he built a forge and blacksmith-shop for the manufacture of shovels. Of his children, John Avery married Averick, daughter of Shadraeh Stundish, of Plympton, and early removed to Dart- mouth, from whence he removed to New Bedford, where he became, as is well known, lar;;ely and most successfully eD;;aged in the whale 5shery. Jonathan married, first. Silence, dau<:hter of Asaph Soule, and, lecond, Polly, daughter of Asa Sherman, by the last of whom he had Polly Stephens, born in 1809, who married Isaiah Churchill; Zaccheus, 1810, who married Betsey, dau-^hter of Ansel Bartlett, of Plyiuoulh ; Silence, 1812, who married Joshua C. Thompson ; Lucy, 1816, who married Thomas Lorin-^; Betsey, 1818, who married Josiah S. Hammond; Abi^'ail Lorin;^, 1822, who married Asaph Wood; Hannah Stephens, 1824; and Jonathan, 1826, who married Helen, daughter of Jacob Parker, of New Bcdlbrd. He first eu2a<;ed in the niauulacture of shovels, and afterwards in the management of a store, whicli, since his time conducted by his son, Zaccheus, and grandson, Lewis Bradford Parker, is now successfully carried on by a great-grandson, the son of Lewis, whose recent death closed a life honorable to liimself and useful to his fellow-citizens. Oliver, the oldest son, bought of his father, in 1803, the forge and hlacksmith-shop which he had carried on, and continued in the business of his father. Alter his death the works were successively carried on by his son, Oliver, and grandson, Gustavus, and under the ownership of tlie last, while managed by Nathaniel Sherman, they were burned.

In 1822 a rolling-mill was erected near the shovelworks, and conducted by Ebenezer Lobdell, either under his ownership or that of a company, on a privilege bought of Oliver Parker in that year. At that date, wliiuh was the culminating period of the manufacturing industries of the town, there were within its limits four gristmills, five saw-mills, the iron-mill above referred to, a cotton-factory, and a cotton- and woolen-factory. The iron company finally failed, and the property, after passing through the hands of N. Russell & Co., of Plymouth, was sold to Oliver Parker, who took down the mill and used the material in rebuilding his shovel-works. The cotton-factory, built in 1813, is now engaged in the manufacture of shoestrings. The cotton- and woolenfactory, on the same stream with the cotton-factory and shovel-works and rolling-mill, was built in 1814 and burned not many years since. Soon after the erection of the rolling-mill its owners bought of Martin Hayward a privilege on the south branuh of Joues River, and erected a nail-factory, from which the plates used in the manuTactory of nails were rolled at their mill. On the failure of the company this property came into the hands of Mr. Hayward, the old owner of the privilege, who at first engaged in the manufacture of horseshoe-nails. In 1863, Pri.scella F. Hayward sold the factory to E. Y. Perry & Co., of Hanover, who in 186G sold it to Franklin P. Farrar, who, in turn, sold it in 1867 to Mary Harrub. The old mill and privilege are now used by Frederick M. Harrub, the son of Mary Harrub, for the manufacture of tacks. The manufacturing industry of the town is now limited to sevural sawand grist-mills, the shoestring-factory, the factory of Mr. Harrub, and a shoe-factory under the management of Mr. George Randall, which is situated uu the westerly side of the road facing the green.

In connection with this period in the life of Plynipton it is proper to make some alluaion to one of its sons, to whom not only the town in its corporate capacity, but every descendant from its early settlers, is indebted for the conscientious thoroughness and fidelity with which he gathered up and recorded the incidents of its history. Lewis Bradford was a lineal descendant from Governor William Bradford, through the second William, John, Samuel, Gideon and Levi. Samuel, born in 1683, removed early to Plympton. He married, in 1714, Sarah, daughter of Edward Gray, of Tiverton, and among his children had Gideon, born in Plympton in 1718, who married, in 1741, Jane, daughter of Ichabod Paddock. Gideon had among his children Levi, born in Plympton in 1743, who married, in 1764, Elizabeth, daughter of Daniel Lewis, of Pembroke. Elizabeth Lewis was the granddaughter of Rev. Daniel Lewis, the first minister of Pembroke, and from her family the subject of this sketch derived his name. Lewis Bradford was the son of Levi, and was born in Plympton in 1768. In 1807 he was admitted a member of the Plympton Church, and shortly after chosen its clerk. In 1814 he was chosen deacon, and held that position until his death. His church records are extremely full, carefully written, and in the narration of current events, and in memoranda relating to the ancient history of the precinct, possess a value which few records of that character can equal. He was chosen town clerk in 1812, and until his death the town records are full of evidence that he performed his official duties with even more completeness than the law required or t4io most exacting demands of his constituents could expect. The writer has examined many town records, and it is a wholly inadequate characterization of those of Mr. Bradford to say that for general statement, genealogical information, and historic hints he has never seen them equaled or even approached.

iiij; ilio Whig party, tu which he bulongod, presented EuJora Rowland, 1807, who married Francis L. Aliiiiu with a gold-iieaded cane. In addition to the i dun; Algernon Sydney, 1S09, Marcia Lobdcll, 1811, church and town records, to which lie devoted much ! who married John H. Cogshall, of New Bedford, and (if his lime, he kept a volamiuous diary wliich, if care- j John Hornby, of Pouglikeepsie ; Maria Louisa, who fully examined, would probably disclose much of value j married Daniel Ricketson, of New Bedford ; Algeruuii to the student of Old Colony history. This diary has Sydney again, 1815, who married Adeline Lombard; been presented to the Congregational Association iu , Ruth Lobdell, 1811*, who married Daniel Hathaway, Boston, and is deposited in a ease iu the library of ' of Fair HuvcQ ; Zabdiel Silsbee, 1821, who married the association, to which a label is attached describ- Helen M. Bird, and Judith Lobdell and Nancy iug the contents. A private and personal diary, be- Jiipley (twins), 1827, the last of whom man iud James "un March 30, 1802, when the writer was thirty- : L. Baker, of Hingham. Mr. Sampson graduated at four years and ten days old, and continued until the ! Brown University in 1803, and devoted hinjsilf to day bel'ore iiis death, Aug. 9, 1851, tills ninety vol- , the study of law. He afterwards removed to Plyinumes, ill nineteen parcels. A journal of religious ] outh, and in ISlG was chosen a representative to meetings and conferences, funerals, etc., from June ] Congress. He was active in the afl'airs of his 18, 1801), to Aug. 8, 1S51, fills thirty-two volumes, in j adopted town, and in 1820 was appointed collector eight parcels; a private record of deaths and funerals | of customs for the port of Plymouth, the duties of from June 8, 1815, to May 27, 1851, fills six vol- [ which he continued to perform until his death iu umes, in two parcels, and a supplementary volume | 1728.

contains all the deaths from Jan. 1, 1812, to May To Henry Martyn Dexter, another representative 11, 184G. These one hundred and thirty-one duo- ; of the later history of Plympton, reference has already decimo volumes contain, according to an estimate I been made. His father was the pastor of the Plympmade by the writer, who has seen them, twenty-one j ton Church from 180!t to 1851, and his mother was thousand one hundred and twenty pages. Mr. Brad- [ Mary, daughter of Natiiuniel Morton, a sister of Goviord was thrown I'rom a carriage while returning from ernor Marcus Morton, and a descendant from George church Aug. 10, 1851, and almost instantly killed. ! Morton, who came in the " Ann" in 1G23. Mr. Dexter It is proper to add the suggestion that the records of ' was born in Plympton Aug. 13, 1821, and graduated Mr. Bradford, as well aa the earlier records of the i at Yale College in 1840. In 184-1 he graduated town, should not be permitted to exist in a single ^ from the Andover Theological Seminary, and was copy. It would be a wise and prudent act on the ] ordained November 9th in the same year as pastor of part of the town to cause accurate -copies to be made \ the Franklin Street Church in Manchester, N. H. He at once and deposited in the registry of deeds for the i remained in Mauchesteruntil 1849, when he was settled county. Neither the town nor the community at 1 over the Pine Street Society in Boston, which later large can afford to lose by fire or otherwise so valua- | became the Berkeley Street Congregational Society.

In 1843 he received the degree of A.M. from Yale, in 1863 the same degree from Brown University, in 1865 the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Iowa, and in 1880 the degi-ce of S.T.D. from Yale, and in 1867 retired from the ministry to devote himself to literary pursuits, in which his labors have been assiduous and distinguished. From 1859 to 18G6 he