Plymouth Town (part 33 of 54)

Another gentleman representing this precinct in the history of Plympton was Zabdiel Sampson. Ho was a lineal descendant from Abraham Sampson, who came from England about 1629 and settled in Duxbury. George, the son of Abraham, removed to Plympton, and among his sons had George, born in 1691, who married in 1718 Hannah, daughter of was associate editor of the Congreffalioual (Juarterlj/, Benjaiuin Soule. Among the sons of George was i and during the same period associate editor of the Zabdiel, born in 1727, who married first, in 1747, Congrtgatlonalist. Since 18G7 he has been editor- Abiuail, daughter of Benjamin Cushman, and second, in-chief of the Congregationulint, and from 1877 to Abiah, daughter of Richard Whitmarsh, of Abing- 1879 he was lecturer on Congregationalism in Andover ton. By his second wife he had George, born in [ Theological Seminary. He has been also prolific in 1755, who married, in 1780, Hannah, daughter of | coutributions to the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," the Richard Cooper, and had Zabdiel in question, born [ British Quarterly, and the " Memorial History of in 1781, and Schuyler, 1797, who became a well- 1 Boston." Besides pamphlets, occasional sermons, and known and respected citizen of Plymouth. Zabdiel j papers of transient interest he has published "Street married in 1804, Ruth, daughter of Ebenezer Lob- ! Thoughts," in 1859; "Twelve Discourses," iu 18G0 ; dell, of Plympton, and had Milton Lobdell, 1805, " Congregationalisui : what it is; whence it is; how it works : why it is better than any other form of Cliurcli Governiueut," in 18(j5 ; " The Verdict ol" llea>ou upon llie Question of the Future Punishment of those who die Impenitent," in 18G5 ; " A j;hinee at tlie Eeclesiaatical Councils of New England, " 18U5; "The Church Polity of the Pilgrims the Polity of the New Testament," 1870; " Memoranda: I'ilgrim History," 187U ; " As to Roger Williams and his Banishment from the Massachusetts Colony," 187U; "'The Congregationalism of the last three hundred Years as seen in its Literature, with special Reference to certain recondite, neglected or disputed Passages, with a Bibliographical Appendix," 1880; '- The True Story of John Smyth the Se. Baptist u:! told by himself and his Cotemporaries : with an Inquiry whether Dipping were a new Mode of Baptism in England in or about 1G41, and some consideration of the Historical Value of certain Extracts from the alleged ' Ancient Records' of the Baptist Church of Epworthe, Crowle, and Butterwick, England, lately published, and claimed to suggest important moditicalions of the history of the Seventeenth Century, with Collections toward a Bibliography of the first two Generations of the Baptist Controversy," 1881 ; and in the same year " A Hand-Book of Congregationalism." He also edited " Church's King Philip's War and Eastern Expeditions," a literal reprint, in 1865 ; in the same year " Mourt's Relation," a literal reprint; and in 1881, "Roger Williams' Christenings make not Christians," a long-lost tract printed in 1645, and exactly reprinted. Dr. Dexter married Nov. 19, 1844, Emeline, daughter of Simeon Palmer, of Boston, and has had four children, Henry Morton (^born July 12, 1846, who married, June 9, 1881, Emily Loud, daughter of Hon. John E. Sanford, of Taunton), Winifred (born July 1, 1849, who died the day alter her birth), Lizzie Clarendon (born Aug. 20, 1851, who died Dec. 31, 18G1), Mary Palmer (born Nov. 21, 1856, who died Oct. 29, 18G1). He now resides in New Bedford, where it is understood that he is engaged in the preparation of a new history of Plymouth Colony. Such a work from such competent hands cannot fail to receive a cordial welcome.

Nor in mentionin<r the distinguished men who have claimed Plympton as their birthplace, must William Bradford of Bristol, R. I., be omitted, whose name was overlooked in the description of the period to whicli he belonged. He was a lineal descendant from the Governor whose name he bore. He was the brother of Gideon Bradford, the grandfather of Lewis Bradford already referred to. He was born in 1729, und married in 1750, Mary, daughter of William Le

Baron, and had William, 1752, who married Betsey B. James; Le Baron, 1754, who, married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Davis, of Plymouth ; John, who married Jemima Wardwell ; Hersey, wlio married Abby De Wolf and Abby Atwood ; Lydia, who married James Collins ; Nancy, who married Jame.-s De Wolf; Mary, who married Henry Goodwin, and Hannah, who married G. Baylies. Mr. Bradford removed soon after his marriage to Bristol, and became Deputy Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and United Statea senator.

In connection with tiie Bradford family of Plympton it may not be out of place to state that probably that branch of the Governor's family was the depository of many of the valuable papers belonging to the arciiives of the Old Colony. William, the oldest son, probably received them from his father and transmitted them to his oldest son, John, of Kingston. Samuel, of Plympton, wa.s the son of John, and to his family have already been traced two invaluable illustrations of Old Colony history. One of these is Governor's Bradford's history of Plymouth Plantations, and the other the patent issued to the Governor and his associates by the Council for New England in 1G29.

By a recent discovery in th^ court records at the State-House the writer is enabled to fill the gap which has previously existed in the history of the latter important relic. He has in his possession a letter dated 1741, from an attorney in Boston to Josiah Cotton, of Plymouth, stating that with reference to the controversy then going on relative to the boundary between Massachusetts and Rhode Island it was important that the patent then missing should be found. Mr. Cotton afterwards stated in his diary that it was found after diligent searcli in the possession of a Bradford family in Plympton. From that time until 1820, when the commissioners appointed by the Legislature to examine the Old Colony records reported that they found it in the office of the Plymouth registry of deeds, its wanderings have never been recorded. The entry discovered by the writer shows, however, that when it was found it was placed in the hands of Samuel Wells, one of the Council, where it remained until 1749, when it was sent to the Plymouth Registry, where it has since remained. The entry is as follows :

It is Dot itnprobuble that other portions of the archives of inestimable value, including the famous compact itself, may have found their resting-place iti Plyiupton, and been finally destroyed either by carelessness or unavoidable accident.

Until the war of the Rebellion nothing worthy of relation occurred in the history of Plympton. During that protracted struggle its patriotic eflorts were similar to those of other towns in the Old Colony. On the 16th of April, 1861, the day alter the surrender of Fort Sumter, in obedience to orders received during the night of the 15th, twenty-two Plympton men, members of Company H, of the Third Regiment of Massachusetts militia, reported on Boston Common. These were as follows:

These men left Boston on Thursday, the IStli, in the " S. R. Spaulding," for Fortress Monroe, and on the 23d were mustered into the service of the United States for three months. The subsequent enlistments, with dates of muster, company, regiment, and terms of service, were as follows :

1862. William H. Clark, killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863. Ezra B. Churchill, died at Newberne July 2, 1864. Stephen Clark, Jr., died at Algiers, La., July 16, 1863. William P. Eldredge, wounded at Gettysburg, and died in

1863. John Haley, died at Point Comfort July o, 1862. Thomas Haley, died at New Orleans April 6, 1863. John Jordan, wounded at second Bull Run Aug. 20, 1862, and

At a town-meeting held April 24, 18G1, it was voted that " the credit of the town is hereby pledged to those belonging to this town who have left as volunteers in Company H of tlie Third Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, and also to those who may hereafter either volunteer or be drafted from this town to fight in defense of our government in a sum sufiBcient, taken in connection with the pay received from government, either state or national, to make the .sum total of twenty dollars per month from tiic time they are actually engaged in such military duty. And in case of the decease the said extra pay is to be paid by the town to their heirs." This vote was passed by a vote of seventy-four to four. It was also voted that a committee of one from each school district be appointed to visit the families of the soldiers and pro- j vide for such as might need assistance to the extent ; of nine dollars per month, the same to be deducted j from the extra pay. Reuben Thompson was appointed from the First District, Rufus Wright from

Perkins from the Fourth, Jauies C. Ellis from the \ Fifth, and George W. Sherman from the Sixth. On j the 5th of Augu.st, 1862, it was voted to pay a [ bounty of one hundred dollars to soldiers enlisting to fill the pending quota of the town, and on the 1st of i September the same sum was voted for a bounty to recruits under the succeeding quota. On the 10th | of June, 18G5, it was voted to pay the sum of three I hundred dollars, if legal so to do, to those who had been drafted in 1863, and had found substitutes. And it was also voted to refund tlie money paid by individuals for the purpose of filling the various quotas of the town.

It will thus be seen that from a population of about eight hundred Plympton furnished one hundred and twenty-eight soldiers during the war. Of these thirty-four represent re-enlistments, leaving ninetythree inhabitants who actually performed service.

It will not be necessary to prolong this sketch with any history of the schools. The incorporation of the town did not take place until the school system was thoroughly established, and the simple duty was to follow in the course which had been already marked out. Under the old district system there were six districts and six schools. In 1876 the school district system was abandoned by the town, though it had had no legal existence for many previous years. With a somewhat diminished population it is now found that five schools meet all the requirements, and, during the last year, these were carried ou at an expense of $1208.18. The number of children in the town between the ages of five and fifteen is ninety, making an average of eighteen for each school. The school committee in their last report recommended the abandonment of two of their schools, believing that at the same cost a higher standard of education can bo maintained. With this allusion to the means of instruction existing in the town this narrative must close.

Biographical Sketch Reuben A. Wilbur

REUBEN A. WILBUR. Reuben Alden Wilbur, son of Zibeon and Lydia (Wilbur) Wilbur, was born in Raynhani, Mass., Dec. 5, 1814. Zibeon Wilbur was a native of Raynham, a blacksmith by trade, and resided in Raynham and Taunton the most of his life, dying at Taunton, Dec. 22, 1829, aged fifty-four years. His wife survived him several years. She died Jan. 26, 1870, at the age of eighty-nine. Their children were Lydia (doceased), married, first, Alonzo Dean, second, Charles Dtan ; Dinah (deceased), married Stephen Austin, of Taunton ; Stella (deceased), married Joseph R. Wheeler, of Dighton ; Mary H. fdeceased), married George C. Lincoln ; Zibeon, Elijah, Jacob (deceased ;, and Reuben A.

With a large family of children to support. J[r. W^ilbur could only give his children the advantages of the common schools of the day, and those but for a short time, and Reuben, Jan. 2, 1826, being only a little more than eleven years old, engaged to work in the cotton-mill of Crocker & Richmond, at Taunton, and continued in their employ until their failure in tlie financial crisis of 1837. Mr. Wilbur then worked in factories in Dighton and Lonsdale for about a year, when he returned to Taunton, where he remained eight years employed in the Hopewell Mill ; his industry, faithfulness to his work, and his unblemished character being always a recommendation to a good situation. In 1846 one of his former employers, Mr. Richmond, "started up plaid-gingham works," and Mr. Wilbur was employed by him in setting up machines in various places.

In 1848 a Mr. Chandler engaged with John Avery Parker to make cotton cloth by contract, in the Plympton Cotton-Mill, and Mr. Wilbur's services were secured by Mr. Chandler, he having perfect confidence in Mr. Wilbur's abilities, from his long experience in the business. This connection continued for seven years. In 1855, Messrs. Chandler & Wilbur purchased the mill from the executors of John Avery Parker, and manufactured until the fall of 1857, when from the depreciation of values, and great loss in their oollections, they were compelled to close up the business and suspend operations. Mr. Wilbur's hard-earned savings of years were swept away. He was at once requested by capitalists to purchase tiie mill for himself, and they would be his financial backers. Mr. Wilbur said, however, that " he had risked and lost his own money, but that he would never lose or risk a dollar for any other man," and did not accept their otTer. After passing a year in Taunton, Mr. Wilbur was engaged April 1, 1859, by Mr. Jenkins, as agent and superintendent of the Plympton Cotton-Mills, and has held that position ever since (twenty-five years).

112'Jone cliild, Reuben Augustioe. Mrs. Mary Wilbur JieJ iu 1842, and Jlr. Wilbur married, second, Naucy A., daughter of William and Melinda Evans, of Berkeley, i They had two children, - Mary A., who married ' Nelson Sherman, of Carver, has one child, and Franklin P., who is engaged in the mill with his father, as overseer iu the carding-room. Mrs. Nancy Wilbur died May 25, 1872.

Reuben Augustine Wilbur, son of Reuben A. and Mary (Strange) Wilbur, was graduated from Harvard Medical School, and practiced his profession of a physician in Taunton, then in San Francisco, and finally settled in Tucson, Arizona, where he pursued bis chosen avocation for seventeen years successfully, when be was prostrated by heart-disease, and died at bis father's house in Plympton, aged forty-two years.

was gaining for himself name and fortune, he was taken away in the full prime of his life. II is loss to bis friends, who held him in the highest esteem for his sterling integrity, deep sincerity, and kindly disposition, is great. He left, a widow and three children, who are now residing in Arizona.

Mr. Wilbur is a Democrat in his political views, casting his first vote for Martin Van Buren. He has never accepted or desired otiiuial position, but applying himself with an untiring energy and indefatigable industry to his work, he had been financially successful. Such has been his close attention to his business that for the last fifteen years be has never pa-ssed a night away from his home. Mr. Wilbur is characterized by modest and unassuming manners, is a kind neighbor, good friend, and loyal citizen, and a worthy example of what perseverance, diligence, and fidelity can accomplish.

History Oy Halif

The towu of Halifax lies near the centre of the county, and is bounded as follows : On the north by Pembroke and Hanson, on the east by Plympton, on the south by Plympton and Middleboro', and on the west by Bridgewater and East Bridgewater.

The lown was incorporated July 4, 1734, and named in honor of the Earl of Halifax. One year prior to this, however, in 1733, a house of worship was built, and the first pastor of the church was Rev. John Cotton, a man of distinction and author of the " History of Plymouth Church."

The people of Halifax were earnest in their support of the colonial cause. It is related that just before the Revolution a soldier named Taylor deserted from the British company stationed at Marshfield, and fled to the house of Thomas Drew, in Halifax. Three of the company were detailed to take the deserter back. One of the number went ahead and represented to Taylor that he too was a deserter, hoping thereby to detain him until the others should arrive. Mr. Drew, however, divined the intent and advised Taylor to flee to the woods, which he did. The British soldiers were so enraged to find their man had escaped that they went to the house of Noble Thompson, who was sick in bed, and threatened to shoot him on the spot unless he revealed the hiding-place of the deserter. Thompson, with that courage which rendered the colonial cause triumphant, rose in his bed and taking down his gun, which hung above his head on wooden hooks, brought it to his shoulder, and with fire flushing from his eyes exclai(ued, " You are dead men, or leave my house I" They did not tarry for a second invitation, but immediately started on their return to join their company in Marshfield. The news of the affair, however, spread like wildfire, and upon reaching the meeting-house they were met by two minute-men, Bradford and Bartlett, who ordered them to stop and surrender. Their guus being hurs da coinbut, the British soldiers drew their pistols on them, at the same time ordering them into the road, and marched them down to the house of Daniel Dunbar, a Tory, and held them as prisoners. Hardly an hour had elapsed before the house was surrounded by the entire company of minute-men, and the surrender of their comrades demanded, which was refused. They then threatened to break in the house and take them by force. The British soldiers retaliated by saying that if they did so they would instantly kill the two prisoners, who entreated their friends not to molest them, as they felt sure the threat would be executed. The two men, Bradford and Bartlett, were finally bound over by Josiah Sturtevant, a king's justice, to be tried for breaking the law upon the king's highway.

June 7, 1777, the town voted to give one hundred and fifty dollars for men to fill the quota, provided they enlisted for three years or during the war. Among those who served in the Continental army were Nathaniel Holmes, James Tillson, Josiah Thompson, Prince Witherel, Consider Pratt, Home Sears, Zebediah Thompson, Joshua Former, Elisha Faxon, Joseph Tillson, Richard Bosworth. and a slave owned by Caleb Sturtevant.

Eevoltitionary Items.' - This paper was the result of the acceptance of commissions of crown justices by Josiah Sturtevant and Daniel Dunbar, and shows the intense excitement of the later colonial days. Halifax to-day could not muster three hundred men for such or a similar purpose :

" I, the subsoriber, Do Promise and Solemnly cng:igc to all people now assembled ut UalliTax, In tlio County ut' I'lymoulli, on the 17th Duy of September, 1774, that 1 never will tuko_ hold, e.xecute, or exercise Any Cummis:)toQ, Otlice, Or Employment Whutaoover, Under or by Virtue of, or in any manner Durtvud from any authority, protended or attempted To be Given by a Late Aot of Parliament, Entitled an Act lur the belter Regulating the Government of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England. Furthermore, I Own and Acknowledge that my Conversation and Behavior to the Sons of Liberty, also with Regard to the Ministers of the Gospel, has been very

History Of Halifax

Offensive to my Brethren It Friends in this place, for which Offences I humbly oak their forgiveiieas, and beg that they would receive me into their Fellowship and Friendship again, .\bout 300 people requiring it, I eigne my Name.

" I, the Subscriber, Do Promioe und Solemnly Engage to all people now assembled ut Hallifjx, in the County of Plymouth, on the 17th Day of September, 1774, That I will never Take, hold, execute, or exercise any Commission, office, or employ, ment Whatsoever, under, or by virtue of, or in any manner Deriv'd from any -Authority, pretended or attempted to be given by a Late Act of Parliament, entitled an Act for the Better Regulating the Government of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England. At the House of Josiah Sturte- Tant, Esq., I happened to Bo there when about three hundred

History Of Halifax

Halifax has the oldest militia company in the State. It was chartered by John Hancock in 1792. In ISI'2 this compaDy was commanded by Capt. Asa Thompson, familiarly known as the " tall captain," who was six feet and six inches in height. This oryaniz.ition promptly responded to President Lincoln's call for troops in April, 1861, and was cumplimenteJ by the Boston press.

Edward A. lliehmond. J. S. W. lliehmond. C. W. Soule. Lorenzo A. Tower. James A. Lyon. Joseph L. Melton. Joseph F. Bourne. A. T. Bryant. 0. v.. Bryant. George Drew. Cyrus Thompson. Luther I lay ward.

I Halifax erected a granite monument at an expen.se of one thousand dollars, on the square in front of the I Congregational Church, in honor of her soldiers. It ! bears the inscription, " Our Patriot Soldiers."

History Of Maeshfield Uy William T. Davis

Thk town of Marslifield, together with Duxbury, its iidjoioing town on the south, shares with Plymouth the interest which attaches to the home of the Pil;j;iims. Its fertile lands and broad marshes early attracted the attentioD of the first settlers, and were eagerly sought for liouiesteads and farms. Watered by North River on its northerly border, by South River in its central section, and by Green's Harbor River in its southerly, its territory was admirably adapted to those agricultural pursuits which were the chief support of the Pilgrims. The township, slightly increased in size since its original incorporation, covers an area of about twenty-five square miles, and is bounded easterly by the oceau and the town of Duxbury, southerly by Duxbury and Pembroke, westerly by Duxbury, Pembroke, and the North River, and northerly by the North River and the ocean. Not long after the lauding at Plymouth, in 1620, all fear of the Indians in the immediate neighborhood was dissipated by the treaty with Ma.ssasoit, and by the amicable disposition manifested by that noble cliief, aud the inherent fondness of Englishmen for landed possessions showed itself in a desire for a more extended ownership of the soil than the limited territory round the harbor of Plymouth could furnish. Con.«cf|uently, as early probably as 1627, removals began to be made to Plympton and Duxbury, aud not long after to Marshfield. The first reference to a settlement in the town is to be found in the records of the First Church of Plymouth, of which tlie following is a copy, under date of 1632 :

** But, to touch this sail mattor of the church':! {jiirtiu^, a^ huth Ijccn aaici, iiDd to hundlu things together thut fell out after\v;irJ8 to prevent any further scattering from the pljice of the town of Plymouth iind weakening of the same, it was thought hest to give out some gooU farms to special persons that would promise to live at Plymouth and likely to ho helpful to the church or eomuiouwealtli ; aud so to tie the lands to Plymouth as faiuis for the same, and there they might keep their e:i(tle, and tilling hy some servants, and retain their dwellings here; and so souie special lands were granted at a place usually called tireeu's Harbour, where uo alluiuients had been in the former division, a place very well meildowed, and tit to keep and rear cattle; good store; but, alas! this remedy proved worse than the di^ease, for within lew years tho.-c that had got footing there sent themselves uway partly by force and partly by meeting, the rest with importunity and jilcas of necessity, for as they must either sutfer theui to go, or live in continued opposition and contention, and others still, as they conceived themselves straightened or to waut accommodation, broke away under one pietensu or other, tliinUing their own continued necessity and the example of others a wan-ant sullicient for them, and this I fear will be the ruin of New England, - at least of the churches of God there, - and pruvoUo the Lord's displeasure against them.

-* This church at Marsh tield, above called Gi'ccn'a Harbour, was again and afterwards carried on by the help and as>i:>tance under God of Mr. Edward AVinslow, who at llic liist secured several Welsh gentlemen of good note Ibitber, with .Mr. IJIiunian, a godly, able minister, who unanimously joined tngctlior in holy fellowship, or at least were in a likely way thereunto. liut some dissension fell amongst them, which caused the parting not long after, and so the hope of a godly society as to them was frustrated. Not long after, those that went (roui I'lyuiouth with that godly gentleman, Mr. William 'I'ljomas, keeping up a communion, it {ileosed the Lord to send unto them a suitable ami able preacher of the gospel named Mr. Edward Ituckley, who was chosen their pastor and oHiciated in thut place very protitably divers years, but at Inst be left them and went to u place called Concord in the Government of the Massachu.-^etts, and a considerable time after the Lord raised up and sent another faithful servant of liis, who proved able and well lilted for the work of the ministry, Mr. Samuel Arnold by name. He remained with them for their special comfort in the work of tho ministry."

The firet reference in the Plymouth Colony records to Marshfield is in the shape of an order parsed at a general court July 1, 1633, as follows:

"That unless Mr. Gilson, John Shaw, and the ro.--t that undertuoke the cutting of the passage between Green's llarbuur and tito bay, finish it before the tirst of October next ensuing, according to covenant, they be amerced in ten pouuds ; but if any of them will doo it, the fine bo exacted of the rest and they paid for their labour."

On the 3d of January, 1G36, it was oidered by the court that " the cut at Green's Harbor for a boat passage shall be made eighteen foot wide and six foot deep, and for the manDer how the same shall be done for tlie better orderinj; thereof, it is referred to the Governor and assistants with the help of Johu Winslow, Jonathan Brewster, John Barnes, and Christopher Wadsworth, as well to proportion every man equally to the change thereof, as also to order men that shall work thereat, that ten men may work togetlier there at once, and that the Governor, or whom he shall appoint, shall oversee the same that it may be well performed."

These extracts have been variously construed, some believing that the passage was cut into the ocean, and others into Duxbury or Plymouth Bay, and thus great uncertainty has existed concerning the original character of Green's Harbor Liver. This river, which undoubtedly derived its name from some person by the name of Green, perhaps Richard Green, who was a resident at Plymouth before 1630, or Joseph, who appears to have owned lands either in Duxbury or Blar.shfield as early as 1640, undoubtedly ran by a natural outlet into the sea. It is not at all probable that, after finding its way from its source within the precincts of West Duxbury to the sand hills of the shore, it meandered through a wide tract of marsh before it reached salt water in Duxbury Bay, nor is it at all probable, if it had such an outlet, that the General Court would have interested itself in opening a new passage to tlie open ocean. Such a passage would have rendered no service to the colony, as at that early period no demands of navigation existed for means of communication by water with any other place than Plymouth ; nor again, is it probable that three months would have been allowed by the court for the completion of a passage to the sea through a uarrow beach, which six men could have accomplished in as many days. And further than this the names Green's Harbor and Green's Harbor River seem to indicate plainly enough that such a harbor existed as must have been reached from the sea and not across the marshes from the more inland waters of Plymouth or Duxbury Bay. On the other hand it is reasonable to suppose that, when members of the colony ei^tablished farms in Marshfield, the General Court would wish to furnish the easiest and safest means of communication. The extract from the church records already quoted shows that at first these farms were appurtenant to homesteads in Plymouth, and that they were expected to be carried on by servants while their owners continued to dwell in the old town. Such a state of things required the shortest and safest route for personal transportation, and, what was more important, an easy conveyance by boat for all kinds of freight. The roads were rough and crooked, and horses were scarce, and by the way of the fords, across the intervening streams the distance to Green's Harbor must have been fifteen miles, while that by water through the new passage could not have been more than seven.

As nearly as can be ascertained the original outlet was a little north of Cut Island. An indentation iu the marsh suggests the probable spot where it was situated. The state of things resulting from the construction of the new pa.Nsage continued until 1806, the outlet to the ocean permitting the passage of vessels, and the new passage enabling boats to pa.ss and repass at high water across the marshes to the waters of Plymouth Bay. It is probable ihat the new passage gradually fell into decay and failed to drain, as it had at first done, and as various natural ditches had done before it was built, and in 1S06 vaiious proprietors of the marsh petitioned the General Court for an act of incorporation permitting tlicm to build a canal from Greeu's Harbor to Duxbuiy Bay. On the 11th of February, 1807, the following act was passed, providing, -

"Sect. 1. That Isaac Winslow, Luke WaJswurth, Judali Tlioiiius, and Benjaioin White, proprietors iu Grcen'jj Harbor Marsh in the towa of Marshfield, tojjether with their usfociates, aod such others aa may hereafter associate with tlicm, and tlieir heirs and successors, shall be a corporation by the name of lireen's Harbor Canal Company, with all the powers and privileges incident to similar corporations, for (he fiurposc nf draining the stagnant water on Green's Harbor Marsh in the town of Marshfield, and for better improving said Marsh by erecting dikes or removing bars of sand, rocks, or olher obstructions that oppose the draining of said raarsli ; for digging a canal or canals for said water to pass into Du.\bury or Plymouth JJay ; and building a bridge or bridges across said canal or cunals, if the same should intersect any private or public highway, and by tho name aforesaid may suu or be sued, and do and suO'er whatever other similar bodies politic may or ought tu do and sutTer.

" Sect. 2. And be it further enacted, That any Justice of the Peace in the county of Plymouth, he, and he is hereby empowered and directed upon application in writing from every five or more of said Proprietors, to issue his warrant to one of the Proprietors aforesaid, requiring him tu notify and warn a meeting of said Proprietors at such time and place as he .°hall think most convenient, the purposes to be expressed iusaid warrant, by posting up copies of said warrant with the nolilienlion thereon at the south meeting-house in the town of Marsblield seven days at least before the time of holding .-^aid meeting ; and the said Proprietors, when legally assembled as afore.-aid, shall have power to choose a clerk, committee or committees, assessors, collector or collectors of ta^es, and treasurer; so shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of the trust i-eposed in them, and continue to serve until others are chosen and sworn in their places, which may be annually ; which olTicers, chosen and sworn as aforesaid, shall have the same power to perform, execute, and carry any vote or order of said corporation into full etfect us town otficers of like description have by law. And said corporation shall at their first meeting agree and determine upon the method of calling future meetings; anil each Pro- prietiu- -U-^\\ vote accurJing to tlic nuoiber of shares he holds in s;iid corporation, ProviiieJ uo one Proprietor shall be alloweJ more than five votes; and said eorporation shall ;it their first uieetiiig, or at anj- other iucctiii;; legally called for that purpose, have power to vote ami rai.-e monies for all expenses that have arisen or may arise in draining the iLmr?li aforesaid, or bL-tter improvement of the same, including the making of canals, erecting dikes, removing dams and bars of sand, building a bridge or bridges across said canal, |iurchasiug lands necesa.iry to carry the object of said corporation into etfect, as likewise paying the damages individuals may sustain by reason of the erection of the dikes or digging the canals aforesaid, and all monies voted and raised aloresaid shall be ;ijsessed on each Proprietor in the marsh aforesaid, in proportion to the number of acres or value thereof, he or she may own in said marsh ; and if any I'loprietor shall neglect or refuse to pay the sum or sums assessed upon him or her as aforesaid, after si.tty days notice, so much of his or her marshland, aforesaid, shall be sold ai will bo iuUicient to pay tho same with legal costs, in the same manner as non-resident jiroprietors' laud in the Commonwealth are sold to pay ta.\es.

"Stcr. S. And be it further enacted. That said Corporation shall have full power to purchase and hold any real estate, not exceeding fifty acres, that may be necessary to carry their designs into eficct; and saiil Corporation shall be holdcn to pay all damages which shall arise to any person through who.-e land said canal or canals shall be dug, or on whose land said dikes shall be erected; wlicu it cannot be obtained by voluntary agreement, said damages to be estijuated by a Committee appointed by the Court of General Sessions of the Peace in the County of Plymouth, saving to either party a right of trial by jury, according to the law which makes provision for the recovery of damages happening by the laying out of public highways."

'-That the act, entitled 'an act to establish a Corporation for tho purpose of draining (Jrecn'a Harbor ilarsh, in the town of MarsbUeld,' be and the same is hereby licuited to, and shall expire on, tho first day of April, which will be in the year of our r,ord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, provided, however, that said corporation shall be, and hereby is continued a body corporate for the term of three years from and alter aaid first day of April, for the purpose of prosecuting and defending all suits which now are or may hereafter be instituted by and against said corporation, and for enabling said corporation gradually to settle and close their concerns, but not for tho purpose of contiuuing the business for which said corporation was originally established, and proviileil, also, that this act be accepted and ratified by said corporation, at a legal meeting for that purpose duly convened.''

Under the act of 1807 a canal wa.s dug through tlie luarsh, and it is apparent that a divided outlet so dimiiiislicd the force of the water at the old mouth as to gradually close it. At high water the backing up of the river caused by the incoming tide resulted in a quite extended basin, separated by only a narrow strip of beach from the open sea. In 1810 some sportsmen at the top of a high tide shoveled away the sand across the strip, and the incoming and outflowing tide soon cut the passage which the last generation has known at the southerly end of Branches Iblaiid. This is believed by the writer to be the correct history of a locality, concerning which tradition lias handed down various statements and theories.

The recent history of this river, covering the erection of a dike and highway across it to the island on the northerly side, is worthy of mention in this narrative. .\long its borders were situated, according to an authentic survey, fourteen hundrod and fifty acres of marsh, only a small portion of which yielded any income. In 1870 some of the marsh owners, believitig that by the erection of a dike these marshes might be reclaimed and converted into valuable tillage land, applied to the harbor commissioners for the ref|uisite permission, and an engineer of the board was sent to examine the locality and report on its fea.iibility and on the probable damage to the navigation of Green's Harbor. In 1871 the Board of Harbor Commissioners reported to the Legislature that whatever damages might be inflicted on the harbor by a dike would be more than compensated for by the contribution to the agricultural wealth of the town, and reeummended that a dike might be permitted to be built. On the basis of this report a petition to the Legislature was referred to the committee on agriculture, whose report, favorable to the dike, was referred to the committee on harbors, and finally reported by them and enacted as follows :

"SEt-r. 1. The proprietors of Green's Harbor .Mar»h iu tho town of Marsbfield are authorized to erect a dam ami dikes across Green's Harbor River at or near and not above Turkey Point, so called, with one or more sluice-ways and gales, for llie purpose of draining Green's Harbor Marsh and improving the sauie and preventing dowage from the sea; said dam, dikes, and improvements to he made under the authority of commissioners to be appointed in the manner providcil in the 1 ISth chapter of the General Statutes, with all the powers and subject lo all the duties required or allowed by said cha|.tcr ; provided that not more than twenty of tho ])roprietors shall be lenuircd ' to petition the Superior Court lor the appointment of said commissioners; and it shall be the duty of said commissioners to construct fish-ways on said dam if required, and in the manner required by the commissioners of fisheries of the commonwealth, and to make return of the same to said court; of all which proceedings said court shall have jurisdiction as fully as if provided in said chapter. ; "Strr. 2. For the purpose of cultivating and improving saiil ! marsh, maintaining said dam, and repairing the gates, sluiceways, and other improvements, and the removal of any obstruc- ' tious in the channels of said marsh which may Ibcrealtcr accumulate, and for conducting the fisheries at and about said I dam, «hieh may have been introduced by tbeui, the said pro- ' prielors may manage their artaira as proprietors of general ' fields, and as such shall have all the powers and be subject to ' all the duties and liabilities conferred and imposed on the proprietors of general fields by the (iTtli chapter of the General ; Statutes, and may include in their acts the introduction and I propagation of herrings, alewives, and other fishes.

"Skct. :t. The county commissioners of the county of I'lym- ; outh, in the execution of the powem granted tbcm by chapter ' :;6 of the laws of the year eighteen hundred and scventy-oue, shiill have autltority to contract with the couimisdioDt-'rs, who uiuy bu a|ipuinteJ hy the Supreme Court for the erection of ;i hij^hwuy, briJge, and ihim without a draw, at the joint expense of the town of Mar^iifielU and the county of Plymouth, aud of said proprietor, or any of tbeni ; provided, liowever, that said daui, brid<^e, and highway, \?hetlicr located :leparutely or tuj^etlier, shall be subject lo tbo proviiiona of section 4 of chapter 14U of the acts of tlie year ei;;liteen hundred aud sixty-six.

" Skc'T. 4. Stiould shoalin;^ take place above the level of mean low water in the channel of Green'a Harbor River, and its approaches below the dam and dikes, in consequence of the construction of said daui and dikes, said sboalin;^ shall bo removed by the proprietors of Green's Harbor marsh under the ilirectiou and to the acceptance of tho board of harbor commis.-iioncrs, Autl if tho proprietors of said marsh shall fail to remove saiil obstructions froru six months after due notice from said coiumissiuners, then said comntissioners shall cause said obstructions to bo reuiovedat the expense of the proprietors of said marsh, and said proprietors shall be liable to the Commonwealth for the same in an action of contract, aud the negotiation of any party or purtiua shall not defeat the same."

Under the provisions of chapter 148 of the General Statutes it was juiliciallj decided " that the propo.sed improveiuent was for the general advantage of the proprietors;" and the Superior Court ordered tlie work to be done, and appointed aa commissioners Clemens Herschel, Paul Hill, and Franklin Kent. Under their direction the dike was completed in 1872 at a cost of about thirty thousand dollars, which was assessed oo the marsh owners. Subsequently the town of Marshfield laid out and built a townway across the dike at a cost to the town of $2832.25. Id the mean time, under authority given by an act of the Legislature passed in 1870, the county commLssiouers had laid out a highway to cross the river at a point below the dike by means of a bridge with a draw. After the construction of the townway across the dike a hearing waa had before the county couimissiouers on a petition to discontinue the laying out of the highway, which resulted in a rejection of the petition. The Legislature, however, subsequently repealed the act, authorizing the commissioners to build a bridge, and thus put an effectual stop to any further proceedings in the construction of the highway.

By a considerable number of the inhabitants of Marshfield tiie alleged shoaling of the river is claimed to have inflicted a serious injury, and io 1877 T. B. Black man and others petitioned the Legislature to take measures to remove obstructions in the harbor, and presented to the committee ou harbors a bill to abolish the dike. This bill was reported by the committee, and referred to the judiciary comiuittee, who reported that it ought not to pass, on the ground of its unconstitutional feature of impairing the obligation of contracts. Tho adverse report of the judiciary committee was accepted, aud a bill was enacted, reported by them, " that the Supreme Court, sitting as a court of equity, shall have full jurisdiction to hear and determine the rights of all parties under chapter 303 of the acts of 1871 (the dike act), and to enforce the provisions of said act." This bill further provided that the attorney-general, upon the petition or requirement of the harbor cominissioneis, is hereby authorized and directed to briug in the name and behalf of the commonweakh a bill in equity or other proper process to compel any and all parties liable under said act so to do, to remove tije shoaling or other obstructioris in the channel of Green's Harbor River." In 1878 it was fuither resolved by the Legislature " that there be allowed and paid out of the treasury a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars to be expended for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of the act of 1 87 1 (^the dike act)." The bill in equity was duly brought, and on a demurrer filed by the defendants arguments have been had, and pending the decision of the court on the demurrer no answers have been filed. Such is a hasty sketch of an enterprise aud the controversy attending it which have excited deep interest in the town, and divided by a decisive line the opinions and sympathies of its people.

Who were the first occupants of land in Marshfield it is difficult to say. Whoever they were they were not absolute settlers, some of them having occupancy merely for a year, for the purpose of mowing the land, and others, as has been already stated in the extract from the ohurch records, holding farms appurtenant to their homes in Plymouth. The first reference in the records to any grant of land is under date of Jan. 6, 163G, stating that grants of land at Eel River to Josiah and Kenelm Wiiislow were tuade void upon grants made to them at Green's Harbor. The grant to Josiah Winslow at Green's Harbor Wits of one hundred acres, made Dec. 4, 1G37, and that to Kenelm was of land adjoining, made March 5, 1637/8. On the 20th of March, lC3(J/7, John and Josiah Winslow were permitted to mow the grass for that year on Great Wood Island, at Green's Harbor. On the 4th of December, 1C37, one hundred acres were granted to Thomas Bourne, aud at the same date it is entered in the records that

" Mr. Edward Winslow having formerly a grant of divers lands at or upon a neck of land called Green Harbor's Neck (alls) Carsewetl, the said grant was confirmed together with all and singuler the upland upon the said neck &. several! branches thereof, bounded &, marked by Mr. Thomas Prcnce & Mr. John Alden, Assistants to the government, viz., westward upon a marsh called Carsewoll Marsh, and from thence, with a smale ridgof hills, to the great marsh on Greene Harbor's Itivor, according to severall marks by them made, ,1; caused to be made, eastward abutting upon or ncere the river called Greene Harbour Itiver, and on the north and south side ^vith gicat marshes

" wlicreas ocrtiiio freemen of Scitu^ite, viz., Jlr. Timotliy Hiitherley, Mr. Jolii\ Luthrop, William Gilson, Anthony Annuble, Juine^ Cudworth, Kdward Foster, Henry Cobb, laaiie llubinaoii, CJeort;e Keiiriuk, Henry Rowley, .Siinmel Fuller, John Cooper, liorniird Louil)iird, George Lewis, and Huniplirey Turner have voiu|ilainud that they have aueh small proportions of landa there allotted theiu that they cannot sub=i;t upon thcni, the eourt of aasislanta have thia day granteil theui all that upland and neek of land lying between the North and South Rivers, and all the meadow ground between the said rivers from the North Uiver to thu lieaver I'onil, and all aU)ng by the North River side and to hold the brcdth from the South River trey or passage by a straight line to the North River ao far up into the land as it shall be markeil and set forth unto them. Always provided and upon condition that they make a township there, and inhabit upon the said lands and that all diBerences betwixt them and Air. Vassall or others of Scituatc be composed and ended bcCoi-e the ne.vt court, or if any do then remain that they be referred to the conaideraliou of the tiuvcrnor and assialauts that their removal from Seituate may be withimt olTense. And also provided and upon condition that whurca? a proportion of two or three hundred acres of tho lands abovcsaid should have been granted to Mr. Vassall upon comlition he should have erected a ferry to transport men and cattle over the North River at these rates, viz., for a man a penny, for a horse four pence, and for every beast four pence j and to make causes or passages through the marshes on both sides the said ferry both for man and beast to )iass by which ho was willing to do and to answer all damages which might happen in default thereof ; and the court in their judgiuents did conceive it more e.\pedicnt to prefer the necessities of a number before one private jierson. That the said freemen of Seituate above named do so erect a ferry over the North River to transport men and beasts at the rates abovesaid, and make such passages on both sides through the marshes to tho ferry and provide a sullicicnt mjin to attend tho same, that may answer all damages which may happen through his neglect thcreol, or else the grant abovcsaid to be void."

The couditiuus of this graut were not acceptable to the applicants, auJ consequently the grant became void. The terry, however, was provided for, as the following entry shows under date of April 2, lt)38:

"Two hundred acres of upland and a competency of meadow landa to be laid to it are grautud to Mr. \Villiam Vassall to keep a ferry over the North (River) where the old Indian ferry was, and to transport men and beasts at these ratca, vi^., for a man one penny, and for a beast four pence, a horse and his rider four i>enco, and to make the way passable for man and beast tliKMr'h the marshes on both sides the river at his own charges, and to keep them in repair from time to time, and Captain Stuntliah aud Mr. Ahlen are appointed to sot the lands fortli for him."

This ferry at a later day was called Doggett's ferry, and was situated where Little's bridge, built fu 1825, now spans the river. In 1G38 another ferry was ordered by the court to be establisiied near the mouth of the North Kiver, and Jonathan Brewster was its first ferryman. This ferry, which in later days was called White's ferry, was sold by Mr. Brewster in 1641 for sixty pounds to Messrs. Barker aud Ilowell. and was afterwards kept by Ralph Cliapniau, who applied to the court for a release on the Liruiind that the ferry would bring him to poverty. He was excused by the court " except on special occa.iioiis :ls briniriug over tlie magistrates who dwell there." Still auuthor feiTy was established before 1G45, wlierc Union bridge, which was built in 1301, is situated, and tinlast keeper of this ferry before the construction uf the bridge was John Tolman.

On the 2d of July, 1(J3S, oue hundred acres of land were granted to Jonatlian I>rew=ter lying on the west side of the mouth of the South llivor, and on the south side of the North Kiver, to be viewed aud laid fortli for him by Capt. Standish aud Mr. John Aldeo, and likewise a piece of meadow there to be laid forth for him upon their report to the Court when they have viewed the same, which by order of the Court was by Captain Standish and Mr. Alden laid forth for him. and have allowed him all the meadow land that lieth in and about the said lands upon the said Nortii and .South llivers for meadowing to the said farm. " This land was where White's ferry was established, first kept by Mr. Brewster. Ou the same day three hundred acres of uplands were granted to Capt. Miles Standish and Mr. Joiin Aldeu " lying on the north side of the South River, the breadth whereof to begin at the easterly side of the Beaver Pond (the said pond being included) unto the westerly side of the little brook next Seituate path, on the South Uiver, and to range in length upon a northwest line on both sides, up into the land, and all that tract of meaduw lying withiu or al the end of the foresaid mentioned breadth." Ou the 7th of August, in the same year, " one hundred and twenty acres of land were granted to Sir. Comfort Starr lying betwixt the North River and the South River, and such part of it to be meadow as shall be thought meet and convenient, anil to be viewed and laid forth by Mr. Edwanl Winslow, Capt. Standish, and Mr. Aldeu, which were accordingly laid forth and rangeth west southwest in length and south southeast in breadth, and buttetli upon the South River." On the 3d of September, in the same year, twenty acres of land were granted ti> Robert Carver lying on the northwest side of Green's Harbor River, and a garden place ujidm Stony River near Edward Bumpasse, to be viewed aud laid forth for him by Mr. CoUyer. Jouathan Brewster and William Bassett (which lands are laid forth on the northeast side of Francis Godfrey, and upon the same points of the compass that his are. "

History Of Marshfield

Francis Godfrey was also granted twenty acres on the northwest side of Green's Harbor River and a <;ardcu place at Stony River. On the 1st of October, | 1038, one hundred acres of land were granted " to Lieutenant William Holmes, lying at the North River, next to the lands lately granted to Mr. Jonathan Brewster, ranging in breadth west southwest, | and in length north and northwest, with a parcel of i marsh ground lying to it and bounded as foUoweth : upon the east side from his marked tree of his upland, over the creek next his house, and so right in the same range of his upland, and on the west side 1 from the upland, the marked tree being the bounds, and from the marked tree east to the creek, and so by the turning of the creek to the west end of the Pine ; Island in the marsh, and so to follow the said creek to meet with his east range in the meadow and ] uiarsh." On the 7th of January, 1638/9, Jonathan | Brewster and William Bassett were appointed to lay ' forth Robert Mendlove's and John Carew's land, and j on the same date an island lying at Green's Harbor | was granted to Mr. William Bradford, and another ! island at the same place, called Spectacle Island, was granted to Mr. John Howland. At the same date it is entered in the records that " whereas a part of the marsh ground lying by Spectacle Island, on the south side, was granted to Mr. Thomas Prince, to be meadow belonging to Mr. Allerton's farm ; the said Mr. Prince liath relinquished the same to Mr. John Howland, provided he be allowed meaduwing elsewhere in lieu thereof"

*' WiiKitt.vs, there id ti controversy betwixt Green's ilarbor uiiJ Duxbury abuut the lands between the fresh of Green's Harbor Uiver and the South Itiver, it is ordered and granted by tlie Court of Freemen to Mr. Edward Winslow and tlie rest of tile neighborhood of Green's Ilarbor, a competent portion of uplands and meadow betwixt the said rivers for a farm for a minister, and one other couipeteot portion of land near unto the said lot for tbo minister, either for Nehemiah Smith or some other, ajt thu said inhabitants of Green's Harbor shall place in. And whereas, Mr. Thomas Prince hath a portion of laud there i;ranted to him for a farm, it is ordered also that those that view thu forc..iaid lands shall likowiso view Mr. Prince's lands, and if they lind it not competent for a farm, that thoy shall add thereto such further portion of lauds of those that lie next it ' as ahall be thought competent.

This grant of ministerial laud is important as showing what neither the church records nor tradition suggest, that before the ministry of Mr. Richard lileiiman, Nehemiah Smith must for a longer or shorter time have officiated as pastor. On the (Jth of April, 1640, fifty acres of land were granted to Daniel Cole -' lying next William Bassett, beyond the South River, if there will be spare lands left on either side his lot when Mr. Kemp's land is laid forth there, and to be done by Mr. Collyer, Jonathan Brew^ter & William Bassett, which is accordingly laid forth from the marked tree of William Bassett, the island or neck of land lying in the marsh on the south hide of the said tree and the meadow land lying aforo the said island, five acres in breadth, beginning at the liummock where William Bassett leaves to the liead of a cove on the west aide the said island." On the same day one hundred acres were granted to William B;issett between the lands of Daniel Cole and Coml'ort Starr ; fifty acres to Francis Sprague, on the North River, above the lands of Jonathan Brewster ; fifty acres to John Maynard, on the north aide of the lands of Comfort Starr ; one hundred acres to Constant and Thomas Southworth at the North River, " from Mr. Vassall's range, in breadth east and by north along the said North River to a uiaiked tree upon the foresaid range;" fifty acres of upland to Joseph Rogers, " from the aforesaid marked tree in breadth east and by north to another marked tree upon the same range, near to a certain creek that runneth up southward, provided that the small quantity of overplus upland lying betwixt the said Constant, Thomas, and Joseph be equally divided amongst them three, the said creek being the bounds of it; as also the marsh ground or meadow lying upon the north side of the said uplands to be equally divided as it lieth afore tho said lands to each severally by equal proportion, with a little hummock of upland lying in the said marsh, with the meadow land about it, to each of them jointly ;" and also fifty acres of upland to John Rogers, " I'rom the aforesaid creek running in length southwest and in breadth southeast to a certain marked tree upon the said range (Vassall's), with, the one-half of the marsh land abutting upon the aforesaid upland, together with a small liuiuniock of upland lying in the foresaid marsh, which lands lie next to the lands granted to Francis Cooke and John Cooke."

On the 5th of October, 1640, two hundred ucre.s of upland were granted to Francis and John Cooke, being all that parcel " lying betwixt the lauds of William Holmes and the lands of John Rogers, containing two hundred and twelve acres, be it more or less, with the meadow lying before the said upland, with the one-half of the meadow lying before or any way bounding upon the upland of John Rogers ; and whereas William Holmes bath part of his meadow lands lying before part of the said upland so granted to Francis and John, we have also laid unto them, the said Francis and John, the meadow or marsh lying between the said William Holmes, his meadow or niarsli ground, and the said North River." On the oUth of November, 1G40, it was concluded by the court " that all that tract of luarsli meadow lyini; at Green's Harbor Mar.sh, from Turkey Point to tliu wall Mr. Thomas hath made in the said marsh on the nonli side of Mr. Edward Winslow's land, and so down to the Great River, shall bo reserved for meadow j;ioiiud to the town of Plymouth.' On the same day six acres of marsh meadow were granted to Love BieWsler against a tract of upland previously granted to him on the south side of Green's Harbor. On the same day the following order was passed by the court :

" \V'bcre:i3, the iuhiibitants uf the town of Scitunto aro ^re;illy atrai^litcncj for lands, and there is a. ncuejaity that they sliould be cnlaiged, iiud that at tlie North River, where they desire to liave iu|i|ily of thi'ir wants, there are live hundred acres and upwards granted already to divers persons of Plyinoutli and Duibnry, the Court doth grant (that those persons to whom the said lands are granted having their several grants laid forth unto them) that the ^aid inhabitants of Soituate shall have two miles in length from the end of the said granis up the said North River and a inilo in breadth (if it be there to be had when tim foresaid grants are laid forth), and if not, then to abate of that proportion ; and that ilr. Timotiiy llatheriy, Edward Foster, and Humphry Turner shall dispose t ho said lands to sUL-h persons of Scituate us they shall thinU fit to bo supplied."

The land contained in the last grant is what has been ever since called the " Two Miles," and was made by tiie grant a part of Scituate. It extended from what is now the Pembroke line a mile deep along the river to the old " Ford Farm." Among its earliest settlers were Robert Sprout, Thomaa Rose, Richard Sylvester, and members of the Hatch family. To complete the liistory of this territory, in 1778 its inhabitants petitioned the General Court to be annexed to Marshfield. The town of Scituate consented with a eondiliou, which was not accepted by tlic petitionei's, that they should release all their right, title, and interest in the common lands of the town, and pay their share of the town debt and of taxes previously assessed. In 1786 another movement in favor of annexation resulted in failure ; but on the 10th of March, 178S, the foUowiag bill was passed by the General Court, with the approval of the petitioners :

" Whereas, it appears to this Court convenient and reasonable that the said Two Mile should be set oil" from the town of Scituate, and annexed to the town of Marshheld, be it therefore enacted by the Senate and House of Keprcseutatives in 1 General Court assembled, and by the authority of tlie same, I that ihe territory belonging to the town of Scituate, commonly called the Two Mile, bounded westwardly by the north river I (so calb-d), southwardly by the town of Pembroke, and nortllwardly and eastwavdiy by the town of Marshfteld, toj^cther with the inhabitants thereon, be and they are liercby separiiled from said town of Scituate and anne.xed to the town of Marshtleld, and shall forever after be considered as u part of and belonging to the said town of Marshfield, {>roviilcd that the inhabitants of the said Two Mile be still held obliged to pay their jtroportion of all the ta.\es which have been already laid on the town of Scituate; that the inhabitants of the >aid Two Milo shall be still held obliged to pay their ratable pioportion of all debts due from the said town of Scituate to individuals, and which were contracted previously to the 'Mot -lay of January, in the year of our Lord, 17S7, iu the same manoLr as if they had not been set olT froui the town of Scituate, iu case the same shall be apportioned by the as.-ie?sois uf the luwu of Scituate, on the polls and estates of the said tcrri'ury called the Two Mile, according to law, within t«o years after the passing of this act, and that the =aid mliahit.iiits be excepted from paying any part of tlie debts ci)iiirac(cd by the town of Marshlicid previously to the pa> = inj; ut' tUia act; provided, also, that the inhabitants of the ?aid T«o Milo relinquish all their right, title, and inteiest in and ti> the cuuimon lands uf the town of Scituate: and that the .-aid inbal.itanta shall not be included or charged in any future Uis. fur maintaining the poor of the town of Scituate. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that iu all future taxes granted by this Conimonwealth and assessed on tiie present valuation the sum of live shillings and si.xpencc on each thousand pounds be taken from the town of Seituale anil adiled to the towu of Marshlicid."

"granted unto \Villiam Thomas, gentleman, all those lands laid out by Mr. Edward Winslow, Mr. John .Alden, and .Mr. WiUium Collyor, viz., all that whole neck of upland, with all the puiuts extending themselves into any the marshes before the same, from the upjier end of the great fresh marsh, called Green's Harbor River Marsh, southward, and from (ireen's Harbor Freshett, east and by south, as it is marked forth by the said Edward Winslow, John Alden, and William Cullycr, tu the southwest corner of a swamp abutting upon Caissvell Marsh, near the highway leading betwixt Du.xbury and Carawell, the easterly side thereof, adjoining to Carswell, being the lauds of the said Edward Winslow; the said Edward Winslow, his heirs and assigns being allowed so much upland, woial-stull', or timber as to set and maintain u lenuu between Carswell Meadow or Marsh and the upland of the said William Thomas; the northerly side of the said upland hereby granted abulting upon Green's Harbor River Marsh, ami from the northwest point of upland between the said Edward Winsloiv and William Thoma.*, to iin island granted to the said William Thomas, before their bounds upon a straight lino to Green's Harbor Uiver, with Ihe marsh land and meadow between that and a poiut of upland called the Eagle's Nest; the western bounds of the said lands abutting upon Green's Harbor Fresh .Mar.-.h afore.>aid, ])nn idcd and always reserved and e.vceptcd, that if any meadow be "ranted to any that abutteth upon the uplands hereby granJerl, the said William Thomas, his heirs and assigns, lio allow woodstuff or timber, from convenient places of the said nplau.l, to fence and maintain the same about the said njcadows ; to have and to hold, all and singular, the said lands, meadows, marshe-, and premises, with all and every |jart and parcel thereof and their appurtenances, unto the said William Thomas, his heirs and assigns forever (except the wood-stuB' or timber for fencing before e.vcepled), and to theonly pro|.er use aud behoof uf him, the said William Thomas, his heirs and assign^ forever."

The lands contained in this grant to Mr. Tliuiuas contained about fifteen hundred acres, and included the northwesterly part of the Webster farm, being bounded along the ridge, nearly iu the rear of the

Up to this time Green's Harbor was slmplj' a parish, some of its occupants of lands havinp; houses and homes there, and others owning and cultivating farms or herding their cattle, while they retained their dwellings in Plymouth or Duxbury. About six tluiu>and acres of land, including the two miles, or more than one-third of the present territory of Marshiield, had been granted to individual proprietors. In addition to the above, at various times before 1640, tracts of land varying in extent from fifteen to eighty acres were granted to Joseph Beadle, John Rouse, James Lindall, John Ford, Arthur Rowland, William Sherman, John Phillips, Roger Chandler, Samuel Tompkins, Edmund Weston, Ralph Chapman, John Gardner, John Hardmer, Edmund Hawes, John Winslow. Stephen Tracy, George Partridge, Henry Sampson, Experience Mitchell, John Paybody, Abraham Peirce, and William Tubbs. These extracts from the records show clearly enough who were the settlers and occupants of land in Marshfield before its incorporation. In later days, after the incorporation, John x\dams, James Adams, Robert Waterman, Anthony Snow, John Branch, Christopher Winter, John Hewett, John Gorham, James Pitney, John Dingley, John Somers, Samuel Baker, Timothy Williamson, John Foster, John Walker, John Low, Thomas Chillingworth, Samuel Sprague, Edward Stevens, Thomas Doggett, Josiah Keen, William Shurtleff, Thomas Little, and John Jones either bought or obtained grant,s of lands, and may perhaps properly be called second comers.

On the 2d of March, 1640/1, it was enacted by the court " that Green's Harbor shall be a Towneship and have all the priveledges of a Towneship that other Towiies have, and that it-shall be called by the name of Rexhame but now Marshfield." The termination " hauie" meant simply " town," and Rexhame or Rexham was another name for Kingstown. The Indian name for the territory was Missaucatucket.

It was first called Marshfield in the records under date of March 1, 1G41/2, when the entry was made that Francis West was appointed and approved constable and surveyor of highways for that town. It has been taken for granted that this name was suggesttd by the great extent of marshes within the boundaries of the town, to which it was applied. While of course it is pu.ssible that such may have been the case, neither history nor tradition has anything to say on the subject. It may be, however, pertinently asked, if the first syllable of the name had its origin in the physical characteristics of the territory, why the second syllable, " field," was added. There is nothing in the present meaning of the word " field," an inclosed piece of land, which would make It applicable, while the Saxon field, or feld, indicated an uninclosed, barren, stony district, and would have been singularly inappropriate when api)lied to the well-watered and fertile lands of Marslificld. The name of Marrysfield, Marysfield, MarsCeld, Maesfield, and Maresfield, borne by a parish in Sussex, England, may throw some light on the subject, and may have given the name to the new town at Green's Harbor, as Plymouth, Sandwich, Barnstable, Taunton, Yarmouth, Duxbury, and other places in England furnished names for other early settlements in the Old Colony. Rev. Edward Turner, an accomplished English antiquary, says, " I am disposed to derive the name which has been gradually corrupted from Marysfield to Marbfield from its being a district early dedicated to St. Mary, as we find the ancient chapel at Nutley (a part of the Marsfield district) to have been, and as was a chantry also, which is mentioned in the ancient lists of Sussex."

But the four names, Mis.'<aucatuckct, Green's Harbor, Rexham, and Marshfield, are not the only name.s which have been applied to this territory. When John Smith, who explored and made a chart of the Massachusetts coast in 1614, returned to England and showed his chart to Prince Charles, that prince affixed names to different localities, of which only Plymouth, Charles River, and Cape Ann have survived. The name given to the territory included within the boundaries of Marshfield was Oxford. A copy of this chart with the names suggested by Prince Charles, afterwards Cliarles I., may be found in the first volume of Palfry's " History of New England," and besides its general interest it is valuable as setting at rest the still lingering belief that Plymouth derived its name from the Pilgrims.

Before the incorporation of the town it was '' concluded and agreed betwixt Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. John --\.lden, Jonathan Brewster, and William Bassett, and Mr. Edward Winslowe, the xxviii. day of December, 1640, that from a great rock that is flutt on the topp, called Parting Rock, shalbe the present bounds between Greene's Harbour & Duxborrow, and shall rang from thence norwest to the South River, &, on the contrary South east to the payth between Scituate & Duxborrov^, and from thence, the payth to devide them, to the bridg over Green's Harbour Fresh." On the 7th of June, 1642, at a General Court, it was ordered " that the bounds of Marshfield from Green'd Harbour Fresh be from thence to the troy calleJ Poole's, provided it come not upon any part of Mr. Thomas' particular lands, and from Poole's by a line to the water side, taking only the lauds of John llowse.' Tliat the westerly bouuds of Murshtield, fuimerly set by Captain Standish, Johu Aldeu, Jonathan liiewster, William Bassett, Si Mr. Edward Wiiislow, ''shalbe from a ^reat rock tlatt on tlie topp, norwe.->l to the South lliver. li. from thence to the leifccnnant's grouud by a straight line, provided that Mr. Starr, Job Cole, Dauiel Cole, William Bassett, John Maynard, ttc, shall not by Marshlield meu be rated or assessed to any publike changes untill they or any of them there come to inhabitt aud do close with Marshlield meu."

" Wliercft::, we wliusc iiamcij arc underwrittcD are appointed by the towns of Du.xbury and Mar±ilitield to run the lined and Htittlu the bouuds between the town:>bips of I>u.\bury and Mar:3litield, as by the records uf daid tuwnsbips doth appear, - wu have aceordingly run the said liues, aud settled the bounds as followelb : From the rock that is Ittit on the top near the house of Clement Kin^, Northweat to the North River, aud have marked several trees in the ran<^e, aud about twelve or fifteen rods Northeast oC Samuel Hack's house, we moved a heap of stones and from the said rock Southeast to the cartway between Samuel and Seth Arnolds, where we raised a heap of stones and fi'oiu thence to Green's Harbour (fresh) the path to be the bouuds, aud on the Eastward side of said fresh, just above where the siiid way ^oes through it, wo raised a heap of stones; aud from theucc in a strai;;ht Hue to a tree of white oak with the top broken olf, called poles, which said tree stands by the cartway ju.-.t where an old foot-path turns out of it towards Carswell, and betAVeen the said way aud from thence in a straight line to the Southwest side of Edward Bumpu:,' land, so called, where he formerly lived, at Duck Hill, taking in the said land, sometiiues the said Edward Uuinpus", to the said township of Mar.^htield; and these bounds aforesaid to be the bounds botweeu the said towns of i)u.\hury and Marshlield for evermore. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands the three and twentieth day of Febiuary, 1G83.

A recent law, ptu'ised June 14, 1811$, provided that " that part of the dividing line between the northeast corner of Duxbury and the southeast corner of Marslifield, viz., beginning at a lieait of stones on the tup of Duck Hill and running noiili Gti] east to tlic seashore, shall, from and alter the pas.suj;e of this act, be the boundary-line between the two towns, any law, Usage, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding."

In connection with the iucujporation of Marshlield it will uot be out of place to reier to the title to its lands derived from tlie Indians. A large part of its territory Lad been occupied, iu common with Plymouth and Duxbury, by the Patuxet tribe, which had bccu swept away by a pestilence several years before the arrival of the Pilgrims. This part was included in tile cession of lands to the Englisii made by Ma.ssasoit, in his memorable treaty of April, 1021. The remainiug part was, iu 1620, claimed by Chickatabut, the chief of the Massachusetts tribe, aud occupied by the Matakeesetts, who were under his control and suvereignty. The principal encampnient of tiie Matakeesetts was in the neighborhood of the ponds in Pembroke, aud the names Assinippi or SnapjiLt, Couihassett, aud Satuit or Scituatc, are names which remain as their memorials. It is probable that the territory now included in Scituate, South Scituate, and Hanover was within their jurisdiction. By a law of the Plymouth Colouy, no land could be taken from the Indians without purchase, aud no purchase could be made without the approval of the Colony Court. Neither charter, nor patent, nor grant established any title. They merely conveyed a pre-emption right, which it was necessary to reinforce and confirm by a purchase from the natives of the .soil, approved by tlie government of the colony. Tlius, in iLioo, Josias Wauipatuck, the son of Chickatabut, conveyed the territory occupied by the town of Scituate, which, as it included the Two Miles now a part of Marshtield, should form a part of this narrative.

"Pi.VMOUTii, June, IBJ.'I. " I, Josias Wampatuck, do acknowledge and confess that I have sold two tracts of land unto .Mr. Timothy llathcrly, .Mi". James Cudwortb, Mr. Joseph TiUlen, Humjihrcy Turner, William Hatch, John Hoar, and James Torri;y, (or the proper use and behoof of the inhabitants of the town of .Scilinite, n, be enjoyed by theui according to the true intents of the ICngli-h grants. The one parcel uf such land is bouniled from the mouth of the North River, as that river goeth to the Indian lleail Itiver, upon a straight line unto the middle ol' Accord Pond ; fruiu Accord Pond, by the line set by the eoniinissiunets as the bouuds bctwi.vt the two jurisdictions, until it met with the line ol the lanil sold by me unto the sharers of Cunilia.-<.-ett, .lud as th.it line runs, between the town and the shores, until it eouieth iiiidt the sea; and so along by the sea unto the mouth of the No> ih Uiver aforesaid. The other parcel of laud, lying on (in- eastei ly side of the North River, begins at a lot which was souiei ioic tlie land of John Ford, and so to run two miles southerly, a- the River runs, and a mile iu breadth towards the ca.st, for wliich parcel of land I do acknowledge to have ieei-i\ed Kif the iiilu whose names are before mentioned, tourteeu pounds in full .-alisfaetion, in behalf of the inhabitants of the toun of Scituatc us at'uiesaid; and [ do hereby promise and engage to give .-ueh further evidence before the Governor us ttie town of .'Scituate shall think meet when I um thereunto rei^uired, in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of

" Samukl Nash. "At the same time when Josiits made acknowledgmciit, as above mentioned, there was a Deed brought into Court which be owned to be the deed which he gave to them whose names are

History Of Marsiifield

.1 the ^subsequent purchase of that traet rendering another ctmveyance necessary, it was pi-obably thought | best to include both purchases in a new deed and de- I stroy the old one. At a later period Wanipatuck i conveyed the reiuaininj^ part of his possessions within , the present boundaries of Marshfield by the following | deed :

"Know yQ that I, the said Ju.-'ias, for good conaiderationa i nic thereunto moving, have given, granted, bargained, and sold, anil by these pre::ientei do bargain, ;i^o)l, give, grant, alioe, and cuntinu and make over all my right, title, and interest in or uutu all and singular ttie lands contained within the township of Marshfield in the jurisdiction of New Plymouth in New England in America, together with all the woods, waters, uiuaduw.s, marshes, mines, and minerals, and all and singular the benefits, privileges, imuiuuitics, and profits thereunto appertaining unto uiy very guud friend Major Josiah Wiuslow, in the l>elialf of htTuself and the rest of the inhabitants and proprietors of the aforesaid town, from me, my heirs, executors, and ussigna forever, fur a valuable consideration to uie in hand paid, wherewith [ do acknowledge myself to be fully satiafied, and for the same do acquit and set them tree from all future claims and demands respecting the premises, only reserving to myself and my men free liberty of hunting with our guns (not setting tnipsj.and also for fowling and lishing and liberty tu fell now and then a true for eanous ; and for the true performance hereof and of the pai ticulars herein me respecting, I do hereby tirmly bind and oblige myself, my heirs, executors, and assigns forever. Fn witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal Lhia IJ^^* day of October, a.d. Itilij.

It is neeclless to enter into any detailed account of ihe early settlers within the limits of this sketch. Particulars ooucerniug tlieui and their families iiiay be found in the " Memorials of Marshfield," by Miss ^larcia A. Thouias, to which the reader is referred. The iuubt distinguished of these settlers, as is well known, were the Winslows, - Edward, John, Josiah, and Kenelm, and Williaui Thomas. Of the Winslows, Edward came in the " Mayflower" in lUliO; John in the " Fortune" in 1621 ; Kenelui came in Hi'^'J ; and . Josiah came in the " White Anfiel" to Saco in 1C31, and after a short residence in Scituate, removed into Marshfield. They were brothers, and their father, Edward Wiuslow, lived in Droitwich, in England, '

Edward, the Euf^lish ancestor of the Winslows, and probably the only son of Kenelm, married, it is suppo.'ied, Eleanor Pelham, of Droitwich, and had a son, llichard, about 15S6. He married, for a second wife, in 1594, Maf^dalene Ollyver, and had Edward (1595), John (1597), Eleanor (1598), Kenelm (1599), Gilbert (IGOO), Elizabeth (16U2;, Ma-daleue (1604:), and Josiah (ItiOG). Accordiii;< to tradition Edward, who was the oldest son, havin'.^ married in Leyden, in 1U18, Elizabeth Barker, joined the Pil-^rims, as a recent convert to their faith, having in his travels fallen within the sphere of their influence, and became a most ituporiant factor in their enterprise of colonization. By his first wife, who died soon after the landing, he had no children surviving infancy; and he married, in 1621, Susanna, the widow of William White, by whom he had Edward and John, before 1627; Josiah, 1628; Elizabeth, who married Robert Brooks ; and George Curwiii. His life in the colony was full of activity and usel'uluess. He was one of the exploring party which landed from the shallop on Plymouth Rock, Dec. 11-21, 162U ; he submitted himself, as a hostage, in the hands of the Indians during the negotiation of the treaty with Massasoit, in 1621', in the same year he visited Mussasoit, at his cabin at Pokanoket, for the purpose of exploring the country and cultivating the friendshipof the great chief ; in 1623 he again visited that sachem, then dangerously ill, and restored him to health ; in the same year, he visited England as an agent of the colony, and, after a six months' absence, returned in the "Charity" in 1624, biinging provisions and clothing and the first stock of cattle ever in New England. In 1625 he was chosen one of the assistants of the Governor, in which ofijce he was continued until 1633, when he was chosen Governor, and during liia term of service as a.ssistant he undertook business excursions to the Penobscot, Kennebec, and Connecticut Rivers. In 16:j5 he was again sent to England as an agent of both the Plymouth and Massachusetts Colonies. In 1636 he was again chosen Governor, and for the third time in 1644. In 1643 he was chosen one of the commissioners of the United Colonics, and in 1646 undertook another embassy to England to answer the complaints of Samuel Gorton and others, who had charged the colonists with religious intolerance and persecution. As an author he enjoys the distinction with Bradford of laying in " Mourt's Relation," printed in London in 1622, the foundation of American literature. At a subsequent day he published a narrative of the settlement and transactions of the colony of Plymouth, entitled " Good News from New England, or a Relation of Things remarkable in that Plantation," and other papers relating to Pilgrim history. In 1654 he received from Cromwell the appointment of commissioner to arbitrate and determine the value of English ships seized and detained by the king of Denmark in 1(J52, and in lt)55 was appointed by the Protector one of three commissioners to superintend the operations of the military and naval forces sent to the Spanish Wcit Indies under Admiral Peun and Gen. Venable. While performing the last service he died on the 8th of May, 1055, and was buried at sea with the honors of war.

John Winslow, the next younger brother of Edward, came to Plymouth, as has been stated, in the "Fortune" in 1021, and married, in 1G27, JIary, daughter of James Chilton, who came in the " Mayflower." It is doubtful whether he ever occupied the land granted to him in Marshfield. In 1057 he removed to Boston, and there died in 1074. Kenelni Winslow, the next younger brother of Edward, according to Miss Thomas, settled on a gentle eminence by the sea, near the extremity of a neck of land lying between Green's Harbor River and South River. He married Widow Eleanor (Newton) Adams, and had Kenelm (1635), who removed to Yarmouth ; Ellon (1637), who married Samuel Baker, of Marshfield ; Nathaniel (1C3D), who married in 10C4 Faith, daughter of John Miller, of Yarmoutli, and succeeded to his father's homestead; and Job (1041), who removed to Swansea. He was a prominent man in the town, representing it often in the General Court, and died in Salem in 1672. Gilbert Winslow, the next younger brother of Edward, came also in the " Mayflower," but returned to England after 1621, and there died in 1050. Josiah, the youngest brother, according to Mi.ss Thomas, settled on a lawn extending from the more elevated lands of his brother Kenelm, southerly to the northern banks of Green's Harbor River. It was fortunate for Marslilield that the services of so intelligent a man were available. As town clerk for many years, he has handed down to the present generation the fullest and most satisfactory records of the early days which the writer has ever seen. Time and continued use have somewhat defaced and mutilated them, but, uuder a commendable vote of the town, they have been adnjirably copied, and, together with the later and current record.s, redect the highest credit on the citizens of the town and their successive clerks. Mr. Winslow married, in 1037, Margaret, daughter of Thoma.s Bourne, and had Elizabeth (1037), Jonathan (1038),

Mary (1040), Margaret (1641, who married John Miller), Rebecca (1632, who married John Thatcher, of Yarmoutli), Haiiuah (1644, who married William Crow), and John Sturtevaot. He died in 1074, and was probably buried in the old burial-ground of the First Church, incorrectly called by many the Winslow burial-ground.

William Thomas, whose grant of about fifteen hundred acres has already been described, is suppu>ed to have been born in 1573, and came from Yarmouth in the " Marye and Ann," perhaps in 103G, with a son, Nathaniel, born in 1600. He is first mentioned in the records in the proceedings of the Court of Assistants, under date of Oct. 6, 1030. where it is entered that " John Winslow hath turned over the service of Edmund Weston for two years, beginning the last of May next ensuing, to Nathaniel Thonnis, in the behalf of his father, Mr. William Thomas, in consideration of ten pounds sterling, the said William being further to give the said Edward six pounds per annum and fourteen bushels of corn at the end of the said two years, and what else the said John should make good by his covenant." He seems to have been included in the list of freemen entered in the records of March 7,1030/7, and yet his name is included in a list of eight entered Dec. 4, 1038, as having been admitted as freemen and sworn on that day. In January, 1640/1, he received his grant, and in the records of the court of the 1st of March, 1641/2, he is called of Marshfield, and oo that day was chosen an assistant, to which office he was annually chosen until his death, in 1651. Mr. Thomas h;is been repeatedly called one of the merchant adventurers by whose aid the Pilgrims were enabled to undertake their voyage and successfully accomplish their scheme of colonization. This, however, is extremely doubtful. No list has been preserved of the adventurers of 1620, while-on that of their succes.sors, who in 1020 carried on further negotiations with the Pilgrims, it is not to be found. It is more probable that he was a Welsh gentleman, of ample means and an adventurous spirit, who shared the passion of the age for colonization, and sought new and fresh fields for activity and enterprise. In the church records of Plymouth he is spoken of as " that Godly gentleman" who went with other.-; from Plymouth to Marslilield, and Nathaniel Morton, the secretary of the colony, says, in speaking of his death, in 1651, "This year Mr. William Thomaa expired his natural life in much peace and comfort. He served in the place of magistracy divers years; he was a well-approved and wellgrounded Christian, well read in the Holy Scriptures and other approved authors ; and good lover and ap- provcr of godly uiiiiisters and tsood Christians, and one tiut iiad a sincere desire to promote the common good boll) uf cliurcii and State." He died of consumption, and was honorably buried at Marshfield. His gravestone still standing in the old burial-ground bears the following inscription :

His son, Nathaniel, who was thirty years of age when he came to Plymoutli, in 1G36, was also a conspicuous man in the very earliest days of Marshfield, and during a time when fears were entertained of Indian attacks he was appointed by the court town's captain. From him, the only son of William, at least on this side of the ocean, there are many descendants living in Marshfield and Plymouth, and other parts of the Old Colony. There is another Thomas family, of which Geo. John Thomas, of Kingston, of Revolutionary fame, was a conspicuous member, descended from Joiin Thomas, of Marshfield, in no way connected, as far as is known, with William Thomas, who came an orphan of fourteen years in the ship " Hopewell," in 1635, and, falling under the care and protection of Edward Winslow, became finally his steward. The two lines of descent from William and John became at one point connected by the marriage of Gen. Thomas, tlie third in descent from the first John, with Hannah, who was daughter of Nathaniel Thomas, the fifth in descent from William. The descendants from John also are to be (bund perhaps as numerous and as widely scattered as those of William.

The William Thomas estate descended through his son, Nathaniel, his grandson, Nathaniel, his greatgrandson, Nathaniel, his great-great-grandson, John, finally to Nathaniel Ray Thomas, who was the only son of John and a noted loyalist, who died at Windsor, in Nova Scotia, in 1787. At the request of the loyalists of Marshfield, of whom there were three hundred, a company of the Queen's Guards, commanded by Capt. Balfour, was scut to that town to protect theiu from annoyance, and was quartered in the house of Mr. Thomas. It was the same house which was afterwards owned and occupied by Daniel Wcb.ster, and up to the time of its destruction by fire, a few years since, its cellar contained the wiue-closets constiucted by Capt. Balfour for the use of himself and officei-s. Mr. Thomas was a mandamus counselor, and in the month of July, 1774, a large body of citizens from various towns gathered round his house to compel him to resign his commission. His absence from town protected him from insult, and afterwards the presence of the Queen's Guards effectually shielded Iiira. While the troups were at Marshfield he and his family were hjdged with the family of Dr. Lsaac Winslow in the Winslow house, still standing at the corner of the roads a short distance south of the Webster estate. On the evacuation of Boston, in 1776, Mr. Thomas went to Nova Scotia. Mrs. Thomas, who was the daughter of Henry Deering, of Boston, remained at the homestead with hur children, and saved her share of the estate from the confi.-ication which befell it. After the war she joined her husband iu Nova Scotia with all her children except John, and died in Windsor in 1810, at the age of seventy-eight. That part of the estate which was saved from confiscation came into the pos.session of John Thomas, the only child of Nathaniel Ray, and of him it was bought, in 1832, by Daniel Webster. Of the original estates of Edward Winslow and William Thomas, comprising two thousand seven hundred acres, Mr. Webster had bought before his death about fifteen hundred. Nearly on the dividing line between these estates Mr. Webster stood in the open air on the 24th of July, 1852, three months before his death, and addressed for the last time a public assemblage. He addressed his neighbors and friends, who had gathered in large numbers to receive him, and, as both his last public utterance and a testimony to the love and affection iu which he held the spot which had been his home and those among whom he had so long lived, it deserves a place in this narrative :

"Friends a.vd NutuuBORs: It is now about twenty years that I have been in the midst of you, |>adi<iug here on the side of the aeo, iu your vicinity and presenee that portion of every year which I have been able to enjoy fruui the laboi-s of my profession and the cares of public life. Happy have they been to ine and mine, fur durinj^ all that period I know not of one unkind thing done or an unkind word s|ioUen to ute or those that are near and dear to me. Geutleuieu, I consider this a personal kindness, a tribute of individual regard. I have lived among you with the greatest pleasure aud sutisfaelioii. I <leeiii it a great piece of good fortuno that, eouiing from the mountains, desirous of having a summer resideuce on the sea-coast, 1 came where I did and when I did. Many when they couie down through these pine woods, aud over these sandy hills, to see us, wonder what drew Mr. Webster to .Marshlietd. \Vby, gentlemen, I tell them, it was partly good sense, hut m-ti-e good fortune. 1 hatl gut a pleasant spot, I had land.-4 about aie diversitied, my fortune was to fall into a kind ui.'iglib<M-hood, nmoug men with whom I never had any dilliculty, vuth uhuiu I had entered into a sort of a well-unilerstooil covenant tliat I would talk with them on farming and lisbing, aud of ueiglihorliood concerns, but I would never speak a word to them or they

'- FrieiiJa ;inil ntigliliors. the time in wliicli you olFer lue tliis welcome ia not imippiopriiite. I am not mucb lori;;er to be iLWuy from you for ;iuy purpose connected with public lile or public duty. The phicc whicli I now occupy in tlie councils of the milion mu^l, of course, ere lon^ be vucuted by me, and m:iy be vac;iled very shortly. There i.i un end to nil huuian labors and human elVorrj. I am no longer a young man. I am thankful that I have a good degree of health and Etrcngtb, and hope to enjoy your neighborhood and kindnes:', and the plea-ine '.f sei-ing you often, for some years to come, if such ma} he the j.leasnreof the .Aliniglity.

-- Aecepf, gentlemen, from the depth of my affection for you all, my warm aekuowleJgniints that you come hero with couuleuances to open and frank to give me this assurance of your regard. 1 return it with all my heart. I say again, my prayers arc that the Power above may preserve you and Tours, and everything that ia near and dear to you in prosperity and happiness."

In just three mouths from that day, ou the 24th of (Jctober, he died, and on the 27th he was buried in the old burial-;;round adjoining his estate. His stone bears the following inscription, that part of it which is an extract from the Scriptures having been inserted at his own recjuest, and the remainder being a statement of his own :