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CHAPTER
XVII. Early History, with Sketches of Some of the Commanders - Ancient and Honorable Artillery, with List of Lynn Members and Notices of Some Achievements - Lynn in the Indian Wars, in the Revolution and Subsequent Wars, and in the Great Civil War – Her Present Military Organizations. |
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Though classic earth, can boast no more Of deeds heroic than yon sun Once saw upon this distant shore." THOUGH the Indians in this
immediate vicinity manifested but little hostility towards the settlers,
there were constantly disturbing apprehensions. Perhaps the promptness in
military preparation did much to prevent any serious attacks, though the
small number here, and their inefficient weapons, could not give them much
encouragement in aggressive attempts. But it was not so in some other
quarters, and Lynn soon put herself in a condition to succor any neighbor
that might stand in need. The Indians quickly learned the use of firearms,
and there were enough among the settlers whose base cupidity led them,
without scruple, to furnish muskets and ammunition to the dusky warriors
in exchange for furs and wampum currency. Even as early as 1630 the Court
found it necessary to order that "noe person whatsoever shall, either
directly or indirectly, imploy or cause to be imployed, or to their power
permit any Indian to vse any peece vpon any occasion or pretence
whatsoever, under pain of Xs. ffine for the first offence, and for the 2
offence to be ffyned and imprisoned at the discretion of the Court." This
was the next year after the settlement began.
Military skill
and personal bravery were naturally in high repute. Plymouth had her Miles
Standish, and Massachusetts, though perhaps destitute of a leader as
conspicuous as he, could boast of several commanders of experience and
tried valor. Lynn was remarkably fortunate in this respect, as she had
within her borders two or three well skilled in the tactics of the field.
The first major-general of the colony was John Humfrey, who settled here
in 1634. His dwelling was on the east side of Nahant Street, and
overlooked the sea, Nahant and the Beach, and was but a short distance
from the spot on which the habitation of Montowampate, or Sagamore James,
the Indian ruler, stood. The writer is well aware that Mr. Humfrey's
residence is thought by some to have been at Swampscott, but careful
research has shown that to be an error. He indeed owned an extensive tract
of land thereabout, but assuredly did not live in that then lonely place.
Some even suppose that the "Farm House " on the estate, so highly improved
and embellished by the late Hon. Enoch Redington Mudge, was the identical
residence of Mr. Humfrey. But it is thought that even a slight examination
would be sufficient to convince any one that such a house could not have
been built at that period. It is in the style of a later day. He possibly
had cultivated acres in the vicinity, and may have erected some rude
structure for the temporary shelter of laborers. He also had a land grant
in what is now Lynnfield, including the beautiful little lakelet still
known as Humfrey's Pond. This latter grant was made in 1635, the year
after his arrival, and in these words, - "There is 500 acres of land and a
freshe pond, with a little ileland conteyneing aboute two acres, granted
to John Humfrey, Esq., lying betwixte nore & west from Saugus [Lynn],
provided hee take noe part of the 500 acres within 5 myles of any towne
nowe planted. Also, it is agreed, that the inhabitants of Saugus [Lynn]
& Salem shall have liberty to build stoore howses upon the said
ileland, and to lay in such provisions as they judge necessary for their
vse in tyme of neede." Mr. Humfrey was
one of the most eminent men in the colony, was an original Massachusetts
patentee, and, before the removal of the patent to New England, was chosen
Deputy-Governor. It being, however, thought best for the interests of the
company that he should for a time remain in England, Thomas Dudley was
chosen to serve in his stead, and came over with Winthrop's company in
1630. When Mr. Humfrey
came over he brought with him, says Winthrop, "more ordnance, muskete and
powder." He was accompanied by his wife and six children, and it is pretty
certain would not have returned so soon had it not been for the
disconsolate yearnings of his home-sick wife, who was a daughter of the
Earl of Lincoln. But he had restless ambition, and perhaps felt that New
England was too limited and uncertain a field for his aspirations. From
his feverish dreams of advancement, however, he finally awoke. But it was
the chilling pressure of disapapointment that awoke him. And when
meditating on the defeat of his most cherished schemes, a gush of
tenderness and even deep religious feeling overwhelmed him. Not much can
be said of his exploits in the field, but as a counselor and home
director, in planning, ordering and providing, his services were of
inestimable value. He returned to England in the fall of 1641, and there
died in 1661. A military
company was organized in Lynn as early as 1630. Richard Wright was
appointed captain; Daniel Howe, lieutenant; and Richard Walker, ensign.
They were provided with two iron cannon. In 1631 there was a report that
some Indians intended an attack on Lynn, and Walker, with a suitable
number, was detailed for the night guard. He at one time, while on duty,
had an arrow, shot from among some bushes, pass through his coat and "
buff waistcoat," and afterwards another arrow was shot through his
clothes. It being quite dark, after a random discharge or two of their
muskets, the guard retired. The next morning the cannon was brought up and
discharged in the woods, and nothing more came of the attack. After that
the people of Lynn suffered little or no molestation.
At the breaking
out of the Pequot war, in 1636, Captain Nathaniel Turner, of Lynn,
commanded one of the companies detailed to serve in the first campaign.
The expedition did efficient service at Block Island, New London and
thereabout. The next year, 1637, a second expedition was undertaken, and
the town furnished twenty-one men. In one respect Lynn was a loser by this
war, for Captain Turner became so enamored of the country through which he
marched that he permanently pitched his tent there, becoming, as Trumbull
says, one of the principal settlers of New Haven. But his fate was
mysterious and melancholy. He was one of the five men of "chief note and
worth " who sailed for England in 1647, in the little vessel commanded by
Captain Lamberton, which was never heard of after; unless the "phantom
ship" which appeared in the Sound after a great thunder storm the next
year, and which beholders declared was an exact image, is taken as her
representative. Captain Turner
received his commission as "Captaine of the military company att Saugus,"
in March, 1633, from the General Court. He became a near neighbor of his
superior officer, John Humfrey, and the two no doubt often conferred
together on military affairs. Humfrey's action, as already intimated, was
in the Council, while Turner's was more in the field, and one of the first
orders the latter received was the rather ignoble one to march to Nahant
on a wolf- hunt. What luck he had in destroying his four-footed foes does
not appear; but when he was called to meet more worthy enemies, he was
brave and triumphant. His moving from Lynn at that formation period in her
history was a great loss to the place, probably quite as great as that of
the departure of his neighbor Humfrey.
Among the Lynn
soldiers in the Pequot war was Christopher Lindsey. He was a laboring man,
and kept the cattle of Mr. Dexter, at Nahant. The elevation on the
peninsula, called Lindsey's Hill, received its name from him. He was
wounded in the war, and in 1655 petitioned the court for an allowance,
saying that he was "disabled from service for twenty weekes, for which he
never had any satisfaction." He was allowed three pounds. His only
daughter, Naomi, married Thomas Maule, of Salem, the famous Quaker, whose
doctrinal book, together with ils supplementary "Persecutors Mauled,"
created quite a sensation. In it he remarks they five times imprisoned
him, thrice took away his goods and thrice cruelly whipped him.
It was in 1638
that the Ancient and Honorable Artillery was organized. Six Lynn men were
among the first members, namely, William Ballard, Joseph Hewes, Daniel
Howe, Edward Tomlins, Nathaniel Turner, Richard Walker. Daniel Howe was
chosen lieutenant. A word in relation to one or two of these early members
of that ancient organization may not be inappropriate. In relation to Mr.
TOMLINS, it appears pretty certain that he was one in whom great trust was
reposed in civil matters, as well as military. Yet it is evident that he
had decided opinions, which were not always expressed in ways the most
wise or gentle. On the 3d of September, 1634, the court ordered that he,
"or any other put in his place by the Commisioners of War, with the help
of an assistant, shall have power to presse men and carts, for ordinary
wages, to helpe towards makeing of such carriages and wheeles as are
wanting for the ordinances." His brother, Timothy Tomlins, was the same
year appointed overseer of the "powder and shott and all other amunicon "
of the plantation. In 1643, being then a member of the House of
Representatives, he was "ordred and appoynted, by both Houses of the
Courte, to go uppon a messuage to ye Narragansett sachems," and dismissed
from the "howse for ye present to prepare himself for ye jurney." he went
in company with the celebrated Indian negotiator, General Humphrey
Atherton. And it is represented that one of their first acts was to
catechise the benighted Narragansetts on the Ten Commandments. It is
probable that he had not much of an ear for music other than martial, for
in 1641, he was arraigned for expressing opinions against music in the
churches. He, however, retracted, and was discharged.
NATHANIEL
TURNER, who also joined the Ancient and Honorables at the time of their
organization, has already been spoken of. Thesword which he wielded
against the Indians is still preserved by the Historical Society of
Hartford, Conn. A picture of it may be seen in Harper's Magazine, volume
xvii. page 3. The same weapon also did service, in other hands, in the old
French War and in the Revolution. RICHARD WALKER
has also been mentioned as ensign of the first military company of Lynn,
formed in 1630. And the duties of the soldiers of those days, in time of
peace even, must have been burdensome, for it was ordered, in 1631, "that
every Captaine shall train his companie on saterday in every weeke." In
May, 1679, a new troop was formed in Lynn, consisting of forty-eight men.
They petitioned the General Court that Captain Richard Walker might be
appointed commander. Ralph King, who was a son-in- law of the veteran, was
made lieutenant. If this is the same Richard Walker, he must then have
been eighty-six years old, for he was born in 1693. He appears, however,
to have been blest with a most vigorous constitution, for he lived to the
great age of ninety-five years. And he is probably the same hero to whom
Johnson, of Wobern, refers in the following lines, touching an encounter
with some Indians: "He fought the
Eastern Indiana there,
The venerable
organization now known as "The Ancient and Honorable Artillery," but which
in its charter is called "The Military Company of the Massachusetts," at
its formation, in 1638, was designed for discipline in military tactics.
For many years it, no doubt, served an excellent purpose, but of late
years it has come to be regarded as rather a holiday institution. Lynn has
furnished a fair share of members, and a list is deserving of space here:
1638. William
Ballard 1638. Joseph
Hewes 1638. Daniel Howe (Lieut). 1639. Samuel Bennett.
1640. John Humfrey.
1640. Thomas Marshall.
1641. Robert Bridges.
1641. John Humfrey,
Jr. 1641. Adam Otley.
1642. John
Wood 1643. Benjamin
Smith. 1645. Clement
Coldam. 1648. John
Cole. 1652. Samuel
Hutchinson. 1694. Thomas
Baker 1717. Benjamin
Gray. 1821. Robert
Robinson. 1822. Daniel N. Breed.
1822. George Johnson.
1822. Ebenezer Neal.
1851. Roland G. Usher.
1860. Richard S. Fay, Jr.
Of the first
six, those who joined at the time of the organization, enough has perhaps
been said. But some of those who subsequently joined are worthy of brief
notice. SAMUEL BENNETT, who became a member
in 1639, was one of the first settlers, and located in what is now the
westerly part of Saugus. He owned considerable woodland. "Bennett's
Swamp," so called to this day, in old Dungeon Pasture, was owned by him.
His residence was not far from the ironworks, and in that vicinity he also
had lands. He had a good deal of independence of character, not to say
wilfulness. At the Quarterly Court, in 1645, he was presented "for saying,
in a scornful manner, he neither cared for the Town nor any order the Town
could make." In 1671 he sued John Gifford, former agent of the ironworks,
and attached property to the amount of four hundred pounds, for labor
performed for the company. On the 27th of June, the following testimony
was given: "John Paule, aged about forty- five years, sworne, saith, that
living with Mr. Samuel Bennett, upon or about the time that the ironworks
were sensed by Capt. Savage, in the year 53 as I take it, for I lived ther
several years, and my constant imployment was to repaire carts, coale
carts, mine carts, and other working materials for his teemes, for he
keept 4 or 5 teemes, and sometimes 6 teemes, and he had the most teemes
the last yeare of the Iron Works, when they were seased, and my master
Bennett did yearly yearne a vast sum from the said Iron Works, for he
commonly yearned forty or filfy shillings a daye for the former time, and
the year 63, as aforesaid, for he had five or six teemes goeing generally
every faire day." In 1644 he was presented by the grand jury as "a common
sleeper in time of exercise," and fined two shillings and sixpence. There
was a law forbidding the sale of commodities at too great a profit. And
for a breach of this law he appears to have once or twice suffered
prosecution. On the colony records, under date of May 16, 1657, may be
found this entry: "In answer to the petition of Samuel Bennett, humbly
craving the remittment or abatement of a fine imposed on him by the County
Court, for selling goods at excessive prizes, the court having perused,
and by theire committee examined, the papers in the case presented,
together with the allegations and pleas of the peticoner and others, by
him produced, understanding by what appeared, the peticoner received of
George Wallis about forty pounds or upwards meerely for the release of the
bargain made betwixt them, . . . see it not meete to graunt the petition
in whole or in part." Mr. Wallis had also been fined "fivety pounds" for
“selling goods at excessive prizes," and petitioned for a remittal, and
the same court judged it "meete to remit the fine all to tenn pounds,"
which remittal was made in consideration of his being necessitated " to be
at the losse of about forty pounds or more to attayne a release of the
bargain betwixt him and Samuel! Bennett." It seems to have been a mere
game of sharps between Bennett and Wallis, but shows the care taken by the
court to prevent a circumvention of the wholesome law forbidding one to
sell at an excessive profit. The maxim so prevalent in the bargainings of
our day - caveat emptor - seems
then to have been unheeded. Not much is to be found respecting Mr. Bennett
in his military capacity. JOHN HUMFREY has
already been spoken of to some extant. ROBERT BRIDGES,
or Captain Bridges, as he was generally called, was a man of substance and
marked traite of character. He was admitted a freeman in 1641, and joined
the Ancient and Honorables the same year, being then captain of a militia
company. He was a good deal in civil authority, was Speaker of the House
of Representatives, an assistant, an acting magistrate and a member of the
Quarterly Court. In 1645, accompanied by Richard Walker and Thomas
Marshall, both already spoken of as Lynn members of the company, he went
as commissioner to negotiate between Lord de la Tour and Monsieur
d'Aulney, the governors of the French provinces on the north of New
England. The embassy did good service and the court appropriately
recompensed them. It was Captain
Bridges who, in July, 1651, granted the magistrate's warrants against
Clarke, Crandall and Holmes, the Baptist missionaries from Rhode Island,
concerning which affair it is proposed to say something in the sketch of
Swampscott. In the Essex
Court files may be found the following record of Captain Bridges's
official action in the case of Thomas Wheeler, who appears to have been a
man of character and some estate: "4th mo., 1654. Thomas Wheeler bound
over to the Court by the worshipful Captain Bridges, for sinful and
offensive speeches made by him in comparing the Rev. Mr. Gobbet to Corah.
It being proved by three witnesses, sentence of Court is, that he shall
make public acknowledgment upon the Lord's day, sometime within a month
after the date hereof, according to this form following, and pay the three
witnesses £12 2s. 6d. and fees
of Court: [I, Thomas Wheeler, having spoken at a town meeting in February
last, evil, sinful and speeches against the Reverend Teacher, Mr. Cobbet,
in comparing him unto Corah, for which I am very sorry, do acknowledge
this my evil, to the glory and praise of God and to my own shame, and
hope, for time to come, shall be more careful.] The constable of Lynn is
to see it performed.” Mr. Wheeler removed to Stonington, Ct., in 1664, and
became the largest Iandholder in the place, was an honored member of the
church, and died there in 1686, at the age of
eighty-four. It is not found
that Captain Bridges made much of a mark in a military way, but as a
business man he certainly, by his enterprise and prudence, added much to
the reputation and prosperity of Lynn. He may almost be called the father
of the iron works. It was in 1642 that he took specimens of the bog ore
found here to London, and succeeded in forming a company which soon after
commenced operations by setting up the bloomery and forge. And although
the works proved pecuniarily disastrous, the country at large reaped great
ulterior benefit through some of the skilled workmen, the best that
England could afford, who removed to other places and engaged in works,
which, under better management, grew to great importance. The life of this
Captain Thomas Baker was so illustrative of the vicissitudes to which the
people of that period were exposed, and withal so tinged with romance,
that space may be allowed for a glimpse or two. He was taken captive by
the Indians at Deerfield on the terrible night of February 29, 1704, and
carried to Canada. He, however, the next year, succeeded in effecting his
escape. In or about the year 1715 he married Madam Le Beau, whose name
figures somewhat in the history of that period. She was a daughter of
Richard Otis, of Dover, N. H., who, with one son and one daughter, was
killed by the Indians on the night of June 27, 1689, at the time they
destroyed the place. She was then an infant of three months, and was, with
her mother, carried captive to Canada and sold to the French. The priests
took her, baptized her, and gave her the name of Christine. They educated
her in the Romish faith, and she passed some time in a nunnery, not,
however, taking the veil. At the age of sixteen she was married to a
Frenchman, thus becoming Madam Le Beau, and became the mother of two or
three children. Her husband died about 1713. And it was very soon after
that her future husband, Captain Baker, appears to have fallen in with
her. He was attached to the commission detailed by Governor Dudley, under
John Stoddard and John Williams, for the purpose of negotiating with the
Marquis de Vaudreuil for the release of prisoners and to settle certain
other matters, and went to Canada. From Stoddard's journal it appears that
there was much trouble in procuring her release, and when it was obtained,
her children were not allowed to go with her. Her mother was also opposed
to her leaving Canada. After her
return, Christine married Captain Baker, and they went to reside at
Brookfield, where they remained till 1733. They had several children, and
among their descendents is Hon. John Wentworth, lato member of Congress
from Illinois. She became a Protestant after marrying Captain Baker, and
substituted the name Margaret for Christine, though later in life she
seems to have again adopted the latter. In 1727, her former confessor,
Father Siguenot, wrote her a gracious letter, expressing a high opinion of
her and warning her against swerving from the faith in which she had been
educated. He mentions the happy death of a daughter of hers who had
married and lived in Quebec, and also speaks of her mother, then living,
and the wife of a Frenchman. This letter was shown to Governor Burnet, and
he wrote to her a forcible reply to the arguments it contained in favor of
Romanism. And there are, or recently were, three copies of the letter and
reply in the Boston Athenaeum. The mother of Christine had children by her
French husband, and Philip, Christine's half-brother, visited her at
Brookfield. All the children
of Captain Baker and Christine, seven or eight in number, excepting the
first, who was a daughter, bearing her mother's name, were born in
Brookfield. There is no reason to doubt that the connection was a happy
one. They held a very respectable position, and he was the first
representative from Brookfield. He was indeed once tried before the
Superior Court, in 1727, for blasphemy, but the jury acquitted him. The
offense consisted in his remarking, while discoursing on God's providence
in allowing Joseph Jennings, of Brookfield, to be made a justice of the
peace, "If I had been with the Almighty I would have taught him better."
In 1733 Captain
Baker sold his farm in Brookfield. But this proved an unfortunate step,
for the purchaser failed before making payment, and their circumstances
became greatly reduced. They were a short time at Mendon, and also at
Newport, R. I., but finally removed to Dover, N. H. Poor Christine, in
1735, petitioned the authorities of New Hampshire for leave to "keep a
house of public entertainment" on the "County Rhoade from Dover
meeting-house to Cocheco Boome." To this petition she signs her name
"Christine baker," and mentions that she made a journey to Canada in hope
of getting her children, "but all in vaine." A license was granted, and it
seems probable that she kept the house a number of years. She died, at a
great age, February 23, 1773, and an obituary notice appeared in the
Boston Evening
Post. There seems, at
first sight, to be a little confusion of dates in the foregoing, or
possibly some mistake in personal identity, if the dates in the following
deposition are correct. The deposition is in favor of a fellow-soldier,
and bears the date June 8, 1730 : "The deposition of Thomas Baker, of
Lyn, in the county of Essex, aged about 77 years, Testifieth and saith,
That I, being well acquainted wlth one Andrew Townsend of Lyn aforesaid
for more than 55 years since, and do certainly know and very well Remember
that the sd Andrew Townsend was a soldier in the Expedition to the
Narragansett under ye Command of Capt. Gardner, and that he was in ye sd
Narragansett fite and in sd fite Rec’d a wound, in or about the year
1675”
The deponent
styles himself of Lynn, but it rather appears that he was then of
Brookfield. Perhaps, however, he was proud to still call himself of Lynn,
or merely meant that he was of Lynn at the time of the "fite." It is
evident that he was somewhat of a rover.
The King Philip
War, that last great struggle of the red men, commenced in 1675. It was a
period when all the energy and all the patriotism were put to the test - a
period, as it appeared to many, of life or death. And our people, though
not apparently exposed to immediate danger, responded with promptness
worthy of all praise. The then captain of the military company of Lynn was
Thomas Marshall, who had been a resident here for some forty years, though
in the mean time he had been back to England, where he gained, by his
bravery in the parliamentary army, a commission as captain from Oliver
Cromwell. He was a man of some eccentricities, but yet must have had the
confidence of the people. He kept the tavern near Saugus River for many
years, and appears to have been in some respects a model landlord. He is
spoken of in other connections. It would not be
easy to ascertain the exact number of men furnished nor the amounts raised
in response to the public calls in this great struggle; but Lynn did her
full share. During the
French and Indian War, 1754-63,some two thousand French Catholic neutrals
were sent to Massachusetts to be quartered in different places. Lynn's
share was fourteen. Their provisions were supplied by Thomas Lewis, and
among his items of charge were four hundred and thirty-two quarts of milk
at six pence a gallon. A company marched from Lynn for Canada, May 23,
1758, and two were killed. Then we come
down to the Revolution. Several Lynn men were at the battle of Lexington,
April 19, 1775, the opening battle of the war, and four were killed, -
namely, Abednego Ramsdell, William Flint, Thomas Hadley and Daniel
Townsend. On the 23d of April Lynn chose a Committee of Safety, consisting
of Rev. John Treadwell, minister of the First Parish, Rev. Joseph Roby,
minister of the Third Parish and Deacon Daniel Mansneld; others were
afterwards added, among them Dr. John Flagg. An alarm company was formed,
and three night watches established. The memorable battle of Bunker Hill
was fought June 17, 1775. The Lynn regiment was under command of Colonel
John Mansfield. It mustered, but did not reach the ground in time to take
part in the conflict. For his "remissness and backwardness in the
execution of duty," the colonel was ordered before a court-martial,
consisting of twelve field-officers, presided over by Gen. Greene, found
guilty and ordered to be cashiered. The patriotic people of Lynn were
greatly mortified at this untoward occurrence, which, however, had rather
the effect to stimulate their zeal and determination. Lynn furnished for
the war two colonels, three captains, five lieutenants, five sergeants,
six corporals and about a hundred and sixty privates, which, considering
the then small population, was doing remarkably well. She was poor, and
her business prostrated during the war; nevertheless, in 1776, she voted
fifteen pounds each to the company of soldiers furnished for the
expedition to Canada, and ten pounds for every enlisting volunteer. She
also, in 1780, granted as much money as would purchase two thousand seven
hundred silver dollars to pay the soldiers. This was liberal, considering
the losses by the depressed condition of the currency. Within two years
she had granted for war purposes seventy thousand pounds, old tenor. Mr.
Lewis remarks, "A soldier of the Revolution says that, in 1781, he sold
one thousand seven hundred and eighty dollars of paper money for thirty
dollars in silver." By this, something may be seen of the town's
liberality. In the procession at the celebration of the Fourth of July, at
Lynn, in 1828, were over forty who had served in various capacities and
for various terms in the armies of the Revolution; among them four
pensioners. The government at that day was not so able to grant pensions
as it at present is, and hence comparatively few were on the lists. That
was the last procession in which most of them ever appeared - excepting
the great procession which knows no counter-march, in which we are all
moving on, and from which every one of them soon dropped out.
Concerning
several of the more prominent Lynn soldiers who served in the Revolution,
it would be agreeable to say something; but the allotted space is so
limited that it is necessary to be chary of its use. So deserving a
commander as Colonel Ezra Newhall, however, should not be passed over in
entire silence. He was a great-great-grandson of Thomas Newhall, the first
white person born in Lynn, and was captain of the Lynn Minute Men at the
opening of the war; but, in consequence of the delay of the troops from
Salem, was not present at the battle of Lexington. Nor was he present at
the battle of Bunker Hill, as he was attached to Colonel Mansfield's
regiment, as senior captain, and by the " remissness " of that officer was
kept from joining the gathering squadrons. In earlier life Colonel Ezra
was an officer in the French War under Colonel Ruggles. Subsequently to
the battle of Bunker Hill he was major, then lieutenant-colonel in Colonel
Putnam's Fifth Massachusetts Regiment, and so continued to the end of the
war. He served in the campaign that sealed the fate of Burgoyne, was at
Valley Forge and at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. After the war he
was appointed by President Washington collector of internal revenue, and
retained the office till his death, on the 5th of April, 1798, at the age
of sixty-six years. There is abundant evidence that while in the army he
was very popular with his companions-in-arms. While the regiment was
encamped at Winter Hill some dissatisfaction was manifested concerning the
rank of the captains and other officers, as they stood on the brigade
major's books. The captains, therefore, on the 27th of August, 1776, held
a meeting and voted to "settle the rank of officers by lot, and abide
thereby," at the same time voting that Captain Ezra Newhall should rank as
first captain. Indeed, he seems always to have been spoken of as a brave
and prudent officer, and a man much beloved. He lived in the house still
standing on Boston Street, at the southwest corner of the recently opened
Wyman Street. After the Revolution he removed to Salem, purchased an
estate on Essex Street, and there died at the time above stated. The Salem Gazette, in an obituary
notice, said: "He served his country in the late war with fidelity and
honor; and in civil and domestic life the character of an honest man,
faithful friend, tender husband and kind parent was conspicuous in him.
Society suffers a real loss by his death."
The warlike
events of later years are, or should be, familiar to every reader that any
attempt at details which space would allow would be far from satisfactory,
and we must content ourselves with little more than bare allusions.
The War of 1812
was essentially a naval conflict, but there was much suffering and
business depression, and above all, sharp political dissension. At times
there were sudden alarms in the seaboard settlements arising from
threatened descents and bombardments from the enemy's ships in the bay.
The gallant contest between the English frigate "Shannon " and the
American frigate "Chesapeake," on the 1st of June, 1813, was witnessed by
crowds of the people of Lynn, who not only climbed the hills, but clung to
the housetops. And when the American flag was seen to strike, many a
sorrowful eye was turned away. Watch stations were established upon
several heights, and two or three alarms occurred which hastily called out
the soldiery and excited the people, but no serious conflict took place.
Soon after the
close of the first quarter of the present century the military interest
began to fall into popular disrepute. It had, indeed from the frequency of
exercise required and other exactions, become quite burdensome. The
opposition developed especially in the shape of ridicule. And had it not
been for the saving efforts of the uniformed or, as they were called, the
volunteer companies, it is hard to tell where the matter would have ended.
There were at this time three handsomely uniformed and well- drilled
companies, - namely, the Lynn Artillery, organized in 1808; the Light
Infantry, organized in 1812; and the Rifle Company, organized in 1818.
Sometimes
totally unfit persons were designedly elected as officers, and the
district "companies of the line" at times amounted to little more than
tattered and jeering assemblages. One man who was elected an officer in a
West Lynn company is well remembered. He was a fellow of good information
and bright wit, but extremely low habits. For a supply of liquor he could
be induced to play in any role. On a certain parade day he appeared
mounted on a gaunt roadster wrapped in a long cloak decorated profusely
with conspicuous and ridiculous badges. And so he capered around as long
as he could retain his seat. Yet the fires of patriotism had by no means
been extinguished, for every one saw the necessity of a properly organized
militia. The disaffection was only towards the existing requirements. And
the result of the popular manifestations was a radical change in the laws.
And from that time to this the laws have been modified as circumstances
required. The Seminole or,
as it was often called, the Florida War, commenced in 1835 and continued
nearly eight years. It cost the United States some ten million dollars and
several thousand lives. There were romantic as well as bloody features
pertaining to this war. Its precipitating cause seems to have been some
indignities offered the wife of Osceola, chief of the Seminoles. He was
the son of an English trader who married the daughter of a chief, and was
of a most determined and persistent character. So prolonged was the war
that the people became very impatient, and with their complaints and
censures mingled ridicule, notwithstanding some of the best and bravest
army officers were detailed for the service. A sharpshooting poet in 1839
thus delivered himself: "Ever since the
creation, By the best
calculation, The Florida War has been raging;
And ‘tis our expectation
That the last
conflagration Will find us the same contest
waging:” Perhaps the
incident in the Seminole War that most nearly touched the people of Lynn
was the loss The Mexican War
commenced in 1840. Lynn furnished twenty volunteers, no special call being
made. In 1832 the
threats of revolt in South Carolina and her apparent determination to
break the integrity of the Union, the zeal and oratorical vigor of her
statesmen, the drilling of her troops, all tended to create serious
apprehension in every quarter. And had it not been for the unflinching
determination of President Jackson, his warnings and declarations,
especially as embodied in his famous proclamation, there is little doubt
that a rebellion would then have been precipitated. But that extremity was
reserved for the next generation. And it came.
The history of
the great Rebellion, the first overt act of which was the bombardment of
Fort Sumter on the 12th of April, 1861, is so familiar that we need only
refer to a few facts specially pertaining to Lynn. In five hours after
President Lincoln's first requisition for troops arrived Lynn had two full
companies armed and ready for duty. And early the next day, April 16th,
they departed to meet the foe. The two companies formed a part of the
Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, and were Company D, the Lynn Light
Infantry, commanded by Captain George T. Newhall, and Company F, commanded
by Captain James Hudson, Jr. The regimental officers belonging to Lynn
were Timothy Munroe, colonel; Edward W. Hinks, lieutenant-colonel ;
Ephraim A. Ingalls, quartermaster; Roland G. Usher, paymaster; Bowman B.
Breed, surgeon ; Warren Tapley, assistant surgeon; Horace E. Munroe,
quartermaster sergeant. Many volunteers stood ready and would have gone
had there been time for equipment. Company D marched off with sixty
privates, and Company F with seventy-six. The zeal thus early kindled did
not abate during the whole war. Every call for troops was quickly and
fully responded to, and everything done that could add to the comfort of
the brave ones upon the field. Lynn furnished three thousand two hundred
and seventy-four soldiers, which was two hundred and thirty more than her
full quota. Enthusiastic war meetings were from time to time held. And the
principal victories were celebrated by the ringing of bells, by bonfires
and other joyful demonstrations. Many of her gallant sons fell on the
field; others lost their lives by diseases contracted during the
campaigns, and still others have passed away in the common course of
nature since the alarms of war have ceased. Many peacefully lie in the
Soldiers' Lot in the beautiful Pine Grove Cemetery, while others rest in
more secluded sepulchres, or with their fathers in the older
burial-places, their graves being strewn on every returning "Memorial Day"
with fresh flowers by surviving comrades and loving kindred. By far the
greater number, however, still sleep upon the battlefield. A stately
Soldiers' Monument was erected in City Hall Square in 1873. It is an
allegorical and classic work of art in bronze, cast at Munich, in Bavaria,
and cost $30,000. The Grand Army
of the Republic in Lynn. - Gen. Lander Encampment, Post 5, is said to be
the largest in the country. But its ranks are thinning out as member after
member is drafted into that army which marches on with ceaseless step, and
knows no countermarch. As population
increases, the laws governing our State military affairs are constantly
undergoing changes, and it would be useless to attempt here anything like
a historical account of the alterations even during the last forty years.
The organizations have come to be essentially voluntary rather than
compulsory. And the people have never been backward in sanctioning the
most liberal provision for the discipline and comfort of her soldiery.
Our present
military organizations are the Light Infantry (Company D) and the
Wooldredge Cadets (Company I), both in high repute. There is also the Lynn
City Guards Veteran Association. It is quite
within the recollection of the writer that the newspaper reader often saw
at the close of an obituary notice the phrase "He was a soldier of the
Revolution." But it is never seen at this day. It is said that the last
person to whom a pension was paid on account of the Revolutionary War died
at Woodstock, N. H., early in 1887, at the age of ninety-seven. She was a
widow by the name of Abigail S. Tilton. Is it not a solemn thought that
all of the brave ones who fought for our liberties at that trying period
have lain down to that prolonged rest from which they will be aroused only
by the sound of the trumpet that summons them and all of us for final
review and inspection ? And is it not, too, a solemn thought that the
remnant of the Grand Army of our day, who took the field for the
maintenance of those liberties, are fast joining the throng of their
martial fathers? A few years more, and the last soldier will have marched
away, and the "Grand Army of the Republic" survive in memory only as a
vestige of the heroism of the past. |
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