Glouzmemératiw of fljs’. gpart iaficu fig flje Jhzljafiifcmfis

OF THE

ORIGINAL TOWN OF LEICESTER,

IN TIIE

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION:

DELIVERED AT L1i1ICI§S'I‘ER, JULY 4, 1849.

 

BY EMORY WASHBURN.

B O S T O N:
PRINTED BY 0. 0. P. MOODY,
Old Dickinson Ofiioe, 52 Washington Street.

184. 9.

 
 

 

 

IN sufferiiig the following Address to. be published, the reader is assured, that the only
motive of the Writer is, to furnish to many who desired it, the brief historical sketch
which it contains of some of the events of the revolution in which the inhabitants of
the origiiial town of Leicester tool: part. Their posterity, which has become numerous
and greatly scattered, it was thought, would naturally take an interest in a recital of
these, and it was believed that by presenting them in an authentic form, many might
be gratified by an opportunity thereby to refer to them, who were not present on the
occasion when the Address was delivered. This explanation, it is hoped, will relieve the
Writer from remark, for having so far departed from the line of prudence as to suffer an
address who published, which had been prepared upon so hackneyed a topic as the
commemoration of American Independence.

Norn.--The Address was delivered in a grove, a little distance west of the meeting-
house, where a part of Gen. Burgoyne’s army encamped on their march through Massa—-
chusetts, as prisoners of war,  1777.

ADDRESS.

EVERY year serves to develope the importance of that
event which We are met to celebrate. Its history has
too often been recited to need its being repeated here.
LooL:i1"1g; back upon it from the point at which We now
View it, the Declaration of American Independence
stands out as the great political event of modern times.
It ;[’or1ns the commencement of a new era. In its con-
sun1matio1;1, the charxn of anti C1"l.'1tZt'l3@(71 systems was broken.
Tlxe mere force of brute power lost its terrors, and man,
at last, stood :i’orth the equal of‘ his fellow man in the
conscious dignity of a common nature.

Standinrr  We do at the distance of seventy--three
years from that event, our curiosity is naturally awak-
ened to trace the causes which led to such a d.ec1a.r.a-~
tion. And as we glance alorug the history of that period,
and nxark the prominent incidents as they rise before

the mind, We must still be conscious that there is some- .

tliing to be SO”lI1gl1iS for, deeper down among the e1e~

ments, of which the state is composed, Whicli gave the s

first impulse to the American Revolution. We may read

oftthe “Stamp Act,” and the “'I‘ea Tax,” iandtthe A

“Boston Port Bill,” and how our fathrers rose, as one

man, to resist those acts of oppressive legislation. But .
the reason why our fathers thus rose -«Why, when .

4

almost all Europe were content to be taxed to the
utmost, the few and feeble and scattered colonies of
America. stood ready to repel the first attempt to levy
duties upon them, against their consent---must be
sought for at an earlier period of our history than that
chapter which is recited in the Declaration of our Inde-
pendence. We must go back to the character and
opinions of the men who planted Plymouth, and Salem,
and Boston, if We would find the germ of that revolu-
tion. They were the men and the companions of the
men Who, in their zeal as republicans, bearded royalty
in its own palace halls, and in their devotion as Christ-
ians, had rather Worship God in the Wilderness, than
mingle in what they regarded as the mummeries of
human ordinance, though played off in the most gor-
geous cathedral, by the proudest prelate Whom. church
and state ever bedizened with the robes of power.
They came here Withthe rights of Englishmen, and there
never was an hour, from the time the Pilgrims landed
till the Treaty of Peace in ’88,vvhen these men or their
descendants were willing to compromitor yield their
birthright as Englishmen. When the struggle, there-
for, came, when in an evil hour for the mother country,
she undertook to levy moneys of the colonists which
they had never granted, it found the country alive to
the indignity. The spirit of Hampden was roused in

» every village in the land to resist atthe threshold, the

 

encroachment of royal prerogative.

If We undertake to ascertain how it was that this
spirit was thus kept alive in these remote colonies,
whileit had, at times, been so nearly extinct in Eng-
land, I greatly mistake, or it will be found that few causes
exertedamore direct influence than the institution and
imaintenances of town organizations. It should bere-

5

Inernbered t.lm.t these municipal corporations, blending
as they do the inenegenieiit of social, religious, and
educational interests, are, principally, of it New England
origin. They were, at first, identified With the main-
tenance of churches ztncl religious Worship. And When,
as was soon the case, that other glory of New England--—
the coinnion-«school SyStC-3111--—--WttS established, it was
tl1r*ot1gl1 the agency of towns that it grew up to its
present l)eztnt.y and, strengtli.

By this clivision of the tcrritor *, each municipality
became at little independent democmcy, in which its
several rnexnbers, While t€Ll{l.1]g care of its local interests,
Were acting; {L p2:"LI‘t in the efligtirs of the whole Co1nrnon-
Weitllill. In this We. , at lieztltliy circulation was kept up
through cVeryp::1,rt of the body politic, and, as their
govern1nent.We.s represexitative in spirit as well as in
fern), the fO@ll.lT1g‘S and opinions which prevztiled in
one q1.:u:Lrte1*, found :1, ready response throughout the
colony.

In the li1i,sto1*y, tl.1e1~efore, oil’ alniost any of the early
towns in this ancient O0m1;“1'101,1W(3£1.lttl1, We should be able
to trnce in no s71'11:1,ll cl.e:gree, the progggress of the struggle
between the lfirlg-lislii govermnerit marl the Colonies, and
therein to 1;+ee.«d of the motives whicli impelled thorn to
resist, together with the se.c1¢ilices to Whiclgi they sub-
nlitted, to sustain t.he,t st.r‘11ggle. It would be found,

that it was by 1nea,ns of these town o,rgen'izetions, tliztt

 

the leading; spirits in one section held intercourse with
those in smotl1e1*, and, tl‘1rong;l1 thetrn, rea.cl1ed the masses
who were to be moved. Newspapers were compera.-
tively ra,re,r and intercourse tlirouggh the post-offices and

rneils was slow,, expensive, and, by no lneens, in general

use. When, therefore, that noble bend of patriots who

had theirhoinein Boston and its vicinity, were desirous

1* t

6

of moving the remote parts of the Province, they trans-

mitted their letters or their pamphlets t.o leading indi--«

viduals in the several towns, where they wereread and
discussed in open town meetings before all the inhabi-
tants. And in this way, much of that harmony of
action, that generous self-devotion was awakened which
burst forth, as if spontaneously, in every part of New
England. ‘

I have tl1ought these remarks were due to the occa-
sion when assembled, as we are, to commemorate the
part which one of‘ these towns took in the strugglefor
our independence. Humble as this part may have been,
and limited as were her means to urge forward the great
enterprize of the nation, we shall, if I do not greatly
mistake, discover in her unpretending history, the same
springs of action, the same sacrifices, the same hopes
and the same causes of discouragement which give to
our national annals, of that period, so much of their ex-
citing interest.

It is well therefore that we have come up hither, to
renew the associations which this spot is calculated to
awaken. It is well, while a few yet remain to form a
link, as it were, with revolutionary times, to come
together and recall the simple story of what our fatliers
and mothers did and siifibred that we, their children,
might be free. It binds us still stronger to the spot
that gave us birth, to know that its history is not un-
worthy of awakening a feeling of something like a
generous pride. If there be those who, without the
sympathy of birth or parentage with these scenes, have
honored us with their presence, they will hardly expect

an apology, under the call by which we have been con-’
vened,tough, upon a national holiday, we may indulge

in’ a‘~dertail~io«f local incidents or personal anecdote. 

7

Before entering into those details, a word of explana-
tion may be proper, why, in a celebration intended to
be local, a portion of four several and independent towns
were expected to unite. The original town of Leicester
was incorporated in 17111-, and embraced Spencer, Leices-
ter, a part of Paxton, and a part of what is now Auburn.
In 1753, Spencer was incorporated, and in 1765, Paxton
became a town. But such was the jealousy of the royal
governor, of a popular representation, that, instead of
clothing these corporations with the usual powers con-~
ferred upon towns, they were still united with the
original territory so far as the election of representa-
tives was concerned, under the name of “‘ Districts.”

This continued until the 19th July, 1775, and we con-
sequently find, that in all their measures preliminary
to the revolution, as well as in all the early movements
after the revolution had begun, these towns co-operated
with each other as one body politic. Their representa-
tive in the General Court, or Provincial Congress, was
sometimes taken from one and sometimes from another,
indiscriminately. They came together in town meet-
ings. Committees, selected from them all, prepared the
resolutions and instructions wliicli embodied the opin—-
ions, and guided the representatives of the entire dis-

trict. One spirit animated them alike, and it is diffictilt

at this day, to distinguish the part which either took in
the early movements which prepared the people to cle-~
clare and, subsequently, to maintain their independence.
And these remarks it will be remembered, apply
equally to the part of Auburn which remained united
with Leicester till 1778. 1

It", the,, in what I may ofl’er, I shall, for brevity’s

 

sake,  to what was done by all these towns, as

having bgen the action of Leicester, I trust I shall not

8

be misunderstood as indulging in an invidious eulogy of
a part where all deserve commendation alike.

The training and habits of the people of this town had
prepared them to enter witl1 intelligence and spirit into
the discussions which preceded the revolution. Several
of the leading families had removed here directly from
England, and brought with them a knovvled andra love
of their rights as Englishmenflt They early established
schools, and had uniformly maintained religious Worship
under a succession of educated clergymen. They had
cherislnecl moreover, all the feelings of English loyalty,
and had shown themselves ready to fight the battles of
England, Whenever and Wherever an enemy was to be en»
countered. Louisburg, and Quebec, and Crown Point, and
“ Old Ti,” were  familiar to them as household Words,
and I could point out to you, on the muster rolls of the
Indian and French Wars, the name of many a citizen of
Spencer and Leicester, Who shared in their perils and
rejoiced in the triumph of the British arms. But with
all their loyalty, they were always jealous of preroga-
tive, and were ready to detect every encroachment of
the crown upon the liberties which they knew the peo-

ple of England had secured to themselves by their great

revolution of 1688. ,
iWhen, therefore, the proposition for taxing these
colonies was brought forward by Mr. Grenville_in the
British parliament in 1764,, it found the people of these
towns ready to meet the question, in "whatever form it
should be presented. A _ i 0 a
It will be recollected that the proposition for the

Stamp Act was made in March, 1764, but the bill did

not pass till March 1765 ; nor was it to tak
the let of November following, 

 

 €fll3Cll 

=¥Among these were; the families of Stebbings’, in Spencer, and of D‘enny’s and
Southgate’s, in Leicester. 

I

sf

9 .

In October, and before the act had taken effect, a
meeting of the inhabitants of the town was called, to
see, among other things, “ if the town will give instruc-
tions to their representative in 25/2229 cr2'iz'caZ c07g,7'zz7ezcz‘m/'9.”
The instructions which Were adopted on that occasion,
breathe a spirit of devoted loyalty, but, at the same time,
a stern determination to stand by their rights under the

V English constitution and their own charter. They

charge their representative “ by no means to give his
assent to any measures Whatever, that might imply their
willingness to submit to (that act) or be anywise aiding
or assisting in puttingithe same in execution, but in
every 1’)l‘Oj[)G1“'111t*3tI11f1(31‘, they expect he Would appear
against it.” A

In June 1768, Gov. Bernard finding the legislature
unwilling to rescind the appeal which they had inade to
the other colonies on the subject of the encroaclirnents
of the crown, dissolved that body. In September follow-
ing, it was ascertained that troops had been ordered
from Iiztlifax to Boston, for the purpose of overawing
the growing spirit of insubordination in the Province.
The people of Boston, thereupon issued a circular call
for a convention of the various towns to be holden on

the22d of that month, to take these measures into con» i
sideration. The circular bore date the 14th, and Lei.ces- \

ter, ever ready at a moment’s call., assembled in town
itneeting on the 19th. A delegate was chosen and
charged, in a series of able and spirited resolutions.
But so cautious, vvithal, were they, that, While they
recite the grievances which they desire to have removed,
they limit his authority to the corzsulfzhg upon such
measures as might come before that body, not being
Willing to yield their own judg1nent,in the last resort,
as to the policy which ought to be adopted.

10

In 1768, the merchants of Boston entered into a
compact not to import goods from England till the
revenue laws were altered, and this resolution was re»
newed in the beginning of 1770. In January of the
latter year, this town, in public meet..ing, tendered a
vote of thanks to those merchants. But in the year
following, they bega.n to take more effective measures
to meet any emergency. They voted to purchase an
hundred weight of powder, with bullets and flints in
proportion. Little as that quantity 1'n*igl1t now seem,
it was, in view of the whole powder in the Province, by
no means an inconsiderable amount.

The year 1772 passed with comparat.ive quiet, so far
as this town  concerned. But in January 1773, the
people were called together to consider  letter from

the town of Boston, with a pamphlet accompanying it,

“wherein the 1*igl1ts of the colonists are stated, with the
infringernent thereof.”

This paper, from the pen of James Otis,  sent to
the several towns in the Province, and was a hold and
able vindication of the course pursued by the Colonies,
and a manly appeal to their patriotism.

The town adopted five spirited resolutions, in which,

“af't.er fully recognizing their allegiance to George III,

they assert their riglit to enjoy all the liberties and
privileges of subjects born within the realm, and their
readiness to risk their lives and fortunes for the inain-—
tenance of these. And, in terms equally explicit, Z/zey
‘demy that i/ze Brz'z’2'.s-/z Pczrlzmzzerzt 07;, any 027297’ grower 077. cart/2
keel any ray/ti to dzlgoosc of one fart/ziizy of 2.‘/zeir money wizf/ziozzr

' their cmzscrzt 2'72 pcrsorz oriby r€]97"eisie7zmz‘z'z'e. T In their instruc-
tions. to their representative, on that occasion, after

recapitulating the grievances under which the country

was sufferinfg, they ‘closed in these terms: “ We think

11

ourselves justly entitled to all the calamities vvhichan
envious despot can heap upon us, should We, tainely
and pusillanirnously, suffer the execution of tllern. It
would be despising the bounties of our Creator---— an in-
famous prostitution of ourselves, and a total disregard
of posterity.”

This was indeed strong language to be uttered by a
body of farnaers, scattered over the territory of an inland
town more than two years before a hostile blow had
been struck. But it did but echo the tone of feeling

which pervaded the whole mass of the people. Nor e

was this expression any the less sincere from the con-
sideration that they vvere rernoved from the scene Where
the vengeance of the g0-V€I'I11I18I1l3 was likely first to
fall. A

It was, indeed, a matter of little moment to them,
Whether a penny more or less per pound was cl1a.rg;ed
upon the tea they consumed. But they saw in the
levy of that penny, a great principle involved, and they
hesitated not to meet the invasion of their ri.ght.s at its
earliest point, tlioiiglii it came froin the monarch Whom
they liad been ta.ugl:1t to revere, and armed witli the
terrors of the Bl‘l.=tlSl‘1 empire.

On the 27th Norvemloer, 1773, a number of ships
fr*e‘igl1ted with tea arrived in Boston harbor. On the
16th of December, was the rneinorable destrirctieniof

their odious carg~oe.s. On the fZ’Ttl1 of Decernber the

people of this district asseinbled, and adoptedineasures
not only to prevent the use of tea, by personal pledges,
but to. prevent its sale, it by p’L1l3llSlllng' the names, 01? any
who, dared to outraged public sentiment byeengaginvg; in
Such a traffic.

The destruction of the tea was followed, in March

1774, bythe Boston Port Bill, which struck a fatalpbloivp

12

to the trade and business of Boston. That town ap-
pealed to the other towns in the Province, on the 12th
of May, which was replied to by the people of this town
in a noble letter, all of which I would gladly transcribe if
time permitted. “ T726 cause,” they say, “is 2'72leresl2'77y to
all Amm'ca, and all America must lae covzzriizcccl of this great
tmtla, 63/ 2z7z2Ilz'77gr we s/zall s'la7e2cl.l We ll0]76’, a1z0ll2elz'ez'e llzal
Great Britain will be 30072 coazvzbecccl zflzal Z/ze A772c7'*z°caas can
live as long zuzllzout llzeir zfracle, as llzcy can zoillzoal owe.”

a The year 1774 was full of stirring events. _The
revolution was coming to its crisis. A town meeting
was held here on the 6th July, and  manifesto
adopted, wherein they recite a liistory of their connec-

tion with the mother country, the position in vvhich

they then Were, in respect to their rights, and the perils
by which they were surrounded. “‘ At a meeting of the
freseholders” it commences, “ of the inhabitants of the
town of Leicester and the districts of Spencer 4 and
Paxton, assembled, not tumultuously, riotously, and
seditiously, but soberly and seriously ~—---—~ as men, as free-
men, and as christians, to take into our consideration
the present distressed state of our affairs, that posterity
may know What our claims are, and to What struggles
We are called in defence of them.”

Among the resolutions which they adopted at that
meeting, there is one which I shall venture to tran-
scribe, even at the hazard of taxing your indulgence too
far: “That it is the duty of every person Whatever,
arrived at years of discretion, as much as may be con-
sistent With their business or occupation for the support
of their families, to assoc2'az‘e logez‘/zer aml cllscozzrse and 232-
form z‘lzcmselz'es of Z’/zeal" am};/zls and prizllleges as meaz, as mem--
ears of socz'el_y----anal lg l/ze Eagles/2 C’o72.s-z’z'la'lz'o92, that they
may not be imposed upon by those men who look upon

1-3

them with envy, and are using every art to deprive the
laborious part of mankind of the fruits of their own
labor, and wish to live in luxury on that of others.”

Men who could, thus, coolly and deliberately examine
into the question of thei.r rights, were not likely to
waste their real in mere abstract propositions. And
we accordingly find them, at the same time, voting to
have their cannon mounted, and directing the select-«
men to take measures to furnish all the citizens with
fire-arms.

It was early in October of that year, that the authority
of the royal governor, in administering the affairs of the
Province, was practically and forever abrogated. From
that time till the 19th of July, 1775, the Commonwealth
was without any const.itutional form of government.
But the history of this interval is full of interest, as illus
trating the character of the people. Civil government
went on, civil society maintained its integrity, and the
recoinrnendations of the Provincial Congress became
imperative  laws, by the power of public sentiment,
enforced tlirough the primary assemblies of the people
in the several towns. Leicester and its associated dis-«
tricts were represented in the Provincial Congress, and

as early as October, 17 7 4, six. months before the battle
of Lexiiigton, they instructed their representative in
that body, to have measures taken that the militia

should be properly disciplined and “ tang/zl z‘/ze arl qf
war will; all ea:_7ee(lz'lz'o7z, as we lmozv not /low some we may 5e
called to oezfz'on.” i C i

In November, they voted to provide two half barrels
of powder and four hundred weight of balls, as amn1uni-
tion for their cannon, and raised a committee “ to supply
those persons with provisions, to/to mzy/225 6e called to marcfi
from /zome in defence of their rlglzts and jom'2*z'leges.” A

2

14

Paxton, in August of the same year, had voted to
purchase a barrel of powder in addition to the stock
which she had then on hand.

In January, 17 75, I believe, each of these towns raised
a company of “minute men ” by a draft from their
standing militia companies, to be ready to march at the
earliest alarm. Everything gave dreadful note of prep-
aration. They not only saw that the storm Wasgat.l1-
ering, but they saw it must speedily burst upon the
land. And, yet, We find no doubt or inisgiving in the
minds of those upon whom it was to fall. On the 5th
of March, this town held a meeting and adopted a vote,
‘? zf/mt as 22‘ is probczéle some z'r2z’e7/'esz’2?27£¢y ezve72.z‘s 77za.3/ zhmz up be-
tzveeaz this and Jlfay nziecztzfreg, rack ma"?-zzzte mcm be allozmzd the
sum of six s/zz'ZZz'72gs as at bozm2f_y for his service, and if called
ajaoasz to 97«2czrch, to be aillozved Promirzce pay.”

We have thus traced our fatliers tl11*o11gl1 that period
which preceded the revolution, up to the point when
they saw there was no retreat. When in the laiigtiage
of their vote, they saw that Within sixty days “some
interesting events migl1t turn up,” and when their
minute men “might be called to march.” In all this
We see no sudden out.break, no manifestation of passion.
All is calm, deliberate, and decided. They seem to
have carefully calculated the cost, and in View of all
the consequences, to have resolved to meet them in
Whatever form they came.

We may perhaps, be the better able to estimate the
character of the courage which these men evinced, if
We stop a moment and conteinplate their condition at
the time. Boston, their capitol, the seat of the little
trade of the Province,  thronging with British
troops. British ships of war lay at her Wharves ready

at the first hostile movement, to batter down. that

15

hotbed of the revolution. Not a fortification, nor even
a breastwork. protected the country from an inroad of
these troops at any moment. The entire population of
the Province was few and scattered. But when we
look at these towns, the feehleness of their resources
becomes more apparent, even, than that of the Province.
In 1765, Leicester had but two hundred and ten men
above the age of sixteen, including that part of her ter-
ritory set off to Paxton. Spencer had but one hundred
and sixty. In 1777, these had increased only to two
hundred and fifty-seven, in Spencer, two hundred and
twelve, in Leicester, and one hundred and sixteen, in
Passrtoii. Even as late as 1781, the whole number borne
upon the rolls of the “train bands” of the three towns
‘toget..l1er, e:s;cl.usive of the “alarm list,” was less than
three hundred men.

Brit their supply of warlike stores was less, even, than
that of men. Leicester had provided herself with about
two barrels of powder, Pfl.Xl2011 had something more than
one, and Spe11ce1*,prol3ably,  much. In May, 1775,
shortly before the atlfair at Bunl<er’s Hill, the Provincial
Coriggress tools: measures to ascertain what quantities of
powder belongecl to the several towns in Massachusetts,
and how nmeli they would be able to contribute for the
public service. The result of the investiigatiori was, that
less than sixty~ei.gl1t barrels was all they could command
in the whole Province, and of these, Leicester contrib-
uted one.

V No wonder they had to be sparing of their ammuni-
tion in their first great struggle with the enemy. No
wonder they were obliged to retreat, while, yet victory
seemed ready to crown their devoted courage. The

wonder is that they should have dared, with suchre-

sources, to, have resisted at all. The idea of entering

16

into a contest of arms with a power like that of En gland,
could only have been entertained by men who, relying
upon the justice of their cause and the favor of a
gracious Providence, resolved to stand by that cause,
Whatever might be the hazard.

The scenes around us here, often witnessed, du1~ing;
the early stages of the revolutionary struggle, e;<;hibi.-
tions of courage and selfdevotion, which only needed
a wider stage to have made their actors Worthy ofa
place in the pages of its liistory.

Go with me and stand on the little common that lay
east of the meeti.ng—l1o1ise, as it then was situated, and
Watch that devoted band of “minute men,” in their
almost daily drill, under the direction of a io1*eign sol»
dier whom they had hired to teach them evolutions
which they were so soon to apply in the camp and in
the field. Side by side you would  the stripling
youth and the veteran vvitli. gra.yl"1a,irs;c side‘"lby"“sid‘e,
the father who lf1t1.(f.l.. brought home scars from battles in
the old French wars, and the son who, for the first time,
had sliouldrerecl a muslszet. There they stand With tlie
fire of youth and the coolness of illgfl st.ra.Iigcly mingled
in them both, to lit them for the ”WOI'lt.'. upon which they
know they are so soon. to enter.

Or let us enter that ancient meeting-lriouse, without
porch or ornament, and lighted by its little Windows of
diamond glass, dtiring some of the numerous meet-
ings that were held to consider what was to be done
“ in that critical conjuncture.” It is tilled by eager,
listening spectators, "while their 1"lg'l1i.S as Eriglislirxien
and their Wrongs as freemen are portrayed with the
eloquence of truth. Whom do We see in that assembly?
A body of‘ farrners, a few mechanics, two or three traders,
as manylphysioians, and their clergyinani, who has come

17

to crave for them the blessings of Heaven upon their
deliberations and their cause. Among them, too, are
those who had fought under the good old Provincial
flag of Massachusetts Bay, side by side with the troops
of England, at Fort Edward, and Wil1ian1 Henry, and
Crown Point. I listen to the debate as one after another
rises to utter the emotions of deep feeling and stern re-
eolve with which that Whole assembly is moved. There
is no discordant voice there. If there is a tory in either
of these towns, he is not there. One motive, one sym-
pathy anirnatee thern all, and When, in the impassioned
language of some of these “village I~Iarnpdene,” the fear-~
ful alternative is presented, to yield or fight, there is
heard a response from every heart which ecorne the
c0Wa.rd’s choice ---- Z/icy mil! fig./at, fight though England,
their mother country, With all her array of ‘fleets and

ar1niee-—-—-—- in all the pride of her power, and in all the

preetige of her centuries of glory, was to be their foe !.
Go road the records of What those men did, and see
if this picture hae heen overcolored in the least, and

then show me if you can, in the liietory of the world, ere

arnples of mora grandeur more Worthy of adrnirat.ion
than wliiat our ;(:i;:.t.l'1cre, u11cor.1eci.onely, e:r.l[ii.l)it.ed :in their
liurnhle gatheringe on tliie very epot! Aye 1 and be it

rernembered tliat every pledge they then gave was
nobly, eacredly redeemed. Few, feehle, poor as they

Were, there was never a call, be it for men or be it for
money, which was not promptly answered until that
long, dreadful strugglevvae over. A
But I perceive that I am anticipating. pp The forehod-«L
inge indicated bythe”"vo«te which I have just now recit-
ed, were realized. An “£06725 did turn up before May
meeting.” Itvvae the opening scene in thegreat drama
of the revolution. Blood had been shed at Lexingtow
 2* , . A

18

and Concord. The British troops harassed, discom~
fited, and disheartened, had sought shelter in Boston
from the awakened vengeance of an outraged yeoman-~
ry. The sword had been drawn that was never to be
sheathed till Massachusetts, with herisister Colonies, had
taken their stand amoiig tl1e independent nations of the
earth.

In this the people of these towns were by no means
passive spectators. I have already spoken of the com-
panies of “minute men,” which they had organized.
That of Leicester had been placed under the command
of Seth VVashburn, who took an early and an active
part in the aflhirs of the revolution. The plan of orggan-
izing bodies of men like these, is said to have or-igiiiated
with colonel William lrlensliaw, of this town, Wl1O be-
came the commandant of the regimerit of minute men
to which the Leicester company was attached. The
company in Spencer was a part of colonel VVarner’s
regi1nent., While that of Paxton belonged to the regixnent
of which colonel Doolittle, of Petersham, had the com-
mand. A

The military stores of the Province had been deposit-
ed in different places for the purposes of safety and con-
venience. .tli'I11Q1’1g them a quantity of ammunition and
tents had been ”ordere<;l by the Provincial Co11g1"ess to
be stored in Leicester,a larger quantity in Worcester,
and a still larger one in “Goncord.

It was understood, as early as the 30th March, that
a descent was contemplated by the British troops upon
some point in the country for the purpose of seizing or

destroying these stores. But where the blow was to fall 

no one knew. At length all uncertainty was removed.
A detachment of nearly a thousand men left their quar~—
ters, in Boston, about ten o’clock on the night of the

19

18th April, and between four and five lo’clock the
next morning, the head of their column reached Lex-
ington. But their march. had not been unobserved.
The alarm spread upon the Wings of the Wind through
the Province. Wherever there were bells, they were
heard ringing out an alarm, and Where there were none,
the people were aroused by discharges of musketry and
the hurrying haste of messengers shouting, as they pass-
ed, that the enemy were on their march. So alive were
the people to the intelligence, and so rapidly Was it
spread, that few and slow as were the ordinary means
of intercourse at that day, I suppose there was not a
man Within an hundred miles of Cambridge that did
not know before nightfall that the British troops
had marched that morning for Concord. It was like
the suinmoning of the Scottish clans among the I€ligl1~
lands.

.r .. . L. :1...  . "1 .s

“ Fast as the f’ tal =-. mbol fl 0",
In arms the hats and hamlets rise,
14'‘ ‘H1 W 1: (r {lcn 1'“ n 11 lnlbnwn
‘rm irlriimg; , um "nu r1 ,
They poured each hardy tenant down.
Nor slaclszcd the messenger his pace,
He showed his sign, he namc:.:u.l the place
And. p1'es‘sir‘1g.; ‘l'orwarc.l like the wind,
Left clamor aml surprise bchin<;l.”

An express rider reached here soon after noon, on the
19th. He found the captain of the minute company at
his forge. Dropping a ploughsliare, upon which he was
at Wor1s:,l*1e seized his 1nusls:et and rushing into the street
disoliarged it. The signal was understood. and messen-
gers were at once on their way to every part of‘ the town,
to summon the troops to march. Not a man of the com-
pany hesitated. The mechanic literally left his tools on
his bench, and the farmerhis plough in the furrow, and
in about three hours time thirty--seven had answered to

20

the roll-call. William Watson and Nathaniel Harrod
were the first and second lieutenants of the company.
A messenger had been sent to Worcester, that day, for
an additional supply of arms for the men. But, without
waiting for his return, at about four o’clock in the after-
noon, they took up their march for Lexington. On
their way they halted for a moment before the house of
the fatl1er%’~ of one of the members of the company, and
he, finding that they were deficient in musket balls,
hastily took; the leaden weights from his clock, and melt-
ing them into bullets, distributed them among the men.

There was another military company in town, of
which Thomas N ewhall, was captain, and Benjainin
Richardson and Ebenezer Upham, lieutenants. Of this
company thirty-‘five, including the officers, without wait-
ing for formal orders, volunteered their services and
soon followed in the rear of the “minute men,” thus
1I1&l«Il1’1g in all seventy-two who were under arms and
in full march before sundown of the 19th April, 1775,
to meet the enemy wherever he should be found.

But Leicester was not alone in this. Spencer sent
fiftygsix men under the command of captain Ebenezer
Mason, with Abi_jahLivermore, as lieutenant, and J 0»-
seph Livermore, as eiisign. A company from Paxton
promptly answered the call, with thirty-five men, under
the command of captain Phinehas Moore, whose lieu-
tenants were Josiah Newton and Seth Snow. The
history of Spencerfi in describing this event, says that
the company from that town, “ buckled on their knap--
sacks, shouldered their muskets and were immediately
ontheir march. And altliouggli the town had not met
to make provision for the exigency, yet the good wives

#6 ‘Nathan Sargent, whose son Samuel belonged to the company. ‘
T By Honglames Draper. , T T

21

of the soldiers, with the assistance of’ the selectmen,
furnishing them with a hasty and imperfect supply of
provisions, they marched quickly for Cambridge.”

But language is altogether inadequate to do justice
to the event. I have sometimes tried to call up before
the mind the scene which was witnessed on this spot on
the afternoon of the 19th April, 177’. I see the men
who had been thus hastily sumrnoned, eagerly pressing
on towards the place of rendezvous on foot or on horse-
back, (for there were few or no carriages here then,)*
by the various roads and by-paths that led into the
straggling village of some eight or ten houses that
stretched, to the east and west of the meeting-house,
for some half mile along what Was then called “ the
country road.” I hear the rapid beat of the drum as it
calls the men to arms, and listen for an answer to the
hurried roll~—call, as one after another reaches the parade
ground, and takes his place in the ranks. But it is no
holiday parade. ’I‘here is nothing to dazzle the eye in
the dress or equipments of either olifioers or men. Not
one of them Wears either ornament or military decora-
tion. Some are even destitute of guns, and the equipu
ments of the captain liimself are a simple cartouch-box
and musket that had seen service in the Wars of the
‘former Georges.

There are others, too, than soldiers, clustering around
and mingling with the men who are busily preparing
to march. Wives and rnotliers are there, and gray-—
haired fathers, and children looking, with Wondering
eyes, upon this scene of strange commotion. A, I hear
the parting; charge and the parting blessing, and as the

last man reaches his post, the Word is given, and that

little band of brave men have begun their march.

“/4111: 1757,, there was neither eoac:l1,elr1aise,11or chair in Leicester.

 

22.

I will not attempt to describe the feelings of the
groups that lingered gazing on the receding forms of
that company, till its last file had disappeared below
the brow of yonder hill, and the last sound of the drum-
beat had died on the ear.

“ It was I assure you,” said a daughter of the com-
mander of that company, within a few weeks, “ an
anxious and an exciting moment. The people retired
to their homes, but I doubt if there was an eye closed
in the village that night. Soon after dark the Spencer
men passed by, and before morning we heard the com-
pany from Brookfield in rapid march for Lexington.”

Let me close the attempt to picture that scene, by
this simple recital of the excited emotions of childhood,
still fiiesh in the . memory. of .a-.,.liVin.g witness, after a
lapse of more than three score years and ten.

There was one among those who witnessed the inci-~
dents of that day, who was an Englishman by birth,
education, and feeling?/5 He was a physician, eminent
 his profession, and then a resident here. With his
strong national prejudices, the idea of resisting the Brit-
ish crown was little short of madness. But when he
saw, from what he then witnessed, the feeling that per»-
vaded the whole community, and men like these eagerly
courting the dangers and privations of the common
soldier, his incredulity gave way»-—--“ by heaven,” said
he, “ they zvillfig/2t, and what is more, they wont be teat.’ ”
And the prophecy, thus reluctantly wrung from him,
was in less than two months in the sure progress of ful
filment. *

i it The companies from this town continued theirmarch

all night. Every house which they passed had lights
burning in the windows to cheer on the troops that

#6 Dr. Honeywood. »

23

were hastening from every quarter towards Lexington.
Nor did they halt till they learned that the British had
retreated into Boston. They then repaired to Cam-—
bridge, where they lay till a new organization of the
Provincial troops was effectedfii‘

Several oflicers of higher g1~ade than the sealready
mentioned, were resident in these towns, and were
equally prompt in repairing to the scene of action.

Colonel William Henshaw, the commandant of one of r

the reg~iments, Samuel Denny, its lieutenant-colonel,
and John Southgate, its adjutant, all belonged to Lei-
cester. Joseph Henshaw, another citizen of the town,
was lieutenant»-colonel of a regiment commanded by
colonel, afterwards general Artemas Ward, of Shrews-
bury, whose adjutaiit was James Hart, who, I suppose,
was a resident in what is now Auburn. And Willard
Moore, of Paxton, was the major of colonel Doolittle’s
regirnent.

'.l‘h.e l5?.rovincia1 Coiigress had adjourned on the 15th
of April, but were called tog;et.lier agaiii on the 22d,
three days after‘ the a.il'air at Lexiiigton. On the 23d,
they resolved to raise an army of 13,600 men from
Massacliiisetts, for the clefence of the Province.

Enl;i.sting orders were at once issued, and on the 24th,
captain Washbmrn entered into what was called “ the
eiglit Inonths’ service,” and was joined, within a few
days, by rtlliirty-eiglit from Leicester, nine from Spencer,
three from Paxton, and five from Oakliam. Joseph Liv-
errnore, of Spencer, and Loririg Lincoln, of Leicester,
were the first and second lieutenants of the company.
It was soon raised to sixty-four men, and  attached
to the regiment under the command of colonel Jonathan
Ward, of Southboro’, whose lieutenant-colonel and major

L T They seem, while there, to have been attached to colonel Artemas Ward’s regiuicnti

2-It

were Edward Barns, of Southboro’, and Timothy Bige-
low, of Worcester. Seven other Leicester men joined
other companies in the same service, as did eleven of
captain Moore’s men. Captain Joel Green, of Spencer,
raised a company at the same time, of which forty be-~
longed to that town. It Was attached to colonel Larned’s
regiment, of Oxford. The remainder of the troops who
had marched on the 19th, after remaining in camp two
or three Weeks, returned to their homes. But they did
not all remain inactive. Jason Livermore, of Paxton,
raised a part of a company on his return home, with
which he marched to Charleston, on Connecticut river,

and from thence to Ticonderoga, where he joined the .

northern army under the command of general. Schuyler.

William Henshaw was made adjutant—general of the
Provincial army at Cambridge, and remained such until
it was put under the command of general ‘Washington
in the Continental service. i

The men who enlisted from these towns were proba-
bly similar in character, and dress, and discipline, to the
rest of’ the army under general Ward, and the experi-
ment vvas soon to be tried whether raw, undisciplined,
ill-«equipped and ill—~provided soldiers could stand before
the flower of the British army, led on by her choicest
and bravest officers.

I have already said they Wore no uniforms. Colonel
Prescott himself, the hero of the 17th of June, and the
principal commander during the battle, is Well known
to have been clad in a calico frock on that occasion.
Sixteen only of captain Wasl1burn’s company received
supplies, either”, of clothing or arms, from the public
stores. The rest supplied themselves at their own
charge. For arms, some of them had mere fowling~
pieces, and some carried those heavy cumbrous pieces

25

which we used to see under the name of “kings” or
“ queen’s arms,” from their having been in service dun»
ing the wars of queen Anne, or the two first Georges.
Like the rest of the army they were all sadly deficient
in bayonets, a circumstance of most serious consequence
to our cause when, at the battle of Bunker Hill, our
troops found their ammunition exhausted, and them-»
selves destitute of all means of repelling the enemy, as
they Were 1'1101l11i3lI1g the hreastworlr; and the redoubt,
except the buts of their muslazets.

The dress in Wl’1l(3l1 the men had come into the camp,
must have been such as they had been accustomed to
Wear in their Work‘-sliops, and upon their farms at home,
and, in the then state of manufactures, was undoubtedly
the product of the domestic loom, and colored with some
domestic dye by the liand of the frugal housewife. The
dress of the captain happened to be a camlet coat, and
as he led on his men in their homespun, parti-colored
garbs, the picture which they presented might have well
furnished the original of that which recently appeared
in one of the popular periodicals of the days?‘

“In their r:1.g;r,t;v;e«l 1'cagiinent:1,ls,
Staocl the (M Continentals,
Ylf.‘.lCll1'lg not,
When the gl‘(5I1il,(ll0l‘B were lunging,
And like hail fell the p111nging;
Clarmot shat:
When the ‘files
01' the isles,
From the smoky‘ niglit—encampment-, bore the banner of the rampant
Unicorn, ’
And grammar, grumxner, g;ru.mme1", rolled the roll of the drummer,
Tl1i~oug1:1 the morn ! ”

At length the trial came. On the night of the 16th
of a June, 17 7 5, a iidetachment from the Americanr amy

ell‘ New York Knickerbocker.

26

were directed to occupy and throw up entrencliments
upon Bunker Hill, pursuant to a recommendation of at
committee, of which colonel William Hcnshaw, was
chairman, on"the part of the council of war. As soon as
they were discovered by the enemy, on the morning of
the 17th, they began to take measures to dislodge the
Americans by an attack upon their lines. The British
crossed the river, and, at about three o’clock. in the after-
noon, the battle began.

To reach Bunl«:er Hill from the American camp in
Cambridge, it was necessary, as you are all aware, to
cross a narrow neck of land which was, at that time,
raked by the guns of the Britisli frigate Glasgow, which
lay in the stream. It was, therefore, scarcely less clan»-
gerous to approach the hill, than to man the works
which the enemy were encleavoring to carry by assault.
Both these dangers were shared by the Leicester COI11-
pany. I cannot better describe the part they took in
the transactions of that day, than in the simple narra-»
tive of some of the actors in its never to be forgotten
scenes. Of that company, however, one only remains,*
and he has been spared for more than seventy—four years
to share the fruits of that glorious struggle for liberty in
which he bore a part. The regiment was stationed at
what is called “Fort N o. 2,” upon the plans which we
sometimes see of the works on and around Bunker Hill.
Its colonel was absent on that day, and the commancli de-
volved upon lieutenant-colonel Barns. They were
ordered to march, and left their quarters about noon.
Before reaching the neck, they were halted and re-
mained in that position for a considerable time. At

length they resumed the march, and, rapidly crossing

the neck, reached the foot of the hill some time after the

=76 Nathan Craige.

27

action had begun. A messenger here met them stating
that he had orders that no more troops should go into
the action. The regiment was accordingly halted, but
the captain of the Leicester men, stepping from the col-
umn and addressing his men declared in a loud Voice,
that “ orders like them must be tory orders, and he would
not obey them.” He then demanded who of them
would follow him? The answer was a movement of
the entire company, every one of whom quitting the
ranks of the regiment, eagerly pressed on to the hill
under the lead of’ their commander. On their Way, they
met loads of Wounded and dying soldiers Whom the
Americans were bringing from the field. As they
reached the top of the hill, the enemy had made their
last fatal charge upon the American lines, and were
about surmounting the breastworkz and entering the re-
doubt. It was just before major Pitcairn, of the British
army, had been shot down by a black soldier,” by the
name of Peter Salem, whom many of us remember as
having been a resident in this town for many years.
The captain here turned to his men, and pointing to
the scene of carnage before them, and the evident fate
of the battle, gave to all, who vvisl1ed,f'ree permission to
leave the field. Not one, however, availed himself’ of
the liberty, but rushing forward into the midst of the
fight, they tools: their stand at the rail fence, and
fought with desperate courage, till nearly surrounded

by the enemy, When, with the other troops, they with»-r i

drew from the field. , ,

But the anecdotes which are told of their retreat, show
that it was anything but a flight from fear. One of the
sergeantsit received  shot in the thigh and another
in the foot, which disabled him from walking. The

*ii.Jo1'1.r1. Brown.

28

captain, seeing this, seized him in his arms, and carried
him, together With both their muskets, till his strength
failed. The Wounded man insisted upon being left, and
the ca.ptain hastening after his men, overtook a brother
and a neighbor of the sergeantfit and sent them back to
bring him off the field, which they did in the face of the
enemy’s fire. Two others of the company were wound-
ed,'i‘ but not severely, and none were killed. Several re--
ceived balls through their clothes. Among them, the
captain had a ball sl1ot into his cartoucli-box, one through
his wig, and four through his coat. One of the com»-
panyic had cultivated a long appendage to his head in
the form of a qm'ez.r, with as much affection as a modern
ezszquisite nurses the hairy excrescence that sprouts from
his chin or upper lip. It had been carefully braided
and fastened into two strands, but upon coming out of
the action he was sadly disturbed to find that one of
these had been unceremoniously shorn close to his head,
by an envious bullet from one of king George’s men.

Another of the 1nen§ found the head of his canteen had

been perforated by a ball which had taken the place of
the contents it liad. discharged upon the ground, and
was long preserved as a trophy of the fight.

One other of the men H who had provided himself,
among other creature comforts, with a small quantity
of rum, which he carried in a canteen at his side, per-
ceived, While on his retreat, that a ball from the enemy
had cut the string by which it hung. Looking for the
canteen, he discovered it in rapid progress towards the
enemy who were approaching by a flank movement.
With a desperate determination that “ he would be
damsel if the regulars should have his rum,” he coolly

sic‘ Parley Brown and Jonathan Sargent. -1' Wm. C1-ossinan and Kcrley Ward. if Daniel
Hubbard. § Sarnuel Sargent. H Isaac ..Livermore.

”29

turned and followed his canteen, till he overtook it, and
then brought it off amidst a shower of bullets that

whistled around him.

I shall be pardoned, I trust, for indulging in trifling
anecdotes like these, for they serve to show the charac-
ter of the courage and self~possession of those who, on
thatday, mingled for the first time in scenes of conflict,
carnage, and death. But the dangers and hardships of
a soldier’s life were not new or altogether strange to
some of that company. I havealready alluded to the
part which so many of the 1nen of that day had taken
in the French and Indi.an wars in which the Province
had been involved. , W‘ H

The captain had been in the service of the crown
more than twenty»-five years prior to that time, and
others of the company had had a practical lesson what
war was in the memorable campaign of 1757, at Crown
Point and Fort VVI11. IIe.nry.'%’~‘

There was one, too, from this vicinity, whose untime-
ly fate on that day ought not to be forgotten on this occa-
sion. or Willard Moore, belonged to Paxton, but lived
just beyond the original line of the town of Leicester. Far
less is lmown of his personal history than his gallant
conduct and death would seem to demand. He was, I
suppose, a farmer,  were most of the men who fought
in the Arnerican ranks at Bunker Hill. I find he had
been an ensign of a company in 1767. When the
minute men were organised, he was made a major of
one of the regiments, under the command of colonel
Doolittle, and at the time of the Lexington alarm has-
tened to Cambridge. Here a new regiment was raised,
under A the command of the same colonel, and major

#6 Among these were Parley Brown and James I Greaton. Ebenezer Saunderson was in.
the army in 17 61.
3*

30

Moore was commissioned, by the Provincial Congress,
to the same place he had held in his former regiment.

pHe came early, with his men, into the battle of the

17th June, and took a prominent post of danger. In
consequence of the absence of his colonel, the command
of the regiment had that day devolved upon him.

In the second charge of the enemy upon our lines,
he was shot through the thigh and fell. His men were
carrying him from the field when he received another
ball through the body. The wound was a mortal one,
though not immediately so. It was an exceedingly hot
day, and he suffered dreadfully from thirst. No water
could be had, short of the Neck, and two of his men,
leaving him upon the field, Went in pursuit of it to re»
lieve his sufferings. On their return the American
troops were just leaving the redoubt in their retreat.
His men oifered to carry him from the field, but, with
the self-sacrifice of true heroism, he bade them save
themselves, and leave him toiihis fate. He fell in that
first great struggle of the revolution, in the cause of his
country and mankind. And so long as the glorious
day, that declared that country independent, shall be
remembered, his name should live in the record of her
history. it

While their brothers were in the field, the citizens of
these towns Were, by no means, inactive or indifferent
spectators of the passing events. On the 13th July,
177 5, they met to elect a representative to the general
assembly, which was about to convene, and in instruc-

tions of considerable length, expressed their views of .

thefithen state of public aflairs. “At this most critical
and important period,” say they, “ on which are sus
pended the happiness or ruin of British America, you
are called, by the suffrages of your townsmen, to repre-

31

sent them in the ensuing general assembly of this
Province. To this important new posterity will look
back either with joy and admiration, secure in the pos--
session of their inestimable liberties, or with the keen-
est sensations of grief while they drag the galling chain
of servitude. Since the settlement of America no pe-
riod has been so replete with great and interesting
events as the present, and it will require the utmost
exertions of the human mind to counteract the designs
of the enemy.”

But time compels me to forego the pleasure of trans--‘

cribing the just and noble sentiments which are em»
bodied in those instructions. It was the last occasion
when these towns acted together in general meeting.
From that period the history of their efforts in the
common cause was distinct, and I greatly regret that
imperfect as 1ny knowledge of the sacrifices 1nade by
either of them is, so far as it extends, it is principally
confined to one, only, of them. But judging from the

spirit with which, to that date, they had co-operated, I .

have no reason to suppose that there was any stronger
patriotism in any one than was to be found in them all.
If there was any apparent prominence in one over the
others it was probably the result of accident. It so
happened that several individuals in Leicester were not
only spirited and influential men themselves, but were
connected with Boston through fainily relations, or by
having, themselves, resided there, and consequently
were early apprised of the measures which were con»-
templated, from time to time, at the fountain head of
the political movements of the day. This was the ease
with Thomas Denny, a proxninent man in the Province,
who died just as the revolution began. 80 it was the
case with the two colonels Hensliaw, Joseph and Wil-

32

liam, as well as with the late Hon. Joseph Allen, to
Whose pens, I have reason to believe, the town owe
many of the able and patriotic resolutions and instruc-
tions to their representatives, which are preserved in
her recordsfit

V . I should have been glad to give, in detail, the number
of men and the amount of moneys raised by each of
these towns, to carry on the war. But, unfortunately,
I can only approximate the truth in regard to either of
them. Even what does appear of record, now seems
utterly incredible, if it were not fully sustained by the
uniform testimony of witnesses who have, till within a
few years, been alive and amongst us. I do not believe
there is another nation in the world who ever met, with
such limited means, such heavy, systematic, and repeated
drafts of men and money for such a length of t.ime as
did Massachusetts. She was, as I have already said,
comparatively poor, and thinly peopled. Yet, for eight
long years, she continued to pour out the blood and
treasure of her sons without stint and without one se-
rious thought of shrinking.

#5 Thomas Denny was ‘the son of Daniehwho came from England, andwas an early
settler in Leicester, and whose sister was wife of theiltev. Dr. Prince, of Boston. He
was born in 1724, and died October 23, 1774, while a member of the Provincial Con»-
gress. His brother Samuel was the lieutenant-colonel of a regiment of rninnte men as
already stated. He was also called into the service at Claverack, in 17 7 7, as colonel of
a regiment of the militia. He married a sister of colonel Henshaw.

The Henshaws were the sons of Daniel I-Ienshaw, who removed to Leicester, in 174.8,
from Boston, where the sons above named, as well as his son David, were born. They
all sustained important civil relations and were among the most prominent men in the
town. William entered the army, as a lieutenant, at as early an age as 21, in what was
known as one of the “ French wars,” under Lord Amherst. He W as actively en-
gaged as a lieutenant-—colonel, and a part of‘ the time as commandant of a regiment dur-—
ing the year 1776-7, on Long Island, where he took an important part in the battle of
the 27th August, and afterwards with general Washington, in his passage of the Dclaw
Ware, and at the battles of Trenton and 1“’rinceton.r He died in 1820.

Mr. Allen removed from Boston to Leicester, in November, 1771, where he was en«--
gaged inbusi.ness, as a merchant, until 1776, when he was appointed clerk’. of the courts,
and removed to Worcester.

33

The number of what were known as the Continental
troops, furnished by Massachusetts, amounted, upon an

average, to more than eiglit thousand every year during a

the war. Or, if we regard them as having each done
service for a single year, their number would be at least
sixty-eight thousand. This was exclusive of fifteen thou-
sand of the militia which were called into the service at
difi”erent times during the war; and this out of a popu-
lation where the whole number of males, above sixteen
years of age, scarcely exceeded seventy-five thousand.

The proportion of the expenses of the war, which was
borne by Massachusetts, was greater, I apprehend, even
than that of the number of her men.

Commissioners were appointed, after the peace, to set-
tle the amounts of the several states for expenses in»«
curred in the war, and the amount allowed by them to
Massachusetts was but a fraction from $318,000,000. But
this sum must have fallen very much below the total
amount expended by her, if the sums contributed by
towns and individuals, in sustaining the struggle, of
wl1ich no account was ever rendered, were embraced in
the computation. And this amount, it ought to be re-
inembered, was raised in about eight years by a state
whose ratable polls never, during the time, exceeded
seventy-seven thousand.

What proportion of these was furnished by these towns,
can never be accurately known. From returns preserv~
ed among the records of Leicester, I find that there
were twenty-eight drafts for men made upon this town,
between May, 1775, and July, 17 81,and that to answer
these, two hundred and fi.fty-four men were at different
times furnished for the service during that period. This
number, however, does not include the seventy-two who
marched at the time of the Lexington alarm. Nor does

34

it include those who enlisted into the “ Continental ser-
vice” for the term of three years, or during the war, nor
the men who were supplied by the “ classes’? into which
the town was divided in 1781, for the purpose of procur-
ing complements of troops as they were required. How
many there were of these I have not been able to ascer-
tain. I find, however, the names of thirty belonging to
the town, who, I have reason to believe, enlisted into
the Continental army, for at least three years, during
thirteen months, in 1777 and ’78.=lt Many other names
of her citizens are found upon the rolls of the army, and
we may easily imagine that their number was not small
when we remember how many were to be met with here,
a few years since, who could tell what they did, and saw,
and suffered at White Plains, and Trenton, and Mon-
mouth, and Valley Forge.

If we assume these premises as the basis of calculation,
it would, I think, be found that, if we consider each term
of service as having been performed by a distinct set of
men, there were more soldiers drawn from this town dur-
ing the period of the war, than there were males resid-
ing here above the age of sixteen years, and more than
double the whole number of names borne upon the rolls
of its train bands. So large were these drafts, and so of-
ten repeated, that committees were raised by the town to
go into other towns to hire men to supply them. And
it became necessary, repeatedly, to elect new town
oflicers because so many of those who had been elected
were absent in the army. Indeed, so di1’:ficult did it at
last become to procure men to fill the quotas which were
required of the town, that bounties as high as £30 each,

7* Among them William Crossman became a lieutenant, and Joseph Washburn, en-=
sign, of a company in colonel Bigelow’s regiment, inifanuary, 1777. Crossman soon
left the service, and Wasliburn was made lieutenant lot‘ the cc«mpany.

85

were paid in silver to those who were willing to enlist.
It was to obviate this difficulty and relieve the town of
the heavy charge, that the principle of conscription or
classing the inhabitants was adopted, whereby what had
been the duty of the whole, devolved upon a certain
number of its inhabitants, who were obliged to procure
the requisite number of soldiers as they were needed
from time to time. How many were furnished by classes
in this town or at what expense, I have not, as I have
already said, been able to determine.

Nor have I any reason to suppose that Spencer or
Paxton were any less liberal than Leicester in the aid
which they furnished to the cause of their country. I
find bounties paid by Spencer to thirty men, between
January, 1777, and February, 1778, who had joined the
Continental army, and to seven more soon after, who had
enlisted from that town into the same service. Paxton
furnished seventeen men who joined the Continental
troops during the year ’77. I cannot fix the proportion,
if any, which prevailed in the numbers which were at
different times levied from these towns. But I find
that in 1780, when a draft was made for “ six months’
men,” Leicester furnished seventeen, Spencer eigliiteen,
Paxton rim, and Auburn (then Ward) four, of the requi-
site number. Where, indeed, shall we look. for a more
signal manifestation of devoted selfisacrificing patriotism
than is furnished by this simple detail of the numbers
who went forth here, from their farms and firesides, to
battle for their homes and their rights as freemenl

But it was not in the field or the camp alone, that
the people of these towns were called upon for sacrifices
and privations. Justice, I apprehend, never has been,
and never will be done to those who remained at home,
and contributed to sustain the burden of expense which
the war created.

36

I say nothing of the sleepless nights and anxious days
of the Wives and” mothers whose husbands and sons had
left their homes desolate and their fields untilled ; I say
nothing of the ceaseless toil of the Women of the revolu-~
tion to supply, from their own looms and handiwork,
clothing for the army and comforts for the sick and
Wounded. I say nothing of the Widows which tl1at War
made, nor of the mourning which was heard in almost
every village over some friend, or brother, or son, who
had fallen in battle, or been the victim of the pestilence
which the camp, with its vices, and fevers, and destitu-
tions, had generated. These are but the incidents of
war, even in its mildest form, and it is as impossible to
measure as it is vain to attempt to portray such scenes
of individual suffering. I I I

There is enough in the sacrifices which our father’s
made which can be measured by the ordinary standard
of dollars and cents, to give us some idea of what that
struggle cost them in treasure as well as suffering.

It is dificult, as all must be aware, to fix the precise
extent of the taxation to which the people were sub-
jected, from what We read in the records of the time, in
consequence of thedepreciation of paper money which
formed the ordinay currency of the day. In ascertain-
ing what the actual value of the sums of money was,
which were raised by this town during the War, I have
endeavored to apply what I supposed was as correct a
scale as was Within my reachfit

Applying this standard, I find that the town of Leices-
ter or its inhabitants, during the six final years of the
War, paid out in 25/26 form of BOUNTIES to soldiers, upon
their enlistment, more than eleven llzozzsmzol dollars. And

4‘ I havenvprincipally relied upon one, which is found in the history of Worcester, the
accuracy of'which.a11wi11 concede, who meal the character of the author.

37

of this sum nearly three z‘/zouscmd were paid during the

7 single year 1777.

Besides these sums, the town raised large amounts,
from time to time, to aid in carrying on the war, the
aggregate of which could have been scarcely if any less
than seven thousand dollars —-- making, I doubt not,
more than $18,000 in money over and above their
share of the taxes, which were levied by the state, to
sustain the war or to pa.y the War debt. And this was
contributed, by this single town, in the space of less than
eight years. It ought to be remembered, moreover, that
the town that did this was by no means a wealthy one.
Out of two hundred and fifteen towns in Massachusetts
proper, in the year 17 72, one hundred and seven had a
larger population and a higher valuation of property
than Leicester, and among the towns in our own county,
she ranked, at that time, no higher than the twentieth
in either of these respects.

The amount furnished by Spencer, in bounties and
supplies, to her Continental soldiers alone, was nearly
three thousand dollars. The charge incurred by Pam
ton, for the same purpose, was about fourteen hundred
dollars. But these sums do not cover the advances of
money and other things which they made in behalf of
the state troops and the expenses of the War, the amount
of which I have no means of determining.

Nor Were these, by any means, the Whole burden
which these towns were called upon tovsustain. I find
that in 177 5, the Provincial Congress imposed upon the
town of Leicester, the charge of supporting thirty-six
of the inhabitants of Boston, who had fallen into distress
by the ruin of their trade. I find its inhabitants voting
to abate the taxes of those who Were serving in the

army.
4

38

I find them voting supplies for the families of the men
who had enlisted here into the three years’ Continental
service. I find them providing clothing for their soldiers
while absent from home. I find repeated drafts made by
the board of war upon the keeper of military stores in this
town,* during the years 1777 and 177 8, for clothing for
the army. For men obliged, as they were, to labor in-
cessantly, the sacrifice they were called upon to make,
in the mere matter of town meetings, was by no means
slight. I find they were called together at least eighteen
times during the single year 17 7 4-. Nor was this all.

I In May, 1780, they allowed one hundred and ten bushels

of corn to every one of the soldiers who would relin-
quish his wages. In January, 1781, they raised more

it than four hundred dollars, for the purchase of beef for

the army, and in July, of the same year, they furnished,
as their proportionate supply for a single month, one
thousand pounds of beef for the same use.

I might swell the number of these votes and appro-
priations which are scattered through the pages of their
records. But, were I to do so, I should feel that I was
trespassing too severely upon your indulgence. Make
Whatever abatement we may, from any of these sums, on
account of any supposed error in the scale of deprecia-
tion which we are to apply, it seems all but incredible
how such burdens could have been borne by a town,

  the whole of whose ordinary expenses before the war,

for the support of their highways, their poor, their schools,
and contingent charges, seem not to have exceeded two

. hundred pounds by the year.

And, yet, while staggering under the enormous bur»
dens of the war, when it was proposed in town meeting
to suspend their schools, the proposition was at once

9* Seth Washburn.

39

rejected. And to their glory be it said, neither their
schools nor their sanctuary were closed from any refusal
on the part of the people, to meet the necessary eX-
penses, during the whole of that dark period.

Nor ought it to be overlooked, that this crushing
Weight fell, principally, upon themen who remained at
home. And when we recollect besides, that this was
almost entirely an agricultural community, we may be
"ready to believe the traditionary anecdotes which we
have heard, of the desperate straits to Which many were
driven, to meet the demands which were thus made
upon their industry -—-- small farmers obliged to part with

I almost the last animal in their stalls-—--—-to divide the little

crops of grain they had raised, with the taX~gatherer,
and often to stint themselves and families in the very
necessaries of life, that they might feed and clothe the
men who were fighting their battles, or sustain the
families which they had left to be cared for by their
fellow townsmen. , I

Full of interest, as incidents like these may be re-
garded, as matters of local history, and happy as I should
have been to present a complete narrative of the events
of the war in which the officers and men who resided in
these towns took a part, I am reminded by the length of
time I have already consumed, that I can pursue the
subject no farther.

And, yet enough has been exhibited to show that men
and women who could cheerfully make all these sacri-
fices, rather than submit to the tax of a penny, uncon-
stitutionally laid, would not be found shrinking, when
the proposition came for declaring these Colonies z'1zoZe-
pendevzé. It was a bold act in the Congress of 1776, to
publish such a declaration tothe World, but they did
but utter the determined will of the Whole people, when

-40

they made it. The nation was ready for it before
Jefferson penned that immortal instrument. On the
22d of May, 1776, a town meeting was called in this
town, which was shortly after convened, in which it was

m2amz'm0zzsZy voted, “z‘/mt 2'72 case 2726 /zoazomblc 0o7zz‘z'92e72z’aZ

Congress slzoz/Zd declare 1‘/ze UOZcmz'cs 2'92a7éjm7cle92t cg" Great
Bm'ta2'7z, they zmmlol szzpjaort swirl Uongress in qfectzzatiazg such
or measure, azf 2’/ze rzlslc of their Zines m2dforz'2mes.”

Spencer adopted a similar resolution on tl1e 24th
June, of the same year.

How far they redeemed this solemn pledge, when in
July that declaration came, let the facts, to which I have
already alluded, bear witness. God in his mercy crowned
their efforts with success, and we, their sons, are now
celebrating amidst these scenes of beauty, and thrift, and
comfort, the Independence which they vowed to sus-
tain, amidst gloom, and poverty, and weakness.

But there were other respects in which they showed
themselves fit to be free men than their courage and self-
sacrifice in sustaining the War. They presented a moral
spectacle as striking as the extent of their physical en-
durance. r “

I have already alluded to the fact, that for more than
nine months, the state was ‘Without any constitutional
government to make or enforce laws. The body known
as the “ Provincial Congress,” was but a convention of
influential citizens, whose acts had, no binding force be-
yond the favor with which they were received by an
intelligent public. And yet, I have sought, in vain, for

any evidence that there ever was a time in either of o

these towns, during that interval, when the voice of jus-

ti-ceivvas silent, or order and domestic quiet did not

prevail under the sanction of law. A l
Thesertownsvvere, in effect, independent little repub-

41

lies, where committees of vigilance, aided by a vigorous
tone of moral sentiment in the community, restrained
the passions of the bad and enforced the dictates of the
public will. Anecdotes illustrative of this state of selfl
government might easily be gathered from the history
of either of these towns. But time precludes me from
attempting it now. i

There is one other subject connected with the ‘moral
feeling of the people of that day, which I ought not
wholly to omit, even at the hazard of wearying you
still farther by these necessarily protracted remarks,
and that is slavery. '

It is probably known to us all that slavery once ex»-
isted by law in this Commonwealth. Some of us are
old enough to remember a few who were declared free
by the constitution of 1780. but still continued to reside
in the families of their former masters. But slavery
never was in popular favor in Massachusetts. It had
been imposed upon her by her connection with Eng-
land, and though she struggled hard to rid herself of it,
the crown interposed to prevent it. A majority of the
legislature, in 1773, passed an act for the suppression of
the slave trade, but governor I~Iutchinson, under direct
orders from the crown, vetoed the bill. And it will be
remembered that the first declaration which. the people
of Massachusetts made in their bill of rights, was that
“ all men are born free.” The number of slaves in either
of these towns must always have been very small. I
do not find the returns of any at any time in Paxton.
In 1755, Leicester had six, and Spencer three, and in
’65, there were only seven black persons in Leicester,

, and but five in Spencer. With the exception of some
half dozen slaves brought here by the Jews, upon their 2

removal from Newport, I do not believe there were ten
4*

42

in both towns together, at any time within ten years of

the revolution. Nor was the relation which they held to

the rest of the community such as to shock the sensi-
bility of any one. They ate at the same table, worked
in the same field, and Wore the same homespun dress
as their masters, and were rather the pets and favorites,
especially of the younger members of the family, than
objects, as in these modern days, for sprigs of chivalry
to try their lessons upon, while fitting themselves to
become rulers of free men.

Yet, even with all its mildness the institution of slave»-
ry was justly odious to our ancestors. Whatever may
he said on the subject at this day, the av’22;(/s of that day
Were, I believe, to a man, for a “free soz'Z.”' They
anxiously sought to be rid of the disgrace which the ex»
istence of slavery entailed upon men professing to be
free, and struggliiig to maintain their freedom.

I recur, with pride, to the record they have left in
this town of their sentiments upon this subject. In
their instructions to their representative, in May, 1778,
they say, “ as we laws the 722}//zcszf regardfor, (so ezwz as to rc-
vere Z/ze mmze 0f,) Lz'berz’y, we ccmazal 56/zoid Zmt mi]; 2729 greatest
aH20rre72ce, cmy of our feZZOzv crcaz‘m“es 2'/2 as state qf slczzwjw,/.
T/teregfore we .s‘z‘rz'cz‘Z,,/ e7:y'oz'7z ,2/025 zfo use ,2/our 2zz‘m0.s*t 2'72fl2w7~2ce
Z/mi 65 .s~z‘e:p may he puzf to the slave zfmde dy zflw 2'72/zct’6z’[m2Zs of
z‘/zis P7"0t'z'72ce.”

Such were the sentiments then, and such, Ithanlt
God, are the sentiments 92020 of the people of our glori.
ous old Commonwealth, and such must they ever be,
till she ceases to hold the rank she now does among
the republics of the earth, for intelligence, enterprise,
and moral power.

I deeply regret that I have been compelled, thus
heavily, to tax your indulgence, While I am yetlcon...

43

scious of the injustice I have done to the subject and
the occasion. Incidents which, at the time, were deem-r
ed unimportant, have grown to consequence by their
connexion with events which, in their progress, have
excited the admiration of the world. We are able to
take a stand-point from which to view the events of the
American Revolution in a light which the actors in its
scenes, with all their foresight, could never have antici-
pated. We are witnessing the fruits of that movement
which hurried our fathers in their march for Lexington,
and nerved them to meet, unquailing, the serried ranks
of a British army at Bunker Hill, in the tottering
thrones and crumbling dynasties of the old world, and
in the constantly widening spread of American princi-
ples in the new. We have reached that point in
human progress, when fact outruns fancy, and the wild-

est dream of the most imaginative visionary of “T6, has

long since been left behind by the actual history 0
the race. W
And, yet, so brief has been the period within which
these changes have been wrought, that the span of a
human life has measured them all. Six, who at one
time or another, took part as soldiers, in the dangers,
and sufferings, and triumphs of the revolution, from the
ancient town of Leicester, are yet spared to share its
fruits with usfil‘ Some of them, we welcome to this
jubilee-—-~we greet them as the representatives of a
noble race, now, alas! almost extinct amongst us.
Venerable man! the last of that little band who
mustered on this spot, and tool»: up their midnight
march to find and to meet the invader -—-—- we welcome

at Austin Flint and Asahel Matthews, of Leicester, Nathan Craige, Joel Howe, Phin-
ehas Jones, and Isaac Lamb, of Spencer. Mr. Craige, lllatthews, Jones, and Howe
were present. Mr. Craige was 95 years old.

44

‘ your presence-—--we recognise in you one of the con-—

necting links between the royal Province of Massachu-
setts Bay, and the honored equal of thirty independent
republics. Where the fathers stood, side by side, with
you, on the 19th April, 1775, the sons and the grand»-
sons have come to do honor to their memories, and to
thank God that there is yet one left to Whom We can
point our children, and say, it Was such men who fought
the battles of the revolution, and achieved the inde-
pendence which We enjoy.

It is impossible to stand upon this spot, surrounded
by such associations, Without feeling one’s spirit stirred

within him. Fancy, unbidden, brings back its scenes of

former days, and peoples it with the men who gathered,
in council here, with anxious, earnest hearts, in the days
that literally “ tried men’s souls.” But it needs not the
aid of fancy to read our duty in the light of their ex-
ample. There comes a voice from the very graves of
such men that speaks not to the dreaming ear, but the
Warm affections of every generous heart. It bids us
stand by the ark of liberty which they bore through
the toilsome march of the revolution, in safety and tri-
umph. It bids us preserve, for our posterity, the price-
less boon which they bequeathed to us. And when, in
after days, our children shall gather here to celebrate
this day, as we do now, let them have no cause to blush
that we, their fathers, had been unfaithful to our father’s
trust.

 

APPENDIX.

 

A muster roll of captain Seth W'ashburn’s company, in colonel
'Wa1*d’e regiment, who marched on the alarm, April 19, 1775. Those
markecl 9*‘ joined the company from captain N ewha11’s, at Cambridge.

Seth Was11bu1‘n, captain.

"William Watson, first lieutenant. *
Nathaniel Harrod, second lieutenant.

Samuel ‘Watson and Henr'y King, sergeants.
Ebenezer Kent and Jonathan N ewhall, corporals.

Benjamin Convers, *E1ijah Comins,
Abner Dunbar, Elias Green,
Thomas Parker, *°Israel Saunclerson,
Ambrose Sear}, "‘°John Weaver,
Jesse Green, , '’'*Isaao Livermeore, jr.,
Jonas Sourhgate, Jonathan Sargent,
Samuel Richardson, a Job Stetson,

Jesse Smith, ~ James G1-eaton,
Peleg Hersey, Morris Huggins,
John Brown, Nathan Craige,
William Crossrnan, Phiuehas Green,
Hezekiah Saundereon, Per-ley Brown,
Daniel Hubbard, ‘* Stephen Taylor,
Abijah Stowers, Samuel Sargent,
Adam Gilmore, William Brown,

*" David Newhalel, '* Daniel Sargent,

Daniel Denny, Jason Livermore,
Ebenezer Saunderson, James “Tucker.

Jonathan J aekson,

46

Roll of captain Thomas Newhall’s company of militia, who marched
from Leicester to Cambridge, on the alarm, the 19th of April, 1775.

Thomas Newhall, captain.
Benjamin Richardson, lieutenant.

. Ebenezer Upham, second lieutenant. ‘
Loring Lincoln, Isaac Cheats, and James Whittemore,’ sergeants.
Phinehas N ewhall and Phinehas Sargent, corporals.

Peter Silvester, jr., Daniel Carpenter,
Jonathan Johnson, Reuben Earle,
Nathaniel Richardson, Wait Upham,
Moses I-Iovey, Richard Bond,
Micah Liverrnore, Reuben Swan,
Elijah Howe, Solon Green,
Jonathan Sargent, jr., Isaac Livermore, jr.,
Elisha Wa1'd, Stephen Taylor,
Benjamin Levinston, Daniel Sargent,
Thomas Snow, Elijah Cummings,
Thomas Green, Israel Saunclerson,
Reuben Lamb, John Weaver,
Phinehas Barton, David N ewhall.

Caleb Nichols,

u

A roll of captain Ebenezer Masorfs company, who marched as min-
ute men for the defence of the Colonies on the 19th April, 1775, from
Spencer, belonging to colonel Jonathan Warner’s regiment.

Ebenezer Mason, captain.

Abijah Livermore, lieutenant.

Joseph Livermore, e1isi.g'n.

Benjamin Bemis, jr., Wm. Green, Wm. White, and Samuel Hall,

sergzeantxs.
Oliver Watson, Jonas Muzzy, Asa Sprague, and Jeduthan Green,
corporals.
James Draper, drummer, Luther Prouty, fifer.
John Draper, John Bemis,
Jesse Bemis, John Ball,
Isaac Prouty, , David Livermore,
Nathaniel Wilson, James Watson,
Benjamin Sumner, Robert VVatson,
John VVoodward, jr., Thomas \Vhittemore,
Jonas Lamb, Nathaniel Loring,

Thomas Sprague, Isaac Livermore,

  Michael Hatch,

Jonathan Rich,
John VVaite,

John Knapp,
Joseph Grout,
Benjamin Gleason,
Joseph Wheat,
Levi T hayer,
Joshua Draper, jr.,
Elisha Whitney,
Reuben Lamb,
John Hatch,
Amos Whittemore,
Wright VVoodward,

47

Samuel Bemis,
Rand White,

David Rice, l
Richard Hutton,
Samuel Garfield, jr.,
Nathaniel Cunningham,
John Lamb, jr.,
Asa Whittemore,
John Worcester,
Elijah Southgate,
Knight Sprague,
David Lamb,
Timothy Capen.

Roll of captain Phinehas Moore’s company of minute men of Paxton,
commanded by colonel Ephraim Doolittle, who marched on the alarm,
the 19th April, 1775, from Paxton to Cambridge. L

Phinehas Moore, captain.

Josiah Newton, lieutenant.

Seth Snow, second lieutenant.

Adam Maynard and Ephraim Bellows, sergeants.
William Heard, fifer.

David Knapp,
Jeremiah Whitaker,
James Green,

Job Johnson,

James Sproat,
Joshua (or John) Bigelow,
Thomas Greenwood,
Nathan Swan,
Oliver Earle,

James Logan,

John Davis,

Abijah Brown,
Jonathan Waite,
Thomas Lamb,

Jonathan Hubbard,
Thomas Hunt,
Clark Earle,
Joseph Knight,
James Pike,

Samuel Gould,
Aaron Martin,
Samuel Steward, 
David Snow, j1‘.,
Silas Bellows,
Josiah Baldwin,
Jonathan Clemons, jr.,
Jason Livermore,
William Thompson.

John I~Iatc1'i, Spc;ncer.~

.23’

A muster roll of’ a company under _commanfl of Seth W'aehbnr1'1, in
colonel Jonathan Warcl’s regiment, in the eight _1I1OI1l;l'1S’ service, in 17745.

S D Seth Waslibnrn, captain. -

— Josepl1lf,Li,vermore, Spencer, lieutenant.
LoringVLincoln, Leicester, second lieutenant.
Peleg Hersey, John Brown, Anthony Sprzigue, and 'Wm. Croeten

man, Leicester, sergeants.

Hezekiah , Saunderson and

Daniel Hubbarcl, Leicester, IE1'ij4ali

_ H , Southgate, Spencer, and Kerley Ward, Oaklnam, ¢:orporals.
W Elijah Torrey, Leicester, fifer. A

Anclrew Moi-gran, Spencer.
Alexander McFarlan(»l, Oakliarn.
Joseph W'ashburn, Leicester.
Jonas Lamb, Spencer.

Jesse J ones,« Weston. ,

J ohn Tl-iompeon, 1’ax;ton. H
Matthew J ackeon, Rntlanél, af'ter~—

‘ wards Leicester.

Peter Rice, Spencer.

Silas Livertnore, Weston.
Tliornas Sp1'agne, Spencer.
Samuel Underwood, WeSt011.
Silas Bellows, Paxton. W
George Dunn, Oakharn.

g Samueli Fairfield, Worcester.
w J oeeph. Prescott, Paxton.

Thomas, Stevens, Holden.
Ebenezer Presicoett,t‘1:,’.a:.:ton. fl
Thomas. Gill and Robertlflooper,
0a1,:ham,.enlisted July 1.
Zillai Stickney, Holden. W
Wriglit Woodward, Spencer.
Isaac. Liver-more, Spencer. \
Elisha Liverrnore, Brookfiled.

a John I~Iagar, tW'eston.

John C1evelz1nd,(}1o11cester. , S

_Abijal1 Stowers, Leicester.‘

Adam Gilmore, Leicester.
David Newhall,
Daniel Denny,
Ebenezer Sanxiclerson,
Illijah Cornins,

Itllias :}1't*3en,

Iecx-eel SannCle1"e,on,l
.Jol?m Weaver,

Isaac Liverntore, jr.,i  
Jonathan Sargent,
Job Stetson,

James. Grreaton,
Morris Itlnggine,
Natha.n r Oraige,

7 J amefi Ricliarcleon,

William Brown and James Tnckrer,
.left; the company June M.
iPl1it1,Gl”_1fl.ié3. Green, _ A
Phinelfiae G-reien, .jr.,
Perley Iirown, i 
S Step1ien.,Tay1or,D
Samuel Sargent,
Abner Lirerxnore,
Thomas Green,
  John G‘rre“en,”

, . Daniel Sargent, left June 14:,

Jason Liverrnore, left June 14,
Jonathan Jackson. ‘