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CHAPTER XI
HOLLIS CONTINUED. – TENNEY HOMESTEAD. – DEACON ENOCH JEWETT COLBURN. – WASHINGTON'S SOLDIERS MAKE MAPLE-SUGAR FOR THE ARMY. – WHOLE FAMILIES IN THE WAR. – THE NEVINS BOWLDER. – SCHOOLTEACHERS' PAY IN THE REVOLUTION. – THE OLD BURYING-GROUND
OUR next halt was at the Tenney homestead, where the sixth generation of the family and name were met in peaceful contentment. The first was William Tenney, who settled here in 1747 with his wife, Anna Jewett, from Rowley. The Lexington alarm called from this home the son William, who had not yet attained his majority. He went out as a minute-man, performed the part of a patriot at Cambridge, and later responded to the urgent call for troops to take the place of the Connecticut forces during the first winter of the war. Notwithstanding the repeated calls for personal service in the army, William Tenney, who was known as captain, married Phoebe Jewett in 1776, and they together conducted the business of the farm. Of their ten children, the youngest, Hon. Ralph Emerson Tenney, born in 1790, set-
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tled at the homestead. This son was named for Ralph Emerson, who, according to a gravestone record, was instantly killed by the accidental discharge of a cannon, while exercising the matross on the day before the advent of the Tenney son. Thus the parent showed his regard for a neighbor, fellow-soldier in the war for liberty, and a son of
[Photo- Tenney Homestead, Hollis, N.H.]
the honored minister of the town, Rev. Daniel Emerson. Of the next generation at the Tenney farm came William N. Tenney, followed by his son Ralph E. Tenney, who, with his children, enjoys the shade of the same spreading trees that have protected their ancestors from the scorching rays of the sun, when walking through the familiar path leading from the highway to the old home.
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Passing through the village in a northerly course to the southerly end of Long Pond, we made note of the former homestead of Phineas Hardy, from which three sons went into the army. Our next halt was at the home of Deacon Enoch Jewett Colburn, whose story was so full of interest that we could but tarry and hear it through. This genuine New England farmer and church officer accepts no tradition that is not well founded, but having good evidence of the origin of the family in Hollis, tells the following: –-
"Our family has no traceable connection with the other Jewetts of Hollis. Enoch, my grandfather, did not serve this town in the war, but it was the Revolution that led him to come here. He was with Washington's army during that dreadful winter at Valley Forge, and shared in the hardships of the soldiers."
"On retiring from White Marsh to Valley Forge, the tents of the American Army were exchanged for log huts, which constituted acceptable habitations to his nearly naked and barefoot troops, who had tracked their way from White Marsh, by the blood, which, running from the bare and mangled feet of the soldiers, stained the rough and frozen road throughout its whole extent. They were in a destitute and deplorable situation; and, to add to their miseries, famine began to make its appearance. The British in Philadelphia gave good gold for what the farmers brought to town, while Washington could only pay them in Continental scrip, which, already depreciated, became less in value."
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"As the spring of 1778 opened," said Mr. Colburn, "Washington sent out squads of men to gather provisions. My grandfather was one of a squad sent into northern New England to tap the maple-trees, and make a quantity of maple-sugar. They chanced to come to this town, where they built a cabin and began the business. Grandfather, then young and venturesome, liked the place, and after the war closed came back, married, and settled down in the extreme north part of this town. These trees and stone walls are continual reminders of him whose name I bear, and whom I delight to honor."
Our route now takes us within the limits of the original town of Monson, whose story is told under the title of "A Lost Town." Its heroes are necessarily classed with the soldiers of Hollis and Amherst. Notable among these was the Youngman family on Pine Hill, who gave themselves up to the interests of the country. There were five of them, whose time spent in the service aggregated twenty years. Ebenezer Youngman of Captain Moors's company was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill. The other brothers were in the Continental regiments. Thomas was among the victorious at Trenton and Princeton in New Jersey, and Nicholas was in the northern campaign. Other Old Monson men were Joseph French, and Ebenezer, Christopher, and Stephen, sons of Lieutenant Benjamin Farley of Bedford,
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Mass., the first innkeeper in West Dunstable (Hollis).
Ensign Samuel Leeman, who turned out at the Lexington alarm, was in the battle of Bunker Hill, in the Continental army, and killed near Saratoga, October 10, 1777.
Thomas Emerson and Thaddeus Wheeler were of the number who had seen the old town of Monson abandoned, There were also the Farleys, who had come from Billerica in Massachusetts. Caleb, on Pine Hill, the pioneer and head of the family, had served in the French war of 1755, to the credit of his native town. He served in a succession of campaigns in the Revolution, but passed safely through it all, and attained the ripe old age of one hundred and two years and five months. There was Captain William Kendrick, who discharged the alarm-gun that aroused the Monson people on April 19. He was of the Hollis Committee of Safety in 1776-7, and in Captain Emerson's mounted company at Rhode Island. The Nevens family acted well their part. They had come from Newton and Bedford in Massachusetts, and had strong attachments for the people of that Province. Five of the sons of William left an indelible record in the war. They were William, Joseph, Benjamin, John, and Phineas.
"Early in the afternoon of the 19th of April, three of these brothers were at work with their crowbars in digging stone for a farm wall at a
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short distance from their home. At the coming in sight of the messenger, they had partially raised from its place a large flat stone embedded in a farm roadway. Seeing the messenger spurring towards them at full speed, one of the brothers put a small bowlder under the large stone to keep it in the position to which it had been raised, and all stopped and listened to the message of the horseman. Upon hearing it, leaving the stone as it was in the roadway, with the little bowlder under it, they hastened to the house, and all three of them, with their guns and equipments, hurried to the Hollis Common to join their company. One of these brothers, Phineas, was killed at Bunker Hill; another, William, the spring following lost his life in the service in New York." John enlisted for the Canada expedition, and was never heard of by his people. As a family memorial of this incident, the large stone, supported by the small one, was permitted to remain as the men left it when they answered the call of their country; and now (1897) it has been transferred to the Common, or "Old Training Field," and so located as to indicate the line of march of the ninety-two minute-men who left that town for Lexington, April 19, 1775. On this bowlder has been placed a bronze tablet on which the names of the patriots are read, together with the following: "The Nevens Brothers were at work on this stone, on their farm, April 19, 1775, and left it in
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this position at the Minute Men's alarm, to join their comrades on this Common." While the old town of Monson has been lost, and the Nevens home gone to decay, the rough stone upon which the brothers were peacefully laboring when the war-cry reached them has been set up as their pillar of memorial and of their comrades.
As neighbors to the Nevens family were the Baileys. They had a sawmill, and were there at work when they received the Lexington alarm. Daniel, the father, with sons Daniel, Joel, and Andrew, without stopping to shut down the gate, made a hasty response.
There were the Wallingsfords, who had gone from Bradford, Mass., to Old Monson. Lieutenant David, leaving his hoe in the cornfield, appeared with his gun at the Common, and was of the company who so nobly represented Hollis. He entered the Continental army, and was credited with opening the fire at Bennington.
The loss of Old Monson occasioned the removal of many of her families, and consequently these homes went to decay; but in "our route we have seen the family sites, and, attracted by the few struggling trees, with the tenacious lilacs, have traced the neglected hearth-stones of the patriots of Old Monson.
Although beyond the limits of Middlesex County and of Massachusetts, the town of Hollis has been the first town to set up a monument on which can
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be read the names of all who responded to the alarm of April 19, 1775. They are: –-
REUBEN DOW, Captain.
JOHN GOSS, 1st Lieutenant.
JOHN CUMINGS, 2d Lieutenant.
Nathan Blood. Daniel Taylor. Benjamin Abbott. Joshua Boynton. Thomas Kemp. William Tenney. William Nevens. Amos Taylor. Samuel Conery. Minott Farmer. Jacob Read. Benjamin Farley. Sampson Powers. Thomas Wheat. Jonathan Russ. James McIntosh. Ebenezer Farley. John Philbrick. James McConnor. Ebenezer Youngman. Ebenezer Jaquith. Ephraim Blood. James Fisk. Manuel Grace. David Farnsworth. Josiah Fisk. Robert Seaver. Noah Worcester. Jonathan Eastman. Nathan Phelps. Uriah Wright. Amos Eastmam. Daniel Blood, Jr. Thomas Pratt. Aaron Hardy. Edward Johnson. Elias Boynton. Benjamin Boynton. Jacob Danforth. Francis Blood. Ephraim Pierce. Bray Wilkins. Ezekiel Proctor. Jonas Blood. Israel Wilkins. Jacob Spaulding. James Colburn. Job Bailey. Ebenezer Ball. William French. Samuel Leeman. Thomas Colburn. Ebenezer Wheeler. Joseph Minot. Samuel Hill. Benjamin Wright, Jr. James Dickey. Benjamin Cumings. Joseph Bailey. Jonathan Ames. Samuel Jewett. Benjamin Wright. Randal McDaniels. Israel Kenney. Nathaniel Wheat. David Wallingsford. David Ames. Benjamin Nevens. Richard Bailey. William Wood. Joseph Nevens. Nathan Colburn. John Campbell. Nathaniel Ball. Abner Keyes. Libbens Wheeler. Benjamin Sanders. Joel Bailey. Abel Brown. Ebenezer Gilson. John Atwell. Nahum Powers. Thaddeus Wheeler. Jesse Wyman. Isaac Stearns. Thomas Patch. Ephraim Howe. Samuel Hosley. Samuel Johnson.
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The Hayden home is one of the few that sheltered the patriots of 1775 and of 1861. The ancient house stands with as much apparent firmness as when Samuel Hayden came from Marlborough, Massachusetts, and located here in 1761. He was attracted, doubtless, by the mill privileges which the swift stream afforded, and which has furnished business for the several generations who have made a most commendable record at this place. Josiah, a nephew of the pioneer, was the second of the family, and was followed by his son Samuel, the drummer of the Old Monson company. He is succeeded by two sons, who cherish the home, till the soil, and tend the mill after the most approved plan. A family reminder of not only the Revolution, but of the French war, is a powder-horn, on which are carved figures representing a line of Indians with their war implements, and the words: –-
SAMUEL, HAYDEN, HIS POWDER-HORN.
If I do lose, and you do find,
Give it to me, for it is mine.
This horn and the family musket were taken down from their places above the open fire, and carried by Samuel Hayden into the Revolution. The maternal head of the Hayden family was Hannah Bailey, daughter of Samuel who was killed at Bunker Hill. Hannah was a schoolteacher in An-
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dover when the troubles with the mother country broke out. At the close of a short term of her school, there was a great scarcity of money, and the school committee allowed the teacher to take her choice between the bills of credit of the time or rolls of wool, in payment for her services. She took the latter, and spun them into yarn, and made cloth, which later became useful to her in completing her wedding outfit. In proof of this, her grandsons at the old home brought forward a liberal sample of the fabric.
Our journey through Old Monson was made doubly interesting by an additional guide, – Mr. Charles S. Spaulding, son of Asaph S. Spaulding and Hannah Colburn. In common with other residents of Hollis, our guide has a connection with Middlesex families. He says, "There were inducements held out for immigration, a special effort being made by means of handbills circulated through Middlesex and Essex Counties.
Having completed the circuit, I halted at the home of my efficient guide, Mr. Cyrus F. Burge, on the farm where his father has spent his days, and where his great-grandfather settled in 1762, and from which Ephraim Burge went into the war, doing service in the northern campaign when Burgoyne surrendered.
The old burying-place of Hollis is a typical churchyard as far as there can be one in a comparatively new country. Having completed my
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search for the footprints of the patriots around the old hearth-stones, and remembering that –-
"The paths of glory lead but to the grave,"
I turned in to the narrow acre with its grass-grown paths, and sought for a few hints of the chapter of patriotism chiselled on the moss-grown, tottering slabs which stand like weary sentinels.
First I read: –-
ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF
It was so soon after the war that the people had not begun to fully realize the import of the message so promptly spread through the town by this faithful deacon.
DEA. JOHN BOYNTON,
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE OCTOBER YE 29TH, 1787,
IN YE 68TH YEAR OF HIS AGE.
I next read the name of –-
LIEUT. AMOS EASTMAN,
Even at this date no note is made of the part taken by this village hero. The common grave at Bunker Hill where were buried so many of the pride of Hollis is recalled by the brief note on a stone, on which is read, "Lucy Baldwin, daughter of Thomas Wheat, who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill."
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
MARCH 6, 1808, IN THE 89TH YEAR OF HIS AGE.
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The grave of Captain Reuben Dow recalled that scene on the Common opposite, when he at the head of the Hollis minute-men marched off to Cambridge. He lived till 1811, having completed more than fourscore years. An erect stone tells that Doctor John Hale was born October 24th, 1731, and died October 22d, 1791. He was colonel of a regiment, and resigned to enter the service as surgeon, serving through the war. Near by we read that Dr. William Hale was born, July 27th, 1762, and died October 10, 1854. He entered the service as aid to his father at the age of fifteen years, and served through the war.
Among these stones, "with uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd," are reminders of the Emerson family, of which New England is justly proud. As I shall refer to the Emerson clergymen of this locality in another connection, I will only call the attention of my readers to the record of some of the sons of Rev. Daniel Emerson of Hollis who lie buried with those whom they served.
IN MEMORY OF
DANIEL EMERSON, ESQ.,
HAVING FAITHFULLY AND INDUSTRIOUSLY SERVED HIS GENERATION,
AS AN OFFICER OF THE CHURCH,
AS A DEFENDER OF FREEDOM,
AS A MAGISTRATE AND LEGISLATOR,
AS A FRIEND OF THE POOR,
AND AS A ZEALOUS PROMOTER OF THE REDEEMER'S KINGDOM,
HE RESTED FROM HIS LABORS
OCTOBER 4, 1820, AET. 74.
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On a stone at the grave of another son of the Hollis minister is read: –-
ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF
LIEUT. RALPH EMERSON
WHO WAS INSTANTLY KILLED BY THE ACCIDENTAL
DISCHARGE OF A CANNON WHILE EXERCISING
THE MATROSS
OCTOBER 4, 1790,
IN THE 30TH YEAR OF HIS AGE.
We drop apace.
By nature some decay,
And some the gusts of fortune sweep away.
[Photo- "Neven's Boulder"]
Beside Old Hearthstones
Created January, 2004
Copyright 2004
Retyped and reformatted by Kathy Leigh