History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

2G; HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
liad withdrawn from the church at Groton, for the
purpose of forming this. On the 25th of February
following, Eev. Joseph Emerson of Maiden
was ordained and settled in the gospel ministry
over the church and paiisli. He received a settlement
of forty acres of land within half a mile of
the meeting-house, and £120 ; also a yearly salary
of thirty-five cords of firewood cut and delivered
at his door, and £62 10«., to be increased £12
10«. when the parish should contain one hundred
ratable families ; the number of families at that
time being seventy-two. This salary was regu-
lated according to the price of provisions from
year to year; but the plan occasioned considerable
difficulty, and after a few years was by mutual
consent of pastor and parish abandoned, Mr.
Emerson receiving annually £73 &s. 8cl., reckon-
ing silver at six shillings per dollar, and at six
shillings and eightpence per ounce.
M/iuicijjal and Polilical. — On the 12th of
April, 1753, Groton West Parish became a district
by act of the General Court, and was named
Pepperell in honor of Sir William Pepperell, the
hero of the memorable capture of Louisburg in
1745. Mr. Emerson had been a chaplain in that
expedition, and probably suggested the name of
his old commander as the name of the new dis-
trict. Sir William acknowledged the compliment
by the customary present of a bell, which, how-
ever, was never received by those for whom it was
intended. It was cast in England, bearing the in-
scription of the donor's name, and the couplet,
" I to tlie church the Hving call.
And to the grave I summon all."
It was shipped to Boston, and stored there. One
tradition is, that it was destroyed by the British
soldiers during their occupancy of Boston. An-
other story is, that the people of Pepperell, being
so earnestly engaged in the great struggle for in-
dependence, neglected to send for the bell until it
had been sold to pay the expenses of storage, etc.
As Sir William Pepperell died in 1759, neither of
these reasons is very satisfactory. Still another
version is, that a committee of three, afterwards
changed to one, was chosen by the town, to go to
Boston and get the bell ; that he went, sold the
bell, and, having put the proceeds into his pocket,
returned and reported the bell iwn inventus.
But no record of any such committee, or of any
action of the district in reference to (liis bell, can
be found in the town records.
Mr. Emer.son's previous experience ami his iimi--
tial proclivities led him to take an active interest in
military matters. To his influence and encourage-
ment, undoubtedly, was due much of that military
and patriotic spirit which characterized the inhabitants
of Pepperell, and which furnished so many
brave officers and soldiers from among her citizens.
Indian hostilities had nearly ceased before Pep-
perell became a separate parisli, although for several
years after Mr. Emerson's settlement the men car-
ried their guns with them to meeting. As inhabi-
tants of Groton, they had had their full share of
Indian warfare. Many were the thrilling tales of
the red man's attack and the white man's bravery ;
of Indian cunning and of Chamberlain's circum-
spection, told by the granddames of a generation
ago, as received from their grandmothers, whose
husbands, fathers, and brothers were the heroes of
the story.
In 1758 a company for the French War was enlisted
under the comfnand of Captain Thomas Law-
rence. Previous to their departure to join the
army, Mr. Emerson preached a sermon to the com-
pany, congratulating the men for the cheerfulness
and becoming seriousness with which they had en-
gaged in this affair. Thus he encouraged them:
" Boldly, then, advance into the heart of your ene-
my's country. Fear them not; let it never be said
of a New England soldier, — let it never be said of
a Pep|)erell soldier, — that he was afraid to face his
enemies, or that he turned his back on them, and
cowardly deserted the cause of his country." The
brave and stalwart captain was obedient to the in-
junction of his minister. While out with a rang-
ing jiarty of about twenty, he was surprised by the
Indians, and, with the exception of a few who fled
at the first fire, the whole party were killed while
fighting desperately ; not one was taken alive.
Trained in such a school, and inspired by so zeal-
ous an apostle of liberty, the peo])le of Pepperell were
all prepared to enter with ardor into the contention
between parliament and provinces, which led to
open hostilities and war. They were among the
first to notice and protest against the arbitrary acts
of the British Ministry, and among the first to sus-
taiTi that protest by active and forcible measures.
District meetings were called, which were fully
attended, and at which resolutions were unanimously
passed, instructing their representatives in
tlu^ legislature " by no means to join in any meas-
ures for countenancing or assisting in the execu-
tion of the said Stamp Act"; to exert themselves
" ill the Great and General .Vsseuiblv to the utmost