The Loyalists of Massachusetts Part 59

He engaged in business at Salem as a merchant and gained a reputation among his fellow townsmen as a "man of honorable motives and strict integrity of character." He was chosen representative to the general court in 1727-28-29. Was High Sheriff of Ess.e.x till 1737, was Justice of General Session and Common Pleas Courts. In 1729 he married Elizabeth Winslow, daughter of Hon. Isaac Winslow of Marshfield. In 1740 he retired from business, and bought a large and valuable property at Manchester, known for many years as the Marston farm. Here he pa.s.sed the remainder of his days, and died May 22, 1754, aged 57 years, leaving a large estate including the Great and Little Misery Islands, for which he had paid 516. 13.9. A part of the income of the island he left for the purpose of "Propagating the Gospel among the Indians."

BENJAMIN MARSTON, the third of this name, and family, and son of the preceding, was born in Salem, Sept. 30, 1730. He graduated at Harvard College in 1749. After leaving college he travelled in Europe and visited some other of the British colonies. He married Sarah Sweet, whose sister, Martha, married Col. Jeremiah Lee of Marblehead. After his marriage he "settled down" in Marblehead, where for many years he carried on a large and successful business as a merchant. He owned a store in King street, and other stores, and warehouses, and jointly with his partners, Jeremiah Lee and Robert Hooper, several large s.h.i.+ps. He also owned a pleasant and commodious dwelling house, and much real estate, and other property in Marblehead and elsewhere. He was considered by his friends and neighbors as a man of pure life, and great integrity of character, active in business, energetic in public matters, hospitable and benevolent in private, a great reader and scholar, and fond of literary pursuits, always occupying one of the most respectable positions in society, and greatly esteemed by all who knew him. Here he continued to live for twenty years, actively engaged in business, and doing his duty towards his town. He was chosen selectman, and overseer of the poor, thirteen times in fifteen years, fireward twelve times in fourteen years, a.s.sessor in 1760, moderator of town meetings, fourteen times in eight years, and occupied many other important offices of trust. After 1768, however, when the troubles which preceded the Revolution began to increase the confidence of the people, that were influenced by the Revolutionists, appear to have been withheld. They still chose him moderator of all town meetings, but he was not again appointed on any important committees. He was known to be "an uncompromising adherent to the lawful government of the British Colonies," but as he had violated no agreements, and never attempted to counteract the plans of the conspirators, though frequently and openly expressing his disapprobation of their violent proceedings, he was for some time unmolested. At an early period, however, he discovered the storm brewing, and as if apprehensive of future difficulties he began "to sell off some of his property."

Benjamin Marston was one of the Addressers of Governor Hutchinson, and thus incurred the displeasure of the Revolutionists. After this he was harshly and brutally treated by the "Sons of Liberty." In the year 1775, his home was mobbed by a Marblehead _Committee_, who without any legal authority, entered his doors, broke open his desk, embezzled his money, and notes, and carried off his books and accounts. He made his escape from the town with difficulty, the turbulent "Sons of Despotism" would have probably tarred and feathered him if he had come within their reach. He remained concealed among his friends for some time, till he could reach Boston and place himself under the protection of the British. A letter from Hon. Wm. Brown, who also had sought shelter in Boston, to his friend Judge Curwen, a fellow Loyalist, said "About 2 months ago, Mr. Marston came here by night from Col. Fowle's farm. He knows nothing about Salem. His wife died last summer."

After the evacuation of Boston he went to St. John, N. B., and then to Windsor, N. S., finally settling down at Halifax, and there engaging in trade and venturing to sea, he was taken prisoner and carried into Plymouth, and remained in duress in Boston until he was exchanged, and then went to Halifax. He returned to Boston after the peace in 1787, in the spring of which year he visited his friends in Plymouth, for the last time, and soon after embarked for London. His after life is best described in a letter to his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Watson, of Plymouth, wife of William Watson, Esq., under date of London, March 19, 1792. He says: "I now sit down and write to you with satisfaction, for I have at length fairly waded thro the _Slough of Despond_. I am now landed on the opposite side and shall go on my way rejoicing, having once more emerged into active life. In fact, I am engaged to go with a large Company, who are going to make a Settlement on the Island Bulama, on the coast of Africa, as their Land Surveyor General on a pretty good lay. No expedition could have hit my taste and humor more exactly than this one promises to do. It is so of the _Robinson Crusoe_ kind, that I prefer it, vastly to any employment of equal emolument and of a more regular kind, that might have been offered to me in this country.

"You say you have mourned me as _dead and buried_. In truth, my dear Sister, I have been much worse off. I have for more than four years been _buryed alive_. As to gratifying your wish in making my native country the residence of the remainder of my days, it is not at present in my power to do, for want of means. There is not remaining in my mind the least resentment to the Country because the party whose side I took in the late great Revolution, did not succeed, for I am now fully convinced. It is better for the world that they have not. I don't mean by this to pay any complements to the first instigators of our American Revolution, although it has been of such advantage to mankind, I should as soon think of erecting monuments to Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate and the Jewish Sanhedrim for betraying and crucifying the Lord of Life, because that event was so importantly and universally beneficial."

The expedition to Africa resulted disastrously, and Benjamin Marston died on the Island of Bulama of the African fever, on the 10th of August, 1792.

From the scanty materials which have been here brought together, will be sufficient to convince the reader that it was no personal consideration, no expectation of honors and rewards, or desire of rank and distinction, but simply from a deep conviction of duty, a clear sense of loyalty to the British crown, that he gave up everything that was dear to him, his "pleasant and s.p.a.cious dwelling" house, with its "fine old garden for morning exercise," his cherished library, his "much property," his well-earned reputation as a merchant, a magistrate and a citizen, his relatives, friends, and native country, and become a refugee and a wanderer on the face of the earth, "without a place that he could command to lay his head," and those that bore his name, were more proud of it than if he left rank and honor and large possessions to his representatives. There were very few of those who embraced the cause of the Mother Country, in those trying times, that were led by more honorable, or disinterested motives, or are more deserving of remembrance than Benjamin Marston of Marblehead.

HON. BENJAMIN LYNDE CHIEF JUSTICE OF Ma.s.sACHUSETTS.

It appears from the registry in the Church of St. John, the parish church of Hackney, near London, that Enoch Lynde was married on the 25th of October, 1614, to Elizabeth Digbie, a descendant of Sir John Digby.

Enoch Lynde resided in London, was a merchant engaged in foreign trade, and was for some years connected with the postal service between England and Holland. He died the 23rd of April, 1636, aged fifty years.

SIMON LYNDE, the third son of Enoch Lynde, was born in London in 1624.

He engaged in mercantile pursuits, and went to Holland. In 1650 he came to New England, and in the following year married Hannah, a daughter of Mr. John Newgate. During the thirty years of his life in the colony, he was a person of prominence, and acquired large landed possessions, in Ma.s.sachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 1687 he was appointed one of the Justices of the Superior Court. He died 22nd Nov. 1687, possessed of a large estate, and many children, who survived him.

BENJAMIN LYNDE, the sixth son of Simon, was born 22nd September, 1666.

He records of himself that he was admitted to Harvard College on the 6th of September, 1682, by the Rev. Increase Mather, after having received his preparatory education under the famous grammar Master, Ezekiel Cheever, and received his first Degree in 1686. His father desired that he should complete his education in England. On 27th June, 1692, he sailed for England, and was admitted he says "for the study of Law, into the honorable Society of the Middle Temple, Oct. 18, 1692." "I was called to the Bar as Counsellor at Law in 1697, and received a commission under the great Seal, for King's Advocate, in the New Court of Admiralty, in New England, in the same year." He returned to America Dec. 24, 1697. On the 27 of April, 1699, he married Mary, daughter of Hon. William Browne of Salem. In 1712 he was appointed a Judge of the Superior Court, and in the following year a Councillor. On the resignation of Judge Sewall in 1728, he was made Chief Justice of the Province, which office he held at the time of his death, Jan. 28, 1745, in the 79th year of his age. The Boston Evening Post said of him, "Inflexible justice, unspotted integrity, affability, and humanity were ever conspicuous in him. He was a sincere friend, most affectionate in his relations, and the delight of all that were honored with his friends.h.i.+p and acquaintance." He left two sons, the younger, William, died unmarried, in 1752. His eldest son,

BENJAMIN LYNDE, JR. was born on the 5th of October, 1700. He graduated from Harvard College in 1718, and in 1721 he took his master's degree at Cambridge. He soon after received the appointment of Naval Officer for Salem. In 1734 he was appointed a special judge of the Court of Common Pleas, for Suffolk. In 1737 he was one of the agents in the settlement of the boundary line between New Hamps.h.i.+re and Ma.s.sachusetts. Two years later he was made one of the Standing Judges of Common Pleas for Ess.e.x, and in 1745, the year of his father's death, he was raised to the Superior Bench of the Province. He was a member of the Council for many years, but declined a re-election in 1760, in consequence of the controversy that arose in that year between the House and Government as to the right of Judges to sit as Councillors. On the promotion of Chief Justice Hutchinson to the executive chair, in 1771, Judge Lynde was appointed to the place now vacant, and became Chief Justice of the Province. He resigned not many months after, pending the controversy respecting the payment of judges' salaries by the town. He had now reached the age of 72, and "not being inclined to ride the Circuit longer" he accepted the more humble and less laborious position of Judge of Probate for Ess.e.x, which office he held until the breaking out of the Revolution, not many years before his death, which was occasioned by the kick from a horse, from the effects of which he did not recover, and he died Oct. 5th, 1781, aged 81 years. It was a remarkable coincidence that both father and son should have been Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, and occupied a seat on that bench, between them for nearly sixty years. The most important trial that took place during his judicial term was that of the so-called "Boston Ma.s.sacre," where the soldiers fired on the mob in King street. At this trial Judge Lynde presided. It was a time of great political excitement, and the occasion was one that required the utmost firmness, and skill on the part of the judge, to ensure a just and impartial decision. These trials lasted several days, and, as has been said, "proceeded with care and patience, on the part of the Bench, and counsel, and both judges and jury seemed to have acted with all the impartiality that is exhibited in the most enlightened tribunals." "The result," says Judge Washburn, "is a proud memorial of the purity of the administration of justice in Ma.s.sachusetts." Judge Lynde was noted for his learning, his liberality, and his public spirit.

He was a diligent student of our Colonial history, and his diary, published by one of his descendants, Dr. F. E. Oliver, recalls names and events, that belong to the earlier years of the province, and records the daily life of persons holding official positions during a period with which many are not now familiar. He left three daughters, of whom Mary, the eldest, married Hon. Andrew Oliver, Jr., one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for Ess.e.x; Hannah, who died unmarried and Lydia who married Rev. William Walter, the rector of Trinity Church of Boston.[269] Both of his sons-in-law being staunch loyalists.

[269] Diaries of Benjamin Lynde and of Benjamin Lynde, Jr.

PAGAN FAMILY.

ROBERT PAGAN was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, was born in 1750 and came to Falmouth in 1769. From that time to the commencement of the war he carried on a large lumber business and s.h.i.+p building. The s.h.i.+ps which were built were not generally employed in our trade, but with their cargoes sent to Europe and sold. Robert Pagan & Co. kept on the corner of King and Fore Streets, the largest stock of goods which was employed here before the war. He was a man of popular manners, and much beloved by the people. He early became involved in the controversies of the times, and abandoned his business and country soon after the burning of Falmouth by Mowatt. In his testimony before the Claim Commission he testified[270] "That he uniformly declared his sentiments in favor of Great Britain. Never submitted to join the rebels or to take no part with them." He early applied for leave to quit Cas...o...b..y with the property belonging to himself and copartnery. This was refused him. In the month of February, 1776, he privately embarked his family on board a Brig he had in the harbor of Falmouth and sailed for Barbados. From that he went home. He afterwards carried on trade at New York and Pen.o.bscot, at the latter place he remained until the end of the war, when he removed to St. Andrews. Mr. Pagan was proscribed and banished. He settled at St. Andrews, N. B., in 1784, and became one of the princ.i.p.al men of Charlotte County. After serving the Crown as agent for lands in New Brunswick, and in superintending affairs connected with grants to Loyalists, he was in commission as a magistrate, as a Judge of a Court, and as Colonel in the militia, and, being a favorite among the freeholders of the county, was elected to the House of a.s.sembly, and for several years was a leading member of that body. Judge Pagan died at St.

Andrews, November 23, 1821 and Miriam, his widow, (a daughter of Jeremiah Pote), deceased at the same place January, 1828, aged 81. They were childless.

[270] Bureau of Archives, Ontario, 2nd Report, Vol. I. p. 340.

THOMAS PAGAN, brother to Robert Pagan. He was with his brother during the war, and at the peace went to St. John, New Brunswick; was one of the grantees of that city, and established himself there as a merchant.

He removed to Halifax, and while absent in Scotland for the benefit of his health, died in 1804.

WILLIAM PAGAN, brother of Robert and Thomas, was with his brothers during the war, and at the peace settled in New Brunswick, and was a member of the House of a.s.sembly and of the Council. His death occurred at Fredericton, March 12, 1819.

THE WYER FAMILY OF CHARLESTOWN.

Edward Wyer came from Scotland. He was a tailor, and in 1658 married Elizabeth Johnson. He died May 3rd, 1693, aged 71 years. His son William was a sea captain, and married Eleanor Jennes, Oct. 26, 1701. He died Feb., 1749, aged 69 years.

DAVID WYER, son of William, was born at Charlestown, Feb. 24th, 1711. He also was a sea captain. Married Rebecca Russell, Feb. 2, 1738. He removed to Falmouth (Portland) and was an officer of the Customs there.

All the officers of the revenue of that port were loyal except one, Thomas Child, who joined the Revolutionists. They all became refugees, and abandoned their country. During the military possession of the town by Thompson (before the burning of it by Captain Mowatt) he was required to give his presence before the Board of War as being a Tory.

DAVID WYER, JR., son of the aforesaid David was born at Charlestown in 1741, and graduated at Harvard College in 1758. In 1762 he was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of law at Falmouth. On the testimony of other lawyers who practiced in Maine prior to the Revolution, it was said of Wyer, that "he was a high-minded stirling fellow of strong talents, an able and eloquent advocate, and extremely independent in his opinions and character." Without the regular appointment and commission of Attorney of the Crown, Mr. Wyer acted in that capacity when occasion required the services of such an officer in the Courts of Maine. He died in 1776 at Stroudwater, to which place he removed after the burning of Falmouth, at the age of thirty-five, of an epidemic which prevailed at that time, and which carried off many persons old and young. Mrs. Wyer, a niece of Hon. Thomas Russell and two children survived him. One of the latter married Captain Samuel Waite of Portland.

THOMAS WYER, brother of David Wyer, Jr., was born at Charlestown, June 15, 1744. Married Sarah Francis, March 8th, 1766 in Medford. He removed to Falmouth with his father, was also employed as an officer of the Customs. He lost 325 in real and personal estate by the burning of the town in 1775. He did all he could to support the government; he refused to serve in the rebel army, on which he was taken up and abused by the mob, and obliged to pay a fine. Was taken before the Provincial Congress at Watertown, and obliged to quit Falmouth in 1777 in an open boat with his father-in-law, Jeremiah Pote, in which they went to Nova Scotia. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. In 1779 he was in New York and was commissioned as captain of an armed vessel, the brigantine "British Tar," 65 men. He was in command of this vessel for nine months, during which time he had two engagements with two rebel privateers at different times. He had a house and lot in Falmouth, which was confiscated, and a half interest in a cargo burned at Falmouth. In 1784, he went to St.

Andrew, N. B., with other Loyalists, and continued there until his decease. He was an Agent of the British Government for settling and allotting lands to adherents of the Crown in the Revolution. The first Sheriff of Charlotte County, was a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and Deputy Colonial Treasurer. In 1790 he went on a year's tour to Europe, and on his return became a merchant, and had extensive lumber interests. He died February 24th, 1824. He had a numerous family, was married three times, his first wife Sarah Francis of Medford, second Joanna Pote of Falmouth, third Mary Hunt, who died 25 October, 1801, aged 37. An only son survived him.

THOMAS WYER, JR., a member of her Majesty's Council, Justice of the Common Pleas, member of the Board of Education, Commissioner of Wrecks, and Lieutenant-Colonel in the militia. He married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Tompkins, of St. Andrews, 24 March, 1808, and died at St.

Andrews, December, 1848, aged sixty-nine.

JEREMIAH POTE.

WILLIAM POTE was in Marblehead as early as 1688. He married Hannah Greenfield. His second wife was Ann Hooper, whom he married in 1689. His son William was born at Marblehead, 1690, who married, June 2, 1718, Dorothy Getch.e.l.l.

JEREMIAH POTE, son of the aforesaid, was born at Marblehead, Jan. 18, 1724. His father removed to Falmouth, now Portland, and died there.

Jeremiah Pote became one of the princ.i.p.al merchants of the town, he owned and occupied one of the two princ.i.p.al wharves in that town previous to the Revolution. He transacted a large business and filled offices of trust and honor. In his testimony before the Claim Commission[271] "Claimt says He is a native of America. Lived at Falmouth, Cas...o...b..y, when trouble broke out. He did everything in his power against the measure of the Rebels. He happened to be one of the selectmen at Falmouth, whose business it was to give notice of Town Meetings. Claimt refused to notify the meetings desired by the Rebels.

In consequence of this he was persecuted. Was imprisoned several times.

Had his things taken from him by force, so that he was forced to quit home, got to Nova Scotia, went in open boat. Went from Halifax to New York in 1778. Was employed by Admiral Gambin to pilot a vessel to New Hamps.h.i.+re, which was going with Sir Henry Clinton, Manisfestoes. The vessel was seized and the whole crew made prisoners and kept in prison during the winter. Went to Pen.o.bscot in 1780 to St. Andrews in the beginning of 1784."

[271] Bureau of Archives, Ontario, 2nd Report, Vol. II, p. 904.

In 1774 a public meeting was called to consider the state of public affairs, which he attended, but he desired that his dissent might be entered against a resolution relative to the Ministry and East India Company, which was introduced and pa.s.sed.

In 1775, during the trouble with Captain Mowatt, which resulted in the burning of the town, in which he lost 1,000, he brought upon himself the vengeance of the Revolutionists, who under Thompson, a.s.sumed the government, and organized themselves into a board of war, and required him to contribute money and provisions, and to give a bond of 2,000 to appear at the Provincial Congress of Ma.s.sachusetts, and give an account of his conduct. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished. After the peace he settled at St. Andrews at the mouth of the St. Croix river, the boundary line between Maine and New Brunswick, where he died November 23, 1796, aged seventy-one years. His son Robert, deceased at the same place November 8, 1794, at the age of twenty-five, and his daughter, Joanna, married Thomas Wyer, Jr., his widow Elizabeth Berry of Kittery, died December 24, 1809, aged seventy-nine.

EBENEZER CUTLER.

JOHN 1 CUTLER came from Spranston, two miles from north of Norwich, and about eight miles south of Hingham, in the County of Norfolk, England.

His name first appears among the persecuted adherents of Rev. Robert Peck, A. M., of Hingham, who "sold their possessions for half their value, and named the place of their settlement after their natal town."

He embarked, it is believed, in the Rose of Yarmouth, William Andrews, Jr., Master, which sailed on or about April 18, 1637. He was at Hingham by or a little after June 10th following, when land was a.s.signed him. He came attended by his wife Mary, seven children, and one servant. He died the following year, which must have subjected his widow and children to great hards.h.i.+ps. His third son,

SAMUEL 2 CUTLER, was born in England in 1629, was of Marblehead in 1654, of Salem in 1655, of Topsfield and Hingham in 1671, and of Gloucester, March 17, 1693. In 1671 he as heir and attorney for his brothers and sisters, united with his mother in the sale of their patrimonial estate in Hingham. He was often called to settle and appraise estates. He died in 1700, 71 years of age. He had two sons and three daughters. His second eldest son,