Title : Daniel Shays and Worcester County
link : Daniel Shays and Worcester County
Daniel Shays and Worcester County
CHAPTER VIII .
1782 to 1787. Insurrection. Distresses of the people. County Conventions, 1782, 1784
1786. Court stopped, Sept.1786. Spirited conduct of Judge Ward. Proceedings of the
insurgents. Convention, Sept. 1780. Town meeting,
Oct. 1786. Court of Sessionsinterrupted. Sheritf Greenleaf. Insurgents occupy the town, Dec. 1786. Militia of
Worcester appear in arms for the government. Capt. Howe. Consultations of the in-
surgents. Distresses of their retreat. Gen. Lincoln's army. Atfair at New Braintree.
Dispersoin of the insurgents.
The struggles of the Revolution had scarce terminated, before disturbances
arose among the people, which, in their progress, brought the commonwealth
to the very verge of ruin.
Could the existence of insurrection and rebellion be effaced from memory,
it would be wanton outrage to recall from oblivion the tale of misfortune and
dishonor. But those events cannot be forgotten : they have floated down in
tradition : they are recounted by the winter fire-side, in the homes of New
England : they are inscribed on roll and record in the archives and annals of
the state. History, the mirror of the past, reflects with painful fidelity, the
dark as well as the bright objects from departed years, and although we may
wish to contemplate only the glowing picture of patriotism and prosperity,
the gloomy image of civil commotion is still full in our sight, shadowing the
background with its solemn admonition.
The investigation of the causes of the unhappy tumults of 1786, does not
belong to the narrative of their local effects on one of the principal scenes of
action. But it would be great injustice to omit the statement, that circum-
stances existed, which palliate, though they do not justify, the conduct of
those who took up arms against the government of their own establishment.
After eight years of war, Massachusetts stood, with the splendor of triumph
in republican poverty, bankrupt in resources, with no revenue but of an expiring currency, and no metal in her treasury more precious than the continental copper, bearing the devices of union and freedom. The country had
been drained by taxation for the support of the army of independence, to
the utmost limits of its means ; public credit was extinct, manners had become
relaxed, trade decayed, manufactures languishing, paper money depreciated to
worthlessness, claims on the nation accumulated by the commutation of the
pay of officers for securities, and a heavy and increasing pressure of debt
rested on commonwealth, corporations and citizens. The first reviving efforts
of commerce overstocked the markets with foreign luxuries and superfluities,
116 DISTRESSES OP THE PEOPLE. [1782.
sold to those who trusted to the future to supply the ability of payment.
The temporary act of 1782, making property a tender in discharge of pecuniary contracts, instead of the designed remedial effect, enhanced the evils of
general insolvency, by postponing collections. The outstanding demands of
the royalist refugees, who had been driven from large estates and extensive
business, enforced with no lenient forbearance, came in to increase the embarrassments of the deferred pay day. At length, a flood of suits broke out.
In 1784, more than 2000 actions were entered in the county of Worcester,
then having a population less than 50,000, and in 1785, about 1700. Lands
and goods were seized and sacrificed on sale, when the general difficulties drove away purchasers. Amid the universal distress, artful and designing persons discerned prospect for advancement, and fomented the discontent by
inflammatory publications and seditious appeals to every excitable passion and
prejudice. The constitution was misrepresented as defective, the administration as corrupt, the laws as unequal and unjust. The celebrated papers of Honestus directed jealousy towards the judicial tribunals, and thundered anathemas against the lawyers, unfortunately for them, the immediate agents and ministers of creditors. Driven to despair by the actual evil of enormous
debt, and irritated to madness by the increasing clamor about supposed grievances, it is scarcely surprising that a suffering and deluded people should have attempted relief, without considering that the misery they endured was
the necessary result from the confusion of years of warfare.
Before the close of the revolutionary contest, whose pressure had united all by the tie of common danger, indications of discontent had been manifested. The acts of the legislature had excited temporary and local uneasiness in former years, as the operation of laws conflicted with the views of expediency or interest entertained by the village politicians. But in 1782,
complaints arose of grievances, springing from the policy and administration of government, of more general character. On the 14lh of April of that year, the delegates of twenty six towns of the county assembled in convention, and attributing the prevailing dissatisfaction of the people, to want of confidence in the disbursement of the great sums of money annually assessed, recommended instructions to the representatives, to require immediate settle-
ment with all public officers entrusted with the funds of the commonwealth and if the adjustment was delayed or refused, to withdraw from the General
1 Could we roll back the tide of time, till its retiring wave left bare the rocks on which
the commonwealth was so nearly wrecked, it is not improbable, we should discover, that a
loftier and more dangerous ambition, and wider, deeper, and more unhallowed purposes,
urged on and sustained the men who were pushed into the front rank of rebellion, than
came from the limited capacity of their own minds. We might find that the accredited
leaders of 178G, were only humble instruments of stronger spirits, waiting in their concealment the results to the tempest they had roused. Fortunately, the energy of government, gave to rising revolution the harmless character of crushed insurrection, saved to
after years the imiuiry for the Catalines of the young republic, and left to us the happy
privilege of receiving the coin impressed with the mark of patriotism, at its stamped value, without testing its deficiency of weight, or assaying the luctal to determine the mix-
ture of alloy.
1782.] COUNTY CONVENTIOK. 117
Court, and return to their constituents to reduce the compensation of the
members of the House, and the fees of lawyers to procure sessions of the Court of Probate in different places in the county ; .the revival of confessions
of debt ; enlargement of the jurisdiction of justices of the peace to £20 ;
contribution to the support of the continental army in specific articles instead
of money : and the settlement of accounts between the Commonwealth and
Congress. At an adjourned session, May 14, they further recommended, that
account of the public expenditures should be annually rendered to the towns ;
the removal of the General Court from Boston ; separation of the business of
the Common Pleas and Sessions, and inquiry into the grants of lands in
Maine in favor of Alexander Shepherd and others. Worcester was represented in these assemblies, and in the instructions to Samuel Curtis, Esq., framed in accordance with their resolutions, on the 8th of June, the town represented
as additional grievances, that the Treasurer held the office of Justice of the
Common Pleas in Middlesex, interfering with the discharge of his general
duties ; and the proposition for the allowance of half pay for life to the officers deranged on the new organization of the army, and not in service. Some of the complaints were quieted by legal provisions, and when the convention
was appointed to be again held by adjournment, in August, the few discontented persons in attendance dispersed without transacting business.-'
The murmurs of the coming storm were first heard here, early in 1784.
On the invitation of Sutton to each town of the county, the capital sent delegates to a convention, held in March of that year, of which Ebenezer Davis,Esq. was President. Although assembled for the professed purpose of con-
sidering the expediency of an excise duty alone, the inquiries of this body
were more extensive in pursuit of existing evils. When the result of its
deliberations was communicated to the inhabitants of Worcester, they adopted
for themselves the petition prepared for general acceptance, representing as
grievances, the grant to Congress of an impost for twenty-five years to dis-
charge the interest accruing on state securities ; the payment from the treasury of the expenses of festive days of rejoicing ; large compensation to officers of the continental army ; neglect to redeem the paper currency ; the want of a circulating medium ; and the impaired state of credit. The representative
of the town was instructed to endeavor to procure the removal of the General
Court from Boston to some country town, where it would be secure from improper influences ; and to cause an account of the debts, revenues and charges of government to be published annually. These complaints, unnoticed by
the Legislature, seemed to be hushed and quieted by the very neglect they experienced.
But the spirit of discontent, though stilled, was not extinct. It spread
wider and deeper, and grew stronger in the minds of men, and its voice was
1 ' AVhile the great body of the people desired only escape from impending suits, with-
out premeditated malice against the Commonwealth or its institutions, every trivial cause
was magnified and perverted to increase the existing irritation, till, under the influence
of delusion, a deadly blow was struck at both.' MSS. Centennial Address of Hon. John
Davis.
11
118 GRIEVAJTCES. [1786.
again heard. In May, 1786, another invitation from Sutton, for a general
meeting, was circulated, and passed over here without attention. The del-
egates of 17 towns, however, formed a convention at Leicester, and elected
Willis Hall, of Sutton, its President. As the attendance was thin, letters
were addressed to Worcester, and the other towns of the county unrepre-
sented, requesting tlicir participation, and an adjournment took place to the
15th of August following. Our inhabitants, at a meeting held on this appli-
cation, determined, by a great majority, not to comply ; on the grounds, that
the body from which it emanated was not recognized by the constitution,
and that its session was unnecessary and illegal. Thirty seven towns, ap-
peared by their representatives when the convention was reorganized at Leicester. It is not uninteresting to notice the gradual increase of alleged evils in its doings. In 1784, the list was brief. In 1786, without essential change in policy or condition, it had swelled to voluminous extent. In addition to the
grievances already stated, they enumerated among the sources of uneasiness, abuses in the practice of the law ; exorbitance of the items in the fee bill :
the existence and administration of the Courts of Common Pleas and Sessions ; the number and salaries of public officers ; grants to the Attorney General ; and to Congress, while the state accounts remained unliquidated.
A committee was instructed to report a memorial, at another session, to be
had, by adjournment, in Paxton, on the last Tuesday of September.
Thus far, redress had been sought by the constitutional appeal of the citizen to the Legislature. The recorded proceedings of the convention are of pacific character, expressing disapprobation of combinations, mobs, and riots :
yet, it is probable, that during the period of its consultations, the bold design
was originated by the most violent of its members, of resisting the execution
of the laws and suspending the operations of courts. Soon after the first
meeting, it was stated in the paper of the town, printed by Mr. Thomas, that apprehensions existed of obstruction to the Common Pleas in June. The first open act of insurrection followed close upon the adjournment of the convention in August.
Although warning of danger had been given, confiding in the loyalty of the people, their love of order, and respect for the laws, the officers of government had made no preparations to support the court, to be held in Worcester,
in September, 1786. On Monday night, of the first week in that month, a body of eighty armed men, under Capt. Adam Wheeler of Hubbardston,
entered the town, and took possession of the Court House. Early the next morning, their numbers were augmented to nearly one hundred, and as many more collected without fire arms. The Judges of the Common Pleas had
assembled at the house of the Hon. Joseph Allen. At the usual hour, with the Justices of the Sessions and the members of the bar, attended by the clerk and sheriff, they moved towards the Court House. Chief Justice Artemas
Ward, a general of the revolution, united intrepid firmness with prudent
moderation. His resolute and manly bearing on that day of difficulty and
embarrassment, sustained the dignity of the office he bore, and commanded
the respect even of his opponents. On him devolved the responsibility of an
1786] COURTS SUSPENDED. 119
occasion affecting deeply the future peace of the community : and it was supported well and ably.
On the verge of the crowd thronging the hill, a sentinel was pacing on
his round, who challenged the procession as it approached his post. Gen. Ward sternly ordered the soldier, formerly a subaltern of his own particular regiment, to recover his levelled musket. The man, awed by the voice he had
been accustomed to obey, instantly complied, and presented his piece, in military salute, to his old commander. The Court, having received the honors of war, from him who was planted to oppose their advance, went on. The
multitude, receding to the right and left, made way in sullen silence, till the judicial officers reached the Court House. On the steps was stationed a file of men with fixed bayonets : on the front, stood Captain Wheeler, with his
drawn sword. The crier was directed to open the doors, and permitted to throw them back, displaying a party of infantry with their guns levelled, as if ready to fire. Judge Ward then advanced, and the bayonets were turned
against his breast. He demanded, repeatedly, who commanded the people there by what authority, and for what purpose, they had met in hostile array. Wheeler at length replied : after disclaiming the rank of leader, he stated,
that they had come to relieve the distresses of the country, by preventing
the sittings of courts until they could obtain redress of grievances. The
Chief Justice answered, that he would satisfy them their complaints were without just foundation. He was told by Capt. Smith of Barre, that any communication he had to make must be reduced to writing. Judge Ward
indignantly refused to do this : he said, he ' did not value their bayonets : they
might plunge them to his heart: but while that heart beat he would do his
duty : when opposed to it, his life was of little consequence : if they would
take away their bayonets and give him some position where he could be heard
by his fellow citizens, and not by the leaders alone who had deceived and deluded them, he would speak, but not otherwise.' The insurgent officers,
fearful of the effect of his determined manner on the minds of their followers,
interrupted. They did not come there, they said, to listen to long speeches,
but to resist oppression : they had the power to compel submission : and they
demanded an adjournment without day. Judge Ward peremtorily refused to
answer any px'oposition, unless it was accompanied by the name of him by
whom it was made. They then desired him to fall back : the drum was beat,
and the guard ordered to charge. The soldiers advanced, until the points of
their bayonets pressed hard upon the breast of the Chief Justice, who stood
as immovable as a statue, without stirring a limb, or yielding an inch, al-
though the steel in the hands of desperate men penetrated his dress. Struck
with admiration by his intrepidity, and shrinking from the sacrifice of life,
the guns were removed, and Judge Ward, ascending the steps, addressed
the assembly. In a style of clear and forcible argument, he examined
their supposed grievances ; exposed their fallacy : explained the dangerous
tendency of their rash measures ; admonished them that they were placing
in peril the liberty acquired by the efforts and sufferings of years, plunging
the country in civil war, and involving themselves and their families in misery:
120 COMMITTEES WAIT OX THE COVRT. [1786.
that the measures they had taken must defeat their own wishes ; for the gov-
ernment would never yield that to force, which would be readily accorded to
respectful representations : and warned them that the majesty of the laws
would be vindicated, and their resistance of its power avenged. He spoke
nearly two hours, not without frequent interruption. But admonition and
argument were unavailing: the insurgents declared they would maintain their
ground until satisfaction was obtained. Judge Ward addressing himself to
Wheeler, advised him to suffer the troops to disperse : ' they were waging
war, which was treason, and its end would be,' he added, after a momentary
pause, ' the gallows.' The judges then retired, unmolested, through armed
files. Soon after, the Court was opened at the United States Arms Tavern,^
and immediately adjourned to the next day. Orders were despatched to the
colonels in the brigade to call out their regiments, and march without a
moment's delay, to sustain the judicial tribunals : but that right arm on which
the government rests for defence was paralyzed : in this hour of its utmost
need, the militia shared in the disaffection, and the officers reported, that it
was out of their power to muster their companies, because they generally
favored those movements of the people directed against the highest civil institutions of the state, and tending to the subversion of social order.
In the afternoon of Tuesday, a petition was presented from Athol. requesting that no judgments should be rendered in civil actions, except where debts
would be lost by delay, and no trials had unless with the consent of the parties : a course corresponding with the views entertained by the court. Soon after, Capt. Smith of Barre, unceremoniously introduced himself to the judges, with his sword drawn, and offered a paper purporting to be the petition of
' the body of people now collected for their own good and that of the Commonwealth,' requiring an adjournment of the courts without day. He
demanded, in a threatening manner, an answer in half an hour. Judge Ward*
with great dignity, replied, that no answer would be given, and the intruder retired. An interview was solicited, during the evening, by a committee, who were informed that the officers of government would make no promises
to men in hostile array : an intimation was given that the request of the people of Athol was considered reasonable : and the conference terminated. A report of the result was made to the insurgents, who voted it was unsatisfactory, and resolved to remain until the following day.
During the night, the Court House was guarded in martial form : sentinels
were posted along the front of the building, and along Main street : the men
not on duty, bivouaced in the hall of justice, or sought shelter with their
friends. In the first light of morning, the whole force paraded on the hill,
and was harangued by the leaders. In the forenoon, a new deputation waited
on the court, with a repetition of their former demand, and received similar
reply. The justices assured the committee, if the body dispersed, the people
of the county would have no just cause of complaint with the course the court
would adopt. The insurgents, reenforced with about two hundred from Hol-
den and Ward, now mustered four hundred strong, half with fire arms, and
1 On the site of the Exchange CofiFee House, 1836.
1786. 1 INSUEGENTS RETIRE. 121
the remainder furnished 'Avith sticks. They formed in column, and marched
through Main street, with their music, inviting all who sought relief from
oppression to join their ranks, but receiving no accession of recruits from our
citizens, they returned to the Court House. Sprigs of evergreeen had been
distributed, and mounted as the distinctive badge of rebellion, and a young
pine tree was elevated at their post as the standard of revolt.
The court at length, finding that no reliance could be placed on military
support, and no hope entertained of being permitted to proceed with business,
adjourned, continuing all causes to the next term. Proclamation was made by the sheriff to the people, and a copy of the record communicated. After this, about two hundred men, with sticks only, paraded before the house of
Mr. Allen, where the justices had retired, and halted nearly an hour, as if
meditating some act of violence. The main body then marched down, and
passing through the other party, whose open ranks closed after them, the
whole moved to the common, where they displayed into line, and sent another
committee to the court.
The sessions, considering their deliberations controlled by the mob, deemed
it expedient to follow the example of the superior tribunal, by an adjourn-
ment to the 21st of November. When the insurgent adjutant presented a
paper, requiring it should be without fixed day, Judge Ward replied, the
business was finished and could not be changed.
Before night closed down, the Regulators, as they styled themselves, dispersed ; and thus terminated the first interference of the citizens in arms with the course of justice. Whatever fears might have been entertained of future disastrous consequences, their visit brought with it no terror, and no apprehension for personal safety to their opposers. Both parties, indeed, seemed
more inclined to hear than strike. The conduct of Judge Ward was dignified
and spirited, in a situation of great embarrassment. His own deiprecation,
that the sun might not shine on the day when the constitution was trampled
on with impunity, seemed to be realized. Clouds, darkness, and storm,
brooded over the meeting of the insurgents, and rested on their tumultuary
assemblies in the county at subsequent periods.
The state of feeling here, was unfavorably influenced by the success of the
insurgents. At a meeting of the inhabitants, on the 25th of September, delegates were elected to the county convention at Paxton, with instructions to report their doings to the town. The list of grievances received some slight
additions from this assembly. The delay and expense of Courts of Probate,
the manner of recording deeds in one general office of registry, instead of
entering them on the books of the town where the land was situated ; and the
right of absentees to sue for the collection of debts, were the subjects of com-
plaint in a petition, concluding with the request that precepts might be issued
for meetings, to express public sentiment in relation to a revision of the constitution, and if two thirds of the qualified voters were in favor of amendment,
that a state convention might be called. The existence of this body was con-
tinued by an adjournment to Worcester. The petition was immediately for-
warded to the General Court. A copy was subsequently submitted to the
11*
122 TOWK MKETINO. PETITIONS. [1786.
town, at a meeting held October 2, for the purpose of receiving a report from
the delegates. It was then voted, ' that Mr. Daniel Baird be requested to
inform the town whether this petition was according to his mind, and he
informed the town it was : but that he did not approve of its being sent to
the (icneral Court before it had been laid before the town.' The petition was
read paragraph by paragraph, rejected, and the delegates dismissed.
On the 16th of October, in compliance with the request of 34 freeholders,
another town meeting was called: after long and warm debate, the former
delegates were reelected, to attend the convention, at its adjourned session.
A petition had been offered, praying consideration of the measures proper in
the alarming situation of the country, and for instructions to the representative to inquire into the expenditure of public money, the salaries of officers,
the means of increasing manufactures, encouraging agriculture, introducing
economy, and removing every grievance. Directions were given to endeavor
to procure the removal of the Legislature from the metropolis to the inteiior ;
the annihilation of the Inferior Courts : the substitution of a cheaper and
more expeditious administration of justice ; the immediate repeal of the sup-
plementary fund granted to congress ; the appropriation of the revenue arising
from impost and excise to the payment of the foreign debt ; and the with-
holding all supplies from Congress until settlement of accounts between the
Commonwealth and Continent. Resolutions, introduced by the supporters of
government, expressing disapprobation of unconstitutional assemblies, armed
combinations, and riotous movements, and pointing to the Legislature as the
only legitimate source of redress, were rejected. The convention party was
triumphant by a small majority. While the discussion was urged, a consid-
erate citizen enquired of one of the most zealous of the discontented, what
grievances he suffered, and what were the principal evils among them ?
' There are grievances enough, thank God !' was the hasty reply, ' and they
are all principal ones.'
The jurisdiction of the sessions was principally over criminal offences, and
its powers were exercised for the preservation of social order. No opposition
had been anticipated to its session, on the 21st of November, and no defensive preparations were made. On that day, about sixty armed men, under
.A.braham Gale of Princeton, entered the north part of the town. During the
evening, and on Wednesday morning, about one hundred more arrived, from
Hubbardston, Shrewsbury, and some adjacent towns. A committee presented
a petition to the court, at the United States Arms tavern, for their adjourn-
ment until a new choice of representatives, which was not received. The
insurgents then took possession of the ground around the Court House.
When the Justices approached, the armed men made way, and they passed
through the opening ranks to the steps. There, triple rows of bayonets presented to their breasts, opposed farther advance. The Sheriff, Col. William Grecnlcaf of Lancaster, addressed the assembled crowd, stating the danger to
themselves and the public from their lawless measures. Reasoning and warning were ineffectual, and the proclamation in the riot act was read for their dispersion. Amid the grave solemnity of the scene, some incidents were
1786.] PREPAKATIONS OF GOVERNMENT. 193
interposed of lighter character. Col. Greenleaf remarked with great severity,
on the conduct of the armed party around him. One of the leaders replied,
they sought relief from grievances : that among the most intolerable of them
was the Sheriff" himself: and next to his person were his fees, which were
exorbitant and excessive, particularly on criminal executions. ' If you con-
sider fees for executions oppressive,' replied the sheriff, irritated by the attack,
' you need not wait long for redress ; for I will hang you all, Gentlemen, for
nothing, with the greatest pleasure.' Some hand among the crowd, which pressed close, placed a pine branch on his hat, and the county officer retired, with the Justices, decorated with the evergreen badge of rebellion. The clerk
entered on his records, that the court was prevented from being held by an
armed force, the only notice contained on their pages that our soil has ever been dishonored by resistance of the laws.
To this period, the indulgence of government had dealt with its revolted subjects as misguided citizens, seduced to acts of violence from misconception of the sources of their distress. Conciliatory policy had applied remedial
statutes wherever practicable, and proffered full pardon and indemnity for past
misconduct. Reasonable hopes were entertained that disaffection, quieted by
lenient measures, would lay down the arms assumed under strong excitement,
and that reviving order would rise from the confusion. But the insurgents,
animated by temporary success, and mistaking the mildness of forbearance for weakness or fear, had extended their designs from present relief to permanent change. Their early movements were without further object than to stay that
flood of executions which wasted their property and made their homes desolate. That portion of the community, who condemned the violence of the
actors in the scenes we have described, sympathized in their sufferings, and
were disposed to consider the offences venial, while the professed purpose of
their commission was merely to obtain the delay necessary for seeking constitutional redress. All implicated, stood on safe and honorable ground, until the renewal, on the 21st of November, of the opposition to the administration of justice. Defiance of the authority of the state, could no longer be tolerated without the prostration of its institutions. The crisis had arrived, when government, driven to the utmost limit of concession, must appeal to the sword for
preservation, even though its destroying edge, turned on the citizen, might be crimsoned with civil slaughter. Information was communicated to the executive of extensive levies of troops for the suppression of the judiciary, and the
coercion of the legislature. Great exertions were making to prevent the approaching session of the Court of Common Pleas, in Worcester, in the first week of December. Gov. Bowdoin and the council, resolved to adopt vigorous measures to overawe the insurgents. Orders were issued to Major General Warner,
to call out the militia of his division, and five regiments were directed to hold
themselves in instant readiness to march. Doubts, however, arose, how far
reliance could be placed on the troops of an infected district. The sheriff
reported, that a sufficient force could not be collected. The first instructions
were therefore countermanded, a plan having been settled to raise an army
whose power might effectually crush resistance, and the Judges were advised
124 FOnCES OF THE IXSUHGENTS COELECT. [1786.
to adjourn to the 23d of January following, when the contemplated arrangements could be matured to terminate the unhappy troubles.
The insurgents, unapprised of the change of operations, began to concentrate their whole strength to interrupt the courts at Worcester and Concord.
They had fixed on Shrewsbury as the place of rendezvous. On the 29th of
November, a party of forty from Barre, Spencer, and Leicester, joined Capt. Wheeler, who had established his headquarters in that town during the preceding week, and succeeded in enlisting about thirty men. Daniel Shays, the
reputed commander in chief, and nominal head of the rebellion, made his first
public appearance in the county soon after, with troops from Hampshire.
Reenforcemcnts came in, till the number at the post exceeded four hundred.
Sentinels stopped and examined travellers, and patrols were sent out towards
Concord, Cambridge, and Worcester. On Thursday, Nov. 30, information was received, that the Light Horse, under Col. Hitchborn, had captured Shattuck, Parker and Paige, and that a detachment of cavalry was marching against themselves. This intelligence disconcerted their arrangements for an expedition into Middlesex, and they retreated, in great alarm, to Holden.
On Friday, Wheeler was in a house passed by the horsemen, and only escaped from being captured by accident. Another person, supposed to be com-
mander, was pursued, and received a sabre cut in the hand. The blow was
slight, but afforded sufiiclent foundation for raising the cry that blood had
been shed, and raising passion to vengeance. The wounded insurgent was exhibited and bewailed as the martyr of their cause. As the light horse
retired, it was discovered they did not exceed twenty. About a hundred of Shay's men rallied, and returned to Shrewsbury, following a foe whose celerity
of movement left no cause to fear they could be brought to an encounter.
Search was made for the town stock of powder, removed by the vigilance of one of the selectmen, Col. Cushing, whose house they surrounded, and whose person they endeavored to seize, but he escaped. Consultation was held on
the expediency of marching directly to Worcester, and encamping before the
Court House. Without clothing to protect them from cold, without money,
or food to supply the wants of hunger, it was considered impracticable to
maintain themselves there, and on Saturday, they marched to Grafton, and
went into quarters with their friends.
The party left at Holden, found one object of their meeting, the junction
with the insurgents at Concord, frustrated. Those who belonged to the neighboring towns were therefore dismissed, with orders to assemble in Worcester on Monday following. Shays retired to the barracks in Rutland, and
sent messengers to hasten on the parties from Berkshire and Hampshire, in anticipation of meeting the militia of government at Worcester.
On Sunday evening, the detachment from Grafton entered the town, under the command of Abraham Gale of Princeton, Adam Wheeler of Hubbardston,
Simeon Ha/cltine of Hardwick, and John Williams, reputed to be a deserter
from the British army, and once a serjeant of the continental line. They
halted before the Court House, and having obtained the keys, placed a strong
guard around the building, and posted sentinels on all the streets and avenues
1786.] MILITIA. CAPT. HOWE. 125
of the town to prevent surprise. Those who were off duty, rolling themselves in their blankets, rested on their arms, on the floor of the Court room. However the fidelity of Worcester might have wavered, its citizens had now become aware of the peril of their rights, when the mustering power of rebellion was attempting to upheave the foundations of government. The
whole military strength of the town rallied to its support. Two full companies of our militia, enrolling one hundred and seventy rank and file, paraded on Monday, at the South Meeting House, under the senior captain, Joel Howe.
In the afternoon, they formed in column, and marched down Main street.
On approaching the United States Arms tavern, the head quarters of the insurgents, the drums beat to arms, and their lines were formed across the road.
Capt. Howe, advancing in slow time, sent forward an adjutant to demand by
what authority the highways were obstructed. A contemptuous answer was
returned, that he might come and see. Another officer was detached, to order
them to remove, as the militia intended to pass over the ground they occupied : the reply was, they might pass if they could. Capt. Howe then halted, and addressed his men in an animating tone, expressing his determination to proceed, and his reliance on their intrepidity. The bayonets were fixed, and the company then advanced : in a few paces they came to the position for a charge. The front rank of the insurgents stood in readiness to use their
muskets, while the band of Capt. Howe moved steadily down upon their line.
For a moment, civil war seemed about to drench our streets in blood. Veterans of the revolution were arrayed on both sides, who had been too often amid the shot of battle, to shrink from danger in any form. Fortunately, the
insurgents were not prepared to stain their cause by the slaughter of their brethren. Their line wavered, and breaking, by a rapid wheel, gained a new position on the hill. The militia went by their post, to the Hancock Arms,^
beyond the north square. It was doing no injustice to their gallantry to be-
lieve, their congratulations were sincere on the innocent result of appearances
so menacing. After brief rest, they returned, and were dismissed, until the
next morning, with merited commendations. Their spirited conduct was productive of salutary effects. It ascertained, that their opponents were too apprehensive of consequences to support their demands by force, and the dread
their formidable array might have inspired, was changed to contempt and derision of their pretensions.
As the evening closed in, one of the most furious snow storms of a severe winter commenced. One division of the insurgents occupied the Court House : another sought shelter at the Hancock Arms. The sentinels, chilled by the tempest, and imagining themselves secured by its violence from attack,
joined their comrades around the fire of the guard room. The young men of
the town, in the spirit of sportive mischief, contrived to carry away their mus-
kets, incautiously stacked in the entryway, and having secreted them at a
distance, raised the alarm that the light horse were upon them. The party
sallied out in confusion, and panic struck at the silent disappearance of their
1 This building was afterwards the Brown & Butman Tavern, and destroyed by fire, Dec.
24, 1824.
12G ALARM OF THE INSURGENTS. [1786,
arms, fled tlnoiigli the fast falling snow to the Court House, where their
associates hail paraded. The guns were discovered, at length, and the whole
force remained, ready for action, several hours, frequently disturbed by the
fresh outcries of their vexatious persecutors.
The increasing fury of the storm, and the almost impassable condition of
the roads, did not prevent the arrival of many from Holden, and the vicinity,
on Tuesday, swelling the numerical force of malcontents to five hundred-
The Court was opened at the Sun Tavern,^ and in conformity with the instructions of the Governor, adjourned to the 23d of January, without attempting to transact "business. Petitions from committees of Sutton and Douglas, that the next session might be postponed to March, were disregarded.
Worcester assumed the appearance of a garrisoned town. The citizens answered to the frequcnt challenges of military guards : the traveller was admonished to stay his steps by the voice and bayonet of the soldier. Sen-
tries paced before the house of Mr. Allen, the clerk, where Judge Ward resided, and the former gentleman was threatened with violence on his own
threshold. Mr. Justice Washburn of Leicester, was opposed on his way, and
two of his friends, who seized the gun presented to his breast, were arrested
and detained in custody. Justice Baker, on his return homeward, was apprehended in the road, and some of his captors suggested the propriety of sending him to prison, to experience the corrective discipline, to which as a
magistrate, he had subjected others.
On Tuesday evening, a council of war was convened, and it was seriously
determined to march to Boston, and effect the liberation of the state prisoners,
as soon as sufficient strength could be collected. In anticipation of attack,
the Governor gathered the means of defence around the metropolis. Guards
were mounted at the prison, and at the entrances of the city : alarm posts
were assigned ; and. Major General Brooks held the militia of Middlesex contiguous to the road, in readiness for action, and watched the force at Worcester.
During the evening of Tuesday, an alarm broke out, more terrific to the
party quartered at the Hancock Arms, than that which had disturbed the re-
pose of the preceding night. Soon after partaking the refreshment which
was sometimes used by the military, before the institution of temperance so-
cieties, several of the men were seized with violent sickness, and a rumor spread, that poison had been mingled with the fountain which supplied their water. Dr. Samuel Stearns of Paxton, astrologer, almanac manufacturer, and
quack by profession, detected in the sediment of the cups they had drained, a substance, which he unhesitatingly pronounced to be a compound of arsenic and antimony, so deleterious, that a single grain would extinguish the lives of
a thousand. The numbers of the afflicted increased with frightful rapidity, and
the symptoms grew more fearful. It was suddenly recollected that the sugar used in their beverage, had been purchased from a respectable merchant of
the town,- whose attachment to government was well known, and the sickness
around was deemed proof conclusive that it had been adulterated for their destruction. A file of soldiers seized the seller, and brought him to answer for
» United States Hotel, 183G. 2 xhc late Daniel Waldo (sen.) Esq.
1786."] CONSULTATIONS OF THE INSUKGENTS. 127
the supposed attempt to murder the levies of rebellion. As he entered the
house, the cry of indignation rose strong. Fortunately for his safety, Dr.
Green of Ward, an intelligent practitioner of medicine, arrived, and the exe-
cution of vengeance was deferred until his opinion of its propriety could be
obtained. After careful inspection of the suspected substance, and subjecting
it to the test of different senses, he declared, that to the best of his knowl-
edge, it was genuine, yellow, scotch snuff. The reputed dying raised their
heads from the floor : the slightly affected recovered : the gloom which had
settled heavily on the supposed victims of mortal disease was dispelled, and
the illness soon vanished. Strict enquiry furnished a reasonable explanation :
a clerk in the store of the merchant had opened a package of the fragrant com-
modity, in the vicinity of the sugar barrel, and a portion of the odoriferous
leaf had, inadvertently, been scattered from the counter into its uncovered
head. A keg of spirit was accepted in full satisfaction for the panic occasion-
ed by the decoction of tobacco so innocently administered.
Bodies of militia, anxious to testify their reviving zeal, were toiling through
the deep snow drifts. Gen. Warner, finding that no benefit could be derived
from their presence, sent orders for their return to their homes, and the insurgents enjoyed the triumph of holding undisputed possession of the town.
On Wednesday, December 6, they went out to meet Shays, who arrived from Rutland with 350 men. As they reentered the street, the appearance of
the column of 800 was highly imposing. The companies included many who had learned their tactics from Steuben, and served an apprenticeship of discipline in the ranks of the revolution : war worn veterans, who in a good cause, would have been invincible. The pine tuft supplied the place of plume in
their hats. Shays, with his aid, mounted on white horses, led on the van.
They displayed into line before the Court House, where they were reviewed and inspected. The men were then billeted on the inhabitants. No compulsion was used : where admittance was peremptorily refused, they quietly re-
tired, and sought food and shelter elsewhere. Provision having been made
for the soldiers. Shays joined the other leaders in council. At night, he was
attended to his quarters, at the house of the late Col. Samuel Flagg, by a
strong guard, preceded by the music of the army, with something of the state
assumed by a general officer. Precautions against surprise were redoubled.
Chains of sentinels were stretched along the streets, planted in every avenue
of approach, and on the neighboring hills, examining all who passed. The
cry of ' all's well,' rose on the watches of the night, from those whose presence brought danger to the Commonwealth.
Committees from some of the neighboring towns, and many of the prominent members of the conventions, assembled with the military leaders, on Thursday, the 6th of December. Their deliberations were perplexed and
discordant. The inclemency of the weather had prevented the arrival of the large force expected. The impossibility of retaining the men who had assembled, without munitions, subsistence, or stores, compelled them to aban-
don the meditated attack on Boston, then put in a posture of defence, and more pacific measures were finally adopted. A petition was prepared for
128 IIKTKKAT OF THE INSUKGEXTS. [1786.
circulation, remonstrating against the suspension of the habeas corpus writ ;
asking for the pardon and release of the prisoners ; a new act of amnesty ;
the adjournment of courts until the session of the new Legislature in May;
and expressing their readiness to lay down their arms on compliance with these demands. In the afternoon, Shay's men and part of Wheeler's, to the number of 500, began their march for Paxton, on their way to the barracks in
Rutland. About a hundred more retired to the north part of the town.
Friday was spent in consultation. Aware that public sentiment was setting against them with strong reaction, the mercy which had been rejected was now supplicated. Letters were addressed to each town of the county, inviting the inhabitants to unite in their petitions. Shays himself, in a private conference
with an acquaintance, made use of these expressions : ' For God's sake, have
matters settled peaceably ; it was against my inclinations I undertook this
business ; importunity was used which I could not withstand ; but I heartily
wish it was well over.'
In the evening, the Court House was abandoned, but sentries were posted
at almost every door of the outside and interior of the public house, where the
leaders remained in consultation.
Another snow storm commenced on Saturday morning. Luke Day, with 150 men from Hampshire, reached Leicester, but was unable to proceed in the tempest. About noon, all the insurgents in Worcester paraded before their head quarters, and were dismissed. The companies of Ward, Holden, Spencer, Rutland, Barre, and Petersham, after moving slowly through Main street
in distinct bodies, took up the line of march for their respective homes, through
roads choked with drifts.
The condition of these deluded men during their stay here, was such as to excite compassion rather than fear. Destitute of almost every necessary of life, in an inclement season, without money to purchase the food which their
friends could not supply, unwelcome guests in the quarters they occupied,
pride restrained the exposure of their wants. Many must have endured the gnawings of hunger in our streets : yet, standing with arms in their hands, enduring privations in the midst of plenty, they took nothing by force, and
trespassed on no man's rights by violence : some declared they had not tasted bread for twenty four hours ; all who made known their situation, were relieved by our citizens with liberal charity.
The forlorn condition of the insurgents was deepened by the distresses of
their retreat. Their course was amid the wildest revelry of storm and wind,
in a night of intense cold. Some were frozen to death by the way : others,
exhausted with struggling through the deep and drifted snow, sunk down, and would have perished but for the aid of their stouter comrades : when relief was sought among the farm houses, every door was opened at the call of misery, and the wrongs done by the rebel were forgotten in the suffcrings of him who claimed hospitality as a stranger.
The whole number assembled at Worcester never exceeded a thousand. The
spirit animating the first movements had grown cold, and Shays expressed to an acquaintance here, the impression that the cause had become gloomy and
1787.] GEN. Lincoln's aemy. 129
hopeless. In conversation with an officer of government, he disclaimed being
at the head of the rebellion ; declared he had come to the resolution to have
nothing more to do with stopping courts : that if he could not obtain pardon,
he would gather the whole force he could command, and fight to the last extremity, rather than be hanged. When asked if he would accept pardon were it offered, and abandon the insurgents, he replied, ' Yes, in a moment. ' ^
The delay of government, while it afforded time to circulate correct information among the people, left the insurgents at liberty to pursue their measures. The Court at Springfield, on the 26th of December, was resisted, and
intelligence was received of active exertions to prevent the session of the Com-
mon Pleas, at Worcester, on the 23d of January. Longer forbearance would
have been weakness, and vigorous measures were adopted for sustaining the
judiciary. An army of 4400 men was raised from the counties of Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, Hampshire, and Worcester, for thirty days service. General Benjamin Lincoln, whose prudence and military skill peculiarly quali-
fied him for the important trust, received the command. Voluntary loans were
made by individuals for the armament, pay, and subsistence of the troops.
On the 21st of January, the army took up the line of march from Roxbury.
The inclemency of the weather, and the condition of the roads, rendered a
halt necessary at Marlborough. The next day, the troops reached Worcester,
notwithstanding the effects of sudden thaw on the deep snow, and were quar-
tered on the inhabitants, the houses being thrown open for their shelter and
comfort. Here they were joined by the regiments of the county. The town contributed its quota liberally. In the company under Capt. Joel Howe, were 27 non commissioned officers and privates. In the artillery, under Capt. Wil-
liam Treadwell, were enrolled 43 of our citizens. Nineteen served under
Capt. Phinehas Jones. Seven dragoons were embodied in a legionary corps.
Lt. Daniel Goulding was at the head of a troop of cavalry. The late judge
Edward Bangs, Timothy Bigelow, afterwards Speaker of the house of Repre-
sentatives of Massachusetts, and Theophilus Wheeler, Esq., served as volun-
teers.
Detachments of insurgents collected at Rutland, New Braintree, Princeton,
Sterling, and Sutton, but, intimidated by the military, hovered at a distance,
while the courts proceeded. On the 25th of January, Gen. Lincoln hastened
westward for the relief of Shepard, and of the arsenal at Springfield, invested
by Shays and Day.
Major General Warner was left in command at Worcester, with a regiment
1 The retreat of Shays not only afforded the friends of order occasion for triumph, but
sport for wit. An epigram, from one of the prints, affords a specimen of the poetry and
jest of the time. The name of the common carriage, the chaise, and that of ih& insur-
gent leader, had then the same spelling as well as sound.
• Says sober Will, well Shays has fled.
And peace returns to bless our days.
Indeed ! cries Ned, I always said,
He'd prove at last a fall back Shai/a ;
And those turned over and undone.
Call him a worthless Shar/s to run/
12
130 FORCES OF THE IXSUR0EXT3 ROUTED. [1787.
of infantry, a corps of artillery, including Capt. Treadwell's company, two
field pieces, and a party from the legionary battalion of volunteer cavalry. In-
formation having been given that a body of about two hundred insurgents
had assembled at New Braintree, intercepting travellers and insulting the
friends of government, twenty horsemen, supported by about 150 infantiy in
sleighs, were sent out, on the night of the 2d of February, to capture or disperse
the disaffected. Upon approaching the place of their destination, the cavalry
were ordered to advance at full speed to surprise the enemy. The insurgents,
apprised of the expedition, had abandoned their quarters at the house of Micah
Hamilton, and taken post behind the walls of the road side, and having fired
a volley of musketry upon the detachment, fled to the woods : Mr. Jonathan
Rice of Worcester, a deputy sheriff, was shot through the arm and hand :
Doct. David Young was severely wounded in the knee : ^ the bridle rein of
Theophilus Wheeler, Esq., was cut by a ball. Without halting, the soldiers
rapidly pursued their way to the deserted head quarters, where they liberated
Messrs. ISamucl Flagg and John Stanton of Worcester, who had been seized
the day previous, while transacting private business at Leicester. Having
dispersed those who occupied the barracks at Rutland, the next day, the com-
panies returned with four prisoners.
The career of Shays was fast drawing to its close. Driven from post to post, he suddenly retired from Pelham to Petersham, where he expected to concentrate the forces of expiring rebellion, and make his final stand. Intelligence of this change of position reached Gen. Lincoln at Hadley, February
3d, and he determined, by prompt and decisive action, to terminate the warfare. When the troops took up the line of march, at 8 o'clock, the evening was bright and mild. Before morning the cold became intense : the dry and
light snow, whirled before a violent north wind, filled the paths and rendered them almost impassable. The severity of the cold prevented any halt for rest or refreshment. At a distance from shelter, without defence against the
inclemency of the weather, it became necessary to press on, without pausing,
to the camp occupied by men possessing all martial advantages, except courage and a good cause. The heavy sufferings of the night were terminated, by the arrival of the troops in the very center of Petersham. The followers of
Shays, trusting to the violence of the storm and the obstructions of the highways, rested in careless security. The first warning of danger was from the appearance of the advanced guard of the forces of government, after a journey
of thirty miles, in the midst of their cantonment. Had an army dropped
from the clouds upon the hill, the consternation could not have been greater.
Panic struck, the insurgents fled, without firing a gun, or offering resistance
to soldiers exhausted by fatigue, with frozen limbs, and almost sinking under the privations and hardships of the severe service.
Thirty of the citizens of Worcester were in this expedition, and shared in
the movement, called by Minot ' one of the most indefatigable marches that
ever was performed in America.' Gen. Lincoln writes from Petersham, Feb.
1 Dr. Young afterwards recovered XlOOO, in a civil action, against those by whom he
was wounded.
1787.] IXSUKGENTS PARDONED. 131
4, ' we arrived here about nine o'clock, exceedingly fatigued by a march of
thirty miles, part of it in a deep snow, and in a most violent storm. When
this abated, the cold increased, and a great part of our men were frozen in
some part or other ; but I hope none of them dangerously so, and that most
of them will be able to march again in a short time.' The insurgents never
again collected in force : independent parties appeared in different parts of
the western counties : but they were soon compelled to seek safety by submission, or flight into the neighboring states. Two or three only, of our
townsmen, bore arms with Shays.
The rebellion being terminated, the infliction of some punishment for the highest political crime was deemed expedient. Some of those who had been in arms against the laws, were brought to trial, convicted of treason, and sentenced to death. Henry Gale of Princeton, was the only insurgent found guilty of capital offence, in this county.^ On the 23d day of June, at the
hour fixed for his execution by the warrant, he was led out to the gallows
erected on the common, with all the solemn ceremony of such exhibitions.
A reprieve was there read to him, and afterwards full pardon was given. ^
Proceedings for seditious practices, pending against several prisoners, were suspended. The mercy of government was finally extended to all, who had been involved in the difficulties and disorders of the time, upon taking the
oath of allegiance to the commonwealth, after some temporary civil disqualfications.^
1 The court assigned as his counsel, Levi Lincoln, sen. and James Sullivan. The warm
support of government by the former had rendered him obnoxious to the insurgents.
During their occupation of the town, they sent parties to seize his person, who surrounded
and searched his house. Seasonably informed of their intentions, he was able to disappoint them.
2 Six were convicted of treason in the county of Berkshire, six in Hampshire, one in
Worcester, and one in Middlesex, all of whom received sentence of death, but were subse-
quently pardoned. The only public punishment actually inflicted, except limited disqual-
ifications from civil or military office, was on a member of the house of representatives,
guilty of seditious words and practices, who was sentenced to sit on the gallows with a
rope about his neck, pay a fine of £uO, and to be bound to keep the peace and be of good
behavior for five years.
3 The facts stated in the foregoing chapter have been derived, from the Worcester Mag-
azine, published by Isaiah Thomas, 178(t, 1787, Independent Chronicle, Columbian Centi-
nel, Minot's History of the Insurrection, Files in the office of the Secretary of Stale, Cor-
respondence of Levi Lincoln, sen. American Antiquarian Society's MSS. Some notice of
L>aniel Shays will be found in the appendix.
132 VISIT OF -WASHINGTON. [17S9.
CHAPTER IX.
Thus Article Daniel Shays and Worcester County
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