Category: Old Burial Ground

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Remembering a Southborough Revolutionary War Veteran

It seems appropriate that as we salute our veterans, I return to trying to learn the stories of the men from Southborough who served in the American War for Independence. When I originally began, I intended to focus on the men who are buried in Southborough’s Old Burial Ground, but as I started to do research it seemed appropriate to begin with the three men who died during the war. As it happens none of them is buried in the Old Burial Ground, probably because of the impracticality in the 1770’s of transporting bodies long distances. I have already examined the lives of Private Jesse Amsden and Major Josiah Fay, and their families. The third Southborough casualty of the war was Private Joseph Fay. Unfortunately, since he died during the war and he was unmarried, it is much more difficult to piece together his life. One of the great sources for learning about the veterans of the Revolutionary War era are the pension applications of either the veterans themselves or those of their widows. Neither of those sources exists for Joseph Fay because he died during the war and did not leave a widow.  The few records of his military service, give a much more skeletal view of his life than the pension applications often offer.

We know that Joseph Fay was born into a large family, one of Aaron Fay’s 18 children. Joseph was born on August 19, 1756 in Southborough, the oldest son of Aaron Fay and his second wife, Eunice Bradish Farr. Aaron Fay and his first wife Thankful had ten children, three of whom died as infants.  Aaron and his second wife Eunice had eight children, one of whom died as a child. Four of Joseph’s older half-brothers, Aaron Jr., Elijah, Heman, and Nathan, as well as his younger brother Francis also served during the American Revolution. The Aaron Fay family obviously believed in the cause of American independence.

Joseph marched to Concord on April 19, 1775 as a member of the Southborough militia in Captain Josiah Fay’s Company. He also served for three months fifteen days in 1775 during the occupation of Dorchester Heights.  On May 15th 1777, Joseph enlisted in Captain Aaron Haynes Company of the 13th Regiment of the State of Massachusetts, under the command of Colonel Wigglesworth. Joseph received a twenty-dollar bounty for enlisting, some of which may have helped support his younger siblings. He reported for duty on September 19, 1777 and served for a total of eighteen weeks and one day before his death was reported at Valley Forge on May 4, 1778. He was 21 years old. The total pay for his service in 1777/78 was $44.17. As in the case of fellow Southborough soldier Jesse Amsden, who also died at Valley Forge, we do not know where Joseph is buried. We are uncertain as to where in New York City, Joseph’s second cousin Major Josiah Fay, is buried. There is a plaque at the Old Burial Ground commemorating the service of the three men from Southborough who died during the Revolutionary War.

We are grateful for all those who served during the War for Independence and to the military veterans who have served through out our history.

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Old Burial Ground Moves to the Top of Southborough’s Most Endangered List After Clear-cutting of Adjacent Parcel

 

The newly clearcut triangle between St. Mark’s Street at left and Marlborough Road at right, looking north. Click any picture to enlarge.

Dear Friends,

I would like to share with you a letter I wrote to the relevant Town Board and state agencies as Chair of the Historical Commission regarding the wholesale clear-cutting of the parcel adjacent to the Old Burial Ground. Though this parcel is entirely owned by St Mark’s, the town has apparently reached some license agreement—vetted by neither the Planning Board or the Historical Commission, to reroute St. Mark’s street in order to enhance the sports parking area for the school and create a pocket park. Apparently, the Town is using state funds to do this project, and St. Mark’s is paying for some?—though who is paying for what remains unclear at this point. Unfortunately, this ill-conceived project threatens to unearth human remains and has now destabilized the entire remaining Old Burial Ground tree cover.

 

The plan for the entire triangle. Click to enlarge.

To: Southborough Select Board; Southborough Planning Board; Southborough Open Space Commission; The Southborough Historical Commission; Mark Purple, Southborough Town Administrator; Brona Simon, Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission and State Archeologist; Southborough Historical Society; Karen Galligan, Southborough Director of Public Works.

1 November 2021

As chair of the Historical Commission, I am writing to express extreme concern about the current road and park project along St. Mark’s street at the corner of Marlborough Road (Rte. 85).

 

Plans continue for a discontinued playground

Although the Southborough Historical Commission had seen some conceptual plans for a park and history-walk back in the spring, we had not heard about it since, and presumed the project dead. Suddenly last week, the entire triangle bordering the Old Burial Ground, Cordaville Road, and St. Mark’s Street was clear-cut over a period of two days, without consulting either the Historical Commission or seeking the required Planning Board site review and approval. After speaking with Karen Galligan, the DPW head, it now seems that the project is proceeding using only a conceptual plan, with major elements such as the history-walk and playground arbitrarily deleted. With the educational and entertainment features eliminated, what exactly is the point of this project except facilitating expanded parking for St. Marks School?

 

The plan showing the entire triangle, with park to the left and parking area to the right. Click to enlarge.

 

Had the Commission been consulted before construction began, we would have again warned the Board of Selectmen that previous ground radar surveys have indicated numerous colonial-era interments outside of the current Old Burial Ground (OBG) walls. Additionally, the wooded parcel that was cleared last week was also the most likely location of the original pre-contact Native American burial ground. Further soil disturbance so close to the OBG risks disinterment of human remains.

A man-made structure unearthed just outside the OBG walls. Crypt? Old Wall? Who knows without a proper archaeological inspection.

 

Equally critical, the clear-cutting of century-old woodland has now destroyed the windbreak for the trees in the Old Burial Ground, which were already in extremely precarious condition. With this protection removed, the OBG trees will now be highly susceptible to storm damage, which in turn risks the historic markers below.

One of the few remaining street trees I have objected to removing. The decision now moves to the BOS meeting this Wednesday 11/3. Please attend if you can.

Following the Historic Commission’s stated objection about felling trees on scenic roads, I have formally objected to the removal of any further trees on the site, in particular those along Marlborough Road.

Additionally, I would strongly advise the Board of Selectmen to work with the Historical Commission to fund an emergency professional tree survey of the Old Burial Ground with the idea of assessing the state of the remaining specimens, and doing any required pruning or removal before the onset of the winter storm season, in order to mitigate further damage to the burial stones. Long-term, there needs to be a proactive tree and marker restoration plan with sufficient annual funding to preserve the integrity of our most precious historical asset. There should also be a permanent marker acknowledging the Native American presence in this area.

Called widow makers for a reason, large dead branches like this can easily damage the historic markers below.

Regarding the park itself, in my professional capacity as the head of a landscape architecture firm, I have reviewed the proposed planting plan and design, and found them extremely lacking. The plant selection is poor and makes no provision for climate change. Even more worrisome, the entire design was conceived around a central play area that has been eliminated, rendering the current layout useless.

The design for the dead tree berm.

In particular, the proposal to cut down three large trees and use them sideways as some sort of tree-sculpture-berm-structure borders on the absurd, as after only a short period of ground contact, these trees will rot and create a huge legal liability for the town should anyone climb on them. There is also the issue of the historic stone wall along Marlborough road that will be destroyed if the current plans are implemented, violating our own preservation bylaw.

A typical tree in the OBG. The right side hasn’t lost its leaves, it is dead.

I would urge the Select Board to halt this project immediately until it can be thoroughly reviewed and approved by the Town Boards which should have been consulted before construction began: namely, Planning, Historical and Open Space. It remains unclear how much—if any—use by town residents the current “park” would have on such an isolated site without any attraction. The entire concept should be thoroughly reconsidered. Whatever else may happen to this parcel in the future, it is critical the area bordering the Old Burial Ground not be further disturbed, the expansion of the St. Mark’s parking area be visually mitigated, plans be made to restore the tree cover along the boundaries of the triangle, and immediate steps taken to preserve the existing trees and markers in the OBG.

Hard to believe this massive stump was a 100′ living oak a week ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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From Gravedigger to General

by Sally Watters

 

                                                  Nathan Johnson (1779-1852)

 As we move further and further from the time that the Old Burial Ground was an active cemetery, trying to learn about the people buried there becomes increasingly challenging. While doing research about the people in the Old Burial Ground, one resource that has proven to be invaluable is the Burial Book containing the names of the people buried there starting in 1794. There are also church records extant from 1799 on and town records beginning in 1727. By using all these sources, one can piece together most of the deaths that occurred in Southborough from its creation as a separate town forward. The sources complement each other because sometimes a record appears in one source, but not another. The thing that makes the Burial Book fascinating is that it often includes interesting comments about the cause of death. It also notes if someone died elsewhere, but was buried in Southborough, or if someone died here, but is buried elsewhere. The Burial Book was started in 1794 by Nathan Johnson when he was fifteen years old. I became curious as to the identity of this young gravedigger and began to dig into his life. I was amazed at the trajectory that his life took.

Nathan was born in Southborough in 1779, the oldest child of Elisha Johnson and his second wife, Sarah Perry. He was the great-grandson of William Johnson, an original settler of Southborough. His father and at least three uncles fought in the American Revolution. Service to the country and community was part of Nathan’s DNA. He began digging graves for the town in 1794 and began keeping records of deaths in the Burial Book. One of the first deaths he recorded was that of Rachel Johnson. Next to her name was the simple notation, “my grandmother.” There were only twelve deaths that year. Nathan, apparently a very devout young man, wrote “This year has been very healthy, no epidemical diseases has been suffered to come in among us to destroy our happiness. Let all mankind improve their health to the glory of their Maker.” The following year, he recorded the death of Hannah Johnson, age 2, and added “my sister.” The town had enjoyed another healthy year with only nine burials. One of those burials had been challenging he said because “What is here astonishing to be remarked of this gentleman is that he was one of the most corpulent persons, perhaps, in this country, He weighed in March last 430 pounds, and it is altogether likely that when he died, he weighed much more.” The next year, 1796, was far from a healthy year for Southborough. Nathan had to dig 36 graves, including many for children who succumbed to a scarlet fever epidemic that swept through Massachusetts. Eight of Reuben Fay’s children died in a six-week period. The following few years averaged twelve to fourteen burials.

Perhaps dealing with the uncertainties of life on a regular basis motivated Nathan to make the most of his life. He left Southborough to attend Yale, graduating in 1802. After his graduation from Yale, he lived with the family of US Supreme Court Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth, studying law. He began his law practice in Hartford, Connecticut in 1808.

During the War of 1812, Nathan served as a captain in the Connecticut militia first under Colonel William Belcher and then under Colonel Ezra Brainard. After the war, he served in the Connecticut Light Artillery. He rose to the rank of brigadier general of the artillery of the state of Connecticut and also served as quartermaster general of the state. When Revolutionary War hero General Lafayette visited Hartford in 1824, General Nathan Johnson was responsible for the parade of soldiers that greeted him and he served as Lafayette’s escort.

Nathan Johnson was also involved in many civic affairs. He served as the treasurer of Hartford for sixteen years. He also was clerk of the Connecticut House of Representatives, and later was a member of both the Connecticut House and Senate during the 1820’s. He was a supporter of the Hartford Female Seminary, one of the first educational institutions for women. He was very active at Yale where he served as a Fellow of Yale College helping prepare students for entrance, and served on the board of the corporation of Yale. In 1827 he was recognized with an honorary degree from Harvard. His law practice in Hartford flourished. He also served as a judge in Connecticut.

Did this son of Southborough ever return to the town of his birth? The only mention of Nathan Johnson in the town history, Fences of Stone, is that “…the first temperance lecture ever given in Southborough, delivered by General Nathan Johnson of Hartford at the home of Josiah Johnson…” was delivered in 1826. Nowhere is it noted that Nathan was originally from Southborough and was in fact giving the speech at the home of his brother! It is likely that Nathan Johnson returned to visit his parents and siblings on many other occasions. He is recognized in the will of his father, who did not die until 1832, with the following bequest – “That my son Nathan Johnson, who has received his portion in a liberal education, receive in addition thereto, at the decease of myself and my wife, with all my other children, an equal share in my library.” Education and reading were important to the Johnson family. His mother survived until 1847. His parents and several of his siblings are buried in the Old Burial Ground.

Nathan Johnson died in 1852 at the age of 72. He was survived by his wife and seven children. He was a prominent lawyer in Hartford, and had served as a judge. His will hints that he was also a successful businessman and a serious scholar. The inventory of his possessions includes shares in several business ventures, several parcels of land, as well as hundreds of books and pamphlets with titles ranging from legal topics to works relating to religion and science. The young man who started out as a gravedigger at Southborough’s Old Burial Ground at the age of 15, died a celebrated lawyer, judge, and general. He is not buried in the cemetery in Southborough where he dug so many graves. His grave is in Spring Grove Cemetery in Hartford.

Sources
1. Massachusetts, U.S. Towns and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Church Records, with Births, Marriages, and Deaths
2. Massachusetts, U.S. Towns and Vital Records, 1620-1988, Births, Marriages, and Deaths
3. Fences of Stone – the passage about Temperance Speech
4. Commemorative Biographical Sketches of Hartford County
5. Vital Records of Southborough 1727-1849
6. https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/1796-scarlet-fever-epidemic
7. Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999
8. Massachusetts, Worcester County, Wills and Probate Records 1635-1991

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Remembering a Southborough Patriot on Memorial Day

On Memorial Day it seems appropriate to commemorate the life of one of the three men from Southborough died in the Revolutionary War. The last post was devoted to Jesse Amsden who was among the almost 2000 soldiers who died while at Valley Forge. The other two men who died during the Revolution were both members of the extensive Fay family. Major Josiah Fay and Private Joseph Fay. They were among over a dozen men from the Fay family who served from Southborough.

Major Josiah Fay

Josiah Fay was born in Westborough in 1731, the son of John and Hannah (Child) Fay.  John’s father died the year after his birth, leaving his mother with five young children. Two years later, she married Samuel Lyscom of Southborough whose wife had died the previous year leaving him with 7 children. Hannah and her new husband would have 3 additional children leaving the potential for 15 children in the Fay/Lyscom household. However, a 1738 document in the Worcester County Probate Court shows that for at least part of the time, Hannah’s children by John Fay of Westborough, including Josiah, were placed under the guardianship of his father’s cousin, John Fay of Southborough.  Another document shows that Josiah’s father’s estate was finally settled in 1746 with the disposal of his extensive land holdings of almost 200 acres in Westborough and Shrewsbury. Josiah’s share was valued at 196 pounds.

In 1755, during the French and Indian War, Josiah served first as a Sargent and then as a Lieutenant, in Captain John Taplin’s Militia Company. There were at least seven other men from Southborough who marched out with Captain Taplin’s Company in June 1755. In September, on their way to try to capture Crown Point, the colonial militia and British soldiers, were attacked and routed by a large force of French and Indians. Most retreated safely back to Fort William Henry, but Josiah’s 1st cousin once removed, John Fay Jr., the son of his former guardian, was killed in the attack.

Upon returning to Southborough, Josiah married Mary Bent in 1758. They had nine children including two sets of twins. All of their children reached adulthood except for one of the twins who died in 1773 at age 15. Josiah Fay was very active in town and regional politics. He served several terms as a selectman. Having fought alongside the British, he was nonetheless alarmed as the British government began to tighten regulations and introduce new taxes in the colonies. He was chosen to be a member of Southborough’s Committee of Correspondence, part of the network that was set up to keep towns abreast of the actions of the British government and the reactions of the colonial governments. He also led the Southborough militia which was training regularly in preparation for any actions the British might take. The militia was not only training, but was also stockpiling ammunition in the town powder-house that was located in the burial ground. In 1774, in reaction to the Intolerable Acts that the British had imposed as punishment for the Boston Tea Party, the town passed a non-importation resolution agreeing to boycott British goods. In January 1775, Josiah Fay was elected as Southborough’s representative to the Massachusetts Provincial government.

When one of the many riders sent out by the committees of correspondence network to alert towns that the British were marching toward Concord to confiscate weapons and ammunition stored there reached Southborough early in the morning of April 19, 1775, the Southborough militia companies responded quickly.  As Captain of the Southborough militia, Josiah commanded one of the militia companies that answered the alarm.  He served for five days.  In May 1775, he was commissioned by the Massachusetts Provincial Congress as a Captain in the regiment initially commanded by General Artemas Ward and later by Colonel Jonathan Ward.  Officially designated the 21st Massachusetts Regiment, it was generally known as Ward’s Regiment. Captain Elijah Fay’s company of 32 men took part in the siege of Boston that lasted about eleven months. The siege included time on Dorchester Heights, the Roxbury Guard, and Bunker Hill. Shortly after the British evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776, the Continental Army, including Captain Josiah Fay and Ward’s Regiment, marched south to New York where Josiah Fay’s service was rewarded with a promotion to Major.

Back home in Southborough, a town meeting held on June 10, 1776 voted to support independence if the Continental Congress decided on such a course of action. Josiah Fay and the army in New York City would learn that the Continental Congress had finally declared the independence of the United States on July 4th, 1776. In Southborough, where the idea of independence had wide support, Josiah’s family heard the Reverend Stone read a copy of the Declaration of Independence from the pulpit on a Sunday in mid-July. That copy of the Declaration of Independence is at the Southborough Historical Society Museum. In New York, many people did not share Southborough’s enthusiastic support for independence. The Continental Army found itself faced with opposition from loyalists who did not agree with the idea of separating from England. On August 8, 1776, Major Josiah Fay died after his food was poisoned by a loyalist.

Josiah’s widow Mary was left with their eight surviving children ranging in age from 19-year-old Josiah to 5-year-old Alpheus. From surviving evidence, we can conclude that Mary was a strong, capable woman. She was made administratix of Josiah’s estate. From 1777 until 1793 she was listed as a voter for Southborough Town Meetings. Mary survived her husband by 57 years, dying in 1833. The final value of her estate was $2000 (about $64,000 today.)  When her son Peter, a lawyer, died just six weeks after his mother, the man who was appointed administrator of Mary’s estate was none other than Larkin Newton, the school teacher turned lawyer who would later be suspected of defrauding Revolutionary War veteran widow Lovisa Amsden. (Blog of April 17th)

Mary Fay is buried in the Old Burial Ground. Her tombstone includes that she is the “Widow of Major Josiah Fay who died in the continental army in the City of New York August 8, 1776.”  Josiah Fay was buried in New York City, possibly in the St. Paul’s churchyard.

We owe much to the three Southborough men who died during the American War for Independence: Jesse Amsden, Joseph Fay, and Josiah Fay as we remember them on Memorial Day.

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Patriotism & Scandal in Southborough! A Post for Patriot’s Day

By Sally Watters

When Michael asked me to take a more active role in writing for this website, I knew I had big shoes to fill. With Patriots Day approaching my plan was to try to learn something about the Revolutionary War veterans who are buried in the Old Burial Ground. In a sense, I wanted to try to put a little flesh on their bones so they would be more than just names. It seemed appropriate to start with the three men from Southborough who had died during the Revolutionary War.

I decided to begin with Jesse Amsden. It is difficult to find a great deal of information about someone who has been dead for almost 250 years. As I began to do research, I discovered that not only had the Amsden family lost the family patriarch, but that four of his sons also joined in the fight for American independence. The family paid a high price for its patriotism. Sadly, I also discovered that preying on the elderly, defrauding the government and government red tape are nothing new. What started as a project to try to learn about Jesse Amsden ended up as the story of five Revolutionary War veterans from the Amsden family. And I have not even gotten to the other two Southborough men who died during the war or the dozens of other Southborough veterans of the Revolutionary War who deserve attention.

Jesse Amsden

Jesse Amsden was born in 1729, the youngest of John and Hannah Howe Amsden’s thirteen children. Jesse was the only one of the thirteen children born in Southborough. His eight brothers and four sisters were all born in Marlborough.  The family had not moved, but town lines had when, in 1727, the Stony Brook region of Marlborough was granted permission by the General Court of Massachusetts to form the new Town of Southborough. Jesse’s father John was among the men who had petitioned the state asking that Stony Brook be allowed to separate from Marlborough. John served as a selectman in the newly established town and was a deacon of the church. In 1748, Jesse married Southborough resident Bette Ball with whom he had seven sons and five daughters. When hostilities broke out with England, it did not take Jesse long to become involved.  He served as a Private in Captain Ezekiel Knowlton’s Company of Colonel Nicholas Dike’s Massachusetts Infantry Regiment at Dorchester Heights from December 15th 1776 until March 1st 1777.

In May of 1777, shortly before his 48th birthday, Jesse was recruited by Captain Aaron Haynes of Sudbury to enlist in the Continental Army. He was paid a bounty of $20 for enlisting. Jesse was assigned to Captain Haynes Company in the 13th Massachusetts Regiment/6th Continental Regiment under the command of Colonel Edward Wigglesworth. Jesse joined the regiment in July of 1777. Although several of his children were adults at the time of his departure for the Continental Army, his wife Bette was left with seven children at home who ranged in age from 16 to 2. The $20 bounty had probably been an enticing incentive to help with family expenses. Six months after joining the regiment, Jesse died on January 9th, 1778 at Valley Forge. The cause of death was listed as sickness. Jesse was most likely buried in one of the towns near Valley Forge where the sick soldiers were sent. He is not buried in Southborough. His widow Bette seems to disappear from the record books after his death, but several of his children can be tracked.

Jonas and Ephraim Amsden

Four of Jesse’s sons also joined the military during the Revolutionary War. His oldest son Jonas answered the Lexington Alarm of April 19th, 1775. He was a Drummer for Captain Elijah Bellow’s militia company which served for sixteen days. Ephraim, Jesse and Bette’s next son, also answered the Lexington Alarm as a Private in Captain Josiah Fay’s Company which served for five days. Shortly after that service, Ephraim, then a Corporal in Captain Fay’s Company in the regiment commanded by Colonel Jonathan Ward, served from August 1st through October 7th, 1775 at Dorchester Heights.  Ephraim, who died in 1819, is buried in an unmarked grave in the Old Burial Ground (OBG). His widow Martha died in 1834 and is also buried in an unmarked grave in the OBG. Jonas Amsden and his wife Hannah moved to Mason, NH after the war and are not buried in the Southborough.

John and Silas Amsden

In March 1781, two of Jesse and Bette’s sons, 18-year-old John and 17-year-old Silas, enlisted in the Continental Army. Silas was described as being 5 feet 11 inches tall with a light complexion. Silas was a Private in Captain John Nutting’s Company in Colonel Job Cushing’s 2nd Massachusetts Regiment. He was discharged in September 1783 after being injured when a load of wood that he was transporting for the garrison at West Point ran over his leg. His knee never healed correctly, leaving him disabled.  In April of 1793, Silas Amsden began receiving a pension of $60 a year because of his disability. Silas married Sarah Hemenway of Framingham. In 1797, Silas died in Framingham at the age of 33. The settlement of his estate shows that he was heavily in debt when he died. His creditors were awarded 4 cents on the dollar. Silas is not buried in the OBG. In 1797, the same year that Silas died, his brother John named his newborn son Silas.

John Amsden, described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and of fair complexion, served in Captain Elnathan Haskell’s Company in the regiment commanded by Colonel William Shepard’s. At least part of his service was spent working for the Quartermaster General obtaining supplies. in January 1784 he was discharged by General Henry Knox in New York with the rank of Sargent. Shortly after returning to Southborough, he married Lovisa Bellows. Like his brother Silas, John did not prosper after the war. John and Lovisa had eight children, only three of whom reached adulthood.

In 1819, John applied for a veteran’s service pension stating in his affidavit that he was disabled. He also stated that his three children were sickly and incapable of doing more than light work. An inventory of his possessions at that time showed he owned only three acres of land and had very few personal possessions. He was granted a pension, but after his death in 1827, his widow Lovisa had no means of support. By 1834, both Lovisa and her oldest son, John, had been admitted to the Southborough poorhouse.

The Struggle for a Widow’s Pension

When Congress passed a law in 1836 making the widows of Revolutionary War veterans eligible for pensions, a local man, Larkin Newton, stepped up to help Lovisa apply for a pension. In 1817, early in his career, Larkin Newton had been the school master for the west school district of Southborough. He angered some parents when he severely whipped two students.  As a result of the whippings, a special town meeting was called and Mr. Newton was warned to limit his use of physical punishment. The following school year he had moved to the center school district in Southborough where he faced continued concern about his harsh disciplinary methods. He gave up teaching the next year.

From 1837 until his death in 1840, Larkin Newton served as an overseer of the poorhouse. In that position, he was very aware of the poverty faced by Lovisa Amsden and her son John, volunteering to help Lovisa with her application for a widow’s pension. Larkin Newton began to assemble the necessary documents but ran into a problem when no record of John and Lovisa’s marriage could be found. Under the Pension Act of 1836, the widow had to have been married to the veteran while he was still in the military. Larkin Newton submitted statements from several people, including Lovisa’s 85-year-old sister Lucretia Wood of Sherborn, that they were aware of John and Lovisa’s marriage and thought it had taken place in 1782. The pension was approved and by March 1840 the government had sent a total of $720 (about $22,000 today) which included back payments. The very trusting, nearly blind and illiterate Lovisa had placed her X on several documents when requested to do so by Larkin Newton.

A second Pension Act was passed in 1838 allowing pensions for widows who had married a veteran by 1794.  Lovisa maintained that she and John had been married in 1784 just after John was discharged from the military, thereby making her eligible for a pension under the 1838 act. Larkin Newton, who had died in September 1840, had told her that under the Pension Act of 1836 she was not eligible to receive a pension. It took several years before people realized that Lovisa had been defrauded by Mr. Newton.  Lydia Bellows of Shrewsbury, John’s sister, asked Elijah Clark, a Justice of the Peace who worked to help obtain pensions, to help her brother’s widow Lovisa get a pension.

When Clark corresponded with the War Department, he was shocked to learn that she had already received a pension under the Pension Act of 1836. Lovisa was also surprised. She maintained that she had never received any money from a pension. As documents were assembled and reviewed, people began to suspect that Larkin Newton had forged a number of the documents including one from the Southborough Town Clerk listing the births of Lovisa’s nine children. Her oldest child was listed as Jonathan, born in 1783. The only problem was that Jonathan was a figment of Larkin Newton’s imagination, created in an attempt to show that John and Lovisa had been married before John left the military. In reality, John and Lovisa had only eight children, the oldest of whom was William, born in 1785. Numerous statements from such leading Southborough citizens as Swain Parker, Sullivan Fay and Joel Burnett were sent to the government attesting to the good character of Lovisa, and opining that she would never have tried to defraud the government. Joel Burnett, the town clerk in 1843, sent a statement to the War Department that several old documents dating between 1779 and 1789, had been found in a hitherto misplaced chest.

Among the documents was a paper showing the intentions of marriage for John and Lovisa dated July 1784. That helped establish their marriage, but at the same time created a problem. The government demanded the money that had already been distributed be returned because it had been granted under the Pension Act of 1836 under which she was ineligible. That act required the widow to have been married to the veteran while he was in the military and John and Lovisa’s marriage had taken place after he was discharged.   Lovisa’s champions pointed out that whereas she had not been eligible under the Pension Act of 1836, she was eligible under the Pension Act of 1838 so would have received the money anyway.

The government had stopped payments in 1840 when Larkin Newton died so was no longer sending in the necessary paperwork. Lovisa’s supporters thought that at the very least, Lovisa should receive payments from 1840 forward.  Lovisa Amsden died in 1846 still a resident in the town poorhouse, without ever receiving any of the widow’s pension to which she was entitled. Her only surviving child, John, attempted to collect the money to which his mother had been entitled. The dispute was still under advisement in 1851, but it appears that the matter was never resolved. John and Lovisa’s son John died in the town poorhouse in 1863. John, the Revolutionary War veteran, and his widow Lovisa are buried in unmarked graves in the Old Burial Ground as are several of their children.

The story of Larkin Newton’s teaching is found in Fences of Stone by Nick Noble.

 

 

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Election News and Other Updates

Dear friends,

Tuesday May 11 is election day here in Southborough, and normally, the Society would run a forum to poll candidates’ views on issues important to our members. However, this time, we can’t do that, as I have decided to run for Selectman, and it would hardly be fair for me to grill my worthy opponent, Mr. Andrew Dennington III ! So I am going to simply relate that you can find out more about me and my vision for Southborough at votemichaelweishan.com. As of this writing, we are unaware of Mr Dennington’s website, but we post it in the comments below when and if available.

Until the election I will be turning the podium over to our distinguished vice-president and historian, Sally Watters, who has been digging into the records to see what Revolutionary veterans are actually buried in our Old Burial Ground, and under what banner they fought.

Remember, regardless of whom you vote for, please get out and vote on May 11. It has never been easier: you can request a mail in ballot right HERE.

Over to you Sally!

 

 

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Disagreement Brews in the Old Burial Ground

The occupants of the Old Burial Ground have seen their share of conflict and dissent, and it looks like a new round is about to open above them.

Over the last several weeks, the Southborough Historical Commission (which I head) has received a number of complaints about the flags flying in the old burial ground.

A little background: at some point in the 1990’s, a group of veterans decided it would be appropriate to commemorate those who had served the fledgling United States with a special memorial. Later in 2002, a large plaque was added marking the death of the three men who died during combat. And at some point after that (the timeline is very unclear) six revolutionary-era battle flags were placed in a semi-circle at the entrance to the Old Burial Ground.

And that’s pretty much how it stood until recently when a number of residents contacted the Commission objecting to the fact that one of the flags flying was the Gadsden Flag, which over the last decade has recently been co-opted by various White Supremacists groups (You can read more about that HERE, HERE,    HERE, and HERE. The trigger, I am guessing, was the very prominent and disgraceful role that the Gadsden flag played in the recent Capital Hill riots.

 

In response to these complaints the SHC decided to do a little investigating in preparation for a report to the Board of Selectmen, who have ultimate say in this matter.

The flags currently flying are these:

The Culpepper Minuteman flag from Virginia
The  Gadston Flag from SC; with another a similar variant
The Bunker Hill Flag (with the tree)
The Moultrie flag, again from SC
The Bedford Flag

 

Grand Union Flag - WikipediaOf these, only two have anything vaguely to do with the veterans buried there, and the most relevant flag, the Continental Colors flag hoisted by George Washington in Cambridge 1775 , is not flying at all.

The other issue, and to my eyes, equally relevant, is that these six small flags are impaling the unmarked gravesites below. When this monument was conceived in the 1990s, a ground-radar survey hadn’t yet been conducted by the Society, which proved conclusively that this area is full of active burials, whose headstones were shattered or lost during the 1938 hurricane.

>So at this point, it seemed a prudent move to reconsider the whole matter, and the Historical Commission voted 6-0 last week to send the following letter to the Board of Selectmen:

Ladies and Gentlemen,
As we have already alerted you, the Historical Commission has received complaints about the choice of flags flying the Old Burial Ground. Particularly egregious to many are the two variants of the Gadsden flag, which was designed by a slave owning South Carolinian and has become linked to white supremacist groups including the Ku Klux Klan. These associations are not new; many date back to the 1960s. You may also wish to read this recent article in the Miami Herald by Harvard Professor Noah Feldman noting that the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has called for “a careful investigation to see whether recent uses of the flag have been sufficiently “racially tinged” that it could count as harassment.”

Last night, the SHC voted 6-0 to urge the BOS to undertake an immediate review of these flags, with an aim to:
1) moving the current semi-circle of flags out of the actual burial area to preserve the integrity of those buried beneath the poles. The current poles are actually piercing the unmarked graves below.
2) removing flags of the South Carolina and Virginia regiments that carry such negative associations to people of color, and replacing them with flags that actually represent the veterans buried there. 
The Historical Commission has done considerable research as to which flags would be appropriate for the period and to the individual buried veterans involved, and would be happy to share that guidance with you if requested. 
Cordially, 
Michael Weishan, Chair
Southborough Historical Commission 

 

It seems this letter, combined with our earlier outreach directly to the veterans responsible for the care and upkeep of the site, sparked some “white hot rhetoric” (to quote BOS Chair Marty Healey) directed at the Board of Selectmen from people who feel that any changes to the flags are akin to desecration and disrespect. Personally, I don’t agree. If this were South Carolina and these flags were actually part of Southborough history, it would be a different story. But we aren’t in South Carolina and these aren’t our banners (and thankfully not our history), and given that these symbols have taken on a very ominous meaning for some of our residents, there his no historically justifiable reason to provoke residents who feel strongly on this matter. (And personally, I would like to see these flags moved to positions that don’t stab into the buried dead regardless.)

 

So what do you think? Feel free to comment below. (Note, unlike mysouthborough, we don’t allow anonymous postings, so you have to have the public courage of your convictions.)  Also, one of our high-school students has started, on her own initiative, a petition directed at the BOS to have the Gadsden flag removed. If you agree, you can sign it HERE.  At writing, it was half-way to its 100-person target.
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Long Dead…

But certainly not forgotten!

Thanks to a two-year project spearheaded by SHS members Rebecca Dean-Rowe, Sally Watters, Molly Leavitt, and Jim Blaschke, you can now explore the Old Burial Ground virtually on our new interactive map.

Its sophisticated search mechanism lets you click on individual graves, read the inscriptions, and learn about the history of the people below. Best of all, the system is designed to be continually added to and expanded by both society members and outside contributors. This spring and summer, for example, we will be photographing and adding in pictures all the grave stones, and Sally Watters is busy researching the fascinating background stories of our founding residents to add to the collection. (Just click the image below to begin your explorations!)

 

If you have information you would like to share about any of the Old Burial Ground residents, please use the form below the map and we’ll add it to the database.

And finally, a shout out to Aidan Campbell, who designed the interactive and endured a thousand rounds of edits and changes!