Magazine of New England history (Volume 1) online

(Dorch. Rec);
V. Henry*, b. January 24, 1711, married Mary^ daugh-



90 IsrAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY.

ter of Benjamin and Mary* ( Williams-Isaa,:^
Imac^^ Robert^) Payson of Roxbury ;
VI. Catharine*, b. April 12, 1714, married Capt. John,
3d, son of John, jr., and Sarah (Tildim) Rnggles
of Milton, Mass.;
VII. Mary*, b. April 14, 1719, married Benjamin, son of
John and Prudence (^Bridge^ May of Roxluiry.

38. Joseph^ Willia.ms {Stephen^ Robert^). Pox])ury;
married May 22, 1706, Abigail, daughter of John and Mary
(^Torrey) Davis of Roxbury, b. February 13, 1687, d. Decem-
ber 28, 1771; he d. August 17, 1720 and she married 2d, Jan-
uary 11, 1733, Edward, son of John and Martha (^Devotion)
Ruggles of Roxbury. Children ;

I. Joseph*, b. April 10, 1708, married Martha, daughter
of Henry and Martha {Deming) Howells of Bos-
ton, Mass.; married 2d, Hannah ( Whiting)^ widow
of Thomas Dndley of Roxbury;
II. Mary*, b. July 14, 1710, married Samuel, son of John
and Sarah ( Gardner) Gore of Roxbury;

III. John*, b. September 17, 1712, married Elizabeth^

Williams {John^, Samuel^, SanmeP, Robert^), mar-
ried 2d, Bethia (^Parker}, widow of Caleb Sted-
man, jr., of Roxbury;

IV. Sarah*, b. September 27, 1714, she may liave married

Ebenezer Scott of Milton, Mass.;
V. Stephen*, b. October 27, 1716, d. August 21, 1720;
VI. Jeremiah*, b. October 5, 1718, married Catharine,

daughter of Edward and Catharine {Scarborovgh)

Payson*, of Roxbury.
VII. Abiel*, b. October 17, 1720, married Timothy, son of

Edward and Jemima Foster of Dorchester, Mass.

39. JoHN-^ Williams {Stephen"^, Robert^). Roxbury
married March 15, 1716, Dorothy, daughter of Nathaniel and
Margaret (^Weld) Brewer of Roxbury, b. June 19, 1697.
Children :



MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY. 91

I. Natbaniel\ b. August 16, 1717, w'des name probably

Jane;

II. Jobn*, b. December 27, 1719, married Anna, daugh-

ter of Thomas and Mary (Clap) Bird of Dorches-
ter;

III. Dorothy^ b. January 14, 1721, married Capt. Ralph,

son of John and Mary (^Chelny) Holbrook of
Roxbury;

IV. Margarets b. February 19, 1723, married Thomas

Griggs, probably son of Ichabod and Margaret
Griggs of Roxbury.

40. Grace3 Williams {St<^phen\ Robert'^). Dedham;
married ^3d wife, December 29, 1718, Dea. John, son of Jon-
athan and Hannah (Kenrick) Metcalf of Dedham, b. March
20, 1678, d. October 6, 1749; shed. November 11, 1749.
Children :

I. Katharines b. August 12, 1719, d. infant;

II. Katharines b. June 27, 1721, d. June 12, 1746.

III. MehitableS b. September 18. 1723, married Jona-

than, son of Josiah and Elizabeth (Avery) Fisher
of Dedham ;

IV. Sarah*, b. June 19, 1725, d. September 3, 1749;

V. Stephen*, bapt. March 15, 1726, "at ye house ye life

of ye child not being expected", d. infant;
VI. Timothy*, b. December 2, bapt. in private, December

8, d. December 12, 1728;
VII. Timothy*, b. July 14, 1730, married Hannah, daugh-
ter of Joseph and Hannah ( Curtis) Guild of Ded-
ham;
VIII. Grace*, b. November 12, 1731, d. August 13, 1749;
IX. Stephen*, b. March 10, 1733;
X. Unnamed son*, 1735.



92 MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND ITISTOKY.



Rev. James Hillhouse of New London

AND HIS FAIsriLY,



CONTRIBUTED RY HENRY A. BAKER, ESQ.



EV. JAMES HILLHOUSEi came to New England
IP early in the last century. His father, John Hillhouse,
fll, of P^ree Hall, was the eldest son of Al)raham Hill-
house, who resided at Artikelly. His uncle, James
Hillhouse, was one of the commissioners to treat with Lord
Mountjoy, in the memorable defense of Derby, against the
forces of King James H, and was Mayor of Londonderry in
1693. This Abraham Hillhouse was amonsf the signers of
an address to King William and Queen Maiy on the occasion
of the relief of the siege of Londonderry, ditted 29tli July,
1669.

Rev. James Hillhouse was educated at the famous Univer-
sity of Glasgow in Scotland, and afterwards read divinity at
the same college, under the care of Rev. Mr. Simson, then
Professor of Divinity there. He was ordained by the Pres-
bytery of Londonderry in L-eland, and appears to have re-
sided at or near the ancestral home until the death of his
father in 1716. The estate descended to his elder brother,
Abraham. His mother died a few months later, in January
of the following year. Not long after that date he came to
seek a home on this side of the Atlantic. He is supposed to
have come with other Presbyterian emigrants from llie north
of Ireland, who in 1719 established themselves in New
Hampshire, where the towns of Derby and Londonderry and
the Londonderry^ Presbytery are the permanent memorials of
that migration.



MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY. 93

At the close of the year 1720, Rev. Mr. Ililllioiise appears
at Boston, committing to the press a sermon wliich he had
written a few years before on the occasion of his mother's
death, but does not appear to have been preached. This
work, though entitled "a sermon," was more properly a
treatise in a volume of more than one hundred and forty
pages. Cotton Mather speaks of its author as "a valuable
minister," and "a worthy, hopeful young minister lately ar-
rived in America."

At a parish meeting of the North Parish of New London,
(now Montville), held on the 5th day of February, 1721-2, it
was voted "that Mr. Joseph Bradford be a committee to go
to the Governor, Mr. Saltonstall, and request him to write to
Rev. James Hillhouse to ascertain if he could be obtained as
pastor of the chuj-ch."

The official acts on the part of Mr. Bradford were speedily
performed, and the Governor's request accepted.

On the 3d day of October, 1722, Rev. Mr. Hillhouse was
duly installed pastor of the church in tlie North Parish of
New London.

The same year in which a call was extended to Rev. Mr.
Hillhouse to become their pastor, the inhabitants of the North
Parish petitioned the court for certain privileges to encourage
them in settling a minister. The court, for the encourage-
ment of settling a minister and building a meeting honse,
then granted them freedom from country taxes for the space
of four years, and live hundred acres of land to be laid out
for the use of the ministry. Two hundred and fifty acres of
the land granted by the court was at once conveyed by deed
to Rev. James Hillhouse. On this land Rev. Mr. Hillhouse
erected a dwelling house, wliich was occupied by some of the
family for three generations.

Rev. James Hillhouse was born about 1687, and was mar-
ried on the 18th day of January, 1726, to Mary, daughter of
Daniel Fitch, one of his parishioners. She was a grand-
daughter of the Rev. James Fitch, the first minister at Nor-
wich, Conn. Mr. Hillhouse continued pastor of the church



94 MAGAZINE OF NEAV ENGLAND HISTORY.

over which he was iintalled about sixteen years, and the
fruits of his hibor still remain. He was a man of great sa-
gacity and Iield strongly for his rights. He died young in
the ministry, and his early death was probably hastened by
the care and perplexity attending his troubles and lawsuits
brought upon him by a lack of due deliberation and hasty
action on the part of a portion of the members o| his church.
He died 1.5th of December, 1740, and was buried in the rear
of the church, which stood on ''Raymond Hill." His wife
survived him, and was afterwards twice married. She died
the 25th day of October, 1768, aged sixty-two years.

Esquire John Hillhoitse^, the eldest son, was born
14th December 1726, and died 9th April, 1735.

William Hillhouse^, the second son, born 17th August,
1728, married 1st November, 1750, Sarah Griswold, daughter
of John Griswold and sister of the first Governor Griswold
of Connecticut. He settled on the paternal estate in Mont-
ville, and continued his residence there until his death. He
was greatly trusted and honored by his fellow citizens. He
was one of the most prominent men in his native town, and
a leading patriot in the Revolution. At the age of twenty-
seven he represented his town in the Legislatui'e of His Maj-
esty's Colony of Connecticut, and was, by semi-annual elec-
tions, continued in that trust, till having become honorably
known and esteemed throughout the State, he was chosen in
1785 an assistant in the upper House. He was also for many
years a Judge of tiie County and Probate Court. He was
also a Major in the second regiment of Cavalry, raised by the
State for service in the war of the Revolution. At the age
of eighty, then in the full possession of his powers, he de-
clined a re-election to the council and withdrew from public
life. His journeys to Hartfcnxl and New Haven, and other
places of business, were always performed on .horseback.
He was tall, spare, swathy, with heavy, overlianging eye-
brows, quaint in speech, and remarkable for a simplicity of
manners, combined with an impressive dignity. His wife
died lOtli March, 1777. He afterwards married Delia Hos-



MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY. 95

mer, 24th May, 1778, and died 12th June, 1816. Judge Wil-
liam Hillhouse by his first wife, Sarah Griswold, had ten
eliildren.

James Abkaha^ni Hillhouse^, third son of Rev. James
Hillhouse, mai'ried a lady of French descent, whose grand-
father fled to this country at the revocation of Nantz. She
survived her husband and died in 1822 at the aore of 89
years. Mr. Hillhouse was educated at Yale College, wliere
he graduated in 1749, and was appointed tutor one year af-
terwards. He entered the profession of law about 1756 at
New Haven, and was soon distinguished at the bar by his
forensic abilities, as well as by his learning. In 1772 he was
elected one of the twelve assistants, who, with the Governor
and Lieutenant Governor, were the Council, or Senate.
Three years afterwai'd, at the noon of life, being only fort}'-
six years of age, he was removed by death, leaving a name
long held in remembrance among his townsmen. His Chris-
tian life and conversation were truly exemplary, adorned
with the graces of meekness, charity and humaness. He
died childless, and his spacious mansion and its beautiful sur-
roundings in New Haven, and growing possessions, were
without a lineal heir.

James Hillhouse^ the second son of Judge William
Hillhouse^ was born Oct. 20, 1754, and married Jan. 1, 1779,
Sarah Lloj'd, daughter of James Lloyd of Boston. She died
about one year after. He then, on the 10th day of October,
1782, was again married to Rebecca Woolse3\ He was,
while in youth, adopted by his uncle, James Abraham Hill-
house, of New Haven, who gave him an education. He
graduated at Yale College in 1773, and was a lawyer of a
high reputation. He received the degree of Doctor of Laws
there in 1823. He was Treasurer of the College fift}^ years,
and the first appointed Commissioner of the School Fund of
Connecticut, which he held for two years from 1789 to 1791.
He was elected a representative to Congress in 1791, and
was afterwards sixteen years a member of the United States
Senate. He died Dec. 29th, 1832, aged 78 years, surviving



96 MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY.

his wife nineteen years, leaving five children and six grand-
children.

David Hillhouse^ the thii-d son of Jndge William Hill-
house^ born May 11th, 1756, married Oct. 7, 1781, Sarah
Porter, daughter of Col. Elisha Porter of Hadley, Mass.
She was a granddaughter of Kev. David Jewett, the succes-
sor of Rev. James Hill house.

Mr. David Hillhouse with his family removed to the State
of Georgia. He afterwards published a newspaper at Colum-
bia, in South Carolina. They had six children. Their
youngest daughter, Sarah, married Felix H. Gilbert of (Geor-
gia, and had one daughter, Sarah Hillhouse, born in 1806,
who married April 29th, 1823, Adam L. Alexander. They
had twelve children; a son married the daughter of Hon.
Robert 'I'oombs of Georgia.

At the time Rev. James Hillhouse^ received his call to be-
come a pastor in the North Parish of New London, a few of
the members belonging to the First Chnrch in New London,
residing in the North Parish, formed themselves into a sepa-
rate church, called the Second Church of New London.

The names of the persons constituting this cliurcli were
Thomas Avery, Robert Denison, Nathaniel Otis, Samuel
Allen, John Vibber, Charles Campbell and Jonathan Copp.
The last named was chosen their deacon.

Not having any church edifice yet erected, their meetings
were held in the west room of Mr. Samuel Allen's tavern.

On the 11th day of July, 1723, their meeting house was
raised, the site of which was on high ground, a commanding
point in the Parish. A wide and romantic landscape was
spread around the sacred edifice.

While the house of w^orship was being completed, Mr.
Hillhouse made a brief visit to his native land, but returned
before the close of the year.

Mr. Hillhouse left a substantial record of faithfulness and
zeal as a pioneer in laying the foundation and building up "a
church in the wilderness." Between his installment in Oc-
tober, 1722, and his death in December, 1740, he admitted to



MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY. 97

the church 198 new members and eighteen from other
churches. His record of baptism comprises 180, and of mar-
riages thirty-five.

Many of his descendants have been persons of pubUc no-
toriety, holding some of the most important olhces in the
State and in tlie nation.

"The memory of the just is blessed."
♦ ♦ ♦ « ♦

Dover, N. H. — Dover, N. H., is the oldest place in the
State, having been settled on the Newichawannick and Bel-
lamy rivers. The pioneer colony was composed of Episco-
palians sent over by the Laconia Company. In 1641 Dover
Avas annexed to Mass., and in 1679 was returned to New
Hampshire. The people had a man to "beate the drumme
on Lord's days to give notice of the time of meeting'' until
1665. when they built "a Terrett upon the meetting house for
to hang a bell." In 1657 they "chose by voet a scoell-
master." Major Walderne settled on the present site of the
city, and built a strong garrison-house. Here, in 1676, he
was visited by four hundred Indians, whose confidence he
won. He arrano-ed a sham-figfht between them and the colo-
nial soldiers. When the guns of the Indians were dis-
charged the troops rushed in and disarmed them, after which
two^ hundred were sent to Boston as prisoners. Several were
executed on Boston Common, and the remainder were sold
into slavery in the West Indies. Thirteen years later a
powerful Indian force seized Dover by night, destroyed 4
garrisons and killed many of the inhabitants. Major Wal-
derne, then 74 years old, connnander of the forces of the
colony, was captured and put to death. The town was the
object of other disastrous attacks during the Indian wars,
but w^as never abandoned by its intrepid people.
» * ♦ ♦ ♦

Wages in 1638.— The Plymouth Colonists, in 1638, fixed
the wages of a laborer at twelvepence per day and board, or
eighteen pence without board, allowing but sixpence a day for
board. They also provided that no single person who did not
belong to the family should n^side in it without consent of the
Governor and Council.



98 MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY.



THE PART BORNE BY

Sergeant John White Paul,

IN THE

CAPTURE OF BRIGADIER GENERAL RICHARD PRESCOTT,
COMMANDER OF THE BRITISH FORCES, NEAR
NEWPORT, R. I., IN 1777.*



BY EDWARD J. PAUL.




I HE character of a jDeople, so far as it is an expression
of positive and usual traits of individuals, is largel}^
tlie result of political conditions ; and some one, en-
deavoring to determine the relative values of these
conditions, has remarked that certain qualities of American
character, restless industry, ingenuity, firm yet audacious
courage, and entire self-reliance — qualities essential to in-
dustrial success — are so distinctively our own that European
artists, accustomed to the hereditary subordination and disci-
pline of an empire, cannot grasp the spirit that animates our
armies.

Certainly some of our great paintings, portraying lines of
battle wavering with impulse, and broken b}^ deeds of singu-
lar devotion, are evidences that an American soldier enjoys
a consciousness of duty and freedom of action, in harmony
with our institutions. Yet our national o-j-owtli has not been
in defiance of any principle. Before selfish affairs of busi-
ness had absorbed any one's interest in the common gooil,
patriotism, though possibly not more generous, was more
personal. It was rather an incentive than a sentiment, and
the forms of its expression were so unrestricted, that all of

•Reprinted by permission of the author, from a pamphlet issued at Milwaukee : 1887.



MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY. 99

those exploits that make the stoiy of the revolution saeied
history, seem now to be both the results and proofs of the
strength and character of native energies.

None of these exploits was more liazardous and ])rilliant
in its success, more barren of direct advantage, and yet more
refreshing to the inexperienced continental troo[)S, than the
capture of Brigadier General Richard Prescott*, the com-
mander of the British forces, near Newport, R. I., in 1777,
by a number of men, led by Lieut. Colonel William Barton.

Mrs. Williams' narrative of the expedition! , corresponding,
substantially, with an account of it left by Barton J in his
own handwriting, is briefly as follows : ^

Colonel Barton, having learned from a Mr. Coffin, who had
escaped through the British lines, that General Prescott was
quartered at the house of Mr. Overing, on the west side of
Rhode Island, about a- mile from the shore, embarked from
Tiverton, the evening of July 4, 1777, with Colonel Stanton,
Ebenezer Adams, Captain of Artillery, Lieut. James Potter,
Joshua Babcock, John Wilcox, and about forty men, in five
whaleboats ; and having encountered a storm in Mount Hope
Bay, arrived at Bristol at about nine o'clock the next eve-
ning. The evening of the sixth of July, with muffled oars,
they passed over to Warwick Neck, and having been delayed
there by northeast winds, did not re-embark until late in the
evening of the ninth. Then, following Barton, who had
tied his handkerchief to a pole to distinguish his own boat,

*He is usucvUy designated Major General, but Diman says:— "He was at the time of his
capture, a Brigadier General; he was made a Major (ieneral August 29, 1777. He was ex-
changed for General Charles Lee, and resumed his command on Rhode Island, after the
exchange, continuing there until after the evacuation, in Octoter, 1779."

Prescott came as a subordinate of Sir Henry Clinton, who passed through Long Island
Sound, and arrived in Narragansett Bay, in December, 1776, with two English, and two
Hessian brigades, in seventy transports, convoyed by Sir Peter Parker, with eleven ships of
war. In January, 1777, Clinton returned to England, leaving the forces in command of
Earl Percy, who also returned in May, leaving Prescott in command of them. .\ large
portion of the troops were quartered in farm-houses, on the island.

f'Biography of Revolutionary Heroes, containing the Life of Brigadier General Wm.
Barton, and also of Captain Stephen Olney, by Mrs. Williams." Published by the author.
Providence. iSj9. Pages 40-62, and page 126, note D.

+.\n account in manuscript, entitled: "Narrative of the particulars relative to the capture
of Major General Prescott, and his Aide-de-Camp Major Barrington," and preserved in
the library of the Rhode Island Historical Society.

LofC.



100 MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY.

tliey steered between the islands of Prudence and Patience,
to avoid tlie enemy's shipping over against Mount IIo})e
Island, and rowed under the west side of Prudence, to the
southward, coming so near the British vessels that tliey
could hear the watch cry, "AH'? Well I" About three-quar-
ters of a mile from the Island they were startled by the
trampling of horses, yet pushing on, landed safely, and
moored their boats in a creek, sheltered by a little bluff of
sand.

To the right, a brook crossing the road near the Overing
House, descending the hill toward the left and running
througli a kind* of gorge, emptied into the creek. Keeping
in the , gully and under the ridge, the party advanced cau-
tiously, and emerging back of Peleg Coggeshall's farm,
gained the road. In passing to the house, they left the
guard-house forty or fifty rods to the left. A little to the
left of that was the Redwood House, where Gen. Smith, sec-
ond in command, was quartered. On the right, or Newport
side, was a building appropriated to a troop of light horse,
and, twenty-five yards from the gate, was a sentinel. The
occupants of the house, Mr. Overing and his son. General
Prescott, liis aide, Maj. Harrington, and the servants, were
in deep sleep, presumably the effects of a carouse at the
house of one Bannister, a Tory, upon the wines and Santa
Cruz of a prize, brought into Newport the day before.

To the sentinel's demand: "Who comes there ?" the pat-
riots answered : "Friends ! Have you seen any deserters to-
night?" and approaching, apparently to give the counter-
sign, suddenly seized and bound him, surrounded the house
and burst open the door. Barton, calling to them to set fire
to the house, found Prescott abed, and hurried him to the
boats. And his resolute men, securing Major Barrington
also, and hastily retreating, pushed off, and made their wa^-
with the prisoners, among the alarmed vessels of the fleet,
through darkness illumined by rockets and flashing guns,

safely across Narragansett bay, to the battery on Warwick
Neck.



MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY. 101

Since childliood I have been tanglit that my great grand-
father's brother, John White Paul, born at Digliton, Mass.,
in 1755,* was an officer of no exalted rank in I^)arton's regi-
ment, and was the second man chosen to accompany him on
this dangerous enterprise ; that, because of his great strength
and weight, he was one of the men selected to tlirottle the
sentinel at Gen. Prescott's door, and, afterwards, to conduct
the General across the fields to the boats ; and that, when
Prescott complained that the stubble hurt his bare feet, John
Paul was courteous enough — and there was a yeoman's irony
in his courtesy —to offer to let the General wear his big, low
shoes.

The story is corroborated in many details, and especially
in that part in which it is peculiar, by the words of a revolu-
tionary songf one verse of which runs :

"Then through rye stubble him they led,
With shoes and breeches none,"

and agrees with the narratives above mentioned, so closely in
some places, that it might seem to have been })artly derived
from them, had it not been related thirty years before either
of them was written J. Yet the story is not simply a family
tradition, for, although cherished in the family, nothing ob-
scure shrouds its origin, and the relation of my father, of my
grandfather and of my great-grandfather, is not the only
evidence of its truth.

Desiring however, to embody an avithorative statement of

♦Son of James Paul and Sarah White, his wife. James Paul was a blacksmith and
farmer, a deacon in Elder Gotfs Baptist church at Dighton, and a descendant, in the
fourth generation, of William Paul, born 1615, who left (iiavesend, England, June 10, 1637,
in the ship '-True Love de London,"' Robert Dennis, master, and settled at Taunton,
Mass., of which Dighton was originally a part, in 1637.

rrhis song appears in the "Manufacturers' and Farmers' Journal," of June 25, 1S35, with
a note stating that it was taken from the Plymouth Memorial. It is preserved in Rhode
Island Historical Tracts, No. i, page 52, and also by Mr. Lossing, in "Harper's Young
Folks."'

tMrs. Williams' Biography was written in 1839. and IJarton's account was probably not
written long before his death, Octoter 22, 1831. John Paul told the story to his children,
in Westminster, Vermont, as early as 178;, and General Barton, himself, told it to my
grandfather Amos Paul, in Danville, about 1820,



102 MAGAZINE OF NEW ENGLAND HISTORY.

these facts in the genealogy of the Paul family,* I searched
the filesf of "The Pennsylvania Evening Post," and of "The
Providence Gazette," for contemporaneous and particular re-
ports of the adventure, and learned only, that those who
shared its perils with Barton were about forty-six volunteers.
Barton's own account leaves the impression that there were
forty-eight. Nevertheless, eightj^-three years after the event,
Lossing's "Field Book of the Revolution" states that there
were forty, and that their names, as furnished by General
Barton's son, John B. Barton, Esq., of Providence, were as