Active In Town Affairs

He served the community in a variety of offices beginning March 3, 1760 as tythingman. In subsequent years he was elected leather and hayrieve overseer (1761), surveyor of highways (1762-3-4-9-81), constable, selectman (5 terms between 1771-82), town moderator (1781), town agent (1773), constable (1777), and on the Committee of Correspondence and Safety (1776-7-9).

He was on committees to provide and take care of schools (1772-3-4), to assign the seats in the Meeting House (1770, 79), to negotiate the salary of Rev. Mr. Ruggles (1776, 78), to settle with Rev. Mr. Foster about his salary (1780), to recruit soldiers to meet the town’s quota for Revolutionary War service (1777, 80) to enforce the Act of the General Assembly to “prevent monopoly and oppression,” to draft a “remonstrance to the General Court relating to the state money being put on interest” (1777), to provide “necessaries for our Continental soldiers” (1778), the Committee for Inspection of Debts (1778), to make “estimation of the cost of the war” (1778) to put the “Resolves of the Concord

During his 1774 term as selectman the town unanimously passed the following resolves:

1. “That we will, in conjunction with our brethren in America, risk our fortunes and even our lives in defense of his Majesty King George, his person, crown, and dignity, and will also with the same resolution as his free-born subjects in this country, to the utmost of our power and ability, defend our Charter rights that they may be transmitted inviolate to the last posterity.
2. “Resolved that every British subject in America has by our happy constitution as well as by nature, the sole right to dispose of his own property either by himself or by his representative.
3. “Resolved that the Act of the British Parliament laying a duty on tea landed in America payable here is a tax whereby the property of Americans is taken from them without their consent.

“Therefore Resolved, that we will not, either by ourselves or any for or under us, buy or sell or use any of the East India Company tea imported from Great Britain, or any other tea with a duty for raising a revenue thereon in America, which is affixed by Acts of Parliament on the same. Neither will we suffer any such tea to be made up in our families.
“Resolved, that all such persons as shall purchase, sell, or use such tea shall be for the future deemed unfriendly and enemies to the happy constitution of this country.”

Service On The Committee of Correspondence

During Thomas’s first two terms on the Committee of Correspondence, the town unanimously voted (22 May 1776) to “willingly support the General Congress if it shall declare independence,” authorized a bounty of 20 pounds for men who enlisted in the Continental Army for three years, and chose a Committee to collect evidence against all persons opposed to the country. In February 1777, the Committee established uniform prices on all produce, merchandise, and labor to “prevent monopoly and oppression.”

Thomas’ Revolutionary War duty began May 31, 1776 when he was commissioned Captain of the 5th (New Braintree) Co. of Col. James Convers’ (4th Worcester Co.) Regt.of Massachusetts Militia. His final tour of duty was for eight months from April 20 to 20 Dec. 1780 when the Company was stationed at Rutland. His Company was at Rutland for three months (April, May, June) in 1778 to guard the British prisoners captured at the Battle of Saratoga the previous October. There were at least 3,000 prisoners confined in barracks enclosed with strong pickets.

General William Whipple, New Hampshire Signer of the Declaration of Independence, led New Hampshire troops in that battle which military historians have called “the turning point of the war” and was one of two negotiators of British Lt. General John Burgoyne’s surrender.

Thomas Whipple and Martha Higgins had the following children:

i. Martha born in Westborough 15 April 1756, died 25 May 1756 at less than one year of age.

ii. Abigail born in New Braintree 9 August 1758.

iii. Nathum born in New Braintree 18 November 1760, died there 18 March 1829 at 68 years of age. Buried in Evergreen Cemetery. He married Lucindy Ashley in New Braintree11 April 1782. She was was born ca 1763 and died 8 October 1825 in New Braintree at 62 years of age. Buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

iv. Elizabeth born in New Braintree 31 October 1762.

v. Moses Whipple born 12 April 1766.

TO BE CONTINUED WITH BENJAMIN WHIPPLE. PART 8

The last major event of Francis and Abigail’s long life was Shays’ Rebellion, an armed outbreak by debtor farmers in western Massachusetts. The rebellion occurred in Francis’ final year of life and Abigail lived for 12 more years. Most of the activity took place in Worcester County and was directed against the Courts for seizing debtor farmers’ property and sending them to prison for debt. Many were “honored veterans” of the Revolution whose Army experiences for many was a famous school of democratic ideas. The uprising followed years of fruitless appeals for relief from the heavy taxes imposed by an unsympathetic state government to retire state debt. No helping hand was extended to keep the ruined head of a household from the Tax Collector or creditor’s clutches. The law was merciless in collecting taxes.

Following a riot at the Court of Common Pleas and Court of General Sessions at Northampton in Hampshire County, the insurgents pledged a repeat performance September 5, 1786 at the Worcester Court House. Governor James Bowdoin ordered Major-General Jonathan Warner of Hardwick to be ready to quell the riot and assist High Sheriff Greenleaf by furnishing any militia he might request. Warner had to tell the Governor that the militia was reluctant to support the government. He said many members flatly refused to serve and others evaded or delayed. “This statement of the affairs at Worcester, however painful and disagreeable to relate,” he wrote, “is the plain truth.” He asked for other instructions on how to proceed at “this unhappy crisis.”

Militia Men Met At Tavern

These militia men probably gathered at the local tavern and debated how to respond to Gen. Warner. The tavern was the social gathering place for the working man, mechanic, and farmer. About half would have been footed, according to the economical custom of a time when shoes before late fall were regarded as luxuries not necessities. Most wore shirts and trousers made of material created by their own hands and those their women-folk sheared, spun, wove, and dyed. The leathern breeches which a few years before were universal were still worn by a few in spite of their discomfort. The room was probably thick with smoke as most men smoked clay or corncob pipes. But the smoke was barely recognized as that of tobacco because that expensive product was mixed with dried sweet fern and other herbs for the sake of economy. With almost no money in circulation, only a couple of men were drinking because they alone had credit at the bar.

Their conversation would have varied little from the past year or two because in those days men talked of nothing but the hard times, the limited markets and low prices for farm produce, the extortion and multiplying numbers of the lawyers and Sheriffs, the oppressions of creditors, the enormous grinding taxes, the last Sheriff’s Sale and who would be sold out next, the last group of debtors taken to jail and who would go next, the utter lack of money of any sort, the impossibility of getting work, the gloomy and hopeless prospect for the coming winter, and of the wretched failure of independence to bring the public and private prosperity they expected.

Paper Money Had No Value

Many had lots of paper money, received for Army pay, but it had no value other than keeping accounts on the backs or as writing paper – not first class writing paper but usable if “middlin” clean. They said that if the Government paid one kind of debt it ought to accept the other kind – meaning the useless bills they received for fighting. According to their logic, if the Government wouldn’t honor those bills it wasn’t fair to assess taxes to pay debts it owed to other folks. At the least, those bills should be accepted against taxes due. They believed the General Court should pass a law valuing property for what was owed against it instead of letting the Sheriff sell it for nothing and send the owner to jail for the balance. They talked about the liberty they won by beating the “Redcoats” – liberty to starve if they weren’t sent to jail first.

On September 5, approximately 300 insurgents were at Worcester and prevented the Judges from convening their Courts. They called themselves the “Body of People” and dispersed the second day with no violence to the local citizens. They returned Sunday evening December 3 and took over the Court House causing the Court to briefly convene in a tavern before adjourning to January 23, 1787. The insurgents then prevented the Court Session scheduled in Springfield December 26 and announced they would not permit the Court to convene at Worcester January 23.

This prompted Gov. Bowdoin to organize an army of 4,400 infantry and four companies of artillery to be commanded by Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln. Lincoln’s forces arrived at Worcester January 22 and the Courts held their first Session the next day. Detachments of insurgents had gathered in New Braintree, Rutland, Princeton, Sterling, and Sutton and Gen. Warner disbursed those at New Braintree and Rutland.

Captain Daniel Shays Leads Insurgents

A large force of insurgents led by Daniel Shays, a Captain in the late Continental Army, marched into Petersham February 3. Lincoln ordered an evening march that arrived at Petersham about 9 a.m. February 4, and surprised Shays insurgents who fled and the insurrection ended. Companies enlisted in New Braintree and Hardwick served from January 21 to February 21 and participated in the terrible night march through deep snow during a violent storm. Historian Minot called it “one of the most indefatigable (untiring, not yielding to fatigue) marches ever performed in America.” General Lincoln wrote that it was so cold that “a great part of our men were frozen in some part or other.” The government offered amnesty to insurgents who would lay down their arms and take the Oath of Allegiance on or before March 21. At least 60 inhabitants of Hardwick, including David and Symonds Whipple, signed the Oath.

Francis’ oldest son, Benjamin, joined the rebellion in Rutland, Vermont and was one of 40 insurgents who was captured November 22, fined, and required to be bonded for good behavior for one year.

THE MOVE TO NEW BRAINTREE

It is not known why Francis and Abigail left Westborough for New Braintree after enjoying such a distinguished career in the former. But it is logical to presume that old age had a great deal to do with it. Both his brothers, Edwards and Jonathan, Jr., were dead as well as other friends of their youth. Their oldest son Benjamin was living in Vermont and sons Thomas and Francis, Jr. had moved to New Braintree years earlier. If their sight, hearing, memory, etc. were failing they probably required help from those families and wanted to be around their grandchildren. Thus Francis spent the last nine years of his life there, Abigail her last 21, twelve as a widow.

They moved in the fall of 1778. Reverend Parkman visited Francis May 11 and noted in his diary that “parting is not pleasant. He desires dismissal for himself and his wife from this Church to New Braintree.” They were dismissed on September 6. A town of about 800 population, New Braintree’s economy was based on beef and dairy and its cheese became a favorite of the people of Boston. Francis was 73 Abigail 70 and they purchased a small farm. He did not seek a leadership role in the Town.

Revolutionary War Ends With British Defeat At Yorktown

It would have been interesting to have been in New Braintree October 19, 1781 to get their reaction to the defeat of the British Army at Yorktown, Virginia when Gen. Charles Cornwallis surrendered his nearly 8,000-man force to the 17,000 Franco-American Army. For all practical purposes, the American War of Independence was over. The Massachusetts Spy reported a celebration in Sutton, not far from New Braintree, by the “respectable inhabitants” of the Town who assembled at the Sign of the Soldier. According to the Spy, “every demonstration of joy was shown” and they drank 13 toasts to the victory.

In Francis’ will, dated February 15, 1783, he bequeathed “all my lands, buildings, and livestock owned and possessed of in the Town of New Braintree.” His legatees were Abigail, sons Benjamin, Thomas, and Francis, daughter Elizabeth, grandchildren Sibbel, Mary, and Daniel Whipple and Abigail Warrin, and unnamed heirs of his late son Abner and late daughter Lucy Maynard. He died July 2, 1787.

Bequests To Legatees

Abigail received all his indoor movables, the use of the whole house, free use of the well, the use and income of two cows, the horse and Chais, and yearly delivery to her free of charge 1 bushel of good malt, 5 bushels of Indian corn, 4 bushels of rye, 1 bushel of wheat, 100 weight of good pork, 60 weight of good beef, 10 pounds of good flax, well dressed from swingle, 8 pounds of good sheep wool, half a bushel of salt, 1 barrel of cider, what fire wood she needs cut fit for the fire and delivered to her door, a due proportion of all sorts of lace, and what apples she wants. The house, horse, Chais, and cows were to go to son Francis and whatever remained of the removals to daughters Elizabeth and Mary and granddaughters Lucy Livermor and Abigail Warrin at Abigail’s death.

Son Benjamin was to receive £6 one year after Francis’ death, son Thomas £6 two years after death, the children of deceased son Abner £6 divided among Abner, Jr. £3 and daughters Sibbel, Mary, and Daniel 20 shillings each to be paid three years after Francis’ death. The heirs of his late daughter Lucy Maynard 5 shillings, granddaughter Abigail Warrin 5 shillings, and daughter Elizabeth 5 shillings. His clothing was to be equally divided among sons Benjamin, Thomas, and Francis and grandson Abner.

Son Francis was named sole executor and given all Francis’ lands and buildings, livestock, and notes on condition he pay all just debts and fulfill the various provisions of the will. The various bequeaths of 5 shillings were based on the fact that those individuals or their parent had previously received their share of his estate. Francis, Jr., joined by Robert and Joseph Willson posted a bond of £3,000 with Probate Judge Joseph Dorr to properly execute the will.

Abigail died in New Braintree at age 91 on 22 December 1799 and Francis, Jr. was appointed administrator of her estate on January 7, 1800. A bond of $10,000 was posted by Francis, Jr. and Edwards Whipple and Joseph Willson, all of New Braintree. There is no record of real estate or widow’s dower or tax stamps due because in lieu of her rights of dower, Abigail received “all his indoor movables of all sorts” when Francis’ will was probated.

Francis’ Burial Place

Francis is buried in New Braintree’s Evergreen Cemetery. It is presumed Abigail is also buried there but no stone has been found. The Cemetery is on Highway 67 .6 of a mile south of Reed’s Country Store which is at the corner of Oakham Rd. and highway 67. The sign, Evergreen Cemetery, is surrounded by a stone fence and has a wrought iron gate at the entrance. Four stone columns anchor the gate. A plaque on one reads: “These walls, gates and other improvements were given in loving memory of his parents and relatives by Frank H. Whipple.”

From the gate proceed .1 mile to the first turn – between two large pine trees. The Whipple graves are to your right under the branches of the tree. Captain Thomas Whipple, Mrs. Marthe Whipple, Mr. Nathum Whipple, Mrs. Lucinday Whipple, and Moses Whipple are clustered together. Squire Francis Whipple and his grandson Sewell Whipple are one row back and to the right. Francis’ stone is broken in half and sunken in the ground. It reads: In Memory of Francis Whipple Esquire In the 82nd Year of His Age.

The photographs of Francis and Abigail (In the Gallery, page 2, photos 9 and 10) are from portraits painted of them, probably when they lived in Westborough. They were passed down through Francis, Jr.’s family and are currently in possession of Julianne Whipple (Bing) Tasker.

Children of Francis and Abigail Whipple:

i. Benjamin, born 23 April 1727; died 30 April 1806. Married
Hepzibah Crosby.
ii. Lucy, born 1 January 1730; died 18 May 1773. Married
Moses Pratt.
iii. Baby Whipple, born in October 1730.
iv. Thomas (Capt.), born 21 October 1731; died 30 January
1811. Married Martha Higgins.
v. Abigail, born 6 July 1734; died 8 October 1762. Married
Thaddeus Warrin.
vi. Abner, born 25 August 1737; died before 15 February 1783.
vii. Sarah, born 1 March 1741; died 28 March 1742.
viii. Francis, born 26 February 1742; died after 1789. Married
Precilla Rice.
ix. Nehemiah, born 28 November 1745; died 18 November
1746.
x. Elizabeth, born 18 June 1748; died 8 May 1822. Married
Nathan Carruth.
xi. Mary, born 11 January 1752. Married Nathan Hill.

TO BE CONTINUED WITH CAPTAIN THOMAS WHIPPLE IN NEW BRAINTREE

In 1772 a rumor was circulating throughout the Province that Great Britain had decided to pay the salaries of Colonial Judges of the Superior Court of Judicature. The Whigs believed the purpose of the new policy was to appoint corrupt officials who would “. . . enslave & oppress our honest people.” On October 14, 1772, Boston Whigs circulated a petition calling for a Town Meeting so the people could speak their minds on judges’ stipends. Their petition said no “free people” could tolerate such a “judiciary constitution;” that it would complete the “Ruin of our Liberties.”

At the Town Meeting October 30, Samuel Adams’ motion was passed unanimously:

That a Committee of Correspondence be appointed to consist of twenty-one persons — to state the rights of the colonists, and of this Province in particular, as Men, as Christians, and as Subjects; to communicate and publish the same to the several Towns in this Province and to the world as the sense of this town, with the Infringements and Violations thereof that have been, or from time to time may be made –
Also requesting of each Town a free communication of their Sentiments on this Subject.

By April 1773 at least 119 towns and districts in Massachusetts had taken some action and at least 25 more responded within the succeeding five months. Thus a majority of the Province’s 260 towns created a Committee of Correspondence whose members were the men of property and “parts,” the same men who regularly led town affairs – Selectmen, Moderators, Deacons, militia Captains, physicians, and lawyers.

Westborough Refuses to Sacrifice Rights and Liberties

Westborough was among the first to respond, electing a Committee of Seven on January 1, 1773. On January 4, the Committee reported that the oppressions complained of in Boston, if not confronted, will ruin the Province. It deplored “extorting money without our consent” and said they should not sacrifice their rights and liberties but to “prize [them] beyond life itself.”

A motion, stating “the town regarded resistance as a corollary of watchfulness,” was passed. It said that once tyranny was perceived, opposition becomes a duty; “that everyone qualified to vote in Town affairs should at all times have a proper sense of them [their rights and the infringements] especially as the future happiness of his family as well as himself depends greatly on their [the infringements] being removed.”

My great (5) grand parents, Francis and Abigail Whipple, were 69 and 66 at this time.

The Westborough Town Meeting of June 17, 1774 took a major step towards independence when it elected a Committee of Correspondence, a Committee to Provision Troops in Case of Alarm, and a Committee to buy a four-pound “field-piece, 400 weight of ball with 10-half barrels of powder, and 500 weight of lead and flints.”

Royal Government Authority Assumed by County Conventions

Massachusetts government was drastically reordered during the second half of 1774. Royal administration collapsed and authority was assumed by representative bodies formed at the local, county, and provincial levels. By summer, County Conventions emerged as the primary entity to coordinate and direct Provincial political activity. Town leaders, recognizing the need for broad consultation and planning in the absence of a Provincial Assembly, created ad hoc County Conventions with town-elected Deputies. While only advisory and lacking legal or coercive authority, the Conventions became instruments for achieving unified, cooperative action without jeopardizing local initiative or control.

Worcester was the second of nine counties to meet in Convention and develop a plan of detailed leadership including advice on military preparations and promoting a detailed political demonstration.

While its Resolves contained a Pledge of Allegiance to the King, it also asserted “that we have, within ourselves the exclusive right of originating each and every law respecting ourselves.” The Convention also recommended non-consumption agreements as the best way to influence Britain, pointing out that in addition it would “greatly prevent extravagance, save our money, encourage our own manufactures, and reform our manners.” It recommended immediate resistance by condemning all Justices who publicly supported Gov. Thomas Gage and urged every town to adopt measures to thwart enforcement of the Massachusetts Government Acts passed by Parliament and became law on May 20, 1774.

The Act changed the colony’s Charter and provided for greater Royal control by giving the King sole power to appoint and dismiss the Council. Many civil offices chosen by election were now to be appointed by the Royal Governor. Town meetings were forbidden without consent of the Governor, except for one regularly scheduled annual meeting. In short, the Act took the executive power from the hands of the democratic part of government.” Taking control of the governmental apparatus, and in particular the Courts, led the citizens to believe that this new arbitrary government might soon seize their tools, their livestock, or even their farms.

Worcester County Leads Uprising

Worcester County was at the center of a massive uprising. The patriots of the town of Worcester called for a meeting of several counties to coordinate the resistance. One-hundred-thirty Town Delegates and members of local Committees of Correspondence met at Worcester at the end of August. This gathering equaled the size of a meeting of the General Court.

The first goal of the Convention was to prevent the newly organized “unconstitutional” Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions from convening. Delegates urged everyone in the County to assemble in Worcester September 6 when the Courts were to meet. The goal was to convince Justices not to sit and the Jurors and Litigants to boycott the Courts. Secondly, towns were urged to send Delegates to the Provincial Congress which was to meet in Cambridge in October. Members who attended created the Massachusetts Provincial Congress which acted as an independent government in the early stages of the American Revolution

On August 27, General Gage, in a letter to Lord Dartmouth, wrote: “In Worcester, they keep no Terms, openly threaten Resistance by Arms, have been purchasing Arms, preparing them, casting Ball, and providing Powder, and threaten to attack any Troops who dare to oppose them. I apprehend that I shall soon be obliged to march a Body of Troops into that Township, and perhaps into others, as occasion happens, to preserve the Peace.“

Upon receiving a report that the Gage planned to send troops to guard the Courts, the Convention developed an “invasion” plan for the Committees of Correspondence to help defend invaded towns.

6,000 Worcester County Citizens Assemble

When September 6 arrived, 6,000 Worcester County citizens, organized in Town Militia Companies, assembled on the Worcester Common, grouped by Town (250 were from Westborough). They performed a pageant of popular sovereignty – requiring the Court officials to tread a path through the ranks of the people while continuously reading aloud their pledge to ignore the government Acts and suspend the Courts.

The pledge signed by the officers of the Court which included three Judges of the Inferior Court, 18 Justices of the Peace, two attorneys, and the Sheriffs: “ . . . All judicial proceedings be stayed by the Justices of the Court appointed this day, by law, to be held at Worcester, on account of the unconstitutional act of the British Parliament, respecting the administration of justice in this Province, which, if effect, will reduce the inhabitants thereof to mere arbitrary power, we do assure you, that we will stay all such judicial proceedings of said Courts, and will not endeavor to put said Act into execution.” As they walked between the lines of the assembled group, hat in hand, they had to read over and over –some estimates were that the statement was read by each 30 times – so that all could hear. All known Tories in town were required to march with the Justices.

Before the day ended and the people returned home, the Convention extended the nullification of English authority to include all Militia officers, resolving they should resign their commissions since they came from the Governor. Instead, the towns should elect their officers.

On September 7 the Convention asked those Justices of the Peace who had pledged to support the Governor and criticized the actions of the people, to repudiate their pledges Eleven of the 14 complied so the Convention Resolved that all of the Justices of Peace who had held office as of June 30 (this included Francis) – except Timothy Ruggles, John Murray, and James Putnam who continued to support Gov. Thomas Gage – should be obeyed until the Provincial Congress made other provisions.

Provincial Congress Assumes Powers of Government

The Provincial Congress met in Cambridge in October and assumed the powers and authority of government. This action caused Governor Gage to issue the following Proclamation: “I have thought it my Duty to issue this Proclamation, hereby earnestly exhorting, and, in His Majesty’s Name strictly prohibiting all his liege Subjects within the Providence, from complying in any Degree, with the said Requisitions, Recommendations, Directions or resolves of the aforesaid unlawful assembly, as they regard his Majesty’s highest Displeasure, and would avoid the Pains and Penalties of the Law. And I do hereby charge and command all Justices of the Peace, and Sheriffs, Constables, Collectors and other officers in their several Departments, to be vigilant and faithful in the Execution and Discharge of their Duty in their respective offices, agreeable to the well known established Laws of the Land; and, to the utmost of their Power, by all lawful Ways and Means, to discountenance, discourage and prevent a Compliance with such dangerous Resolves of the above-mentioned, or any other unlawful Assembly whatever.” Signed at Boston this 10th Day of November in the Fifteenth year of the Reign of his Majesty, George the Third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King Defender of the Faith, &c Annoque Domini 1774.

Westborough issued its last Town-Meeting warrant in his Majesty’s name February 13, 1776. The next meeting, May13, was opened “in the name of their Government and the People of Massachusetts Bay.” On May 24 it instructed Capt. Stephen Maynard, its Representative to the Provincial Congress, to conform to a Resolve of the House concerning “Independency.” On July 2, 1776 it voted that “every man should pay his just proportion in supporting the war from April 19, 1775 forward. In January 1778, the Town voted to pay £1,204, its share of the £400,000 state loan issued to help pay for the war.

Worcester County’s Revolution Precedes Battle of Lexington-Concord

The Random House Dictionary describes a “Revolution” as a forcible overthrow of an established government or political system by the people governed, By this definition, the people of Worcester County staged a full-scale revolution long before the Battle of Lexington and Concord April 19, 1775. It was bloodless, had no famous leaders, was basically middle-class, and was far removed from Boston. General Gage reported to London that “the flames of sedition” had “spread universally throughout the country, beyond conception.” The patriots reigned supreme in rural Massachusetts for seven months.

The constitutional crisis lasted from the fall of 1774 until June 1780 when a new Constitution was formally proclaimed. After six years of quasi-legal interim arrangements when Massachusetts was governed by the towns, first in conjunction with the Provincial Congress, and after August 1775 with the General Court, the people created the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a carefully rationalized structure for republican government. Under wartime conditions, and in spite of severe economic problems, the inhabitants of Massachusetts had systematically analyzed questions of representative government, and after rejecting one Constitution, they settled on a structure which was to prove both stable and durable. John Hancock was elected the Chief Executive by a nearly unanimously vote under the Constitution.

With his many years of public service, Francis would have followed the politics of the Revolution with great interest, especially the June 9, 1775 recommendation of the Continental Congress that Massachusetts’ towns elect a Council to govern the Colony “until a Governor of his Majesty’s appointment will consent to govern” according to the Colony’s Charter.

He would have been concerned about the enormous expenses of the Revolution and the rapid depreciation of money. Paper money was issued by the Continental Congress and the several states and ultimately became valueless and was repudiated. When the Massachusetts Constitution was adopted the state’s debt of £3,050,000 dwarfed the less than £100,000 debt owed before the war. Heavy state taxes plus burdensome Town debts and heavy private debt combined to cause great financial difficulty.

TO BE CONTINUED

Inhabitants living at West-Wing, Braintree-Farms and Hardwick petitioned to be made a distinct and separate district or township on June 14, 1749. They were instructed to print their petition in the Boston Gazette for three weeks successively and return the second Wednesday of the next sitting of the Court to see if the petition would be granted. The petition was read in the House on August 9 and considered on March 28, 1750 when a Committee was authorized to review the petition and report to the House in May.

On June 17 Francis was voted an appropriation of £15 to be used on behalf of Sarah Furbush, widow of Phineas Furbush, late of Westborough. Sarah petitioned the Court for assistance based on her husband being taken captive by the French and Indians at Fort Massachusetts and died in Canada. Col. John Chandler of Worcester County and Col. Joseph Heath were elected Commissioners to “redeem our captives in the hands of the French and Indians” in Canada on August 16.

House Appropriates 18,400 pounds; Authorized Frontiers to be Patrolled

On June 21 the House authorized the Treasurer to “pay Mr. Whipple seven pounds ten shillings for the use of Jason Badcock and that the Commissary-General give Badcock a good gun out of the Province Store.” It voted to appropriate £18,400 to discharge the public debts, to pay for the travel of Members instead of requiring their towns to pay, and authorized 88 men, including officers, to patrol the eastern and western frontiers (from January 17 to May 1) on January 3, 1750. It also established a Joint Committee to determine which issues dividing the Province and Great Britain should receive speedy attention.

Francis was named to a Joint Committee of the Council and House on March 28, 1750 to hear the parties in a dispute about the boundary line between Stow and Littleton in Middlesex County. The Joint Report was accepted by the Council April 13 and by the House April 18 and the petition was dismissed. On April 5 he was appointed to the House Committee to hear the petition of Mr. John Dennis, Chaplain at Fort Frederick from 1737 to date. Dennis claimed that the several grants he had received were insufficient for this support and asked for further allowance. The Committee made its report the same day and the House voted him £17 16s.

The April 6 petition of Elizabeth Tilson of Hopkington, administratrix of the estate of her husband Abraham, to sell some assets was referred to a Committee of Francis, Capt. Daniel Howard of Bridgewater, Plymouth County, and Col. Joseph Buckminister of Framingham. The Committee made a favorable report on April 7 and the House gave its approval for the sale. On April 12 Francis was named to a Committee to report on the petitions of “sundry persons for townships.”

General Court Sessions of 1755- 56

Members met from January 14 through March 10, 1756 every day except Sundays. On January 30, House Members, without the Council, waited upon “his Excellency (Gov. Shirley) at the Court House then went to their own Chambers and voted that Orders be given that the lantern on the Court House be illuminated that evening and preparations made for the two Houses to drink to his Majesty’s health. The Governor notified the Members the next day that he had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of all his Majesty’s forces in North America.

Major issues this Session were the French and Indian War and caring for the “neutral French” who had arrived from Nova Scotia. Petitions arrived in unending numbers from inhabitants living on the frontiers asking for more protection from Indian raids.

House Authorizes 300 Men for Scouting Duties

Connecticut had posted Scouts along the Connecticut river and expected Massachusetts to pay all their costs. New Hampshire ceased protecting another section bordering the river, causing a great increase in the number of petitions received. The House voted on February 19 not to subsidize the Connecticut soldiers unless they were there “at the desire of this Court.” On March 9 the House ordered 300 men, exclusive of officers, be deployed for scouting duty. A third were to go to York County, Maine. It voted a bounty of $2 for each soldier who would enlist in the Scouting Service and established a scale of bounties for Indian scalps and prisoners.

Consideration was given to raising money by excusing “gentlemen from military duties” if they would lend money to the government and by levying an assessment on Quakers earmarked to defend the Province “in lieu of their personal services.

Francis On Committee to Hear From Sick and Wounded Soldiers

Francis served on the Committee to hear petitions from sick and wounded soldiers and money was frequently appropriated “to his care” to be used on their behalf. He was also on the Committee to hear the petitions of several Societies of Baptists seeking relief from supporting the Congregational Ministry. The Baptists wanted full “liberty of conscience” to support their own Ministry.

Governor Shirley asked both Houses for money on April 9 to build and garrison a fort on the Penobscot river to strengthen the eastern frontiers. He reported that the Penobscot and St. John’s Indians had been decimated by small pox and that the fort should be built before new Indians claimed the area. The House agreed with the Governor’s reasoning but said the King was responsible for the safety of the Province and that other needs of the Province were so great it couldn’t afford to build and garrison the fort. Francis Whipple was on the Committee to “wait upon his Excellency” and give him the House’s response.

General Court Sessions of 1756-57

Of the 17 Representatives from Worcester County, Francis, William Richardson, Esq. of Lancaster, Timothy Paine, Esq. of Worcester, and Capt. John Brown of Leicester and Spencer were the workhorses. Members took the Oath of Abjuration (a formal swearing) on May 26 and elected Thomas Hubbard, Esq., Boston, Speaker and Henry Gibbs, Esq., Salem, Secretary. Among the first actions was to order that a Journal of the House be printed for each Member and for each town. Acting Governor Phips presented his Message to both Houses on the twenty-seventh and asked for more support to prosecute the war.

A host of new headaches caused by the French and Indian war was awaiting the Legislators. One of the most pressing wartime problem was what to do about the neutral French refugees who crowded into the Province after being evicted from Nova Scotia the previous winter. Catholic and French, they represented entities colonial Americans found most distasteful in their struggle with Catholic France.

The government had the difficult job of finding homes — preferably inland away from the vulnerable coast — for the vast numbers who arrived. In August six refugees were allocated to Westborough and the General Court directed the Selectmen to assist them find employment. If jobs couldn’t be found at reasonable rates, the Town was to provide for their “comfortable subsistence” as if they were “proper inhabitants of the Province.” Interestingly Francis voted on the bill in the House and acted on its instructions as a Westborough Selectman.

As the war wore on, Members came to the realization that military service was a fiscal drain both during and after campaigns as soldiers asked for and received money for hardship and loss. Francis was on the Committee to consider the petitions of sick and wounded soldiers and money for a number of them was appropriated in his name with instructions to make it available for the individual’s use.

General Court Sessions of 1762-63

The House had 109 members. Francis was one of 13 from Worcester County. Francis Bernard was Governor, Thomas Hutchinson Lieut. Governor, and Col. Timothy Ruggles of Hardwick, Worcester County, Speaker.

One of the main issues was caused by the Governor when in August 1762 he, with consent of the Council during a House recess, authorized £72 to outfit and man the sloop Massachusetts for a voyage to Nova Scotia in search of a French privateer and in defense of Salem and Marblehead fishing vessels in the area. The privateer was never found.

When the sloop returned to Boston, the Governor, in ex post facto fashion (something done afterwards), asked the House, then in Session, to authorize the funds. It refused and on September 15 complained with some bitterness that the Governor’s authorization took from the House its “most darling privilege: the right to originate all taxes.” It charged the Governor with “annihilating one branch of the Legislature” and said if Representatives gave up this privilege the result would arbitrary government. Nothing, they said, could “justify a House of Representatives giving up such a privilege.”

Governor Attacked for Infringing On Rights of the House

In mid November 1762, James Otis, Jr., a Barnstable Representative and leader in the “movement to protect the rights of the House,” vigorously attacked Gov. Bernard and his “pliant Council.” in a 50-page pamphlet: A Vindication of the Conduct of the House of Representatives . . . of the Massachusetts-Bay: More Particularly, in the Last Session of the General Assembly. He also published a savage attack on Lieut. Gov. Hutchinson on January 31, 1763.

A number of Worcester County issues occupied Francis this Session. He was on the Committees to hear petitions from: Elijah Rice and Solomon Miller of Upton and Barnabas Newton of Westborough to annex their 238 acres to Westborough; Jabez Snow to leave Westborough and join Southborough; several inhabitants in the southeasterly part of Shrewsbury (the part of the Town called Shoe) to join Westborough; George Andrews of Ipswich who had bought a farm in Westborough with a Public House licensed for entertainment seeking the right to retain the license; Abigail Bruce of Grafton, widow of Ichabod Bruce, a soldier in service in 1758, for wages due him for that service.

General Court Sessions of 1763-64

There were 102 Members with Francis one of 14 from Worcester County. Timothy Ruggles of Hardwick was elected Speaker. Governor Bernard’s address on May 26 noted that the peace treaty with France made North America entirely British. He said with the Colonies delivered from a foreign war he hoped they could be equally free “from intestine divisions” as he called for peace to “prevail in an especial manner in the Councils of this Province.”

Several Acts of Parliament – most of which were opposed by the Massachusetts House – were on the agenda. The Molasses Act of 1733 was due for renewal in 1764 and the port towns of Boston, Plymouth, Marblehead, Salem, and Newbury asked the Legislature, late in 1763, to protest the Act as “prejudicial to the trade of this Province.” Other concerns were the proposed Sugar Act; the April 1763 law authorizing officers of British warships in North American waters to seize and prosecute violators of the Acts of Trade and to share in the profits of condemnations; and the order requiring Massachusetts (and no other colony) to conduct a census, occupied much of the Member’s time. They made their position on these issues known through their Agent in London and authorized Thomas Hutchinson to join the regular Agent to lobby against the measures.

Some Members believed the census would somehow disadvantage the Province. Others opposed it on religious scruples, comparing it to “David’s numbering the people.” Still others thought it was a way Britain could determine how the Province might shoulder more of the wartime debt. After several deferments the census was finally taken.

Francis Votes Against Funding Troops

The General Court made it clear it was not interested in sharing in the cost of past military activity or for current problems of defense. Gen. Thomas Gage, who was ordered to quell Chief Pontiac’s rebellion, asked the Legislature to provide 700 uniformed provincials – whom the King would provision, equip, and house. In his January 31, 1764 Message, Gov. Bernard passed on Gage’s request and asked for favorable action saying “Let not this Province be distinguished by its disregard of it (the King’s business). On February 1, 1764 the House voted 40 to 37 against the troop request. The Worcester County delegation voted six no, one yes. Six were absent. Francis Whipple voted no. It voted 41 to 32 on the same day to excuse Hutchinson from accepting the assignment to be a Special Agent. The same 6 to 1 vote prevailed with Francis voting to excuse him.

Because of a smallpox epidemic, the Legislature asked permission to conduct its Sessions in Cambridge, a few miles safely distant across the Charles river. The Governor granted permission and asked the House to order strict attendance and to meet Saturdays and Mondays so the Session could be brought to an early end.

They met in Harvard Hall – begun in 1672 and the only Harvard structure surviving from the seventeenth century. They were there less than a week before fire destroyed the building. The fire began in the “middle of a very tempestuous night,” in a “severe cold storm of snow attended with high winds,” and was thought to have started “in a beam under the hearth in the library where a fire had been kept for use of the General Court. Fortunately, no lives were lost – students were on a term break – but the college library with over 5,000 volumes and philosophical apparatus was destroyed. Since it was destroyed while occupied by the General Court, the Court appropriated £2,000 to replace it.

General Court Sessions of 1764-65

Because smallpox was still prevalent in Boston in 1764, the General Court convened its in the comparative rural safety of Concord on May 30. It was a brief Session – adjourning on June 15 – and the main subject was the Sugar Act of 1764. The Province’s Agent in London, Jasper Mauduit, was instructed to work for the repeal of the Sugar Act and against passage of the proposed Stamp Act. The House sent Mauduit a “brief statement of the rights of the Colonies” along with instructions about the Sugar and Stamp Acts. He was given liberty to improve the former “as he shall judge proper.”

At the beginning of the second Session at Boston which began October 18 the House drafted a stern address to the King denying Parliament’s authority to tax them. However, by the time it adjourned November 3, it was reduced to a meek petition to the House of Commons requesting continuation of the Colonial privilege of internal taxation. Francis chose not to serve this session and Westborough was represented by Mr. Jonathan Bond.

General Court Sessions of 1765-66

Ninety-four Members served. Francis was one of 16 from Worcester County. Francis Bernard was Governor; Roland Cotton, Treasurer, and Samuel White of Taunton, Bristol County, Speaker.

The King’s decision to have the British Parliament impose taxes on the American Colonies became the major issue of the 1765 Session. Parts of a letter from London dated February 7, 1764 was published in the April 9 Boston Evening-Post. The newspaper quoted the part that predicted “You’ll soon have a parcel of Myrmidonian Ravens, who will feed upon and rip up your very vitals, such as Officers of Stamp Duties, Appraisers of Lands, Houses, Furniture, &c. The Ministry are (sic) determined to make you pay for the peace you like so well.” The reference was to the House of Common’s decision to enact stamp duties on the American colonies. The new legislation was enacted within a year and made Francis’ final year of legislative service, 1765-66, the most trying and hectic of his eight terms.

House Resists Stamp Act; Seeks Support From All Colonies

The Stamp Act levied a tax on the use of virtually every type of document. The statute was a kind of universal presence that Americans deplored as an invasion of privacy and imposed by a legislature in which they were not a part. The House determined Great Britain must be resisted – stoutly, firmly, and constitutionally. To this end, it initiated a call, little more than a week into the Session, for a meeting of Committees from the “several British Colonies on this continent, to consult together on the present circumstances of the Colonies” to take place in New York City on the first Tuesday of October 1765.

Known as the Stamp Act Congress, it was the first inter-colonial gathering since the great Albany Congress of 1754. Some say James Otis, Jr. was the prime mover for the Congress. He was on the Committee that drafted the Circular Letter proposing the Congress and was one of the three Massachusetts Delegates to attend. The others were Col. Oliver Partridge, Hatfield, Hampshire County, and Brig. Timothy Ruggles, Hardwick, Worcester County. On June 20 the House appropriated £450 for the Committee’s use while in New York and named a Committee to prepare instructions for its three members.

Soon after the close of the first Session in late June copies of the Virginia Resolves arrived in Boston and were printed in the newspapers. Governor Bernard called them an “Alarm Bell to the disaffected.” And so they were.

TO BE CONTINUED

Francis was 29 and Abigail 26 when they left the Hamlet at Ipswich. The family consisted of sons Benjamin, 7 and Thomas, 3 and daughter Lucy, 4. A fourth child born in Ipswich had died before the move. Seven children were born in Westborough. They lived to see the birth of 41 grandchildren, seven of whom preceded them in death.

Their home was probably close to his parent’s home. Their minister, Rev. Ebenezer Parkman, wrote in his diary on February 16, 1746 that he rode out to see old Mr. Whipple (Jonathan) “where was his son Francis.” His diary of May 9, 1749 notes that he rode around to both [of] the Whipples that afternoon.

Francis was a member of the small group of leaders who dominated Westborough’s political life. He was elected to all the major offices, to the General Court (legislature) as a Member of the House, and was a leader in church affairs. He was 39 when elected Town Treasurer (1744), and 41 when first elected to the General Court (1746). During his 26 years of public service, he held dual positions: 1752-8, simultaneously Selectman, Town Clerk, and Representative; 1762 and 1763 Town Moderator, Selectman, and Representative; 1765, the year of the Stamp Act troubles, Representative, Selectman and Clerk; 1768 and 1770, Moderator, Selectman, and Clerk. He ended his political career at age 65 in 1770 by serving as Moderator, Selectman, and Clerk. He was also Justice of the Peace and Court was frequently held at his home as were the marriages he performed. He held the titles of Mister and Esquire.

The family lived in turbulent times

The family lived in turbulent times — the French and Indian War, the religious revivals known as the Great Awakening, the efforts of Britain to eliminate many of their liberties and to tax them excessively without representation in the Parliament, and by imposing many other regulations designed to limit the Colony’s right to grow and prosper — and because of his various public duties Francis was on the cutting edge of the changes that were soon to come to the American colonies.

Francis’ eight terms in the House of Representative coincided with these events and with the beginning of British repressions, including the Stamp Act, which led to the American Revolution. His fellow citizens kept electing him because they trusted him and his judgment. He led a very full life.

Like his father, he was close to Rev. Parkman and was frequently elected Delegate to Church Councils held at adjoining towns. He played a critical role as a member of the Committee to reply to the Legislature about the petition to split the Church and divide the Town in 1744.

Ominous news of the French War came to Worcester in July of 1757 when it was learned that the 2,400-man garrison at Fort William Henry at the south end of Lake George, New York was in imminent danger of attack from Fort Carillon at Ticonderoga, N. Y. Robert Rogers’ New Hampshire’s Scouts brought word that French Gen. Louis Montcalm had 8,000 men marshaled and ready to attack and that the British Army, the main line of defense, was far away in Nova Scotia waters.

Thomas Pownall, Massachusetts’ Governor, ordered 25 Massachusetts regiments to be ready to march at a moment’s warning. Worcester was made headquarters for a rendezvous for troops from the middle counties. The Town Green was soon filled with men from Lancaster, Shrewsbury, Rutland, Lincoln, and Westborough, walking in by twos and threes with their muskets on their shoulders. Excitement was high.

Riders with frantic calls for help came in daily from the north frontier. Col. John Chandler, the Worcester Commander, responded by sending orders instantly to wherever troops had assembled. He eventually ran out of post riders and berated the “damned farmers who wouldn’t leave their hay fields in July even if the enemy were cannoning the Court House itself.”

Fort William Henry Surrenders

The town learned on August 3 that Fort William Henry had surrendered. The Boston Gazette printed eyewitness accounts of the surrender and that the French were expected to attack Fort Edward, farther south. If that Fort fell, the colonial frontier would be defenseless and Massachusetts would be naked to the sea. Consequently, the Worcester Militia was ordered to march to Albany, N. Y. to join other forces and engage in the fighting.

By July 1758, after eight weeks of fighting, the great French Fortress of Louisbourg was captured. It was the major French stronghold and controlled the entrance to the St. Lawrence river. The tide had turned. New England saw hope ahead and felt her strength renewed.

The Westborough Schoolmaster usually taught from 8 to 20 weeks annually and received from two to three times as much pay as the School Mistress. The person boarding the teacher received about a dollar a week. Doctors charged according to the amount of medicines furnished and travel to see their patients. One shilling was generally the minimum fee. The charge for blood letting was usually 1 shilling 6 pence. This service was considered nearly indispensable when a patient was seriously ill. Francis, as Justice of the Peace, received from 1 to 2 shillings for the deeds he made. The charge was based on the length of the document. He received somewhat larger fees for services as Justice of the Peace trying petty offenses. Uttering profane oaths and “cusses” appear to have been the most common offenses.

Election to the Great and General Court

His first election to the Great and General Court occurred at the Town Meeting May 20, 1746. He was re elected May 18, 1747. The Town didn’t send a Representative in 1748 and elected Francis again on May 12, 1749. He also served in 1755, 1756, 1762, 1763, and 1765.

Boston’s Court House was at the foot of King street and dominated central Boston. Its three stories were topped by a gilded lion and unicorn and housed both the General Court and the Town’s Merchant Exchange. Access to the government offices was by a side door and up a narrow circular stairway to the foyer which separated the House and Council Chambers – the latter in the room on the right. Across the hall from the main Chamber in a room scarcely larger than the Council’s, the 100 or so Representatives convened. The room was too hot in summer and overheated in the winter and always appeared to be in disarray. The main Chamber was large and well appointed. The Governor’s Mansion was on Marlborough street. A half dozen taverns and small boarding houses were only a brief walk from the Court House. Most Representatives stayed in these boarding houses and political gossip and deals were made in the taverns.

What would be among the most notable things for a modern day descendant of Francis if he/she were privileged to travel to Boston with him and attend a Session of the General Court? Probably the stench. Boston was a city of 15,000 with a long majestic wharf, teeming streets, crowded shops, and an unruly work force. The streets stank of manure, the courtyards of urine, the stair-wells of moldering wood and rat droppings; kitchens stank of mutton fat and spoiled vegetables; un-aired parlors stank of stale dust, bedrooms of greasy sheets, damp feather-beds, and the pungent aroma of chamber pots.

Stenches were in the air: sulfur rose from the chimneys, caustic lyes from the tanneries, congealed blood from the slaughterhouses. The rivers stank as did the marketplace, the churches, the fine houses of the wealthy. All the people from the common laborer to the upper class, even the Governor and his wife, stank in all seasons of the year. They stank of sweat and unwashed clothes, of bad breath and rotting teeth, older people of rancid cheese and sour milk. There was nothing to hinder bacteria busy at decomposition. No human activity was free from the stench and our modern descendant would have welcomed a quick return to the 21th century.

They Met, Adjourned, and Dissolved at the Command of the Governor.

With the exception of the annual May meeting, The House operated under a brief set of rules which were reviewed and adopted annually. Members were to be polite, courteous, and decorous. They were not to speak out of turn or wander aimlessly about. The Legislative Calendar, almost non existent, allowed Members to discuss whatever interested them. Amendments and motions were not limited.

They could seek passage of favorable legislation, which usually meant taxes others would have to pay; introduce and advocate fiscal policies to encourage the economic development of their community; argue for defense measures that limited the mobilization of their town’s militia company or the drafting of their sons. The right to debate was unfettered. They could obstruct the orderly flow of legislation when their own demands were being ignored and argue over and over again for legislation they wanted. Committees were used to deal with the disposition of individual disputes, hardship cases, complaints, and the like. Partisan appeals, while not unknown, were unusual.

The three branches of government assembled at the opening of each Session which began with a sermon. The House elected the Council but the Governor had the power to reject anyone elected. There were no nominations or floor discussion. Each Member wrote the names of the 28 men he wanted with the obvious advantage going to the candidates with established reputations. Party politics did not exist so Representatives served without a party position to follow and achieved a great deal of independence.

Legislative Sermons

Most legislative sermons included an exposition of the biblical foundation of government and then proceeded to a lesson in morality, concluding with an application of the lesson to the Governor, Councilors, Representatives, and on occasion, to the people in general. Most sermons dealt with wisdom and moral stamina. Members were described as “fathers” and were expected to guide, nourish, and protect their people. The Ministers preached thusly, believing that the people would follow paths of virtue or of vice depending on the example and wise governance of their superiors in authority.

At Francis’ first Session, Rev. John Barnard preached that the responsibility of rulers extended beyond the mere defense of the Commonwealth and the rights of its people to include their advancement, both moral and material. At his fifth session (1756), Rev. Samuel Cooper preached that the ideal ruler, whether a King, a Governor, a Representative, or a Selectman, was a Moses, a “wise and tender patriarch whose personal piety equipped him for the just and humane direction of his people.” Cooper also said criticism of rulers should be limited to those who were well informed of the facts, and their criticism should be “managed with more decency, and tempered with charity.” Representatives were urged to apply these standards in choosing Councilors who should “be Gentlemen of good Extract, and of large Interests” with family name and economic interests less important than personal character.

The Speaker appointed a Temporary Committee to hear each bill, petition, and bureaucratic function. During the 1756-57 Session members had the added pressure of dealing with the war against France. Speaker Thomas Hubbard created more than 400 separate Committees with 1600 individual Committee assignments. Members served on three to five Committees with differing responsibilities. While military planning and strategy was the Governor’s responsibility, the House insisted on supervising all facets of military affairs. In war time a Joint House-Council Committee assumed most routine military responsibilities. Most Committees met in special Chambers in the Court House attic.

Most details of legislation were decided on the House floor. Floor debate was secret but it was taken seriously and frequently changed minds. Controversial measures were considered paragraph by paragraph and if need be sentence by sentence and word by word. A debate that began in the morning might resume after the dinner break and then continue into the early morning hours. Whether voting was by voice, a show of hands, or an unrecorded tally is unknown.

Many Members Went Home Before the Session Ended

A minimum of 40 Representatives was required to convene. Daily attendance early in the Session averaged 70 but as the Session wore on, Members had a tendency to go home to plow their fields or tend to other interests. Those absent without permission were subject to fines and could be summoned to the House by a Writ served by a County Sheriff. However, fines were seldom imposed and absenteeism forced frequent recesses. Occasionally the introduction of a piece of controversial legislation would entice delinquent Members back. Often several days would be devoted to debating a bill, a final compromise agreed to only to see the bill rejected because the sudden influx or departure of Members altered the division of support.

TO BE CONTINUED

On 20 November. 1708, John was deeded land by his father Joseph and sold 130 acres to his older brother James for £100 on 21 May 1725. This acreage was “bounded on Hassanamisco” (Grafton). The deed was also signed by his wife Mary. John was identified as “being of Sutton” in that transaction.

Sutton in Worcester county received its grant in 1704 on condition “they settle a Town of 30 families and a Minister within seven years after the end of the present war with the Indians.” John was one of 10 men to sign the first Church Covenant in the fall of 1720. The church was organized upon the Congregational Platform and Rev. John McKinstry was ordained 9 November. The Covenant was renewed 30 September 1728 when John and four other original signers were joined by 15 new members. They subscribed as follows:

Sutton Church Covenant September 1728

“1. We, whose names are hereunto subscribed Promise this day to renew our Solemn Covenant engagements to serve the Lord God Almighty with his grace assisting us; apprehending ourselves called of God into the church state of the gospel, for first of all confess ourselves to be unworthy to be so highly favored of the Lord, and admire that free and rich grace of his which triumphed over so great unworthiness, and with a Humble reliance on the aids of his grace therein promised for them, that, in a sense of their inability to do any good thing, do humbly wait on him for all — we now thankfully lay hold on his Covenant and would chose the things that please him.

“2ndly. We declare our serious belief of the Christian Religion as contained in the sacred Scriptures, and with such a view thereof as the Confession of Faith in our churches has exhibited. Heartily resolving to conform our lives unto the Rules of that Holy Religion as long as we live in the world.

“3rdly. We give up ourselves unto the Lord Jehovah, who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and avouch him this Day to be our God, our Father, our Savior, and our Leader, and receive him as our Portion forever.

“4thly. We give up ourselves unto the Blessed Jesus, who is the Lord Jehovah, and adhere to him as the Head of his People in the Covenant of Grace, and rely upon him as our Priest, and our Prophet, and our King to bring us unto Eternal Blessedness.

“5thly. We acknowledge our Everlasting and Indispensable obligations to glorify our God in all the Duties of a Godly, and a Sober, and a Righteous life; and very particularly in the duties of a Church State and a body of people associated for an obedience to Him in all the Ordinances of the Gospel; and we hereupon depend upon his gracious assistance for our faithful discharge of the duties thus incumbent on us.

“6thly. We desire and intend and (with Dependence on his promised and powerful grace), we engage to walk together as a Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in the faith and order of the Gospel as far as we shall have the same revealed unto us — conscientiously attending the Public worship of God, the Sacraments of his New Testament, the Discipline of his Kingdom, and all His Holy institutions in Communion with one another, and watchfully avoiding sinful stumbling blocks and contention as becomes a people whom the Lord has bound up together in a bundle of Life — at the same time we do also present our offspring with us unto the Lord, proposing with his Help to do our parts in the methods of a Religious Education that they may be the Lord’s. And all this we do flying to the blood of the Everlasting Covenant, and praying that the glorious Lord, who is the Great Shepherd, would prepare and strengthen us for every good work to do his will, working in us that which is well pleasing in his sight, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

John Active in Church Activities

At the church meeting four days later, John was chosen to set the Psalm. He was named to a 5-man committee 30 December 1723 to distribute Meeting House pews. He was assigned a front pew 5′ 3″ with a depth of 5′ 6″ on the west side of the south door. He was appointed 29 March 1725 to go to the Proprietors’ Meeting to negotiate payment of their arearage of “the ministry money.” On 29 August 1726 he was on the 9-man Committee to determine whether to retain Rev. McKinstry and was the Moderator of the Town Meeting 2 September 1728 that voted to dismiss McKinstry. On 26 November 1728 he was named to the Committee to negotiate with David Hall to assume the Minister’s duties until 1 March 1729. On 8 September 1729, he was on the Committee to arrange for Hall’s Ordination. John was one of five men given permission (6 March 1738/39) to build a pew “over the men’s stairs . . . provided they did not hurt or discommode the going up the gallery stairs.”

He also served as Selectman: 1721, ’23, ’24, and ’27; as Moderator of Town Meetings every year from 1725 through 1730.

John and Mary had the following children, all except Abigail born in the Hamlet:

i. Joseph Whipple born 22 December 1711.
ii. Sgt. Ebenezer Whipple born 14 September 1713.
iii. Sarah Whipple born in Ipswich, 22 March 1713/14.
iv. John Whipple born 22 August 1717.
v. Lucy Whipple born 25 February 1723/4.
vi. Abigail Whipple born in Sutton, 3 March 1726/27.

Next. Francis in Worcester Co. Part 4.