The Loyalists of Massachusetts Part 47

Soon after obtaining this distinction, he received an appointment as Apothecary to the British forces in America, and served in Rhode Island and New York till 1781, when he returned to England, in company with his patient, Lord Winchelsea. While in England, in 1782, he is said to have been made Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of London.

October 23, 1782, he was commissioned Physician to His Majesty's Hospitals within the district of North America, commanded by Sir Guy Carleton, and he reported for duty at Halifax, N. S. Letters which have been preserved show that during this year at Halifax he had won the respect, friendship and confidence, not only of his immediate medical superior, Dr. Nooth, but also of Lord Wentworth, Governor of the Province.

In the summer of 1784, Dr. Paine took possession of La Tete, an island in Pa.s.samaquoddy Bay, granted him by the British Government, for his services in the war. He remained there less than one year, and then made his residence in St. John, N. B., where he took up the practice of his profession. The cause of the removal from the island was the protest of his wife that the children could not receive a proper education in that isolated spot.

He was elected member of the a.s.sembly of New Brunswick from the county of Charlotte, and was appointed Clerk of the House. He was commissioned as a justice for the county of Sunbury. There is abundant evidence of the high estimate placed on his character and ability in the numerous offices which he held during his residence here.

July 29, 1786, he wrote to a friend: "I do a great deal of Business in my Profession, but I get very little for it. The truth is we are all very poor, and the most industrious and economical gets only a bare subsistence. However, it will soon be better as the Province is daily filling with stock of all kinds."

In 1787 Dr. Paine made application for leave to visit and reside in New England while remaining on half pay, and a permit to that effect was issued by the War Office.

In Salem he devoted himself to the practice of medicine in the town where he had been known as a student of the famous Dr. Holyoke, and where his wife had spent her early life.

In 1793 his father died, and he removed to Worcester, and for the remaining forty years of his life he resided in the paternal mansion.

His father's property was large, and as he was not an absentee, it was not confiscated. By his will it was equally divided between his children, the farm and homestead covered 1230 acres. Dr. Paine bought the shares of his brothers, and sisters in same for 2,000 pounds sterling, but the deeds were given to Nathaniel Paine in trust for William, for the doctor was as yet, but an alien in his native state.

The year 1812 was a critical one, bringing a most important question for him to decide, for war arose between Great Britain and the United States, and he was still a half-pay officer in His Majesty's service. He therefore resigned from the British service, and in 1812 pet.i.tioned the Legislature for its consent to his being a naturalized citizen of the United States.

William Paine was one of the founders of the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester. His name was omitted from the act of incorporation because he was an alien. The next year, 1813, he was elected Vice President of same.

He occupied the old paternal mansion on Lincoln street in a quiet, very dignified and almost luxurious manner as befitted a country gentleman.

Here he died at the ripe age of 83, March 19, 1833.

SAMUEL PAINE, son of Timothy, was born at Worcester, Ma.s.s. Graduated at Harvard College in 1771. The Worcester County Convention, Sept. 7, 1774, voted to take notice of Mr. Samuel Paine, a.s.sistant clerk, for sending out _venires_. Voted, that Mr. Samuel Dennison go to Mr. Samuel Paine forewith, and desire his immediate attendance before this body, to answer for sending _venires_ to constables commanding their compliance with the late Act of Parliament.

Mr. Paine appeared and stated that he felt bound by the duty of his office to comply with the Act, "Voted that Mr. Paine has not given satisfaction, and that he be allowed to consider till the adjournment of this meeting."

On September 21, he transmitted a paper to the Convention explanatory of his conduct; but that body voted that it "was not satisfactory, and that 'his letter be dismissed' and Mr. Paine himself 'be treated with all neglect.'"

In 1775 he was sent to the Committee of Worcester under guard, "to Watertown or Cambridge, to be dealt with as the honorable Congress or Commander-in-Chief shall, upon examination, think proper." His direct offenses consisted, apparently, in saying that the Hampshire troops had robbed the home of Mr. Bradish; that he had heard the Whig soldiers were deserting in great numbers, and that he was told "the men were so close stowed in the Colleges that they were lousy." This is the substance of the testimony of a neighbor, the only witness who appeared against him.

In 1776 Mr. Paine accompanied the British Army to Halifax when they evacuated Boston. During the war he wandered from place to place without regular employment. He returned to Worcester where he died in 1807. The British government allowed him an annual pension of 84.

JOHN CHANDLER.

The founder of this family, so large and so influential before the Revolution, came to these sh.o.r.es from England in 1637, when William Chandler and Annice, his wife, settled in Roxbury. Mr. Chandler died in 1641, "having lived a very religious and G.o.dly life," and "leaving a sweet memory and savor behind him." Annice Chandler must have been an attractive woman, for she was not only soon married to a second husband, but to a third, and her last one evidently expected her to enter into matrimony a fourth time, for in his will he provided that she shall have the use of his warming pan only so long as she remained his widow.

Goodwife Parmenter, however, died in 1683, in full possession of the warming pan, the widow of the third husband.

JOHN CHANDLER, a son of William, emigrated to Woodstock, Conn., and became a farmer. He was selectman and deacon of the church, and died there in 1703, leaving a family and property valued at 512.

The second John Chandler, son of the first of that name, had before his father's death, moved to New London, Conn., where he married, and in 1698 had opened a "house of entertainment" there. He at a later date moved back to South Woodstock, and in 1711 was chosen representative to the General Court at Boston for several years. After the erection of Worcester County by Act of the Legislature of Ma.s.sachusetts, April 2, 1731, the first Probate Court in Worcester was held by Col. Chandler as Judge in the meeting house, 13th of July, 1731, and the first Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions on August 10 following, by the Hon.

John Chandler, commissioned June 30, 1731, Chief Justice. These offices he held until his death, as well as Colonel of Militia to which stations of civil, judicial and military honors, he rose by force of his strong mental powers, with but slight advantages of education. Judge John Chandler died August 10, 1743, in his 79th year, leaving in his will 8,699.

JOHN CHANDLER, the third of that name, son of the Hon. John Chandler, held nearly all the offices in the town of Worcester, Selectman, Sheriff, Probate Judge, Town Treasurer, Register of Probate, Register of Deeds, Chief Judge of County Courts, Judge of Common Pleas, Representative to the General Court, Colonel of Militia and a member of the Governor's Council. He died in 1762, wealthy and full of honors.

JUDGE CHANDLER, was married to Hannah Gardner, daughter of John Gardner of the Isle of Wight (known afterwards as Gardner's Island), in 1716.

She died in Worcester in 1738, aged 39 years, leaving nine children, the first members of the Chandler family who were born and bred in Worcester.

JOHN CHANDLER, son of the aforesaid, the fourth to bear that name was born in New London, Connecticut, in 1720, was married twice and had sixteen children. His father removed to Worcester when he was eleven years of age. At his father's death he succeeded him to the princ.i.p.al county offices. He was Colonel in the militia, and was in service in the French war, and he was Sheriff, Judge of Probate and County Treasurer.

Up to 1774 John Chandler's life had been one of almost unbroken prosperity, but when the rebellion broke out, his loyalist sentiments brought upon him the wrath of the mob, and he was compelled to leave home, and family and retire to Boston. When Boston was evacuated, he went to Halifax, and thence to London, and two years after he was proscribed and banished. He sacrificed his large possessions, 36,190 as appraised in this country by commissioners here, to a chivalrous sense of loyalty. In the schedule exhibited to the British Commissioners, appointed to adjust the compensation to the Americans who adhered to the government; the amount of real and personal property which was confiscated, is estimated at 11,067, and the losses from office, from destruction of business, and other causes, at nearly 6,000 more. So just and moderate was this compensation ascertained to be, at a time when extravagant claims were presented by others, that his claim was allowed in full; he was denominated in England "The Honest Refugee."

Sabine says "I am a.s.sured that, while he was in Boston he was supported for a considerable time by the sale of silver plate sent him by his family; and that when he left home he had no idea of quitting the country. I am a.s.sured also, that when the Revolutionary Commissioners took an inventory of his household furniture, the females were plundered of their very clothing." His adherence to the government, and his departure for England, seems to have been his only offences, yet he was treated as harshly as though he had borne arms in the field.

He is spoken of as having a cheerful temperament, engaging in manner, hospitable as a citizen, friendly and kind as a neighbor, industrious and enterprising as a merchant, and successful as a man of business. He died in London in 1800, and was buried in Islington churchyard. In 1741 he married Dorothy, daughter of Colonel Nathaniel Paine. She died in 1745. His second wife was Mary, daughter of Colonel Church, of Bristol, R. I., a descendant of the warrior who fought King Philip. She died at Worcester in 1783. His portrait in oil is preserved in the rooms of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester. George Bancroft, the distinguished historian, and the widow of Governor Davis of Ma.s.sachusetts, are Colonel Chandler's grandchildren.

CLARK CHANDLER, son of Colonel John, was born at Worcester in 1743. At first a clerk in the office of the Register of Probate, he became joint Register with Hon. Timothy Paine, and held the appointment from 1766 to 1774. He was also Town Clerk of Worcester from 1768 to 1774. In 1774 he entered upon the town Records a remonstrance of the Loyalists to the great anger of the Revolutionists, who voted in town meeting that he should then and there "obliterate, erase, or otherwise deface, the said recorded protest, and the names thereto subscribed, so that it may become illegible and unintelligible." This he was obliged to do, in presence of the revolutionists, to blot out the obnoxious record by dipping his fingers in ink, and drawing them over the protest.

He left home in June, 1775, and went to Halifax, and thence to Canada.

He returned in September of the same year, and was imprisoned in the common jail. Confinement impaired his health, and he was removed to his mother's home. Finally he was allowed to go to Lancaster, on giving security that he would not depart from that town. He returned to Worcester and kept store at the corner of Main and Front streets. His person was small, and he wore bright red small clothes; was odd and singular in appearance, which often provoked jeers and jokes of those around him, but apt at reply "he paid the jokers in their own coin." He was never married, and died in Worcester in 1804.

RUFUS CHANDLER, fifth child of Colonel John by Mary Church, his second wife. He was born in 1747, and graduated at Harvard College in 1776 in a cla.s.s of forty, with the rank of the fourth in "dignity of family." He read law in the office of his uncle, Hon. James Putnam, in Worcester, where he afterwards practised his profession until the courts were closed by the mobs in 1774. He was one of the barristers and attornies who addressed Hutchinson in the last mentioned year. He inherited the loyalty of his family and left the country at the commencement of hostilities. He went to Halifax in 1776 and in 1778 was proscribed and banished. His mother used a part of his estate for the support of his daughter; but the remainder appraised at 820, was confiscated. He resided in England as a private gentleman, and died in London in 1823, at the age of 76, and his remains were laid with those of his fathers in Islington churchyard. His wife was Elizabeth Putnam, his only child, who bore her mother's name, married Solomon Vose, of Augusta, Maine.

GARDNER CHANDLER, son of Colonel John, of Hardwick, Ma.s.s., was born in 1749, and was a merchant in that town. His property was confiscated, and the proceeds paid into the treasury of the state. He left the colony and returned some time after to Hardwick. He made acknowledgments satisfactory to his townsmen, it was voted by the town "that as Gardner Chandler has now made acknowledgment, and says he is sorry for his past conduct, that they will treat him as a friend and neighbor, so long as he shall behave himself well." He removed to Brattleboro, Vermont, and again to Hinsdale, N. H. He died in the last named town. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Brigadier Timothy Ruggles.

NATHANIEL CHANDLER, son of Colonel John, was born in Worcester, 1750, graduated at Harvard College in 1768. He was a pupil of John Adams, and commenced the practice of law in Petersham. His brother-in-law, the Rev.

Dr. Bancroft, wrote "that he possessed personal manliness and beauty,"

that "he was endowed with a good mind and a lively imagination" that "in disposition he was cheerful." He was one of the eighteen county gentlemen who addressed General Gage on his departure in 1775. In 1776 he went to Halifax. In 1778 he was proscribed and banished, and his estate confiscated. Entering the British service he commanded a corps of Volunteers and did good service. He returned to Petersham in 1784, and engaged in trade, but relinquished business on account of ill health, and returned to Worcester. Citizenship was restored in 1789, by Act of the Legislature of Ma.s.s. He was a very pleasant companion, and a favorite singer of songs in social parties. He never married. He died at Worcester in 1801.

WILLIAM CHANDLER, eighth child of Colonel John, was born at Worcester in 1752, and graduated at Harvard College in 1772. At that time students in that inst.i.tution were ranked according to "dignity of family" and William was placed in the highest cla.s.s. He was one of the eighteen county gentlemen who were driven from their homes to Boston, and who addressed General Gage on his departure in 1775. In 1776 he went to Halifax. He was proscribed and banished under the Act of 1778, but returned to Ma.s.s., after the close of the Revolution. Among the articles in the inventory of his estate when it was confiscated was seven pairs of silk hose, at fourteen shillings; plated shoe buckles, six shillings; and pair of velvet breeches.

Gardiner Chandler, brother of Colonel John. He was born in Woodstock in 1723. In the French war he was a major and was in service at the surrender of Fort William Henry. He was Treasurer of Worcester County eight years and succeeded his brother John, as sheriff, in 1762. He presented General Gage an Address in behalf of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas in 1774; and was compelled by a Convention of the Committee of Correspondence to sign a "Recantation." In time, he regained the confidence of the community, and was suffered to live undisturbed. He died in Worcester, in 1782. His first wife was Hannah Greene, of Providence, R. I., his second, Ann Leonard, of Norton, Ma.s.s.

The Chandlers were in every respect the most eminent family in Worcester County, and furnished many men of distinction in its ante-revolutionary history. They were closely allied by blood, marriage or friendship with the aristocracy of the county and province, in which they had unbounded sway. They had large possessions, and shared with the Paine family (with whom they were allied), the entire local influence at Worcester, but did not, like that family, survive the shock of the Revolution, and retain a local habitation and a name. Their property was confiscated and they were declared traitors.

The family was broken up; some members of it went abroad and died there, others were scattered in this country, yet not a few of their descendants eminent in the most honorable pursuits, and in the highest positions in life under different names and in various localities, represent that ancient, honorable and once numerous race, wrecked by the Revolution.

John Adams says in his diary, "The Chandlers exercised great influence in the County of Worcester until they took the side of the government in the Revolution, and lost their position. They were well bred, agreeable people, and I visited them as often as my school, and my studies in the lawyer's office would admit."

JOHN GORE.

John Gore, of Roxbury, and his wife Rhoda, were both church members in 1635. He died June 2, 1657, and his widow married Lieut. John Remington.

He had ten children, of whom John, Samuel, Abigail, Mary, Mylam, and Hannah, were mentioned in his will.

Samuel Gore, son of the former, lived in Roxbury, and was a carpenter.

He married August 28, 1672, Elizabeth, daughter of John Weld. He died July, 1692. They had seven children.

Obadiah Gore, son of Samuel, was also a carpenter, and lived in Boston.

He married, October 26, 1710, Sarah Kilby. He died October 8, 1721, and was survived by five children, all of whom were baptized at the Brattle Street church.

JOHN GORE, son of the former, lived in Boston, and was a painter and merchant. He married, May 5, 1743, Frances, daughter of John Pinkney.

She was born September 20, 1726. They had fourteen or fifteen children, nine of whom lived to be married. The baptisms of nine of his children are given in the records of the Brattle Street Church. John Gore was an Addresser of Gage, and in 1776 went to Halifax and thence to England. He was proscribed and banished in 1778, and pardoned by the Legislature in 1787. He died in Boston in 1796, aged seventy-seven. His will is in the Suffolk Register, Lib. 94, F. 182. His son, CHRISTOPHER GORE, was born in Boston, Sept. 21st, 1758. He was educated in the public schools of Boston, and was prepared at the South Latin school under the tuition of Mr. Lovell, the most noted educator of his day. At the age of 13, Christopher entered Harvard College, and was among the youngest of his cla.s.s. But he commenced his collegeate course in troubleous times, for in his junior year the Revolution broke out, which created confusion and disorder through society, and deranged the plans, and changed the pursuits of many in every grade and profession. The College at Cambridge was considered by the Revolutionists as "nest of tories" and during the siege of Boston the college buildings were taken possession of by the continental army stationed at Cambridge, and the students were dispersed for several months. Young Gore was determined to follow out his course of college training, however, and to this end went to Bradford, in Ess.e.x County, and studied under the direction and in the family of Rev. Mr.

Williams, afterwards professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in Harvard College. When the college removed to Concord he, with most of the students, repaired thither, and resumed his studies. He graduated in 1776, the year that his father was driven from the land of his birth.