Chapter 1 - The Beginning
Section VI - The Founding of Westham
As the settlers built their homes, the need for roads and the salvation of souls came to the fore. By 1718, the Proprietors were petitioning Dedham for help.
"May ye 21th 1718. being a publick Meeting of the propriators of that Tract of Land belonging to Dedham Westward of Wrentham in order to choose a Committe To make their adress to ye Town of Dedham relateing the Church lott sold by some of ye church of Dedham, to Josiah Thayer, ye propriators then Mett at ye hous of Ebenezer Thayer on sd land & chose Leut John Darling Moderator and so proceded to choose a committee which were Leut. John Darling, Ensn Jonas Draper & Ensn John Tompson and Impowere them to address ye Town of Dedham for Releaf with referance to sd Church Lott & also get the Selectmen take care that some persons be appointed to Lay out highways in sd tract of land to accomodate ye Inhabitance & Likewise to preambulate Line between them & Wrentham."
The distance from Dedham, the lack of help in laying roads, the futility of paying toward a government that was distant and spending its money in ways not benefitting the landowners, led to the inevitable conclusion that a new town should be formed. A petition went first to Dedham. The debate within the town government was not long. The area was not crucial to the town nor was it particularly desirable. Governing these remote lands may not have been any more attractive to the governing than to the governed. The reply came May 11, 1719:
"This day the Inhabitants of this town in that track of land lying between Mendon and Wrentham presented a petition to this town praying that they may be set off from this town in order to a township the town have granted it provided they can unite and encorporat together with the farms adjacent and some Assistance and Inlargement from the towns of Mendon and Wrentham so as to capassatate them to manage the affairs of a town and have the approbation of the General Court."
The area to be incorporated included The Rawson Farms located north of the Charles River and portions of Mendon located east of the Charles River and west of the Farms. The area belonging to Dedham was not clearly defined. A map included with the petition showed a town approximately seven miles long bordered to the south by Attleborough. The latter may have been correct, but the homes of many of the signers were actually in what is now Woonsocket, making the Town closer to fifteen miles in length at that time. With the exception of a few minor changes and a clear definition of the southern boundary in 1745, Bellingham's borders have been unchanged since that time.
Once that hurdle was crossed, the consent of the colonial legislature was required. The settlers met again and prepared their petition. This was not a step taken lightly, and even though the path was determined, it was several months before the petition reached the General Court. On November 26, 1719 "A Petition of John Darling, Nicholas Cook and 30 others, Inhabitants of a remote part of Dedham, some Farms, and 4 Inhabitants of Mendon", was presented to the House and Read, praying, that they may be constituted a Township. No name was requested within the petition.
In the tradition of the time the petition went first to the House. The record does not show whether there was any debate or discussion. With the approval of the ruling town body already given, it was unlikely that there was a great deal of debate. In any case a vote was taken and it was:
"Ordered, That the prayer of the Petition be Granted, and that a Township be Erected and Constituted accordingly thereunto, and the Plat therewith exhibited, with all Powers and Priveleges belonging to a Town. Provided, They procure and settle a Learned Orthodox Minister, within the space of three Years next coming, and that John Darling, John Tompson and John Marsh be Impowered, to call a Town Meeting any time in March next, to choose Town Officers and manage the other prudential Affairs of the Town; the name of the Town to be called Westham. Sent up for Concurrence."
The General Court was a two bodied legislature. The House action had to be followed by passage by the Council (closer to the present Senate than the Governors Council of today). The Town of Westham had only this final hurdle to make in order to become an independent town.
Westham's final vote came the next day. The Council did not grant Westham the independence requested. Less than twenty four hours after its birth, Westham went down to defeat. The reason for its death is not in the records. A search of the Massachusetts Archives does not show the whys and the wherefores, only a simple statement of the Council's action.
On November 27, 1719:
"The Vote of this House on the Petition of John Darling &c. Pass'd the 26. Currant, Sent down fron the Board pass'd on there, viz. In Council Nov. 27th 1719. Read, and Concurr'd with this Vote excepting the Name to beBellingham. Read and Concurr'd."
The Towns of Massachusetts were initially named after the towns of England. After the colony had exhausted the names of the hometowns familiar to the new settlers, they turned to naming their towns after their Puritan forebears. Thus we have Winthrop and Dudley and other similarly named towns. And also, thus we have Bellingham. In line with other names given at the time, Bellingham was probably named after Richard Bellingham, third Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. There is no actual evidence that he was the benefactor of the Town's name, after all there is a Bellingham, England, but that is in line with the othere names given at the time.
Rev. Abial Fischer, Jr., one hundred years later, indicated the town was named after Governor Richard Bellingham. The truth will probably never be known, but it is assumed that Rev. Fischer, being closer to the founding had more compelling evidence. One possibility is that the unorthodox religious beliefs of many of the town's early inhabitants was recognized, particularly by the legislators from Mendon, Wrentham and Medway, and a joke was played on them by naming their town after the most rabid Baptist persecutor of the 1600's.
As to Westham, for one brief day it was a town in Massachusetts. Alas, the Council rejected it and henceforth Westham would be lost as a town in Massachusetts. To this day the only reference by that name in the Massachusetts Archives is that brief twenty four hours when it lived as a small town between Wrentham and Mendon.
Chapter 96 of the Province Laws thus created the Town of Bellingham in answer to the petition of its settlers. Approved on November 27, 1719, the Town now had to go forward with the chores of independence.
The petition presented to the General Court as preserved in the Massachusetts Archives is as follows:
"November 17, 1719
"To his Exelency Samuel Shute Esqer, Capt General & Governer in Chief in & over his majesties Province of yeMassachusits Bay in New england and to ye Honourable Council & house of Representatives in General Court conveined at Boston. The Petition of the Inhabitance of a Tract of Land belonging to Dedham westward of Wrentham and ye Inhabitance of a Considerable Farm ajdoyning Thereto And ye Inhabitance of a Small Corner of ye Townshipe of Mendon ajdacent Thereto (to ye number of four families) Humbly Sheweth. That Whereas yeAbove Sd Inhabitance are scituated at a Remoat Distance from ye Respective Towns where They at Present belong: (viz) The inhabitance of the Town of Dedham to ye number of three & twenty families are about Twenty miles Distance from the Town where they belong & Do douty & being very Remoate from ye Publick worshipe of God. & The inhabitance of the number of 13 families of ye above sd Farme being six or seven Miles Distance from yeplace of publick worshipe and ye inhabitance of Mendon aforesd being about four miles Distance and Considering our remoateness & ye inconvenianceys we Labour under by reason of the Same: and that ye uniteing & Incorporating of ye above Sd Tracts togeather & makeing of them a Town may put us into a way in Some Conveniant Time to obtain ye Settlement of ye Gospel among us; & (the Uniteing of ye above sd Tracts of Land togeather will make a Town of about Seven Miles Long and Three miles & half wide) and Further Considering ytthe Inhabitance of ye Sd Tract of Dedham Land & the Farms are alredy incoporated into a Training Companie & that they have Little or no benefit of Town prevelidges or by haveing benefit of ye Schools we Do Respectively pay To. The whole number of Families belonging to ye above Sd tracts being forty & Lands enough alredy Laid out to accomodate 20 or 30 more. The Inhabitance of Dedham Land being Voated off by ye Town for that end.
Our Prayer Therefore is That Your Honours would Graciously plase to Consider our Diffecult Circumstances and grant us our petition which is That ye above Mentioned Tracts of Land (as by one plate hereto afixed & described) may be Incorporated togeather & Made a Town, & Invested with Town prevelidges. That so we may be Inabled in Conveniant Time to obtain ye Gosple & publick worshipe of God Settled, & our Inconveniancies by Reason of our Remoatness be Removed: granting us such Time of Dispence from publick Taxes as in Wisdom you shall Think Conveniant, & in your so doing you will Greatly oblige us who am your Humble petitioners and for your Honours, as in Consciance we are Bound, Shall forever Pray. Dated ye 17th Day of November: 1719."
John Darling
Nicolas Cook
Palatiah Smith
Thot Burch
John Tompson
Ebenezer Thayer
Cornelius Darling
Samll Hayward
Samll Rich
John Tompson Jur
Isaac Thayer
Ebenezer Tompson
Richard Blood
Joseph Holbrook
Zuriel Hall
Daniel Corbet
William Hayward
James Smith
Nicolas Cooke Jur
Jonathan Hayward
Seth Cook
Samll Tompson
Samll Darling
Joseph Tompson
Nathaniel Weatherly
Samll Smith
The Inhabitance of Mendon
John Holbrook
John Corbit
Peter Holbrook
Eliphelet Holbrook
Accompanying the petition was "A Rough Plat of the Several Tracts of Land herewith petition for To Make a Town as Scituate & Joyning Each to other with a Demonstration of what Land They Bound upon as Taken by the scale of a mile to an Inch."
Added to the bottom of the page with the map was the following reply:
"In the House of Representatives
Nover 26th 1719. Read & Ordered that the Prayer of this Petition be Granted & That a Township be Erected & Constituted according thereunto & the Plat above. Provided They Procure & Settle a learned orthodox minister within the space of three years next coming.
And that John Darling, John Thomson, & John Marsh be Impowered to Call a Town Meeting anytime in March next to choose Town Officers & manage the other prudential affairs of the Town. The name of the Town to be called Westham.
Sent up for Concurrence
In Council Nov 27, 1719 John Burrill, Speaker
Read & Concur'd with this Vote accepting the Name to be Bellingham"
The petition is vague on the name requested for the new town. The only reference is to Dedham Land. This is also noted on the accompanying map. The original reply to the Town as shown in the Archives',named the town Westham. The final sentence at the bottom of the page obviously in rsponse to the action of the Council, established the final name. The attested copy of the petition and reply sent to Bellingham and a copy made by the Rhode Island colony replaces Westham with Bellingham. This is the very likely the reply received by the Town. Whether the petitioners ever had the opportunity to express their wishes for a name or ever knew the first name selected for their town is not known.
Westham's brief moment in Massachusetts history was over.