Chapter 3 - The Signers

The thirty men who signed the petition to the legislature were typical of the stock upon which Bellingham was to be built. Some remained for a few years and departed for other lands. Others stayed, had families, and eventually died here. Many of their tombstones can still be seen in the various cemetaries in the town.
 

George Partridge, in his 1919 History of Bellingham presented a brief sketch of each of the petitioners. Of some, he revealed much, of others, little. His sketches are presented here verbatim.

Richard Blood of Dedham, probably son of James Blood of Concord in 1639, bought in 1708 from several Dedham men "18 cow common rights in undivided land between Mendon, Wrentham and Providence," besides "three score & twelve acres already laid out in Rawson"s Farm" for ten pounds sixteen shillings. In 1714 he bought from another Dedham man thirty two acres belonging to four cow common rights in the first and second divisions sitll to be laid out. In 1736 he sold his homestead and one hundred and sevety six acres in the south part of the town for 1200 pounds. He was evidently well off. His wife's name was Joanna, and four children were born to them in 1721-9. The estate of Joseph his son included two bonds of five hundred pounds and three hundred and fifty pounds, and a total of 1748 pounds. He had five children, born in 1738-48, but there were no other births of this name in town after that.

He was one of the three purchasers of Rawson's Farm from the secretary's son in 1701, and he bought one fourth of it. He died in 1722, and his homestead was sold by his son Robert in 1735, one hundred and ten acres for 650 pounds, to John Metcalf and Eliphalet Pond of Dedham. It was on both sides of the Country Road, as Hartford Avenue was called then, bounded north by Holliston and east by Charles River, now that part of Caryville next to Medway. His will left all his land to his two sons Thomas and Robert. No births of this name are recorded here.

He was one of the most prominent men in Bellingham in the early years, but he belonged to another town in 1748; his land became part of Rhode Island when Massachusetts lost the town of Cumberland in 1746. When his father Banfield was about 14 years old, he left his home with three schoolmates and sailed as a stowaway from some port in the north of England for America. He married a woman of Rehoboth, and lived in the town of barrington about twenty years. Banfield Capron, second, 1682-1752, was a large, stout, resolute man, a mason and a weaver. He married Hannah Jenks, granddaughter of the first settler of Pawtucket, and they had six sons and six daughters. In 1717 he bought 100 acres for £120, south of Peter's River, bounded south by Jacob Bartlett. In 1718 he bought 20 acres near a road to be laid out. In 1726 he sold to Joseph Scott, "bloomer" and David Aldrich, 97 acres joining his homestead on the Rehoboth Road, and the next year 25 acres on Bungay Brook to Richard Darling, blacksmith.
 

The Jenks family were handsome people who perished early like delicate flowers, and about 1738 his wife and six children all died within a few months. The doctor wept when he found two dead at once in the house. The son Charles, 1716-1789, married Mary, daughter of Joseph Scott, "bloomer" and in 1741 he bought with Uriah Jillson, for £145, 72 acres "in the Gore of land that is now in controversy between the Colony of Rhode Island and the Province of Massachusetts," bounded by the Great River, the Blackstone. Twelve of his children lived an average of 75 years each. The last record of his father Banfield is his appointment as a juror at Providence in 1748, when he belonged to Rhode Island. The Capron burying ground is still to be seen in Cumberland.

In 1699 William Chilson bought three cow common rights in land bounded north by Charles River, east by Wrentham, south by Attleboro and the Pawtucket River (Blackstone) and west by Mendon. One reason why this deed was not recorded till 21 years later, like others in the south part of the town, was the doubt whether it belonged to Massachusetts or Rhode Island. The same doubt may have prevented the record of any early Chilson births in town. In 1731, the estate of John Chilson sold one hundred and ten acres near Peter's River. In 1727, Joseph Chilson's account of the estate of his father William was allowed. It included land in Mendon besides 12 acres in Bellingham and 18 more still to be laid out there. Joseph was town clerk for 9 years with one interval, and treasurer three years. The United States census of 1790 names every family in Bellingham but no Chilsons; three Jillsons are given John, Joseph and Joshua. The two names were confused together, for Joseph Chilson in 1778 willed his land near Peter's River, equally to his three sons; Joseph took the house and 115 acres, John, 180 acres to the south, and Joshua, 170 acres. Forty Chilsons ere born in town by 1850.

He and his brother Daniel were two of the most influential signers of the petition for the new town of Bellingham. They were sons of Robert Corbet from Weymouth, who married Priscilla Rockwood of Mendon in 1682. Their land was at South Milford, on both sides of the Country Road. This was the oldest road in Bellingham, for it led from Mendon, the mother town, to Medfield and Boston, and had been used already for over half a century.
 

In 1669 a committee was chosen in Medfield to join one from Mendon "for the settling of the Common Rode way from town to town." It was laid out the next year, and became a part of the post road through Hartford from Boston to New York. Through travel was so scarce for a long time that as late as 1732 a monthly stage was started between Boston and New York, taking two weeks each way.
 

The Hartford Turnpike, now Hartford Avenue, was incorporated about 1796, and one of the toll houses was at the present Green Store. A keeper who lived there was so shiftless that when his charitable neighbors planted potatoes for him in the spring, they were at once dug and eaten up. The Corbet land began opposite the Bicknell Cemetary and reached along this road to the north beyond the Charles River, which was called the Second Bridge River, because the Mendon people had crossed Mill River just before they reached the Corbet land as they started for Boston. The larger part of this land fell within the new town.
 

John Corbet was the oldest son, born in 1683, and he was brought up in a liberal way by his grandfather, John Rockwood, whose property he inherited. He was the first educated doctor in this region. He married in 1703, Mehitable Rockwood, born 1683, and had six children. He had a good practice for twenty three years, and died in 1726.
 

Some of the items in his estate were these :
Apparel 33£ Bills of Credit 82£ Bees 31s

Books 51£ Bond 182£ Sheep 2£ 6s 6d

"Physic Powders" 10£ Land 1362£ Best horse 18£ 15s

Military Arms 5£ 10s Cows 31£ Other horses 38£

Two silver spoons 55s Young cattle 13£
 

His will left eighteen hundred and seventy three pounds in all; to his son John, two thirds of his real estate, all his "books of physic" and the office of executor of the unsettled estate of his great grandfather, John Rockwood; to his son Joseph, certain real estate and "one good Horse beest" etc.; to the Bellingham church, five pounds for "Vesels for the Lord's Supper."
 

Elder Daniel Corbet, his brother, married in 1717, Sarah Jones, 1694-1753. When the Congregational Church in Bellingham disbanded in 1744, they joined the one in Milford instead. He and his brother-in-law, John Jones, Jr., exchanged farms with each other in 1749. Jones came to his farm of 300 acres at Bellingham Center, and he took four hundred acres at North Purchase in Milford. His inventory showed 569£ in real and 256£ in personal property, the latter including a negro boy, bed, bedding, axe, and hoe at 40£ 4s 5d.
 

The second Dr. John Corbet was born in 1704, educated for a doctor like his father, and lived on the same estate for ninety years. "A man of ardent feelings and uncommon decision of character." In 1740 he mortgaged 300 acres of land to help circulate what were called manufacturers' bills of credit, which wre intended to help farmers sell their products on better terms. This was a patriotic deed, for the public need was great.
 

As a colony, Massachusetts had no right to coin money. The French and Indian Wars called for large public expenditures, and gold and silver became very scarce. At one time 653,000 ounces of Spanish silver and 30 tons of British copper coins were imported. The amount of paper in circulation reached over 2 million pounds, and it became worth as little as 1/11 of its face value. Bills of old tenor always meant of less value than new ones. This kind of money was used for 59 years, and there were many attempts at reform. In 1740, 393 men started this one, which was also called the Land Bank. Members were to pay cash for 1/5 of 1% of their stock, and give their notes at 3% for 20 years for the balance, payable in almost any of the products of the colony. The governor opposed the plan as a fraud, and when the General Court authorized it, he vetoed the bill and discharged all State officials who had favored it. Nevertheless the scheme was put into operation and bills were issued, but a law of the British Parliament forbade such issues the next year. Many poor people were indignant at the opposers of the bank which was to be such a help to them, and in some towns in our country there was talk of a mob assembling to march to Boston. Notices were posted on meeting houses and a few leaders were arrested, but the uprising never took place. Special commissioners were appointed to wind up the bank's affairs, and it took nearly 30 years to do it.
 

The second Dr. John Corbet was Town Treasurer in 1739, 1741, and 1764.
 

During the last part of his life he had a difficulty of speech and of walking besides; but by using a kindf of chair on wheels and a well trained horse he was able to keep up a large practice, even at his great age.
 

Dr. Corbet's daughter Bethiah married Dr. Samuel Leslie Scammell, who came with his brother Alexander from Portsmouth in England. They settled here in 1737, and the first Dr. Scammell practised here till 1753. His son samuel studied with a doctor in Boston, and then with Dr. Corbet, whose daughter he married. He practised here from 1760 to 1805, and inherited Dr. Corbet's great house near the railroad at South Milford. His brother Alexander graduated at Harvard in 1769, and became adjutant general of the American army. He is one of the characters in S. W. Mitchell's novel, "Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker." A third Dr. Scammell was named John, born in 1762. He had little to do as a doctor, for Dr. Thurber was considered far above the other physicians. The two Corbets and the three Scammels practiced her for 125 years. The last Dr. Scammell was perhaps more interested in his property and business than his profession. His grandson was the first settled lawyer in Milford, and he himself carried out a plan of his grandfather, the second Dr. John Corbet, who asked permission to build a dam for a sawmill on his land on Charles River at the Second Bridge. He was refused, perhaps because the first mill in Mendon was at Mill River less than a mile away or because he would need to raise or change the highway for his dam. In 1812 Dr Scammell sold to the firm of Pennniman, Scammell & Co., for $1200, land "for a manufactory now building," and this business became the "Bellingham Woolen and Cotton Manufactory," incorporated in 1814 with a capital of $15,000.
 

The Corbets, and perhaps some of their neighbors, kept slaves, and there is a gravestone in a cemetary not far away to "Cleopatra, a girl of color aged 16 years." In 1819 the town of Milford sued the town of Bellingham for the support of Bess Corbett, a negro. She was given by Dr Corbet to his granddaughter, who married Amariah Frost, Jr., of Milford. He denied that either he or his wife owned her. She was decided to be a citizen of Milford.
 

VI. DARLING
 

John and Cornelius Darling were sons of Dennis Darling of Braintree. Captain John was born before 1667 and had three wives and thirteen chiildren. His will in 1753 speaks of being "grown antient", and leaves twelve equal shares to 12 children. Cornelius was born in 1675. In 1707 he bought of Dr. John Corbet for five pounds, twenty acres from the 90 acres bought by the Doctor's grandfather, John Rockwood, whose estate he settled, with 22 cow common rights and two sheep rights. In 1721 he deeded 24 acres to his son Cornelius, Jr. The brothers John and Cornelius were both weavers as well as farmers. Samuel the third signer of the Bellingham petition of this family, was John's son. Fifteen Darlings were born in town before 1750, and 115 before 1850.
 

Ahimaaz Darling lived in a great house on Lake Street, with two immense chimneys built of field stone.

He was the grandson of William Hall of Newport, 1639 and Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 1644. His son with the strange name Zuriel died in 1691 and left a son Zuriel, who married in 1697 Hannah Sheffield of Sherborn, and he came to Bellingham. He bought of William Jenks of Providence in 1714 for one hundred pounds, 100 acres with 50 acres more to be laid out in the third division. He left a son Zuriel third, 1717-1765. 29 Halls were reported born here before 1800, and only two after that.

The Bellingham petition was signed by four Haywards: Jonathan, Oliver, William and Samuel. This family was so numerous in Mendon, Milford and Bellingham that it is impossible to be sure of their relationship in some cases; three William Haywards died here within 20 years, each leaving a family.
 

Samuel Hayward of Swansea bought land in Mendon in 1672, and had younger brothers William and Jonathan. His son William married in 1708 as his second wife Priscilla Marsh, widow of Samuel Marsh of Salem, who came to Mendon with her son John, born in 1681. In 1700 and 1701 with Thomas Sanford and Thomas Burch in two purchases he bought Rawson's Farm of 1840 acres, of which he took half, as has already been told. In 1712, "Wm Hayward of the farms adjacent to Mendon" deeded to his son Jonathan, probably the oldest, "three score acres", bounded by Thomas Burch, Pelatiah Smith and east by Charles River. In 1716 he deeded to his son Samuel his homestead of which he had given him a third in 1712, near the Country Road, Smith land, Stall River and the burying place (North Bellingham cemetary), with other land in the 700 acres and a lot in the 800 acres. He made his will in 1712 too, and it was probated in 1718, too early for him to sign the Bellingham petition. That was signed by two of his sons Jonathan and Oliver. The will divided his personal property equally among five sons and five daughters, and mentioned his sawmill probably on Stall Brook. The widow was omitted, but she received her share.
 

The William who signed the petition probably died in 1737. His will mentions two sons, Eleazer and Ebenezer, the daughter Sarah and her children and the homestead of 120 acres southeast of the Charles River. She married James Smith in 1728, the second son of Pelatiah Smith, senior, who came from Bridgewater to Bellingham and bought Thomas Sanford's "mansion House" and land for 300£. They named their girl and buy Elizabeth and Hayward.
 

This second William, the signer, may have been the son of the third William to leave a will, dated 1729 in Mendon. He married Esther Harbor, and left sons named William and John, and a grandson Samuel, son of his deceased som Samuel. This latter Samuel, in his will dated 1722, mentions his son Samuel under 21 years of age, his wife Hannah, two daughters, one Elizabeth under 18 and a younger son Caleb. His large estate amounted to 1082£. This Samuel sold his son William in 1713 for an annuity of four pounds, ten shillings a year, the first homestead lot he had in Mendon, an 11 1/2 acre right there.
 

So the four Haywards to sign the petition were two pair of brothers, Jonathan and Oliver, the sons of William who bought half of Rawson's Farm, and died in 1718, and William and Samuel, probably the sons of William of Mendon, who died in 1729.
 

In another account of this family, William Hayward of Weymouth and Braintree, whose wife was Margery, was the father of William who married second Priscilla Marsh, and bought Rawson's Farm. They had four sons, and these sons were the four signers of our petition. Samuel was the favorite, who left the large estate.
 

In the North Bellingham cemetary is a stone with this inscription:
 

"Mrs Mary Relict of Mr Eleazer Hayward Mar 15 1814 in the hundred & second year of her age."
 

Twenty four Haywards were born in Bellingham by 1750, and fifty by 1850.

Peter Holbrook of Mendon deeded to his son John, in 1706, 60 acres near the east side of Beaver Pond River, through which land ran the Country Roard (Hartford Avenue) four rods wide. This John died in 1757, leaving a wife Hannah, and five sons and two daughters. He was the first town treasurer, and held the office for seven years. Three years later he began to be town clerk for the same length of time. Two of his brothers were Peter and Eliphalet, and these were three of the four Mendon families set off to Bellingham. In 1712, Peter Holbrook, Sr. deeded to his son Peter about 70 acres near the Country Road and Beaver Pond River. Eliphalet Holbrook obtained of Silvanus Holbrook in 1716 by exchange 65 acres on the Country Road and Beaver Pond River. He with Jonathan Thomson and Joseph Wight received in 1744 the deed from Elnathan Wight of the land for the first Baptist Church at Crimpville. In 1767, Eliphalet Holbrook, weaver, deeded his homestead on both sides of the road from Mendon to Boston to his son Eliphalet. He was town clerk for 6 years at 3 different times, and treasurer for 12 years in all at five different times. He died in 1777 and left eight children.
 

The fourth Holbrook to sign the petition was Joseph, ancestor of A.H. Holbrook of High Street, who died in 1750. He was a Baptist, and when Brown University was started he rode horseback to New Jersey, though over 60 years old, to find a professor for it.
 

Aaron Holbrook was town clerk eight years, and treasurer none years; Amos H., clerk three; Eliab, clerk two, treasurer two; Eliphalet, clerk six and treasurer 12; John, clerk eight, and treasurer seven; Joseph, clerk two, and treasurer one, and Valentine W., treasurer two years.
 

Twenty eight Holbrooks were born before 1750 and 190 before 1850, making this the largest family in town.

Edmund Ingalls, the son of Robert and grandson of Henry, was born in Lincolnshire, England, and came to Salem in 1628. He was one of the six first settlers of Lynn. His son John, born in England in 1625, married Elizabeth Barrett of Salem, and was a member of the church at Bristol, Rhode Island, in 1687. He settled at Rehoboth and died there in 1721, called "Old John Ingols". His son edmund married Eunice Luddin there in 1705. In 1716 he bought from his brother John, of Dedham, 127 acres in two lots with 20 cow commons, bounded on the "Potockett River" (Blackstone). In 1720 he bought 44 acres "between Providence, Mendon and Wrentham, " with 18 cow commons. These brothers showed some perseverance in settling here after the welcome which the Dedham people had given them in 1703: "Upon information that a stranges John Ingules by name is about to settel him selfe upon some of the remote lands of our Town the selectmen have this day given out a warrant to the Constable to warne him to depart out of this Town & the precincts thereof". He stayed, nevertheless, and was on the assessors' list in 1705.

James Gelson or Jillson bought one share in the Rehoboth North Purchase, made from the Indian Wamsutta, brother of King Phillip, which included Attleboro, Cumberland, etc., in 1661. He and his wife Mary both died in 1712. Their son Nathaniel 1675-1757, lived in Attleboro. The town clerk ther wrote his name Jelson. He sold his share of his father's estate in 1712, and was the first settler in what was later called the Attleboro Gore. One day the Indians set his cabin afire when his wife and two small sons, James and Nathaniel, were at a spring where she was washing clothes, but they all escaped.
 

In 1714 the Bellingham proprietors laid out to him 74 acres, also in 1718, 47 acres "adjoining where his house standeth", now supposed to be in Woonsocket. In 1730 he bought for 40£, 42 acres in Iron Rock Meadow. In 1735 he deeded his homestead of 60 acres to his son Nathaniel, Jr., and in 1743, none cow commons to his two sons Nathaniel and Uriah. Nathaniel Jillson and his son Nathaniel were exempt from the tax for the town church in 1738 as Quakers. He died in 1751, and his estate was 608£. Nathaniel, Jr., was a large landowner and a member of the Cumberland town council. Both brothers were chosen officers at the first town meeting there, and Uriah was a Justice of the Peace. Seven children of the two brothers were recorded in Bellingham from 1729 to 1735.

John Marsh at Salem in 1637 married Susanna Skelton, the daughter of the first minister there. Her sister Elizabeth was the mother of Deacon Thomas Sanford, one of the purchasers of Rawson's Farm. Two of John's sons, Zachary and Samuel, with their wives had the courage to sign a protest in 1691 when John Proctor and his wife were tried for witchcraft, and testified to their good character. Samuel's wife was Priscilla Tompkins, and after his death she came to Mendon with her son John Marsh, born in 1681, where in 1708 she married William Hayward. John Marsh married Abigail Morse and they had six children, between 1716 and 1726. He bought part of Rawson's Farm from Thomas Sanford, his father's first cousin, about 1712, and died in 1727. He was the second Town Clerk, chosen six times. His estate was six hundred and thirty pounds. His son John was a soldier at Crown Point, and his son John lived with Indians for seven years, from 1772 to 1779.

His father John was at Dedham in 1652 and settled at Medfield the next year. Indians burned his buildings, grain and cattle in 1676. Eleazar was the fourth of ten children. He bought in 1720 for 260£, 102 acres "of wild land" in Rawson's Farm, 1/12 of the 740 acres, and other tracts, all from Thomas Sanford, with the buildings. His wife brought with her from Medfield a small homemade chest which I have now, with the date 1694 carved on it. The name Partridgetown came from this family, and one of the descendents still owns a part of the original land. Eleazar Partridge was the third town clerk, and his son Benjamin was treasurer four years and schoolmaster. Benjamin's great great grandson, George F. Partridge, a graduate of Harvard College and a Boston high school teacher, is the author of this book. Sixty births of this name were recorded to 1850.

He was an early settler soon after the incorporation, probably the grandson of Deacon Nicholas Phillips of Weymouth in 1640, whose third child was named Caleb. In 1727 Silvanus Scott sold to Caleb Phillips of Roxbury, husbandman, land near Nicholas Cook and Mendon lone for 142£. In 1762 Caleb Phillips of Bellingham deeded to his son Caleb 80 acres near "the old meeting house", and in the same year land to his grandson Caleb third. He and his wife Susan had seven children born from 1734 to 1749. He was town treasurer for five years.

He was a carpenter, and bought a part of Rawson's Farm from Thomas Sanford in 1702. He signed the petition for a new town, but probably he was disappointed in not finding more new buildings to work on, for he sold his whole purchase to Eleazar Partridge the next year and no more is heard of him.

He had sold his land here when the town was formed, and probably lived in Mendon then, and yet no one had more to do with than he. He was the son of Robert Sanford who was in the First Church of Boston in 1651, and sold land on Court Street there in 1678, but went to Swansea. He married Elizabeth Skelton, the daughter of the first minister of Salem, and the great aunt of John Marsh, who bought his Bellingham estate of Thomas Sanford in 1712. Thomas was born at Swansea in 1763, and was a town officer there at 20 years old, and later, town clerk. He was at Mendon in 1700, and bought Rawson's Farm with Hayward and Burch as has been told in 1700 and 1701. He sold a part of his share of the farm in 1702 to John Marsh and Samuel Rich, and the rest later for 300£ to Pelatiah Smith, including about 200 acres near Stall Brook "now laid to Mendon", his share of a sawmill there, and his "mansion house", which must have been something grand to need such a description. He went to live in Mendon, and was chairman of a committee ther in 1735, to oppose the formation of the East Precinct, which became the town of Milford, 45 years later.
 

His wife's first name was Christian, and that rare name was given to one of her daughters, who was my great great great grandmother. Her sister Bathsheba or Bathshua, as they called her, married David Holmes of Woodstock, Connecticut. She was a remarkable woman and lived to a great age. She did much of the work of a country doctor, and in the great snowstorm of 1717 she left her house by a window and traveled on snow shoes with the help of a long pole carried by two men, to care for a sick woman in the next town. She was the great great grandmother of Oliver Wendell Holmes.
 

Thomas Sanford's second wife, Tabitha, was murdered by a negro named Jeffs in Mendon about 1745 or 1750, who struck her with an axe as she stepped up from the kitchen into the main house with a basket of cheeses. He hid in a great pine tree and watched the funeral from there, the story says, but was caught when he came down. He was the first criminal executed in Worcester County, and the Mendon doctor kept his skeleton.
 

In his old age Thomas Sanford lived with his daughters in Medway, where he died in 1764, 91 years old. The Bellingham records contain the following statement: "I Thomas Sanford resident in Medway being now in the 87^thyear of age testifie that in the year 1700 I purchesed one quarter and W^m Hayward one half and Thomas Burch the other quarter of 800 acres of land of W^m Rawson his wife and two sons being the N E part of 1840 acres of land lying between Sherborn, Mendon and Dedham land and in the year 1701 I with Said W^m Hayward and Thomas Burch purchased of said W^m Rawson 740 acres of land in the afores^d 1840 acres being westerly of the s^d first purchase, the two purchases containing all the notheast part of the 1840 acres next to Sharborn as by S^d deed may more fully appear. That I removed on the S^d first purchase of 800 acres in the 1701, lived there 14 years.

Joseph and Sylvanus Scott were brothers and came from a remarkable family. Their grandfather Richard came from England in the ship Griffin in 1631, and another passenger was Katherine Marbery, who came with her married sister the famous Mrs. Ann Hutchinson. She soon dared to criticize the ministers of the Massachusetts colony on doctrinal subjects, held religious meetings for women and made so much excitement in this way that she was banished, and went first to Roger Williams' colony. The younger sister Katherine married Richard Scott in 1637 or 1638, and they settled at Ipswich. In November, 1634, two men of that town named Scott and Eliot had lost their way in the woods and wandered about hungry for six days, till they were found at last and brought in by a Rhode Island Indian. Governor Winthrop says that "the Scotts went to Providence because the wife of one of them was affected with Anabaptistry", and they "wanted no Magistrates".
 

Here Richard Scott bought the estate of Joshua Verrin, a troublesome neighbor of Roger Williams, who forbade his wife to go to church. He had vexed the colony for some time, and it was voted in 1637 that he "shall be witheld from the libertie of voting till he shall" change his course. He went back to Salem where he came from and demanded recompense for the property which he had left. Winthrop says in 1638: "At Providence things grew still worse; for a sister of Mrs. Hutchinson, the wife of one Scott, being infested with Anabaptistry and going last year to live at Providence, Mr Williams was taken or rather embodened by her to make open profession thereof and was rebaptized." As Mrs. Scott was probably the most influential woman in Providence, so her husband became a leader among the men. In 1650 he was the largest taxpayer there but one. About 1651 he bought the island of Patience of Roger Williams, which he and Governor Winthrop had owned together. Scott said of Williams, "I have been his neighbor these 38 years. I walked with him in the Baptist ways."
 

But he had changed his ways long before then, and like Jacob Bartlett's father, his neighbor, had become a Quaker, called the first one in Rhode Island. When Roger Williams returned from England in triumph with a charter for his colony in 1644, which made it free from the interference of its persecuting neighbor, Massachusetts, Richard Scott might be expected to rejoice with the rest; but his Quaker's hate of ostentation and the pride of heart which it expresses, led him to write this: "And there he got a charter; and coming from Boston to Providence, at Sea-conch the Neighbors of Providence met him with 14 canoes, and carryed him to Providence. And the Man being hemmed in in the middle of the Canoes, was so Elevated and Transported out of himself, that I was condemned in myself that amongst the rest I had been an Instrument to set him up in his Pride and Folly."
 

Some of the members of this new sect became fanatics in their public protests against the ceremonies of church and state, and they suffered persecution in various countries. In Rehoboth, Massachusetts, a town that joined Providence, lived a man named Obadiah Holmes. In 1651 he was whipped at Boston with thirty stripes for preaching while excommunicated, rebatizing persons who had been baptized, preaching against infant baptism, etc. John Hazell, perhaps the first settler at Pawtucket on the east side of the river, went to Boston as his friend, and was arrested and fined. He was an old man, and died before he reached home again. The Scotts heard about all these things, and the dragon persecution soon reached out after them.
 

In 1657 Roger Williams, the President of Rhode Island, brought "Katherine the wife of Richard Scott" and others into court "as common opposers of all authority", but when neither he nor any one else appeared to testify against them, they were acquited.
 

The year before this Christopher Holder and seven other Quakers had sailed from England, and he had come to Massachusetts and been sent away. Now he appeared again at Salem, where he got 30 stripes and was expelled. The next year when he came to Boston again, he and two other young men had their right ears cut off in prison. Katherine Scott's daughter Mary was engaged to marry him, and her mother traveled to Boston to encourage him in his suffering. An old Quaker book, Bishop's "New England Judged", says:
 

"Katherine Scott of Providence, a Mother of many children (11) a Grave Sober Ancient Woman and of good Breeding, coming to see the Execution of These as aforesaid, whose ears you cutt off, and saying upon their doing it in private, 'That it was evident they were going to act the Works of Darkness or else they would have brought them forth and declared their Offence, that others may hear and fear' ....... Ye committed her to prison and gave her Ten Cruel Stripes with a threefold corded knotted Whip, the 2d day of 8th mo 1658. Though ye knew her father Mr Marbury .... yet ye whipped her for all that, and told her that ye were likely to have a Law to hang her if she came thither again. She answered, 'He whom we love will make us not to count our Lives dear with ourselves for the sake of his Name.' To which your Governor John Endicott replied, 'And we shall be as ready to take away your Lives as ye shall be to lay them down.'"
 

The next June her little daughter Patience, journeyed the 40 miles to Boston to make her protest too. Bishop says: "Ye apprehended Wm Robinson ..... and Patience Scott, daughter of Katherine, (a girl of about 11 Years old, whose Business to youwards from her father's house in Providencer was, To bear a witness against your persecuting Spirit), and sent them to Prison--(the Child it seems was not of Years as to Law, to deal with her by Banishment, but otherwise in Understanding, for she confounded ye; and some of ye confest that ye had many Children, and they had been well Educated, and that it were well if they cound say half as much for God, as she could for the Devil (as ye Blasphemed the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth that spoke in her, saying it was an Unclean Spirit.)" Another account says that Patience Scott, eleven year old, "was moved of the Lord to go to Boston (40 miles) to bear witness against the rulers." After an imprisonment of about three months, she was released, and Secretary Rawson wrote: "The Court duly considering the malice of Satan and his instruments, by all means and ways to propagate error and disturb the truth, and bring in confusion among us, that Satan is put to his shifts to make use of such a child, not being of the years of discretion, nor understanding the principles of religion, judge meet so far to slight her as a Quaker, as only to admonish and instruct her according to her capacity and so discharge her; Capt. Hutchinson undertaking to send her home."
 

In October the older engaged sister went too:
 

"8th of 8th mo 1659. One Mary Scot Daughter to Richard & Katherine Scot of Providence aforesaid, who came also to visit the said Christopher in prison, whom the same constable Apprehended as she was in the Prison to Visit her Friend....your Governour committed also to Prison. 12th of 9th mo. Rawson your Secretary read to them their Sentences, to be whipped in the street. Christopher Holder sentenced to Banishment on pain of Death. Mary Scot to be delivered to your Governour to be admonished. The prisoners were then returned to prison for their jailor's fees, till freed by friends who gave surety."
 

"I have walked Step by Step through your cruel Proceedings to see if I could find any Justice. Your Declaration is : The Consideration of our gradual Proceeding will vindicate us from the Clamorous Accusation of Severity, our own Just Defense calling upon us, (other Means failing) to offer this point, which these Persons have violently rushed upon;--our former Proceedings and the sparing of Mary Dyer--will manifestly evidence that we desire their Lives absent, rather than their Deaths present.
 

Edward Rawson Secret."
 

The Quaker writer had no difficulty in replying to this defence.
 

Katherine Scott lived a long time after that, and died in 1687, five years after her husband. No stone was set upon her grave. Both he and his son John fought in King Philip's War, and John was badly wounded near Pawtucket.
 

Richard Scott's grandsons, Joseph born in 1697 and Sylvanus, in 1702 came from Pawtucket to Bellingham. In 1721 Joseph Scott, son of Sylvanus of Providence, "Bloomer", bought one fourth of a Bloomary Iron Works in Mendon on the "Pentucket River at the Great Falls." He was called a Bloomer because he had made iron from the ore near Pawtucket. This foundary was at Woonsocket near the land of Nicholas Cook. In 1725 he bought another quarter of the same Bloomary, and his father's house and 106 acres in Bellingham, bounded north by Zuriel Hall, east by common land and the burying place, south by common land and Richard Blood and est by Mendon. This was the burying place laid out at the proprietors' third meeting in 1717. The next year he bought from Banfield Capron 97 acres joining his own estate by the road from Bellingham to Rehoboth. This property he sold for 220£ to Elisha Newell in 1740. Later he bought Richard Blood's estate of 176 acres which joined his own on the south for 1200£.
 

In 1727 he and three of his neighbors had occasion to remember his grandmother's journey to Boston 70 years before. The General Court records show that Jacob Bartlett, David Cook, Josiah Cook and Joseph Scott in jail in Boston petitioned for release because their consciences do not allow them to pay the town tax for the support of the minister. The request was refused by a vote of the Representatives, but the Council did not agree and ordered them released if they gave bond to appear at the next meeting of the Court, when the town was ordered to present its case against them. That meeting was unexpectedly postponed for about a year, and there were similar cases in other towns. A thorough search at the State House has not shown any further record of the case.
 

"Among the many ways in which individuals passively resisted the ecclesiastical laws was the Baptists' and Quakers' refusals tp serve as constables or assessors in towns where they would have had to distrain or imprison dissenters who refused to pay their religious taxes. Typical of such actions was that of Joseph Scott of Bellingham who was called before the Suffolk County Court in May 1727 for refusing to serve as constable though he had been elected. Scott "for excuse said that Great number of the Inhabitants [in Bellingham] are Quakers & Baptists, who have not nor will pay their respective Rates to the Minister of sd Town unless distrained upon, which their numbers being so many may be attended with great inconvenierncyes, And secondly the he sd Scott being himself a Baptist pays to a minister of his own perswasion & therefore thinks it a hardship (as well as the rest of his Brethren) to pay towards the Maintenance of another." The Court "being of Opinion that he had not shewn sufficient cause for his excuse" ordered Scott, who refused to pay his fine for not serving, to be distrained of his goods to that amount by the sheriff of Suffolk County. Suffolk County Court Records, IV, 81-82, in the Suffolk County Courthouse, Boston.
 

Joseph Scott and his wife Elizabeth had four children recorded in Bellingham from 1724 to 1733. He died in 1742. His inventory mentions: Best suit head to foot, 18£, 1/16 of a Bloomary, best dwelling house, 220£, another, 110£, land, 2914£; total, 4332£, certainly the largest estate in town.
 

His brother Sylvanus bought 143 acres in 1725, bounded by Wrentham line, Sergeant Darling and common land. He and his wife Mary had five children recorded in Bellingham from 1726 to 1734. He died in 1777, and left two sons named David and John.
 

One of the largest stones in the South Bellingham cemetary is inscribed:
 

"These two died with small pox. In Memory of Mr Silvanus Scott who Died April 17 1777 in ye 76th year of his age. In Memory of Mrs Joanna wife of Mr Silvanus Scott. She died April 20 1777.
 

In 1817 Joseph's grandsons Samuel and Saul occupied his land at Scott Hill, which has been in the same family nearly two centuries. Seventy persons of this name were born in Bellingham before 1850.

Pelatiah Smith the first lived in West Bridgewater, where he bought land in 1701, but came from there to Bellingham. He is the only one of the first settlers to be called "Gentleman" in his deeds. In 1714 he bought for 300£ of Thomas Sanford "his Mansion house" on Rawson's Farm, "now laid to Mendon" with nearly a fourth of the 800 acres, all of Sanford's land that he had not sold to Marsh and Rich, including one fourth of a sawmill on Stall Brook. In 1715 he mortgaged these 200 acres to the Massachusetts Commission for issuing 50,000£ pf bills of credit, for 58£ at five per cent. He was the first town clerk of Bellingham. He sold land on Stall Brook in 1723. His will calls him blacksmith. It left all his property to his wife Jane, and his son James refused to act as executor with her. He died in 1727, and left 750£. His gravestone is in the North Bellingham Cemetary, and only eight others now there are earlier.
 

Two of his sons signed the Bellingham petition, James and Samuel, and two others, Pelatiah and Robert may be mentioned. The oldest son Pelatiah, 1659 to 1757, married Eunice in Bellingham in 1752. They had a daughter Margaret born in 1754 and only one son, Robert. They were the ones to begin keeping the principal tavern in the town, where stages stopped on their way from Boston to Hartford, and changed horses. There is a milestone in front of it which says: "31 miles from Boston R S 1767". His will left only 41 acres of land.
 

James Smith was born in 1697 and married Sarah Hayward in 1728. He was town clerk in 1728 and 1729. He was a blacksmith, and sold land to John Metcalf in 1742, Daniel Penniman in 1747, and Joseph Rockwood in 1755. Samuel Smith, the other signer, was born in 1699 and bought land of his father Pelatiah in 1723 near Stall River. The fourth brother Robert was called Captain. He lived from 1704 to 1787.
 

The third Pelatiah and the last to keep the tavern lived from 1806 to 1892, and married Julia Bates. He had the south end of the great house set off to him, and a driveway to it beside Stall Brook. Three of his sons were Whitman, Stephen, and Frank. Whitman kept a stall in Quincy Market, Boston, and he spent much money on the farm where his brothers lined. Their father Pelatiah had died in poverty. His house, the successor of Thomas Sanford's mansion, and probably the larges dwelling house in town, belongs now to the Bellingham Woolen Company. The last Pelatiah had a brother Robert, whose daughter Amanda Adams was ninety four years old April 29, 1919. She remembers hearing that her grandmother went shopping to Boston on horseback with chickens in her saddlebags. 50 Smiths were born in Bellingham before 1850.

Their grandfather was Ferdinando, who married Huldah Hayward in Brainrtree and was one of the founders of Mendon. His son Isaac married Mercy Rocket or Rockwood there. Their son Isaac was born in 1695 and Ebenezer in 1697. In 1717 Ebenezer bought of Josiah Thayer of Mendon a large tract of land between Mendon and Wrentham, Charles River and Attleboro and pawtucket, and fifty two acres at the Dedham Tree with eight cow commons and two sheep commons. In July 1719, just before the incorporation, he sold to Robert Smith fo Roxbury, 70 acres on a branch of Peter's River. His will in 1723 also mentions land laid out to him in 1715 on Saddleback Hill, and land bought in 1721. His homestead was partly in Bellingham and partly in Mendon.
 

As a Quaker, Jonathan Thayer was exempt from the tax for the town church in 1744.
 

Isaac Thayer had thirteen children. His estate was sold to Oliver Pond in 1765.
 

Cornelius, Ellery, Jonathan, and Manning Thayer have been town treasurer one year each; Horatio, two years; Elias, ten; Francis, eighteen; and his father Ruel, twenty two years. Ruel was town clerk also for four years.
 

Six Thayer families recorded 25 births 1721 to 1750, and 160 Thayers were born before 1850, the second largest family in town in this respect.

Five signers of the Bellingham petition had this name, John, his three sons, John, Joseph and Samuel, and Ebenezer. The family was prominent in Mendon from the earliest years. John Thompson of Mendon, weaver, deeded in 1701 to his oldest son John, land bounded on the west by Nicholas Cook. The deed was recorded in 1716. In 1721 he deeded to his son Joseph, fifty acres on both sides of Beaver Dam Brook. In 1732 he sold 80 acres to Dr. Corbet. In 1749 he sold land on the road from the meeting house to Charles River (at Crimpville). He died that year and left six sons and three daughters.
 

Ebenezer Thompson, housewright, bought of Joseph Holbrook for 250£ in 1730 his homestead on both sides of the Country Road.
 

John Thompson, Sr., was town treasurer one year, his son John four years, Jonathan three, and Joseph fourteen years. Jonathan was clerk four years and Cyrus one year.
 

Eight Thompson families had 38 births recorded from 1728 to 1744, and 100 Thompsons were born her before 1850.

Joseph Wight, who came to Bellingham in 1729, was the grandson of Thomas Wight who was at Watertown in 1635 and Dedham in 1637. He and his wife Alice moved to Medfield. Their son Samuel married Hannah Albee, and his house was burned by Indians. His son Joseph was born in 1675, married Mrs Martha Thayer of Bellingham in 1725, and they came here four years later. His name with that of his son Elnathan is in the first list of the Baptist Church in 1738. In 1741 he sold to Elnathan for 600£, 90 acres in three pieces. 60 acres with the house were bounded by Captain Oliver Hayward, Deacon Joseph Holbrook and Dr. John Corbet. This son Elnathan deeded to three trustees the lot for the first building of the Baptist Church on High Street, at Crimpville in 1744. The site was marked in 1912 at the 175th anniversary of the founding of the church. Elnathan Wight, 1715 to 1761, after giving the land studied several years and then became its first settled pastor in 1750. The inventory of his estate fills seven pages of the probate records, and includes 60 books, most of them separately named and valued. It amounts to 578£, and at the end is written: "And we judge there is about a sufficintcy of ye necerssaries of life to support the family one year not inventoryed." There were only two sons, Nathan and Eliab. The former moved away but Eliab lived in Bellingham and was a deacon in the Baptist Church. His daughter Abigail lived in Worcester from 1817 to 1860, and died 100 years 10 months and 3 days old. There were seven persons in his family in 1790. He was town clerk in 1792, 1793 and 1796 to 1802. His uncle Joseph Wight, Jr., was town treasurer in 1753. Forty Wights were born in town by 1850.

In 1717 he deeded land in Dedham to Josiah Thayer in exchange for eight acres in Dedham near Mendon. He signed the Bellingham petition, but soon disappeared, and his deed was not recorded until 1730 on the testimony of Thomas and Tabitha Sanford.