The Hanson Historical Society Newsletter Fall 2014

Editor: Melinda Barclay

THEN AND NOW:

SOUTH HANSON STATION

Old Colony Railroad, Main St.

Pictured: Ryan Firth, DJ David and Owen David

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Hanson Historical Society Meeting

June 5th, 2014

Speaker: HHS Vice-President, Allan Clemons on “The History of Hanson”

THE HANSON TUNK Page 2

Col. Elijah Cushing and his slaves Boston and Margaret “Pegg”

by Mary Blauss Edwards

Elijah Cushing (1698-1762) was a leading figure in local town, church, military, and court

matters. He descended from the wealthy Cushing family of Scituate and married Elizabeth

(Barstow) Barker on 7 January 1725 in the Second Congregational Church in Scituate (now the

First Unitarian Church in Norwell). Elijah had a house built on a 500 acre tract of land owned

by his father John Cushing, today located at 89 East Washington Street in Hanson, which was

part of Hanover that was annexed to Pembroke in 1754.

Two separate construction dates are suggested in the records, either 1724 (which a sign on the

Cushing house states) or 1730. A construction date of 1724 would indicate construction on the

house began in honor of his upcoming marriage, a common practice at the time. If it was built

in 1730, it coincided with Elijah becoming a major shareholder of the South Hanover forge that

same year. For twenty years this business was very successful and, when Cushing sold his share

of the forge property in 1757, it consisted of the forge as well as a coal house, dam, and

gristmill.

After Elijah’s marriage, the Hanover town clerk recorded seven children born to Elijah and

Elizabeth between 1725 and 1744. When Hanover was incorporated from Scituate in 1727 and a

new church, the Hanover Congregational Church, formed, Elijah Cushing and his family

became founding members; they later joined Gad Hitchcock’s congregation. Elijah was

appointed to the building committee to construct the Hanover church building in 1728 and

served as a deacon.

Elijah served Hanover as a selectman, treasurer, and as Hanover’s first Representative in 1737.

He also served as Justice of the Peace and Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. During the

French and Indian Wars he served as a local militia leader, obtaining the title “Honorable

Captain, Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Cushing”. Elijah Cushing served as an agent for the Second

Precinct of Pembroke petitioning that the section of Hanover where he resided become a part of

Pembroke, which was granted in 1754. The Genealogy of the Cushing Family summarized his

service thusly: “He was one to whom much of the public business of the Town was confided,

and he executed his trust with fidelity and success”.

Elijah Cushing owned two adult slaves named Boston and Margaret. It is uncertain if they were

sold or born into slavery. Elijah’s father John owned a slave named Judith who married James

(continued on page 3..)

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(…continued from page 2)

“negro” in 1701; they may have been the parents of either Boston or Margaret. Boston labored

on the Cushing farm and probably also assisted at the forge and mill. Margaret, commonly

called “Pegg” by the family, performed numerous domestic duties including housework,

helping to care for the Cushing children, cooking meals, and attending Elijah’s wife, Elizabeth

Cushing.

Both Pegg and Boston resided with the family in the Cushing house. Pegg had a child born in

the mid-1730s who died young in 1736. Boston and Pegg were married in 1741 by Hanover’s

Rev. Benjamin Bass, either at the Cushing house or at the Hanover church. Love of Freedom:

Black Women in Colonial and Revolutionary New England describes a typical New England

slave wedding:

“Sometimes the bride wore a special dress given to her by her mistress and the groom might be

given a suit of clothes by his master. The husband was expected to pay a fee to the minister for

performing the service, but some masters paid the minister’s fee or a minister returned the

payment to the bride as a wedding present. After the ceremony guests dance to the music of a

fiddle player, feasted, and toasted the happy couple with rum or cider”.

While the church encouraged slave marriages, it was a complicated arrangement – a husband

and wife owned by separate owners could not live together; a husband and wife owned by the

same master could be separated by sale; and children born to the couple could be sold. Elijah

Cushing’s arrangement with his slaves provides a look at additional complications: Cushing

approved of their wedding performed by his own minister, giving legitimacy to future children

born to the couple, but he did not encourage or allow them to become members of the church.

In comparison, Elijah’s younger half-brother, Josiah Cushing, allowed his slaves to be active

participants in the Hanson Congregational Church. Pegg and Boston had at least two children

who died young in the 1740s at the Cushing house. Since none of their children were baptized

and Cushing did not register their births with the Hanover or Pembroke town clerks, it is

uncertain if Pegg and Boston had surviving children. If they did, slave children in New England

were typically sold by their mother’s owner after they were six years old or were sometimes

given to the slaveowner’s immediate family as wedding presents. It is possible that Lilly,

baptized in 1768 by Rev. Gad Hitchcock as “a negro woman belonging to Lt. Elijah Cushing

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(…continued from page 3)

[Jr.]”, was a daughter of Pegg and Boston inherited by Lt. Elijah Cushing Jr., a son of Elijah

and Elizabeth Cushing. In 1765, when Lt. Elijah Cushing Jr.’s second wife Anne Thomas

“walked up the broad aisle of the West Parish meeting house on a Sunday wearing her trailing

robes of black silk or satin, the train was borne by a colored slave”, perhaps Pegg or Lilly.

Elijah Cushing’s house was “the social center for miles around…With slaves to do his bidding,

he entertained lavishly with gay house parties and joyful occasions of all sorts”. The Cushing

house is perhaps best remembered as the wedding location of Elijah and Elizabeth Cushing’s

daughter Mary Cushing to Benjamin Lincoln, who later served as George Washington’s

second-in-command during the Revolution. Boston and Pegg would have been intimately

involved in these wedding preparations and celebrations as well as the mundane day-to-day

work of running a farm and homestead.

Boston died at the Cushing house in 1760, his age unrecorded. Shortly thereafter, Elijah

Cushing prepared his will, giving to his wife Elizabeth Cushing “my negro woman named

Pegg”. Elijah died in 1762, and his widow Elizabeth survived him another twenty years, dying

in the Cushing house in 1782. Slavery legally ended in Massachusetts in 1783. A “negro

woman” named Pegg, who may have been Elijah and Elizabeth Cushing’s former slave, died in

Pembroke in 1789. However, Elijah’s brother Josiah Cushing also had a slave named Pegg who

was a similar age, so this Pegg’s identity is uncertain. Although no graves mark Boston and

Pegg’s place of burial they were probably buried in Fern Hill Cemetery.

The Elisha Cushing House in 1918. Courtesy of the Hanson Historical Photograph Collection.

(continued on page 5…)

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(…continued from page 4)

The dotted portion of this map shows part of modern Hanson which was part of Abington prior to 1727, part of Hanover from 1727-

1754, and part of Pembroke from 1754-1820 before Hanson’s incorporation in 1820. Without ever moving, the Cushing house

changed town addresses four times in one century.“Cushing’s Corner” where the Elijah Cushing house stands is marked on the map.

[From Jedediah Dwelley’s History of the Town of Hanover, Massachusetts]

Citations: History of the Town of Hanson “The Elijah Cushing House”; Lemuel Cushing, The Genealogy of the Cushing Family

(1877), 34; Catherine Adams and Elizabeth Pleck, Love of Freedom: Black Women In Colonial and Revolutionary New England

(Oxford University Press, 2010), 110-118; Jedediah Dwelley, History of the Town of Hanover, Massachusetts; John Cushing probate

(1736) PCP #5643; Elijah Cushing probate (1762) PCP #5585; Scituate, Hanover and Pembroke Vital Records.

Curator’s Corner

By Mary Blauss Edwards

Do you know how colonists learned that independence from England was declared? Learn how

the news reached Hanson residents in our website feature "Object of the Month"!

http://hansonhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/objectofthemonth/

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President's Letter

Our Strawberry Festival was successful despite poor weather. Our thanks to all the

members who helped with preparation, baked biscuits, served or helped clean up. Special

thanks to Joanne and Allen Clemons who allowed us to leave early to finish preparation for our

early morning departure on our first extended trip in some time.

Our next major event will be our Harvest Fair/Yard Sale. Last year, we discarded many

of our unsold items so we will be seeking donations of items to this years a success. If you

have anything to donate, please call and we can arrange a pickup.

John & Patty Norton, Co-Presidents

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HANSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

CALENDAR

Meetings held at Schoolhouse #4 unless otherwise stated

August 7th

Meeting 7:00pm

Speaker: Barbara Hill from Brockton on The War of 1812

Sept. 4th

Meeting 7:00pm

Speaker: TBD

Sept. 20th

Annual Harvest Fair 9:00pm-3:00pm

Rain date: Sunday, September 21st

October 2nd

Meeting 7:00pm

Speaker: TBD

November 6th

Meeting 6:00pm

Annual Potluck Supper at Thomas Mill

THE HANSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2014

John & Patty Norton - Co-Presidents tel # 781 294-8645 e-mail: pnorton31@comcast.net

Allan Clemons Vice-President

Kathy Bergeron Secretary

Richard & Betsy Blake Treasurers

Mary Blauss Edwards Webmaster /Curator

Melinda Barclay Director at Large

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HANSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:

It shall be the purpose of this Society to stimulate interest in the history of the town of Hanson, Mass. by

collection, preservation, and study of manuscripts, books, pictures, furniture and all other objects of historic

value which shall be acquired by gift or purchase; to provide a suitable repository for such objects and records;

to mark historic sites; to cooperate with other neighboring groups and perform such acts as may from time to

time see advisable to promote the aims of this society; to institute a definite program to acquaint younger

members of the community with our local history and to encourage them to take an active part in the Society.

Organized in March of 1961

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HANSON DAY

June 8th

, 2014 at Camp Kiwanee

Hanson’s First annual event was well attended by the locals and well represented by the town.

The society set up a display table in the lodge displaying a slideshow of pictures from the HHS

website, a cradle the Reverend Gad Hitchcock used for his child, current and previous editions

of The Tunk, and old maps. Residents were able to fill out membership applications and buy

historical books and postcards. Kudos to the organizers and volunteers!

Pictured above at The Hanson Historical Society table: Bruce Young and Melinda Barclay

Pictured left: Mantel clock donated by Richard and Gwenneth Picard from Arkansas. Pictured right: The pig is reading about Lt.

Commander, Albert C. Reed from Hanson.

The Hanson Historical Society

P.O. BOX 52

Hanson, MA 02341.

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Mail your check made out to the Hanson Historical Society

& mail to: Hanson Historical Society, P.O. Box #52, Hanson, MA 02341.