THE
STORY OF BYFIELD
a
BY
JOHN
LOUIS EWELL, D.D.
Professor of Old Testament Hebrew Exegesis and
Church History,
With Maps, Plans, and Illustrations
GEORGE
E. LITTLEFIELD
67
CORNHILL
1904
COPYRIGHT1 1904,
By
JOHN LOUIS EWELL
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
To my wife
EMILY SPOFFORD EWELL
IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION
OF HER CO-OPERATION IN THE PREPARATION
OF THIS VOLUME
PREFACE
IF one could
only know in youth what he was to do in after
life how
much better he could do it! Had I dreamed in my
early years
of writing a history of Byfield, there were many
about me,
who have long since passed on, who could have in-
stantly
given me information which I have only obtained with
difficulty,
or not at all; but up to four years ago I had never
thought of
such a work. What led to it was the publication of
an article
by me on Ezekiel Rogers and Rowley in the New
the urgent
suggestion, particularly from Mr. Northend, that I
should write
a history of Byfield. At first I would not enter-
tain the
idea because my regular work was so engrossing, but
at length I
yielded, and I have found the task, while a large
one, very
pleasant. It has been lightened by the hearty co-
operation of
so many friends that I cannot attempt to enumer-
ate them
all, although under the head of authorities and, from
time to
time, in the body of the work, I have had the privilege
of
acknowledging my debt to some of them. I think, however,
that there
should be mentioned pre-eminently the late Mr.
Northend, to
whose most cordial and helpful assistance from the
beginning
until his death I have tried to give due' acknowledge-
ment in more
than one place in the book, and whose decease
before the
publication of the work is a special grief to me;
Mrs. Forbes,
who has evidently delighted to incur any pains or
expense that
could aid me, and whose interest in the book has
been to me a
constant stimulus and cheer; and she to whom
the book is
dedicated, who has helped me throughout by un-
ending
copying, investigation, and suggestion, and to whose
viii PREFACE
enthusiastic
co-operation the history is largely
indebted for
whatever
value it may have.
I have sought by this book to perpetuate the
memory of
many of the
men and women who have made Byfield worthy of
remembrance,
and if I have felt obliged to criticise any of them
at all, I
have remembered a remark of Professor Fisher that it is
a serious
function of the historian to pass judgment on the dead,
who cannot
defend themselves, and I have aimed to be generous
in my
criticisms. I have also hoped that the portrayal of the
excellencies
of the fathers may foster a similar character in their
descendants
of the present and future for
They who on
glorious ancestry enlarge
Do but confess
their debt, not its discharge.
I have
entitled my book a story because my aim has been to
present the
more readable and interesting facts and features of
the history,
rather than to give a complete chronicle. Hutchin-
son says, in
his " History of Massachusetts," that " we are fond
of knowing
the minutiae which relate to our ancestors "; believ-
ing this to
be true, I have gathered up many a little incident in
the life of
our people. At the same time I hope that many por-
tions of the
story may interest those not of Byfield lineage who
would trace
the mighty current of