History of Fitchburg Part 33 Rufus Torrey 1st printing 1836

(The time is the winter of 1778-1779)

They who had money and the means of supplying the
necessaries of an army, were compelled, not only by public
opinion but every legal power which an overwhelming majority
could exert, to pour forth their wealth in aid of the common
cause.  They whom poverty marks as exempts, in ordinary
cases, from any onerous services in their country's cause,
could not now escape the all-searching requisition.  The
possession of physical strength was sufficient to call forth
the poorest day laborer, though clothed in rags, and require
of him the nerve of his right arm, to aid in the defence of
his country.

The exertions made by the people of this town, in the early
part of the war, while the enemy were in possession of
Boston, have already been mentioned.  Their entire military
strength was put in requisition.  Their enthusiasm was at
its height, and the pay was good.  After this period the
necessity of adopting some regular system was felt. The
General Court required the town to furnish a certain number
of men whenever the State was called upon to make out a
quota.  These men were seleceted by a committee, and a
bounty was paid to them, which was assessed by a general
rate upon the town.  In the latter years of the war, it was
proposed by the Legislature, and adopted in this town, to
divide the people into classes -- each class consisting of
about twelve or fourteen individuals, according to their
wealth.  The person first named in each class was entrusted
with the keeping of its accounts, and the general management
of its concerns.  Whenever the town was called upon for
soldiers, the classes were reqauired to furnish a man in
rotation -- the burthen being equalized amoung them as
nearly as possible.  When called upon to furnish a man for
three years or during the war, they were obliged to offer
him, "over and above" what he would receive from the United
States, as a soldier's pay, the sum of $300 as a bounty; and
as the currency was fluctuating, and nearly worthless, the
notes were made payable in produce, at a market value.  When
no one of a class was willing to volunteer on these
conditions, it was usual to hire some other individual.
When this could not be done, the members of the class were
compelled to cast lots amoung themselves, to determine who
of them should go; and he upon whom the unlucky lot fell,
had to shoulder his musket and march, or find a substitute
at some rate.  This sometimes happened to one whose little
property could scarcely survive the shock of taking from it
the sum of one, two, or three hndred dollars to hire a
subsititute.

Notes were frequently given in these cases, which afterwards
came before the town, with strong arguments and powerful
appeals from those who were compelled to pay them, showing
the manifest injustice that a single individual should be
required to pay towards supporting the common cause so much
more than his townsmen generally; and the town was
accordingly asked to pay those notes by an assessment upon
the inhabitants.

It was frequently voted to ascertain what each individual
had done towards supporting the war, and to equalize the
burthen; but unfortunately they could get no farther than
this.  The demands upon the town had been so frequent, and
taxes of course so heavy, that generosity towards one
another was not to be expected.  The reports of committees
chosen to investigate this subject, were laid before the
town, and immediatedly voted down or not accepted.  Each
one, previous to an investigation, seemed to think that his
sacrifices had exceeded those of his neighbor; but when a
report had been made, and it appeared that a majority would
be called upon to pay, instead of receiving something, the
fate of such a report is not surprising.

The average number of men which the town kept in the field
from this period till the close of the war, is not
accurately known -- but it was not far from fifteen or
twenty.  This must have brought upon the several classes an
expense of at least $4000.

If the records be examined to ascertain what sums the town
paid, in its corporate capacity, towards defraying the
expenses of the war during the last five years of its
continuance, the subject will be attended with considerable
difficulty.  The currency, in which the taxes were assessed,
varied monthly.  But from certain known data, an approach
may be made towards the actual sum.  During these five
years, there were paid for fourteen hundred pound of beef,
for clothing for the army, and for the hire of soldiers,
whom the town in its corportate capacity employed, about
$7250.  This sum was assessed upon the whole town, in
addition to large sums which the several classes were
obliged to pay for soldier, hired by them respectively.

Let it be remembered also, that at this time, when all kinds
of business had been brought nearly to a stand by teh
operation of the war, -- when specie was almost unknown
throught the country, adn the paper currency was but little
better than so much brown paper, the ordinary expenses of
the town -- such as the suupport of tehy minister, of
schools, of the highways adn bridges, etc. etc bore with
extreme rigor upon the inhabitants.

(to be continued -- A quote from part 34 -- "Of money, such
as it was, there was no scarcity, and miserably poor was he
who could not count his thousands... Hundreds who were in
comfortable, if not affluent circumstances -- experienced
the singular satisfaction of having every debt paid them,
and, while gazing upon their masses of money, reflecting
that they were reduced to poverty.")


Return to Fitchburg High School Athletics, Competitions & Memories