[159]. Specimens of his penmanship still extant, would compare favorably with that of modern masters. These specimens are in possession of Mr. Gilbert Rogers, of Quaker Hill.
[160]. The liberal salary, for those times, accorded this very young man was £100 per annum and a gratuity of £240 every four years. Yet we soon find him complaining of the insufficiency of his salary.
[161]. After the terrible scenes which have been brought about by his policy, we find him, even in taking leave of the Congregational church, complaining that the laws against the Rogerenes are “not enforced.” If in the day of his disaster he is making such complaint, what must have been his urgency at the time of his confident entry upon this scene?
[162]. See extracts from “Reply to Mr. Byles,” by Joseph Bolles, in Appendix.
[163]. There are traditions among descendants of the Rogerenes to the effect that one of the features of the persecution that called forth the countermove of 1764-6 was molestation of the Rogerenes for not attending regular (“lawful”) meetings. This tradition is found in different families situated far apart. Mr. John R. Bolles received such a statement from his mother (who was a daughter of John Rogers, 3d). Since this history asserts nothing upon tradition, this cannot be stated as a proven fact, although it appears fully probable.
[164]. There are said to be indications (J. S. Sachse) that memorial services for Ebenezer Bolles, as entertainer of the Pilgrims in 1744, were held at the Ephrata Cloister. In a reference to his death, on the records of the Cloister, is this invocation: “God grant him a blessed resurrection!”
[165]. The ineffectiveness of medicines and applications to even alleviate the symptoms of such poisoning, after the malady is fully under way, is well known. Yet neither with nor without the use of medical means would death be expected to ensue in such a case. That there was an unsuspected complication in this instance, leading to sudden death, seems probable. To persons living in the country, as did the Rogerenes for the most part, an illness so common as poisoning by ivy or by alder (apparently the latter in this case) would not be regarded of a really dangerous character, however distressing. There have been persons greatly bloated and in great suffering by such poison, whose condition gave no serious alarm and who recovered in the usual period.
[166]. Quakertown traditions regarding this period are no less thrilling than those of New London side, and point to measures reaching even into the wilds of Groton. Only by spies and officials in the vicinity of the Groton Rogerenes, could they have been made to share in the persecution. As before said, most of their neighbors were Baptists. A historical account of the Baptist church of that vicinity avers, apparently from tradition, that some of the Groton Rogerenes came to that church in this period, bringing work, interrupting the minister, etc. If the Groton Rogerenes were seriously molested by these Baptists, it is not unlikely that they instituted a countermove on that church for protection; but we have been unable to discover any proof of the accuracy of the statement regarding disturbance of the Baptist meetings, no record regarding such disturbance having been found, or any contemporary mention of the same. (See “Quakertown Chapter.”)
The fact that the Rogerene leaders of Groton were closely related to some on the New London side, added to the fact that they were church brethren, is sufficient to account for their joining with the Quaker Hill people in the New London countermove. John Waterhouse had a son of the same name living on Quaker Hill at this time, on a farm that had been given to him by his father.
[167]. It was usually in the time of this unscriptural prayer that the countermove took place.