The next site, on which the engine house stands, was occupied farther back than 1830 by a dwelling house, in which lived on the south side Dr. Nathan Hayward, and on the north side two of my great aunts, Miss Hannah White, who died Jan. 3, 1841, at the age of ninety-four, and her sister, Mrs. Joanna Winslow, who died in May, 1829.
Dr. Hayward was the son of Nathan and Susanna (Latham) Hayward of Bridgewater, and in 1793-4 was a surgeon in the United States Army, under Major General Anthony Wayne in the war against the western Indians. In 1795 he married Anna, daughter of Pelham and Joanna (White) Winslow, and settled in Plymouth. He was at one time in partnership with Dr. James Thacher, and with him was instrumental in establishing the first stage line to Boston in 1796. He was my mother’s family physician, and I have a vivid recollection of his administration to my rebellious stomach of senna and salts, tincture of rhubarb and castor oil, and also of that instrument fearfully and wonderfully made with which he occasionally extracted a tooth. He was appointed in 1814 by the Governor sheriff of Plymouth county, and continued in office until 1843. His youngest son, George Partridge Hayward, now living in Boston, was named after his predecessor in office, George Partridge of Duxbury. Dr. Hayward in 1831 formed a professional partnership with his nephew, Dr. Winslow Warren, and died June 16, 1848.
Pelham Winslow, the husband of Mrs. Joanna Winslow, was a son of General John and Mary (Little) Winslow, well known as the officer in command of the expedition for the removal from Acadia of the neutral French, and married in 1770 Joanna, daughter of Gideon and Joanna (Howland) White. He graduated at Harvard in 1753. In 1768 he and James Hovey of Plymouth were the only barristers at law in Plymouth County, thus holding a position at the bar above that of either Attorney-at-law or counsellor. At the coming on of the revolution he adhered to the crown, and after the evacuation of Boston, joined the British Army in New York, where he was appointed paymaster general. He died on Long Island in 1783, leaving in Plymouth his widow and two daughters, Anna above mentioned, who married Dr. Hayward, and Mary, who married Henry Warren. With little means of her own, and wishing to do what she could to maintain herself and family, her father, Gideon White, who owned the house in question, built an addition, coming out to the sidewalk, and fitted up the lower story for her store. The last time I saw the old lady she and her sister, after taking tea at our house, fitted out for home with a lantern, which in those days everybody carried on dark evenings, as there were no street lights of any kind. An incident which occurred many years after in one of the financial panics, recalled her to my mind. Mr. Wm. R. Sever, county treasurer, came to me one day in great distress, because he was unable to borrow at any of the banks ten thousand dollars to meet county obligations coming due, and asked me to help him. I went to Boston, and, knowing that it would be useless to apply at any bank, went to see Mr. Ebenezer Francis, living in Pemberton Square, who with Abbot Lawrence, Robert G. Shaw and Peter C. Brooks, were the only persons in Boston rated at a million, while now you can’t turn a corner without running against a millionaire. “No, Mr. Davis, I cannot loan the money to the county,” Mr. Francis said in answer to my application. “I am a poor man. I have one hundred thousand dollars lying in the old Boston bank, drawing no interest.” “But,” said I, “here is a good opportunity to place a portion of it at interest.” “But I don’t like the security, I can’t put every man in the county in jail.” “May I ask what you call good security” I rejoined. “Yes, sir,” with an emphasis which showed his business training at a time when commercial honor was more potent than law—“a note based on a business transaction signed by the buyer and endorsed by the seller.” But I got my money much to the joy of Mr. Sever, and the obligations of the county were paid.
Before I left he asked me if I had ever heard of a Mrs. Joanna Winslow, and he was interested to learn that she was my great aunt. More than fifty years ago he said he kept a store on Washington street, where she bought for her store pins and needles and ribbon, buttons and laces for her stock in trade. “She was very much of a lady,” he added, and was remembered by him always with pleasure. It was a surprise to him to learn that Judge Charles Henry Warren, whom he knew very well, was her grandson.
The interview presented to my mind two transitions in the shifting scenes of life—one from the home of gentle blood to the little store, and the other from the little store to the mansion of the millionaire.
After the death of Miss Hannah White in 1841, William S. Russell moved into the part of the house which had been occupied by her and made it his home with his family until his death, and after the death of Mrs. Dr. Hayward the house was occupied for a time by the Old Colony Club, until it was bought by the town. The little store was abandoned by Mrs. Winslow after a few years’ occupancy, and used as a store by James LeBaron. As far back as I can remember it was occupied by John Thomas, attorney-at-law, who was succeeded by Gustavus Gilbert, also an attorney, who occupied it until 1845. In that year William S. Russell occupied it as a grocery store, followed by Miss Priscilla Hedge with a circulating library. Capt. Eleazer Stevens Turner then occupied it as a grocery store, succeeded by Pelham Winslow Hayward, who had his office there until the town bought the estate.
Gustavus Gilbert was a son of David Gilbert, an attorney-at-law
in Mansfield, who graduated at Harvard in 1797. Mr. Gilbert came to Plymouth not far from 1830, and married Caroline Eliza, daughter of Dr. Isaac LeBaron. He practiced law in Plymouth many years, and died September 1, 1865.
William S. Russell was a son of James and Experience (Shaw) Russell, and married in 1820 Mary Winslow, daughter of Dr. Nathan Hayward. After the firm of Davis & Russell in Plymouth, of which he was a member, was dissolved in 1827, he moved to Boston, and for a time was in the wholesale dry goods business in Central street, the senior member of the firm of Russell, Shaw & Freeman. After the dissolution of the partnership in 1829, he formed a partnership with Wm. Sturtevant in the same business, which continued two years, when he continued the business in partnership with Andrew L. Russell. When the last firm discontinued business he went to Illinois as the representative of parties in Plymouth and Boston, owners of land in that state, and after his return settled in Plymouth. In 1846 he was chosen Register of Deeds for Plymouth County, and continued in office until his death. He was a careful student of Pilgrim history, and by the publication in 1846 of a “Guide to Plymouth and Recollections of the Pilgrims,” and in 1855 of “Pilgrim Memorials and Guide to Plymouth,” made valuable contributions to Pilgrim literature. He died in Plymouth, February 22, 1863.