Jonathan Hale
Daybook: Jan 25,
1787
[click image to
enlarge]
On January 25, 1787,
a Longmeadow
merchant, Jonathan
Hale, recorded in
his daybook a debit
to Alpheus Colton
for the rental of a
“slay to West
Springfield.” On
that same day, Hale
made a notation that
felt like it carried
far greater
importance. It
referenced a
decisive incident in
the series of
actions collectively
known as Shays’
Rebellion. Hale
wrote, “This Day
about 4 o’Clock
Began the Sivel War
by Shaiyes Party …on
the Hill in
Springfield, were
fired on & Turned
and they Left three
Men Dead on the
ground & one
Mortally wounded.”
Why does the rental
of the “slay”
(sleigh) on January
25th matter?Because
the man who rented
it, Alpheus Colton,
would be sentenced
to death for actions
he took that day in
his role in Shays’
Rebellion.
Alpheus Colton, of
Longmeadow, MA, was
only fifteen years
old in 1781 when he
and two other young
men from town
appeared at the Rev.
Stephen Williams’
door asking for a
blessing as they
left their families’
farms in Longmeadow
to enlist in the
Continental Army:
“This day Alpheus
Colton, Hancon
[Hanan] Colton, &
Alpheus Hancock -
weny off to go to ye
Army - ye Youth
called at my house -
I prayed with them.
Ye Lord be pleased
to be with and bless
them.” Records show
that Colton served
for 2 years and nine
months in the
Continental Army
before being
honorably discharged
at West Point in
December of 1783.
Despite the end of
the Revolutionary
War, all was not
settled for many of
its veterans. Many
men who had fought
and served found
themselves back in
their hometowns
struggling
financially.
Pensions and
payments that had
been promised by the
government never
materialized,
leaving many
veterans destitute
and angry. In
general, the new
nation was
struggling under the
uncertainty of a
fledgling financial
system, and citizens
throughout the new
republic were
anxious and stressed
by their lack of
access to real money
to meet their basic
needs. When pleas,
petitions, and
letters to
government
representatives were
unsuccessful, men
like Daniel Shays of
Pelham attempted to
harness the energy
of fellow frustrated
Americans into
action. Shays’
Rebellion culminated
on January 25, 1787
in an attempted raid
on the Springfield
Arsenal, today known
as the Springfield
Armory. Six men from
Western
Massachusetts,
including Alpheus
Colton, were
sentenced to hang
for their role in
the unsuccessful
uprising. Alpheus
Colton was only
twenty-two years old
at the time.
On that frigid
January afternoon in
1787, as many as
2000 frustrated men,
many veterans like
Alpheus Colton,
tramped through knee
deep snow from
various points in
Western
Massachusetts
prepared to
overwhelm the
military stationed
at the Springfield
Arsenal with their
show of unity and
strength.
Ultimately their
goal was to steal
the weapons housed
there and march
towards Boston to
force the government
to recognize their
frustrations and act
to make necessary
changes to relieve
them of their
financial problems.
The soldiers at the
Arsenal fired on the
Shaysites forcing
them to retreat.
The raid was
unsuccessful.
So, what was the
sleigh to West
Springfield for? We
can’t know for sure,
but it is likely
Alpheus Colton was
taking it to the
headquarters of Luke
Day, one of several
leaders of groups
organized in support
of the Rebellion. A
very interesting
account of how he
might have used the
sleigh appears in an
1893 family history
of the Burt family
of Hampden County:
“The last Nathaniel
Burt was taken as a
hostage during
“Shays’ Rebellion”
and carried to West
Springfield. He was
a large, heavy man
and he made his
captors carry him by
force and put him in
the wagon when they
took him prisoner.
… The leader,
Alpheus Colton,
wrote an humble and
heartfelt apology to
Nathaniel Burt, for
the part he took in
his capture, under
date January 30,
1787, acknowledging
that he had ‘acted
the part of a fool,’
but pleaded that he
was a ‘hasty youth.’
‘My design,’ he
wrote, ‘in taking
you was to exchange
you for William
Russell, as I told
when I took you, but
as soon as I got to
West Springfield I
felt a sorrow
within. The next
day I went to Luke
Day to get him to
write your brother
[Col. Gideon Burt]
to make an exchange
for William Russell,
but his answer was
‘No.’ I repent of
what I have done.
It causes bitter
repentings and
sincere sorrow, and
I pray you to
overlook it if it be
possible. *** I
humbly ask pardon
from you and your
whole family.’ ”
While some of the
attackers were
arrested, none faced
punishments as dire
as the men sentenced
with Alpheus Colton
on April 27, 1787.
Per newspaper
accounts, “Last
Saturday ended a
fortnight’s sessions
of the Supreme
Judicial Court at
Northampton; at
which were convicted
and sentenced to
DEATH for the crime
of TREASON six
unhappy persons, who
had taken a very
active part in the
late rebellion, had
been concerned in
captivating,
plundering,
bayoneting or firing
upon peaceable
citizens of the
Commonwealth, had
been in arms from
time to time, for
stopping courts of
justice, and acted
as zealous officers
under Shays and Day,
at the time of the
attack upon the
continental
arsenal…” In
reading out his
sentence that day in
April in
Northampton, Alpheus
Colton, among his
fellow conspirators,
heard the sentence
pronounced by the
Hon. William
Cushing, Esq, Chief
Justice, ““You shall
go from hence to
prison, from whence
you came, and thence
to the place of
execution, and there
be each of you
hanged by the neck,
till you are dead.”
And God Almighty
have mercy on each
of your souls!”
Strong words indeed.
Ultimately, within a
matter of weeks, all
men would receive
pardons from Gov.
John Hancock. In a
dramatic turn, the
last two men to be
pardoned were first
led to the gallows
before an assembled
crowd. Nooses were
placed around their
necks, and only then
were they informed
of the governor's
pardon.
Alpheus Colton lived
out his days in
Longmeadow. In 1818
he was still seeking
the pension he had
been promised for so
long. In a letter
published in the
Hampden Federalist
on Nov. 12, 1818 he
wrote, “Attention!
Soldiers of the
thundering 3rd of
the Massachusetts
line! Rear rank!
Take distance!
March! Dress! Order
arms! Bear
regimental orders!
Daniel Merrill calls
upon us once more to
petition to the
honored fathers of
our country, for
that is our just
due. Let us hear the
call, brother
officers and
soldiers, or lose
the blessing by
delay. …Ought I now
give up the chase?
No - let us all try
once more, that we
may receive our just
dues; and may the
blessings of heaven
follow. - Alpheus
Colton. Longmeadow,
November 5, 1818.”
It appears that he
did receive a
pension of $96/ yr
from 1818-1820.
Colton died in 1823
at the age of 58 and
is buried in
Longmeadow
Cemetery. A marker
placed near his
gravestone pays
tribute to his
service as a soldier
in the Revolutionary
War, but makes no
mention of his
brief, but dramatic
turn as an
insurrectionist.
Nathaniel Burt, whom
he allegedly forced
from his bed on that
cold January night
in 1787 is buried
nearby in the same
cemetery.
photo credit: Betsy
McKee
[click image to
enlarge]
Special thanks to
Dennis Picard for
his editorial
assistance.
Sources
-
Ancestry.com, Military
Records, Pension Papers
for Alpheus Colton
(1765-1823)
-
Burt, Henry M. and Silas
W. Burt. Life and Times
of Henry Burt of
Springfield and Some of
His Descendants, 498.
Clark W. Bryan Company,
Springfield, 1893.
-
Hale, Jonathan. Daybook
C: 1784-1788 BV 52,
Longmeadow Historical
Society Archives
-
Hampden Federalist. Nov
12, 1818: p.2 letter
from Alpheus Colton
-
Johnson, Clifton.
Hampden County
1636-1936, 219. Am.
Historical Society, New
York, 1936.
-
Massachusetts Gazette.
Apr 27, 1787: Boston,
MA Vol: VI Issue: 325
Page: 3
-
Williams, Rev. Stephen.
Diaries Vol. 10. May 2,
1781
