The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-09
The old REFUGEE.
An Error of Judg-
iment Led to Judge
! Chambers Exile.
7ssa
PATRIOTS AND REFUGEES.
Timothy Ruggles Of Hard
wick the Famous
Il Tory.
1 {By Franklin P. Rice

:
entered in l775, had. in common with
other places in that portion Of the
MISUNDERSTANDING in America seeking
ir5dependenee, just passed through a
serious social as well as political crisis
Men whofhad, in consequences Of their
WEALTH position. family connections, OF
intellestual quality and learning, as
we'll az personal worth, been looked Ut
to and hohored in, past time, were now
in exile,sdn prison, or, if at liberty,
Stunned and stigmatized among their
former friends and neighbors.
Inc old dynasty has passed out to be
replaced by the new, and this change
was accompanied by hardship and sac
rl1ce, painful and costly to those who
suffered.
In some cases families were divided
on the main question, and estrange-
ments followed which were never re-
conciled. sss '-'---
The patriotic fervor which filed the
land was strongly manifested in Wor-
cester and a large proportion of her
men swelled the ranks of the Con-
tinental army.
The three families most influential
and prominent in Worcester UP to the
time OF the revolution were the Chand-
lerss the Putnams and the Pa;nes.
All esp6used the royal cause, or rather,
did not enter into the popular feeling,
for few Representatives of these Fam
lilies took an active part against their
cOuntrymefi
Held as they We're in the highest es-
TEEN before the contest. their sudden
going out must have left void diff
f1cult at first for their townsnen, who
had s61ong relied upon their Judgment
and Influence, to fill,
1t was in Worcester, as in other
towns & throughout the colonies; ii
parted with a great share of social
strength and power when the war be-
gan. Indeed, it has been claimed by
some writers that the loss to the AM
erican colonies by the driving out OF
the Toyaltsts can be compared only to
that Sustained by France in the ex-
pulsion of the Huguenots.
In worcester the places of those who
Withdrew We're supplied h. No IT.
coins, Aliens, Wheelers, Waldos, and
others, who came opporluneiy ana tu.s
town was more fortunate in this re-
spect than many other places.
The Hon. John Chandler, known as
tinguished by private virtues and
1sterling worth, which would have
marked him in any other station than
the one7he filled at the time of his sud
Gen aeparture for the mother country
where he remained an exile, separated
from his family, until his death
The moderation of his demands upon
the British government to indemnify
his losses was contrasted with the
overseeing spirit of other loyalists
He was the third of his name, and a
worthy successor to his father and
grandfather, Of whom the Rev Peter
Whitney, in his history of the county
Of Worcester, says;
The town of Worcester, in particu-
lar, and the county of Worcester, in
general, were originally greatly in
aebted to the Hon. John Chandler, The
irst judge in the county, who in rro-
cess of time, succeeded his father in
all his offices, titles and honors, for
feir address, activity and enterprise
And their names ought to be hel in
grateful remembrance"
Thesactio of the last Judge Chandler
inzleaWifig as he thought, Temporarily
but as 1t proved for all time, his coun-
try and his family, was due to ar error
a Judgment.
Years after, daughter declared that
if, her father had for a moment SUP
posed. that the patriots would succeed
he would have remained, and after the
contest Joined his fortunes with those
OF the new government, as did his co.
adjutog.Timothy Paine ~ a
But he, like many. of the high-miuded
men who took, the same course, saw
nothing but disaster and defeat for the
popular cause. and he quietly withdrew
to await the passing of the crisis.
Mrs. Chandler and several of hel
chiidrellremained in Worcester and tt
this circumstance America is indebted
for one of her most distinguished lit.
erary men. lasaes'
Lacretfa Chandler became the wife d
the Rev. aaron Bancroft, and the
mother sof George Bancroft, the mos,
widely KNOWN of the natives of Worces
Ter. ahts ~
{ Thes refugee and his family were
never EghnitedS Mrs. Chandler dying il
Worcester after a few years, ana hel
husband at theeend of a rs years ex.
lie dns England. Judge Chambers es.
tate was cDnfiscated in 177S, but a por.
tinna equal tor her dover was set of
to his wife, 5'T i.
JRrlesfB Htnam was another equally
unfortunate in his conception OF the
outcome Of the struggle for independ.
ence. He was considered the ables
lawyer III america.
On the feNe of hostilities he was ap.
pointed attorney general of the prov.
ince an office then barren Of emolll'
rnent, and later he became Judge ir
New Brunswick, where he died ii
1889. sFNlfa iAaEsa
John ADAMS studied law with hin, il
WoreesterSand in allusion to this Sabine
'if'haveioften stood at his (Putnam's'
grave ahde unused upon the strange vi.
eissitudes of human condition, by whicf
the iiasters one Of the giants of the
Amefican colonial bar, became an out.
law and anH6xile, broken in Torture anG
in Spirit aJHile' his struggling and al.
most fffiehdIess pupil, elevated step by
step By the very same course of events
was finally Known the world over as
the chief magistrate of nation"
Timothp Hnine was of a different ma
ture, and after the first difficulty was
passed, quietly submitted to the new
order! would appear that he had q
clearer. sight than the others, and that
early In the trouble, he began to fore
see the result. cas- rs
II has never been shown that he was
overzzea<Sfs III the. royal cause, but he
probably Antended to do his duty to the
goverrme1it Ia. which he felt he owed
allegiance, !. without being offensive tc
the one that Superseded it, and tc
which he gave his adherence when he
became. Convinced that it had in fact
and by right succeeded. After the
war be. resumed, his former standing
M. the community, and was candidate
/ ,epresent the district in the first
ngress. /. ,,ss rer
The most. robust personality of the
times Just pfofadinguthea American rev
olution, II we ElSpt Israel Putnam s.