In the 1700s when people traveled mainly by foot or on horseback, Boston was a long way from Rochester. The distance didn’t deter the residents from having strong views on independence from Britain.
Nathaniel and Timothy Ruggles, Jr., sons of Timothy Ruggles, the second minister (for 58 years) of the center’s church, were staunch Tories. Nathaniel ran Ruggles Tavern on the old road to Marion and here those in favor of continuing British rule met to discuss and debate the news of the day. Close by was Fearing’s Tavern where his general store had become the gathering spot for the town’s Whigs (those in favor of separating from Britain) where they had their own discussions on the need for independence.
Timothy Ruggles, Jr. practiced law in Rochester and Sandwich until he, five of his brothers, and others from Rochester, went west to Hardwick, MA where his grandfather had proprietary rights. (Hardwick is one of the towns drowned in the making of the Quabbin Reservoir). In 1775, Ruggles was one of the three Massachusetts delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York. He was chosen as President of the body, but his rulings were opposed by the Whigs and he was reprimanded publicly. Shortly after that, he became an open Tory. With most in Massachusetts pro-independence, his home in Hardwick was burned to the ground and in 1776 when the British Army retreated from Boston, he fled to Nova Scotia.
Abraham Holmes’ memoirs extensively cover the revolutionary years. At 21, he was sent to investigate rumors of a battle on April 19, 1775. In Middleboro, he met a messenger who confirmed the reports of Colonial militiamen facing off against the British soldiers. He wrote that he returned “as happy as a lark” that the struggle for independence had begun. Many of his fellow townsmen were equally pleased and many Rochester men served as soldiers and commanders in the ensuing Revolutionary War.
By Connie Eshbach