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ORANGE ENTERPRISE & JOURNAL 4 Oct 1956
PLAQUE HONORING WILLIAM STACY TO BE UNCOVERED TOMORROW AT NEW SALEM
DESCENDANTS LT COL FISKE ROLLINS & FATHER TO BE PRESENT
By Beatrice Fay Hunting
A plaque, honoring LT COL WILLIAM STACY, New Salem’s Revolutionary War hero of Apr 1775 has recently been presented to the town of New Salem by LT COL FISKE ROLLINS, TC-USAR of Braintree, who is a direct descendant of the gallant STACY. Inspired to thus honor his famous ancestor by an article entitled “April 20, 1775 Saw Hero STACY End Indecision for Patriots” which was printed in the Boston Herald of 19 Apr 1953 & also by a visit which he made to New Salem in October of last year LT COL ROLLINS wrote to the selectman of New Salem last January offering to give the plaque to the town. He wrote in part as follows:--
“Gentlemen: I imagine you people saw the article on WILLIAM STACY, your former townsman, in the Boston Herald of 19 Apr 1953 by Fred Brady.
“If not, in brief it was that Brady found in an old historical book on MA communities the account of an eyewitness of the action at New Salem’s village green on 20 Apr 1775. As a direct descendant of WILLIAM STACY. I feel that this incident should not be forgotten & this is a valuable lesson in patriotism for our present younger generation & those to follow. Thus I propose to present the town a plaque & a copy of the text is enclosed. Now for the first time in my life & also, it was the first time for my father, aged 91 we visited your delightful village green one Sunday afternoon last October & fell in love with it & its surroundings.”
Enclosed with the letter was a copy of the text for the proposed plaque as follows:
LT COL WILLIAM STACY 1733-1804
“Alarm bells called the citizens to this green 20 Apr 1775 to learn of the battles at Lexington & Concord. There was indecision until 1st LT STACY stepped forward & said, “Fellow soldiers, I don’t know how it is with you, but for me I will no longer serve a king that murders my own countrymen.” Pulling out his commission from the Crown, he tore it to bits & trod it under foot. Amid wild cheers a militia company of patriots was formed & under the gallant STACY as Capt marched off to Cambridge. May such patriotism ever be with us.”
MR ROLLINS had noticed near the elementary school building a stone marking the location of the first fort in New Salem & after discussing possibilities concerning a stone to which the bronze STACY plaque could be attached, continued regarding it—“I trust you will be in favor for I feel it important to preserve these little, & hitherto unknown, pieces of our proud history before they are forever lost to us.”
Later which corresponding with Harry W. Fay, chairman of the New Salem selectman, regarding the plaque, MR ROLLINS sent a copy of the article concerning the Revolutionary patriot WILLIAM STACY, which had appeared in the Boston Herald. The article follows—
APRIL 20, 1775 SAW HERO STACY END INDECISION FOR PATRIOT by Fred Brady
What of April 20, 1775? What of the day after the day of the shot heard round the world & in the echo of which Americans first fell in the April meadows of Lexington & Concord?
What did it mean, that April 20. What kind of day was it, in homes, in hearts, in America?
A few newspapers perhaps had something of the story the next day. But no radio told it.
So what could the next day have meant in the little towns to the little people who were too big ever to be forgotten in America?
In New Salem, as the countrywomen watching in fear. It meant war. But something more too. It meant a Capt for a new country.
His name was WILLIAM STACY.
The Herald is privileged to bring you this story because a friend of ours COMDR THOMAS P HORGAN JR USNR let us browse in his T-wharf library the other day.
We found an old leather-bound book which treated of the “history & antiquities of every town in MA” published by Door, Howland & Co. in Worcester in 1839.
Here then, is the story of New Salem on April 20 & of WILLIAM STACY. We think when you read it you will hear the fifes.
The news of the battle at Lexington flew through New England like wildfire. The swift horseman with red flag proclaiming it in every village & made the stirring call upon the patriots to move forward in defense of the rights so ruthlessly invaded & now sealed with the martyrs’ blood.
“Putman, it will be recollected, left his plough in the furrow & led his gallant band to Cambridge. Such instances of promptness & devotion were not rare.
“We have the following instance of the display of fervid patriotism from an eye-witness—one of those valued relics of the band of “76, whom now a grateful nation delights to honor.
“When the intelligence reached New Salem, in the state, the people were hastily assembled on the village green, by the notes of alarm. Every man came with his gun, & other hasty preparations for a short march.
“The militia of the town were then divided into 2 companies 1 of which was commanded by Capt. G. This company was paraded before much consultation had been had upon the proper steps to be taken in the emergency, & which determination was expressed on almost ever countenance, the men stood silently leaning on their muskets, awaiting the movement of the spirit in the officers.
“The Capt. Was supposed to be turned with toryism & was a present indecision & lack of tardiness were ample proof, if not of his attachment to royalty, at least of his unfitness to lead a patriot band.
“Some murmurs began to be heard, when the 1st LT WILLIAM STACY, took off his hat & addressed them. He was a man of stout heart, but of few words.
“Pulling his commission from his pocket, he said:
“Fellow soldiers, I don’t know exactly how it is with the rest of you, but for me, I will no longer serve a kind that murders my own countrymen.”
“Sober as were the people by nature, they could not restrain a loud, wild hurray as he stepped forward & took his place in the ranks.
“G, still faltered & made a feeble endeavor to restore order; but they heeded him as little as the wind.
“The company was summarily disbanded, & reorganization begun on the spot.
“The gallant STACY was unanimously chosen Capt. & with a prouder commission then was ever borne on parchment, he led a small but efficient band to Cambridge.
A stone historic in itself was found in the New Salem selectmen, the bronze STACY plaque has been attached & the marker had been set on the common at New Salem Center. Like many other New England village of colonial days, the center of New Salem was laid out with a street on either side of the broad tract of nearly level common ground,” known a the “Common” or “Village Green”. This was used as a parade ground for early militia companies & a gathering place for the townspeople. The news of the Battle of Lexington on 19 Apr 1775 had arrived in New Salem, so quickly that on the very next day the militia of the town & the excited populace & the events took place which made the brave WILLIAM STACY a hero, & which are commemorative on this plaque. The STACY marker has been placed on the east side of the common near the site of New Salem Academy’s old dormitory, known for more than a century as “The Old Boarding House” but which has been torn down during the past year. Appropriately enough it was found that the stone doorstep of the “Old Boarding House” could be used for the STACY marker.
And on Friday of this week the covering over this marker will be removed so that the public can see this fine plaque honoring WILLIAM STACY, which has been so generously given to the town. The donor LT COL FISKE ROLLINS of Braintree plans to come to New Salem with his 92-year-old father on that day to inspect the marker, & did not wish any special ceremony at this time.
In the United States there are many descendents of the Revolutionary patriot, WILLIAM STACY, who was the father of a large family. MA has a goodly number of his descendants & they may also be found in CT, NH, NJ, OH, IL, IA, SC & other states.
Notable among his MA descendant is LT COL FISKE ROLLINS of Braintree, the donor of the STACY plaque to the town of New Salem.
When STACY & a ½ dozen of his children moved from New Salem to OH in 1789 there were apparently member of family left here to carry on the STACY name in this vicinity. New Salem still had some of those descendants although they do not have the STACY name. HERMAN A HANSON, former New Salem selectman, & his 3 daughter, MARION, GAIL & SALLY, can claim the patriot STACY as their ancestor. MR HANSON’S father the late FRANK HANSON was a son of GEORGE & ELLA ELIZA (STACY) HANSON, the latter being a daughter of JACOB STACY in the direct line from the ancestor, WILLIAM STACY. HERMAN HANSON has 2 sisters, 1 of whom is MRS CHESTER KING (JUNE HANSON) who now lives in La Crescenta, CA. She has one daughter, ELEANOR, now MRS LLOYD CARLSON of La Crescenta, who has 2 children. MR HANSON’S other sister, DORIS HANSON, is now MRS ROBERT STONE of Orange & has 2 daughters JANICE & JEAN.
MRS PERCY A DODGE of Chestnut Hill, Orange is another direct descendant of WILLIAM STACY and has furnished information concerning many of his local descendants. She was the former INA STACY, daughter of FRANK STACY who traced his ancestry to WILLIAM STACY. Her father died in 1897 when she was 15 months old & one of her brothers was born after his death. MRS DODGE has 6 children, HELEN, now MRS FRANK MARZ of West Orange, PERCY A JR, RICHARD W, CHENEY OF, EVELYN N. & THOMAS D DODGE. There are also 2 grandchildren, CAROL & FRANK H MARZ of West Orange. MRS DODGE has 2 sisters-MRS WILLIAM MYRICK (KATHRYN STACY) of Springfield, & MRS HELEN (STACY) COVEY of Montague & 2 brothers HERMAN M STACY of Newtonville, who has 1 son, LT RICHARD STACY of the US Navy, & FRANK M STACY of Concord, NH. The latter has 2 married sons & 3 grandchildren. MRS MYRICK has 2 daughters & a son, all of whom are married & live in Springfield. There are also several grandchildren. Another son RUSSELL MYRICK was killed in WWII, being shot down in a plane over Germany. MRS COVEY has 8 living children, 5 sons & 3 daughters-all married except 1 son. There are a number of grandchildren. 4 of her 5 sons were in military service during WWII.
Living in Warren is MRS EVERETT E LAPLANTE, the former ANNIS STACY who grew up in New Salem. Her father was the late JOSEPH STACY who lived in the south part of New Salem & her grandfather was the JACOB STACY who was the great grandfather of HERMAN HANSON. MR & MRS LAPLANTE, whose golden wedding was observed last year has 1 daughter VERA, now MRS W VINCENT BARRY of New Haven, CT, who is a graduate of Simmons College & has been a librarian in the Yale University library. OSCAR STACY, brother of MRS LAPLANTE, is no longer living but left several children, who live in vicinity of Fitchburg. BERNICE STACY a sister, is married has a family & lives in NJ.
ENTERPRISE & JOURNAL ORANGE MA 6 Jun 1963 by Beatrice Fay Hunting
MRS CAROLYN CHOUINARD, MARS VIRGINIA TRAINOR & there mothers, MRS LURA HAYDEN, all of North New Salem, returned on Thursday 23 May, from a 10 day auto trip, which included a visit with a friend in Cambridge, OH. Of especial interest was day spent in Marietta, OH which this year is celebrating the 175th anniversary of its settlement by adventurous pioneers from New England.
There they saw the grave of LT COL WILLIAM STACY, who in early life was a seafaring man probably living in the costal town of Salem, MA; later he was an early settler & the renowned Revolutionary War hero of New Salem, MA; & finally one of the hardy New Englanders who became Marietta’s first settlers in the spring of 1788.
WILLIAM STACY had left old Salem with his increasing large family & was living on a farm in New Salem, when on 20 Apr 1775, news of the Battle of Lexington spread like wild fire from town to town across MA. Alarm bells called the town’s militia together on New Salem’s common. Seeing that the Tory-minded militia Capt. was hesitant & undecided, WILLIAM STACY finally stepped forward & said.
“Fellow soldiers, I don’t know how it is with you, but as for me I will no longer serve a king who murders my own countrymen.” Pulling out his commission from the crown, he tore it to bits & trod it under foot. Amid shouts of approval STACY was immediately chosen Capt. To lead the men on the march toward Lexington.
In commemoration of this event citing WILLIAM STACY’S bravery was given to the Town of New Salem by one of his descendant, LT COL FISKE ROLLINS, TC-USAR of Braintree & affixed to a stone monument erected on the common at New Salem Center. LT COL ROLLINS, accompanied by his parents MR & MRS CHARLES F ROLLINGS, who were 92 & 85, respectively, came to New Salem in Oct 1956 for the unveiling of the plaque. The elder MR ROLLINS, who was born in Cambridge, was a son of BENJAMIN F & ABBA JANE (STACY) ROBBINS & was a great, great, great, grandson of the New Salem hero, WILLIAM STACY.
During several years of the War, STACY served with distinction & valor—at Bunker Hill & various other places & in several different regiments & rose in rank from Capt. To Lt Col. He is said to have been presented with a gold snuff box by Gen George Washington as a token of esteem. In Nov. 1778 LT COL STACY was captured by Indians during a massacre at Cherry Valley, NY. He was held prisoner by the Indians for 4 yrs. & had several narrow escaped from death but was finally released by an exchange of prisoners & allowed to return to his home in New Salem.
Cornwallis surrendered in Oct 1781 & the final peace treaty was signed in 1783. The Constitution of The United States was drawn up. In order to open up new territory for settlement Congress passed “The Ordinance of 1787”. This was the so called “Northwest Territory”, north & west of the OH River & comprising the present states of OH, IN, IL, MI, WI, & part of MN.
The “OH Company of Associates”, made up of Revolutionary officers, soldiers & others was formed in New England in order to settle these new lands. So in the spring of 1788 LT COL WILLIAM STACY of New Salem joined a group of other hardy New Englanders who braved the hardships & dangers of making a settlement at Marietta, which thus became OH’s first city & has been called “The Birthplace of the Northwest Territory”.
COL STACY is said to have taken his wife, 5 of his sons & a son-in-law & there families to Marietta in 1789 so the names of STACYS are said to appear on a Marietta marker commemorating the arrival of the first families. Other evidences of COL STACY’S prominence in Marietta are also to be found there.
The “History of the Connecticut Valley” & other historical books printed in MA give an account of WILLIAM STACY’S heroism in New Salem in 1775. They also erroneously state that he was killed by Indians at Marietta, OH. This is an error but his son JOHN STACY & 11 other persons were killed by Indians near Marietta on 2 Jan 1791. The Indians however, spared the life of the younger son, PHILLIP (or PHILEMON), 16 whom they found hiding under some bedding. COL STACY is buried in “Mount Cemetery” in Marietta, having died ther of natural caused in 1804.
Not all of COL STACY’S children went with him to Marietta. Several of the older ones remained in new Salem & vicinity so there are may of his descendants living today in MA & other places. Including among them, in addition to LT COL FISKE ROLLINS of Braintree, & HERMAN HANSON of New Salem & MRS PERCLY DODGE of Orange & their children, & many other relatives.
A few weeks ago a Springfield newspaper showed a picture of a group of people with a covered wagon. As a part of the 175th anniversary celebration of Marietta, OH this year they were starting to make the trip from MA to Marietta this spring by covered wagon just as it was done by the pioneer settlers of 175 years ago.
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