Barnard McNITT, son of Alexander and Sarah McNITT, was born about 1700, possibly in Culylee, Raymocky parish, in the Laggan, County Donegal, Ireland.
------
Barnard McNITT, married first to Margaret --?--. They a son Alexander, born 10 December 1726. Margaret must have died in childbirth or sometime in the next year and Barnard married his second wife Jean/Jane Clark on 19 February 1728 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He and Jean, had eleven children recorded on the records of Palmer, Mass.
------
The project for an Ulster Presbyterian colony in New England had been studied with great care. Early in 1718 the neighborhood around Londonderry, Ireland was astir with chat about departure from the land of rack-renting landlords to seek new fortunes in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Counseled by two ministers, the Rev. William BOYD and the Rev. James McGREGOR, 319 Ulstermen signed a letter to Governor Samuel SHUTE of Massachusetts, expressing desire to come if assured of welcome. In the document only thirteen of the 319 signers made their mark, while 306 wrote their names in full. Nothing like that could have happened at that time in any other part of the British Empire, hardly even in New England. Seven of the signers were ministers and university graduates. Governor SHUTE encouraged Mr. BOYD, bearer of the letter, and word was sent back of a waiting welcome. On August 4, 1718, five ships bearing a hundred families arrived in the port of Boston from Londonderry."
In fact, subsequent to their arrival at Boston, the Ulster Scots constituted an unpopular minority group. In 1720 the General Court adopted a resolution ordering that one of their settlements be broken up within seven months; otherwise prosecution would ensue.
Many of the Ulster Scots soon left Boston and settled in Southern New Hampshire and western Massachusetts. It is reasonable to assume that Alexander McNITT and his son, Barnard, went straightway to Worcester to join friends who had preceded them.
------
Bernard McNITT married second, 19 February 1727/8 at Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, to Jean or Jane CLARK, dau.of Adam CLARK. Bernard and Jean McNITT had children: Elizabeth; David; William; Sarah m. Isaac FARREL; James; Mary m. Joseph FARRELL; Adam Clark; Margaret married Reuben COOLEY; John; Andrew; and Jean married Thomas BROWN. The births of all eleven children were recorded on the records of Palmer, Massachusetts.
------
About 1730, a considerable group of Ulster Scots from Worcester removed from Worcester to a new district about thirty-five miles to the west called "The Elbows," from bends in the Quabaug River. This neighborhood also was known for a while as Kingstown or Kingsfield, thus informally named for the first settler, John KING, who had arrived in 1716. After local government had been set up, the town became permanently known as Palmer. It was named by Gov. SHIRLEY in honor of a Scottish friend, Thomas PALMER. The McNITTS came to The Elbows (Palmer, Mass.) where Barnard McNITT bought a farm of 100 acres on 24 January 1732, and paid 110 pounds in cash for it to John MOOR, a Weaver. He became town clerk, selectman, mediator in neighborhood troubles, and Presbyterian elder. Barnard McNITT's farm lay on both sides of the old Boston road and extended southward to the Quabaug River.
Barnard McNITT built a new barn next to his house at Palmer, Mass. in 1735. It was fifty feet long and thirty feet wide, with two great doors at the front, a large barn for those days. The frame was constructed of heavy hewn timbers, well mortised together and solidly braced. The barn was built so well that it survived 187 years, until 1922. He also may have built a larger house about the same time. He financed his building by borrowing 40 pounds from Alexander EWING of Ashford, Windham County, Conn. As security he pledged his second drawing of 100 acres of land to which he was entitled by virtue of the confirmation given his title of ownership by the General Court in 1733.
------
Noah COOLEY, on 19 Sept. 1739, joined with Steward SOUTHGATE, Thomas CHAPIN, Jonathan CHAPIN, Daniel FULLER, and several other inhabitants of "The Elbow Tract" (Palmer, Mass.), in signing a petition to the Court for the removal of the Rev. John HARVEY as minister of the church at the Elbow Plantation. It seems that the Reverend HARVEY had been convicted of "drunkenness" and other acts unbecoming a minister of the gospel. The town was split on the issue of whether their minister should remain; for on 14 December 1739, a number of other inhabitants of the Elbows Plantation, including Barnard McNITT, Matthew BROWN, Robert FARREL, David BLAIR, et.al., petitioned that, "Mr. HARVEY having made a publick & penitent confession of his fault, and done everything that a Christian man and minister of ye gospel ought to do," be allowed to continue. -- J. H. Temple, HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1889), pp.116-124; McNitt, V. V. THE MacNAUCHTAN SAGA (1951), Volume 2, p.36-38.
In 1746, a new scandal arose at the Elbows Tract (Palmer), involving Rev. John HARVEY. His former supporters "took up the sword against him." It seems that he had escorted Mrs. Agnes LITTLE, the wife of Thomas LITTLE, to and from Boston; and there were rumors that there was "unchaste conduct on the journey." On 11 June 1747, Barnard McNITT, Seth SHAW, and Andrew RUTHERFORD were appointed a committee "with full power in our behalf for the prosecution of that affair concerning the scandalous reports raised on the Rev. Mr. HARVEY, etc." It appears from the record that Rev. HARVEY was forced to resign.
"Kingstown, July the 5, 1748.
"Received from Mr. Barnard McNitt the full of my Reates, Sallery and Wood-reates, during his collection. Ney, the full due to me since my coming to the Elbowes, which has been seventeen years past, the Eleventh day of may Last, as witness my hand this fifth of July 1748.
--- Mr. John Harvey."
Barnard McNITT, Andrew RUTHERFORD, Thomas McCLENATHAN, John THOMPSON, Benjamin PARSONS, William SCOTT Jr., David SPEAR, Robert BRATTON, and James SMITH, in 1747, were voted to be a committee to manage the settling of Mr. Alexander BOYD as new minister of the church at Palmer, Mass.
------
Barnard McNITT's father, Alexander McNITT (1656c.-1746), died, 10 February 1746, at age 90.
Barnard McNITT was granted additional land, adjoining his original farm, on 16 May 1746. Probably in settlement of his father's estate.
------
Barnard McNITT was chosen at a meeting of the Proprietors and Grantees of The Elbows on Sept. 22, 1748 to visit Boston to beg the General Court to authorize establishment of a township. On 9 March following he was sent again to Boston. He submitted a petition that was rejected.
The General Court voted 14 June 1749 to grant the petition of Barnard McNITT and authorized the incorporation of a township. Governor SHIRLEY refused the consent. A third try in the autumn of 1751 was successful and The Elbows became the new town of Palmer, Mass.
------
Jane McNITT, the youngest child of Barnard and Jane (CLARK) McNITT, was born 25 August 1754 at Palmer, Massachusetts. She married Thomas BROWN (1759-1823), son of William and Margaret (JOHNSON) BROWN.
------
Barnard McNITT was a member of the board of selectmen in 1754 and 1755.
-------
Sharing the first two pews in the Church at Palmer, Massachusetts in 1764 were Matthew BROWN, James SMITH, Barnard McNITT, David COOLEY, and Ens. Noah COOLEY.
------
Barnard McNITT died 16 Jan 1773 at Palmer, Hampden Co., MA.
------
Of the sons of Barnard McNITT, Alexander, James, John and Andrew McNITT served in the American Revolution. Alexander, Jr., Daniel, David, Andrew, and John McNITT, sons of Captain Alexander, eldest son of Barnard McNITT, also were soldiers of the Revolution. Three other grandsons of Barnard McNitt, Adam, Barnard, and Barnabas McNITT, were Revolutionary Soldiers.
======
SOURCES:
McNitt, V. V. THE MacNAUCHTAN SAGA (1951), Volume 2, passim;
J. H. Temple, HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1889), p.511;
VITAL RECORDS OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1905), p.50,56.
=======
------
Barnard McNITT, married first to Margaret --?--. They a son Alexander, born 10 December 1726. Margaret must have died in childbirth or sometime in the next year and Barnard married his second wife Jean/Jane Clark on 19 February 1728 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He and Jean, had eleven children recorded on the records of Palmer, Mass.
------
The project for an Ulster Presbyterian colony in New England had been studied with great care. Early in 1718 the neighborhood around Londonderry, Ireland was astir with chat about departure from the land of rack-renting landlords to seek new fortunes in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Counseled by two ministers, the Rev. William BOYD and the Rev. James McGREGOR, 319 Ulstermen signed a letter to Governor Samuel SHUTE of Massachusetts, expressing desire to come if assured of welcome. In the document only thirteen of the 319 signers made their mark, while 306 wrote their names in full. Nothing like that could have happened at that time in any other part of the British Empire, hardly even in New England. Seven of the signers were ministers and university graduates. Governor SHUTE encouraged Mr. BOYD, bearer of the letter, and word was sent back of a waiting welcome. On August 4, 1718, five ships bearing a hundred families arrived in the port of Boston from Londonderry."
In fact, subsequent to their arrival at Boston, the Ulster Scots constituted an unpopular minority group. In 1720 the General Court adopted a resolution ordering that one of their settlements be broken up within seven months; otherwise prosecution would ensue.
Many of the Ulster Scots soon left Boston and settled in Southern New Hampshire and western Massachusetts. It is reasonable to assume that Alexander McNITT and his son, Barnard, went straightway to Worcester to join friends who had preceded them.
------
Bernard McNITT married second, 19 February 1727/8 at Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, to Jean or Jane CLARK, dau.of Adam CLARK. Bernard and Jean McNITT had children: Elizabeth; David; William; Sarah m. Isaac FARREL; James; Mary m. Joseph FARRELL; Adam Clark; Margaret married Reuben COOLEY; John; Andrew; and Jean married Thomas BROWN. The births of all eleven children were recorded on the records of Palmer, Massachusetts.
------
About 1730, a considerable group of Ulster Scots from Worcester removed from Worcester to a new district about thirty-five miles to the west called "The Elbows," from bends in the Quabaug River. This neighborhood also was known for a while as Kingstown or Kingsfield, thus informally named for the first settler, John KING, who had arrived in 1716. After local government had been set up, the town became permanently known as Palmer. It was named by Gov. SHIRLEY in honor of a Scottish friend, Thomas PALMER. The McNITTS came to The Elbows (Palmer, Mass.) where Barnard McNITT bought a farm of 100 acres on 24 January 1732, and paid 110 pounds in cash for it to John MOOR, a Weaver. He became town clerk, selectman, mediator in neighborhood troubles, and Presbyterian elder. Barnard McNITT's farm lay on both sides of the old Boston road and extended southward to the Quabaug River.
Barnard McNITT built a new barn next to his house at Palmer, Mass. in 1735. It was fifty feet long and thirty feet wide, with two great doors at the front, a large barn for those days. The frame was constructed of heavy hewn timbers, well mortised together and solidly braced. The barn was built so well that it survived 187 years, until 1922. He also may have built a larger house about the same time. He financed his building by borrowing 40 pounds from Alexander EWING of Ashford, Windham County, Conn. As security he pledged his second drawing of 100 acres of land to which he was entitled by virtue of the confirmation given his title of ownership by the General Court in 1733.
------
Noah COOLEY, on 19 Sept. 1739, joined with Steward SOUTHGATE, Thomas CHAPIN, Jonathan CHAPIN, Daniel FULLER, and several other inhabitants of "The Elbow Tract" (Palmer, Mass.), in signing a petition to the Court for the removal of the Rev. John HARVEY as minister of the church at the Elbow Plantation. It seems that the Reverend HARVEY had been convicted of "drunkenness" and other acts unbecoming a minister of the gospel. The town was split on the issue of whether their minister should remain; for on 14 December 1739, a number of other inhabitants of the Elbows Plantation, including Barnard McNITT, Matthew BROWN, Robert FARREL, David BLAIR, et.al., petitioned that, "Mr. HARVEY having made a publick & penitent confession of his fault, and done everything that a Christian man and minister of ye gospel ought to do," be allowed to continue. -- J. H. Temple, HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1889), pp.116-124; McNitt, V. V. THE MacNAUCHTAN SAGA (1951), Volume 2, p.36-38.
In 1746, a new scandal arose at the Elbows Tract (Palmer), involving Rev. John HARVEY. His former supporters "took up the sword against him." It seems that he had escorted Mrs. Agnes LITTLE, the wife of Thomas LITTLE, to and from Boston; and there were rumors that there was "unchaste conduct on the journey." On 11 June 1747, Barnard McNITT, Seth SHAW, and Andrew RUTHERFORD were appointed a committee "with full power in our behalf for the prosecution of that affair concerning the scandalous reports raised on the Rev. Mr. HARVEY, etc." It appears from the record that Rev. HARVEY was forced to resign.
"Kingstown, July the 5, 1748.
"Received from Mr. Barnard McNitt the full of my Reates, Sallery and Wood-reates, during his collection. Ney, the full due to me since my coming to the Elbowes, which has been seventeen years past, the Eleventh day of may Last, as witness my hand this fifth of July 1748.
--- Mr. John Harvey."
Barnard McNITT, Andrew RUTHERFORD, Thomas McCLENATHAN, John THOMPSON, Benjamin PARSONS, William SCOTT Jr., David SPEAR, Robert BRATTON, and James SMITH, in 1747, were voted to be a committee to manage the settling of Mr. Alexander BOYD as new minister of the church at Palmer, Mass.
------
Barnard McNITT's father, Alexander McNITT (1656c.-1746), died, 10 February 1746, at age 90.
Barnard McNITT was granted additional land, adjoining his original farm, on 16 May 1746. Probably in settlement of his father's estate.
------
Barnard McNITT was chosen at a meeting of the Proprietors and Grantees of The Elbows on Sept. 22, 1748 to visit Boston to beg the General Court to authorize establishment of a township. On 9 March following he was sent again to Boston. He submitted a petition that was rejected.
The General Court voted 14 June 1749 to grant the petition of Barnard McNITT and authorized the incorporation of a township. Governor SHIRLEY refused the consent. A third try in the autumn of 1751 was successful and The Elbows became the new town of Palmer, Mass.
------
Jane McNITT, the youngest child of Barnard and Jane (CLARK) McNITT, was born 25 August 1754 at Palmer, Massachusetts. She married Thomas BROWN (1759-1823), son of William and Margaret (JOHNSON) BROWN.
------
Barnard McNITT was a member of the board of selectmen in 1754 and 1755.
-------
Sharing the first two pews in the Church at Palmer, Massachusetts in 1764 were Matthew BROWN, James SMITH, Barnard McNITT, David COOLEY, and Ens. Noah COOLEY.
------
Barnard McNITT died 16 Jan 1773 at Palmer, Hampden Co., MA.
------
Of the sons of Barnard McNITT, Alexander, James, John and Andrew McNITT served in the American Revolution. Alexander, Jr., Daniel, David, Andrew, and John McNITT, sons of Captain Alexander, eldest son of Barnard McNITT, also were soldiers of the Revolution. Three other grandsons of Barnard McNitt, Adam, Barnard, and Barnabas McNITT, were Revolutionary Soldiers.
======
SOURCES:
McNitt, V. V. THE MacNAUCHTAN SAGA (1951), Volume 2, passim;
J. H. Temple, HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1889), p.511;
VITAL RECORDS OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1905), p.50,56.
=======
Barnard McNITT, son of Alexander and Sarah McNITT, was born about 1700, possibly in Culylee, Raymocky parish, in the Laggan, County Donegal, Ireland.
------
Barnard McNITT, married first to Margaret --?--. They a son Alexander, born 10 December 1726. Margaret must have died in childbirth or sometime in the next year and Barnard married his second wife Jean/Jane Clark on 19 February 1728 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He and Jean, had eleven children recorded on the records of Palmer, Mass.
------
The project for an Ulster Presbyterian colony in New England had been studied with great care. Early in 1718 the neighborhood around Londonderry, Ireland was astir with chat about departure from the land of rack-renting landlords to seek new fortunes in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Counseled by two ministers, the Rev. William BOYD and the Rev. James McGREGOR, 319 Ulstermen signed a letter to Governor Samuel SHUTE of Massachusetts, expressing desire to come if assured of welcome. In the document only thirteen of the 319 signers made their mark, while 306 wrote their names in full. Nothing like that could have happened at that time in any other part of the British Empire, hardly even in New England. Seven of the signers were ministers and university graduates. Governor SHUTE encouraged Mr. BOYD, bearer of the letter, and word was sent back of a waiting welcome. On August 4, 1718, five ships bearing a hundred families arrived in the port of Boston from Londonderry."
In fact, subsequent to their arrival at Boston, the Ulster Scots constituted an unpopular minority group. In 1720 the General Court adopted a resolution ordering that one of their settlements be broken up within seven months; otherwise prosecution would ensue.
Many of the Ulster Scots soon left Boston and settled in Southern New Hampshire and western Massachusetts. It is reasonable to assume that Alexander McNITT and his son, Barnard, went straightway to Worcester to join friends who had preceded them.
------
Bernard McNITT married second, 19 February 1727/8 at Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, to Jean or Jane CLARK, dau.of Adam CLARK. Bernard and Jean McNITT had children: Elizabeth; David; William; Sarah m. Isaac FARREL; James; Mary m. Joseph FARRELL; Adam Clark; Margaret married Reuben COOLEY; John; Andrew; and Jean married Thomas BROWN. The births of all eleven children were recorded on the records of Palmer, Massachusetts.
------
About 1730, a considerable group of Ulster Scots from Worcester removed from Worcester to a new district about thirty-five miles to the west called "The Elbows," from bends in the Quabaug River. This neighborhood also was known for a while as Kingstown or Kingsfield, thus informally named for the first settler, John KING, who had arrived in 1716. After local government had been set up, the town became permanently known as Palmer. It was named by Gov. SHIRLEY in honor of a Scottish friend, Thomas PALMER. The McNITTS came to The Elbows (Palmer, Mass.) where Barnard McNITT bought a farm of 100 acres on 24 January 1732, and paid 110 pounds in cash for it to John MOOR, a Weaver. He became town clerk, selectman, mediator in neighborhood troubles, and Presbyterian elder. Barnard McNITT's farm lay on both sides of the old Boston road and extended southward to the Quabaug River.
Barnard McNITT built a new barn next to his house at Palmer, Mass. in 1735. It was fifty feet long and thirty feet wide, with two great doors at the front, a large barn for those days. The frame was constructed of heavy hewn timbers, well mortised together and solidly braced. The barn was built so well that it survived 187 years, until 1922. He also may have built a larger house about the same time. He financed his building by borrowing 40 pounds from Alexander EWING of Ashford, Windham County, Conn. As security he pledged his second drawing of 100 acres of land to which he was entitled by virtue of the confirmation given his title of ownership by the General Court in 1733.
------
Noah COOLEY, on 19 Sept. 1739, joined with Steward SOUTHGATE, Thomas CHAPIN, Jonathan CHAPIN, Daniel FULLER, and several other inhabitants of "The Elbow Tract" (Palmer, Mass.), in signing a petition to the Court for the removal of the Rev. John HARVEY as minister of the church at the Elbow Plantation. It seems that the Reverend HARVEY had been convicted of "drunkenness" and other acts unbecoming a minister of the gospel. The town was split on the issue of whether their minister should remain; for on 14 December 1739, a number of other inhabitants of the Elbows Plantation, including Barnard McNITT, Matthew BROWN, Robert FARREL, David BLAIR, et.al., petitioned that, "Mr. HARVEY having made a publick & penitent confession of his fault, and done everything that a Christian man and minister of ye gospel ought to do," be allowed to continue. -- J. H. Temple, HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1889), pp.116-124; McNitt, V. V. THE MacNAUCHTAN SAGA (1951), Volume 2, p.36-38.
In 1746, a new scandal arose at the Elbows Tract (Palmer), involving Rev. John HARVEY. His former supporters "took up the sword against him." It seems that he had escorted Mrs. Agnes LITTLE, the wife of Thomas LITTLE, to and from Boston; and there were rumors that there was "unchaste conduct on the journey." On 11 June 1747, Barnard McNITT, Seth SHAW, and Andrew RUTHERFORD were appointed a committee "with full power in our behalf for the prosecution of that affair concerning the scandalous reports raised on the Rev. Mr. HARVEY, etc." It appears from the record that Rev. HARVEY was forced to resign.
"Kingstown, July the 5, 1748.
"Received from Mr. Barnard McNitt the full of my Reates, Sallery and Wood-reates, during his collection. Ney, the full due to me since my coming to the Elbowes, which has been seventeen years past, the Eleventh day of may Last, as witness my hand this fifth of July 1748.
--- Mr. John Harvey."
Barnard McNITT, Andrew RUTHERFORD, Thomas McCLENATHAN, John THOMPSON, Benjamin PARSONS, William SCOTT Jr., David SPEAR, Robert BRATTON, and James SMITH, in 1747, were voted to be a committee to manage the settling of Mr. Alexander BOYD as new minister of the church at Palmer, Mass.
------
Barnard McNITT's father, Alexander McNITT (1656c.-1746), died, 10 February 1746, at age 90.
Barnard McNITT was granted additional land, adjoining his original farm, on 16 May 1746. Probably in settlement of his father's estate.
------
Barnard McNITT was chosen at a meeting of the Proprietors and Grantees of The Elbows on Sept. 22, 1748 to visit Boston to beg the General Court to authorize establishment of a township. On 9 March following he was sent again to Boston. He submitted a petition that was rejected.
The General Court voted 14 June 1749 to grant the petition of Barnard McNITT and authorized the incorporation of a township. Governor SHIRLEY refused the consent. A third try in the autumn of 1751 was successful and The Elbows became the new town of Palmer, Mass.
------
Jane McNITT, the youngest child of Barnard and Jane (CLARK) McNITT, was born 25 August 1754 at Palmer, Massachusetts. She married Thomas BROWN (1759-1823), son of William and Margaret (JOHNSON) BROWN.
------
Barnard McNITT was a member of the board of selectmen in 1754 and 1755.
-------
Sharing the first two pews in the Church at Palmer, Massachusetts in 1764 were Matthew BROWN, James SMITH, Barnard McNITT, David COOLEY, and Ens. Noah COOLEY.
------
Barnard McNITT died 16 Jan 1773 at Palmer, Hampden Co., MA.
------
Of the sons of Barnard McNITT, Alexander, James, John and Andrew McNITT served in the American Revolution. Alexander, Jr., Daniel, David, Andrew, and John McNITT, sons of Captain Alexander, eldest son of Barnard McNITT, also were soldiers of the Revolution. Three other grandsons of Barnard McNitt, Adam, Barnard, and Barnabas McNITT, were Revolutionary Soldiers.
======
SOURCES:
McNitt, V. V. THE MacNAUCHTAN SAGA (1951), Volume 2, passim;
J. H. Temple, HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1889), p.511;
VITAL RECORDS OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1905), p.50,56.
=======
------
Barnard McNITT, married first to Margaret --?--. They a son Alexander, born 10 December 1726. Margaret must have died in childbirth or sometime in the next year and Barnard married his second wife Jean/Jane Clark on 19 February 1728 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He and Jean, had eleven children recorded on the records of Palmer, Mass.
------
The project for an Ulster Presbyterian colony in New England had been studied with great care. Early in 1718 the neighborhood around Londonderry, Ireland was astir with chat about departure from the land of rack-renting landlords to seek new fortunes in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Counseled by two ministers, the Rev. William BOYD and the Rev. James McGREGOR, 319 Ulstermen signed a letter to Governor Samuel SHUTE of Massachusetts, expressing desire to come if assured of welcome. In the document only thirteen of the 319 signers made their mark, while 306 wrote their names in full. Nothing like that could have happened at that time in any other part of the British Empire, hardly even in New England. Seven of the signers were ministers and university graduates. Governor SHUTE encouraged Mr. BOYD, bearer of the letter, and word was sent back of a waiting welcome. On August 4, 1718, five ships bearing a hundred families arrived in the port of Boston from Londonderry."
In fact, subsequent to their arrival at Boston, the Ulster Scots constituted an unpopular minority group. In 1720 the General Court adopted a resolution ordering that one of their settlements be broken up within seven months; otherwise prosecution would ensue.
Many of the Ulster Scots soon left Boston and settled in Southern New Hampshire and western Massachusetts. It is reasonable to assume that Alexander McNITT and his son, Barnard, went straightway to Worcester to join friends who had preceded them.
------
Bernard McNITT married second, 19 February 1727/8 at Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, to Jean or Jane CLARK, dau.of Adam CLARK. Bernard and Jean McNITT had children: Elizabeth; David; William; Sarah m. Isaac FARREL; James; Mary m. Joseph FARRELL; Adam Clark; Margaret married Reuben COOLEY; John; Andrew; and Jean married Thomas BROWN. The births of all eleven children were recorded on the records of Palmer, Massachusetts.
------
About 1730, a considerable group of Ulster Scots from Worcester removed from Worcester to a new district about thirty-five miles to the west called "The Elbows," from bends in the Quabaug River. This neighborhood also was known for a while as Kingstown or Kingsfield, thus informally named for the first settler, John KING, who had arrived in 1716. After local government had been set up, the town became permanently known as Palmer. It was named by Gov. SHIRLEY in honor of a Scottish friend, Thomas PALMER. The McNITTS came to The Elbows (Palmer, Mass.) where Barnard McNITT bought a farm of 100 acres on 24 January 1732, and paid 110 pounds in cash for it to John MOOR, a Weaver. He became town clerk, selectman, mediator in neighborhood troubles, and Presbyterian elder. Barnard McNITT's farm lay on both sides of the old Boston road and extended southward to the Quabaug River.
Barnard McNITT built a new barn next to his house at Palmer, Mass. in 1735. It was fifty feet long and thirty feet wide, with two great doors at the front, a large barn for those days. The frame was constructed of heavy hewn timbers, well mortised together and solidly braced. The barn was built so well that it survived 187 years, until 1922. He also may have built a larger house about the same time. He financed his building by borrowing 40 pounds from Alexander EWING of Ashford, Windham County, Conn. As security he pledged his second drawing of 100 acres of land to which he was entitled by virtue of the confirmation given his title of ownership by the General Court in 1733.
------
Noah COOLEY, on 19 Sept. 1739, joined with Steward SOUTHGATE, Thomas CHAPIN, Jonathan CHAPIN, Daniel FULLER, and several other inhabitants of "The Elbow Tract" (Palmer, Mass.), in signing a petition to the Court for the removal of the Rev. John HARVEY as minister of the church at the Elbow Plantation. It seems that the Reverend HARVEY had been convicted of "drunkenness" and other acts unbecoming a minister of the gospel. The town was split on the issue of whether their minister should remain; for on 14 December 1739, a number of other inhabitants of the Elbows Plantation, including Barnard McNITT, Matthew BROWN, Robert FARREL, David BLAIR, et.al., petitioned that, "Mr. HARVEY having made a publick & penitent confession of his fault, and done everything that a Christian man and minister of ye gospel ought to do," be allowed to continue. -- J. H. Temple, HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1889), pp.116-124; McNitt, V. V. THE MacNAUCHTAN SAGA (1951), Volume 2, p.36-38.
In 1746, a new scandal arose at the Elbows Tract (Palmer), involving Rev. John HARVEY. His former supporters "took up the sword against him." It seems that he had escorted Mrs. Agnes LITTLE, the wife of Thomas LITTLE, to and from Boston; and there were rumors that there was "unchaste conduct on the journey." On 11 June 1747, Barnard McNITT, Seth SHAW, and Andrew RUTHERFORD were appointed a committee "with full power in our behalf for the prosecution of that affair concerning the scandalous reports raised on the Rev. Mr. HARVEY, etc." It appears from the record that Rev. HARVEY was forced to resign.
"Kingstown, July the 5, 1748.
"Received from Mr. Barnard McNitt the full of my Reates, Sallery and Wood-reates, during his collection. Ney, the full due to me since my coming to the Elbowes, which has been seventeen years past, the Eleventh day of may Last, as witness my hand this fifth of July 1748.
--- Mr. John Harvey."
Barnard McNITT, Andrew RUTHERFORD, Thomas McCLENATHAN, John THOMPSON, Benjamin PARSONS, William SCOTT Jr., David SPEAR, Robert BRATTON, and James SMITH, in 1747, were voted to be a committee to manage the settling of Mr. Alexander BOYD as new minister of the church at Palmer, Mass.
------
Barnard McNITT's father, Alexander McNITT (1656c.-1746), died, 10 February 1746, at age 90.
Barnard McNITT was granted additional land, adjoining his original farm, on 16 May 1746. Probably in settlement of his father's estate.
------
Barnard McNITT was chosen at a meeting of the Proprietors and Grantees of The Elbows on Sept. 22, 1748 to visit Boston to beg the General Court to authorize establishment of a township. On 9 March following he was sent again to Boston. He submitted a petition that was rejected.
The General Court voted 14 June 1749 to grant the petition of Barnard McNITT and authorized the incorporation of a township. Governor SHIRLEY refused the consent. A third try in the autumn of 1751 was successful and The Elbows became the new town of Palmer, Mass.
------
Jane McNITT, the youngest child of Barnard and Jane (CLARK) McNITT, was born 25 August 1754 at Palmer, Massachusetts. She married Thomas BROWN (1759-1823), son of William and Margaret (JOHNSON) BROWN.
------
Barnard McNITT was a member of the board of selectmen in 1754 and 1755.
-------
Sharing the first two pews in the Church at Palmer, Massachusetts in 1764 were Matthew BROWN, James SMITH, Barnard McNITT, David COOLEY, and Ens. Noah COOLEY.
------
Barnard McNITT died 16 Jan 1773 at Palmer, Hampden Co., MA.
------
Of the sons of Barnard McNITT, Alexander, James, John and Andrew McNITT served in the American Revolution. Alexander, Jr., Daniel, David, Andrew, and John McNITT, sons of Captain Alexander, eldest son of Barnard McNITT, also were soldiers of the Revolution. Three other grandsons of Barnard McNitt, Adam, Barnard, and Barnabas McNITT, were Revolutionary Soldiers.
======
SOURCES:
McNitt, V. V. THE MacNAUCHTAN SAGA (1951), Volume 2, passim;
J. H. Temple, HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1889), p.511;
VITAL RECORDS OF PALMER, MASSACHUSETTS (1905), p.50,56.
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