Job Shattuck of Groton, Massachusetts

Groton, Massachusetts

Groton is a town located in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 10,646 at the 2010 census. It is home to two noted prep schools: Groton School, founded in 1884, and Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1793. The historic town hosts the National Shepley Hill Horse...

 was a Royal soldier in the French and Indian War who served in the 1755 campaign under Monckton in Nova Scotia, a colonial militia and Continental Army

Continental Army

The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...

 officer during the war of the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 and, most famously, one of the key figures in the nation-defining 1786-87 farmer's revolt known to history as Shays' Rebellion

Shays' Rebellion

Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in central and western Massachusetts from 1786 to 1787. The rebellion is named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War....

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Early life in Groton and military service

Shattuck was born in the rural central Massachusetts town of Groton in 1736, not long after the final Indian raids and skirmishes that had so often embattled the town during its early colonial period. His family occupied a large tract of land in the northwest corner of town, much of the acreage fronting the banks of the Nashua River. He would eventually become, through ultimogeniture

Ultimogeniture

Ultimogeniture, also known as postremogeniture or junior right, is the tradition of inheritance by the last-born of the entirety of, or a privileged position in, a parent's wealth, estate or office...

, the largest landowner in Groton with an estate comprising well over 500 acres (2 km²). At 19, Shattuck joined the royal military as a private in Captain Ephraim Jones’ company and took part in the battle at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, on May 28, 1755. Two decades would pass before he again donned a uniform, this time eschewing the royal red coat of the British private for the homespun utilitarian attire of the colonial militiaman. Shattuck's wartime resume remains impressive. He participated in the Alarm of April 19, 1775, fought with noted distinction at Bunker Hill, added attrition during the Siege of Boston, led Groton men through the debacle at Ticonderoga and then to the triumph of Saratoga and was promoted to the rank of Captain by the State of Massachusetts in 1779. He was also elected town selectman of Groton on three occasions during the war.

The 1782 Groton Rebellion

1782, the year in which Shattuck constructed his still-standing house along Wattles Pond, he organized against and encouraged local farmers and laborers to resist the pecuniary measures of state tax collectors. By fomenting a spirit of resistance against the authority of Massachusetts officials within his community, Shattuck had begun to establish himself as a defiant leader. The violent campaign led by Shattuck against local tax collectors in 1782, culminated in the burning of a massive potash works in the center of Groton.

Shays' Rebellion

Crippled by debt in the aftermath of the revolution, the state of Massachusetts levied upon its towns and citizens tax burdens higher than had been in place during British rule. Those who suddenly found themselves in arrears to the state quickly discovered that their land, livelihood and possibly even their freedom were at stake. Many who could not assuage their debts faced the unpleasant prospect of serving time in a debtors' prison. Political insouciance in Boston, unconscionable money-exchange practices and the high tax burden yoked upon the beleaguered farmers would transform vast rural resentment into full-blown agrarian revolt. The rebellion was waged primarily by debt-ridden western farmers and landowners who banded together and captured shire town courthouses in Massachusetts, closing them to all proceedings. Violence was threatened and enacted against many officials who would not stand down. On a national scale, the rebellion was viewed with intense interest by citizens and public officials of all of the confederated former colonies because it "tested the precarious institutions of the new republic." To officials in Boston, Job Shattuck became, perhaps even more than Daniel Shays himself, a leading firebrand and empathetic advocate of the soldier–farmer whom had risked life, limb and land for the cause of the revolution only to return from the war to find injustice and foreclosure still looming.

Closure of the Court at Concord

On a rainy September day in 1786, Shattuck led a mob of roughly 200 men and forcibly closed session at the Middlesex County Courthouse in Concord, MA. A similar raid upon the Courthouse in Cambridge was planned by the Shaysites for November, however officials in Boston acted before this could occur by issuing a warrant for the immediate arrest of Shattuck and four other conspirators.

Arrest and reprisals

Charged with treason and put on the state militia's most wanted list, on November 30, 1786 Shattuck was harried across the Groton countryside by over 100 men, slashed across the leg with a broadsword upon arrest, imprisoned, and promptly sentenced to hang. However, his prominence in the rebellion may have actually saved Shattuck from the gallows as John Hancock issued a pardon on his behalf.