enter, a blacksmith, and so on until gradually there became quite
a little settlement. Larger vessels were built, voyages were extended
to some two or three weeks, and sometimes to as many months, the seas
being scoured from Newfoundland to Virginia for whales.

[Illustration: GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.]

The year 1765 was an eventful one, as it brought Joseph Rotch, a man of
means and experience, from Nantucket,--or Sherburn as it was called up
to 1790,--to carry on the whaling business here; and his vessels,
together with those of other new-comers, materially increased the size
of the little fleet sailing from the Acushnet river. The settlement had
now become quite a little village, and needed a distinctive name, as it
had always been regarded as a part of the village of Acushnet; so it was
christened Bedford, and in after years the New was added to distinguish
it from the Bedford near Boston.

[Illustration: LOOKING DOWN UNION STREET.]

Being deeper, broader, and a safer harbor than the Apponegansett, the
Acushnet river gradually absorbed most of the fleet that had sailed from
there, so that the little fleet of a few vessels in 1765 had become one
of fifty vessels in 1773. Among these vessels was one owned by Mr.
Rotch,--the "Dartmouth,"--which will be remembered as long as the
American republic stands, for it was this vessel that took the tea to
Boston which was thrown overboard at the time of the famous Tea Party in
1773.

[Illustration: UNITARIAN CHURCH, UNION STREET.]

[Illustration: MANDELL'S HOUSE, HAWTHORNE STREET.]

But the Revolution put a stop to a continuance of this marvellous
growth, and during the following eight years in the struggle for
liberty, decay, fire, and the English did fatal destruction to the
vessels in Buzzard's Bay. Mr. Rotch returned to his off-shore island
home, taking his vessels with him, and one or two other merchants
followed his example and moved away. What vessels remained after these
desertions were moored along the wharves. But the people did not settle
down in idleness to wait for the war to be over. While the women were
working for the soldiers, in providing them clothing, etc., the men
young and old proved that their sea-training in the catching of whales
was invaluable in manning the little navy of the colonies. With such men
behind him, John Paul Jones scoured the ocean and even defied the
English in their own harbors, and the little navy became a powerful
and dangerous