Job Shattuck

Job Shattuck (February 11, 1736 – January 13, 1819) of Groton, Massachusetts 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 officer during the war of the American Revolution and, most famously, one of the key figures in the nation-defining 1786-87 farmer's revolt known to history as Shays' Rebellion.

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 in it's 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, the largest landowner in Groton with an estate comprising well over 500 acres. 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 is 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 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 occaisons during the war.

The 1782 Groton Rebellion

1782, the year Shattuck built his house along Wattles Pond, which still stands, he organized and encouraged local farmers and laborers to resist 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.

hays' Rebellion

Crippled by debt in the aftermath of the revolution, the state of Massachusetts levied upon it's 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 propect of serving time in a debtor's prison. Political insouciance in Boston, unconscionable money-exchange practices and the high tax burden yoked upon the beleagered farmers would transform vast rural resentment into full-blown agrarian revolt. The rebellion was waged primarily by debt-riddden western farmers and landowners who banded together and captured shire town courthouses throughout 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 officals 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, the posterchild of the insurrection, a leading firebrand and advocate of the soldier/farmer who had risked life, limb and land for the cause of the revolution only to return from the war to find the specter of injustice still alive and foreclosure 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 Job Shattuck and four other conspiritors.

Arrest and Reprisals

Put on the state militia's most wanted list, on November 30th, 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.

Later Life

Legacy

Bibliography

*Richards, Leonard L., Shays's Rebellion: The American Revolutions Last Battle
*Szatmary, David P., Shays' Rebellion: The Making of an Agrarian Insurrection