THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN, 
 
 MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASS. 
 
 FROM THE GRANT OF ITS TERRITORY TO 
 
 CHARLESTOWN, IN 1640, TO 
 
 THE YEAR 1860. 
 
 BY SAMUEL SEWALL, M.A. 
 
 OF BURLINGTON, MASS., SOMETIME PASTOR OF THE CHURCH THKRE. 
 
 WITH A MEMORIAL SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR 
 
 BY REV. CHARLES C. SEWALL. 
 
 WIGGIN AND LUNT, PUBLISHERS, 
 WASHINGTON STREET. 
 1868.
 
 1M.TJDC3-K &; SON, 
 
 printers, 
 
 No. 34 School Street, Boston.
 
 TO 
 
 THE INHABITANTS OF WOBUKN 
 
 THIS HISTORY 
 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 
 BY THEIR 
 
 FRIEND AND HUMBLE SERVANT, 
 SAMUEL SEWALL. 
 
 610283 
 
 flUIDlTD A DTTV
 
 MEMOIR. 
 
 REV. SAMUEL SEWALL, author of this history of "Woburn, 
 was born in Marblehead, June 1, 1785, and died in Burlington, 
 February 18, 1868. 
 
 He was a descendant of a long line of worthy ancestors, and 
 bore the name of two, who were honored with the highest judi- 
 cial office of the State. He traced his lineage, also, to one of 
 the distinguished pastors of the Old South Church, in Boston, 
 whose character he contemplated with reverence, and his sacred 
 office with peculiar interest. Hence, probably, was that sober- 
 ness of thought and feeling, which was so marked a feature 
 of his early years ; and that subsequent purity of aspiration 
 and aim, which led him to the office once filled and adorned by 
 his ancestor. Tradition, also, reports, that he was in infancy 
 consecrated by his mother to the service of God in the Christian 
 ministry ; and, certainly, the teachings and discipline of parental 
 love and piety seem to have had that end in view. 
 
 Having received preparatory instruction at the Academy, in 
 his native town, he entered Harvard University in 1800, and 
 graduated with unblemished reputation, in 1804. Already 
 decided as to the profession of his choice, he at once com- 
 menced the study of Theology, at Cambridge; occupying, at 
 the same time, a minor position in the College government. 
 After the usual period of professional study, and being pos- 
 sessed by nature, education and rigid self-discipline, of fitting 
 qualifications for the ministry, he took orders in the Episcopal 
 church, of which his parents were members, and in which he 
 had been accustomed to worship. Having officiated in this 
 church for a short time, at Cambridge, and elsewhere, he became
 
 IV MEMOIR. 
 
 was factitious. He lived and moved, he thought and spoke, as if 
 ever in the felt presence of his God. The will of God was the 
 law of his daily life. The strength and joy of his soul sprang 
 from communion with God ; and to walk in all the command- 
 ments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly was his constant 
 care and ardent desire. Age shed a ripening influence upon the 
 virtues of his early and maturer years. It gently relaxed the 
 ties which bound him to the world he was soon to leave, while it 
 hallowed the memories and hopes which endeared to him the 
 world he was approaching. It rendered more precious and con- 
 soling his own religious belief and trust, while it enlarged his 
 charity and widened his sympathies towards others of every 
 Christian name and sect. Sorrows and the most painful bereave- 
 ments he had borne with meek submission and unfaltering trust. 
 Sickness and pain could not rob him of the peace of calm, 
 patient, steadfast reliance on the providence of God, and an 
 entire resignation to His will. He knew "Whom he had 
 believed," and his faith in Him never wavered. So death came 
 to him only as an angel of mercy, to release him from mortal 
 pain and decay, and to translate his meek and pure spirit into 
 the blissful presence of his Saviour and his God.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The History of Woburn, -which has been for years in a state of 
 preparation, and long expected by the inhabitants of that town, 
 for whose use it was principally intended, is at last finished, and 
 ready for the press. 
 
 Before proceeding to the work itself, it seems proper to state 
 briefly what led me to undertake it, and some of the causes, which 
 have since, for so great a length of time, delayed its completion. 
 
 This History originated in a series of historical lectures upon 
 Woburn, begun many years ago, and delivered in that town, at 
 different intervals of time. They were at first undertaken at the 
 suggestion, and under the influence of the friendly, persevering 
 persuasion of the late Dr. Benjamin Cutter, a gentleman eminent 
 in this vicinity for his antiquarian taste, his extensive acquaintance 
 with the localities and ancient affairs of Woburn, and his zeal for 
 advancing its credit and welfare. The first two lectures were 
 delivered on two successive evenings in February and March 1842, 
 in the vestry of Rev. Mr. Bennett's meeting-house, before a large 
 and attentive audience. And so well were they apparently received, 
 that I was encouraged to attempt, from time to time, as I was able, 
 the preparation of others on the same theme. The two lectures 
 just referred to were followed in several succeeding years by seven 
 others, delivered in the same place. And in 1859, a tenth lecture 
 was prepared by special request, and given in Lyceum Hall, bring- 
 ing down the history to the commencement of the Revolutionary 
 War in 1775. 
 
 In 1862, the town of Woburn proposed to me, by a committee, to 
 finish, and make ready for the press, the histor}' I had proceeded 
 in thus far, for a liberal pecuniary compensation. This proposal 
 was agreed to, with the understanding, that the town would take 
 charge of publishing the work, and provide for the expense, and 
 that I should have the inspection of the proof-sheets. 
 
 At the time this engagement was entered into, I was confident 
 myself, and encouraged the town to expect, that six months would
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 be amply sufficient for its fulfilment. But certain changes, appa- 
 rently very necessary or expedient to be made, both in the style, 
 and in the extent of the work, have to my regret, disappointed 
 these anticipations. The Lectures on Woburn history, thus far, 
 had been composed in the style of direct address to a present 
 audience ; but now it seemed very desirable to substitute the style 
 of narrative ; to publish a history prepared to be read with the 
 eye, rather than one that was apparently designed to be heard 
 with the ear from the lips of the author. The manuscript lectures, 
 too. had hitherto been written on both sides of each leaf ; but now, 
 to accommodate the printer, it was deemed advisable to write them 
 over anew, occupying one page only of each leaf, instead of both. 
 Moreover, in the prosecution of the work, it was thought expedient 
 to make certain enlargements beyond what was originally contem- 
 plated. In particular, a list of all the men, both citizens and 
 strangers, who were employed by the town as soldiers in the War 
 of the Revolution ; and likewise Genealogical Notices of all the 
 known original inhabitants of "Woburn down to 1672, and of a 
 certain portion of their descendants in the male line, have been 
 inserted in the Appendix. These additions, and others which 
 might be named, would greatly enhance, it was thought, the value 
 of the work in the estimation of the people of Woburn, and much 
 increase the interest they might take in it. But they have cost me 
 much additional time and labor to prepare them, and have delayed 
 the completion of the history far beyond my own expectations, and 
 the expectations of others. But, through the favor of a kind Provi- 
 dence, my health and strength have held out ; and I am able at 
 last to announce to an indulgent community the finishing of a work 
 which I have for years been laboring to prepare for them, and 
 which they for months, or rather, I may say, for years, have been 
 patiently looking to see. 
 
 In this Work, with reference to the ecclesiastical affairs of the 
 town, I have aimed to exhibit a complete and impartial history of 
 the First Church and Parish, and a brief account of the other 
 religious societies in the town, down to the present year, 1867. 
 As to matters of civil concern, the principal votes and proceedings 
 of the town, touching the various changes and improvements which 
 have been made in it, since the commencement of the present century 
 till now, will be found embodied, I trust, in the closing chapter. 
 But in regard to the patriotic measures taken and sacrifices made
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 by the town since the year 1860, respecting the late war, and the 
 events particularly interesting to Wobum people'which transpired 
 in the course of it, I am not provided with the means of giving a 
 full and satisfactory relation of them. An attempt to make such a 
 relation on my part would render necessary numerous fatiguing 
 and perplexing inquiries ; and thus still further protract the finish- 
 ing of this work (too far protracted already), which I am anxious, 
 for several very important reasons, to bring to a speedy close ; and 
 I must therefore leave the narration of this portion of the history 
 of Wobum to other and abler hands. 
 
 My principal authority for most of the facts presented in this 
 history have been the Woburn Records, (a.) But for various 
 statements made herein, I have been largely indebted to the 
 printed works and written communications of several highly 
 esteemed authors and respected friends, whose names I have gen- 
 erally given, as occasion offered to refer to them, in the foot notes 
 attached to this work. But in this connection, I cannot omit 
 mentioning the Genealogical Dictionary of Hon. James Savage, a 
 standard authority upon the genealogy of the early settlers of New 
 England, and without the aid of which, I must often have been 
 deficient in my Genealogical Notices of the primitive inhabitants 
 of Woburn. 
 
 I embrace this opportunity for tendering my grateful acknowledg- 
 ments to the numerous individuals, who, in one way or other, have 
 kindly lent me their aid and encouragement in the prosecution of 
 
 (a.) The Woburn Records, which are quoted or referred to in this His- 
 tory, are 
 
 1. Nineteen volumes in folio, bound and in excellent order; exhibiting 
 the votes and proceedings of the town at all general meetings from the 
 beginning. Volume 11, of this collection, records the doings of the Select- 
 men at their meetings held monthly for several years from 1672, agreeably 
 to vote of the town April 13, 1644. 
 
 2. Proprietors' book of Records from 1739 to 1765, a thin folio, unbound, 
 much shattered, and in some parts defective. 
 
 3. A volume of Treasurer's Records, from 1739 to 1772; a folio, bound in 
 parchment, but a cover now broken off. 
 
 4. First Parish Records, in folio, 3 volumes, complete from 1730, when 
 Second Parish incorporated. 
 
 5. Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths in Woburn, from 1641 to 
 1841; originally contained in two volumes folio, but now copied with 
 numerous additions from authentic sources, and collected into one large 
 bound folio volume.
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 this work, which is now brought to a close. In particular, I would 
 thankfully express my obligations to the gentlemen at the State 
 House in Boston, who at divers times have given me free access to 
 public Records and Documents for examination, and thus have 
 opened to me sources of information, which I could nowhere else 
 find, but in the archives of the Commonwealth. I thank the inhabi- 
 tants of the town of Woburn for the recent generous encouragement 
 they have voluntarily given me to pursue and finish my labors, 
 beyond what they at first led me to depend on ; and to the many 
 respected individuals among them, especially to Cyrus Thompson, 
 Esq., and to Mr. John A. Boutelle, who have furnished me from 
 time to time with much desired and important information. I 
 would make my thankful acknowledgments to the clergymen 
 and others of the different denominations in the town, who, 
 by their timely and acceptable communications, made at my 
 request, have greatly furthered my progress in my laborious under- 
 taking. I would present my warmest thanks to Nathan Wyman, 
 Esq., the Town Clerk, and to Lewis L. Whitney, Esq., Clerk of the 
 First Congregational Parish, for the free use they have generously 
 afforded me of the Records in their keeping, without which, I could 
 have made no advances in the work I have been engaged in. 
 
 Nor must I here forget or overlook my obligations to Mr. Bar- 
 tholomew Richardson, senr., and to Dr. Benjamin Cutter, both 
 now deceased. True, they are no longer here to accept my thanks 
 for their services in aid of the work now completed, or to see and 
 examine it, as they once would have been glad to. But to both 
 of them I owe a debt of gratitude, which it would be base on this 
 occasion to ignore or conceal. From the former gentleman, while 
 he was with us, I derived an amount of reliable and interesting 
 information, which but few, if any other men now living could have 
 given me. And without the counsel, help and encouragement of 
 the latter gentleman, this history would never have been under- 
 taken, much less pursued to completion. And now it is finished, 
 should it in any measure contribute to the entertainment or satisfac- 
 tion of the good people of Woburn, or yield them any interesting 
 or valuable information, let them be assured that they are indebted 
 for it, in part at least, to him, as well as to 
 
 Their friend and humble servant, 
 
 SAMUEL SEWALL. 
 
 BURLIXGTON, September, 18, 1867.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Woburn, originally Charlestown Village, elevated to a Township. Church 
 gathered; Pastor ordained; Town incorporated, 1642. Town officers 
 first chosen, 1644. Streets laid out ; common fields authorized. 
 Johnson's Account of Woburn, 1652. Successive Divisions of Town's 
 Lands. 
 
 WOBURN was originally a grant of land made, 1640, by the 
 General Court of Massachusetts to Charlestown ; and, for about 
 two years afterwards, was called " Charlestown Tillage." The 
 settlement of Charlestown, which is the most ancient town not 
 only in the County of Middlesex, but likewise (Salem and 
 Dorchester excepted) in the Colony of Massachusetts, as dis- 
 tinct from that of Plymouth, had commenced in 1629. In 
 June of that year, Mr. Thomas Graves, a gentleman from 
 Gravesend in Kent, eminent for his skill in surveying and 
 engineering, and in the employ of the Massachusetts Company 
 in London, came there from Salem, with several servants of the 
 Company under his care ; laid out the town in two-acre lots ; 
 erected a large building for public purposes, called the " Great 
 House ; " and with the consent of Gov. Endicott, exchanged 
 the Indian name of the place, Mishawum, for Charlestown, in 
 honor of King Charles I., the then reigning monarch of Great 
 Britain. 1 In the year following, July 1630, a large and 
 select company of Puritans, who had arrived the month pre- 
 ceding at Salem from England, came to Charlestown, with a 
 
 'Prince's N. E. Chronology, pp. 181, 188.
 
 8 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 view to build and establish themselves there. Among them 
 were Gov. Winthrop, Dep. Gov. Dudley, Mr. Isaac Johnson, 
 husband of the celebrated lady Arbella, and Rev. Mr. John 
 Wilson. These four persons presently formed themselves into a 
 church, and some accessions being made to their number shortly 
 after, they chose Rev. Mr. Wilson, as their pastor. 2 But a ma- 
 jority of the church and others removing w^in a few months to 
 Boston to reside, another church, viz : the present First Church 
 of Charlestown, was embodied November 2, 1632, 3 consisting 
 of those members who continued to dwell on the north side of 
 Charles River ; and of this church, Rev. Mr. Zechariah Symmes 
 was the pastor, and Rev. Mr. Thomas Allen the teacher, in 1640. 
 And now the foundations both of her civil and of her ecclesi- 
 astical prosperity being, to human eye, firmly laid, Charlestown 
 began to look around her ; and with a view to the accommoda- 
 tion of her increasing agricultural population, she conceived a 
 desire for the enlargement of her original bounds. And being 
 informed of the conveniency of land adjoining her Western 
 border, she presented a petition to the General Court, in May 
 1 640, for the addition of two miles square to her territory in that 
 quarter. 4 This petition of Charlestown was favorably heard by 
 the Court. The land prayed for was immediately granted her, 
 provided it fell not within the bounds of Lynn Village [Read- 
 ing], and should be built upon within two years. 5 And at a 
 session of the Court in October next following, the grant was 
 enlarged, upon certain conditions, to four miles square. 6 All 
 
 * Prince, pp. 240, 243. Records of 1st Church, Charlestown : Title page. 
 
 < Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 3. "Colony Records, Vol. I., p. 290. 
 
 Colony Records, Vol. I., p. 306. 
 
 (5.) "13 May, 1640. Charlestowne is granted their petition; that is, 
 two miles at their head line, provided it fall not within the bounds of 
 Linn village, and that they build within two yeares." Colony Records, 
 Vol. /., p. 290. 
 
 (6.) " 7 October, 1640. Charles Towne petition is granted them, the 
 proportion of 4 mile square, with their former last graunt, to make a village ; 
 whereof 500 acres is granted to Mr. Thomas Coytemore, to bee set out by 
 the Court, if the towne and hee cannot agree," etc. Colony Records, 
 Vol. /., p. 306.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 9 
 
 acts of Court were anciently dated from the first day of the 
 session at which they were passed. As the first session of the 
 Court of 1640 commenced on the " 13th day of the 3d month" 
 ( 13th May), and as the land then granted to Charlestown was 
 explored May 15th, only two days after, 4 the precise date of 
 that grant may be confidently fixed to the second day of that 
 session ; viz, the 14th of the 3d month, Old Style ; or according 
 to New Style, the modern way of computing tune, May 24th, 
 1 640. ( See Appendix, No. m. ) 
 
 The territory thus granted to Charlestown seems, before the 
 arrival of the English upon these shores, to have been the abode, 
 or, at least, a favorite place of resort, of numerous Indians. 
 These were perhaps Pawtucket Indians, so named from Paw- 
 tucket Falls in Lowell, which was their principal seat; or (which 
 is more probable) those Indians, whom Prince calls Aberginians, 
 and concerning whom he says, that Charlestown Neck was full 
 of them in 1628. 7 Many years have elapsed since Indians of 
 every tribe have entirely disappeared from this town and 
 vicinity, except a few solitary individuals, the memory of whose 
 names and dwelling places are still preserved by some, or have 
 been till recently. But they have left behind them durable 
 memorials of their former residence here, and of their laborious 
 ingenuity. In all the territory within the original limits of 
 Woburn, (comprehending Woburn that now is, with Winchester, 
 Wilmington and Burlington) multitudes of their stone arrow- 
 heads have been, and some still continue to be, turned up by the 
 plough ; stone heads of their spears and hatchets have not un- 
 
 4 Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 3. 
 
 (7.) " Sept. 13, 1C28. Among those who arrive at Naumkeak, are 
 Ralph Sprague, with his Brethren Richard and William ; who with 3 or 4 
 more, by Governor Eudicot's consent, undertake a Journey, and travel 
 the Woods above 12 miles Westward, light on a Neck of Land call'd 
 Mishawum, between Mistick and Charles Rivers, full of Indians, named 
 Aberginians. Their old Sachem being dead, his eldest son, call'd by the 
 English John Sagamore, is Chief; a man of a gentle and good Disposition; 
 by whose free Consent, they settle here ; where they find but one Eng- 
 lish House, thalch'd and pallizado'd, possess'd by Thomas Walford a 
 Smith." Prince's N. E. Chronology, pp. 174, 175.
 
 10 HISTORY OF WOBUEN. 
 
 frequently been found ; and in Burlington, immemorial tradition 
 still points to a spot within the new cemetery there, on the road 
 to Bedford, as the site of one of their wigwams in former days. 
 
 The granting to Charlestown of the land she had petitioned 
 for, was quickly followed by repeated attempts to explore it, 
 and to determine its bounds. On May 15, 1640, Mr. Increase 
 Nowell, magistrate, Rev. Zechariah Symmes, Edward Johnson, 
 Edward Convers, Ezekiel Richardson, Mr. " Hubard," an artist, 
 and some others, went from Charlestown to search the land 
 lying within the two miles square. 8 And September 6th, follow- 
 ing, Capt. Robert Sedgwick, Ensign Abraham Palmer, Thomas 
 Lynde, Edward Johnson, Edward Convers, John Mousall, and 
 others, went to view the bounds between this grant to Charles- 
 town and Lynn Village, afterwards Reading. In this latter 
 expedition, some of the company experienced a wonderful pres- 
 ervation, which is particularly noticed in Woburn Records by 
 Johnson, who was one of them, as follows : " Lik Jacobits [Like 
 Jacobites; See Gen. 28: 11] laying them downe to rest where 
 night drue one [drew on] [they] were presarued by the good hand 
 of God with cherfull sperits, thought [though] the heauens 
 powred downe raine all night unsessantly. One remarkable 
 prouidence neuer to bee forgotten : sum of the company lying 
 under the body of a great tree (it lying sum distant from the 
 earth) when the daye light appeered, noe sooner was the last 
 man come irom under it, but it fell downe to their amasment 
 [amazement], being forced to dige [dig] out their food that was 
 caught under it : it being soe ponderus that all the streneth they 
 had, cold [could] not remoue it." 8 
 
 The use originally designed by Charlestown to be made of 
 this newly acquired territory, was, apparently, to accommodate 
 with farms thereon such useful men as might from time to time 
 be admitted to settle among them, and to promote the building 
 of a village for the improvement of such remote lands as were 
 already laid out. 9 In pursuance of this design, after the land 
 petitioned for was granted and enlarged, a committee of thirteen 
 
 Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 3. Charlestown Records.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 11 
 
 was chosen by the town, November 4th, 1 640, which was " to sett 
 the bounds betwixt Charlestown and the Village, and to appoint 
 the place for the village." 9 This committee met November 17, 
 1640, and came to an agreement upon the matters submitted to 
 them. But in this agreement, the committee, it seems, did not 
 concur unanimously. In reference to it, Wo burn records, 
 under the date of the meeting, November 17, 1640, observe, 
 that " it was in part assented to, but afterward denyed." A 
 change too in the minds of the people on this interesting subject 
 had now commenced, and was gaining ground. Since the grant 
 of the Court had been enlarged from two to four miles square, a 
 scheme for making a distinct town of it, instead of a village 
 more or less dependent upon Charlestown, had been conceived 
 and was entertained by numbers with favor. 
 
 And hence on November 5th, the very day after the appoint- 
 ment of the town committee of thirteen above referred to, the 
 Church of Charlestown chose seven men, viz : Edward Convers, 
 Edward Johnson, Ezekiel Richardson, John Mousall, Mr. Thomas 
 Graves, Samuel Richardson and Thomas Richardson, as commis- 
 sioners or agents for the erection of a church and town upon the 
 recent grant of Court, where had been designed originally only 
 a village within the limits of Charlestown. 10 By what author- 
 ity the church took this step, interfering with the action of the 
 town, does not appear. Perhaps they regarded the disposal of 
 
 Charlestown Records. 
 
 (10.) Woburn Town Records commence as follows, from the date of 
 the first grant of Court. 
 
 " 14 of the 3 month [14 May] 1640. A true Relation of the prosseedings 
 of Edward Conuars, Edward Johnson, John Mousall, Mr. Thomas Graues, 
 Samuwell Richison and Thomas Richison, chosen by the Church of Charles- 
 towne for the Erecting of a Church and Towne ; which accordingly by great 
 labor was by them performed, and now cal'd the Towne of Woburne." . . 
 . . . . "the 5 of 9 month [5 November] 1640, the persons aboue spec- 
 ified were chosen by the Church of Charlestowne : chosen for the earring 
 one the aflaiers of this new Towne." Woburn Records, Vol. I. p. 3. 
 
 Ezekiel Richardson is not named above with the other commissioners, 
 but the omission must have been accidental. He was certainly one of 
 them. For we find the others holding a meeting for consultation at his 
 house, in his turn, on "the 13th of 12th month 1640" [13 February, 1640-1].
 
 12 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 the Court's grant as a matter of ecclesiastical as well as civil 
 concernment, and therefore that they were entitled to a distinct 
 voice in it. But however that be, the measure itself seems to 
 have excited no opposition on the part of the town, but rather to 
 have met its entire acquiescence. Six of the seven commissioners 
 chosen by the church were on the committee of thirteen ap- 
 pointed by the town ; and it was by the instrumentality of these 
 commissioners, not of that committee, that the establishment of the 
 town and church of Woburn was at length happily effected. 
 
 But many and grievous were the difficulties which they had to 
 encounter, before they saw the accomplishment of their enter- 
 prise. 
 
 The wild, unsettled state of the country presented many serious 
 obstacles to the discharge of their commission. At the time of 
 their appointment, the whole territory which they were to elevate 
 into a township, as well as all that was adjacent to it for several 
 miles, was an unbroken dreary forest, or a wide uncultivated 
 waste. Hence, beside being frequently exposed to danger or 
 alarm from the wandering savage natives, the commissioners, as 
 they traversed the country in performance of their trust, without 
 beaten roads to travel in, or landmarks to guide them, or houses 
 to shelter them, or friends to extend to them even the most 
 trifling office of hospitality or kindness, must needs have been 
 subjected to hardships, of the severity of which, the present inhabi- 
 tants of the town can have but faint conceptions. Of their 
 sufferings of this description, one instance on record may be cited 
 as a specimen. As they were engaged, November 9th, shortly 
 after their appointment, in exploring the land about the Shawshin 
 river they were overtaken and lost in a snow storm, and in this 
 sad dilemma they were forced, as night approached, for want of 
 a better shelter, " to lye under the Rockes, whilst the Raine and 
 Snow did bedew their Rockye beds." n 
 
 Difficulties of this description however they must have antici- 
 pated ; and fortitude of mind and firmness of bodily constitution 
 abundantly enabled them, in the good cause they were engaged 
 
 Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 3.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURX. 13 
 
 in, to surmount them. But other troubles awaited the commis- 
 sioners, which probably they were not prepared to meet, and 
 which proved far more trying. Scarcely had they entered on 
 the labors of their commission, before the church of Charlestown 
 suddenly appeared in opposition. Our Puritan fathers, from mo- 
 tives of piety and benevolence as well as of worldly interest, loved 
 to see the haunts of the savage occupied by civilized men ; to see 
 towns planted and churches springing up in the wilderness 
 around them. Accordingly, the church above named appears to 
 have cordially aided in procuring the grant of the newly acquired 
 territory, and took a leading part in the plan of settling it as a 
 distinct town. But at a meeting of her own calling, 23 : 9 mo. 
 [23 November] 1640, to see who would go up and become in- 
 habitants of the proposed township, a larger number coming 
 forward than had been expected, she instantly conceived a fear 
 that the loss of so many emigrants would in a manner " depop- 
 ulate Charlestown," or do her material injury in that day of small 
 things. 11 And now under the influence of this apprehension, 
 which time showed to be groundless, she began to discounte- 
 nance this enterprise of her own devising or encouraging, and 
 to watch all who were in favor of it or disposed to engage in it, 
 with a jealous eye. 11 But though opposition from such a 
 .quarter must have been unlocked for, and very disheartening to 
 the commissioners, yet, happily, it was of but short continuance. 
 The church appears to have soon found that the spirit of emi- 
 gration which she herself had helped to raise and foster, she 
 could not check or put down at will. She therefore prudently 
 yielded to circumstances ; and within a fortnight from the time 
 she began to frown upon their work, full power was given to 
 Edward Convers and Company to go on with it anew. 11 
 
 The obstruction which the church of Charlestown had thrown 
 in their way being thus removed, the commissioners for the erec- 
 tion of the new church and town, resumed with fresh zeal the 
 work of their appointment. Among their first cares for this end, 
 agreeably to the usual practice of our .pious ancestors in such 
 
 11 Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 8.
 
 14 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 cases, was the observance of a day for solemn humiliation before 
 God, and for supplication of his aid and blessing in their ar- 
 duous undertaking. Under date of December 22, 1640, Johnson 
 notes in the records, " considering the waytines [weightiness] of 
 the worke, and the weaknes of the persons, this day was sett 
 appart for humble seecking of God by prayer and fastting for 
 helpe in a worke of soe great consiquence ; which was performed 
 at the hows of John Mousall by the forenamed persons and their 
 wiffs [wives], the Lord assisting." u 
 
 About this time, they commenced a series of meetings, held in 
 rotation, at their respective houses in Charlestown, for consulting 
 on the affairs of the contemplated town, and adopting measures 
 in reference to its settlement. Their first meeting for these pur- 
 poses was held December 18th, at the house of Mr. Thomas 
 Graves, when they agreed upon Town Orders (Appendix No. 1), 
 and chose Edward Johnson Recorder or Town Clerk. 11 At like 
 meetings in the two following months, they admitted many to set 
 down their dwellings in the proposed plantation ; though some 
 of them (to use the words of the Recorder), " being shallow in 
 brayns, fell ofe [off] afterwards." 11 And, on February 10th, 
 16401, they built a bridge over the Aberjona River for their 
 own and the public accommodation, and perhaps too as an 
 earnest of their resolution to go up and possess the land. This 
 bridge, the first that was built in Woburn, they called Cold 
 Bridge. It was in after times better known as the " Convers' 
 Bridge," from the name of the proprietor of the adjacent mill; 
 and as it is said in the records to have been laid " over against 
 Edward Conuars' hows," it is inferred that that house,' which 
 continued many years in the occupation of that distinguished 
 family, and the site of which is still well remembered, was either 
 already standing when the bridge was built, or that it was erect- 
 ed immediately after, and before the entry just quoted from the 
 records was made ; and that it was the first built dwelling-house 
 in Woburn. 12 
 
 February 8th, 1640-1, the commissioners came from Charles- 
 
 u Woburn Records, Vol. 1., p. 3. Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 4.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 15 
 
 town to find a suitable location for their projected town. After 
 two days' search, they pitched for this purpose upon a spot at 
 the east end of the Court's grant, which they quickly afterwards 
 laid out. And at a meeting at Ezekiel Richardson's, February 
 13th, they directed all who intended to become inhabitants, to 
 meet on the ground, February 16th. 12 The place selected 
 as the site of the proposed town, was unquestionably the plain 
 on the borders of the Aberjona River, and near the place which 
 it was designed, at a recent day, to cultivate as a silk farm. 
 But the selection was not made by the commissioners with 
 unanimity. The spot chosen did not meet the views of a con- 
 siderable proportion of the expected settlers ; and at the same 
 time, Mr. Nowell, Mr. Symmes, and other gentlemen of note and 
 principal influence in Charlestown, gave them no small dis- 
 couragement from going there to build. 12 Hence, when the 
 persons notified came there, February 16th, the day appointed, 
 to the number of forty, though they busied themselves in mark- 
 ing trees, and laying bridges, yet (say the Records) " the way 
 was so playen [plain] backward, that diuers neuer went for- 
 ward againe." 12 These checks given them by patrons or 
 superiors in standing, and these tokens of fickleness or faint- 
 heartedness on the part of associates in their enterprise, must 
 necessarily have caused the commissioners much perplexity and 
 trouble. But they notwithstanding persevered in their work ; 
 and February 29, 1640-1, within a fortnight from the last- 
 mentioned date, by the advice of a committee appointed by 
 Charlestown to confer with them, consisting of Mr. Nowell, 
 Captain Sedgwick, Lieut. Sprague, and others, they abandoned 
 the site which they had first selected for private dwellings and 
 a meeting-house, and decided upon another farther west in its 
 stead. To this spot, which is now in and around the centre of 
 the town, they came in March and May following, and laid out 
 house lots ; and, upon some of these lots at least, buildings 
 were doubtless erected in the course of that year. 12 
 
 By this arrangement, another serious obstacle in the way of 
 
 > Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 4. See Appendix, No. II.
 
 16 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 the commissioners was removed ; but their difficulties and trials 
 were not yet terminated. (They were still doomed to suffer 
 repeated and grievous disappointments in their efforts to 
 obtain an able minister for the town, whose foundations 
 they were laying.) This, with our Puritan ancestors, was a 
 point of paramount importance to secure. Their main errand 
 in coming to this country was of a religious, not a secular 
 nature ; and hence, as Capt. Johnson, one of the principal 
 founders of Woburn, observes, " it was as unnatural for a right 
 New England man to live without an able ministry, as for a 
 smith to work his iron without a fire." 13 The stated and able 
 ministration of the word and ordinances of the gospel was a 
 privilege for which the first settlers of this land, generally speak- 
 ing, were ready to make any, even the most costly sacrifices ; and 
 scarcely any of them felt willing to seat themselves down in a 
 place where there was not, at least, a comfortable prospect of 
 speedily enjoying it. Of all this, the commissioners for building 
 up Woburn were fully aware. The acquisition of a good and 
 faithful minister of Jesus Christ was not only their own hearts' 
 most earnest desire, but, in their view, it was a matter of essential 
 importance to the prosperity of their infant plantation. Hence 
 the question, Whom should they get for a minister ? had been a 
 subject of serious discussion at their meetings in Charlestown 
 the preceding winter. And now, at the present stage of their 
 enterprise, they determined, without delay, to commence vigor- 
 ous exertions to procure some one, on whom they could rely for 
 the faithful discharge of the sacred office among them. And yet 
 the repeated failure of these exertions was long a cause to them 
 of sore mortification, and at times/ to some of their number, 
 almost of despair. 
 
 The person to whom they first applied to become their minis- 
 ter was Rev. Jonathan Burr. This gentleman, who came to this 
 country in 1639, had been a clergyman of high repute in Eng- 
 land for piety and learning, and had just now received a call to 
 settle over the church in Dorchester, as colleague with Rev. 
 
 M Wonder Working Providence, B. II., Chap. 22.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 17 
 
 Richard Mather. 14 But from certain reported differences 
 between him and Mr. Mather, the first settlers in "Woburn seem 
 to have imbibed an opinion that he was disposed to quit Dor- 
 chester, and might be induced, upon application, to come and be 
 settled over them. Accordingly, " divers " (commissioners and 
 others,) went from here March 17, 1640-1, to speak to him on 
 the subject, to whom he gave " good incorridgment to go one 
 [on] ; God would prouid " [provide] ; and withal, led them to 
 expect that he might ultimately comply with their wishes. * But 
 the differences which had existed between him and his senior 
 colleague, Rev. Mr. Mather, were soon healed ; 14 and his friends 
 at Dorchester, after repeated visits to this incipient plantation, 
 being dissatisfied with its local advantages, 15 probably advised 
 him not to remove from where he then was. Influenced doubt- 
 less in some measure by their feelings and views in this matter, 
 Mr. Burr returned, May 10, 1641, a negative answer to the 
 invitation given him from this place ; 16 and, though afterwards 
 urged ane\f, 16 he could not be persuaded to revoke it. He 
 remained at Dorchester, and died there, deeply lamented, August 
 9th of the same year, 1641." 
 
 At Mr. Burr's declining a settlement in this place, " most harts 
 grew fainte," 16 and even a majority of the commissioners began 
 to be discouraged. 17 But there were three, at least, of the seven, 
 whose resolution no adverse occurrences could shake, no 
 obstacles turn from their purpose. 17 Conscious of the rectitude 
 
 14 Allen's Biography. Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 4. 
 
 15 "The 20th of 1. mo. 1641, Mr. Burr's ffriends came againe, and brought 
 men with them to vew the land, espetially the medow." Wob. Rec. I., p. 4. 
 
 " 24 of 3d mo. [May] 1641, Mr. Burr's ffreinds came againe with fresh 
 men, whos minds were much for medow, and their jugments short in what 
 they saw." Town Records, Vol. I., p. 4. 
 
 18 " 10 : 3d mo. Meeting at Thomas Richison's : Mr. Burr declined; and 
 most harts grew fainte." 
 
 " 29 : 3d mo. Mr. Thomas Graues and Edward Johnson were sent to Mr. 
 Burr, who was loth to giue a full answer." T. Records, Vol. I., p. 4. 
 
 17 See the several statements in this paragraph, and others connected with 
 it, concerning " a majority of the commissioners," and respecting " three " 
 of their number, illustrated and confirmed in certain Lines in verse, com- 
 posed by one of them, Captain Edward Johnson, prefixed by him to the 
 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 1, and copied in Appendix, No. II., of this work 
 2*
 
 18 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 of their motives and aims, they repaired again, in that dark and 
 gloomy day, to the Lord, and in return obtained light and 
 encouragement from above. Under date of the 25 of 6 mo. [25 
 August] 1641, we read in the Records, " Things goin% heauily 
 one [on], and many Blocks in the waye ; espetially sum of their 
 own Company disheartening, this day was set apart for humble 
 seeking the Lord by fasting and prayer: whom they found 
 gratious in keping upp the sperits of sum to the worke." 18 And 
 now, strengthened by the pious exercises of this solemnity, three 
 at least of the commissioners 18 proceeded with their enterprise 
 with fresh resolution and courage. The next day, they built a 
 bridge over Horn Pond River, a work, at that time, attended 
 with great labor and difficulty. " The place was soe boggy," say 
 the records, " that it swallowed up much wood before it cold 
 [could] bee mad pasable," [passable] and yet they finished the 
 bridge the same day, and called it " Long Bridge." 18 
 
 Shortly after, they made a new effort to procure a minister. 
 Two messengers went to Rowley, October 25, 1641, to make pro- 
 posals to Rev. John Miller, 18 a clergyman recently from England, 
 and then an assistant to Rev. Mr. Rogers, pastor of the church 
 in that town ; but finding Mr. Rogers " loth to part with 
 him," they forbore urging him any further. 18 
 
 In less than a fortnight after, the commissioners spake on the 
 same design to Mr. Thomas Carter, a candidate for the ministry 
 from England, and then a resident at Watertown. And receiv- 
 ing some encouragement of help from him, they proposed to the 
 
 is Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 4. 
 
 Rev. John Miller had been an ordained minister in England. Upon 
 coming to this country, he was admitted as a member into the Church of 
 Roxbury. After leaving Rowley, about 1642, he was ordained the pastor 
 of the Church of Yarmouth, on Cape Cod, and continued there as late as 
 1651. Subsequently, he became a preacher of the gospel at Groton; but 
 died, while the people there were taking measures to settle him over them. 
 The following notice of his death is from the Records of 1st Church, Rox- 
 bury : " 1663, June 14, Mr. John Miller, Preacher of the Gospel at Groyton, 
 sometime pastor of the Church at Yarmouth, rested from his labors." 
 See also Johnson's Wonder Working Providence, Book 11, chap. XI., 
 Butler's History of Groton, p. 155, and American Quarterly Register, Vol. 
 XI., p. 259.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 19 
 
 church of Charlestown (of which several of them were members), 
 that they might hold public worship at the village. 19 The 
 church granted their request, and also lent them for one Sabbath 
 the aid of their pastor, Rev. Mr. Symmes ; who accordingly, 
 November 21, 1641, preached here the first 'gospel sermon 
 probably, that had ever been delivered in this portion of the 
 New England wilderness. His text was from those appropriate 
 words, "Jeremiah iv. 3. " Thus saith the Lord to the men of 
 Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow 
 not among thorns." 19 Mr. Carter likewise, in fulfilment of the 
 expectations he had raised, preached, December 5th, at this place 
 for the first time, out of Genesis xxii., " incorridgiug to trust in 
 the Lord for the means." 19 From this time, the people here, by 
 the commissioners, frequently renewed their applications to him 
 to become their minister. And as a pledge of their good will, 
 and of their earnest purpose to sustain him in his work, they 
 set about building a house for the ministry. 20 But it was long 
 before he could be persuaded to enter into any permanent 
 engagement with them. Though solicited again and again, he 
 was for months unwilling to promise anything more than occa- 
 sional help; and this, the records observe, "was uery [very] 
 seldom." 20 At length their importunity prevailing with him to 
 spend with them a day of humiliation, April 14, 1642, he after- 
 wards gave them good encouragement to hope for his constant 
 services, and passed two Sabbaths with them in succession. 
 Thenceforth their expectations of attaining the great object, 
 which they had so long sought, and labored and prayed for, 
 began to brighten, and with some short interruption 21 continued 
 to increase. At last, hoping to enjoy Mr. Carter's permanent 
 services in the ministry, those among them who were connected 
 by covenant with the church of Charlestown requested, June 5, 
 1642, that they might be dismissed. That church received their 
 request at first with reluctance, and put them off for a fortnight. 
 Then, after much agitation, she voted them a dismission, and her 
 consent that they might be gathered into a church. 20 
 
 u Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 4. *> Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 5.
 
 20 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 The First Congregational Church in Woburn was gathered 
 with much solemnity August 14, 0. S. or August 24, N. S., 
 1642, (Appendix III.) :The proceedings in this interest- 
 ing transaction are minutely related by Capt. Edward Johnson, 
 one of the principal founders of this church, and clerk of the 
 town at that time, both in the Town Records 21 and in his 
 celebrated history of New England, entitled " The Wonder- 
 working Providence of Zion's Saviour." 22 From these au- 
 thorities, we learn that there were present, on the occasion, the 
 elders and messengers of several of the neighboring churches 
 and others; particularly Rev. Messrs. Symmes and Allen of 
 Charlestown, Wilson and Cotton of Boston, Shepard of 
 Cambridge, Dunster, President of Harvard College, Knowles of 
 Watertown, Allin of Dedham, Eliot of Roxbury, and Mather 
 of Dorchester, ministers, whose praise is still in all the churches 
 of our land. Mr. Increase Nowell of Charlestown, likewise one 
 of the magistrates of the colony, was there, agreeably to an 
 opinion then and long afterwards prevalent, which deemed it a 
 duty for one or more of the magistrates to be present on such 
 occasions, for the prevention of errors and proceedings that 
 might breed disturbance in the Commonwealth; and also for 
 giving countenance and encouragement to so good a work. 22 
 These all being assembled, about 8 o'clock of the morning on 
 the day just mentioned, Mr. Symmes "continued in 'prayer and 
 preaching about the space of four or five houres." Then the 
 persons to be embodied in a church state, viz : John Mousall, 
 Edward Johnson, Edward Convers, William Learned, Ezekiel 
 Richardson, Samuel Richardson and Thomas Richardson, stood 
 forth, and made declaration, one by one, of their religious faith 
 and Christian experience ; confessing " what the Lord had done 
 for their poor souls by the work of his Spirit in the preaching 
 of his Word and Providences." 22 And here the elders and 
 messengers present had liberty to propound any question to 
 them for their better understanding of them in any point they 
 
 81 " 16 of 3 mo. [16 May] 1642. They [the Commissioners] were dishar- 
 
 tened by too [two] of their company taking of Councill." Town Records. 
 
 a Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 5. W. W. Prov. B. II., Chap. XXII., p. 175-181.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 21 
 
 doubted of; and all at length being satisfied, the persons to be 
 gathered, manifested their consent to their covenant in words 
 expressed in writing to this purpose. 
 
 " We that do assemble ourselves this day before God and his 
 people, in an unfeigned desire to be accepted of him as a Church 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the Rule of the New 
 Testament, do acknowledge ourselves to be the most unworthy of 
 all others, that we should attain such a high grace, and the most 
 unable of ourselves to the performance of any thing that is good, 
 abhorring ourselves for all our former defilements in the worship of 
 God, and other wayes, and resting only upon the Lord Jesus Christ 
 for attonement, and upon the power of his grace for the guidance 
 of our whole after course, do here, in the name of Christ Jesus, as 
 in the presence of the Lord, from the bottom of our hearts, agree 
 together through his grace to give up ourselves, first unto the 
 Lord Jesus, as our only King, Priest, and Prophet, wholly to be 
 subject unto him in all things, and therewith one unto another, as 
 in a Church Body, to walk together in all the Ordinances of the 
 Gospel, and in all such mutual love and offices thereof, as toward 
 one another in the Lord ; and all this, both according to the 
 present light that the Lord hath given us, as also according to all 
 further light, which he shall be pleased at any time to reach out 
 unto us out of the "Word by the goodness of his grace : renouncing 
 also in the same Covenant all errors and schismes, and whatsoever 
 by-wayes that are contrary to the blessed rules revealed in the 
 Gospel, and in particular, the inordinate love and seeking after the 
 things of the world." " Every Church hath not the same for 
 words ; for they are not for a form of words." 
 
 And now having entered into covenant, the elders present 
 extended to them the right hand of fellowship, in the name of 
 the churches to which they respectively belonged; thereby 
 acknowledging them to be a true and regularly gathered church 
 of Christ. 
 
 The establishment of a church in Woburn was soon followed 
 by the ordination of its first pastor. For some time before the 
 church was gathered, Mr. Thomas Carter had been " exercising 
 his gifts of preaching and prayer among them ;" and continuing 
 afterwards to do so with acceptance, the church called him to
 
 22 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 the pastoral office, and he was ordained over them November 
 22, 0. S. or December 2d, N. S., 1642. 22 On this occasion, the 
 same churches appear to have been sent to for their presence 
 and aid, as at the gathering of the church, and the same pastors 
 to have attended that did then, except Rev. Mr. Knowles of 
 Watertown, who was absent on a special mission to preach the 
 gospel in Virginia. 23 This ordination has long been celebrated 
 from the circumstance, that "imposition of hands," the dis- 
 tinctive ceremony of such solemnities, was performed by laymen. 
 Congregational principles, as afterward set forth in the 
 Cambridge Platform, recognize the right of a church to ordain 
 its pastors by the hand of its ruling elders, or other members 
 duly appointed thereto. But they likewise allow the propriety 
 of imposition of hands on the candidate by the elders of other 
 churches present, at the request of the ordaining church, when it 
 has no elders of its own to do it, as was the case in this 
 instance at Woburn. 24 And this latter method of ordination, a 
 little varied, soon became, and still continues to be, the common 
 custom of the country. It was recommended to Woburn church, 
 at the ordination of Mr. Carter. "Some difference there was," 
 observes Gov. Winthrop in his History, concerning this transac- 
 tion : " Some difference there was about his ordination. Some 
 advised, in regard they had no elder of their own, nor any 
 members very fit to solemnize such an ordinance, they would 
 desire some of the elders of the other churches to have per- 
 formed it; but others, supposing it might be an occasion of 
 introducing a dependency of churches, and so a presbytery, 
 would not allow it. So it was performed by one of their own 
 members, but not so well and orderly as it ought." 25 Johnson's 
 account of it is, that after Mr. Carter had exercised in preach- 
 ing and prayer the greater part of the day, " two persons" (of 
 whom he himself was doubtless one) " in .the name of the 
 church, laid their hands upon his head, and said, l We ordain 
 
 W. W. Prov., Book II., Chap. XXII., p. 175-181. For the present Articles of Faith and 
 Covenant in the First Church of Woburn, see Appendix, No. IV. 
 Woburn T. Records, Vol. I., p. 5. Allen's Biog. under Knowles. 
 ** Platform, Chap. IX., 3, 4, 5. Savage's Winthrop, Vol. II., p. 109, 110.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 23 
 
 thee, Thomas Carter, to be Pastor unto this Church of Christ.' " 
 " Then one of the elders present being desired of the church, 
 continued in prayer unto the Lord for his more especial assist- 
 ance of this his servant in his work;" 22 and the others held out 
 the right hand of fellowship to him. 20 
 
 In the interval between the gathering of the church, and the 
 ordination of its first pastor, Woburn was incorporated as a 
 town. Its territory was granted originally to Charlestown, on 
 condition that it should be built on within two years. 5 This 
 condition had been fulfilled. And now that a church had been 
 embodied among its inhabitants, and there was a fair prospect of 
 the speedy settlement of a minister over them, (provisions, to 
 which paramount importance was attached by the early legisla- 
 tion of Massachusetts, in their establishment of towns and 
 parishes) the way was fully prepared for granting this people 
 the privileges of a town. Accordingly, at a session of the Gen- 
 eral Court, which commenced the " 8th of 7 mo." or September 
 8th, 1642, and was continued by adjournment to the 27th of the 
 same month, the town was incorporated. The Act of Court for 
 this purpose is contained in these five words: " Charlestowne 
 Village is called Wooborne." 26 And as the record of this Act 
 of Incorporation is subsequent to the record of the above 
 adjournment, the earliest date that can be assigned to that Act 
 is September 27th, 0. S. ; or October 6th, N. S., 1642. 
 
 Thus the permanent settlement of this place, which had been 
 undertaken by the Commissioners for the work, under circum- 
 stances of great discouragement, and perseveringly carried on 
 by them and others through the midst of oppressive labors and 
 disheartening difficulties and trials, was at length happily accom- 
 plished. By the date of its incorporation, Woburn was the 
 twentieth town in the Massachusetts Colony, as distinct from 
 that of Plymouth ; and the twenty-ninth of those three hundred 
 and thirty-one cities and towns which constituted the State of 
 Massachusetts in 1855. At the time it was first legally recog- 
 nized as a town, not one of those which now immediately border 
 
 "Mass. Col. Records, Vol. II., p. 28. Why this name was given to Woburn at its incor- 
 poration, see Appendix, No. V.
 
 24 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 upon it, had received a corporate existence. Even Reading, the 
 plantation of which was commenced earlier than that of Woburn, 
 was still known only as Lynn Village. Then, the incorporated 
 towns nearest to Woburn were Rowley and Ipswich on the 
 north, Salem and Lynn on the northeast, Charlestown on the 
 east, Cambridge on the southeast and south, and Concord on 
 the southwest. On the west and northwest, all within the 
 present bounds of Massachusetts, saving Newbury and Salisbury, 
 was as yet a wilderness, uninhabited by man, except by Indians 
 dwelling in scattered wigwams, or in a few denser settlements, 
 such as Nashoba, now Littleton, and Pawtucket, now Lowell. 
 
 The first general meeting held in "Woburn after the grant to 
 it of corporate privileges was on November 9, 1643. Then an 
 order was passed, imposing a fine of eighteen pence, for the use 
 of the town, upon every one who should absent himself from any 
 public meeting without a reasonable excuse. Committees also 
 were appointed to look after fences, to parcel out meadows, and 
 to lay out a common field, to be afterwards divided by lot among 
 them that should have share therein. 27 But for reasons that can 
 now be only conjectured, there was no general choice of town 
 officers till April 13, 1644, above a year and a half from the 
 Act of Incorporation. At a public meeting on that day, it was 
 voted, with the general consent of all the freemen and other 
 inhabitants then present, that a choice should be made annually, 
 from among the freemen of the town, of seven men (or of a less 
 number in after time, when the town should be more settled), 
 who should have power to order the prudential affairs of the 
 town, and who should continue in office till " the first third day 
 of the weeke in the first month " (that is, till the first Tuesday 
 in March) in the next year, when a new choice should be made. 
 The following Orders likewise were agreed upon for the future 
 direction of their Selectmen : 
 
 1. They should always give public notice when any rate or 
 assessment was to be made upoii the inhabitants, " to the end, men 
 " may shew their grevance if any bee ; and mutual love and agree- 
 " ment may be continued, by takeing ofe [off] the burden from 
 " the opressed." 
 
 Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 5.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBTJRN. 25 
 
 2. When any scruples should arise in their minds, in the trans- 
 action of the affairs of the town, they should repair to the elder or 
 elders of the church in the said town for advice. 
 
 3. They should alter no man's propriety in th'e town without 
 his free consent. 
 
 4. They should meet once a month, at the least, upon the 
 town's business ; and keep a record of all orders concluded by the 
 major part of them for the good of the town ; and that they should 
 give an account in public at the year's end of their disbursements 
 and disposal of the town's stock and land. 28 
 
 On the same day, they chose Edward Johnson, Edward 
 Convers, John Mousall, William Learned, Ezekiel Richardson, 
 Samuel Richardson and James Thompson for their first Board 
 of Selectmen ; William Learned, Constable ; and Michael Bacon, 
 Ralph Hill and Thomas Richardson for Surveyors of High- 
 ways. 28 
 
 Though Woburn had now acquired the name and privileges of 
 a town, yet much remained to be done to redeem it from its for- 
 mer wilderness condition. House lots had been marked out in 
 the centre and some other places, a house for their minister and 
 a few other scattered dwellings had be*en built, and a meeting 
 house was either then, or shortly after, erected. But no streets lead- 
 ing to and by their respective places of abode had been completed, 
 no roads for intercourse with other towns had been established, 
 and their territory as yet lay in great measure common. Hence 
 as soon as the incorporation of the town and the settlement of 
 its minister were over, the laying out of streets and highways, 
 and the distribution of the lands, were necessarily among the 
 first subjects of attention to the people. Accordingly, in Novem- 
 ber, 1645, three streets or highways were laid out, one called 
 Upstreet 29 and the other two running into Upstreet, called Sawpit 
 
 48 Woburn Records, Vol. I., pp. 5, 6. 
 
 29 It would be exceedingly difficult at the present day to determine with 
 certainty the position of the several streets or high ways that were first laid 
 out in Woburn. 
 
 Upstreet is described in the Records (vol. I, p. 7) as " leading to Shaw- 
 shin," and there are strong reasons for supposing that it ran from the cen- 
 tre of the town northerly towards Wilmington, and southwesterly from 
 3
 
 26 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 Lane 30 and Military Lane. 31 In April of the next year, 1646, 
 two other highways were laid out, viz., Plain Street and Driver's 
 Lane. Plain Street is described in the Records * as " leading 
 to Cambridg mill and towne the one way and to Upstreet and 
 Shawshin the other waye," and seems evidently to be the road 
 which now goes over the plain in the west side of the town to 
 Cutter's mill (formerly so called) in West Cambridge, and which, 
 in coming in the direction towards Woburn, divides near Kendall's 
 mill, into two branches, the easterly branch passing the late Capt. 
 Joseph Gardiner's house, and leading to Upstreet, and the west- 
 erly branch into the road towards the Shawshin in Burlington. 
 
 the same point into Pleasant Street by the house formerly occupied by 
 General Thompson to the George Richardson house, and thence to the 
 house formerly of Benjamin Simonds, now owned by Jesse Cutler, and 
 thence by Mr. John Cummings, jr.'s house to the Shawshin or Hodge Hole 
 meadows in Burliniiton. But the late Dr. Benjamin Cutter (a gentleman 
 very thoroughly acquainted with Woburn localities) was of opinion that 
 Upstreet, in coming from Wilmington, entered Bedford Street at Mr. 
 George Flagg's, and proceeding thence to the house of Mr. George Rich- 
 ardson, went from there to the houses of Messrs. Jesse Cutler and John 
 Cummings, jr., towards Shawshin as mentioned above. 
 
 30 Sawpit Lane, running into Upstreet, according to the Records, appears 
 to have been a highway diverging from the northerly part of Upstreet to- 
 wards Wilmington through or near what are still called, it is said, the 
 Sawpit Woods, toward Reading. 
 
 31 Military Lane, though long since forgotten, was recognized by name in 
 a Report of the Selectmen made January 28, 1731-2, in the case of a com- 
 plaint to the Selectmen by Thomas Reed against Jeremiah Center for stop- 
 ping up the way leading from Reed's house to the meeting-house. In that 
 Report, Military Lane is described as the highway " which leads from our 
 meeting-house through the Training Held by the said Jeremiah Center's 
 and Thomas Reed's into that Highway leading to Shawshin, known by the 
 name of Upstreet " a . Thomas Reed's house here referred to is presumed 
 to be that lately occupied by Mr. Silvanus W r ood, senr., deceased. Military 
 Lane then, after leaving the meeting-house (then standing on the hill east 
 of the Common) and passing over the Training Field into Pleasant Street, 
 proceeded thence to the school-house of the sixth District, lately taken 
 down, and there entering the narrow lane by or back of that school-house, 
 went on by Mr. Center's to Mr. Wood's house, where it met a branch of 
 Upstreet coming from Mr. John Cummings, jr.'s corner, and thence went 
 
 on with that to bhawshin. 
 
 ! Records, Vol. I., p. 9. Woburn Records, Vol. I. inverted, p. 69.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 27 
 
 Drivers' Lane appears to have been principally intended for the 
 driving of cattle to some common pasture on the plains at the 
 West Side. It was laid out from Kingsford, at the Aberjona 
 River, to Plain Street, one rod wide on the land of Mr. Zechariah 
 Symmes on one side, and one rod wide on the land of Edward 
 Convers on the other, 33 and was probably that road which now 
 goes from the site of the ancient Convers' mill by Winchester 
 meeting-house to " Plain Street," on the road to West Cam- 
 bridge, at Mr. Loring Emerson's. 
 
 In the Summer and Autumn of the same year, 1646, provision 
 was made for the construction of roads to Reading and Mystic 
 Bridge, 33 now South Reading and Medford. In December 
 1647, a committee was appointed to lay out a highway from 
 <f.the three Richisons to the Towne meeting-hows one way, and 
 Mr. Thomas Graves the other way," M which was doubtless the 
 commencement of the road known from time immemorial as 
 Richardson's Row. 
 
 The incorporation of Woburn, 1642, as a distinct town, 
 rendered it very desirable to establish the divisional line be- 
 tween it and Charlestown as soon as possible. And yet for 
 several years this necessary measure, from some cause or other, 
 was still undetermined. While Woburn was yet Charlostown 
 village, an agreement had been entered into by a committee of 
 thirteen, for fixing the bounds between the village and the 
 parent town ; but this agreement had been subsequently " denied" 
 and the labors of the committee frustrated. 35 When three years 
 and upwards had elapsed from the incorporation of the town, and 
 this important question still remained to be decided, it was 
 agreed at a general meeting at Woburn, March 17, 1646, to send 
 to the Selectmen of Charlestown the following letter. 
 
 u To our much Respected and approued good ffreinds of Charles- 
 towne chosen to order the prudentiall affaiers thereof: 
 
 " Much Respected and Aintient ffreinds : 
 
 " Wee are Bould to interupt your presant pressious I inpayments 
 with Request for Issue of those things which Sartaine of our Beloned 
 
 * Records, Vol. I., p. 9. M Records, VoL 1., p. 12. Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 3.
 
 28 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Brethren among you were Chosen unto. Now our humble Request 
 is, that they may End it forthwith. If otherwise they cannot so 
 doe, our further Request is that sum others unintrested in the 
 things may put a ffreindly Isue (Issue) to the same. Our last 
 Request is, that if nether of these will doe, then in a brotherly 
 and ffreindly way to petistian to the General Court : that wee may 
 not bequeth matter of cliferenc to our posteryty. Thus, with 
 hope of a presant answer in writing to our soe Reasanabl 
 Request, 
 
 " Wee Remaine yours to bee Comanded 
 
 " in all saruis of loue in Christ our Lord." 36 
 
 To this friendly letter, in which : Christian, courtesy and firm- 
 ness in insisting upon their just rights are equally conspicuous, 
 no response appears to have been made, and no effectual action 
 taken in the premises by Charlestown for three years more. On 
 the 3: 1 mo: 1649, Edward Johnson, Edward Convers, John 
 Mousall and John Wright, four of the seven Selectmen of 
 Woburn were appointed a committee " to speake with our Breth- 
 ren of Charlestown about the settling the Bounds sudenly 
 betweene them and us." 37 This quickening message seems to 
 have led soon after to the appointment of a committee mutually 
 chosen by Charlestown a \d Woburn, who brought to a final issue 
 this and other important questions connected with it, July 29, 
 1650. Their report was subscribed Dec. 16, 1650, not only by 
 the committee, but by the Selectmen of Woburn, and by two 
 leading members of the church of Charlestown, in token of their 
 approbation of it; and was entered in full upon Charlestown 
 records. The following is a transcript of their return, as copied 
 from those records by Nathan Wyman, Esq., town clerk of 
 Woburn. 
 
 " The 29 of the V month, [29 July,] 1650. 
 
 " Whereas weeRobt. Sedgwicke, Ralph Sprague, Tho. Lyne and 
 Robt. Hale being chosen by the Ffreemen of Charlestowne & the 
 Ffreemen of Wobourne mutually to settle the bounds bettweene y e 
 two Townes afforesaid, as also to appoint what quantity of Land 
 should be laid to the Lots, & Ffarmes y' are adjoyning to Charles- 
 . i . 
 
 Woburn Records, Vol. I., pp. 8, 9. 37 Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 14.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 29 
 
 towne Common on y e Ea?-t side of Samll. Richcsons ; & also to 
 appoint where the Line shall devide the two Townes in all places 
 where y e Land of both Townes doe joyne together, as also to 
 appoint what quantity of Land the said Charlestown shall have 
 from Wobourne in consideration. ... of Charlestown's resigning 
 up those Lotts & Commons wch. were in the old Bounds of Charles- 
 towne, unto the Inhabitants of Wobourne : 
 
 " This first wee agree upon : That the Line of devision bettween 
 the two Townes shall runne from Cambridge Line by y e Northwest 
 end of Mr Nowell's Lott 6 & so all along bettweene Mr. Sims's 
 Ffarme & Edward Convers's Ffarme untill it come to the East side 
 of them adjoyneing to Charlestowne Common. 
 
 " Also we have agreed & determined y* \Vobourne shall have five 
 hundred Acres of Laud out of Charlestowne Common for the use 
 of those Lotts & ffarmes before mentioned ; the which five hundred 
 Acres shall begin at the East Corner of Edward Convers's ffarme, 
 next Mr. Sims's tfarme, & so by all along by the East side of those 
 Lotts, & so up to Charlestowne head Line, of such a breadth as 
 shall take in the five hundred Acres ; and y* the sd. Wobourne 
 (according to theire promise) shall make and maintaine a sufficient 
 ffence of two Railes to runne even, in that Line, that shall devide 
 bettweene the five hundred Acres & Charlestowne Common ; and 
 that Raile shall bee the bounds bettweene the two Townes on that 
 side. 
 
 "Allso wee agree That all the [Tracts?] of Common & Waste 
 Land } rt lye bettweene Cambridge Line & the five hundred Acres 
 (above mentioned) shall belong unto Wobourne. 
 
 " Likewise wee agree that Charlestowne shall have three thou- 
 sand Acres of Land out of the Bounds of Wobourne, in considera- 
 tion of those Lotts & Commons the which is resigned up to 
 
 e This end of the divisional line agreed upon between Charlestown 
 and Woburn, running from Cambridge [West Cambridge] bounds over 
 the hills to the Northwest corner of " Mr. Nowell's lot," remained, till 
 very recently, unchanged; leaving the extensive tract of land, known, till 
 lately by the name of Charlestown End, and including the Gardner Farms, 
 the farm of Mr. Luke Wyman, etc., etc., within the bounds of Charlestown. 
 But by annexing to the other end of the line as here described, the 500 
 acres of commons with the lots and farms attached, which Charlestown by 
 this agreement ceded to Woburn, and whu h comprised much of the laud at 
 Richardson's Row, and in South Woburn (now Winchester) the actual 
 dividing line in this quarter was carried considerably to the East. 
 3*
 
 30 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Wobourne out of Charlestowne Lands; and that the three 
 thousand Acres shall lye in the place where Capt. Johnson & Saml. 
 Richeson and others of Wobourne did shew us : That is to say, to 
 begin at the uttermost Corner Northerly next Reading Line, & so 
 to runne Southerly along two miles deepe on the East side of 
 Shawshin [Billerice] Line till the full extent of the three thousand 
 Acres bee out. 
 
 " Witness our hands this 16. of the X month [Dec. 16,] 1650. 
 Subscribed by those appointed to order the Prudentiall affaires of 
 the Towne of Wobourne. 
 
 "EDWARD JOHNSON ] "RoBT. SEDGWICKE 
 
 JOHN MOUSALL THOS. LYNDE 
 
 JAMES TOMSON ROBT. HALE 
 
 EDWARD CONVERS INCREASE NOWFLL 
 
 RALPH HILL JOHN GREENE." 38 
 
 SAMLL. RICHESON." 
 
 The appropriation of the town's lands to individual inhabitants 
 was also, of course, another object of deep interest to the peo- 
 ple, and of their early attention. The disposal of the land in 
 Woburn, was originally vested in Charlestown, which appears 
 accordingly to have made numerous grants of it to divers of its 
 citizens, before Woburn was erected into a distinct township. 39 
 
 88 Charlestown Records, Vol. I., pp. 90, 91. 
 
 For the ultimate disposal of the 3,000 acres ceded in the above Report by Woburn to 
 Charlestown, see Appendix, No. VI. 
 
 39 Hence the repeated mention in Woburn Records of " Charlestown 
 Lots " ; and notices also of lots belonging to individual citizens of Charles- 
 town, and bearing their names ; as the Dunham lot, apparently near New 
 Bridge, or North Woburn; Frodingham's [Frothingham's] lot, near Horn 
 Pond ; Burgess's lot ; Davison's lot ; aud Shepardson's lot, which became 
 eventually the homestead_of James Convers, jr. *> In 1640-1, before the 
 incorporation of Woburn, Messrs. George Whitehand and George Bunker, 
 both of Charlestown, surrendered their respective lots to the disposal of 
 the [intended] town ; " and the latter gentleman, for a full and valuable 
 consideration paid to him by Woburn, gave Dec. 10th, 1663, a deed of a lot 
 of his, consisting of 238 acres, assigned him by Charlestown, and lying 
 within the bounds of Woburn, for the use of the town forever.^ In 1654, 
 Mr. Robert Long of Charlestowu surrendered for the town's use, a lot or 
 meadow, situate in the centre of Woburn, North and West of Rev. 
 Thomas Carter's, granted him by Charlestown, and still known as Long's 
 
 [ Records, Vol. I., p. 7, 9.] > Records inverted, Vol. I., p. 10. Records, Vol. I., 3, 4. 
 Records, Vol. I., p. 30.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 31 
 
 At the incorporation of Woburn, this power of granting land 
 within its bounds fell of right to the united body of its inhabi- 
 tants, who thenceforth disposed of its lands, sometimes by vote 
 in town meeting, and sometimes by their Selectmen in their 
 name, or by committees specially chosen for the purpose. In 
 one or other of these ways, much of the territory of the town 
 was speedily appropriated. In the infancy of the town for instance, 
 there were numerous grants both of upland and meadow to indi- 
 viduals admitted to be inhabitants, as their own proper freehold. 
 To some of these grants was expressly annexed a condition, that 
 they [the grantees] should bring testimonials of their peaceable 
 behavior ; or that they should continue in town five or more 
 years. And for all of them, the grantees were required to pay 
 twelve ^pence an acre for the use of the town. A portion like- 
 wise of the common land was reserved, with a pious forethought, 
 very creditable to the first settlers, for succeeding officers of the 
 church. And considerable tracts in various quarters of the 
 town were set apart to be holden and improved by certain 
 individuals in common, as Friendly or Boggy Meadow Field in 
 or near Wilmington, Pleasant Field towards Reading, New 
 Bridge Field in North Woburn, Plain Field on the way from the 
 centre to Convers's mill, Waterfield at the West End, and Hun- 
 gary Plain Field and Forest Hill Field in and near Burlington. 
 And to prevent injury and hard thoughts among the owners in 
 the use or cultivation of these common fields, it was early ordered 
 that the Selectmen should set off to every proprietor his propor- 
 tion of fence to maintain, and mark each end of one's share of 
 fence with the initial letters of his name. But the cultivation of 
 
 Meadow ; for which Woburn paid him in recompense thirty shillings. 
 And soon after the incorporation of Woburn, 1642, six of the commission- 
 ers for its settlement, viz., Edward Johnson. Edward Convers, John Mou- 
 sall, and Messrs. Ezekiel, Samuel and Thomas Richardson, in considera- 
 tion of divers benefits received (particularly meadow, commonage and 
 planting ground) and others expected from the town, gave up all the land 
 therein, which had been granted them "before the placing downe this 
 Towne, near adjoining to the said towne " for the use of the town and 
 the church of Woburn forever, t 
 
 EecordB. Vol. T . n. 9rt n?*nnrd. Vo?. T.. p. 6.
 
 32 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 fields held in common having been productive of much uneasi- 
 ness and contention, they have long since been divided in sever- 
 alty among their respective proprietors. 
 
 And now this town of Woburn, having its affairs put in 
 proper train, and under the direction of suitable officers, soon 
 began to thrive and prosper. This is inferred in part from the 
 increase in the number of its inhabitants and of its church mem- 
 bers, during the first ten or twelve years from its incorporation 
 in 1642. Judging from the number of the original subscribers 
 to the Town Orders, which was only thirty-two (and all of them 
 did not eventually become inhabitants), the first settlers in 
 1642 could hardly have exceeded thirty heads of families, 
 and the founders of the church were only seven in number. 
 But in 1652, the inhabitants of the town had increased to sixty 
 families, and the members of the church to seventy-four. This 
 we learn from the celebrated history of New England, called the 
 " Wonder-working Providence of Zion's Saviour," written, and 
 published in London in 1654, by Capt. Edward Johnson, a 
 principal founder and distinguished citizen of Woburn, who 
 gives in it the following account of the town, as it was at the tune 
 he wrote, in 1662. 
 
 " There was a Town and Church erected, called Wooburn, the 
 present year [1642]. But because all the actions of this wander- 
 ing people meet with great variety of censures, the author will, in 
 this Town and Church, set down the manner how this people have 
 populated their Towns, and gathered their Churches, etc., etc. 
 This Town, as all others, had its bounds fixed by the General 
 Court, to the contents of four miles square (beginning at the end 
 of Charlestown bounds) : the grant is to seven men of good and 
 honest report, upon condition that within two years they erect 
 houses for habitation thereon, and soe go on to make a Town 
 thereof, upon the A.ct of Court. These seven men have power to 
 give and grant out lands unto any persons who are willing to take 
 up their dwellings within the said precinct, and to be admitted to 
 all common privileges of the said Town ; giving them such an 
 ample portion, both of Medow and Upland, as their present and 
 future stock of cattel and hands were like to improve, with eye had 
 to others that might after come to populate the said Town. This
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 33 
 
 they did without any respect of persons ; yet such as were exorbi- 
 tant, and of a turbulent spirit, unfit for a civil society, they would 
 reject ; till they come to mend their manners, such came not to 
 enjoy any freehold. These seven men ordered and disposed of the 
 streets of the Town, as might be best for improvement of the 
 Land, and yet civil and religious society maintained : to which 
 end, those that had land nearest the place for Sabbath assembly, 
 had a lesser quantity at home ; and more farther off to improve 
 for corn of all kinds. They refused not men for their poverty, but 
 according to their ability were helpful to the poorest sort in build- 
 ing their houses, and distributed to them land accordingly ; the 
 poorest had six or seven acres of Medow, and twenty-five of 
 Upland, or thereabouts. Thus was this Town populated, to the 
 number of sixty families or thereabout : and after this manner are 
 the Towns of New England peopled. The scituation of this Town 
 is in the highest part of the yet peopled land, neere upon the head 
 springs of many considerable rivers, or their branches ; as the first 
 rise oflpswitch river, and the rise of the Shashin river, one of the 
 most considerable branches of Merrimeck, as also the first rise of 
 Mistick river and ponds. It is very full of pleasant springs, and 
 great variety of very good water, which the Summer's heat causeth 
 to be more cooler, and the Winter's cold maketh more warmer : 
 their Medows are not large, but lye in divers places to particular 
 dwellings ; the like doth their Springs. Their land is very fruitful 
 in many places, although they have no great quantity of plain land 
 in any one place ; yet doth their Rocks and Swamps yield very 
 good food for cattel ; as also they have Mast and Tar for shipping, 
 but the distance of place by land causeth them as yet to be unprofit- 
 able. They have great store of iron ore. Their meeting house 
 stands in a small Plain where four streets meet. The people are 
 very laborious, if not exceeding, some of them." 40 
 
 " Now to declare how this people proceeded in religious matters 
 and so consequently, all the Churches of Christ planted in New 
 England ; when they came at once to hopes of being such a compe- 
 tent number of people as might be able to maintain a Minister, they 
 then surely seated themselves, and not before ; it being as unnatural 
 for a right N. E. [New England] man to live without an able Min- 
 istry, as for a Smith to work his iron without a fire. Therefore this 
 people that went about placing down a Town, began the foundation 
 
 "Wonderworking Providence, Book II., Chap. XXII., p. 175., etc.
 
 34 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 stone with earnest seeking of the Lord's assistance by humbling of 
 their souls before him in dates of prayer, and imploring'his aid in 
 so weighty a work. Then they address themselves to attend coun- 
 sel of the most Orthodox and ablest Christians, and more especially 
 of such as the Lord had already placed in the Ministry, not rashly 
 running together [to gather] themselves into a Church, before they 
 had hopes of attaining an Officer to preach the Word, and adminis- 
 ter the Seals unto them ; chosing [choosing] rather to continue in 
 fellowship with some other Church for their Christian watch over 
 them, till the Lord would be pleased to provide," etc., etc. 
 
 [Here follows the author's account of the gathering of the Church of 
 Woburn, and of the ordination of Rev. Mr. Carter, as summarily given 
 above. He then proceeds as follows :] 
 
 " The people having provided a dwelling-house, built at the 
 charge of the Town in general, welcomed him unto them with joy, 
 that the Lord was pleased to give them such a blessing, that their 
 eyes may see their Teachers. After this there were divers added 
 to the Church daily after this manner. The person desirous to 
 joyn with the Church, cometh to the Pastor and makes him ac- 
 quainted therewith, declaring how the Lord hath been pleased to 
 work his conversion : who discerning hopes of the persons' faith in 
 Christ, although weak, yet if any appear, he is propounded to the 
 Church in general for their approbation touching his godly life and 
 conversntion : and then by the Pastor and some brethren heard 
 again, wno make repo-: to the Church of their charit.ible approving 
 of the person. But before they come to joyn with the Church, all 
 persons within the Towne have publike notice of it ; then publikely he 
 declares the manner of his conversion, and how the Lord hath been 
 pleased, by the hearing of his Word preached, and the work of his 
 Spirit in the inward parts of his soul, to bring him out of that nat- 
 ural darkness, which all men are by nature in and under ; as also the 
 measure of knowledge the Lord hath been pleased to indue him 
 withal. And because some men cannot speak publikely to edifica- 
 tion through bashfulness, the less is required of such ; and women 
 speak not publikely at all ; for all that is desired is, to prevent the 
 polluting the blessed Ordinances of Christ by such as walk scanda- 
 lously, and that men and women do not eat and drink their own 
 condemnation, in not discerning the Lord's body. After this man- 
 ner, were many added to this Church of Christ ; and those 7 [seven] 
 "that joyned in Church fellowship at first, are now encreased to 74
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. . s 35 
 
 persons, or thereabout After this manner have the 
 
 Churches of Christ [in New England] had their beginning and pro- 
 gress hitherto ; the Lord continue and encrease them the world 
 throughout." W. W. Prov., Book 11, Chap. xxii.,pp. 175-181. 
 
 It has already been observed, that the original territory of 
 Woburn, as granted to Charlestown in 1640, was four miles 
 square. But this grant was encumbered with another grant of 
 five hundred acres, to be laid out within the bounds of the four 
 miles square, to Mr. Thomas Coytmore, a noted shipmaster, and a 
 highly respected citizen of Charlestown. But before Capt. Coyt- 
 more could derive any benefit from this grant to him by the Court, 
 he perished in a storm at sea; and his only son, Thomas 
 Coytmore, jr., dying afterwards in his minority, the General 
 Court, at their session in October 1656, confirmed the grant of 
 500 acres in Woburn, and also other lands and goods of Capt. 
 Coytmore, to Mr. John Coggan, the then husband of Mrs. Martha, 
 Capt. Coytmore's relict, on condition of his paying .200 to 
 the four daughters of Capt. William Tyng by Elizabeth, Capt. 
 Coytmore's sister. 41 In 1664, Mr. Coggan having deceased, 
 the Coytmore grant in Woburn was claimed by Mr. Joseph Rock 
 of Boston, administrator upon the estate of John Coggan and of 
 Martha, his wife. And now the selectmen of Woburn, consider- 
 ing that even without that incumbrance, Woburn was smaller in 
 point of territory than any other incorporated town in its vicinity, 
 petitioned the Court in 1664, that they would order Mr. Rock's 
 claim of 500 acres in Woburn to be laid out in some other place ; 
 and also that they would grant to Woburn four thousand acres 
 of unappropriated land, wherever it might be found in this wil- 
 derness, and so do by this town as they had done already by 
 the neighboring towns of Billerica and Reading. 42 In answer to 
 the latter part of this petition, the Court at their session in 
 October of that year, made a grant to Woburn of two thousand 
 acres. 43 But they took no notice of the request in it to order 
 
 Colony Records, Vol. IV., Part I., pp. 272, 273, 281. 
 
 Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 29. 
 
 Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 30. Colony Records, Vol. IV., Part II., p. 138. This grant 
 was not laid out to Woburn till upwards of lifty years afterwards ; and then, (as will be noted 
 in a future portion of this history) through mismanagement, it proved of no permanent 
 advantage to the town, but a source of contention for a long series of years.
 
 36 HISTORY OF WOBtJRN. 
 
 the Coytmore grant, claimed by Mr. Rock, to be laid out else- 
 where than in Woburn. And the following year, Mr. Rock sold 
 it for 50 to Messrs. Francis and John Wyman of Woburn, to 
 whom it was laid out by Mr. Jona Danforth, Surveyor, under 
 direction of General Court's Committee, in the westerly and 
 northwesterly parts of what is now Burlington, in October 
 1667. 44 
 
 Shortly after the above petition to the Court for additional 
 territory was presented, the distribution of a large part of what 
 they already held in common became a subject of intense interest 
 for several years to the citizens of Woburn. At a general meet- 
 ing, Nov. 14, 1664, it was agreed by a major vote, that there 
 should be a distribution of plough land and swamps, and a par- 
 ticular division of the remote timber ; and a committee of seven 
 was chosen to carry this vote into effect, according to justice and 
 equity. 45 But the measure meeting with opposition, this com- 
 mittee did not venture to discharge their commission without 
 further instructions from the town. And now arose a question 
 of importance, Who the proprietors of the town were, among 
 whom the proposed distribution was to be made ? This ques- 
 tion was decided at a public meeting, Feb. 27, 1665-6, at which 
 it was voted, that " the right proprietors of the common lands of 
 the towne of Woburne" were "those which had their names 
 expressed in the deuiding the herbidg." ^ At the same meeting, 
 
 Colony Records, Vol. IV., Part II., p. 356. Middlesex Registry of Deeds, Vol. 111., 
 pp. 149, 150. 
 
 44 When Woburn Precinct, now Burlington, was incorporated in 1730, this 
 tract of land was largely dwelt upon and improved by numerous Wymans, 
 the posterity of the above named Francis and John Wyman. But now 
 (1867) and for several years past, there has not been a Wymau in the 
 place to bear up his ancestor's name, and to cultivate this portion of his land. 
 
 45 Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 29. 
 
 46 Woburn Records, Vol. I., pp. 31, 32. Record of meeting, 27 : 12mo. 
 1665 [Feb. 27, 1665-6]. The decision at this meeting, of the question, 
 Who were the right proprietors ? was not improbably grounded on the 
 following order of the General Court, May 30, 1660: "It is ordered, that 
 hereafter no cottage or dwelling place shall be admitted to the privildg of 
 commonage for wood, timber, and herbage, or any other the priviledges 
 that lye in common in any tpwne or peculiar, but such as are already in 
 being, or hereafter shall be erected by the consent of the towne." Colony 
 Records, Vol. V., Part I, p. 417.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 37 
 
 a vote was passed, " for the diuission of all the lands and timber 
 that belong in common to the said Towne, to the Inhabytance 
 expressed by name as priuilidged by the vote of the Towne in 
 the diuistion of herbidg," and also to three persons (viz: 
 George Brush, John Craggen, and Increase Winn) admitted at 
 that meeting to be inhabitants and "propriety of commonag," 
 and to " noe other." 46 A committee of three likewise was 
 chosen the same day, to consider of a way of diuistion," to be 
 propounded to the inhabitants at a future meeting, for their 
 approbation and concurrence. The report of this committee 
 was submitted at a meeting of the town, Jan. 28, 16667, when 
 it was voted, that the way by which the land should be divided 
 that yet lay in common, should be " by persons and esteats, sar- 
 uants left out ; the head of the family at twenty pound esteat, 
 wifes and children at five pounds esteat." And at another gen- 
 eral meeting, March 28, 1667, it was voted by the major part 
 present, " that all the land that lyeth in common, both land and 
 timber, shall bee deuided for propriete [propriety] to the wright 
 proprietors j " and furthermore, a committee of five was appointed 
 at the same meeting, viz : Francis Kendall, John Wyman, Thomas 
 Peirce, John Brooks, and Samuel Walker, sen., who were fully 
 empowered by the town " to laye out the Common to propriety," 
 according to the true intent and meaning of the votes of Jan. 
 28, 1666-7 and of March 28, 1667; and in order to this end, 
 " to take a List of the persons and esteats of the wright propri- 
 etors." In pursuance of their appointment, this committee made 
 out a Table exhibiting the names of all who had right in the com- 
 mon land of Woburn, and their respective proportions in it, 
 according to their several persons and estates ; by which Table, 
 not only the present but all future divisions of the town's land 
 were to be regulated. But this committee was not allowed to 
 complete the whole business intrusted to them. Complaint 
 being made, it seems, of some of their proceedings, the General 
 Court chose Oct. 31, 1667, a committee of their own body, viz : 
 Capt. Daniel Gookin, Mr. Thomas Danforth and Mr. Edward 
 Collins, to settle the difficulties which had arisen in Woburn. 47 
 
 Colonial Record*, Vol. IV., part II, pp. 364-6. 
 4
 
 38 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 By these gentlemen, a new committee for the town was nomi- 
 nated, which was empowered to divide the land to be divided, 
 to each proprietor his just proportion, according to his interest 
 in the common land of the town. Accordingly this new commit- 
 tee, consisting of Capt. Edward Johnson, John Carter, Josiah 
 Convers, John Wright and Thomas Peirce 48 did on Sept. 23, 
 1668, divide all the timber and wood growing or lying on the 
 hither part of the common land in Woburn into eight grand divi- 
 sions called eighths, each of which was subsequently to be more 
 particularly divided among themselves by the persons expressly 
 named as interested in it, according to the proportion to which 
 each person was entitled in the whole of the common land of 
 the town, and which was annexed to each man's name respec- 
 tively. 49 In this way, the timber and wood growing or lying on 
 various tracts of land in different quarters of the town, minutely 
 described in the Records, 50 was divided among eighty proprie- 
 tors, including the widow of Mr. Thomas Graves, of Charles- 
 town, one of the original undertakers for the building up of 
 Woburn ; and as each person's proportional part of the timber 
 and wood was confirmed by the committee " to him, his heirs and 
 successors forever, and all hereafter growing on the same land," 49 
 it is presumed that the town granted the land itself in progress 
 of time, as it was wanted for cultivation, to those who with their 
 successors were thus made perpetual proprietors of all its future 
 growth; and this conjecture seems to be confirmed by the 
 frequent occurrence, for many years, of the phrase, "where 
 the top is already their own," or some equivalent expression 
 in subsequent grants of land to individual persons. 
 
 At the same time, and by the same committee that made dis- 
 tribution of the wood and timber just spoken of, division was 
 made of two extensive cedar swamps, situated in what is now 
 Wilmington, one called Lebanon, the other Ladder Pole Swamp. 
 Both these swamps were first divided into eighths, as nearly 
 equal as might be to each other in their joint contents, that is, 
 the sum of an eighth of one swamp added to an eighth in the 
 
 Wobnrn Records, Vol. I., p. 80. Records, Vol. I., p. 45. Records, Vol. I., pp. 45-17.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 39 
 
 other. Then one man, on behalf of all those who were named 
 as interested in the same eighth with himself, drew by lot the 
 place of his eighth ; and then another man the place of his, etc. 
 etc. After which, each eighth was to be particularly divided 
 among themselves by those to whom it belonged, in proportion 
 to their respective interests therein : the land, as well as cedar 
 and timber, to belong to them and their heirs forever. 51 
 
 To compensate the two committees above named, employed to 
 effect the foregoing grand division of wood, timber and land, 
 agreeably to vote of March 28, 1667, there was granted at a 
 general meeting Feb. 26, 16778, by a major vote of the pro- 
 prietors, as follows : To the Dividing Committee, Capt. Edward 
 Johnson, Capt. John Carter, Mr. John Wright, Dea. Josiah 
 Convers, and Sergeant Thomas Peirce, thirty acres of make 
 meadow or swamp, "to sattisfy the said committee, and those that 
 they sett to worke, for all the truble and pains that they were at, 
 in deuiding the common lands into proprieties." To the pro- 
 portioning committee, John Wyman, Francis Kendall, Sergeant 
 Thomas Peirce, Samuel Walker and John Brooks, seven acres 
 of make meadow or swamp, "to satisfy them for proportioning 
 every man's right in the common lands." 48 
 
 In 1673, there was another grand division of the common 
 land of the town ; viz : of timber land adjoining Billerica line 
 and Maple Meadow in Wilmington. This land, amounting to 
 above 500 acres, was distributed by lot among 80 proprietors, 
 in proportion to their respective rights. For stating the lines of 
 the great lots in which it was laid out, the town allowed the 
 committee of four appointed for the work, twenty-four shillings, 
 or six shillings apiece ; and each proprietor was to give William 
 Johnson, for setting off to him his proportion, and marking his 
 lot in three places in every side line with the initials of his 
 name, two pence an acre, in Indian corn at eight groats a bushel, 
 or in other pay to Mr. Johnson's content : and the town was to 
 pay one hand for carrying the chain all the time, two and six- 
 pence a day. 52 
 
 n Woburn Records, Vol. I., pp. 47-49. Woburn Records, Vol. I., pp. 41, 42.
 
 40 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Finally, in 1677, a large tract of common land, lying between 
 Billerica line, Maple Meadow River and Reading line, and con- 
 taining by estimation about four thousand acres, was the greater 
 part of it divided proportionally between seventy-nine proprie- 
 tors, besides a lot of sixty acres, reserved for a succeeding officer 
 of the church. Provision was made that the Selectmen might 
 from time to time lay out highways through this tract for the 
 mutual accommodation of the proprietors, without allowance given 
 for the land taken for this purpose ; and William Johnson was 
 employed to lay out the lots, for which each proprietor was to 
 pay him twopence an acre in Indian corn, barley or rye, he 
 furnishing a plot of the said land. M And after the division 
 then made, there being still a residue of this tract undivided, it 
 was granted Feb. 26, 1677-8, by an unanimous vote of the pro- 
 prietors, to forty-four young men, who petitioned for it ; and 
 was divided among them by William Johnson for a compensa- 
 tion agreed upon by them. 
 
 This appears to have been the last extensive distribution of 
 the common land in Woburn. More was yet left in various 
 places, in comparatively small parcels, of which grants were 
 occasionally made to different individuals. In a shattered rec- 
 ord book still extant, commenced in 1739, and purporting to 
 belong "to the proprietors of the common and undivided 
 lands in Woburn and Wilmington, " are recorded their pro- 
 ceedings at their meetings from time to time in relation to those 
 lands ; such as the appointment of committees to perambulate 
 their lines, and to establish bounds ; to lease their lands to indi- 
 viduals, and to receive their rents : and to prosecute at the law, 
 such persons as trespassed upon their lands, unto final judgment. 
 
 At a meeting of the proprietors, May 17, 1739, and continued 
 by adjournment to 1st Monday in September following, Messrs. 
 Jacob Wright, Thomas Carter and Joseph Baldwin were chosen 
 a committee with full power to lay out to each proprietor his 
 just proportion of the common lands. 54 Accordingly with 
 the help of Caleb Brooks, surveyor, this committee laid out a 
 
 K Woburn Records, Vol. I., pp. 77, 78, 79. Proprietors' book, p. 5.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 41 
 
 large portion of these lands as directed; and at a meeting 
 January 4, 1741 [1741-2] they presented a report of their 
 doings in the premises, as far as they had proceeded ; which 
 report was accepted and ordered to be recorded. 55 From this 
 report as recorded, it appears that they had laid out about 141 
 acres, lying in Wilmington great lot, " Wood Hill, on the west side 
 of Clear Meadow brook, and on the east and west sides of 
 Maple Meadow River, in seventy-seven lots to as many proprietors, 
 and one lot retained by the proprietors themselves in common, and 
 called the proprietors' lot. To defray the expense of this sur- 
 vey and division of the common lands, Low's Meadow had been 
 previously sold, by order of the proprietors. 56 At a Proprietors' 
 Meeting, May 26, 1763, voted to grant a place for a burial 
 ground, and one for a pound, if places convenient for these pur- 
 poses could be found. 
 
 The last grants by the proprietors, upon record in this book, 
 were of stable lots near the meeting-house on the common, to 
 Rev. Josiah Sherman, Dea, Eames and others, voted June 10, 
 1765. At the same time it was voted to grant horse stable lots 
 to no others but proprietors. 
 
 At a general meeting of the town, December 7, 1741, 
 and continued by adjournment to January 4, and February 8, 
 17412, it was apparently attempted to nullify the distinction 
 between the proprietors of the common lands in Woburn, and 
 other inhabitants of the town, with a view to prosecute the pro- 
 prietors' committee, as intruders, in making division of those 
 lands from time to time, as the votes of the proprietors had 
 authorized them. But the town records being examined by a 
 committee appointed for the purpose, it was probably found, that 
 the town had for years recognized and acted upon the distinction, 
 which was founded upon an order of the General Court in 1660, 
 and the attempt failed. See Town Records, vol. VII., p. 380, 
 381, 382. See also Mass. Records, vol. IV., part I, p. 417: 
 Town Records, vol. I., p. 31, 32. 
 
 Proprietors' book, p. 9. Proprietors' book, pp. 7, 14, 15. 
 
 4*
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Civil customs Moral and Religious habits of the Frst Settlers Town 
 officers Town meetings Measures to prevent pauperism Taxes paid 
 largely in produce of Soil ; Schooling, etc., etc., etc. Death and brief 
 notices of the Seven Commissoners for building up Woburn. 
 
 IN the First Chapter of this History of Woburn, we have 
 seen the foundations of the town laid, its government organized, 
 its lands, the larger portion of them, distributed among its early 
 proprietors, and all its affairs, civil and ecclesiastical, brought 
 into a regular and successful train. In this chapter, it may be 
 useful as well as interesting to advert briefly to the civil customs 
 and institutions of the town, and to the literary, moral and 
 religious character of its founders, and of their immediate suc- 
 cessors for the first fifty years, before we resume the thread of 
 its history. 
 
 At the first election of town officers in Woburn in 1644, there 
 were chosen only Selectmen, a Constable, and three Surveyors 
 of, the highways. In the record of that transaction, no mention 
 is made of town clerk, treasurer, assessors, and other officers, 
 whom both law and expediency have now rendered indispensa- 
 ble. The reason is, with regard to the town clerk, that the law 
 did not then expressly require that officer to be chosen annually 
 as it does now ; and the people were not disposed to drop from 
 the office one whom they had found hitherto to be faithful. 
 Hence Woburn, for the first forty-eight years, -had but two town 
 clerks; Capt. Edward Johnson, chosen by the commissioners 
 for its settlement in 1640, and continued in office by the good 
 will of the people, without re-election, till his death in 1G72; 
 and William Johnson, Esq., his son, who was chosen clerk in 
 1672, and served the town in that capacity, without re-election, 
 till 1688. And as to other town officers, they came gradually 
 into distinct notice and use, as the increase of the public busi-
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 43 
 
 ness, or the interest of the people rendered them necessary. 
 For many years, the Selectmen were the keepers of the town's 
 treasure, as well as the local guardians of its rights. In 1695 
 was the first, and till 1719 the only instance in Woburn, of the 
 election of a town treasurer, distinctively as such; and the 
 person chosen treasurer in 1719, and for several years afterward, 
 was one of the Board of Selectmen. 
 
 For upwards of a century too, from the first planting of the 
 town, the Selectmen ex officio, or by the uniform choice of the 
 people, discharged the duties of Assessors and School Committee ; 
 and the constables were also collectors of taxes. In assessing 
 Town and County Rates, however, the Selectmen used to be 
 assisted by an officer, now unknown by name, but then annually 
 chosen by the people, and called " Commissioner of the Rate." 1 
 Woburn had likewise in its early days three other commissioners, 
 styled in the records, " Commissioners to end small causes." 
 The appointment of such commissioners was sanctioned by law 
 in all towns where there was no magistrate, and they constituted 
 an inferior Court of Justice, having the powers of magistrates 
 (excepting that of committing to prison) ; to hear and determine, 
 according to their own best judgment, all causes in which one of 
 the parties belonged to the town in which they presided, and in 
 which, the debt, trespass or damage [did] not exceed forty 
 shillings. In Woburn Records, they appear to have been elected 
 by the people, with other town officers, but the law required 
 them to be licensed by the County Court, or by the Board of 
 Assistants. 2 They continued to be appointed in this town, 
 
 1 Colony Laws, 1672, p. 23. Record of Choice of Town Oncers for 
 1653. " Ensigne Carter, Commistionor for the Rate." Town Records,Vol. 
 L, p. 18. ^V 
 
 8 Colony Laws, 1672, p. 20, Colony Records, Vol. II. p. 188. Extrabt 
 from " Choyce of Town Officers the 25, of 12 mo. 1650." [25 Feb. 1650-lf.] 
 
 " Commissioner to carry the Votes to Cambridge, James Tompson." 
 " EDWARD JOHNSON, " EDWARD JOHNSON, 
 
 EDWARD CONUARS, EDWARD CONUARS, [Convers.] 
 
 JOHN MOUSALL, JOHN MOUSALL," 
 
 JOHN WRIGHT, " Deputy, EDWARD JOHNSON." 
 
 JAMES TOMPSON, Commissioners to end Small Causes. 
 
 SAMUEL RICHISON, 
 
 RALI'H HILL," Selectmen. Town Records, Vol. I., p, 16.
 
 44 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 though not uniformly every year, till 1674; were frequently the 
 same persons as three of the Selectmen; and were always 
 men of great weight of character, and of principal influence in 
 the town. 
 
 The time originally agreed upon by the inhabitants of Woburn, 
 1644, for the choice of town officers, was "the first third day of 
 the weeke in the first month ;" that is, the first Tuesday in March. 
 But the very next year, 1645, the people anticipated their ap- 
 pointed time for this transaction. A deep snow falling the latter 
 part of the winter, which proved a great obstruction to other 
 business, some persons from a wish "to redeem time," prevailed 
 to have the town officers elected Febuary 19th, of that year. 
 In 1 647, the town voted to choose its officers on the first Monday 
 of March annually, instead of the first Tuesday. And the next 
 year but one, 1649, the day for this purpose was again altered, 
 by vote of the town, to the last Tuesday in February ; on which 
 day, the people were ordered to meet every year for this business 
 without further warning. 3 And this continued to be the day for 
 the election of town officers in Woburn, till 1692, when by a law 
 of the Province, all such elections were required to be made in 
 March. 
 
 At the time Woburn anciently chose its town officers, it was 
 likewise accustomed to choose deputies to the General Court. 
 For this service, it rarely employed more than one person, but it 
 sometimes did two. And as the law then allowed towns to 
 elect persons who were resident anywhere within the Colony, 
 to represent them in the Legislature, provided they were freemen, 
 it sometimes happened, that one or both the deputies for Woburn 
 belonged to Boston. 4 As a compensation for his services, the 
 town voted, 1645, to allow their deputy sixpence per day, beside 
 his board. 5 And to save expense in the latter article, they 
 
 3 Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 5, 7, 11, 14. 
 
 4 Deputies from Woburn for 1670, 1671, Capt. Edward Johnson, Mr. 
 Humphrey Davie of Boston ; for 1672, 1673, Mr. Humphrey Davie, Capt. 
 Edward Hutchinson, of Boston. The following record intimates, that 
 deputies were sometimes chosen for only part of a year, or a single session. 
 " Mr. Humphary Dauie was chosen deputy for the whole yeare 1675." 
 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 69. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 7.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 45 
 
 sometimes sent him corn, to be made into bread for his own use, 
 if he belonged to Woburn ; but if he were a citizen of Boston, 
 or if, though an inhabitant of Woburn, he chose to provide his 
 board in his own way, while attending the Legislature on the 
 town's behalf, they were constrained to pay him for his services 
 in solid coin. 6 But penurious as the people may seem to have 
 been in the stated compensation of their deputy, they could at 
 times be generous. At a General Meeting, Nov. 16, 1674, the 
 inhabitants of Woburn resolved as follows, on behalf of one of 
 their deputies, who had represented them that year and several 
 years before, and who was a resident of Boston. "Voted that 
 there shold bee tenne cord of wood gotten at the town's charge, 
 and delivered on the wharf at boston as a gratuity for the good 
 saruise Mr. Humphary Dauie hath dune this Towne at the gen- 
 erall Courte." Woburn Records, Vol. II., p. 18. 
 
 The municipal regulations of the early inhabitants of the town 
 are deserving of the notice, and, in many instances, of the 
 imitation of their successors. 
 
 The selectmen were accustomed to meet statedly on the first 
 Monday of every month, for the transaction of public business. 
 And lest the interests of the town should suffer at any time, 
 through their dilatoriness or neglect to attend on such occasions, 
 they agreed, March 11, 1674, that if any Selectman should fail 
 to make his appearance at the place of meeting, by 9 o'clock 
 of the morning, their appointed hour, he should pay three 
 shillings to the use of the town, unless he were detained by some 
 providence of God, which the majority present should account a 
 sufficient excuse. And at their very next meeting, it is recorded, 
 that they fined Capt. John Carter, one of their number, sixpence, 
 for " being nere an hour to [too] late ; " and shortly after, 
 Francis Kendall, another member of their body, for a like 
 omission of duty, was fined the same sum. 7 
 
 6 " The town Dr. in the year 1674 : " To deputy's dyet . 02 : 05 : 00. 
 11 To Gershom Flagg for bringing down Corne for 
 
 deputy's dyet 00 : 02 : 00. 
 
 11 To deputy's dyet, silver 01 : 16 : 00. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. II., pp. 22,31. 
 Town Records, Vol. H., p. 187, 168, inverted.
 
 46 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 The primitive inhabitants too, of Woburn, were zealous to 
 secure a full and punctual attendance of its citizens at all its 
 general meetings, and to preserve among themselves a due 
 esteem of their civil privileges. As early as 1643, they passed 
 an order, " That if any man shall absent himselfe from a publike 
 meeting without a lawfull excuse, hee shall pay I8d. to the use 
 of the Towne." 8 And in February, 1648-9, there was a vote 
 of the town imposing a fine of two shillings, for the town's use, 
 upon any inhabitant who should fail to appear by eight o'clock 
 of the morning at any stated annual meeting for election, though 
 unwarned ; or who should withdraw on such an occasion, with- 
 out leave of the assembly, more than a quarter of an hour before 
 the meeting was dissolved ; or who should be absent or tardy at 
 any public meeting whatever, that had been legally warned. 8 
 And that this vote might not stand on their records a mere 
 empty form of words, without force or effect, it was ordered by 
 the whole town, present at their annual meeting, 1653-4, that 
 the constable for the time being, should call over the persons 
 warned to appear at every town meeting, and should gather up 
 the fines of all such as are found delinquent for non-appearance, 
 agreeably to the vote just cited, changing only the time of 
 appearing from eight o'clock in the morning to nine. 9 
 
 Nor was there less concern manifested to secure a civil, 
 peaceable behavior at public meetings, than constancy and punc- 
 tuality of attendance. The fathers of the town took care on all 
 occasions to maintain their authority before the people, and 
 failed not to punish any, who shewed openly before them a dis- 
 position to contemn or resist it. In 1664, for instance, they 
 passed an order, allowing the inhabitants freely to present their 
 grievances at any general meeting, either by word or writing, 
 provided they did it in a becoming manner, and with the leave 
 of the moderator ; but imposing a fine of five shillings for the 
 town's use upon any one who should presume on such occasions 
 to speak disorderly, or go on to take up the time of the town 
 unnecessarily. 10 And a few years afterward, they fined Nathanael 
 
 Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 5, 14. 9 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 19. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 30.
 
 HISTOKY OF WOBURN. 47 
 
 Richardson, ten shillings for publicly charging them " with 
 trampling him under their feet and wronging him, and for 
 twitting them of putting themselves in place, with a stuborne, 
 unciuill carige." n 
 
 In the infancy of the town, no one was allowed to become an 
 inhabitant of it, or to acquire in it any freehold, right of common, 
 or other civil privilege, without first producing evidence of his 
 peaceable behavior, and obtaining the approbation of the Select- 
 men, or consent of the town by vote at some public meeting. 12 
 And to guard against the intrusion of suspicious characters, and 
 preventing any from gaining a legal settlement here in a clandes- 
 tine manner, one of the original Town Orders provided that no 
 person should entertain any inmate, whether married or other- 
 wise, for more than three days, without the consent of four 
 Selectinen; and that every one offending in this particular 
 should forfeit sixpence to the use of the town for every day that 
 he should offend herein. 
 
 11 Town Records, Vol. II., p. 18. To the above may be added another 
 instance. 1674: 1 : 10 mo George Polly summoned to appear before the Seclect- 
 menfor harbouring Inmates contrary to Town Orders. In answeriugto the 
 charge, Polly declared that " he wold entertaine them for all the townsmen ; 
 and that the woman shold notgoe out of towne for any of them." Upon this, 
 the Selectmen granted distress upon Polly's estate to the value of eight 
 shillings. But Polly afterward coming before them, and humbling himself, 
 and " acknowledging his false charges, and promising that he wold clere 
 the Towne of the forsaid Inmates by the next second daye at night, then 
 the Constable was ordered to respet his distress ; but in case the said 
 Polly did not goe on to perform his promise, then the Constable was to 
 goe on to leuey (levy) the eaight shillings for the Towne's use." Town 
 Records, Vol. I., p. 57. No trifling with such town officers as these. 
 
 12 6 : 11 mo : 1648, [6 Jan. 1648-9.] " William Chainberlin admited an In- 
 habitant of this Towne, and permited to by land for his conuenency in any 
 place thereof, prouided he unsetle not any Inhabitant, and bring testimony 
 of his peacibl behauour, which is not in the least mesur [measure] 
 questioned." Town Records, Vol. L, p. 13. 
 
 At a generall meetting 27: 12 mo: 1665, [27 Feb. 1665-6.] Gorge 
 Brush, John Craggen and Increse Winne were admited Inhabitance and 
 propriety of comoneg" [commonage]. Woburn Records, Vol. L, p. 31. 
 
 At a meeting of the Selectmen 5 : 12 mo : 1676, [5 Feb. 1676-7.] " John 
 Hews of Watertowne is permitted to come into Towne, and follow his 
 trade of weauing." Records, Vol. II., p. 52.
 
 48 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 This order appears to have been rigorously enforced for a 
 long series of years. 13 And though, in a few instances, it may 
 have operated hardly, and to the public disadvantage, yet it 
 doubtless did much towards securing that freedom from the 
 burdens of pauperism which the town for a long time, with but 
 little interruption, happily enjoyed. The first two instances in 
 which the town had occasion to grant help to any of its inhab- 
 itants, occurred in the years 1665, 1673. But the persons here 
 referred to as assisted by the town, were not, strictly speaking, 
 paupers, but insane. They both were possessed of houses and 
 lands in Woburn j but being, by the hand of God, bereft of 
 their reason, and so rendered incapable of managing for them- 
 selves, the Selectmen took both of them (one of them by order 
 of the County Court) under their care, and disposed of their 
 property for them to their best advantage. And in this situa- 
 tion, they both lived long enough to exhaust all they had in their 
 maintenance, and were buried at last at the charge of the town. 
 The first decisive pauper case in Woburn did not occur till the 
 town had been settled about forty years, and is that referred to 
 in the following extract from the records ; " The Selectmen 
 agreed with John Brooks, for the keeping of Goarge Wilkinson, 
 from this 4 of April, 1681, till next Michealmasj and in case 
 more than ordinary sickness come, then the Towne to consider 
 the charge." H Wilkinson had been a soldier in Philip's Indian 
 war, in 1675-76, and there, probably, had exhausted both his 
 
 13 " The selectmen mett the 7 : of the 4 mo : 1676, and called Joseph 
 Knight, jun. to an accoumpt [account] for entertaining to [two] Inmats ; 
 and hee breaking the Towne Order, is fined three shillings, and to giue in 
 a bond of fiuety pounds to free the Towne of all damage that may come to 
 them by these too persons, namely, Jacob Kurd and Nathanell Wilson, 
 his [Kurd's] apprentis." [Here follows his bond.] 
 
 "At the same time, the Selectmen caled Dauid Wyman, to answer for 
 entertaining the widow Farmer as an Inmate in his hows : the said Dauid 
 hauing bin conuicted before the Selectmen for breach of a towne order, is 
 sentanced to paye seuen shillings for fourteen days entertainment." 
 Record, Vol. II., p. 26. 
 
 Similar instances of enforcing this Town .Order may be seen, Record, 
 Vol. I., p. 74, 113, etc., etc. 
 
 "Town Records, Vol. III., pp. 6, 47.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBT7RN. 49 
 
 strength and what property he had in the public service ; and 
 now, feeble in health, and poor in estate, he was obliged to 
 throw himself on the care of the town. He died in 1683, and 
 was buried at the town's expense. 14 
 
 Observable, too, are the means employed by the early inhabi- 
 tants of Woburn, with the sanction of the law, 15 to prevent or 
 break up all those irregular and vicious habits, which usually 
 terminate in pauperism, or lead to confirmed depravity and 
 spiritual ruin. Among these means, was the appointment of 
 Tithingmen, whose office it was, as the records express it, " to 
 have the oversight of their neighbours, and see that they keepe 
 good orders in their houses." The object of their appointment, 
 under the Colony laws, appears to have been to advance the 
 divine honor and the spiritual benefit of the people, by 
 encouraging family worship and government, by checking or 
 preventing disorderly conduct in private families and public 
 houses ; by suppressing or checking profanity, Sabbath breaking, 
 idleness, intemperance, and sundry other immoralities. With 
 these ends in view, all the inhabitants were distributed into 
 companies of nine or ten adjacent families each ; and then these 
 several companies were committed to the inspection of as many 
 overseers, called tithingmen, or tenth men, from their having a 
 tithing or a company of ten families each to look after, inclusively 
 of their own. These tithingmen appear, in Woburn, to have been 
 annually chosen by the Selectmen ; 16 were wont to be men of the 
 
 16 At a meeting of the Selectmen, 9 : 4 mo : [June 9th] 1676, "the tithing 
 men were-chosen, who by law are to haue the oversight of their naigh- 
 bours, and see that they keepe good orders in their howses : who are decon 
 Josiah Conuars, Sargent Mathew Johnson, Ffrances Kendall, Robert Peirce, 
 Allen Conuars, Henery Bolden, John Russell, Joseph Wright, and Joseph 
 Richison. 
 
 17 " At a meeting of the Selectmen 5. of 5 mo, [5 July] 1680, nine persons 
 are named as Tithingmen, and the names of all the heads of the families, 
 (82 in all) which were severally assigned to them for their inspection in 
 their respective districts. 
 
 18 " Ffebrewary ye, 1st, 1691-2 ye Selectmen of Wobourne met & chose 
 tithingmen (for said Towne) for ye year ensuing : and their names are as 
 follows : 
 
 Colony Records, Vol. V., pp. 133, 240, 241, 373. ' " Town Records, Vol. II., p. 37. 
 " Town Records, Vol. II., pp. 153, 154. Town Records, Vol. III., p. 31. 
 5
 
 50 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 first respectability in the town ; were required by law to make 
 complaint of what they saw amiss in any under their inspection, 
 to the nearest magistrate, to be dealt with and punished by 
 him, or by the County Court; and being sworn to the faithful 
 discharge of their office, they were often doubtless very service- 
 able for checking the profanation of God's name, day and house, 
 and for the promotion of peaceableness, sobriety and religion in 
 the families commended to their care and watch. 
 
 In the early days of Woburn, taxes were not paid wholly in money 
 or labor, as now. Silver was then scarce ; and paper currency 
 had not as yet been introduced. Hence the first inhabitants 
 were accustomed to pay only a certain part of their taxes of 
 every description, in money ; and the rest in cattle, in corn, or 
 other fruits of the soil, or in articles of home manufacture. 19 
 For instance, only a fourth part of the annual salary of their first, 
 and of their second minister, was satisfied with coin ; the remainder 
 being made up in grain, or other articles of family consumption, 
 which were called " country pay." And country pay was made 
 great use of, too, in discharging their Town and Colony taxes, 
 which occasioned no small inconvenience to the Constables, 
 
 " For ye West End of sd Towne, THOMAS KENDALL & BENJAM. SIMONS. 
 
 For y e South End, EDWD CONVERS. 
 
 For ye East End, SAMUELL RICHARDSON. 
 
 For ye Towne, [centre of] JOHN MOUSAIX, JOHN BERBEEN, and 
 
 JOSEPH WINN. 
 
 For New Bridge End, Lt. JOSEPH PEIRCE. 
 
 For Boggy Meadow End, JOHN WRIGHT, Senr. 
 
 For Totman's End, JOSEPH RICHARDSON. 
 
 For Shawshenn End, EDWARD JOHNSON." 
 
 " These eleven persons are chosen to inspect these famalyes near adja- 
 sent to each of ye [their] dwellings, according to the law intitled Tithing- 
 men." 18 N. B. May 2d, 1692. The Selectmen chose Jona. Tompson for 
 New Bridge, and Daniel Baldwin and John Brooks for the Centre, in the 
 room of Joseph Peirce, Joseph Winn and John Burbeen, Senr., chosen 
 Selectmen Feb. 23, and unwilling on that account to serve as tithingmen. 18 
 
 19 "Received of Jacob Wyman, Constable of Woobourne, the summe 
 of 3 : 6s. in Shoos : and 5 : 4s. in and as money, in all is eight pound 
 ten shillings, in or as money, being in full for their Town's County Rate 
 made January 20th, 1692-3. I say Reed by me. 
 
 Samll. Andrew, County Treasurer." Records, Vol. IIL,p. 62.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 51 
 
 especially when the articles of country pay were so bulky as to 
 put them to extraordinary expense in conveying them to Boston, 
 or proved, when there, of an unmerchantable quality, cases in 
 which the Colony Treasurer was not apt to make them any 
 allowance, and the Town (it may be presumed) if it did it, would 
 do it with reluctance. Of the troubles, in which, from this cause, 
 the Constables were liable to be not unfrequently involved, the 
 annexed Treasurer's certificate, and Constable's charge, copied 
 from the records, may serve as illustrations. 
 
 "Boston, October 21, 1679. Received of John Ted, (Tidd) and John 
 Barbene, (Burbean,) Constables of Woburne, the whole of the six Rates 
 of June 1677, and of the three Rates of November 1677 ; save only they 
 detaine in their hands eight pound for transportation ; which I cannot 
 allow of, not having allowed it to other townes ; and therefore it must be 
 assigned by some superior authority. Otherwise, I say, received and 
 allowed sd. rates. John Hull, Treasurer." ** 
 
 " The Town Dr. 1673. To James Fowle, (Constable in 1672.) 
 
 " For loss of Corne, and more than ordinary troupble, 01 : 00 : 00." " 
 
 Concerning schools, and the attention bestowed on the educa- 
 tion of the young, in the early history of Woburn, I find nothing 
 on record prior to 1673. From this circumstance, however, it 
 cannot be certainly inferred that no school had been sustained 
 in this town during the thirty years which had then elapsed 
 from its settlement. For very possibly the records are deficient 
 on this head. The law too of that day, while it strictly required 
 that a school for teaching to read and write should be kept in 
 every town containing fifty householders, still allowed the means 
 of its support to be drawn either from the parents and guardians 
 of the children who attended it, or from the town at large. 15 
 Hence it is very possible that a school answering to the descrip- 
 tion of the law, may have been kept for years previous to the 
 above-mentioned date ; and yet, the compensation of its instructor 
 coming directly from the parents or guardians of its pupils, and 
 not from the town, there was no necessity of recording it in the 
 Town Book. 
 
 In a town account for 1673, the town is made " Dr. to Allen 
 
 *> Record*, Vol. II., p. 143. Records, Vol. II., p. 4. 
 
 " Maw. Colony Records, Vol. H., p. 203.
 
 52 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Conuars' wife and Joseph Wright's wife for scooling, 00. 10s. 
 OOd." 16 From this charge, compared with others presently to 
 be quoted, these dames appear to have taught the same school, 
 each of them half of the time stipulated, in 1673, and to have 
 received from the town ten shillings for their year's work, to be 
 divided equally between them. At a meeting of the Selectmen, 
 Oct. 5, 1674, "they agreed with Jonathan Tomson to tech 
 biger children, and Allen Conuars' wife to tech leser children." 17 
 And agreeably to this arrangement, goodman Thompson and 
 goodwife Convers took charge, in 1675, of. the children respec- 
 tively assigned them, and were allowed by the Town XI. 00. 00 
 between them for " teching to reade," as the Records express 
 it. 18 In 1676, the Town stands indebted on the town accounts 
 to Allen Convers 1.00 "for too [two] years scoollinge " ; 
 without specifying the years he taught. 19 March 1, 1678, the 
 Town is made debtor, by account, to Allen Convers' wife for 
 schooling, [probably in 1677] 00. 10. 00.; and in 1679, to 
 John Houlton, Sen., " for his wife's schooling, and worke [done 
 by him ?] on the ' Meeting hows,' 00. 14. 06." 20 At a meeting 
 of the Selectmen, March 1, 1679-80, the widow Convers was 
 appointed to teach school for that year ; 21 and for this service, 
 she was allowed ten shillings in a subsequent town account. 22 
 
 In 1685, the town having increased indisputably to the num- 
 ber of one hundred families, or householders, and so being 
 obliged by law to set up a grammar school, the instructor 
 whereof should be able " to instruct youth so as to fit them for 
 the college," the Selectmen appointed Mr. Samuel Carter, 
 probably a son of Rev. Thomas Carter, their pastor, a graduate 
 of Harvard College in 1660, and then resident in Woburn, to 
 keep a grammar school that year, with a salary of 5. 00 per 
 annum. 23 But, though Mr. Carter was doubtless competent to 
 teach such a school, there were no scholars to attend it. The 
 following Spring, the Selectmen appointed the widow Walker 
 
 i Town Records, Vol. H., p. 4. "Town Records, Vol. II., p. 166, Inverted. "Town 
 Records, Vol. II., p. 34. Town Records, Vol. H., 56. *> Town Records, Vol. I., p. 83, 96. 
 M Town Records, Vol. II., p. 152. Town Records, Vol. n., p. 107. Town Records, Vol. 
 I., p. 129.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 53 
 
 "to be a school dame for the yeare 1686, and to haue tenn 
 shillings for her labor, as the other [mistresses before her] had." 24 
 Likewise, at the same meeting, the Selectmen, feeling unwilling 
 to 'expose the town to the penalty of ten pounds, prescribed by 
 law for neglect to keep a grammar school by towns of one 
 hundred families each, and yet reluctant to obligate themselves 
 to pay a master five pounds the second time for doing nothing, 
 (as they seem to have been apprehensive they should liave to, if 
 they positively engaged to give that sum) again employed Mr. 
 Carter to keep such a school in Woburn, in 1686, but promised, 
 absolutely, to give him only thirty shillings in pay for that year ; 
 but that if he should have any scholars, they would give him 
 five pounds, as they had stipulated to give him the year before. 23 
 Doubtless Mr. Carter, in consenting to these terms, cherished a 
 confident hope, that there were a few boys, at least, in the town 
 who would discover ambition enough to sit that year under the 
 instructions of a grammar school master, and so his full pay 
 might be secured. But, alas, the apprehensions on this score 
 which the Selectmen seem to have conceived, in making their 
 engagement with him, were but too fully realized. No scholars 
 attended grammar school in Woburn in 1686, as none had 
 attended in 1685. And in a town account for 1685 and 1686, 
 Mr. Carter stands credited <6. 10s. for schooling in Woburn 
 during those two years, when he had no scholars to teach, and 
 all the room and time to himself. 25 
 
 In view of the foregoing statements, some perhaps may be ready 
 to conclude, that the inhabitants of Woburn at that day were a 
 boorish race, who had no value for good learning themselves, and 
 grudged the least expense for procuring its benefits for their 
 children. But this, without much qualification, would be a rash 
 and most unjust inference. For in the very infancy of the town, 
 when they do not certainly appear to have had any school for 
 their own children, they contributed 5. 13*. 7d. [sterling?] 
 for the benefit of the scholars at the College in Cambridge, 
 a larger sum than was given at that time for this end by any town 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IH., p. 93. Town Records, Vol. III., p. 102. 
 
 6*
 
 54 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 in this County but two, not excepting even Cambridge itself, and 
 larger than by any town in the Colony but five. 26 . And in 1669, 
 a little before the time when they commenced paying, as a town, 
 the paltry sum of ten shillings per annum for the support of 
 common schools among themselves, they contributed .27. 2s. Orf. 
 for the erection of anew College in Cambridge 26 , a contri- 
 bution in which they were not exceeded by any town in Mid- 
 dlesex Cdtinty, excepting Cambridge, Charlestown, Watertown, 
 Concord and Reading. There can be no question then, that the 
 primitive inhabitants of Woburn were favorable to the cause of 
 education at the college, and disposed to patronize it according 
 to their power. And they were so probably from various 
 motives ; and more especially, because, in common with the gen- 
 erality of the first settlers of New England, they regarded a 
 liberal education as a necessary prerequisite to a learned min- 
 istry ; as an indispensable means of training up a competent 
 number of young men for becoming thoroughly qualified to 
 dispense the word of life to the people, when the accomplished 
 ministers who had accompanied them from England should 
 sleep in the dust. But at the same time, there were but few in 
 the town, who duly appreciated the value of learning to any 
 beside professional men. 
 
 Through the influence of prejudices imbibed and habits formed 
 on the other side of the Atlantic, the great majority could not 
 perceive the utility of general knowledge, beyond an ability to 
 read and write, to those who were destined all their days to 
 follow the plough, or to work in their shops. And hence they 
 were slow to establish institutions among themselves designed 
 to promote this end, and sparing of their hard-earned money to 
 encourage them. They all unquestionably approved of grammar 
 schools in general, because they would not see the learning 
 taught therein "buried in the graves of (their) forefathers in 
 church and commonwealth j " and particularly because they 
 regarded these institutions as helpful to the advancement of the 
 leading object for which the college was founded. Of common 
 
 * Quincy's History of Harvard University, Vol. I. p. 456, 509.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 55 
 
 schools, likewise, they generally approved, as very necessary aids 
 in families in which the parents could not read themselves, for 
 teaching the children to read the Bible, and to repeat the Cate- 
 chism, exercises accounted at that time as alike indispensable 
 to the youth of all classes and occupations in society. But then 
 at that day, few or none of the young men of Woburn seem to 
 have manifested a predilection for a professional life ; in which 
 alone, it was generally supposed there, that classical literature 
 could be useful. And there were not then many families in the 
 place, especially in the outskirts of the town, but could more 
 conveniently teach their children to read at home, or in small 
 private schools kept in their immediate vicinity, and maintained 
 by themselves, than they could send them to a common school at 
 a distance from their thinly-scattered dwellings, and over their 
 rough and widely separated roads. Hence, when agreeably to 
 law, they founded both a common and a grammar school in or 
 near the centre of their settlement, for such children as might be 
 sent to them, none went at first to the grammar school, and 
 but few seemingly attended the common school. As the labor 
 of teaching these few was comparatively but light, so the com- 
 pensation allowed for it was but small ; and as it was per- 
 formed, such as it was, quite as ably by women as by men, so 
 the Selectmen made no distinction in the wages of either, but 
 paid instructors of each sex alike. 
 
 With regard to the moral and religious character of the early 
 inhabitants of Woburn, the principal source of information at 
 the present day is the Town Records ; and these exhibit 
 many traces of that high standard of virtue and piety, drawn 
 from the Word of God, which the Puritan settlers of New 
 England had generally adopted, and of the strenuous measures 
 which they took to secure a prevailing conformity to it. They 
 disclose many facts, which go to show the predominance of a 
 correct moral sense in the primitive settlers of this place, and 
 which indicate an earnest desire on their part, and especially on 
 the part of the civil fathers of the town, for the suppression of 
 vice and irreligion, and for the promotion of good morals and 
 strict piety among themselves and their children after them.
 
 56 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Nor does it detract materially from the weight of their evidence 
 on this head, that these facts do in many instances relate to 
 measures of the Selectmen, taken in compliance with the then 
 existing laws of the country. In arbitrary governments, external 
 obedience to laws even of a good moral tendency, originating as 
 they do solely in the will, and enforced by the coercive arm of 
 the sovereign, is no certain sign of virtue in the people. But 
 in such a government as ours has been from the beginning, where 
 the laws have always proceeded from the will, and been executed 
 with the consent of a majority of the people, ready and prev- 
 alent obedience to such laws is a strong token at least of 
 general soundness of morals. Under such a government, the 
 passing of good laws for the prevention and punishment of vice 
 and crime, and for the encouragement of virtuous manners and 
 habits, and the impartial, undisturbed, execution of them, both 
 combined, constitute a powerful argument of the prevalence of 
 correct moral sentiment in any community ; for without such a 
 sentiment, they would hardly have been enacted, much less would 
 they have been enforced, without opposition. And, therefore, 
 whenever in a free community we see such laws for the promo- 
 tion of virtue and piety made, and not suffered to remain a dead 
 letter on the Statute Book, but promptly, quietly and without 
 resistance carried into effect, there, we may reasonably presume, 
 that sound morals and real religion do generally predominate. 
 And much evidence of this description have we, beside some 
 other, that your early ancestors were generally exemplary in 
 their moral and religious character and habits. 
 
 1. The first settlers of Woburn, and their immediate descend- 
 ants were a very industrious, as well as a hardy, courageous 
 race of men. According to the testimony of Capt. Edward 
 Johnson, who was one of them, and a principal sharer in all 
 their toils and hardships, they were " very laborious, if not 
 exceeding, some of them." 27 They were frugal of their time, 
 diligent in their respective occupations and callings, and gave no 
 countenance to idleness or dissipation. And, accordingly, we 
 
 * Wonderworking Providence, Book II., Chap. XXH.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 57 
 
 find the Selectmen of those times exercising their authority, in 
 one instance at least, in passing censure upon an individual of 
 highly respectable connections, who was indolent and improvi- 
 dent in his habits. At a meeting of the Selectmen, Jan. 13, 
 1698-9, "John Carter, Jun., was sent for, and animadverted 
 [upon] for mispending his time, and admonished to improve it 
 better for the futer, or else he might expect some other cource 
 would be taken." 28 Economy of time was indeed in that day 
 a virtue, to which dire necessity compelled, as well as correct 
 principle inclined them. And as proofs as well as fruits of their 
 prevailing, virtuous industry, great changes were wrought in 
 their condition for the better, during the first fifty years from the 
 settlement of the town. On coming hither to take up their 
 abode, they found no convenient houses to shelter them, or 
 fields prepared for culture. All around them was a dense 
 forest, or a dreary waste, infested with wolves, 29 and traversed 
 as yet by no human beings, except savage Indian's, the report or 
 experience of whose occasional cruelties could not but keep 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 125. 
 
 29 The following passages, from the Records, indicate that wolves origi- 
 nally were numerous and destructive in Woburn : 
 
 "Izack Brooks t haueing ingaiged to set traps from time to time in a 
 spring betwcene Wood hill and Maple 'medow Playne to each Wolues, hee 
 haueing bin at Charge to alure [allure] the wolues thether ; all other per- 
 sons are prohibited to set any traps at the same place, soe long as Izack 
 Brooks liueth, and shall goe on to improue it for the same end or use." 
 Records, Vol. I., p. 52, Gerf Meeting 24 : 12 mo : 1673. [24 Feb., 1673-4.] 
 
 The town is Cr., 1676, by cash paid 
 
 " To Francis Kendall for a wolfe 00 :10 :00. 
 
 " To widow Nutting for a wolfe 00 :10 :00. 
 
 " To Izack Brooks for a wolfe 00 :10 :00." 
 
 (Records, Vol. II., p. 56.) 
 
 1677. " To Izack Brooks, wolues, by County's order 03 :00 :00. 
 
 (Records, Vol. II., p. 65.) 
 
 17 :7mo. 1677. " To Izack Brooks, for a wolfe 00 :10 :00." 
 
 (Records, Vol. II., p. 74.) 
 
 In 1677. " To Izack Brooks, for two wolues [two wolves] 01 :00 :00." 
 
 (Records, Vol. II., p. 84.) 
 
 Among other noted places in Woburn, in former days, was " the Quid 
 Wolfe penne." Records, Vol. L, p. 88.
 
 58 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 
 
 them in a state of constant anxiety, fear or alarm. Their first 
 dwellings were but mean buildings ; and their provision of food 
 for some years, it is likely, was quite as plain, precarious and 
 scanty, as that of the Indians to whom they had succeeded. But 
 in the course of fifty years, the Indians had been beaten and 
 effectually checked in Philip's war, in the dangers and hard- 
 ships of which, the inhabitants of Woburn (as I may have 
 occasion to show hereafter) bore their part. The ferocious 
 wolves they had driven back in good measure from their 
 borders to remote forests, and kept them at bay there. Their 
 patient, persevering labor had gradually subdued their rough, 
 uncultivated soil. And the close of half a century from the 
 foundation of the town found them, generally speaking, in 
 possession of thriving farms and orchards, of houses far more 
 commodious than the first, and furnished with many of the com- 
 forts and delights of life. 
 
 2. The records furnish pleasing evidence, that the primitive 
 inhabitants of the town were generally speaking, a just people ; 
 lovers of equity and fairness of dealing. We there find the 
 Selectmen repeatedly interposing ( as the laws empowered them 
 to do) to punish oppression. And the specimens there exhibited 
 of the bargains and covenants made by the Selectmen themselves 
 with individuals in the town's employ, or to whom they leased 
 its common lands, while they discover great shrewdness and 
 foresight to save the town from harm, do also manifest a com- 
 mendable disposition to deal honorably and equitably with those 
 with whom they had to do. Take the following, as instances of 
 their dislike of hard dealing. 
 
 " The Selectmen mett the 1 : 11 mo: 1676 : and summonsed 
 Hopestill Foster for inordinate wages, and [ he ] is refer'd to 
 hering the next Towne meeting." 
 
 "The Selectmen meet the 5: of 12 mo: 1676: and fined 
 Hopestill Foster, for opresion [ oppression ] in a case depending 
 betweene Josiah Conuars and himselfe about making brads ; two 
 shillings, eight pence of it to the said Josiah Conuars." 
 
 "Also in a case depending betweene Mathew Johnson ,and 
 the said Foster, for opresion in making streak nayls and putting
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 59 
 
 in riuits [rivets] in cart boxes, eleven shillings ; six of it to the 
 complainer." Records, Vol. 1L, p. 58. 
 
 3. Similar tokens do the Records set before us of the merci- 
 fulness and compassion of the people of Woburn at that day, 
 towards those who were suffering adversity. In various 
 instances, they present the people, or their agents, the Selectmen, 
 remitting taxes to the aged and unfortunate, commiserating 
 the poor and destitute, and restoring lands to children, which, 
 through the hand of God upon their parents, had fallen into the 
 possession of the town. Of this amiable trait in their character, 
 the following instances, among a number that might be produced, 
 may serve both as illustrations and as proofs. At a general 
 meeting, March 1, 1696-7, voted that "considering that Benj n 
 Wilson, having mett with considerable losses, and is very poore, 
 altho' he be found very diligent in his place, he shall goe rate free 
 for this yeare, to all rates and taxes whatsoever." 30 
 
 Sept. 9, 1700. " The Selectmen being informed that the 
 widow Hensher [Henshaw] was in want, they ordered the 
 Constable Holding to pay her fiue shillings for a present supplye, 
 out of the Town Rate comitted to him to collect. 31 
 
 " October the 27th. there was a contribution made for the 
 widow Hensher : there was then gathered 3^ : 15 : 3 : and the 
 Selectmen provided a cow for her supplye with milk, and the 
 cow cost 59 shillings, and the cow remains the town's, only the 
 said widow hath the use of the cow free ; and the Selectmen layd 
 out 7 : 6 d . for cloth to make her dumb child a coat, and 3' : 6 d . for 
 a pair of shoos; and the remainder of the said contribution, 
 being 6 s : 3 d , it was deliuered to the said widow by the Select- 
 men." 31 
 
 4. Of the character of the people in general for sobriety, we 
 may form some judgment in their favor from the exertions then 
 made and sustained, without complaint or opposition, against 
 the contrary vice. The records furnish repeated testimonials to 
 the zeal and faithfulness of the early civil fathers of the town to 
 carry the laws against intemperance, and practices which lead to 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 87. Town Record*, Vol. IV., p. 1.
 
 60 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 it- into execution. They present them again and again, as sum- 
 moning before them persons charged with intoxication, and 
 sentencing them, upon conviction, to pay a fine, or to sit in the 
 stocks. The following are instances upon record of their pro- 
 ceedings on this head. "The Selectmen meet the 17. of 7 mo. 
 1677: William Deane was sumonedfor excess in drincke, and 
 [they] ordered him to pay for his ecsess three shillings and four- 
 pence." 32 "The Selectmen mette the 1 : of 2 mo. 1678, and by 
 warrant sent for William Deane, who was proved to be in drink 
 the third time ; [and] is sentanced to paye ten shillings uppon 
 the Constable's demand." 33 At a meeting of the Selectmen 
 3 : 8 mo. 1682, William Deane was fined the thurd time for being 
 druncke, tenne shillings, or to sitt in the stocks." a4 Jan. 22, 
 1679, Andrew Pittamy, Indian, and his squaw, and another squaw, 
 being taken drunck, were all brought before the Selectmen of 
 Woburne, and the case heard and proued, were sentenced to paye 
 tenne shillings apeece, or to be whipt tenne lashes, and to defray 
 the charge of Constable and ^witnesses." 35 " John Johnson, 
 jun. being taken in drinck, was sentenced to paye tenne groats." M 
 Such was the rigor with which the laws were anciently en- 
 forced in this town against persons chargeable with intemper- 
 ance. Nor did the civil authorities frown upon the hard 
 drinker only, but also, in some cases at least, upon those, who 
 were accessary to his bad practices. The first person appa- 
 rently, that was approved by the Selectmen to keep tavern in 
 Woburn, and recommended for a license to sell spiritous 
 liquors, was Mr. Samuel Walker, Senr., in 1675. 36 Mr. Walker 
 was a highly respectable citizen, and one who was, generally 
 speaking, of an irreproachable character. Nevertheless, for 
 once abusing his license, by allowing a certain noted tippler to 
 come to his house, and there to indulge his vicious appetite after 
 warning, he incurred the censure of the civil fathers of the town 
 alike with the tippler himself. The Selectmen, -showing no 
 respect of persons, imposed upon the latter offender a fine of 
 
 Town Records, Vol. II., p. 74. Town Records, Vol. I., p. 89. M Town Records, Vol. 
 I., p. 120. * Town Records, Vol. H., p. 147. > Town Records, Vol. H., p. 27.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 61 
 
 five shillings for going to the tavern, and another fine of five 
 shillings more for tippling there after warning; and a fine of 
 twenty shillings upon Mr. Walker for finding him room and 
 drink to tipple with. 37 
 
 But while the fathers of the town were thus laudably exerting 
 themselves for the prevention and suppression of intemperance 
 and its kindred vices, they were unconsciously giving counten- 
 ance to one practice which had a tendency to promote it : that 
 of giving drink at funerals. This seems at that day to have 
 been the universal custom, especially in this place. Whoever 
 died here, intoxicating liquor must be distributed among all who 
 attended his burial. They buried their paupers with rum, and 
 they buried their wealthy men and ministers with wine. One of 
 the charges allowed by the Selectmen in 1683, at the death 
 of George Wilkinson, the pauper already referred to, was one 
 for three quarts of rum, to be drank at his funeral. 38 And in 
 an account of the funeral expenses assumed by the town at the 
 death of their beloved pastor, Rev. Mr. Carter, in 1684, there is 
 a charge of X2. 9*. Od. for fourteen gallons of wine. 39 This 
 practice originated doubtless in a commendable desire to show 
 
 37 Town Records, Vol. II., p. 58. Town Records, Vol. in., pp. 47, 58. 
 
 39 " Charges on Mr Thomas Carter's funarall in 1684. 
 " By fourteene gallons of wine, at 3s. 6d. per gallon 
 "For tarr, two shillings 
 " For gloues 
 " For his Coffin, muny 
 " For his graue, in pay 
 " For manchester, 6 yards : and Jarr for tarr 
 
 04 :19 : 
 
 Nor did the custom cease with the 17th century, as appears by the fol- 
 lowing bill, still extant. Town Records, Vol. III., p. 68. 
 
 " Charlestown Anno 1726. 
 
 " Mr Jacob Fowl & Mr Thos Reed; Bot of Seth Sweetser 
 " Sept. 22. To 7 gallons Sweet wine, at 6 :6d - - - - 2':5 :6 
 " To 7i Fyal at 5s - - ... - - 1 :17 :6 
 
 4 :3 :0 
 
 " For ye funeral of Mr Symons Deceasd." [Mr. Benjamin Siraonds, of 
 Woburn, who died 21 Sept., 1726. Woburn Records of Deaths.'] 
 6
 
 62 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 hospitality to those, who manifested their respect for a person 
 deceased, and their sympathy with his surviving friends, by at- 
 tending his funeral ; and especially, when they came for this end 
 from a distance over their rough roads, or in an inclement 
 season of the year. But such an expression of hospitality on 
 funeral occasions is now justly regarded as injurious in its 
 tendency, as well as often burdensome by its expensiveness ; and 
 has been wisely suffered to fall into general disuse. 
 
 Finally, piety was a distinguishing trait in the character of the 
 early inhabitants of Woburn, as it was generally in that of all 
 the first planters of New England and their immediate succes- 
 sors. The town was settled principally by emigrants from 
 Charlestown ; and there is reason to believe that its founders, 
 and a large proportion of its primitive population were asso- 
 ciates in travel and suffering with those who accompanied 
 Winthrop and Dudley, Wilson and Phillips, in their perilous 
 voyage across the Atlantic, from a land of privilege and plenty, 
 to this, then, American wilderness, for conscience' sake toward 
 God. And their whole conduct, so far as any particulars of it 
 have been transmitted to us, proves them worthy of being 
 reckoned with that illustrious company of Puritans. Nor did 
 their immediate descendants come far behind them, in respect 
 to their religious character. In many of these, indeed, love had 
 begun to wax cold ; and there gradually came on a decay of 
 vital religion, both here and throughout the land, which was 
 observed and lamented by such as had seen New England in 
 her first glory. Still, in a goodly proportion of the inhabitants 
 of Woburn, of the second generation, there yet abode a like 
 spirit of piety and devotion which had been the chief ornament 
 of their fathers. And this excellent spirit was continually 
 manifesting a powerful influence in the civil customs and 
 measures, in the domestic arrangements, and in the general 
 character and manners of the early inhabitants of this town. 
 And the same spirit, I may safely add, had a larger share in 
 moulding the ancient distinctive character of the people of New 
 England, and in originating all those privileges and institutions, 
 which are now their boast, than any other cause or influence 
 whatever, merely secular, that can be assigned.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 63 
 
 1. Particularly, this spirit manifested itself in Wobura, in 
 zeal for the public worship of God. A leading object of the 
 primitive settlers in leaving Charlestown to establish themselves 
 in this place was to erect here a church, for the diffusion of the 
 light of God's Word, and for upholding in it the ordinances of 
 his gospel. Hence, notwithstanding a long train- of difficulties 
 ana discouragements, which they had to encounter successively 
 in their way to this object, they here quickly gathered a church, 
 and procured and settled a minister over it, to lead in the servi- 
 ces of the sanctuary. Here too, they had scarcely provided a 
 shelter for themselves and families, before they built a house for 
 the honor of God's name, and the conducting of his public wor- 
 ship. And as soon as this house had fallen into decay, or had 
 become too strait for them, their sons built a second, larger and 
 more convenient than the first. And ere this second house had 
 been erected ten years, they took occasion repeatedly to enlarge 
 it, for the better accommodation of the multitude which thronged 
 it from Sabbath to Sabbath. Nor was it on the Sabbath day 
 only, that they showed their zeal and diligence to assemble 
 together in the Sanctuary to serve the Lord. During the ministry 
 of the first two pastors of the church, there was a stated public 
 lecture in Woburn for prayer and exposition of the Scriptures, 
 similar to those then held in most of the early settled towns in 
 Massachusetts. 40 How often it occurred, is not certain; but 
 it appears, from the records, to have been held on Wednesday, 41 
 and to have been well sustained upwards of sixty years : and 
 though in the ministry of the second Mr. Fox, there are signs of 
 its falling into disuse, in consequence, probably, of his frequent 
 ill health, and perhaps, too, of a growing indifference on the part 
 
 40 In the record of general meeting, 27: 12 mo: [27 Feb.] 1665-6 
 reference is made to measures to be propounded to the inhabitants at a 
 meeting, 28 : 1 mo : 1666 next " after Lecture." Town Records, Vol. /., 
 p. 32. 
 
 41 Under Record of Selectmen's meeting, [Monday] 7 :5 mo : [7 July,] 1679, 
 mention is made of the next Lecture day on 16 :. 5 mo : 79. [Wednesday.] 
 At a meeting of the Selectmen, Nov. 23, 1702, they appointed Wednesday 
 ye 30th of December following after Lecture, to be a general meeting, etc. 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 214.
 
 64 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 of some of the people, yet even then, attempts were repeatedly 
 made, by a majority of the town, to revive and encourage it, and 
 so to continue it to posterity. 42 
 
 2. Nor was the religious spirit of the early inhabitants of 
 Woburn less conspicuous in their exertions to maintain solemnity 
 and decorum in public worship, than it was in those which they 
 used to establish and continue it among them. Generally speak- 
 ing, they were, universally, men who reverenced the Sanctuary of 
 the Lord, set an excellent example of becoming seriousness in 
 all its sacred exercises themselves, and could not endure to have 
 them interrupted by anything like trifling or levity in others. 
 Hence, when above thirty years after the settlement of the town, 
 a portion of its youth began to behave themselves disorderly in 
 public worship, the people generally were much aggrieved, and 
 the fathers of the town immediately set themselves to devise a 
 remedy. To put an end to the evil complained of, they passed 
 successively a number of orders and regulations, the motives of 
 all which cannot be too highly appreciated, though at the recital 
 of some of them we can hardly refrain from smiling at their 
 minuteness, and seeming singularity at the present day. At a 
 mating of theirs, Sept. 7, 1674, they resolved as follows on this 
 subject : Considering how greatly God is dishonoured by 
 seuerall youths playing at meetting, and the trust that is by the 
 athouryty of this Commonwealth committed to the Selectmen; 
 they doe therefore order that from this time forward, all youths 
 or male persons that shall playe or carry it unciuilly on the 
 Saboth day, or in time of Exercise, they shall bee injoyned to sit 
 in the last sete of the Rainge of mens seats, and all other persons 
 whatsoeuer are prohibited sitting in that seat upon the penalty 
 ofhalfea Crowne, they doing it presumptuously." 43 But this 
 injunction not being generally obeyed, or the appeal implied in 
 it, to the shame of these young offenders, not proving so effectual 
 as might have been anticipated, the Selectmen two years after- 
 
 42 At a general meeting, March 4, 1716-17. It was voted to add 20 to 
 Rev. Mr. Fox's salary of 80 for that year, provided that he keep a " Lec- 
 ture once in six weeks, if he be able." Town Records, Vol. V.,p. 357. 
 Town Records, Vol. II., p. 18.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUBN. 65 
 
 ward had recourse to another expedient. They first set apart 
 two seats in the meeting-house, particularly described in the 
 records, for all those boys who should be expressly directed to 
 sit in them, and whose names were to be fixed on them in 
 writing, and forbade all other persons over sixteen years old, 
 not expressly allowed, to sit in them, upon a penalty of 2s. Qd. 
 each time. 44 And then to secure success to this measure, and 
 perhaps likewise to afford some relief to the constables, under 
 whose sole care the boys had hitherto been, in time of public 
 worship, they appointed twenty-six men of respectable character 
 to overlook those boys in the meeting-house, two days each in 
 succession, under penalty of five shillings per day upon each of 
 them who should refuse to serve. The business of this numer- 
 ous committee, as stated in the records, was, to oversee the 
 boys in the meeting-house, " to haue power to rape [rap] them 
 with a stick," who did not " behave themselves as they ought " ; 
 and in case they persisted in their unseemly behavior, to com- 
 plain of them to the Selectmen. 45 But strict as this measure 
 may seem to have been, it did not at once eradicate the evil. 
 For at a subsequent meeting of the Selectmen, March 167980, 
 after making a new assignment of seats for the boys in the 
 meeting-house, they committed them again to the oversight of 
 the men " appointed as formerly," and of the constables 46 with 
 their black staves. 47 
 
 3. Again, the religious disposition of the early ancestors of 
 this people was still further displayed in their equitable and 
 generous treatment of their ministers of religion. For the first 
 pastor of this church, Rev. Thomas Carter, the town built a 
 dwelling-house at their own cost, and presented it to him at his 
 settlement, as a gift. They also made him considerable grants 
 of land soon after his settlement, and in all subsequent general 
 distributions of the public lands, they allowed him his full pro- 
 portion with the other inhabitants who were proprietors. The 
 salary they originally agreed to give him, viz : 80, was a very 
 liberal one for that day ; and in his old age they enlarged it by 
 
 Town Records, Vol. II., p. 36. Town Records, Vol. II., p. 41. Town Records, Vol. 
 II.. p. 152. Town Records. Vol. D., p. 23. See also Vol. III., p. 119, 121. 
 6*
 
 66 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 an annual donation of twenty cords of wood. 48 And when at 
 length his increased infirmities made the aid of a colleague neces- 
 sary, they did not turn him adrift upon the world, as some towns 
 have done by their ministers, worn out in their service, in modern 
 times, neither did they put him off with a meagre, insufficient 
 compensation, as has been the practice in many instances since, 
 but they adjusted with him the question of his salary for the 
 time to come, entirely to his own satisfaction; and when he 
 deceased, they discovered their affectionate regard for the dead 
 by their continued kindness to the living, his surviving widow. 
 For Rev. Jabez Fox also, their second minister, the town of their 
 own accord offered to erect a dwelling-house at their own 
 expense, and present it to him as a gift. At his request, they 
 enlarged it in building beyond the dimensions they had proposed, 
 for an allowance he engaged to make them in money towards 
 the cost. They granted him freely, as his own property, a por- 
 tion of those lots of land, which they had reserved from time to 
 time in disposing of their public lands, for a succeeding officer 
 of the church ; and the use of the residue, till they should need it 
 for a successor. And when he died, they did not withdraw 
 their kindness from his widow, but granted her a sum equal in 
 amount to her husband's salary for half a year. These several 
 testimonials of good-will to their ministers, and concern for their 
 temporal comfort and well-being, speak loudly in favor of the 
 religious character of the ancient inhabitants of Woburn. The 
 people showed herein not only an effectual regard for their wor- 
 thy pastors themselves, but likewise a becoming esteem for their 
 work ; love for that holy cause in defence of which they were 
 set, and for the advancement of which among them they labored. 
 Whereas, a mean, hard or unjust treatment of worthy ministers of 
 religion on the part of the people whom they serve is generally 
 speaking, a decisive indication of indifference or hostility toward 
 religion itself. 
 
 4. Finally, the pious spirit of the ancient inhabitants of 
 Woburn displayed itself in their care for the religious educa- 
 tion of their children and youth. By a law of this colony, 
 
 Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 54, 98, 101, 102.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 67 
 
 *" 
 
 passed in 1642, the same year with that in which Woburn was 
 incorporated, the Selectmen of every town were required to see 
 " that all masters of families do once a week (at the least) 
 catechise their children and servants in the grounds and principles 
 of religion ; and if any be unable to do so much, that then at 
 the least, they procure such children and apprentices to learn 
 some short orthodox catechism without book, that they may be 
 able to answer unto the questions that shall be propounded to 
 them out of such catechism by their parents or masters, or any 
 of the Selectmen, when they shall call them to a trial of what 
 they have learned in that kind." 49 And although the Court had 
 occasion, about thirty years after, viz, 1671, to complain of the 
 neglect of this and other legal provisions on behalf of children 
 and youth, which had resulted, they say, in the increase of sin 
 and profaneness, and proceeded to enjoin upon the Selectmen 
 anew, throughout this jurisdiction, to attend to their duty in this 
 respect, yet there seems to be no ground for supposing that 
 the neglect of catechising was then extensively prevalent. On 
 the contrary, there is abundant reason to believe that, by the 
 great body of the people, it was practised, even then, with 
 exemplary strictness throughout the Colony ; especially have we 
 ground for this conclusion in regard to the inhabitants of this 
 town. The transmission of this pious and laudable custom in 
 the great majority of families in this place, till within a very 
 recent period, affords, of itself, satisfactory proof of the high 
 esteem and general observance of it by the early inhabitants of 
 Woburn. Regarding religion themselves as "the principal 
 thing," they were earnestly solicitous to inculcate the same great 
 truth on the minds and hearts of their offspring. From a 
 principle of piety, as well as from an obedient regard to the 
 law of the land, they were careful to bring them up in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord. They did not abound in 
 books ; but whatever other books they lacked, they must have a 
 Bible (or, at the least, a Testament and a Psalter) and a 
 
 Colony Laws, published 1672, p. 26; Colony and Province Laws, 1814, p. 74.
 
 68 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 * 
 
 catechism in all their houses. They were at much pains to 
 teach their children themselves, or to procure them to be taught 
 by others, to read the Bible while young, and early to reverence 
 and take heed to it, as the Word of God. Nor did they show 
 scarcely less solicitude early to initiate their children into an 
 acquaintance with the great truths of the Bible, both doctrinal 
 and practical, as laid down in the Assembly's Catechism. And 
 lest there might possibly be some families who were negligent 
 of the catechetical instruction of those under their care, the 
 Selectmen of the town appear to have been accustomed, after 
 the injunction of the Court in 1671, to go round among the 
 several families, from time to time, with a view to ascertaining 
 and rectifying what was amiss in any on this head. One 
 instance of their care in this matter we have upon record in 
 their Day Book, as follows : " The Selectmen mette the 5. day 
 of Octob. 1674, and agreed on the 15 day of this instant mo. to 
 goe throo the Towne, and ecsamin the familys about Cati- 
 chisingV 50 The object of this visitation was doubtless the 
 same as that which the law of that day suggested, viz, to 
 question children whom they thought proper, out of their 
 catechism ; to reprove any heads of families whom they found 
 negligent of it ; and to use their influence and authority to induce 
 them either to teach it their children themselves, or to employ 
 others to do it for them. 
 
 By the time Woburn had been incorporated thirty years, a 
 large proportion of its first settlers had left the world. Within 
 that period especially, those seven commissioners, who had been 
 intrusted with the care of laying its foundations, and had led 
 the way in its settlement, had all rested from their labors. And 
 here some brief notices of these worthies, to whom Woburn is 
 so much indebted, may not be unacceptable. 
 
 1. The first of their number I shall mention, Mr. Thomas 
 Graves, distinguished in the " History of Charlestown " as 
 
 Town Records, Vol. n., p. 1W.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 69 
 
 Rear Admiral Graves 51 was born at Ratcliff, England, June 6th, 
 and baptized at Stepney, June 16th, 1605. 51 He became a sea- 
 faring man, and was master of several ships , sailing between 
 England and this country 1632, and the three years following. 
 He married in Charlestown Miss Catharine Coytmore, a daugh- 
 ter of the noted Capt. Thomas Coytmore, to whom a grant of 
 five hundred acres within the bounds of Woburn was made by 
 the Court in 1640. 51 He and his wife Catharine were admitted 
 into the church of Charlestown, October 7, 1639. 52 In 1640, 
 he was made a freeman of the Colony, as his namesake, the 
 Engineer, had been in 1631 j ^ and being appointed the same 
 year as a suitable person, with the aid of others, to build up a 
 distinct church and town in the then recent grant of Charlestown 
 Village, he appears, for a while, to have been actively engaged 
 in promoting that design. It was at his house in Charlestown, 
 the commissioners held their first meeting, December 1640, and 
 
 51 The family manuscripts, preserved by the descendants of this gentleman 
 in Charlestown, represent him as identical with Mr. Thomas Graves, the 
 celebrated Engineer and Surveyor, who laid out Charlestown in 1629. 51 
 And this, till recently, was the prevalent opinion on this subject. But it 
 is now, for various reasons, generally given up, particularly on account of 
 the apparent difference in their respective ages, and of the wide and strik- 
 ing dissimilarity of their handwriting. The Engineer, in 1G29, the year of 
 his arrival in this country, had left behind him in England a wife and five 
 children, an indication that he was a considerably older man than the Admi- 
 ral, born in 1605. Moreover, in the subscription of his name to the contract 
 which he made March 1629, with the Massachusetts Company in London, 
 previously to his embarking for New England in their service, the Engi- 
 neer left a 'specimen of his handwriting, as did the Admiral of his, in sign- 
 ing his will. Copies of these autographs are presented to view in the 
 History of Charlestown, by Richard Frothingham, Esq., page 140: and so 
 great is the obvious difference between the two, that it can hardly 
 be supposed that they were both written by the same hand. 
 
 61 History of Charlestown, by Richard Frothingham, Esq., pp. 139, 140. 
 " Ratcliff Hamlet, Camden says 'twas in his time a little town inhabited, 
 with sailors ; and that here was a red Cliff, from whence it had the Name. 
 Since the Houses taken from it, and added to St. Anne's, Limehouse, it 
 contains about 1380. Stepney Church and Village are properly situate in 
 this Hamlet." Complete System of Geography. London: 1747; Vol. I., 
 p. 116; England, County of Middlesex. 
 
 81 Frothingham's Ilistory, p. 26. 
 
 w Records of 1st Church, Charlentown. Colony Records, Vol. I., pp. 366, 376.
 
 70 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 agreed upon town orders for the contemplated settlement : and 
 it was he who accompained Edward Johnson in his journey to 
 Dorchester, in the final attempt made to procure Mr. Burr for 
 their minister. But at Mr. Burr's declining eventually to come 
 to Woburn, Mr. Graves seems to have become utterly discouraged 
 from making any further effort to build up Woburn. He resumed 
 his old occupation of following the seas, and as Johnson expresses 
 it in his verses prefixed to the Town Records of Woburn, with 
 apparent allusion to him : 
 
 " He did Me 
 To foren lands, Free from the Baby's crye," 
 
 which he had undertaken with his associates to nurse and bring 
 up. 
 
 In 1643, he was master of the "Trial," the first ship built in 
 Boston, and which had been under the command of Capt. 
 Coytmore. And while sailing, during the Protectorship of 
 Cromwell, as master of a merchantman upon a mercantile 
 voyage, he met and captured a Dutch privateer in the English 
 channel. For this instance of his bravery, the owners of the 
 vessel rewarded him with a present of a silver cup ; and Crom- 
 well raised him to the command of a ship of war, with the title 
 of Rear Admiral. 51 He died at Charlestown, July 31, 1653, in 
 the 49th year of his age, sustaining the character of " an able and 
 godly man." 51 
 
 Woburn Town Book, in recording the laying out of Richard- 
 son's Row in 1647, describes it as leading "from the three 
 Richardsons to the town meeting house one way, and to Mr. 
 Thomas Graves the other way." 54 By the house of Mr. Graves 
 here referred to, could hardly be intended a dwelling within the 
 limits of Woburn, which he made his ordinary residence. As 
 his name does not occur in the Woburn tax list of 1646, or in 
 any list of town officers, or in any of the numerous allotments 
 of meadow and other laud to the inhabitants of Woburn previous 
 to 1653, the year of his death, it is probable that he never 
 occupied any dwelling-house within its limits ; but that before 
 
 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 12.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBTJRN. 71 
 
 its settlement was fully accomplished, he had taken up his resi- 
 dence in some house on the road from Woburn, within the 
 bounds of Charlestown. The people of Woburn, however, appear 
 to have always held in grateful remembrance his early efforts for 
 the settlement of the town in its infancy ; and in all the exten- 
 sive divisions of their common lands made subsequently to his 
 death, his widow had assigned her a liberal proportion. 
 
 2, 3, 4. The three Richardsons, Ezekiel, Thomas, and 
 Samuel, were brothers, born in England, and for some tune 
 after their arrival were in this country, resident in Charlestown, 
 where they had children born to them. Ezekiel, who was prob- 
 ably the eldest, was early admitted into First Church, Boston, 
 which was gathered at Charlestown in 1630. From this church, 
 he was dismissed October 14, 1632, with his wife Susanna and 
 thirty-three others, and was embodied with them, November 2, 
 1632, into a distinct church at Charlestown, now the First Church 
 in that place. 52 His brothers, Thomas and Samuel, were both ad- 
 mitted as members of Charlestown Church, February 18, 1637-8, 52 
 and they were all three dismissed from it, June 1642, to help form 
 the church at Woburn. Upon their removal to Woburn, they lived 
 near each other in the same street, which, from its having been 
 the place of their residence, and of many of their posterity, has 
 been known, from time immemorial, as Richardson's Row. They 
 were members of Woburn church at its foundation ; men highly 
 respected in their day, and much employed in the business of 
 the town. Their descendants bearing the name of Richardson, 
 long have been, and still are more numerous, than persons of 
 any other name in Woburn ; and among them have been found 
 some of the most valued members of the church and citi- 
 zens of the place. Ezekiel died October 21, 1647; Thomas, 
 August 28, 1651 ; and Samuel, March 23, 1657-8. 
 
 5. John Mousall was a brother of Ralph Mousall, one of the 
 founders of the present First Church, Charlestown, in 1632. 
 He was himself admitted into that church with his wife [Jo- 
 anna?] Aug. 23, 1634; was one of the seven male members 
 who constituted the church of Woburn at. its gathering, Aug. 14, 
 1642 ; and afterwards one of its two original deacons till his
 
 72 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 decease. He was also much honored in the town, being uniformly 
 one of the " Commissioners to end small causes," in Woburn, and 
 one of the Selectmen for twenty-one years in succession. He 
 died March 27, 1665, leaving his widow, Joanna, a son, John 
 Mousall, who was likewise a distinguished citizen in his day, 
 and a daughter, Eunice, wife of John Brooks ; but the name of 
 Mousall, as a surname, is now extinct from the place. 
 
 6. Edward Convers was born in England, arrived in New 
 England in the fleet with Winthrop, 1630, and settled in Charles- 
 town. In 1631, grant was made to him of the first ferry be- 
 tween Boston and Charlestown, and of this he had the management 
 several years, under the authority of the General Court. He 
 was made a freeman of the Colony, 1631 ; served Charlestown 
 as Selectman from 1635 to 1640; and was early admitted a mem- 
 ber of First Church, Boston (gathered at Charlestown, 1630). 
 From Boston Church he, his wife Sarah, and thirty-three other 
 members were dismissed Oct. 14, 1632, to be embodied into the 
 present First Church, Charlestown, entering into mutual cove- 
 nant for this purpose Nov. 2, 1632. 55 His name stands at the 
 head of the seven commissioners appointed by that church for 
 effecting the settlement of Woburn : he appears to have been 
 ever zealous and persevering in his labors for this end, and after 
 the incorporation of the town, in 1642, he became one of its most 
 popular and useful citizens. He was a member of Woburn 
 Church from the beginning, and a deacon in it, one of the first 
 two, till his death. In the civil affairs likewise of the town, he 
 was much employed, serving uniformly as one of the Board of 
 Commissioners for the trial of small causes, and being chosen 
 annually as one of the Selectmen without interruption from the 
 first choice in 1644 till his decease. He died Aug. 10, 1663, 
 aged seventy-three years. His place of residence in Woburn 
 was at the mill once called by his name in "the South Village, 
 now Winchester, and there, and in the vicinity, several of his 
 numerous posterity continued to dwell for many years. Among 
 his descendants, there ever have been and still are individuals 
 
 85 Church Records of Charlestown.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 73 
 
 highly honored and respected ; and one of their number, Major 
 James Convers, a gentleman of much distinction in the Common- 
 wealth as well as in the town, there will be occasion particularly 
 to notice hereafter. 
 
 By his first wife, Sarah, who accompanied him from England, 
 Deacon Convers had three sons, viz : Josiah, James and Samuel 
 (see genealogy), and a daughter, Mary, who first married Simon 
 Thompson, 19th Dec. 1643, and he dying in May 165 8, she mar- 
 ried John Sheldon, of Billerica, Feb. 1, 1659. Woburn and 
 Billerica Records of Marriages, Deaths, etc. 
 
 Deacon Edward Convers' wife dying, 14th Jan. 1662, after he 
 had made his will (in which he mentions her, and which is dated 
 in Aug. 1659, and recorded Oct. 7, 1663), he married a second 
 wife, Mrs. Joanna Sprague, of Charlestown, relict of Ealph 
 Sprague, Sept. 9, 1662. See Woburn Records, and Will of 
 Edward Convert. 
 
 7. Last of all, but not least of this worthy band, died Edward 
 Johnson. He originated from Kent in Old England ; in a parish 
 within which county, called in his Will, Heron Hill, that is 
 "Herne Hill," or "Herne," 56 and at a place in that parish, called 
 "Waterham," he left behind, at coming to New England, both 
 houses and lands, which he retained in possession during life, 
 and divided by his will to six of his grandchildren, when he 
 should be removed by death. According to statements of Hon. 
 James Savage, in his Genealogical Dictionary, he doubtless came 
 to this country in the fleet with Winthrop, 1630; requested ad- 
 mission as a freeman of the Colony, 19 October of that year, 
 and took the Freeman's Oath, 18 May following; and thus after 
 living some time at Charlestown, Salem, or other plantation to 
 satisfy himself, he went back to England, to bring away his wife 
 and children, in 1636, or 7. Upon his return voyage, his name 
 is registered as follows, in a list of those who embarked from 
 
 66 "Herne, a town of Kent, 6 miles from Canterbury" etc., etc. Brookes's 
 Gazetteer. 
 
 " Sir John Fineux died about the year 1526, and lies buried in 
 
 Christ's Church in Canterbury ; who had a fair habitation in this City, and 
 another in Herne in this County" etc., etc. Fuller's Worthies, Kent, p. 76.
 
 74 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 the port of Sandwich for the American plantations, in June 
 1637. 
 
 "Edward Johnson, of Canterbury, joiner, and Susan his wife, 
 7 children, 3 servants." 57 
 
 He arrived in New England in the course of that summer, or 
 early in the autumn of 1637, and took up his abode at Charles- 
 town, where grants of land were repeatedly made to him for his 
 accommodation in 1637, and in April 1638. 58 In the settlement 
 of Woburn, for which he was one of the commissioners appoint- 
 ed by the church of Charlestown, he seems to have taken the 
 leading part. At the first meeting of those commissioners, held 
 at Charlestown, December 18, 1640, he presented a plot of the 
 contemplated town, and was chosen its Recorder, or Clerk; an 
 office he continued to sustain till death. He took a lively in- 
 terest in the establishment of its church, of which he was a dis- 
 tinguished member from the beginning ; and in the settlement of 
 its first minister. His influence in the management of town 
 affairs was great. He was put on almost all important com- 
 mittees for the distribution of the town's lands ; and was uni- 
 formly appointed one of its Board of Commissioners for trials 
 of small causes; and, with but few interruptions, one of its Select- 
 men till his decease. He was also captain of its military 
 company, no small honor in that age of martial spirit and 
 prowess. And accordingly, in mustering the forces of the 
 Colony in that day, in his History of New England, having 
 mentioned the bands of Concord and Cambridge, as being under 
 two Kentish soldiers, ( Captains Willard and Gookin, ) he 
 modestly notices "the band of Wooburn," as being commanded 
 by "another Kentish Captain," meaning himself. 
 
 Captain Johnson was likewise deputy from Woburn to the 
 General Court almost every year from the first choice of one, in 
 1646, till his death. And by that Honorable Body he was much 
 distinguished, being chosen Speaker pro tern, for a short session 
 in 1655; and appointed repeatedly on important committees. In 
 
 Gleanings for New England History, by James Savage, Esq., in Collections of Mas- 
 sachusetts Historical Society, Vol. VIII., Series III., p. 276. 
 M Charlestown Towu Records.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUBN. 75 
 
 1643, before he became a member, he was sent by the Court 
 with Capt. George Cooke and Lieut. Humphrey Atherton to 
 Rhode Island, to apprehend the seditious Samuel Gorton. They 
 had military commissions given them; and were attended by 
 forty men. 59 At the restoration of King Charles II., to the 
 throne of England, when the Charter of the Colony and all its 
 privileges and liberties were apprehended to be in danger, he 
 was one of an important committee, appointed by the General 
 Court, in May 1661, consisting of eight laymen and four clergy- 
 men, to consider what was expedient to be done for their 
 preservation, and to make report at the next session. 60 In June 
 1661 2, he was on a committee of the Court, with Deputy 
 Governor Bellingham, Daniel Gookin, Esq., Thomas Danforth, 
 Esq., and others, for the directing and despatching of Simon 
 Bradstreet, Esq., and Rev. Mr. John Norton to England, as 
 agents to plead the cause of the Colony there. 60 And in 1664, 
 he was one of a committee of four (Hon. Richard Bellingham, 
 Major General Leverett and Capt. Thomas Clark being the other 
 three) to whom the Colony Charter was delivered by the Gen- 
 eral Court for safe keeping. M 
 
 He was the undoubted author of the early history of New 
 England, styled, "The Wonder Working Providence of Sion's 
 Saviour, in New England," which has already been often quoted 
 or referred to in this work. That history was published in 
 England in 1654, without the writer's name in the title page; 
 and although it abounds in errors of the press, and has been 
 noted for the indefiniteness or inaccuracy of many of its dates 
 and statements, it still contains a large amount of authentic and 
 valuable information, the want of which could hardly be supplied 
 elsewhere. In it, the author frequently discovers a mind exceed- 
 ingly embittered against the English prelates, in consequence, not 
 improbably, of having suffered much from their arbitrary pro- 
 ceedings either in his own person, or in his friends. But at the 
 same time, his work furnishes numerous and strong indications 
 on his part, of a sincere, warm zeal for God and religion, an 
 
 <Jolony Records, Vol. H., p. 44. > Colony Records, Vol. IV., Part II., pp. 24, 39, 102.
 
 76 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 earnest desire for the prevalence of piety and virtue, and a 
 hearty love of his country and good men. 
 
 Capt. Johnson died April 23, 1672. 61 In his last will and 
 testament, dated May 15, 1671, and written with his own hand, 
 he expresses, in view of his approaching dissolution, a lively 
 hope " through faith in Christ Jesus," " to have the sight of 
 (his) Saviour to all eternity." From this instrument (still 
 extant in the Probate Office of this County) it appears that he 
 left a widow, Susanna, and seven children ; viz : five sons, 
 Edward, George, William, Matthew and John; and two 
 daughters, Susan, (?) wife of James Prentice, and Martha, wife 
 of John Ames ( ?) or Eaines ; and grandchildren by them all. 
 Of his children, only three, William, Matthew and John, appear 
 to have been then resident in Woburn. William and Matthew 
 were his executors. Matthew was a carpenter by trade, and a 
 much esteemed citizen, chosen repeatedly one of the Selectmen, 
 and deputy from Woburn to the General Court. John was pro- 
 prietor of a saw-mill ; but having in his old age become poor, 
 lame and helpless, he and his wife Bethiah were taken, in 1712, 
 to Canterbury, Ct, by their sons, William and Obadiah, of that 
 town, to maintain for life at Woburn's expense. William, sou 
 of Capt. Edward, was a man of superior talents and extensive 
 usefulness in his day ; and sustained for several years a very 
 honorable station in the Commonwealth. And from him sprang 
 a numerous posterity, who were long distinguished by their 
 general respectability of character, and by the great influence 
 they had in the affairs both of Woburn, and of its precinct, now 
 Burlington ; and some do yet survive, who maintain the ancient 
 credit of their family. But more may be expected of William 
 Johnson and his descendants hereafter. 
 
 Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, etc., etc.
 
 CHAPTER IH. 
 
 Second Meeting-House Erection of, 1672 Description of Settlement 
 in, of Rev. Jabez Fox, 1679 a Sabbath day's services in, 1680. 
 
 THE year 1672 is memorable in Woburn, as being the year 
 in which Capt. Edward Johnson, the father of the town, died ; 
 and also as that in which the second house for public worship 
 was erected. The precise time when the first meeting-house was 
 built, has not been transmitted. It was certainly completed 
 before September 14th, 1646, when the Selectmen agreed to call 
 a meeting of the town to reckon about its expense. 1 And the 
 probability is, that it was begun not long after the house lots 
 and place for the meeting-house, originally laid out on the East 
 end of the plantation, were transferred, February 1640-1, by 
 advice of Hon. Increase Nowell and other gentlemen of Charles- 
 town, to the present centre of the town ; and that it was finished 
 about the time of Rev. Mr. Carter's ordination in 1642. The 
 memory of the place where it stood, has been better preserved. 
 This, as one of the most intelligent citizens of Woburn, Mr. 
 Batholomew, Senr., now deceased, once told me, was distinctly 
 marked out by a slight banking, which was raised originally 
 about the foundations of the house, and which was plainly visible 
 till about 1788, when the ground was levelled for the accommo- 
 dation of a military muster. According to his report, moreover, 
 this bank was erected on the common in the centre of the town, 
 about opposite the middle of the space between the town-house 
 and the late Mr. John Fowle's store ; and at such a distance 
 northwardly from that interval, as would be sufficient for a road 
 to pass between. And this description of the situation of the 
 first meeting-house in this town agrees well with that which John- 
 son gives of it, in his " Wonder-working Providence," etc. In 
 
 1 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 9.
 
 78 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 that History of New England, published in 1654, he observes 
 that the meeting-house in Woburn stood in " a small plain where 
 four streets meete." 2 These four streets could have been no other 
 than " Hilly Way," or the road over the hill east of the common, 
 where Deacon Mousall and other early settlers erected their 
 habitations ; " South Street," leading to Convers's mill and 
 Mistick bridge, now the main road from Woburn to Medford ; 
 "Up Street," or "High Street," on which Rev. Mr. Carter's 
 house then stood, now Mr. Silvanus Woods' ; and " Military 
 Lane," an ancient way, of which not a vestige now remains, but 
 which is described in the Records, 3 as late as 1732, as coming 
 down from the then meeting-house on Hilly Way, and as crossing 
 the training field, (now the common in the centre) into Up Street 
 or the most ancient road to the Shawshin. Now these several 
 streets or ways, did meet together, as Johnson says, upon or 
 near the " Small Plain," or common, now in the centre of the 
 town : Hilly Way with South Street and Military Lane at or 
 near the southeastern corner of the Plain ; and Military Lane 
 with Up Street, or High Street, upon or near its southwestern 
 corner. And they all thus came together within a few rods dis- 
 tance from the banking described by Mr. Richardson, and so 
 indisputably designate the site of the first meeting-house in 
 Woburn. 
 
 But the earliest meeting-houses in New England, erected com- 
 monly by the people, in their zeal for the worship and ordinances 
 of God, before they had scarcely T provided a comfortable shelter 
 for themselves and families, were of necessity but frail, temporary 
 edifices ; buildings more noted for the beauty of holiness within, 
 than for external adorning, or skill in their construction. Con- 
 cerning the first house for public worship in Boston, built in 
 1632, we are told by the Reverend historian of the First Church 
 in that city, that "its roof was thatched, and its walls were of 
 mud." 4 And it cannot be reasonably supposed, that this of 
 Woburn, erected but about ten years after, was any better than 
 that, or even hardly so good. The highly respectable gentle- 
 
 "Wonder Working Providence, Book II., Chapter XXII., pp. 175, 181. 
 
 8 Town Kecords, Vol. I., p. 69, inverted. 4 Emerson's History.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBTJRN. 79 
 
 man, referred to by name in the beginning of this chapter, once 
 informed me, that, judging of its dimensions by those of the 
 banking at its foundations, it was a much smaller building than 
 the second meeting-house; and that its posts, instead of being 
 firmly mortised into substantial sills, according to the present 
 mode, were made fast by their ends being driven into the ground. 
 To such an humble house of prayer, and mean to look to, did 
 your fathers love to resort weekly for the worship of their 
 Maker : and they were notified of the hour by a bell hung on a 
 hill in the neighborhood, ( probably that back of the old Fowle 
 tavern stand,) which was called from this circumstance many 
 years after, Bell Hill. 5 
 
 When this first meeting-house in Woburn had stood about 
 thirty years, its visible decay, or its contracted dimensions making 
 it too straight for the people to assemble in with convenience, 
 rendered evident the necessity of another. At a general meeting 
 of the inhabitants, Nov. 1, 1671, a committee was appointed to 
 confer with several carpenters on the subject, and to report at 
 another meeting, to be held on the 20th day of the same month. 
 On that day, the town voted to build a new meeting-house, forty 
 feet square, and of proportionate height, by contract. In pur- 
 suance of this vote, they chose Lieut. John Carter, William 
 Johnson, John Wyman, and Thomas Peirce, for a Building Com- 
 mittee, and appointed the Selectmen and five other respectable 
 citizens as a committee to contract with the Building Committee 
 on behalf of the town, for raising and completing the house, to 
 see them paid, and to engage to them 320 of town property, 
 as security. 6 The meeting-house thus contracted for, the under- 
 takers soon commenced building ; and it was so far finished dur- 
 ing the autumn of 1672, as to be then ready for occupation as a 
 place for public worship. Accordingly, it was doubtless used 
 for this purpose immediately, without previous ceremony ; the 
 present laudable custom of solemnly dedicating meeting-houses, 
 before assembling in them for the ordinary services of the Sab- 
 bath, not having then been introduced into New England, nor 
 
 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 80. Town Records, Vol. I., p. 3.
 
 80 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 for many years after. 7 To defray the expense of building this 
 house of God, a tax was levied upon all the polls and estates in 
 Woburn in 1672. 8 And at a final settlement with the under- 
 takers, the town allowed them 334, which was a little more 
 than was originally pledged them, in full satisfaction of all their 
 cost and charge. 9 Reckoning the value of New England silver 
 currency at that period (for paper money was then unknown) to 
 have been what it seems from good authority it actually was, 
 twenty-five per cent less than sterling money, just what it is 
 now, the sum paid for the meeting-house was nominally equal to 
 $1,113.33. But as the usual price of Indian corn and other 
 necessaries of life was then but just about half of what it is now, 
 the real cost of the meeting-house to the town must have been 
 equivalent to $2,226.67 at the present day. 
 
 Above a century has elapsed since this meeting-house, erected 
 in 1672, was taken down, with the design of building a town- 
 house of smaller size out of its remains. Hence, there is no one 
 now living in Woburn who remembers it when used for a place 
 of public worship, or can give any information respecting either 
 
 7 The first settlers of New England, and their posterity for several gen- 
 erations after them, as they did not observe Christmas, so they did not 
 consecrate burying-grotmds, or dedicate their meeting-houses, by any 
 special religious services. When a house for public worship was built 
 and made ready for its intended use, they noticed the occurrence, generally 
 speaking, only by an appropriate discourse on the first Sabbath they occu- 
 pied it. For instance, when the present Old South Church, Boston, was 
 first opened, on Sabbath day, April 26, 1730, for public worship. Rev. Mr. 
 Sewall, the senior pastor, preached, A. M., from Haggai ii. 9, " The glory 
 of this latter house," etc. ; and Rev. Mr. Prince, his colleague, P. M., from 
 Psalm v. 7, " I will come into thy house," etc. The first meeting-house in 
 Brattle Street was first opened for public worship on Lord's day, Dec. 24, 
 1699, on which occasion, Rev. Dr. Colman, its first minister, preached from 
 2d Chron. vi. 18, " But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth ? " 
 etc. And so late as 1773, when the present house of that society was first 
 opened on Sabbath day, July 25th, Dr. Cooper preached in the morning from 
 Gen. xxviii. 17, " This is none other than the house of God," etc. ; and Rev. 
 Dr. Chauncy (with whose people the Brattle Street Society had met while 
 their own house was building) preached in the afternoon from Psalm xxvi. 
 8, " Lord, I have loved the habitations of thy house," etc. See Palfrey's 
 Historical Discourse, Appendix, Notes, pp. 39, 63. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 38, Town Records, Vol. I., p. 41.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 81 
 
 its external appearance or its internal structure, from his own 
 recollection. On both these topics, however, numerous particu- 
 lars may be gleaned from the Town Records ; some have been 
 handed down by credible tradition, and a few may be very 
 plausibly conjectured, in view of other ancient meeting-houses 
 which were erected about the same time with this, and which 
 were left standing till within a recent date, the striking memo- 
 rials of the customs and fashions of olden times. Availing 
 myself of all these several sources of information, especially of 
 the two named first, I have attempted to draw up a description 
 of this forgotten house of worship, as like the original as possi- 
 ble, and which may not be uninteresting to the present inhab- 
 itants of Woburn to read. 
 
 The second meeting-house of Woburn stood, it is well known, 
 upon the hill on the southeast side of the common. Around it 
 grew a number of shade trees, which the prudent care of the 
 fathers of the town had saved from the axe in felling the sur- 
 rounding forest, and which now served both for ornament and 
 for use. 10 Beneath the pleasant shade of these trees, or close 
 by them, were successively erected, with the leave of the town, 
 and under the direction of the Selectmen, some thirty or forty 
 sheds, for the accommodation of the horses of numerous individ- 
 uals on Sabbath days and other occasions of public assembly. 10 
 The meeting-house itself was an edifice forty feet square, facing 
 south, and having the pulpit on the north side. 11 Its frame was 
 of solid, massive oak, some portions of which were long pre- 
 served in the town, and are still, or were recently, to be seen. 
 
 10 The Selectmen, Dec. 25, 1712, laid out to Robert Convers, Josiah Con- 
 vers, Jr., William Johnson, Jr., and Thomas Reed, a spot of ground on the 
 south side of the Meeting-House Hill, thirty-six feet in length, "for Stables 
 to set horses in on Saboth dayes and such like occasions." By direction 
 of the Selectmen, these stables were to be erected nine feet square, 
 adjoining each other, and in a range with one another, about six feet 
 " South of the most Southerly Shade Tree," and not to be extended west- 
 ward within sixteen feet "of the now Horse Block," etc., etc. Town 
 Records, Vol. F., p. 242. Numerous other grants of ground for stables, for 
 the same purpose, are upon record. 
 
 11 Zebadiah Wyman, Esq.; Mr. William Fowle.
 
 82 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Its roof, like that of its venerable contemporary, taken down a 
 few years since upon Lynn plain, was surmounted by a small 
 cupola or turret, in which was hung a bell that was rung, 
 probably, as at Lynn, 13 by a rope attached to it, and descending 
 through a hole in the roof into the centre of the broad aisle. 13 
 And that the hour for ringing the bell and commencing divine 
 service might be known, a sun-dial was procured shortly after 
 the building of the meeting-house, which being set upon or near 
 it, supplied the place of a clock in fair weather. 14 The windows 
 were casements hung like doors upon iron hinges, and otherwise 
 well fortified with iron; 15 and the lights were set with -lead, and 
 probably of the diamond shape, as is the case with windows still 
 to be seen at the back of several of the most ancient dwelling- 
 houses of the town. Galleries there were on the sides of the 
 meeting-house, within ; yet not all built at once, but as circum- 
 stances rendered them expedient. At a general meeting, Feb. 
 27, 1677-8, the town granted leave to the young men of the 
 place, upon certain conditions, to build a gallery for their 
 accommodation on the east side. 16 The same year, (26 August, 
 
 18 "Joseph Richardson Sen." Cr. " By Gills [Sills] for the Meeting hous 
 territt & door cill, as money 00 :10 :00." Town Records. 
 
 13 Letter of Rev. Parsons Cooke, of Lynn. 1674. The Town Dr. to John 
 Tead for ringing the bell 1 :10 :00. Town Records, Vol. II., p. 22. In a 
 reckoning with Gershom Flagg, Oct. 2, 1676, he was allowed by the Select- 
 men for " the belrope," etc. Town Records, Vol. II., p. 48. 
 
 14 Town Records, Vol. II., p. 31. The Town Dr. in 1675, To Gershom 
 Flagg, " for the dyall post." Town Records, Vol. II., p. 23. 
 
 16 March 8, 1699-1700. Th*e Selectmen " agreed with Simon Tompson to 
 ring the bell, sweep the Meeting hous, see to shut the Casements and 
 doors, as need requires," etc., etc. Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 158. 
 
 Feb. 9, 1701-2. The Town Dr. to " Daniel Baldwin for Iron work for a 
 Casement for y Meeting house : 00 :02 :06." Town Records, Vol. IV., 
 p. 1%. 
 
 " To Serjt Sara 1 Waters for a Casement for ye Meetinghouse, 00 :03 :00." 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 197. 
 
 " Nov br 1729. For mendiu of the meetnes [meeting-house] glas : 
 
 " For maken of 2 foot of new glas 00 :04 :04." 
 
 "For new leden [leading] 3 foot of old glas : 00 :04 :00." 
 etc., etc., etc. An old Account on file. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 73, 93.
 
 HISTOKY OF WOBURN. 83 
 
 1678,) one instruction given by the town to a committee for 
 repairing the meeting-house was, to build what galleries might 
 seem to them convenient. 16 In 1707, "the hinde seat in the 
 East galery next the staiers," was granted to eight young men 
 to sit in, they to repair it at their own charge. 17 And in 1694, 
 mention is made in the Records of an " upper gallery/' 18 which 
 was doubtless built over one of the others, and designed for the 
 negroes, who were then far more numerous in Woburn than they 
 are now. The floor of the house was not originally covered 
 with pews, as was recently the universal practice. For upwards 
 of forty years, only two of these aristocratic privileges (as they 
 were probably deemed) were to be seen in Woburn meeting- 
 house, one the minister's pew, the other for the deacons' 
 wives, the deacons themselves having an appropriate seat of 
 their own. 19 In 1713, the town, by special favor, allowed Col. 
 Jonathan Tyng, a gentleman from Boston, who had been one of 
 Governor Sir Edmund Andros's Council, and who, more recently, 
 had married the widow of Rev. Jabez Fox, of Woburn, and come 
 home to reside, to erect a pew in the meeting-house, at his own 
 cost, which was to be the town's property after his own and his 
 lady's decease. 19 Three years after, viz, March 1716, leave 
 was given by the town to the daughters of four principal fami- 
 lies to build a pew to sit in, with the proviso that it was to be 
 the town's, whenever they saw fit to leave it. 20 But so much 
 disturbance did tha grant of this privilege excite, that the town 
 within six months revoked their grant. 20 And in 1738, upon 
 the petition of Nathaniel Saltonstall, Esq., Jonathan Poole, Esq., 
 and Capt. Isaac Dupee, gentlemen of distinction in the town 
 from abroad, that they might each of them be allowed to build 
 pews for themselves, the town voted liberty to the former gen- 
 tleman to sit in the pew once occupied by Col. Tyng; but 
 denied all of them liberty to build any more. 21 Only three 
 pews, then, were ever permitted to be erected and to stand per- 
 manently in this second meeting-house in Woburn, as the seats 
 
 Town Records, Vol. V., p. 43. Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 41. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. V., p. 254. *> Town Records, Vol. V., pp. 336, 864. 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. I., p. 97. .
 
 84 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 of individual families, in distinction from the rest of the congre- 
 gation. The remainder of the lower floor, as likewise the whole 
 of the gallery floors, was taken up by seats, which were under 
 the control and at the disposal of the whole town. Under the 
 windows by the wall on the east and west ends, there ran two 
 long benches, which at one time were the appointed seats of the 
 boys. 22 The rest of the ground on each side of the broad aisle 
 was taken up with ranges of seats facing the pulpit, and having 
 backs to them, like those of the old-fashioned settles, though not 
 so high ; those on the east side being for the male, and those on 
 the west side for the female portion of the congregation. 23 And 
 that each individual might know and take his own place without 
 confusion in time of public worship, the town at a general meet- 
 ing, October 8, 1672, as soon as the meeting-house was ready 
 for occupation, chose five men of character and influence as a 
 seating committee, to appoint to all the other inhabitants their 
 respective seats in the house of God ; and at the same time was 
 appointed another committee of two, to seat the seating com- 
 mittee themselves with their wives. 24 To aid the seating 
 committee in the discharge of their perplexing duty, they were 
 on this occasion expressly instructed by the town to have 
 respect in it to three things, viz : estate, office, and age. 24 And 
 as death and other causes were continually operating to break 
 up the arrangements of this committee, and to make new ones 
 necessary, the town was accustomed in after years, to choose 
 from time to time a new seating committee, whose business it 
 was to repeat the invidious, difficult task of their predecessors ; 
 the doing of which was often the source of much bitterness, and 
 in some instances of hot contention among the inhabitants, as 
 there may be occasion to notice hereafter. 
 
 At the head of the broad aisle, there once stood a table, 
 designed no doubt for the communion service ; and that so large 
 a one, that it was found necessary, in order to make room for 
 it, to crowd the seats back towards the front of the house. 25 
 Before the pulpit and adjoining to it, were, I presume to say, 
 
 Town Records, Vol. EL, p. 36. Town Records, Vol. V., pp. 219, 254. 
 
 <" Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 37, 38. Town Records, Vol. I., p. 93.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 85 
 
 two seats ; of which the lower and front one of the two was 
 occupied by the deacons. 26 The other and more elevated one 
 was styled, like a corresponding seat to be seen, till within a few 
 years, in the Congregational meeting-house in South Reading, the 
 elders' seat, because designed originally for ruling elders of the 
 church. For although, from some cause, neither the church in 
 Woburn, nor that in South Reading, is known to have been ever 
 served by officers of this denomination, yet, doubtless, both these 
 churches formerly recognized the office as of divine institution. 27 
 In ascending the pulpit stairs, there rose, fixed to that end of the 
 pulpit, or of the elders' seat adjoining it, a tall, slender iron rod, 
 with a little enclosure of iron or wooden painted balusters at 
 the top, in which rested an hour glass ; placed there, not to show 
 the preacher how soon he might with decency leave off, but to 
 be a silent monitor to warn him how long without offence he 
 might hold on. 28 At the head of the pulpit stairs, against the 
 wall, there was probably a narrow seat, where sat in service 
 time the sexton, that he might be at hand to turn the hour-glass 
 when its sands had run out, and also to receive any communica- 
 tions from the minister for which there might be occasion. In 
 the pulpit itself, there was a cushion in front, as in modern 
 pulpits, which served as a convenient resting-place for the 
 preacher's notes. 29 But no Bible in folio was to be seen there, 
 from which a portion might be read in the regular services of 
 the sanctuary. For though our Puritan fathers accounted the 
 Holy Scriptures as a complete and sufficient, as well as the sole 
 rule, not only of faith and practice, but likewise for the worship 
 
 26 Town Dr. 1681. " To Joseph Richardson in timber and pay to Houlton 
 for worke he did on the deacons' seate, 00 :12 :00." Town Records, Vol. 
 III., p. 19. 
 
 27 See "Proposals," or Declaration of the Church of Woburn, 1703; 
 copied in Chapter V. 
 
 28 Town Di. 1673. "To Josiah Conuers for the Iron for the houer 
 glasse 00 :04 :00." 
 
 " At Selectraens meeting 3 :12 :1678 [Feb. 8, 1678-9] 
 
 Due to decon Conuers ' for the by ing an houer glas ' " etc.. etc. 00 :02 :00. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. II., pp. 4, 114. 
 
 K 1677 Town Dr. " to Matthew Johnson for a eushen. - 01- :9 :4." 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IL, p. 75.
 
 86 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 of the Lord's house, yet by a strange inconsistency, and it is to 
 be feared from a measure of prejudice against the usage of the 
 Church of England, from which they had separated, they esteemed 
 the simple reading of the Word of God in public worship as an 
 unedifying practice, unless it were accompanied with some expo- 
 sition of man. 30 
 
 At the time this meeting-house was finished, it was unques- 
 tionably capacious enough to seat all the inhabitants of Woburn 
 with ease. But so fast did the population increase, that it 
 speedily became necessary to increase its accommodations. As 
 early as 1678, it was found expedient to make to it certain 
 additions. 31 And subsequently to this period, much labor and 
 cost were bestowed on repairing and enlarging this house of 
 God. In 1694, for instance, the town voted at March meeting, 
 that their meeting-house should be repaired withinside and 
 without; seats mended, and new ones erected, at the discretion 
 of a committee then chosen for the purpose. 32 And this vote 
 appears to have been punctually executed. And again in 1709, 
 the meeting-house was not only repaired anew, but an addition 
 made to it of twenty feet on the East end. 33 And it deserves to 
 be mentioned, as a testimony to the zeal for God's house with 
 which a large proportion of the inhabitants of Woburn at that 
 day were animated, that the expense of the repairs in 1694 was 
 defrayed chiefly, and that of the addition just spoken of in 1709, 
 entirely, by a voluntary subscription. 33 And thus, through a 
 constant care bestowed on its preservation and keeping it in 
 good repair, this second meeting-house in Woburn, which I have 
 been endeavoring so much at length to describe, stood eighty 
 
 30 "In Boston, ^fter prayer and before singing, it was the practice for 
 several years for the minister to read and expound a chapter. Whether it 
 was because this carried the service to too great a length, or any other 
 reason could be given for it, in a fe\y years it was laid aside, except when 
 it came in place of a sermon. Exceptions, may we not say cavils, have 
 been made by some learned, serious ministers, against reading the Scrip- 
 tures, as part of the divine service, without an exposition." Hutchinson's 
 History of Massachusetts, Vol. /., Chap. iv.,pp. 427, 428. 
 
 si Town Records, Vol. I., p. 93. * Town Records, Vol. IV., pp. 19, 21, 25. 
 
 ss Town Records, Vol. V., p. 120.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 87 
 
 years. Fifty-eight years of this period, it served as the house 
 of worship for the whole of the then town, comprehending 
 Wilmington, Burlington and Winchester with what is now 
 Woburn within its bounds; and then as the place of solemn 
 assembly for the first parish, till the erection of the third meeting- 
 house in 1752. Concerning its subsequent demolition, with a 
 view to making a town-house of its materials, and the eventual 
 failure of that scheme after the building was raised anew, there 
 may be occasion of speaking hereafter. 
 
 It has often been observed, that the building of a new meeting- 
 house is quickly followed by the settlement of a new minister. 
 But in the present case, the remark was not verified. After the 
 meeting-house I have so long been speaking of was completed, 
 instead of treating their aged minister, Rev. Mr. Carter, with 
 unkindness or neglect, or manifesting impatience to see a succes- 
 Bor in his room, the people of Woburn gave him substantial evi- 
 dence of increased attachment. At a general meeting, Nov. 16, 
 1674, called expressly to confer about Mr. Carter's maintenance, 
 it was agreed by a major vote, say the Records, " that the Towne 
 wold yerly bringe Mr. Thomas Carter, our Reuerant Pastor, 
 twenty Cord of wood, and deliuere it at his dore, ouer and aboue 
 his fower score pound, prouided that those that will, may haue 
 leaue to take the said wood off his own land." M The singular 
 proviso annexed to this vote was doubtless added on behalf of a 
 few, who were ready enough to do their part in this act of gen- 
 erosity to their pastor, by giving their labor in drawing his wood 
 to his house, but whose poverty, or distance, or both, might make 
 it too burdensome to take it from their own lots, if they had any. 
 
 At length, however, Mr. Carter's advanced years and growing 
 infirmities rendered it evident that aid was needed by him, and 
 would probably be welcome. At a general meeting, Aug. 26, 
 1678, the town voted unanimously, that they would procure a 
 minister to help Mr. Carter. They also granted four single rates, 
 amounting to about .120, (one quarter part of which was to be 
 paid in silver) for the maintenance of the ministry : viz. ,50 for 
 
 * Town Record*, Vol. I., p. 54.
 
 88 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 Mr. Carter's assistant, and X70 for Mr. Carter himself, who, in 
 view of the increased burdens of his people on his account, con- 
 sented to be satisfied with that sum, and with his wood, as 
 agreed upon in 1674, instead of 80, his original compensation. 
 At the same time, they appointed a committee to wait on Mr. 
 Jabez Fox, a graduate of Harvard College, and then a resident 
 licentiate at Cambridge, and to invite him to Woburn, as an 
 assistant to Mr. Carter for one year. 35 Mr. Fox accepted the 
 invitation. And so well satisfied were the people with his ser- 
 vices, that before the term of his engagement expired, they 
 unanimously agreed and voted at a town meeting, July 16, 1679, 
 that they would give him " a call to the ministry, with an intent 
 he may be called to office, in time, if God make waye ; and also 
 agreed that for this yeare they will allow him fiuety pounds, one 
 quarter of it in silver ; his house rent and his firewood, and 
 afterward inlarge, as God shall inable them." 36 This invita- 
 tion to a temporary engagement in the work of the- Ministry was 
 soon followed by a call to the pastoral office in the church, and 
 to a permanent settlement as a minister of the Gospel in the 
 town. The proceedings of the church on this occasion cannot be 
 specified, as its ancient Records have long been missing. But 
 at a meeting of the town, Nov. 5, 1679, it was voted "that they 
 wold giue the Reuerant Mr Jabiz ffoxe a Call to be their minis- 
 ter for his life time " : and the Town, on that consideration, 
 agreed to give him half of several pieces of land, which they had 
 prudently reserved for the benefit of the future officers of the 
 church, in the general distribution of their common lands a few 
 years before; and the use of the whole, till the town should need 
 the other half for another officer'. 36 And to crown the indubi- 
 table tokens of esteem and affectionate regard which they had 
 already given for this minister of their choice, the people at a 
 meeting, called Nov. 10, 1679, agreed, it seems, to build a house 
 for him, and to present it to him as a gift. & And Mr. Fox 
 wishing for some alterations in the dimensions of this house as 
 then determined, to gratify his wishes in this respect, another 
 
 M Town Records, Vol. I., p. 93. * Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 98, 101, 102.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 89 
 
 meeting was called a month after, Dec. 8th, when they voted as 
 follows : 
 
 " Whereas the Town had formerly agreed to buld the Reuerant 
 Mr foxe a dwelling hows twenty foure feet in laneth, eaighteene 
 feet wide, and thurteene feet stud, a stack of three brick chimnies, 
 a cellar under it, and a leanetwo at the chimney end, and so to 
 finish the said hows and giue it him : now the Towne did agree, 
 upon Mr Foxe's desire, to build the said hows fourty feet long, 
 eaighteene feet wide and thurteene feet stud, a stack of three 
 chimnys and cellar and finish it ; Mr foxe being willing to 
 allow toward the worke twenty and fiue pounds, and fiue pounds 
 more, in case that be not suffistiant for what is expended for the 
 making the said hows sixteene feet longer than was agreed of by 
 the Towne in the first place : and decon Josiah Conuars, Ensigne 
 James Conuars and William Johnson are appiointed a Committee 
 to oursee. the worke and order the same till it be finished," etc. 36 
 
 According to minutes preserved in the records, the materials 
 of this house, and the labor in framing, erecting and completing 
 it, cost about <133, of the then currency of Massachusetts. 37 
 
 To meet this expense, the town granted in December 1679, 
 four single rates, amounting to 122.15*. 38 They also ordered, 
 at the meeting Dec. 8, 1679, just referred to, "that the pece of 
 land reserued for an officer near Tottingham's should be sould 
 to carry an end the bulding of Mr. Foxes hows." 39 The sum 
 which Mr. Fox agreed to give toward it was never actually paid 
 into the town treasury ; but was allowed in a settlement with the 
 Selectmen, May 9th, 1698, toward the payment of certain arrears 
 for salary that had long been due. 40 The house thus built by the 
 town and given their minister is known to have stood where the 
 house of Jonathan B. Winn, Esq., now stands, and was occupied 
 by Rev. Mr. Jabez Fox, and by Rev. Mr. John Fox, his son and 
 successor in the ministry, for about seventy-six years. The pre- 
 cise time of the ordination of Rev. Jabez Fox, as colleague with 
 
 Town Records, Vol. HI., pp. 167, 168, 169. *Town Records, Vol. I., p. 104, 5. 
 
 38 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 101. Town Records, Vol. III., p. 117.
 
 90 HISTORY OP WOBTTRN. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Carter, is not stated in the Town Records ; but is 
 supposed to have been not far from November 15, 1679. a 
 
 Thus were the inhabitants of Woburn provided with a house 
 for God's worship in the room of that wherein their fathers kept 
 Sabbath at the first in this then wilderness ; and with a man to 
 conduct the services of the sanctuary, when their aged pastor 
 should be taken away. And now, that I may present a more 
 vivid display of the interesting peculiarities of their public wor- 
 ship, for which all these means and instrumentalities were pro- 
 cured, may I be permitted to relate the particulars of a visit 
 which I once paid them in imagination, to keep Sabbath with 
 them in their new meeting-house, and to hear their new minister. 
 
 Borne then aloft on the wings of fancy over the current of 
 time, and retracing its stream with an indescribable velocity, I 
 suddenly alighted one fine Sabbath morning, about the 20th of 
 June, Old Style, in the year of our Lord one thousand six hun- 
 dred and eighty, at New Bridge in Woburn; and taking by 
 instinct, as it were, the road which led to the centre of the 
 town, I began at once slowly to wend my way thither. The sky 
 was serene, the air warm, and the surface of the meadows and 
 grass-g- ounds was clad in the richest green. But a solemn still- 
 ness presided over the bright scene which nature had spread 
 around me. Neither man nor beast was to be seen at work in 
 the field. No sound of the hammer, or of the woodman's axe 
 saluted my ear ; no rumbling carriage of travellers on business 
 or pleasure met my eye. Almost the only tokens of animal 
 life abroad, that I perceived in my walk, were the motions and 
 notes of hundreds of birds, whose songs, together with the fragrant 
 odors diffused by the blossoms and a rich variety of flowers in the 
 gardens and orchards I passed, seemed like a morning offering 
 of praise and sweet incense to the great Lord of the Sabbath, 
 by whose decree summer and winter, seed-time and harvest 
 never cease. Nor, amidst the homage paid by the inanimate 
 
 a In Town Records, Vol. I., p. 105, Major Johnson, the then Town Clerk, 
 makes the following remark in the margin : " The midle of the 10th. mo. 
 1680, apeered a uery great blazing starr, to the wonder of the world."
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 91 
 
 and by the irrational portions of the creation, was man their 
 lord insensible to the claims of the Creator. As I went by the 
 low and thinly scattered dwelling-houses of this then humble 
 village, whose doors and windows the warmth of the morning 
 had caused to be opened, I heard, before some, the voice of 
 prayer from within ; and at the windows of others, I observed 
 flocks of little boys and girls reading to their pious mothers in 
 the Testament or Psalter, or answering the questions of that far- 
 famed compend of Christian truth and duty, the Assembly's Cate- 
 chism. While I thus proceeded along, endeavoring to compose 
 my mind into a suitable frame for the exercises of a day, to 
 whose sacredness all that I saw and heard, as well as all that I 
 did not, seemed to bear witness, I was suddenly overtaken on 
 the common by a man, who afterwards made himself known to 
 me as goodman Jonathan Thompson, the sexton for that year, 41 
 who had just been at the minister's to receive from him certain 
 directions before the hour of prayer arrived, and was now on 
 his way to open the meeting-house. Perceiving me to be a 
 stranger, he civilly accosted me ; and learning that I wished to 
 worship with them that day, he kindly offered to conduct me to 
 the house, and find me a seat. We went by the way of Military 
 Lane r 42 and as we walked up the hill, several honest couples 
 passed us on horseback, who severally eyed me with a keen 
 look of yankee-like inquisitiveness, but said nothing ; and, nod- 
 ding respectfully, jogged on. These, my guide told me, were the 
 Jaquiths, and the Butters's from Goshen, and the Reeds, and the 
 Walkers and the Wilsons from Shawshin ; who, he shrewdly re- 
 marked, though farthest from the Sanctuary, were always first to 
 be there. 
 
 Having reached the meeting-house, as I stood in front of it a 
 few minutes, admiring the beauty of the lofty trees with which 
 it was surrounded, numerous other couples arrived on horse- 
 back, a large proportion of whom, I observed, drove up to a 
 stone horse-block, about a rod from the southernmost shade, 43 
 
 The Town Dr., In the year 1680, " To Jonathan Tompson for ringing the Bell, and 
 sweeping the meeting hows, 01 : 10 : 00." Town Records, Vol. I., p. 107. 
 See Chapter I., note 31. 
 
 43 See note 10. This horse-block is still preserved.
 
 92 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 and there successively alighting, tied their horses to a long row 
 of stakes set in the ground, and then leisurely advanced toward 
 the meeting-house. As they overtook one another in their 
 approach to where I stood, they saluted each other with a 
 friendly smile and a cordial shake of the hand. But I overheard 
 in their conversation not a word dropped upon politics or the 
 prospect of crops ; scarcely anything, in fact, but certain obser- 
 vations and questions which seemed to be dictated by pious 
 gladness, or by a spirit of benevolence and affectionate sym- 
 pathy for their neighbors or one another. " What a beautiful 
 Sabbath 'tis!" exclaimed one to another; "and how thankful 
 ought we to be for such a lovely morning as this, to come to 
 meeting ! " " What," inquired another, " does the doctor say to 
 Brush's child, poor thing ; does he think he'll ever get well of 
 his fall ? " "Are the neighbors," asked a third, with an anxious 
 pitiful look, " Are the neighbors attentive to visit poor 
 goody Gilson in her trials, and to carry her in supplies ? " 
 "How," questioned a fourth, with much solemnity of counte- 
 nance, " How did goodman Farrar appear in his last moments ? 
 Did his faith and patience hold out to the end ? Did he give 
 evidence to the minister of a good hope ? " and, " When, good 
 man, will he be buried ? " 
 
 And thus, having finished the few brief remarks and inquiries 
 of this sort which they had occasion to make, they tarried no 
 longer at the door ; but uncovering their heads the instant they 
 stepped on the threshold, they reverently entered the house of 
 God, and quietly took their appointed seats. And now my 
 friend, the sexton, pointing to the dial, which showed it was 
 almost nine o'clock, and saying it was time to ring the bell, I 
 followed him in to a seat, where I had good view both of the 
 ministers and hearers, and where, while the people were gather- 
 ing, I improved the opportunity to look around, and survey the 
 novel, interesting scene. 
 
 In the front row of seats facing the pulpit, on the east side of 
 the broad aisle, were the Selectmen. At the head sat William 
 Johnson, whom I knew by his open, ingenuous countenance 
 and robust, vigorous frame, such as I have seen in some of his
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 93 
 
 posterity. Next came Ensign James Convers, grave, thoughtful 
 and attentive in his looks, resolute and energetic in his whole 
 demeanor. At his side sat Sergeant Matthew Johnson, a brother 
 of William ; and, next to him, John Wright, Jr., and Francis 
 Kendall all honored names in their day. In the opposite 
 row of seats, on the west side, were the wives of the Selectmen, 
 all fair in appearance and becoming in behavior ; and yet whose 
 silk dresses, or the addition of a few extra ribbons to their 
 attire, showed that they had not forgotten the lessons touching 
 the necessity of maintaining distinctions of rank by distinctions 
 of dress, which their mothers had taught them on the other side 
 of the Atlantic. The second and third ranges of seats on the 
 east side were occupied by men whose hoary locks and bending 
 forms proclaimed them to be the surviving few of those who 
 had come up to Woburn at the first to take possession of the 
 land ; but wnose fixed eyes and laboring ears and solemnity 
 of air were strong indications that their thoughts were now 
 set on a better country, and that they had come to the Lord's 
 house to-day, seeking direction and encouragement in their pil- 
 grimage to it. As my eyes ran from this interesting class of 
 men across the aisle, and surveyed for a moment the venerable 
 matrons, the wives of their youth, or the widows of their early 
 associates now deceased, who filled the two opposite rows of 
 seats, methought I saw a striking exemplification of the Apostle's 
 counsel, " Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of 
 plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold, or putting on of apparel ; 
 but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not 
 corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which 
 is, in the sight of God, of great price." Next to the aged men's 
 seats came those appropriated to the substantial farmers and 
 tradesmen of the town, who were all arranged in them with 
 some regard both to their years and to the proportion they paid 
 of the public taxes. There, in dense, crowded ranks sat the 
 Converses and Johnsons, the Richardsons and Thompsons ; the 
 Mousalls and the Winns, the Wrights and the Baldwins ; the 
 Kendalls and the Carters, the Russells and the Walkers ; the 
 Peirces and the Wymans, the Fowles and the Simonds; the
 
 94 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Brooks and the Teeds, the Flaggs and the Reeds ; the Snows 
 and the Cutlers, the Lockes and the Butters's, and many other 
 respected names, all or most of which are borne to this day by 
 descendants in Woburn and vicinity. There, too, were to be 
 seen the Brushes, now turned into Bruces ; and there, too, the 
 Pollys and the Greenes, the Henshaws and Berbeanes, the 
 Cleavelands and the Farravs, the Lepingwells and Bakers, 
 names once familiar to the ancient inhabitants of Woburn, but 
 which, with others, are now quite extinct in the town, having 
 long since given place to the Parkers and the Cummings's, the 
 Tays and the Skeltons, names common here in succeeding gen- 
 erations, and now better known. In the corresponding seats on 
 the west side of the aisle sat the wives of these worthy men, 
 helps meet for them indeed, who, arrayed in plain home- 
 spun garments of the most perfect neatness, defended from soil- 
 ing by tidy aprons of the purest white, carried evidence in their 
 dress that they came to the house of God to pray and to praise, 
 rather than to see and be seen. 
 
 In the remotest seats on the floor of the house, and in the 
 east and west galleries, sat the young men and women, the 
 flower of Woburn. And, last of all, upon the two long benches 
 against the wall, on the east and west sides of the broad aisle, 
 were seated the boys of the congregation, whom, full of life and 
 playfulness as they were, a grave overseer, with a rod, and a 
 constable, with a staff of office in his hand, at the end of each 
 seat, made out to keep in tolerable restraint ; although some of 
 them, I observed, as they looked or winked at one another, 
 could hardly, at times, suppress a whisper or a rising smile. In 
 the deacons' seat sat John Wright, Sen., one of the earliest set- 
 tlers of the town, but now stooping under the weight of three 
 score years and ten; and Josiah Convers, a brother of the 
 ensign, and like him, of a grave, intelligent, and active appear- 
 ance. The elders' seat was empty j for, though the church of 
 Woburn held to the Cambridge platform, which represents the 
 office of ruling elder in the church as of divine institution, yet 
 no one of her sons, whom she may have thought worthy of the 
 office, was ever found willing to accept it. In the pulpit, at the
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUBN. 95 
 
 left band, sat Mr. Fox, the recently ordained colleague of the 
 senior pastor, now in the vigor of manhood, a sedate, solid 
 preacher, and much beloved by his flock, both old and young. 
 At the head of the pulpit was Mr. Carter, the senior pastor 
 himself, whose furrowed cheeks and hoary locks signified to all 
 that his work was almost done ; and who, as with placid eye 
 and benevolent countenance he looked round upon the people 
 of his charge, seemed to be bidding them all, one after another, 
 farewell ; as though he thought that the present might possibly 
 be the last time he should ever meet them there. But while my 
 eyes had thus been moving over this numerous assembly, and 
 were fixed for a moment on their venerable senior minister, the 
 congregation had all collected, the bell had ceased tolling, and 
 the sexton had taken his wonted seat at the head of the pulpit 
 stairs. Divine service was presently commenced by Mr. Carter 
 with a short invocation ; praising God for the light and privi- 
 leges of another of his holy days, and fervently imploring his 
 presence and aid in the prayers and praises now to be offered, 
 and his blessing upon his Word now to be dispensed. The 
 introductory prayer being over, I was expecting to hear the Scrip- 
 tures read, as I had been used to. But after waiting a few 
 moments, looking for this portion of Divine service to begin, 
 Deacon Wright arose to announce singing ; and, holding in his 
 hand the Collection, entitled the " New England Psalms, Hymns 
 and Spiritual Songs," that now forgotten, but once favorite ver- 
 sion of our fathers, both in their private and public devotions, 
 he read five stanzas of the 5th Psalm, as follows : 
 
 "Jehovah, to my words give ear, 
 
 My meditation weigh ; 
 My King, my God, my cry's voice hear, 
 
 For I to thee will pray. 
 
 " Thou in the morn my voice si i alt hear ; 
 
 Lord, in the morning I 
 Will unto thee direct my prayer, 
 
 And will look up on high. 
 
 " For thou art not a God that will 
 
 In wickedness delight ; 
 Nor shall with thee dwell any ill, 
 
 Nor fools stand in thy sight.
 
 96 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 " Craftsmen of sin, thou hat'st all them, 
 
 Thou shalt him ' stroy that lies : 
 The Lord will loath the bloody man, 
 
 And them that guile devise. 
 
 " But I will to thy house draw near 
 
 In thine abundant grace ; 
 And I will worship in thy fear 
 
 Towards thy holy place." 
 
 When he had finished reading, I was right glad to hear him 
 give out Windsor, as the tune to be sung ; for that is a tune, 
 which, like others of the same class, such as plaintive Canter- 
 bury an 1 Little Marlborough, and mournful Bangor and Isle of 
 Wight, and stately Rochester and Wells, grave Colchester and 
 Wantage, sweet-toned Barby and Mear, cheerful York and St. 
 Martin's, and majestic Winchester and Old Hundredth, I am 
 always delighted to hear sung on suitable occasions ; but which, 
 from the general change cf the public taste in Sacred Music, I 
 am seldom or never likely to hear again. The deacon, having 
 announced the tune, read the first line again, and then, with a 
 tremulous voice commenced singing, in which he was instantly 
 joined by almost the whole of the congregation, sitting, both by old 
 and young, males and females. These, as he read severally a line 
 of the portion he had given out, would catch the words from his 
 lips, and fall in with him in singing it. And never, thought I, 
 had I heard singing, that was on the whole quite equal to this. 
 There was no exact harmony in it, no perfect keeping of time, 
 and much otherwise, at which a critical ear might justly take 
 offence. And yet there was in it that, which to me was exceed- 
 ingly interesting and impressive. The sound coming from such 
 a multitude of voices, seemed as the roar of thunder and the 
 voice of many waters. And then, there was such a seriousness 
 in the appearance and manner of the great majority, such an 
 evident engagedness in this act of praise to the Most High, as 
 caused a deep solemnity to pervade the whole congregation, and 
 in my humble opinion much more than compensated for all the 
 musical faults and deficiences of the performance. Here, 
 thought I, if anywhere, is a specimen of singing to the Lord
 
 HISTORY OP WOBTTRN. 97 
 
 with the Spirit and with the understanding also, of that melody 
 of the heart which makes even the meanest attempts at melody 
 with the voice an acceptable offering to God through Jesus 
 Christ, and insures his favorable presence in the assemblies of 
 his saints. 
 
 To singing succeeded what is commonly termed with us the 
 long prayer. And it might very significantly be called so in the 
 present case ; for it occupied, as it seemed to me, at least three- 
 quarters of an hour. And yet it was made, I am confident, from 
 better motives than the long prayers of the Pharisees, and 
 without any visible signs of weariness or impatience on the part 
 of the congregation. It was offered by Mr. Carter, who, previ- 
 ously to commencing it, read a large collection of little bills, or 
 notes, as they were called, expressive either of thanksgiving to 
 God on the part of sundry individuals for various mercies which 
 he had recently vouchsafed them, or of desire on the part of 
 others for the prayers of the congregation, that the Lord would 
 be pleased to grant help or relief in sundry exigencies of trouble 
 or suffering there particularly enumerated. Nor did I under- 
 stand that the notes read this day were more numerous than 
 common, but only a fair sample, in this respect, of what used to 
 be presented every Sabbath. For the first planters of New 
 England, and in a good degree their immediate successors, were 
 eminent for their practical belief in a particular Providence ; 
 such as extends not merely to the general interests and concerns, 
 but to the minutest affairs and events of this lower world. 
 They had a firm, realizing, ever present persuasion of the truth 
 of those declarations of the Saviour, that the very hairs of our 
 heads are all numbered with God, that not a sparrow, much less 
 an individual of his human family, falls to the ground without his 
 direction or permission. And they were well assured, too, of the 
 efficacy of humble, fervent prayer for obtaining relief in any 
 exigence into which the hand of his Providence might bring 
 them, so far as would be consistent with his infinite rectitude, 
 wisdom and goodness. Hence their aptness to make almost 
 every event of life a foundation of prayer or praise, both in pri- 
 vate and in public. And hence, too, a wonderful minuteness in
 
 98 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 the devotional exercises of the sanctuary in this place, on the 
 occasion I am speaking of. 
 
 The prayer then offered by Mr. Carter, as mentioned above, 
 differed not materially from such as we are accustomed to hear 
 from orthodox pulpits at the present day, in its general 
 acknowledgments of dependence, guilt and spiritual necessity, 
 and in the leading spiritual mercies which it implored. But 
 when he came to present the various special cases and circum- 
 stances of his people at the throne of grace, he became minute 
 and particular, far beyond what is now commonly witnessed. 
 Here he grew very fervent in spirit j and from the fulness of 
 his heart, showed great fulness as well as plainness of speech. 
 His mouth was filled with arguments ; and he seemed hardly to 
 know when he had said enough, and where to make a stop. He 
 spread all the wants, all the trials and temptations and prevail- 
 ing sins of his people before the Lord. Scarcely anything 
 could be conceived having a bearing upon their present or future 
 well-being, but he made it a matter of supplication to the Most 
 High. And while he fervently deprecated the Divine judgments, 
 he earnestly implored for his people all manner of blessings, 
 both spiritual and temporal; or, as he quaintly termed them, 
 "blessings of the upper, and blessings of the nether springs." 
 He praised the Lord for granting to his people of this place a 
 favorable seed-time the present spring thus far ; and besought 
 him to perfect his mercy in this kind toward them ; to give them 
 due measures of sunshine and of the rain of heaven in due time ; 
 to suffer no blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar to blast their 
 expectations ; but to bless the springing of the earth, to cause 
 their grass to grow, and their land to yield its increase, and to 
 give them their corn, and their flax, and the wine of their 
 orchards in their season. He made devout acknowledgments of 
 God's hand in certain melancholy casualties, and in all the signal 
 occurrences, whether of sorrow or of joy, which had taken place 
 in the town the week preceding ; and prayed that God would 
 sanctify to all concerned the visitations of his providence, 
 whether in judgment or mercy. He presented with special 
 minuteness of description the thanksgivings and the requests of
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 99 
 
 those, who had expressly desired particular mention in the 
 prayers of the sanctuary that day. He besought God to accept 
 the thank-offerings of all those, whom he was permitting, after 
 long restraint by sickness, to visit that day with recovered 
 health the courts of his house once more ; of his handmaids to 
 whom he had recently granted safe deliverance in childbirth ; 
 and of his servants, whom, in their distant journeys by land or 
 by sea, he had protected from enemies and from the perils of the 
 great deep, had prospered them in the way they went, and had 
 now restored them in peace to their homes and families again ; 
 and to vouchsafe to all and to each of them a deep and abiding 
 sense of their obligations to the Divine favor; that so they 
 might glorify him in the lives which he had preserved, and with 
 the mercies which he had bestowed. Finally, he prayed the 
 great Lord of Life, that he would sanctify all bereavements 
 by death in this place to those who had lately been afflicted 
 therewith, and had now expressly implored in the assembly of 
 his people support, consolation and grace from above : that he 
 would spread the everlasting arm beneath all who were sick ; 
 make their bed in their sickness ; abate the violence of their 
 respective diseases, allay the fever in their veins, make whole 
 the bones that were broken ; send healing mercy to them all ; 
 and above all, if the sickness of any of them who had asked the 
 prayers of the congregation that day was unto death, that he 
 would give them grace to be prepared for the solemn change 
 that awaited them ; that so they might meet it in peace, sus- 
 tained with the blessed hope of pardon and acceptance with Him 
 through the Divine Redeemer, and of eternal life and felicity 
 beyond the grave. 
 
 The prayer was followed by singing the loth Psalm from the 
 same obsolete version as at the first singing. 
 
 Then came the sermon by Mr. Fox. While he was announcing 
 his text, there was a most profound stillness. But, immediately 
 after, I heard a slight rustling noise from different quarters of 
 the house ; and looking round to discover the cause, I spied the 
 deacons, selectmen and others, who seemed to carry for that day 
 the pens of ready writers, preparing to take down the texts and
 
 100 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 prominent heads of the discourse. This reminded me, it might 
 be well for me to do the same ; and I now copy from the entries 
 then made in my note-book as follows : 
 
 The text was 2 Tim. ii : 19. " And let every one that nameth 
 the name of Christ depart from iniquity." After observing that by 
 those who name the name of Christ must here be understood, those 
 who professedly believe in Christ, the preacher went on to deduce 
 from these words of the Inspired Apostle the following doctrine : 
 viz, "That it is the duty of all that profess themselves to be Chris- 
 tians to depart from iniquity." This important doctrine was then 
 explained and made intelligible to the lowest capacities by answers 
 to three pertinent questions, was confirmed by several Scriptural 
 and convincing reasons, and applied to the spiritual benefit of his 
 hearers by a single use for information, which was still further 
 enlarged upon, under four distinct considerations. The questions, 
 by way of explication, were, briefly, 1, "What is meant by ini- 
 quity?" 2, "What is meant by departing from iniquity?" 3, 
 " Why is it so, that every one that names the name of Christ must 
 depart from iniquity?" Among the seven " reasons," in confirma- 
 tion of the doctrine deduced from the text, and implied in the last 
 question, were briefly, 1," Because God is a holy God, and of 
 purer eyes than to behold iniquity." 2, "Because the Lord Jesus 
 Christ himself is holy, and therefore will not suffer any to live 
 in the profession of his name, and not depart from iniquity." 5, 
 " Because Christians are called with a holy calling." 6, " Because 
 of the great dishonor and reproach that sin casts upon the Lord 
 Jesus Christ." 7, "Because it is the will of God that those that 
 name the name of Christ depart from iniquity." The use " for 
 information " was, " Hence learn the folly of those that make a 
 profession of the name of Christ, and (depart not) from iniquity." 
 " Let such consider, 1, ' that they have not as yet taken one true 
 step towards a true reformation ;'" 2, " that neither their persons 
 nor services are accepted before God ; " 3, " that it is a bold and 
 daring presumption to name the name of Christ, and not to depart 
 from iniquity." From all which considerations, the preacher 
 deduced one more by way of " conclusion," viz : " Whoever are 
 found under a profession of the name of Christ, and depart not 
 from iniquity, Christ w^Jl one day not think them worthy to b e 
 named among professors. They shall not be found to be sealed 
 ones, that day."
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUBN. 101 
 
 44 Such is a brief specimen of the mode in which one of the 
 earliest pastors of this church used to feed the flock of Christ 
 committed to his charge. The spiritual food ministered by him 
 on this occasion was plain food, served up in a homely, and, as 
 some may think, in too precise and starched a style. Still it was 
 wholesome food, the pure milk of the Word, and adapted, with 
 the Divine blessing, to nourish the souls of his flock unto eternal 
 life. The doctrine inferred from the text, and inculcated in this 
 discourse, was sound and important; the reasons advanced in 
 support of it were clear and sufficient; the use or application 
 ever seasonable ; and if there were any of his hearers who were 
 not profited by it, the fault was not the preacher's, but their own. 
 
 Sermon being over, a short prayer by the preacher for the 
 blessing of God on his Word dispensed, and a solemn benedic- 
 tion, closed the services of the forenoon. 
 
 In the afternoon, they were commenced with singing a portion 
 of the 148th Psalm, H. M., to the tune expressly adapted to that 
 Psalm, and thence called the " Old 148th." In the prayer by 
 Mr. Fox which followed, was observed the same particularity of 
 enumeration, and minuteness of description of the mercies 
 implored, as that by which the prayer of the morning was dis- 
 tinguished. After reverend, adoring acknowledgments of the 
 Divine perfections and works, love and mercy to the children of 
 men, and after a more minute confession of prevailing sins 
 (especially among his own people) than is now common, and 
 earnest supplications for pardon and spiritual healing through 
 the grace of God in Christ, he commended anew the special 
 cases and wants of his people, and the interests of Zion among 
 them, to Him that heareth prayer. And then, giving his thoughts 
 a wider range than Mr. Carter had extended his in the morning, 
 so as to take in all the proper subjects of prayer which his 
 senior colleague had omitted, he began to offer earnest inter- 
 cessions for his country, for all mankind, for the church of God 
 throughout the world. He prayed that the inhabitants of New 
 
 44 See skeleton of a discourse by Rev. Jabez Fox, delivered at Cam- 
 bridge, July 1678, in Alden's Collection of Epitaphs, Vol. I., No. 236, p. 225. 
 9*
 
 102 HISTORY OF WOBTJRN. 
 
 England, especially of the Bay, might never forget the errand 
 upon which their fathers crossed the ocean to this then dreary 
 wilderness, that so they might enjoy the ordinances of God in 
 their purity, and gather churches according to his Word : that 
 they might still pursue the design and work which their progeni- 
 tors had begun, still adhere to the Holy Scriptures in doctrine, 
 worship and practice, neither adding to nor taking aught from 
 the Divine requirements therein laid down, either by word or 
 example : that so New England might continue New England, 
 and that the Lord God might still condescend to dwell among 
 them, and defend them, and multiply them, and build them up, 
 as he had hitherto, forevermore. He thanked God for the 
 endeavors of the Synod of the Elders and Messengers of these 
 churches, lately convened in the city of our solemnities, 45 with a 
 view to the reformation of those manifest declensions and crying 
 sins, for which, it was to be feared, God had a controversy with 
 the people of this land ; and earnestly prayed, that the means 
 and measures which the Synod had recommended for promoting 
 reformation, and averting the Divine displeasure, might be 
 prospered and blessed. And to this end, he earnestly besought 
 of God, that he would pour out his Spirit, and rain down right- 
 eousness upon the whole Colony (especially upon this town of 
 Woburn) : that so this and all the churches of our land might 
 awake from their slumbers, return to their first love, and do 
 their first works; that godly discipline according to their 
 Scriptural Platform might be kept up in them, the truth of the 
 gospel be maintained in them, holiness and peace abound: 
 that ministers might cry aloud, and spare not to show the people 
 their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins ; that our 
 honored Magistrates might diligently attend the execution of the 
 salutary laws and orders of the Government for the suppression 
 and punishment of profaneness, Sabbath breaking, drunkenness, 
 oppression, and all manner of wickedness and vice j and be 
 themselves examples of piety and virtue : that the religion of the 
 gospel might revive in power and purity among all ranks and 
 
 15 Synod assembled in Boston, 1679, 1680.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 103 
 
 conditions of men : that so God might lift on us once more the 
 light of his countenance : that righteousness might dwell in our 
 land ; that mercy and truth might here meet together, righteous- 
 ness and peace kiss each other. 
 
 He prayed for God's direction and blessing upon our honored 
 Governor, Deputy Governor and the Magistrates of this juris- 
 diction ; that he would at all times aid and prosper them in all 
 their consultations and measures for preserving unimpaired the 
 then threatened liberties of the country. He praised the Lord 
 for inclining the Great and General Court of this Colony in their 
 recent session to countenance the proceedings of the late Synod, 
 by ordering the Confession of Faith drawn up by it, together 
 with the Platform of Discipline agreed upon in 1648, to be 
 printed " for the benefit of these Churches, in present and after 
 Times ; " 46 and prayed, that as Moses and Aaron kissed each 
 other in the Mount of God, so the Lord would direct and dis- 
 pose our civil and our spiritual fathers always to act in concert 
 .with each other in all designs for the reformation of the people, 
 and the furtherance of the common welfare. And now, extend- 
 ing his views to the mother country, (or, as our ancestors were 
 accustomed to call it,- their home,) he prayed God to preserve 
 and bless our dread Sovereign Lord, King Charles ; that he 
 would effectually incline him to remove from his presence all 
 Popish and maliciously affected counsellors, who were laboring 
 fo* the destruction of these his Majesty's Colonies by suggesting 
 to his royal ear false and malicious insinuations against them; 
 that he would move his princely heart to favor his poor but loyal 
 subjects in these goings down of the sun, and to bestow on them 
 his promised protection j and that so his Majesty ruling in right- 
 eousness and mercy, God would clothe all his adversaries with 
 shame ; but cause upon him and his royal house the crown of 
 these kingdoms to flourish, so long as the sun and the moon shall 
 endure. He implored too the Divine benediction upon the High 
 Court of Parliament, the Legislature of the realm of England ; 
 that by their laws, and by all their proceedings and measures, 
 
 "Resolve of Court, May 19, 1680.
 
 104 HISTORY OP WOBUEN. 
 
 they might not only maintain justice, mercy and truth at home, 
 but also approve themselves the zealous and successful defenders 
 of British rights and liberties, and of their common Protestant 
 religion in all lands where the dominion of Britain was acknowl- 
 edged, and over which its sceptre was swayed. And finally, he 
 earnestly besought the Lord that he would protect and deliver 
 his persecuted churches and people throughout the world ; that 
 he would hasten the end of all idolatry, superstition and impos- 
 ture ; restrain the violence and defeat the crafty counsels of the 
 man of sin and his abetters ; that he would everywhere extend 
 the triumphs of the cross, and give efficacy to the word of his 
 grace, and speed the accomplishment of the blessed time foretold 
 in his lively oracles, when Babylon should fall to rise no more ; 
 when the kingdoms of this world should become the kingdoms 
 of our God and of his Christ. 
 
 After prayer, succeeded the second singing, which was followed 
 by a sermon from Mr. Carter. But this was not a written, but, 
 in considerable measure at least, an extempore discourse, founded 
 upon the same text that was treated of in the morning. As then, 
 Mr. Fox displayed to all, especially to the members of his 
 church, their obligations to depart from all iniquity; so now, 
 Mr. Carter enforced those obligations. In a kind, affectionate 
 exhortation, he earnestly charged all his hearers, especially 
 professors of religion, to forsake all sin, to practise holiness of 
 heart and life : thus happily illustrating the distinction anciently 
 made by our ancestors between the teacher and the pastor of a 
 church; assigning to the former officer the explanation and 
 defence of the truth; to the latter, the enforcement of it upon 
 the conscience and the heart. 47 
 
 When the good man had ceased from this labor of love, 
 Deacon Wright arose and said, " Brethren, if any one among 
 you have a word of exhortation to offer, let him say on." All 
 eyes, I perceived, were instantly turned toward me ; and I felt 
 myself constrained, in a manner, to get up, and, after making 
 my respects to the ministers, to address the people briefly as 
 follows : 
 
 47 See Cambridge Platform, Chap. VI., 5.
 
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 105 
 
 My Christian friends : you conclude, I presume, from the singu- 
 larity of my dress, that I am a stranger in this region ; and indeed, 
 I am a stranger, come from a land of many days journey hence. 
 And yet it sometimes seems, as if I were acquainted here : for 
 there's a surprising resemblance in many respects between your 
 country and mine. The climate is the very same. The natural 
 scenery of both places is almost exactly alike. Your town bears 
 the same name as one next to that I live in, when at home. The 
 names of Charles River, Shawshin River, Horn Pond, and other 
 waters, so common I find among you, are also perfectly familiar to 
 me. Nay, your own names, which have been oft repeated in my 
 hearing to-day, are the very same as those most prevalent in the 
 town just referred to, and within whose ancient limits I myself 
 dwell. In view of all these circumstances, I have at times to-day 
 been almost forced into the conclusion, that I have been travelling 
 ever since I left home in a circle ; and now that I have come round 
 again to the place I started from, some great alterations in the 
 fashions of our dress, which have occurred in the interval of 
 my absence, prevent me and my old friends and neighbors from 
 recognizing one another. And yet, on the other hand, this suppo- 
 sition seems at once rendered inadmissible by the striking differ- 
 ences, which are everywhere apparent between your Woburn, and 
 the Woburn in my vicinity. Here, in the midst of your village, I 
 see no academy, as I do there, seated like a city on a hill which 
 cannot be hid. Here the dwelling-houses are comparatively few, 
 and scattered and unadorned ; there the houses in the principal 
 village are very numerous, and many of them, large and elegant to 
 look to. Here, I see but one house of public worship ; and hear of 
 but one denomination of worshippers ; there, in the centre alone, 
 there are at least three or four meeting-houses, appropriated to the 
 use of Christians of as many different names. So that considering 
 these and other points of difference, I am driven to the conclusion 
 after all, that I stand now in a very different Woburn from that I 
 have been long acquainted with. And yet it is a satisfaction to find, 
 that great as the interval is between us, we still worship the same 
 God, acknowledge the same Saviour, and profess to take the same 
 Holy Scriptures for our guide, both in faith and practice. Let us 
 all then only adhere to that Sacred Rule, and live up to, and act 
 out our profession of submission and obedience to it, and both you 
 and I and the people I dwell among, cannot fail of being finally 
 happy together forever.
 
 106 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Brethren, it has been highly gratifying, and I hope will be last- 
 ingly profitable to me, to have spent this holy Sabbath with you. 
 I have been edified, I trust, by the prayers in which I have joined 
 with you. I have been edified by the dispensation of God's Word 
 in this his house ; by the plain and forcible exposition of truth and 
 duty therefrom, to which we all have had opportunity of listening 
 to-day ; and certainly, if our hearts are right with God, we none of 
 us can miss of being benefited by what we have heard. Particu- 
 larly have I been pleased with your singing. It has forcibly 
 brought back to mind the days of my childhood and youth, when I 
 was accustomed to hear sung, from Sabbath to Sabbath, by the 
 congregation generally, the very same or the like simple tunes that 
 I have heard to-day ; though then by fewer voices, and sometimes 
 with the aid of an organ, which I am aware you abhor, or at least 
 much dislike. Concerning those days, I well remember what feel- 
 ings of awe and devout reverence the sight and hearing of my 
 elders, and of my elders' elders, all singing the high praises of 
 God, though with unequal time and occasionally with somewhat 
 discordant voices, used to excite in my breast. Of late, I have but 
 seldom had an opportunity of hearing the songs of Zion sung after 
 this sort. Hence, I have enjoj'ed listening to them to-day, as a 
 feast, and I regret that it may be long before I am gratified in the 
 same way again. But you, my friends, who are favored with this 
 privilege every Sabbath, do prize it highly, I trust, and will not 
 lightly give it up. And that you may long retain it, beware of 
 multiplying the tunes to be sung. By adhering constantly to the 
 use of a few plain, substantial tunes, which are easily learnt, you 
 are all capable, in one degree or other, of sounding forth the praises 
 of the God of Heaven. 
 
 Do not render then this delightful duty impossible to a large 
 majority of your fellow-worshippers (as I have known it done in 
 my own country), by the introduction of a multitude of new and 
 difficult tunes, or by changing singing books once a year. And 
 should your present aversion to instrumental music ever give way 
 (as I doubt not it eventually will), and should you begin to use the 
 harp, the viol and the organ in the worship of the sanctuary, let no 
 one, capable of singing, be willing on this account to excuse himself 
 from the duty, and shift it off upon a few paid individuals, with 
 their instruments, in the gallery. For if singing the praises of 
 Jehovah be a duty to any, it is to all who have a voice and an 
 ear, and any tolerable skill to sing in concert with others. A
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 107 
 
 select choir may be a great help in singing. Still its members 
 cannot be supposed capable of doing the work of praise for others, 
 so well as others, who have any ear for sacred music, can do it for , 
 themselves. Excuse, I pray you, the freedom of these remarks by 
 a stranger, proceeding, as I trust they do, from a disinterested 
 desire for your good. A few improvements I might here suggest 
 in your present mode of singing ; but I forbear. For in changing 
 there is always risk, I am sensible, of doing harm instead of good ; 
 and I fear, that in attempting to make good in some measure better, 
 I should, as often happens in other cases, mar or spoil the whole. 
 Brethren, I must repeat the high satisfaction I have taken in the 
 services of this sanctuary this day. The onty deficiency I have 
 felt worth mentioning is, the omission to read the Holy Scriptures 
 without comment ; an exercise that is common in my own country, 
 and one, it seems to me, that has a Divine warrant for it, and is 
 both profitable in itself, and in accordance with the practice of the 
 church in every age. But I will add no more on this point ; 
 assured that your own good sense and pious regard to the will of 
 God, will eventually lead you, on reflection, to correct the error, if 
 it be one. As to all other things, I can with truth express my 
 entire approbation. As I have sat here this day, and attended to 
 the several exercises of Divine worship, and witnessed the pro- 
 priety and fervor and engagedness with which they have all been 
 performed, I have been ready to exclaim, as did Jacob of old, 
 " How dreadful is this place ! this is none other but the house of 
 God, and this is the gate of heaven ! " May you ever find it to be 
 so, by your own happy experience ! And so may every house of 
 worship that your posterity may hereafter erect in this place, prove 
 to them and their children ! I rejoice in seeing you do so much as 
 you do, to teach the rising generation the truths and duties of the 
 Gospel of Christ, and to lead them, both by precept and example, 
 to prize the institutions of God's worship. 
 
 In particular, I was glad to perceive in the intermission that you 
 are in the habit of catechising your children, a good old custom, 
 warranted by Scripture authority, and recommended by early Chris- 
 tian usage, but now (I regret to own it) much neglected in my own 
 land ! But there seems to be no need of exhorting you, brethren, 
 to see that it be not neglected among you. I am confident that 
 you will keep up the practice with the same diligence that it was 
 transmitted to you by your fathers ; and that you will enjoin upon 
 your children likewise to do so hereafter, for the benefit of those
 
 108 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 who shall arise after them. You will charge them, whatever other 
 means and methods of instruction they call in to their aid for the 
 religious education of their children, on no account to let this be 
 overlooked or slightly performed ; that they will never leave it 
 entirely even to their ministers, much less to other friends of less 
 knowledge and experience than they ; that they will keep the mat- 
 ter in their own hands, though they admit others to share in the 
 labor of it with them ; and discharge it faithfully according to the 
 light and skill and experience which God severally gives them ; and 
 then the result, through the Divine blessing, they may reasonably 
 hope will be, that there shall ever be a generation in this place who 
 shall be taught of God to acknowledge, love and serve him, and 
 whom he will own and build up and rejoice in, a people for his 
 praise. 
 
 Dear Christian friends, this is the first time I was ever with you, 
 and it will, doubtless, be the last. I must presently leave you, 
 and we shall meet no more on this side the grave. But sure I am 
 that, if I am ever prepared myself through grace for a part in the 
 resurrection of the just, I shall meet many, very many, of this 
 congregation again at the right hand of the Son of Man ; and 
 shall be admitted to praise and rejoice with you in that better 
 temple above, whence there is no more going out, and where we 
 shall dwell forever with the Lord. The Lord grant that we may 
 all of us find mercy of the Lord in that day ! and till then I bid 
 you, one and all, a cordial farewell. 
 
 Upon my saying these words, which were heard with atten- 
 tion, and were apparently welcome, Mr. Carter offered a short 
 prayer, in which he implored a blessing upon the services of the 
 day, and upon the words uttered by their unknown friend 
 according to God's Word : and then, with singing four stanzas 
 of the 119th Psalm, long metre, to the tune of "Hundredth," 
 and with a Scripture benediction by Mr. Carter, the public 
 worship for that day was ended. As for me, as soon as I could 
 conveniently after leaving the house, I took the conveyance by 
 which I came, and was instantly transported over the current of 
 one hundred and eighty years afd upwards, from Hilly Way, in 
 Woburn, in his Majesty's Colony of Massachusetts Bay, in New 
 England, to my own quiet home, near Vine Brook, and within 
 the ancient bounds of the Second Precinct of Woburn, Massa- 
 chusetts, one of the Independent United States of America.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Philip's "War. Persons murdered by Indians in Woburn during that War. 
 Small-Pox in Woburn, 1G78. Arbitrary proceedings of Sir Edmund 
 Andros in Woburn, 1687-88. Death of Rev. Thomas Carter. Medford 
 Bridge. Death of Rev. Mr. Fox. 
 
 SHORTLY after the second meeting-house in Woburn was 
 finished (the building, accommodations and weekly worship of 
 which form a prominent subject of the Chapter foregoing), broke 
 out that scourge of New England, Philip's War. It is so called 
 from Philip, the Indian chief, who was its principal instigator. 
 It began in Plymouth Colony, June 24, 1675, and quickly ex- 
 tending itself into Massachusetts, it spread its horrors and 
 devastations in every direction, and seemed to threaten at times 
 the utter ruin of the country. 
 
 In this destructive contest, Woburn was not assaulted by the 
 enemy in great numbers at any one time. Nor was it burnt, 
 pillaged and laid waste, either totally or in part, as Marlboro '> 
 Sudbury and Groton in the same county were. Still, it was not 
 exempt from a large share of the common burdens and suffer- 
 ings of that gloomy period. 
 
 Its proportion of the public taxes, necessary to sustain the 
 warfare undertaken, was oppressive in the extreme. In 1674, 
 the Colony tax for Woburn was but a trifle over X30. 1 But 
 within fourteen months from the commencement of hostilities to 
 the death of Philip, which occurred August 12, 1676, and which 
 was virtually the conclusion of the war called by his name, 2 no less 
 
 ~~ Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 55, 56. 
 
 2 But war with the Eastern Indians, however, continued many years 
 after. It was distinguished as King William's War, and cost much treas- 
 ure and many lives to bring it to an end. In the course of it, the following 
 instance occurred, in which Woburn people were involved. On the 6th of 
 July, 1690, as two companies of English were scouting, under Captains 
 Floyd and Wiswall. they came upon a party of Indians at Wheelwright's 
 Pond in Lee, N. H. A bloody engagement ensued, in which Capt. Wiswall, 
 his Lieutenant, Gershom Flagg, of Woburn, Sergeant Edward Walker, a son 
 of the elder Dea. Samuel Walker, of Woburn, and twelve others, were killed 
 and several wounded. Belknap's New Hampshire, in one volume, p. 134. 
 10
 
 110 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 than twenty single rates were ordered by the Court to be levied 
 for the prosecution of the contest on the part of the Colonists, 
 viz: three rates at their Session, July 9, 1675; seven, October 
 13, 1675, and ten, May 3, 1676. 3 But burdensome as these 
 large and quickly repeated demands by the Legislature were, for 
 money to carry on the war in which the country was involved, 
 the inhabitants of Woburn, from patriotic motives, appear to 
 have submitted to them all, without murmuring or complaint, and 
 to have made ample and timely provision for answering them. 
 
 On the "23: 6 mo:" (23 August) 1675, the Selectmen met 
 with the commissioner, and assessed "a rate for the Country"; 
 and in giving it, on the 4th of the month following, to the 
 constables to collect, they ordered them to gather it of every 
 inhabitant " twice over," thus making it equivalent to two single 
 rates. They also directed them to " demand of the old troopers 
 two shillings and a penny upon each rate, as the Court hath 
 ordered " ; 4 and likewise " to demand and gather of every 
 person one fourth part of a single rate, for to provide ammu- 
 nition with for a Town's stock ; and to demand of every old 
 trooper sixpence farthing more than what is set down in the 
 said rate." 5 
 
 Colony Records, Vol. V., pp. 46, 65, 56, 81. 
 
 4 At their session in July 1675, the Court passed the following resolve : 
 "Whereas the troopers and their trooping horses are wont to be 
 exempted in ordinary country rates, it is heereby declared, that they are 
 not to be freed in the rates granted by this Court for the defraying the 
 charge of the present expedition against the Indians. " a In the foregoing 
 order of the selectmen, by " old troopers " are meant those who belonged 
 to some troop before the present war began, in distinction from new 
 troopers, who had enlisted since, and of whom, at one time, there were 
 twelve.b There were, at this period, five troops of horse within the juris- 
 diction of Massachusetts, viz : the Suffolk troop, the Essex troop, the 
 Middlesex troop, the Norfolk troop (belonging to the northerly part of 
 Essex County), and the " Three County troop," comprehending all who 
 had enlisted from " the county of Dover and Portsmouth," from the set- 
 tlements "in and near York, called Yorkshire, and from the settlements 
 upon and near the Kennebeck, erected, 1674, into a county by the name of 
 Devonshire.c Troopers from Woburn were attached to the Middlesex 
 troop, commanded by Capt. Thomas Prentice, of Cambridge Village, now 
 Newton.c 
 
 Colony Records, Vol. V., p. 45. b Town Records, Vol. I., p. 64. 
 
 Colony Records, Vol. V., pp. 73, 295. * Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUBN. Ill 
 
 The amount of the rate thus assessed, and given to the collec- 
 tors to gather " twice over," added to what was demanded of 
 " fower ould troopers," for their persons and horses, was 
 
 .60:19:10 
 do. of the quarter rate for ammunition 7 :06 :1 1 
 
 On the 23: of the 9 mo. (23d Nov.) 1675, the 
 selectmen met and levied a rate on the inhabitants 
 " for the charge of the Indian warr," amounting to 120 :00 :00 
 
 On the 18 :11 mo. 1675, (18th Jan. 1675-6,) the 
 selectmen met again, and " ordered another Rate for 
 the Indian warr," amounting to - - - .119:01:06 
 
 These last two assessments doubtless answered 
 to the seven single rates called for by order of the 
 court, Oct. 13th, 1675, and also to the third of the 
 three single rates ordered July 9, 1675, but which, 
 it seems, had not yet been assessed. 5 
 
 On the 14: 4 mo. (14th June) 1676, the select- 
 men, to satisfy the ten single rates ordered in May 
 of that year, levied what is called in the records, 
 " a Warr Rate," being a single rate ten times 
 doubled, amounting to 325:17:6 
 
 Sum total .... 633 :05 :9 
 Of this sum, about XI 00, as nearly as can be ascer- 
 tained, was reserved for the payment of town debts 
 and expenses, such as schooling, support of poor, 
 county tax, etc., etc. (See Records.} - 100 :0 :0 
 
 533 :05 :9 
 
 The balance was paid to the Colony Treasurer, or to others, 
 with his knowledge and allowance, towards defraying the 
 expenses of the war. 5 
 
 To afford some ease to the people in the payment of such 
 heavy taxes, at a period of great scarcity of money, they were 
 allowed by the court to pay them in various necessary commodi- 
 ties, and especially in grain, viz : in wheat at six shillings, rye 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 65, 66, 68.
 
 112 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 at four shillings and sixpence, barley and pease at four shillings, 
 Indian corn at three shillings and sixpence, oats at two shillings, 
 per bushel ; provided these articles were delivered to the treas- 
 urer without cost to the country. To encourage, however, the 
 payment of taxes in silver, the court ordered an abatement of 
 one-fourth part to such as paid in money. 6 
 
 1675. "Paid in to the Treasurer by John Richison, Constable, 
 by shoose and barly 8:11:6." 
 
 1675. "Paid by Jonathan Tomson [Constable] in 
 
 oats and Dtherways ..... l : 5 : 8." 7 
 
 In settling for taxes during this war, an allowance was made 
 for what were called "debentors"; that is, certificates from 
 some acknowledged authority, of wages due to soldiers for their 
 services. Whenever a constable presented a debentor to the 
 Colony Treasurer, in payment of taxes, he was allowed for it 
 the same as for silver. 
 
 " Paid by Jona. Tomson .... in silver and 
 
 debentors, the full sum of all advanced - - 61 :19 :02." 
 
 " Paid in to the Treasurer by John . Richison, 
 
 Constable, in silver and debenturs, etc. - - 68 :16 :03." 
 
 " Paid by Joseph Wright in his debentor - - 01 :07 :07." 7 
 
 As to the quarter rate for ammunition spoken of above, the 
 Records inform how it was disposed of, as follows : 
 " Paid to the Captaine [John Carter], of the ammu- 
 nition Rate, the just sum of - - - - 6 :02 :6 
 
 Capt. Carter paid Mr. Richards for a barell of 
 
 powder, the sum of - 5 :0 :0 
 
 By musket bullets and pistoll bullets - - - 0:17:0 
 By to [two] Runlets to put these bullets in - - :1 :4 
 
 By the porterige and ferridge [ferryage] - - :02 :0 
 
 To Capt. Carter for buying powder ... :04 :0 
 For flints by Capt. Carter - - - -00:00:1 1." 8 
 
 Colonial Records, Vol. V., p. 55. 1 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 64. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. H., p. 23.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 113 
 
 But the pecuniary cost of this war, incurred by taxation and 
 in other ways, burdensome as it was to the inhabitants ot 
 Woburn, was nothing compared with the risk and loss of life 
 which it occasioned many of them, the various and grievous 
 hardships to which it subjected them, and the consternation and 
 terror which it caused to prevail in the midst of them, as well as 
 throughout the Colony, both by day and by night, lest they 
 should be waylaid or suddenly assaulted, their houses burned 
 or plundered, and themselves and families either killed, or cap- 
 tivated and reserved for future torture by their savage foes. 
 
 August 2, 1675, an order came from Edward Rawson, Secre- 
 tary of the Colony to the constable of Woburn, " to impresse five 
 able and sufficient horses, well shod and furnisht with bridles and 
 saddles, fitt for the service of the Country ; and bring them to 
 Capt. Davis' 9 house in Boston by eight of the clock in the morn- 
 ing." 10 About December 1st, 1675, when preparations were 
 making for the Narraganset expedition, thirteen soldiers were 
 impressed from Woburn, viz : John Baker, John Baldwin, Peter 
 Bateman, John Berbeane, John Cutler, Thomas Hale, Jeremiah 
 Hood, William Peirce, John Polly, John Preist, John Sheldon, 
 Caleb Simonds and Zechariah Snow. 10 February 24, 1675-6, 
 nine horses more, with suitable equipments, were ordered to be 
 impressed from Woburn. 10 And, March 22d following, Woburn 
 was directed to furnish six draught horses and three men by way 
 of impressment 10 " to carry provisions and ammunition to the 
 garrison at Brookfield." 10 
 
 In addition to the thirteen men, expressly named above, as 
 forced into the war from Woburn by impressment, this town 
 appears from its Records, from the Records of Hon. John Hull, 
 Esq., Treasurer of the Colony in 1676, 11 and from other reliable 
 authorities, to have furnished for the war forty-five others, who 
 voluntarily enlisted in the service, or who were drafted for it by 
 lot, viz : John Bateman, Isaac Brooks, John Brooks, William 
 
 William Davis, Capt. of the Suffolk troop of horse, who died shortly after. 
 10 Letters of Rev. Joseph B. Felt, from the State archives. 
 
 " A folio, once in possession of Nathaniel Q. Snelling, Esq., Boston, but now, it is under- 
 stood, in the rooms of the Historical and Genealogical Society. 
 
 10*
 
 114 HISTORY OF WOBTJRN. 
 
 Butters, Jacob Chamberlin, Moses Cleaveland, Jr., Samuel 
 Cleveland, Josiah Clopson (or Cloyson), John Coddington, Jon- 
 athan Crisp, Paul Fletcher, William Green, John Kendall, 
 Benoni McDonald, John Moloony, Richard Nevers, Abraham 
 Parker, n Thomas Parker, Joseph Peirce, Thomas Peirce, 
 Jr., William Reed, Samuel Read, John Richardson, Joseph 
 Richardson, Nathaniel Richardson, Samuel Richardson, David 
 Roberts, John Seirs, Benjamin Simonds, James Simonds, Joseph 
 Simonds, Robert Simpson, Eliah Tottingham, John Walker, 
 George Wilkinson, Joseph Waters [or Wallis], John Wilson, Jr., 
 Increase Winn, Joseph Winn, John Wyman, Jr., Francis Wyman, 
 Jr., and Joseph Wright. To these may be added three other 
 soldiers in that war, named by the Treasurer, viz : William 
 Dean, Thomas " Hincher " (Henshaw), and Benjamin Wilson, 
 who may be confidently presumed to have been the three 
 well known citizens of Woburn answering to those names 
 respectively. 
 
 Of the fifty-eight persons above expressly named, as enlisted 
 from Woburn in Philip's War, it may be remarked of fourteen 
 of them, viz : of Peter and John Bateman, Chamberlin, Clop- 
 son, Coddington, Crisp, Fletcher, Hood, the two Parkers, 
 Roberts, Simpson, Wallis, and Wilkinson, that they were prob- 
 ably not citizens of Woburn at the commencement of the war, 
 but servants, or hired laborers from abroad, who were persuaded 
 to enlist for this town in the service of the country. Simpson 
 was apparently a Scotchman, one of those who, for espousing 
 the cause of Charles II., were sent over to this country by 
 Cromwell to be sold, after he had defeated them at the battle 
 of Dunbar, 1650, or of Worcester, 1651 ; and, being a tanner 
 by trade, was bought by Lieut. John Wyman, tanner, of Woburn, 
 " on purpose for the management of his tan yard." Mr. Wyman, 
 his master (having had his son slain in the fight at Narraganset) 
 petitioned the General Court, May 16, 1676, that his servant, 
 
 11 An Abraham Parker, according to the Records, was married in Wo- 
 burn, in 1644, and had children. A son, Abraham, was born to him, March 
 8, 1650, but died Oct. 20, 1651. No mention is made subsequently of the 
 father in the records, nor is his name on the tax lists of 1666, 1672, 1074, 
 '75, '76, whence it is inferred that he had removed from the town. 

 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 115 
 
 Simpson, then a garrison soldier at Hadley, and needing clothes, 
 might be released and come home, that " so his lether now in 
 the fatts may not be spoyled. 10 Of the other thirteen, Peter 
 Bateman, originally from Concord, 11 died at Woburn, Feb. 13, 
 16756, not improbably of sickness contracted at Narraganset 
 the December before. Chamberlin, Coddington, Crisp, Fletcher, 
 Hood, Abraham and Thomas Parker, do not appear to have 
 returned to Woburn to remain there after the war was over. 
 John Bateman (a brother, perhaps, o Peter: See Savage's 
 Genealogical Diet.} came back, married, and reared up a family 
 in Woburn. Clopson, also Roberts, Wallis, and Wilkinson 
 returned, and were taxed here after the war had ended ; Wil- 
 kinson died in the place, a pauper, 1683; and Roberts married 
 and had a family in Woburn, lived much respected in the place, 
 and died as late as 1724. 
 
 The other forty-four soldiers in Philip's War from Woburn, 
 named above, were all citizens of the town, or the minor sons 
 of citizens, when the war began ; were most of them here born 
 and brought up ; descendants of a majority of them, are still re- 
 membered, or yet live in the place, and they constituted almost 
 a third part of all the male ratable persons in the town in 
 1675, who were then in number only 140. 12 
 
 December 19, 1675, was fought that memorable battle between 
 the English and the Indians, called the Swamp Fight, or Narra- 
 ganset Fort Fight, from the circumstance of its being fought at 
 a fort in the midst of a swamp in the Narraganset country, 
 within the present bounds of South Kingston, Rhode Island. 
 As all the soldiers impressed about the first of that month from 
 Woburn, and also a considerable proportion of the others 
 enlisted in the war from the same place, appear to have taken 
 part in that bloody engagement, a brief account of it here may 
 not be amiss. 
 
 The Commissioners of the United Colonies of New England 
 (viz., Massachusetts, Plymouth and Connecticut) having deter- 
 mined, in November 1675, to undertake an expedition in the 
 
 11 Savage's Genealogical Dictionary. 
 
 i* Woburn i own Records, Vol. I., pp. 62, 68.
 
 116 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 midst of winter into the enemy's country, they ordered a thou- 
 sand men to be raised for this service with all possible despatch. 
 Of this army, Massachusetts furnished 527 men, viz, six com- 
 panies of foot, containing 465 men, under the command of Major 
 Appleton, and Captains Mosely, Gardener, Davenport, Oliver 
 and Johnson, and a troop of horse led by Capt. Prentice. 
 Plymouth found 158 men, in two companies under Major Brad- 
 ford and Capt. Gorham. Connecticut's quota was originally set 
 at 315 men, but she sent, eventually, into the field 300 English, 
 and 150 Mohegan and Pequot Indians, distributed into five 
 companies commanded by Major Treat, and by Captains Seely, 
 Gallop, Mason, Watts and Marshall. The whole army, now 
 amounting to 1,135 men, English and friendly Indians, was com- 
 manded by Major Josiah Winslow, Governor of the Colony of 
 Plymouth. The Massachusetts forces marched from Boston, 
 Dec. 8th, and from Dedham, Dec. 9th, and were joined by those 
 of Plymouth soon after, and by those of Connecticut, Dec. 18th, 
 about evening. After spending that night, which was cold and 
 stormy, in the open air, they moved on at break of day, Dec. 
 19th, wading through the snow, fourteen or fifteen miles, "with- 
 out either fire to warm them, or respite to take any food, save 
 what they could chew in their march." 
 
 At one o'clock, P. M., they arrived at the edge of the swamp, 
 the place of their enemy's retreat, whither they were conducted 
 by Peter, a disaffected Indian, who told them that here " they 
 should find Indians enough before night." In the midst of this 
 swamp, which was large, the Indians had made, upon a rising 
 ground of five or six acres, a fort, or an enclosure of palisades, 
 surrounded by a hedge of about a rod in thickness. The only 
 way by which our forces could venture to attempt an entrance 
 into it, with any chance of safety and- success, was over a long 
 tree elevated four or five feet from the ground ; and even this 
 had a log house erected over against it, in which many Indians 
 were stationed, ready to defend the passage against all who 
 should approach it. By this passage, the Massachusetts men, 
 who were in advance of the rest upon entering the swamp, made 
 a bold effort to throw themselves into the fort : but two of their
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 117 
 
 captains, Johnson and Davenport, were instantly shot down 
 mortally wounded ; the former upon the tree, the latter upon 
 getting within* the palisades. And here commenced a long and 
 sharp conflict between the English and Indians. For a consid- 
 erable time, the former were obstinately resisted by the 
 Indians, who fought with a desperate resolution against their 
 assailants, as they attempted an entrance into their fort, or 
 when they had succeeded in throwing themselves into it. But 
 nothing could daunt the English, or repress the ardor of their 
 attack. As fast as one company was driven back, another 
 stood ready to take its place, and to renew its efforts. At 
 length, while the main body of the Connecticut forces (who had 
 been stationed in the rear) were strenuously fighting their way 
 over the tree and before the block house, into the fort, another 
 party passed unobserved to the rear of the fort ; and there find- 
 ing a vacancy in th^palisades, they clambered over the high and 
 thick hedge, and, rushing along through the opening, " they 
 poured a heavy and well directed fire upon the back of the 
 enemy." And now the Indians, attacked both in front and 
 rear, were gradually compelled to give up resistance, and by one 
 way or another to make their escape from the fort. In the 
 mean while, the English fired their wigwams, in which were col- 
 lected not only their stores of corn for their subsistence during 
 the winter, but also many of their old men, women and 
 children : and then, having completed this work of destruction, 
 they commenced at dusk marching to their head-quarters fifteen 
 or sixteen miles off, taking with them their wounded, and the 
 greater part of their dead. 
 
 But who can describe the horrors of that night ! The groans 
 of the dying warriors, as they lay thickly strewed on the ground 
 in the fort ; the hideous yells of those who escaped, enraged at 
 their defeat, and at the loss of all that was dear to them ; the 
 heart-rending shrieks of old men, women and children perishing 
 in the flames of about six hundred wigwams : all concurred to 
 render the scene inexpressibly shocking, and deeply affected, it 
 is said, the hearts of some of the victors themselves. The loss- 
 of the Indians by this battle has been differently estimated..
 
 118 HISTORY OP WOBDRN. 
 
 According to the confession of one eminent among them, who 
 was afterwards taken in Rhode Island, and put to death in 
 Boston, there fell that day seven hundred warriors ; and three 
 hundred were wounded, who subsequently, the most of them, 
 died of their wounds. "It was supposed," saith Rev. Dr. Trum- 
 bull, concerning the Indians, "It was supposed that three 
 hundred warriors were slain, besides many wounded, who after- 
 wards died of their wounds and with the cold. Nearly the same 
 number were taken, with three hundred women and children. 
 From the number of wigwams in the fort, it is probable that the 
 whole number of the Indians was nearly four thousand. Those 
 who were not killed in battle, or did not perish in the flames, 
 fled to a cedar swamp, where they spent the night without food, 
 fire or covering." Of the English, " six brave captains fell in 
 the action, and eighty men were killed or mortally wounded. A 
 hundred and fifty men were wounded, whj^ afterwards recov- 
 ered." Many of the wounded died in consequence of their 
 sufferings from the cold, and from the hardships they endured 
 in their long fatiguing march the night after the battle. " The 
 cold was extreme," saith Dr. Trumbull, " and the snow fell so 
 deep that night, that it was difficult the next day for the army to 
 move. Many of the soldiers were frozen, and their limbs 
 exceedingly swollen. Four hundred were disabled and unfit 
 for duty." 13 Of those returned after the battle from the several 
 companies as dead or wounded, the following six belonged to 
 Woburn, viz : 
 
 "Of Major Samuel Appleton's company, Illia Thathane (or, 
 as the name doubtless should have been recorded, Elian Totting- 
 ham) " wounded and left at Rhode Island, January 6, 1675-6. 
 
 "Of Capt. Nathanael Davenport's company, Caleb Simonds, 
 Zechariah Snow and John Baker, wounded. 
 
 " Of Capt. Prentice's troop, John Wyman, jr., [son of Lieut. 
 John Wyman] slain, and Nathanael Richardson, wounded. 10 
 
 Beside these six officially returned, as dead or wounded,, 
 belonging to Woburn, may be named Francis Wyman, Jr., son 
 
 * Trumbull's Connecticut, Vol. I., Book 1, Chap, xiv., pp. 337-40. See also Hutchinson's 
 If asBachusetts, Vol. I., pp. 298-301. Hubbard's Indian Ware, pp. 100-112.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUEN. 119 
 
 of Francis, tanner, of Woburn ; and Peter Bateman. They were 
 both soldiers in Philip's war from Woburn; the former 
 apparently by voluntary enlistment, the latter by impressment, 
 about Dec. 1st, when preparations were making for the Narra- 
 ganset expedition ; they both appear to have fought in the Fort 
 fight; and they both died shortly after, Bateman 13 Feb., and 
 Wyman 26 April, 1676, not improbably from wounds received, 
 or sickness contracted, in that memorable battle. 
 
 But the six soldiers from Woburn, officially returned as killed 
 or wounded at the Fort fight in Narraganset, were not all of its 
 inhabitants whose blood was shed in Philip's war. The town 
 was visited the following spring by two or three of their savage 
 enemies upon a work of death, which they but too successfully 
 accomplished. In the afternoon of April 10, 1676, as Mr. 
 Samuel Richardson, who lived upon what has been recently 
 called the Miller Farm in Richardson's Row, was employed in 
 carting manure into his field, accompaned by his son Samuel, a 
 boy between five and six years of age, he was surprised in look- 
 ing toward his house, to see feathers flying about it, and other 
 tokens of mischief within. Apprehending that Indians might be 
 there, he hastened home, and there found two of his family 
 murdered, viz : his wife, Mrs. Hannah Richardson, who had been 
 lately confined ; and his son Thomas, twin brother to him who 
 had been with him in the field. Upon further search, it was 
 ascertained, that the infant also, a daughter named Hannah, had 
 been killed by the same ruthless hands. The nurse, it appeared, 
 had snatched it up in her arms, upon the alarm of danger, and 
 hurried away to a garrison house in the vicinity for protection. 
 But so closely was she pursued by the enemy, that finding she 
 could not save herself and the babe too, she let the babe drop, 
 and the Indians despatched it upon coming up. Mr. Richardson 
 now rallied some of his neighbors, who went with him in pur- 
 suit of the enemy. After following them some time, they espied 
 three Indians sitting together on a rock, and discharged their 
 muskets at them. The Indians instantly fled to a piece of 
 woods hard by ; and it being near night, their pursuers fearing 
 that they themselves might be waylaid by them, or decoyed into
 
 120 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 danger, desisted from following them, and returned home. 
 Upon going afterwards to the place where the Indians entered 
 the woods, they discovered blood on their track; and upon 
 further search, they found an Indian buried under the leaves, 
 who was doubtless one of the three, who had been fired upon by 
 Mr. Richardson and company, and who, being mortally 
 wounded, had died upon the spot where found, and had been 
 buried there by his associates. 
 
 To this period, too, may be assigned another occurrence of 
 the same melancholy character with the foregoing, which took 
 place in the opposite quarter of the town. Hubbard, in the 
 Preface to his "Narrative of the Indian Wars," edited in 1677 
 (as quoted by Drake in his "Biography and History of the 
 Indians of North America "), observes, "a murther was commit- 
 ted at Farmington, another at Woburn, by some Indians in 
 their drunken humors upon a maid Servant or two, who denied 
 them drink." The murder here referred to by Hubbard, appa- 
 rently as perpetrated a little before Philip's War, was not 
 improbably the same as one committed in the West part of 
 Woburn, now Burlington, the story of which has been transmit- 
 ted there by creditable, uninterrupted tradition from time imme- 
 morial. This story, which differs in some circumstances from 
 that of the Reverend historian just named, is briefly as follows. 
 On a certain Sabbath, an Indian concealed himself in a hop 
 house, the kiln of which is still pointed out, about a mile from 
 Burlington meeting-house, on the road to Bedford, between the 
 house belonging to the Poor Farm, and that of Miss Ruth 
 Wilson. When he supposed the neighbors generally had gone 
 to meeting, he came out from his lurking place, and went to the 
 house, which stood on the spot where Miss Wilson's now is. 
 Upon entering, he asked for cider of a young woman who had 
 been left at home. In compliance with his request, she went to 
 the cellar to draw some ; but upon her return, he knocked her 
 in the head with his tomahawk. The cellar door was dashed 
 with her blood, which was never wiped off; and when the house 
 came to be taken down, about 1 760, to make way for the erec- 
 tion of the present one on its site, this blood-stained door was
 
 
 HISTORY OP WOBtTRN. 121 
 
 removed, as it was, to the barn ; and when the barn was after- 
 wards taken down, to make room for a new one in its stead, the 
 door was transferred to another barn in the vicinity; and 
 thus continued to be exhibited in these several places for many 
 years, as a memorial of this instance of savage cruelty. 
 
 The period of this war of Philip was one of the darkest, if 
 not the most so, in the history of New England. The thinness 
 of the English settlements in the country at that time, and the 
 thorough acquaintance with their dwellings, fields, roads, and 
 all their common places and times of resort, which the Indians 
 possessed, gave the latter numberless opportunities for attacking 
 them unawares to advantage, which they were not slow to per- 
 ceive or improve. They were enabled hereby, as Rev. Dr. 
 Trumbull strikingly observes, " not only in small skulking par- 
 ties, but in great bodies, to make their approaches undiscovered, 
 almost into the very midst of them; and under cover of the 
 night, to creep into their barns, gardens and outhouses ; to con- 
 ceal themselves behind their fences, and lie in wait for them on 
 the roads and in their fields. Sometimes they concealed them- 
 selves before their very doors. No sooner did they open them 
 in the morning, than they were instantly shot dead. From 
 almost every quarter, they were ready to rise upon them. At 
 midnight, in the morning, or whenever they could obtain an advan- 
 tage, they were ready to attack them. While the English were 
 hunting them in one place, they would be slaying the inhabitants 
 and plundering and burning in another." .... And thus they 
 " kept the whole country in continual fear and alarm. There was 
 no safety to man, woman, nor child ; to him who went out, nor to 
 him who came in. Whether they were asleep or awake, whether 
 they journeyed, laboured or worshipped, they were in continual 
 jeopardy." 14 But happily, this dreadful state of consternation 
 and dismay did not last long. After April 1676, the affairs of 
 Philip rapidly declined ; and his death, August 12th, of that year, 
 put a stop to the war which he had been the chief instrument of 
 exciting, about fourteen months from its commencement. Within 
 
 Trumbull's Connecticut, Vol. I., Chap, xiv., p. 333. 
 11
 
 122 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 this short period, according to a statement in Trumbull's His- 
 tory of Connecticut, 15 " About 600 of the inhabitants of New 
 England, the greatest part of whom were the flower and strength 
 of the country, either fell in battle, or were murdered by the 
 enemy." .... "Twelve or thirteen towns in Massachusetts, 
 Plymouth Colony and Rhode Island, were utterly destroyed, and 
 others greatly damaged. About 600 buildings, chiefly dwelling 
 houses, were consumed with fire." And even this estimate, the 
 reverend historian just named considers, with reason, as falling 
 short of the truth. 
 
 Scarcely was this town delivered from the common burdens, 
 sufferings and terrors of this Indian war, than it was visited by 
 another grievous calamity, (as it was then considered, and really 
 was,) the small-pox. This loathsome distemper, which our 
 ancestors were wont to regard with most painful apprehensions, 
 whenever it appeared among them, before inoculation for it was 
 introduced, was brought at this time into the country by a ship 
 infected with it, which arrived at Nantasket, July 10, 1677. 16 
 Eight hundred persons in the whole are supposed to have fallen 
 victims to it in different places at this visitation. 16 " Multitudes " 
 died of it in Boston in 1678. In Charlestown, among other 
 valuable citizens to whom it proved fatal, was the elder Rev. Mr. 
 Thomas Shepard, one of the most talented and excellent ministers 
 of that town, who caught the disorder from a parishioner whom 
 he ventured to visit on his death-bed, and died of it shortly after 
 himself, December 22, 1677. From Charlestown or Boston, it 
 seems to have gradually spread to Woburn. A number here were 
 sick of it at the close of 1678, which led the selectmen, alarmed 
 by the danger in which it involved all the inhabitants, to pass at 
 a meeting of theirs, January 6, 1678-9, the following order: 
 
 " Whereas the hand of God is stretched out against many of the 
 Inhabitants of this Towne in the disease of the small pocks, for the 
 prevention of the spreading of the said disease, it is ordered 
 by the Selectmen of this towne of "Woburne, that from this time 
 
 15 Trumbull's Connecticut, Vol. I., Chap, xiv., p. 360. 
 
 "1677, July 10, the Ship infected with the Small Pox (whereof more than 800 died, came 
 to Nantasket." Diary of Rev. Peter Hobart, Hingham.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 123 
 
 forward all and every person that hath been infected with the said 
 disease, shall not goe forth to the Meeting hows or to their neighbours 
 howses before eight weeks are accomplished after they are first 
 taken, or into the streets, or near any person, so as to infect them, 
 and then to have leave from the Selectmen to come forth ; also all 
 watchers and tenders with the persons aforesaid are, when they 
 come to the meeting hows, to sit in such seats as are from time to 
 time appointed for that end ; and, when meetting is done, to goe 
 forth first, and hasten awaye, and not mix with the assembly : and 
 that there be care had in the hanging out bedding, or cloathes, or 
 throwing out excrements or any other thing, so as may tend to the 
 spreading of the said disease : and that all persons that have not 
 had this disease come not at those howses or persons infected, 
 unless it be those in the same family : and that all visitors be care- 
 ful in chainging their apparel when they come to the meeting hows : 
 and all persons transgressing this Order, being legally convicted 
 before the Selectmen, shall pa} r e to the use of the Towne twenty 
 shillings for each offence." 17 
 
 But, notwithstanding all the precautions taken by the fathers 
 of the town for preventing the spread of this dreaded disorder, 
 it continued apparently to prevail here, more or less, as late as 
 May 1679. For at a meeting of the Selectmen on the 5th of 
 that month, Eliah Tottingham was fined twenty shillings for a 
 breach of the above Order respecting it. 17 From a memoran- 
 dum in the Day Book of the Selectmen, (i. e. Town Records, 
 Vol. II.,) it appears that twenty-seven persons in all were sick 
 of it in Woburn at that time, viz : Isaac Brooks, three of his 
 children, and John Cutler, Senr., then a resident in his family ; 
 Gershom Flagg; James Thompson and a daughter; three of 
 goodman Houlten's [Holden's ?] daughters ; goodwife Gilson ; 
 David Wyman; Zechariah Convers' wife and child; Edward 
 Farmer, Isabel Farmer ; Matthew Johnson and daughter ; Sal ah 
 Adford; Craggen's daughter; Ephraim Buck's wife; Jacob 
 Farrar; Thomas Peirce; George Reed; goodwife Richardson. 
 Of these, four died of the disease, viz : John Cutler, Senr., in 
 the family of Isaac Brooks ; Jacob Farrar ; David Wyman, and 
 goodwife Convers. 18 
 
 Town Records, Vol. II., pp. 112, 120. " Town Records, Inverted, Vol. II., p. 163.
 
 124 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 September 5, 1684, died Rev. Mr. Thomas Carter, first pastor 
 of the church in Woburn, in the 74th year of his age, 19 and 
 42 d of his ministry. He was born in England, and educated 
 in St. John's College, at the University of Cambridge, where 
 he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, 1629, and of 
 Master of Arts, 1633. 20 He came to this country, " a young 
 man," and while yet a student in divinity, in 1635 r 20 and may 
 reasonably be supposed to be the Thomas Carter, who (accord- 
 ing to a publication of Hon. James Savage, entitled Gleanings 
 for New England " History ") was allowed, April 2d of the same 
 year, at the age of twenty-five, to embark with forty others at 
 London, on board the Planter, Capt. Nicholas Travice, bound to 
 New England. 21 This Thomas Carter, it is true, is described in 
 the Register of his permission, as being a servant of Mr. George 
 Giddins, a husbandman, on board the same ship. But then 
 such were the difficulties experienced at that day by men of edu- 
 cation and influence, in obtaining liberty to emigrate from Eng- 
 land to this country, in consequence of orders from the govern- 
 ment, that many were tempted in one way or other to elude 
 those orders, especially by concealing their proper business and 
 profession, or giving but an imperfect description of it. 21 And 
 it is some confirmation of this conjecture, that the age of the 
 emigrant in the Planter above stated exactly agrees with the 
 age assigned to Rev. Mr. Carter at his death. On his arrival in 
 this country, Mr. Carter was admitted an inhabitant of Dedham 
 shortly after 'i^s incorporation in September 1636. 22 From 
 Dedham, he removed to Watertown, where he united himself 
 with the church at that place ; and where he was employed in 
 some service by the church or town to good acceptance. For, 
 when he was first invited to preach at Woburn, Nov. 3, 1641, it 
 is mentioned as a reason for his not being applied to sooner, 
 that it had been doubted whether Watertown would be willing 
 to part with him. 23 He preached for the first time in this place, 
 December 4, 1641; and was ordained, November 22, 1642. 23 
 
 19 Woburn Records, Mr. Boutelle. * Savage's Gleanings, pp. 246-248. 
 
 n Savage's Gleanings, pp. 253, 254, 272, 273. Savage's Genealogical Dictionary. 
 Genealogical Dictionary. Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 4, 5.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 125 
 
 At his ordination, the town presented him with a house, which 
 they had built for his use, on the spot where the house known 
 as the Coolidge or Silvanus Woods' house now stands. 23 They 
 also engaged to give him a salary of <SO annually, one fourth of 
 which was to be in silver, the remainder in various necessaries 
 of life, at the current price : a compensation, which was enlarged 
 in 1674 by the grant of twenty cords of wood annually, to be 
 delivered at his door. From the time of his ordination, he min- 
 istered constantly to this people without aid thirty-six years, 
 till Rev. Mr; Jabez Fox was invited to assist him ; and from that 
 time, in connection with Mr. Fox, about six years more, till his 
 death. 
 
 Mr. Carter appears to have lived secluded in great measure 
 from the world ; and hence he is seldom if ever named in history 
 among the eminent clergymen of his day. Still, there is abundant 
 evidence, that he was a very pious, exemplary man, an able and 
 sound preacher of the gospel, and one whom God honored and 
 prospered in his work. Under his ministrations, the church was 
 greatly enlarged and built up, and the town flourished, and was 
 for the most part, in peace. Capt. Edward Johnson, one of the 
 principal founders both of the church and of the town, speaks of 
 him in his "Wonder-working Providence" (published in 1654) 
 as a "reverend, godly man, apt to teach the sound and wholesome 
 truths of Christ " ; and one who had " much encreased with the 
 encreasings of Christ Jesus." 24 And in the following lines 
 addressed by him in the same work to Mr. Carter, he is repre- 
 sented as a plain, but very faithful and successful minister ; a 
 pastor of distinguished humility and meekness, and in gentleness 
 towards his flock, as rather exceeding than otherwise. 
 
 " Carter, Christ hath his wayes thee taught, and thou 
 Hast not withheld his Word, but unto all 
 With's word of power dost cause stout souls to bow, 
 And meek as lambs before thy Christ to fall : 
 The antient truths, plain paths, they fit thee best, 
 Thy humble heart all haughty acts puts by ; 
 The lowly heart, Christ learns his lovely hest, 
 Thy meekness shews thy Christ to thee is nigh. 
 
 * Wonder-working Providence, Book D., Chap, xxii., pp. 17&-181. 
 11*
 
 126 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 
 
 Yet must thou shew, Christ makes his bold to be 
 
 As lions, that none may his truths tread down ; 
 
 Pastoral power he hath invested thee 
 
 With, it maintain, leest he on thee do frown. 
 
 Thy youth thou hast in this New England spent, 
 
 Full sixteen years to water, plant and prune 
 
 Trees taken up, and for that end here sent ; 
 
 Thy end's with Christ ; with's saints his praises tune." 24 
 
 What the last sickness of this venerable divine was, the 
 Records do not specify. But two charges in the bill for his 
 funeral expenses, presented to the Selectmen, October 6, 1684, 
 give reason to conjecture, that it was some short and violent 
 disease, perhaps a putrid fever. That bill was as follows : 
 
 '''Charges on Mr Thomas Carter's funerall in 1684. 
 
 By fourteene gallons of wine at 3" : 6 d per 
 
 gallon 2.09:00 
 
 For tarr, two shillings . . . : 02 : 00 
 
 For gloves 1:16:00 
 
 For his coffin, money . . . : 06 : 00 
 
 For his graue, in pay . . . : 05 : 00 
 For manchester, 6 yards, and a jarr for tarr : 01 : 06 
 
 4: 19: 06." ** 
 
 At a General Meeting of the inhabitants, October 6, 1684, 
 the same day on which the above bill of funeral expenses was 
 presented to the Selectmen, they voted and agreed unanimously 
 that there should be half a rate made for defraying it and other 
 " Town's debts." They also generously agreed that Mr. Carter's 
 rate for his salary' should " be compleated and payd for this 
 yeare as formerly." 25 
 
 By his wife, Mrs. Mary (Dalton) Carter, whom he married be- 
 fore his settlement in Woburn, and who died March 28, 1687, Mr. 
 Carter had eight children, viz : Samuel, Judith, Theophilus, Mary, *" 
 Abigail, Deborah, Timothy and Thomas. Theophilus and De- 
 borah died young, before their father ; Samuel, usually styled in 
 the Town Records, Mr. Samuel Carter, was born August 8, 1640 ; 
 
 Town Records, Vol. in., p. 68.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 127 
 
 had a liberal education, was a graduate at Harvard College, 1660, 
 was admitted an inhabitant and a proprietor of the common 
 lands by vote of the town, 4th Jan. 1665-6; 26 sustained at 
 different times several responsible offices in the town, as Select- 
 man, Town Clerk and " Commissioner of the Rate," and was 
 repeatedly employed there as an instructor of youth. By his 
 wife, Eunice [Brooks], whom he married 1672, he had eight 
 children, and died 1693. 
 
 Judith married Samuel, son of Deacon Edward Convers, June 
 8, [alias October 14,] 1660, 27 and secondly, Giles Fifield, May 2, 
 1672, and died 1676. Mary, born July 24, 1648, married 
 John Wyman, Jr., son of Mr. John Wyman of Woburn, about 
 1671, and he being killed by the Indians at the Swamp Fight, 
 December 19, 1675, she next married Nathaniel Bachiler of 
 Hampton, N. H., October 31, 1676, by whom she had eight 
 children, and died 1688. 28 Abigail, born January 10, 1649-50, 
 married May 7, 1674, John Smith, and died prior to 1684. 
 Timothy was born June 12, 1653, married Anna Fisk, daughter 
 of David Fisk of Cambridge [Lexington] May 3, 1680, and 
 died July 8, 1727. 28 Thomas was born June 8, 1655, married, 
 1682, Margery Whitmore, daughter of Francis Whitmore of 
 Cambridge, who died October 5, 1734. 28 Timothy and Thomas 
 Carter were both husbandmen, and proprietors, in their father's 
 right, of several considerable tracts of land in Woburn. Timothy 
 was the father of thirteen children, of whom three died before 
 their parents ; and the descendants of Thomas, who had a family 
 of six children, are still numerous in Wilmington, and in that 
 part of Burlington adjoining, which is known by the name of 
 Carter Row. 
 
 The same year in which Rev. Mr. Carter died, 1684, the 
 Charter of the Massachusetts Colony, which had long been 
 threatened, was vacated in England; and with their Charter, 
 the people had taken from them, not long after, the invaluable 
 pjivilege of choosing their own rulers. In December, 1686, Sir 
 Edmund Andros arrived at Boston, as Governor of Massachu- 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. I., p. 31. 27 Town Records. Savage's Genealogical Dictionary. 
 Town Records of Marriages, Births, etc., etc. Bavage's .Genealogical Dictionary. 
 Letter of Thomas B. Wyman, Esq.
 
 128 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 setts, by commission from King James II. : a fit servant of a 
 Popish and arbitrary master. Of this Governor, it has been 
 observed, that " Nero concealed his tyrannical disposition more 
 years than Sir Edmund and his creatures did months." He 
 promised fairly at first : but very soon exerted the great power 
 intrusted to him, for ruling as he pleased. He and a few of his 
 Council (appointed also by the King) who resided in or near 
 Boston, passed what laws and raised what taxes they saw fit, 
 without check from any assembly of representatives of the 
 people. They declared the titles to the lands granted under the 
 former Government to be of no validity, under the pretence that 
 the Charter had been vacated, and likewise that those grants had 
 been made without the Colony Seal; and they required the 
 people, if they would enjoy their possessions unmolested, to come 
 to them, and take out new patents for them, at an extravagant 
 price. And when some ventured to complain of oppression, 
 they were insolently told by one of the Council, "that they 
 must not think the privileges of Englishmen would follow them 
 to the end of the world." 
 
 This tyrannical government was suddenly put down, in an 
 unpremeditated insurrection of the people, in April 1689. 
 Previously, however, the people had in general been submissive 
 to its measures, because resistance appeared to them both pre- 
 sumptuous and vain. And yet, in some places, murmurs of 
 disapprobation and uneasiness would at times arise, and a dis- 
 position to oppose would occasionally manifest itself. The 
 Selectmen of Ipswich, for instance, voted to " petition the King 
 for liberty of an assembly before they [made | any rates " ; for 
 which daring act, they were fined and imprisoned. Samuel 
 Appleton, Esq., of the same town, and Rev. John Wise, one of 
 its ministers, were imprisoned for a like offence. 
 
 Woburn, too, repeatedly resented the privation of some of its 
 ancient liberties, which it suffered by this government. A law 
 had been passed by Sir Edmund and his Council forbidding 
 town meetings to be held at any time or for any purpose what- 
 ever, except once a year for the choice of town officers ; and 
 even for this single meeting in any year for this one purpose, it
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 129 
 
 was required, it seems, that it should be called, not by the 
 Selectmen of any town, but by warrant from certain Justices of 
 the County in which the town was located, or by direct authority 
 from the government. But the people of Woburn could not 
 brook this encroachment upon a privilege which they had 
 enjoyed under the old charter from the beginning. Their meet- 
 ing, for the choice of town officers for 1687, was convened 
 February 22d, the last Tuesday of that month, their long 
 accustomed day for this business, when they chose for Select- 
 indh, William Johnson, Esq. (well known for his warm attach- 
 ment to the old charter), Francis Kendall, Samuel Walker, 
 William Lock, and Increase Winn. But, within a fortnight, this 
 election was annulled; and the inhabitants were directed to 
 meet, March 7th, for a new choice, by a warrant from Capt. 
 Jonathan Wade, of Medford, Capt. John Brown, of Reading 
 and Lieut. William Symmes, of Medford, three Justices of the 
 Peace for the County of Middlesex, when they chose again 
 the same persons for Selectmen that had been elected in Feb- 
 ruary. 29 No other town meeting is on record for that year. 
 But the next year, to show their continued aversion to the 
 existing law respecting the calling of town meetings, they again 
 ventured to meet on the day they had been used to, February 
 28th, and re-elected the old Board of Selectmen. But again 
 their proceedings were nullified for being made at a meeting 
 illegally convened ; and the people were required, by " Order of 
 the Governour and Councill," to assemble anew for the choice 
 of town officers, May 21, 1688. Accordingly, in obedience to 
 authority, they met again on the day appointed j when William 
 Johnson, Esq., was either purposely dropped from the office of 
 Selectman, and from that of Town Clerk, (which he had holden 
 uniformly since the death of his father, in 1672,) from fear of 
 the resentment of the governor and his creatures ; or else, being 
 chosen, he declined accepting ; being unwilling to occupy a public 
 
 Town Records, Vol. III., p. 121. The name of William Johnson is not mentioned with 
 the others, in the record of the choice of Selectmen, Feb. 22, 1686-7 ; but he subscribed his 
 name as Selectman with the others to a record of Feb. 6, 1687-8, (Town Records, Vol. III., p. 
 116,) before the next choice of town officers, Feb. 28, 1687-8, wherein he is expressly named 
 as chosen one of the Selectmen.
 
 130 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 station during the existence of a government that had showed 
 itself so arbitrary, and so hostile to the liberties of the people. 
 
 In 1694, the town was thrown into a state of violent agitation, 
 in consequence of a summons to answer before the County Court 
 the presentment of Mistick or Medford Bridge. In 1648, the 
 General Court had passed an Order, laying the expense of mak- 
 ing and repairing bridges, upon the towns within whose limits 
 they were. 30 But this Order was repealed in 1655. 31 And, sub- 
 sequentl} 7 ", for a series of years, it became an established custom 
 to assess the repairs of Medford Bridge not on the town ' of 
 Medford alone, nor on the whole county of Middlesex, but jointly 
 upon the towns of Charlestown, Woburn, Reading, Maiden and 
 Medford ; even as the great bridge over Concord river at Bille- 
 rica was wont to be maintained at the united expense of Billerica, 
 Chelmsford and Groton. Woburn, however, had long been 
 growing weary of the incurnb ranee. As early as October 8, 
 1672, the town directed the Selectmen to address the General 
 Court by their deputies, or by petition, for granting them " some 
 ease of their burden at Mistick Bridge ; " and also authorized 
 them to make an agreement with the other towns united in the 
 support of it, if they saw fit, with the understanding, " that if 
 there come to be County Bridges," their agreement to this end 
 should be void. 32 But no relief was obtained of the General 
 Court, and, apparently, no agreement with the other towns, in 
 pursuance of this vote. The repairs of the bridge being 
 neglected, it was presented in 1675, and from that time Woburn 
 quietly did its part towards keeping it in passable order till 
 1690. October 16th, of that year, the Selectmen of Woburt, 
 Reading and Maiden, met in this town, and agreed to petition 
 the General Court concerning Mistick Bridge. 33 The result of 
 this petition appears to have been the appointment by the Court 
 of a committee to confer with committees of the above named 
 towns, and then, a reference of the whole subject to the County 
 Court for settlement. But the result of this conference is not 
 known. In 1691, the several towns above named were cited to 
 
 *> Colony Records, Vol. II., p. 2fl3. Colony Records, Vol. IV., Part 1, p. 231. 
 
 s 2 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 37. Town Records, Vol. III., p. 39. 

 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 131 
 
 appear before the County Court, to answer a presentment of the 
 bridge in question. And now the Selectmen of Woburn held a 
 meeting in May 1691, with those of Reading and Maiden, to 
 consult with one another how they should conduct their defence. 34 
 They also chose Sergeant Matthew Johnson to appear before the 
 Court on behalf of Woburn, 34 and appointed a committee of 
 three to measure, previously to the Sessions, all the bridges in 
 the country highways in town, with a view, doubtless, to exhibit 
 to the Court a statement of the cost they were liable to, for 
 maintaining bridges within their own bounds. 35 And, to crown all, 
 the inhabitants at a General Meeting, December 7, 1691, voted as 
 follows : " That the Selectmen of said towne [of Woburn] should 
 withstand the said town's allowing anything more to the repair- 
 ing of Mistick Bridge ; and if they withstand it in law, that the 
 town shall bear all the charge thereof." 36 
 
 In consequence of this bold resolution, nothing seems to have 
 been done by the town for the support of the bridge at Medford 
 for two years. But it did not clear them of their responsibility 
 in this matter. December 22, 1693, the Selectmen received a 
 summons from the Clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions 
 to send men before said Court on the 26th of that month, "to 
 answer the presentment of Mystick Bridge." In obedience to 
 this citation, Samuel Blogget, one of the Selectmen, and James 
 Convers 2d (afterwards known as Major James Convers), 
 appeared before the Court on the given day, and made answer, 
 " that Woobourne was not concerned in the presentment of Mis- 
 tick Bridge; neither would they do anything in order to the 
 repairing thereof, except by Law they were forced thereto ; and 
 that they referred themselves to the law in that case ; and so left 
 the case for that time." 37 But this resolute stand was easier 
 taken than kept. For, immediately after, came a new citation 
 from the clerk of the sessions, ordering the Selectmen or others 
 on behalf of Woburn to appear before the Court at their 
 
 ** Town Records, Vol. in., p. 149. 
 
 ss Town Dr. to Mr Carter [Samuel] the 4th. month 1691 for a daye's work taking a Sur- 
 vey of all the Bridges :02 :10." Town Records, Vol. HI., p. 149. Charges for the same 
 service on the same page, by Matthew Johnson and Thomas Peirce. 
 
 *> Town Records, Vol. III., p. 154. Town Records, Vol. IV., p.
 
 132 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 adjournment, January 23, 1693-4, and then " to make returne to 
 said Court of the repairing of Mistick Bridge, on the penalty of 
 five pounds fine to their Majesties for the town's default in that 
 matter." 38 The receipt of this summons threw the whole town 
 into a ferment. The Selectmen immediately called a meeting of 
 the town, January 10, 1693-4, at which they made known to 
 them the above order of Court. Whereupon " the Inhabitants 
 of Woobourne joyntly declared, that what they had formerly 
 done towards the repairing of Mistick Bridge, was only an act 
 of Charity to help Medford when they were low and poore, and 
 to help those men that had engaged themselves to help repaire 
 the same ; and now Medford was much increased both in num- 
 ber and in estate, and those gentlemen that had formerly engaged 
 themselves as aforesaid being all dead, now therefore the said 
 Inhabitants once more voted with a joynt concurrence, that as 
 by law they were not engaged to help repair Mistick Bridge, so 
 they would do nothing to the same j and furthermore, that they 
 may shew their obedience to authority, the Inhabitants aforesaid 
 nominated and chose Lt. Matthew Johnson and James Convers 
 2d, both of Woburn aforesaid, to appear for them on the 23d 
 inst. before the said Honored Court at their said adjournment, 
 and make this answer as abovesaid. And further that the said 
 town of Woburn refer themselves to the law in such cases had 
 and provided in this their Majesties Province: also the said 
 Inhabitants do hereby impower the said Matthew Johnson and 
 James Convers to defend the said town in a course of law, 
 either by review, appeal, or any other lawful way or means 
 whatsoever, against the repairing or maintaining of any part of 
 Mistick Bridge, against any who shall demand the same : hereby 
 promising to reimburse all the charges and expenses that they or 
 either of them shall necessarily be at, in and about the premises, 
 granting and allowing unto the said Johnson and Convers full 
 power and authority to appoint and constitute Attorneys one j 
 or more under them, and at pleasure to revoke; giving unto 
 the said Johnson and Convers full power to say, execute and 
 do in and about the same whatever is necessary in law ; hereby 
 
 88 Town Records, Vol. IV., pp. 5, 6. 

 
 HISTORY OF WOBURX. 133 
 
 promising to ratify and confirm all and whatsoever the said 
 Matthew Johnson and James Convers or their attorneys shall 
 lawfully do or cause to be done in and about the premises and 
 dependances thereof. 
 
 " Per order of the Inhabitants of Woburn, 
 "JAMES CONYERS, Town Clerk." 38 
 
 Thus armed with power and authority from the town, one of 
 its two agents, James Convers, repaired by advice to Boston, and 
 feed a couple of lawyers aforehand, " for fear " (as he expresses 
 it), " of being intercepted " ; and both of them appeared before 
 the Court at its adjournment, January 23d, and made defence, 
 as follows: "That Woburn was not presented [presentable?] 
 upon account of Mistick Bridge, nor were they culpable as 
 criminals upon that account. If Medford could plead anything 
 of a Covenant, that was a Civil case, and not a criminal ; and 
 they might have their action against us in the Common Law : 
 but at this Court, and in this way, we were not obliged to make 
 any further answer, but to refer ourselves to the law, 'that 
 bridges were to be mended in those towns in whose precincts 
 they lie,' and so left it with the Court ; and the Court considered 
 thereof, and gave us the following determination. 
 
 " Middlesex, ss : At the Generall Quarter Sessions of the 
 Peace, holden at Charlestown, Jan^ 23d, 1693-4 ffrom the 20th of 
 December 1693, by their Majesties Justices : 
 
 " Whereas there was an Order of the General Court in the year 
 1691 referring the settlement of Mistick Bridge to y e Count}' Court 
 of Middlesex, and the said Court ordering the repairing of said 
 bridge to be by the respective townes of Charlestowne, "VYoobourne, 
 Maiden, Redding and Medford, according to their wonted manner, 
 till the Generall Court make further provision ; and the defects of 
 said bridge having been presented to this Court before the late law 
 respecting Bridges ; this Court order that the said respective 
 townes do forthwith make sufficient repaire of the said defects of 
 said Bridge, upon paine and penalty of fiue pounds fine to their 
 Majesties for the respective defaults of each of the said townes, 
 and then to make returne of their doings therein to the next 
 12
 
 134 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 General Sessions of the peace for Middlesex ; and then for the 
 future it shall be left to the determination of the Law." 
 
 " Veru Copia Exam d per Samuell Phipps, Cler." 39 
 
 With this decision of the Court, Woburn thought it prudent 
 to comply. " Whereupon," adds the Town Clerk, immediately 
 under his copy of the decision just referred to : " Whereupon 
 the said Bridge was sufficiently mended by Josyah Convers 
 sworne surveyor, and return made as abovesaid and recorded." 9 
 No doubt, one inducement with the people for thus doing, 
 contrary to their previous resolutions, was the expectation that 
 this was the last time they should ever be called on to repair 
 Mistick Bridge. This expectation was founded on the closing 
 sentence of the decision of the Court, that the repairing of this 
 bridge should in future " be left to the determination of the 
 Law": which they thought would clearly free them and the 
 other towns above named, except Medford, from the burden in 
 question. But in this idea, they soon found themselves mistaken. 
 The law referred to was passed by the Provincial Legislature 
 in 1693, and is entitled "An Act for Highways." Among its 
 numerous provisions is one for the annual choice of two or more 
 Freeholders in each town, who should "take care that all 
 Highways, Private Ways, Causeys and Bridges lying within 
 the Precincts of such Town, be kept in repair, and amended 
 from time to time, when and so often as shall be needful, at the 
 charge of such Town (where it is not otherwise settled)," 
 etc., etc. 40 
 
 " Where it is not otherwise settled" Of this exceptive clause 
 in the law, advantage seems to have been afterwards taken, 
 to defeat the expectations of Woburn, of being freed from 
 all obligation to aid in the repairs of Mistick bridge. It 
 was doubtless insisted upon by Medford, with the counte- 
 nance of the Court, that it had been so long settled by cus- 
 tom, that Woburn should join with Charlestown and the other 
 towns concerned in helping Medford to keep that bridge in 
 repair, that the law referred to did not now release them from 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 6. 
 
 40 Colony and Provincial Laws of Massachusetts Bay, pp. 267-8. 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 135 
 
 it, and they must still do as they had done. Hence, after the 
 above decision of the County Court, in 1694, "Woburn was 
 called upon year after year, again and again, to mend the bridge 
 at Medford, though out of its own limits ; again and again it 
 demurred, and passed resolutions against complying; and yet 
 eventually complied : 41 so that nearly seventy years more elapsed, 
 before it was fully released from a burden so long complained of. 
 But, in 1761, an agreement was entered into between Woburn 
 and Medford, by which the long vexed question of Medford 
 bridge was fully put to rest. At a general meeting in Woburn, 
 July 21, 1760, it was voted, "that the Committee chosen at the 
 annual meeting in March last past to manage the aifair con- 
 cerning the Great Bridge at Medford, are hereby directed and 
 impowered to agree with the town of Medford about said Bridge 
 for a certain sum, that so the town of Woburn may be finally 
 discharged from any future charge relative to said Bridge." 42 To 
 this proposal for settlement, Medford showed itself willing to 
 assent. For at a town meeting there, May 13, 1761, six of its 
 citizens were chosen as a committee " to treat with Woburn, 
 Reading and Maiden, or either of said towns separate, concern- 
 ing Medford Great Bridge; that is, to take a certain sum of 
 money of said Town or Towns, and acquit any of them that shall 
 comply, from all further charge." 43 After this manifestation on 
 the part of Medford of its readiness to compromise its difficulty 
 with Woburn in the way of Woburn's own proposing, the com- 
 mittees of the two towns met to confer with one another on this 
 subject, and came to a mutual agreement. This agreement was 
 ratified by Woburn in town meeting, June 25, 1761, when its 
 inhabitants voted " that they would give the sum of two hundred 
 
 Viz, in 1702. (Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 204.) In 1706. (Town Records, Vol. V., 
 pp. 24, 28.) In 1711, Aug. 20th, " The Selectmen of Woobourn were warned to appear at the 
 Quarter Sessions of the Peace .... to answer the Presentment of Mistick Bridge. Accord- 
 ingly, the Selectmen appointed Stephen Richardson to procure Stuff and mend Said Bridge, 
 which he did," etc., etc (Town Records, Vol. V., p. 196.) At a general meeting, March 
 3, 1728-9, chose Mr. Daniel Peirce and Mr. Caleb Blogget, as a Committe* to go to the Gen- 
 eral Court with a Petition that they may be " eased of the burden of Mistick Bridge, or to 
 have liberty of a Landing Place at the River," etc., etc.~(Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 369.) 
 Bee also Proceedings of the Town at a general meeting, Jan. 28, 1744-5, (Town Records, Vol. 
 VII., p. 462,) and May 19, 1760, (Town Records, Vol. VIII., p. 291.) 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VIII., pp. 294, 315. Town Records, Vol. VHI., p. 466.
 
 136 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 pounds, Old Tenor, or equivalent in Lawful Money " (the amount 
 agreed upon by their committee), "to the town of Medford." 42 
 And thus this controversy of nearly a century's standing was 
 brought to a peaceable issue, as stated in the following attested 
 copy of Medford's agreement : 
 
 "Agreement of Medford about y e Bridge. 
 
 " Know all men by these Presents, that we Samuel Brooks 
 Esq r . Stephen Hall Esq r . Zachariah Poole Gentleman, Simon Tufts 
 Gentleman, Seth Blogget Gentleman, and Benjamin Parker Gen- 
 tleman, being chosen and impowered by the Town of Medford to 
 agree with the Town of Woburn about Medford Bridge, we being 
 all of the Town of Medford in the County of Middlesex and 
 Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, DO agree 
 that for and in consideration of the sum of Twenty six pounds 
 thirteen shillings and four pence of Lawful Money paid by the 
 Town of Woburn before the ensealing hereof, do hereby acquit and 
 discharge the said Town of Woburn from all past and future 
 charges arising by reason of said Bridge, and do, in our said 
 capacity take upon the town of Medford all the charge and care of 
 said Bridge, which the Town of Woburn was bound to do or ever 
 shall be : In Witness whereof we in our said capacity have here- 
 unto sett our hands and seals this seventh day of July annoque 
 Domini one thousand seven hundred and sixty one, and in the 
 first year of his Majesty's Reign. 
 
 " Signed, Sealed and Delivered STEPHEN HALL [L. s.] 
 in the Presence of us Z. POOLE [L. s.] 
 
 WILLIS HALL SIMON TUFTS [L. s.] 
 
 AARON HALL BENJ H PARKER [L. s.] " 
 
 An amusing specimen of the town's watchful attention to its 
 minute as well its weighty interests and concerns in former 
 times, occurs in the Records of 1696. At a General Meeting, 
 June 24th of that year, after citing several delinquents in the 
 payment of Rev. Mr. Fox's salary to appear before the Select- 
 men on the following Monday at the house of James Fowle, 
 " public notice was likewise given to all persons concerned, 
 that have incroached upon the Town's Common and High- 
 ways by fencing in yards or the like without Order," that
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 137 
 
 they also appear before the Selectmen at the same time and 
 place, " to agree with the said Selectmen about their severall 
 trespasses, or else some other measures will be speedily taken 
 to redress the same." 44 From the sharp threatening at the close 
 of this warning, uttered in open town meeting, and apparently 
 with the consent and approbation of all the people present, it 
 might naturally be inferred that some grievous trespass upon 
 town property had been committed. What was it, then, and 
 who were the trespassers ? Had some covetous householders 
 rendered half of Upstreet impossible to be passed with safety 
 by making large, unauthorized enclosures ? Had certain unprin- 
 cipled wood-dealers presumptuously invaded and fenced in some 
 twenty acres of the town's woodland in Wood Hill ? Or had 
 some greedy landholder inclosed, and appropriated to his own 
 use a goodly portion of the Town Common in the plains of 
 Goshen? Oh, no; nothing of the kind. The sum of the 
 encroachments complained of was this. The Rev. Jabez Fox, 
 their minister, and two other highly respectable citizens, Thomas 
 Peirce, Senr.,and Daniel Baldwin, happened to be fond of tobacco ; 
 and taking a notion to raise enough themselves for their own 
 smoking and chewing, they had each ventured to fence in some 
 unsightly nook or bend in the highway near their respective 
 premises, where the soil was peculiarly favorable for the growth 
 of the noxious weed, and had there set out plants of it, which 
 were now thriving like so many skunk cabbages, promising them 
 a luxuriant harvest. But, in accordance with the warning now 
 given them, backed by such plain threats of a civil prosecution, 
 they all three, like good citizens, came before their Honors, the 
 Selectmen, at the time and place appointed, to make satisfaction 
 for their wrong-doing. And there, having received some gentle 
 reprimand for their unauthorized converting of public into pri- 
 vate property for the time, they were lei off from any further 
 censure or punishment, and had leave to enjoy " the improvement 
 of those severall bitts of land " for that summer, on condition 
 of agreeing to pay the Selectmen a penny each for the use of the 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., pp. 72, 73. 
 12*
 
 138 HISTORY OF WOBTJRN. 
 
 town, and throwing open their enclosures to the highway by the 
 next " Michaelmas." 44 And so far at least as relates to the 
 money they promised to pay for the town's use, there is evidence 
 upon Record that they were as good as their word. For in the 
 Town Accounts for that year, James Convers, Jr., the Town 
 Clerk, is made Dr. to the town 
 " For money paid for quittrent for three tobacco 
 yards per Mr ffox, Clark Peirce & Sargt 
 
 Baldwin 00 :00' :03 d ." 45 
 
 Rev. Jabez Fox appears to have possessed the confidence and 
 affectionate regard of the great body of the people in Woburn, 
 and to have retained the same through life. And yet the men of 
 the generation he served, were not all so punctual to fulfil their 
 engagements to him as their fathers had been to his predecessor 
 in the ministry. Through the pressure of the times (which were 
 confessedly hard), and especially in consequence of the heavy taxes 
 imposed during the Indian and French wars of that period, a 
 number were constantly behind hand in paying their proportions 
 to his salary, so that, at one time, the arrears due to him were 
 about <70, equivalent nearly to his salary for a year. Various 
 were the expedients resorted to by the Selectmen and by the 
 town to cure this evil, but long without the desired success. 
 One method proposed was, that the Deacons for the time being 
 should reckon with Mr. Fox at the end of every year, and warn 
 all who were found delinquent to make up their arrears within 
 two months after the year had expired, and repore them to the 
 Selectmen, if they persisted in their neglect ; in which case, the 
 Selectmen were to recover their dues in a legal way. But the 
 Deacons proving but inefficient collectors and duns, the whole 
 burden devolved upon the Selectmen, who summoned the delin- 
 quents before them at times, when some, say the Records, " that 
 were behind, were brought up to their proportions " (T. R. IV., 
 p. 27). At a General Meeting, January 18, 1696-7, a com- 
 mittee, consisting of Major William Johnson, Deacons Samuel 
 Walker and James Convers, Jr., was appointed to audit Rev. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 69.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 139 
 
 Mr. Fox's accounts, and to make report respecting delinquents 
 at the next General Meeting. At the same time, the Selectmen 
 were ordered for the fiture to furnish Mr. Fox, in November 
 of every year, with a List of every man's proportion to his 
 salary, and at the end of every year to reckon with Mr. Fox, 
 and give a list of rates unpaid to the Constables to collect 
 them. And, moreover, it was voted at the same meeting, that 
 Rev. Mr. Fox's salary should be paid semi-annually ; that so 
 if any persons should be about to remove from the town, the 
 Selectmen, by taking care, might " save the one halfe of their 
 rates, if not the whole." 46 
 
 December 6, 1697, the Selectmen met, say the Records, "to 
 look after Mr. Jabez Fox his arrears, and sent writts to some, 
 and messages to others. Severall came up and paid their 
 arrears . . . others warned to appear the 21st courant" etc. 46 
 Finally, at a General Meeting, March 3, 1698-9, the following 
 Resolve was passed : " The freeholders and other Inhabitants of 
 this Towne of Wobourne having considered and discoursed the 
 difficulty of bringing up some men to their duty, as to their pay- 
 ing their due proportions to the maintenance of the Rev. Mr. Jabez 
 Fox, annually, according to covenant; divers methods having 
 been taken which did not prove effectual, the said Inhabitants 
 declared their minds in the matter, that the most likely way for 
 the collecting the said Mr ffox his sallery, is to make fair lists 
 thereof (as of other rates) of each and every one's due proportion 
 to the same, and affix warrants thereto, and deliver the same to 
 the severall Constables annually, to collect it by distress, of all 
 such as refuse or neglect to pay their respective parts thereof : 
 and for all those persons that pay their respective parts of the 
 said sallery without such distress, they shall pay no part of the 
 Constables' charge for collecting the same, but the whole charge 
 of the said collection, distress or distresses, shall be paid by 
 those persons only, that by their refusal or negligence occasion the 
 same : and this was voted and passed in the affirmative." 47 Ac- 
 cordingly, three days after the General Meeting, March 6, 1698-9, 
 the Selectmen " mett and perfected the lists for the Reverend Mr. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., pp. 83, 101. Town Record*, Vol. IV., p. 137.
 
 140 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Jabez ffox his sallery for the year 1698, beginning on the first of 
 November last, and affixed Warrants to the same, and delivered 
 the same to the Constables to collect, as above said" etc. 47 
 This method seems to have been effectual for the end intended 
 during the remainder of Mr. Fox's life; but still there were 
 large arrears due for the years preceding, which were not col- 
 lected till after his death. This mournful event took place 
 suddenly, while he was yet in the midst of his days and useful- 
 ness. Being at Boston on a visit, he was seized with the small- 
 pox, of which he died there, February 28, 1702-3. A friend of 
 his in Boston thus records his death at the time : " Lord's Day 
 Feb. 28 1702-3. Mr Jabez Fox dies of the Small Pox in the 
 forenoon." 48 
 
 Rev. Mr. Jabez Fox, second pastor of the church of Christ in 
 Wo burn, was, according to a family tradition, a lineal descend- 
 ant of Rev. John Fox, a nonconformist divine in the reign of 
 Queen Elizabeth, and author of the work entitled " Acts and 
 Monuments of the Church " ; or, as it is more familiarly known, 
 Fox's Book of Martyrs: a book much read by the Puritan 
 founders of New England, and regarded by them with a rever- 
 ence and esteem short only of that which they paid to the Bible. 
 
 His father, Mr. Thomas Fox, resided first in Concord ; and 
 then removing to Cambridge, was one of its Selectmen in 1658, 
 and repeatedly afterwards; and died there April 25, 1693, 
 aged 85. His mother, Mrs. Ellen Fox, previously to her mar- 
 riage to his father, Mr. Thomas Fox, had been the widow of Mr. 
 Percival Green of Cambridge, a member of the church there, who 
 died Dec. 25, 1639, and by whom she had had two children, 
 John and Elizabeth Green, both baptized in infancy in the church 
 at Cambridge. 
 
 Mr. Jabez Fox was born and baptized in Concord, about 
 
 Diary of Judge Bewail. 
 
 48 At a general town meeting, April 5th, 1703, it was generously voted to 
 pay Mrs. Judith Fox, the relict of their late pastor, forty pounds of the 
 annual salary which had been proportioned for her husband the November 
 preceding, but who had died when but about four months of his year had 
 expired. See Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 224.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 141 
 
 1 647, 49 and was yet in his minority when his father removed from 
 there to Cambridge ; was graduated at Harvard College, in 1665, 
 and appears to have studied divinity there. He had commenced 
 preaching, and had married before application was made to him, 
 in 1678, to go to Woburn, and to preach there statedly a year, 
 as an assistant to Rev. Mr. Carter. This invitation was accepted ; 
 and so satisfactory were his services, that, before the term of his 
 engagement expired, the town voted him unanimously, July 16, 
 1679, " a call to the ministry, with an Intent he may be called 
 to office in time, if God makewaye"; 50 and, November 5th, 
 1679, they invited him to settle over them for life; and made 
 generous provision for his comfort and support. 50 The church, 
 too, it is presumed, a little previously to the last date, gave him 
 a call to the pastoral office, as he had been encouraged to expect 
 they would. The precise date of his ordination has not been 
 preserved ; but may reasonably be assigned to the middle of 
 November, 1679. His salary year was long reckoned as com- 
 mencing with November 1st. The whole term of his constant 
 service in the gospel ministry in this place was somewhat over 
 twenty-four years ; viz : one year as an assistant to Rev. Mr. 
 Carter, and twenty-three years and upwards as settled minister 
 in Woburn, and pastor of this church. 
 
 At his decease, in Boston, his remains were brought to 
 Woburn, and there interred in the Old Burial Ground. For 
 many years, it is understood, the stone which marked the place of 
 his interment, was overlooked, or supposed to have been 
 removed. But, during the past summer (1866), a descendant, 
 Jabez Fox, Esq., of Washington, D. C., made a visit to Wo- 
 burn ; and going upon Burial Hill, found the gravestone of his 
 
 49 It has been supposed by some that Mr. Fox was born in Cambridge. 
 But this hypothesis is disproved by the following extract from a " List of 
 Members in the Church of Cambridge," in the handwriting of Rev. Mr. 
 Jonathan Mitchell, its pastor, which purports to have been " taken and 
 registred in y llth. month 1(358." [January, 1658-9.] 
 
 " Thomas ffoxe & Ellen his wife, both in full Comm. 
 
 " His son Jabez ffoxe baptized at Concord, but in minority when his 
 ffather joyned here." See Cambridge Church Records. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 98, 101.
 
 142 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 ancestor, and took down an exact copy of the inscription upon 
 it, as follows : 
 
 Memento Fugit 
 
 Mori : Hora, 
 
 HERE LYES Y BODY OF 
 Y REVEREND M JABEZ FOX. 
 PASTOUR OF Y CHURCH OF 
 CHRIST IN WOBOURN 23 YEARS. 
 & AGED 56 YEARS, DECESEo 
 FEB B Y 28i 170|. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Fox's widow, Mrs. Judith Fox, was daughter of the 
 elder Rev. John Reyner, minister of Plymouth and Dover, N. H. 
 After Mr. Fox's death, she married Col. Jonathan Tyng, of 
 Boston, who had been of the Council of Gov. Sir Edmund 
 Andros, and who, coming in his latter days to Woburn to 
 reside, died there suddenly, January 19, 1723-4. The vener- 
 able lady, his widow, survived him till June 1736; and the 
 following touching memorial of her excellence is copied from 
 her gravestone : 
 
 Here lyes Buried y* Body 
 
 of Mrs Judith Tyng, wife 
 
 to Col 1 Jonathan Tyng, 
 
 formerly wife to y Rev 4 
 
 Mr. Jabez Fox : who Dy'd 
 
 June 5th, Anno Dom 1 1736, 
 
 in y 99th year of her Age : 
 
 A woman of Most Exemplary Vertue 
 
 & Piety ; Rich in Grace, ripe for Glory." 
 
 By this worthy lady, Rev. Jabez Fox had five children ; viz : 
 
 1. John, born at Cambridge, May 10, 1678, shortly before his 
 father was invited to preach in Woburn, and who afterwards 
 succeeded his father there in the pastoral office. 
 
 2. Thomas; born at Woburn July 6, and died July 10, 
 1680. 
 
 3. Thomas; born at Woburn November 13, 1681. 
 
 4. Jabez; born December 2, 1684. 
 
 5. Judith; born June 19th, 1690, and died the same year. 
 
 M Jabez Fox, Esq., above mentioned. This inscription, furnished by him, differs consid- 
 erably from that exhibited in Alden's Epitaphs. Vol. I., Xo. 237, p. 229.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 143 
 
 It is not known that Rev. Mr. Fox ever published any of his 
 writings. A skeleton of a sermon, delivered by him at Cam- 
 bridge, July 28, 1678, from 2 Tim. ii. 19, and committed to 
 writing by Mr. afterwards Rev. Nathaniel Gookin, pastor of the 
 church in Cambridge, is published in Alden's Collection of 
 American Epitaphs, vol. I., No. 236, pages 226-229, and is pre- 
 sented (a good part of it) in Chapter HI. of this work. An- 
 other skeleton of a discourse, preached by Rev. Mr. Fox at 
 Cambridge, May 11, 1673, from Eph. v., 16, " Redeeming the 
 time," is found in the voluminous manuscript collections of Hon. 
 John Hull, Esq., and of his son-in-law, Judge Sewall. It was 
 probably taken down on paper at the time of delivery, by the 
 latter gentleman, who was then a resident graduate or tutor at 
 the college in Cambridge ; and it is here given, not only as a 
 sample of the instructions addressed to his hearers by the sec- 
 ond minister of Woburn, but also as a specimen of the manner 
 in which the ancient divines of New England constructed their 
 discourses for the pulpit. 
 
 By Mr. Fox, May 11, 1678. 
 Ephe. 5 :16. Kedeem. ye time. 
 
 2 motives (1) because such are termed wise. 
 [See v. 15.] (2) because y e dayes are Evil. 
 
 [Doctrine ] Ifc is a dutv incumbent on, & much for ye interest of all (espe- 
 ' cially in evil times) to redeem y e time. 
 
 Luke 15. 17. Jonah when his soul fainted, remembered ye L. 
 [Lord.] Hester. Ninevites. 
 
 Expli. [Explication : by 3 Questions.] 
 
 1 Q-. When said to be evil dayes ? 
 
 ] (1) All ye dayes of our lives are evil, both in respect of sinne 
 
 & the effects of it. 
 Special. (1) In ye day of Jacob's trouble. 
 
 (2) When, notwithstanding our afflictions, there is 
 
 noe returning to y e L. [Lord.] 
 
 (3) When those evils are found among a people which 
 
 call for evil dayes : as 
 
 1. Pride. 
 
 2. Lighting [slighting?] ye means of grace : Speak. [Speak- 
 
 ing] Smooth things &c. 
 
 8. Covetousness, oppression & deceipt. Mica? 2. [Micah, 
 2, 3.] When these things are incorrigibly persisted 
 in, so y* ye prudent keep silence. Gray haires, & men 
 know it not. Eccl. 12. 1. 
 Several gray haires : as
 
 144 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 1. Decay of first love. 
 
 2. When there is a want of life & vigour. 
 
 3. A lukewarm spirit; a spirit of neutrality, when 
 
 men know not whether to be for God, or Mam- 
 mon : such a Laodicean strain speakes evil 
 times. 
 
 4. When God seems to be withholding his convert- 
 
 ing spirit. 
 
 2 Q. What to redeeme time ? 
 
 ] Nega. [Negatively] time cannot be called back. 
 It presupps. [presupposes] 
 
 1. A sence of ye loss & worth of time. 
 
 2. A sence of y e disadvantage accrueing by ye loss of it. 
 
 [It implies (1) Knowing ye seasons & opp. [opportunities] Rom. 
 
 13. 11. 
 
 (2) A dew [due] improving ye time : catching at all 
 opportunityes & parcels of time. Eccle. 9. 7. 
 do it with all thy might. 
 
 R - ! 1. From ye absolute necessity of it, in respect of what we have lost. 
 
 2. With respect unto ye shortness of time. 
 
 3. With reference to ye means of redeeming time, which are 
 
 hastening away. 
 
 4. With respect to ye work & buisinesse we have to doe. 
 R. 2. From ye comand [command] of God. 
 
 3. Because ye dayes are evil from y e sinne acted by each of us. 
 
 Q. 3. Why especially at such a time ? 
 [Ques ] 
 
 (2) Evil dayes cut men short of their time. 
 
 (3) It is ye only means to prevent ye badnesse of ye times. 
 
 (4) Because evil dayes take awaye ye means for redeeming 
 
 time. 
 
 (5) Satan is then most busy. 
 
 (6) Else we shall be fools. 
 
 (7) At such a time, we do most honour God, if so be then we 
 
 redeem ye time. 
 
 u.Exam. 1. Whether ye evil of y e times have been any motive to us to 
 
 [Use for Ex- r&Atmm it 
 
 nmination.] redeem it. 
 
 2. Hath it wrought in us a greater circumspection ? hath it 
 stirred up a spirit of prayer in us ? 
 
 U. 2. wt. [What] thankfulnesse, y* God gives us a season & oppor- 
 tunity to redeem time ? God sumes [sums] up a great deal of 
 love in y [this ;] I gave her space to repent : ye more 
 
 1. Because we have neglected ye time. 
 
 2. How many cut short of time I
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 145 
 
 U. Exort. Redeem ye time. If we have all lost time, yn [then] it is time 
 LrTaUon.ffor us to redeem time. 
 
 (1) Our time is limited to a certain time. 
 
 (2) There is notice & account taken of all ye opportunityes 
 
 we enjoy. 3 years I come &c. 
 
 (3) This is ye very end of all ye space we have afforded us. 
 
 Direct. 1. Bethink yourselves what ye worth of time is. 
 
 [Directions] 2 . Take heed of resting in dutyes. 
 
 3. Do not procrastinate : this, a daring of God. Matt. 24, 
 latter end. 
 
 13
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Settlement of Rev. John Fox, November 1703. Declaration of the Church, 
 1703. Occasion of Baptists in Woburn, 1671. Proceedings in the Law 
 against Them, etc., etc. Brief Notices of the Six Subscribers to the 
 Church's Declaration, viz : William Johnson, Esq., Dea. Saml. Walker, 
 Joseph Wright, Seur., James Couvers, Senr., W. Locke, Senr., James 
 Convers, Jr. 
 
 THE last chapter, it will be remembered, brought down the 
 history of Woburn to the death of Rev. Jabez Fox, its second 
 minister, February 28, 17023. In April following, agreeably to 
 ancient Puritan custom, a Fast was held by the town, the public 
 services of which were conducted by several of the neighboring 
 ministers, to implore the divine direction in the choice of a suc- 
 cessor. 1 At a town meeting, April 5th, 1703, Mr. John Fox, 
 eldest son of Rev. Jabez Fox, who was then keeping the Gram- 
 mar School in the town, was invited to preach three months on 
 probation ; and this invitation was afterwards renewed for 
 three months more. Before this latter engagement expired, the 
 church held several meetings with reference to his permanent 
 continuance among them ; at one of which, they chose Mr. Fox, 
 as the Town Records express it, " for their Minister, in order to 
 his full settlement in the worke of the Ministry " : 2 by which 
 choice seems to be meant, that they voted him a call to the 
 pastoral office. The town, at a meeting October 4, 1 703, con- 
 firmed these proceedings of the church ; choosing by a major vote, 
 " Mr. John Fox to be the Minister of the town of Woobourne." 2 
 They also voted to give him 80, one fourth in money, as 
 his salary for the first year ; which was the same compensation 
 that his father had been wont to receive ; and promised, in case 
 
 1 Paid " to James Fowle .... for the Elders Entertainment, for them- 
 selves and horses, on the Town Fast in Aprill last [1703] - - 1 :8 :0." 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 249. 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 238.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 147 
 
 " of his settling in the Worke of the Ministry in Woobourne 
 upon his own Lands," 3 that they would use their influence with 
 the proprietors of the town 4 to grant him at their next meeting 
 a piece of land lying between his own land and that of Mr. 
 Timothy Carter, son of the first minister. These proposals 
 were accepted by Mr. Fox, and he was accordingly ordained the 
 following month, November 17, 1703, as the pastor of the 
 church, and minister of the town of Woburn. The exercises of 
 this solemnity are preserved in remembrance, in the following 
 brief notice from the diary of Rev. Joseph Green of Salem Vil- 
 lage, now Danvers, who was present on the occasion. "17 Nov. 
 1703. I went with Mr Fitch and Lid. [landlord] to Mr Fox's 
 ordination at Oburn. Mr. Peirpoint [of Reading] began with a 
 prayer. Mr Fox preach'd. Mr. Willard [of Old South Church, 
 Boston] gave the charge. Mr Peirpoint the right hand. I 
 came home at 7 o'clock." 5 
 
 But though Mr. Fox was now considered as permanently set- 
 tled in Woburn, yet nothing had been determined hitherto 
 respecting his salary beyond the first year. At a meeting called 
 to act on this subject, November 13, 1704, the town voted : 
 
 1 . To " maintaine their minister, the Reverand Mr John Fox, 
 by a rate or assessment proportioned upon them for that end, 
 according to former custom in Woobourne." 
 
 2. To allow him for his encouragement in his work the sum 
 of eighty pounds annually, " forty pounds in money, and forty 
 pounds in corne and other provisions at money price, at the 
 ordinary rate they are sold for between man and man in 
 Woobourne." 
 
 3. That this agreement should stand as long " as the said Mr. 
 John Fox shall continue and carry on the whole work of the 
 Ministry in Woobourne." 6 
 
 3 Upon the homestead inherited from his father. 
 
 4 The old distinction between the proprietors and the inhabitants of the 
 town is here, as it is in other passages of the records, properly observed. 
 
 At a meeting of the proprietors, March Gth, 1703-4, they voted unani- 
 mously to give Mr. Fox the piece of land referred to, "to be his own 
 proper estate forever." Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 253. 
 
 " Manuscripts of the late William Gibbs, Esq., of Lexington. Vol. C., No. 10, p. 80. 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., pp. 269, 270.
 
 148 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 But these votes were not passed by the town with unanimity. 
 Twenty-six persons, several of whom were men of great respect- 
 ability, entered a protest against them j which, with their names, 
 is recorded in the Town Book. 6 Their dissent, however, was 
 not owing apparently to any dissatisfaction they felt with Mr. 
 Fox, but founded expressly upon the alleged poverty of this 
 town in particular, and of the country in general, by reason of 
 the growing charge of the then present war, which rendered 
 them averse to " stating any certain sallery at [that] time," etc. 6 
 
 Mr. Fox being present at this meeting declared his acceptance 
 of what the town then voted, as his permanant annual allowance, 
 and in view of the public burdens then pressing upon his people, 
 he agreed, for the present year, to be satisfied with Seventy 
 pounds, and to make due consideration afterward, " So long as 
 the charge of the present war lay so heavy upon this town." 6 
 
 While the question of Mr. Fox's settlement was pending, a 
 communication was made to him by the church, subscribed by 
 six of its leading members, in behalf, apparently, of themselves 
 and their brethren, which shows decisively what were the senti- 
 ments of the great majority of Woburn Church at that day, 
 respecting the doctrines of religion, and ecclesiastical order and 
 government. A copy of this interesting communication was 
 found many years ago in a box of time-worn papers, belonging 
 to the Dean family, in which, probably, it had been quietly 
 resting for upwards of a century. It is seemingly in the hand- 
 writing of Major William Johnson, and reads as follows : 
 
 " A COPPY OP THE PROPOSALS OF WOOBURN CHURCH 
 offered to Mr John Fox, when on his probation among them June 
 y 3d. 1703." 
 
 " It is now about three score years since this Church of Wooburn 
 entered into-Couenant as a Church of Christ, and haue continued 
 ever since in that ffaith and Order which we were instructed in by 
 our Honourable and Reverend fathers spirituall, political and nat- 
 urall, and above all, the Word of God, the which we haue perused, 
 and flnde it to warrant the same, and wee hope wee shall not depart 
 from it now wee are old. 
 
 " Wee do therefore declare the Confession of Faith drawn up by
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 149 
 
 the Rev d Synod held at Cambridge in (48) and approued of by the 
 Honoured Gen u Court, and perused again by the Synod held at 
 Boston in the year (79), and that Platform of Discipline agreed 
 upon at the same Synod in (48) and approued of by the Synod in 
 (79) held at Boston, for the Substance of it wee agree with it ; and 
 wee do fully comply with that Chapter in the Confession of Faith 
 concerning Baptism, Paragraph (4), that not only those who do 
 actually proffess Faith [in] and Obedience unto Christ are to bee 
 baptized, but allso the Infants of one or both Belieueing Parents 
 are to bee Baptized, and they only. Wee allso comply with and 
 hold that a Congregational Church ought to be furnished with Pas- 
 tours and Teachers, Ruling Elders and Deacons, as in the (7) 
 Chapt. of Discipline. Wee agree allso with the (8) Chapt. con- 
 cerning the Election of Church Officers, and with the (9) Chapt. 
 concerning Ordination and Impositions 'of hands, and with the 
 (10) Chapt. concerning Church Power, and with the (12) Chapt. 
 concerning the Admissions of Members : all which wee pray God 
 to keep us stedfast in, that wee may hold out to the End. 
 
 " WILLIAM JOHNSON 
 " SAM U WALKER 
 " JOSEPH WRIGHT Sen r 
 " JAMES CONUERS Sen' 
 " WILLIAM LOCK Sen r 
 " JAMES CONUERS JunV 
 
 The " Confession of Faith," to which the subscribers to this 
 Declaration for themselves (and probably for th'e Church at 
 large) profess their assent, is here, through inadvertence, erro- 
 neously ascribed by them to the synod assembled at Cam- 
 bridge in 1648. That synod framed no Confession of their 
 own ; but only expressed their approbation of that composed by 
 the Westminster Assembly. The Confession here intended is 
 that which was .agreed upon by the Reforming Synod (so called), 
 assembled at Boston 1679 and 1680. Excepting some few- 
 variations, it is the same as the Savoy Confession, drawn up and 
 assented to by the Elders and Messengers of the Congregation- 
 al Churches in England convened at the Savoy Building in Lon- 
 don in 1658. It is in sentiment thoroughly Calvinistic. Being 
 adopted by the Reforming Synod in this country, May 1680, as 
 
 13*
 
 10 HISTORY OF WOBTTRN. 
 
 expressing their own views in religion, and those of the churches 
 represented by them, it was immediately submitted to the Gen- 
 eral Court, then sitting in Boston, for their approbation ; and, 
 receiving their sanction, it thenceforth became for many years 
 a common standard of faith to the churches of Massachusetts, 
 especially to such as were gathered during the first half of the 
 last century. In Chapter xxix. of this Confession, entitled " Of 
 Baptism," the fourth paragraph reads as quoted in the Declara- 
 tion, "Not only those that do actually profess Faith in, and 
 Obedience unto Christ ; but also the Infants of one or both be- 
 lieving Parents, are to be baptized, and those only." 
 
 This Declaration may reasonably be considered as a decisive 
 testimony to the faith, worship, and order of the church of 
 Woburn at the period it was drawn up; and was, doubtless, 
 made in compliance with a previous request, expressed or inti- 
 mated, by Mr. Fox. But here the inquiry suggests itself; viz : 
 What led Mr. Fox to present such a request to the church? 
 For, though it is very common for a church to require of a 
 candidate for settlement over them a formal statement of his 
 views of religion and ecclesiastical discipline, yet, churches have 
 been but very rarely, if ever, asked to make such a statement by 
 the candidates whom they employ, while preaching upon proba- 
 tion among them. No light on this point can be gathered from 
 the recojds . of this church at that day, which have long been 
 missing. The Town Records, too, are entirely silent on the 
 subject. But the ecclesiastical history of the country at that 
 period brings certain facts to view, from which may be deduced 
 a plausible solution, at least, of this interesting inquiry. At the 
 commencement of the last century appears to have been first 
 raised an alarm that innovations were making in the primitive 
 faith and constitution of the churches of Massachusetts. The 
 ancient orthodox standards of religious belief, it is true, were 
 yet acknowledged and retained ; still, there is ground for sup- 
 posing that declension from them was even then creeping into 
 the churches, which some years afterward openly manifested 
 itself. The opinion that the communion was a converting ordi- 
 nance, and, consequently, that evidence of regeneration was not
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 151 
 
 an indispensable prerequisite for admittance to church fellow- 
 ship, was now, for the first time, advanced by Rev. Solomon 
 Stoddard, of Northampton, a minister pre-eminent for learning, 
 piety, and the distinguished success of his labors ; and, being 
 recommended by his great name and influence, was gaining 
 ground in the churches, and lowering, in many places, the terms 
 of admission to ecclesiastical privileges. Again, sundry novel- 
 ties in the worship and discipline of Brattle Street Church, 
 Boston, established in 1699, excited, for a while, apprehensions 
 in many of a design to introduce Presbyterianism or Episcopacy 
 on the ruins of Congregationalism. 
 
 From the year 1 700, likewise, a plan appears to have been 
 ripening, which, with the ostensible design of improving the con- 
 stitution of the Congregational churches, was, in reality, calculated 
 to subvert it. This plan was published and warmly recom- 
 mended by one Clerical Association in 1705, and not improbably 
 would have been extensively adopted, had it not been counter- 
 acted. by the opposition of Rev. Dr. Increase Mather (who, 
 though friendly to its general provisions, warmly objected to 
 some of its peculiarities); and, more especially, by the keen 
 satire, as well as powerful reasoning of Rev. John Wise, minister 
 of Chebacco Parish, Ipswich, in his celebrated work, entitled, 
 " The Churches Quarrel Espoused." Moreover, it appears from 
 documents to be presently adverted to, that about the year 1670, 
 the church of Woburn, itself, was considerably divided on the 
 subject of Baptism, and, although that division was now probably 
 in good measure healed, yet the remembrance of it had not 
 passed away, and might naturally excite some solicitude in the 
 mind of one who was preaching here as a candidate for the 
 pastoral office. It is not surprising, then, that Rev. Mr. Fox, 
 while preaching at Woburn on probation in 1703, should desire 
 of the church some distinct expression of their views, both of 
 the various controversies which were then agitating the public 
 mind, and also of that, which, it was still remembered, had once 
 been debated among themselves. And such an expression was 
 the Declaration above cited. It is a full, definite disclosure of the 
 sentiments of the church, by some of its leading members, in
 
 152 HISTORY OP WOBTJRN. 
 
 regard to all the points of controversy alluded to ; and it was 
 excellently calculated to relieve Mr. Fox of all anxiety which 
 the consideration of them might have occasioned. 
 
 The allusion just made to Baptists in Woburn, above a century 
 before the foundations of the present numerous and highly 
 respectable church and society of this denomination were laid, 
 may naturally excite curiosity in the present inhabitants of the 
 town to know who and how many these persons were ; what 
 stand they took in relation to their peculiar sentiments and 
 practices; and how long the separation continued before it 
 ceased, and Congregationalists became once more the only pub- 
 licly known denomination of Christians in town ? The great 
 mass of the first settlers of the Bay State were either strictly 
 Congregational at coming to this country, or speedily became so. 
 For about thirty-five years from the settlement of Salem, the 
 oldest town in the Massachusetts Colony, as distinct from that 
 of Plymouth, all the churches that were gathered in it were 
 Orthodox, Psedobaptist, Congregational churches. But in^!663, 
 a Baptist Church was gathered at Rehoboth, now within the 
 bounds of Massachusetts, but then within Plymouth jurisdiction. 
 This church, in 1667, was removed to Swansea, by order of the 
 Plymouth Government, and there flourished under the pastoral 
 care of Rev. John Miles, a clergyman from Wales, in Great 
 Britain. In 1665, the First Baptist Church in Boston was 
 formed at Charlestown, two of the principal members of which, 
 Mr. Thomas Gould and Mr. Thomas Osburn, had previously for 
 years belonged to the Congregational Church of Charlestown. 
 From Charlestown and Boston, the peculiar opinions of the 
 Baptists seem to have quickly spread to Woburn j and several 
 members of the church here either embraced them, or were 
 strongly disposed to favor them, and, consequently, to contemn 
 or to withdraw from 'the worship and ordinances of the church 
 to which they belonged, and to unite themselves with the church 
 of the new denomination. But such a course of proceeding 
 was then an offence against the Colony laws, and soon involved 
 its abettors in trouble before the judicial tribunals. The follow- 
 ing extracts from the Records of the ancient Quarterly Courts
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 153 
 
 for the County of Middlesex 7 show the names, and the number 
 of the persons indicted belonging to Woburn, the nature of their 
 supposed offences, and the methods taken to punish or reclaim 
 them. 
 
 " Court at Charlestown, December 19, 1671. 
 
 " John Johnson of Oburne 8 appearing according to sumons, to 
 answer the presentment of the Grand Jury for his absenting 
 himself constantly on the Lord's Da} r es from the Publick "Worship 
 of God confessed that he had formerly gone to the Anabaptisti- 
 call assembly, but now he had left off; and for some time had 
 attended the worship of the Lord with the People of God iu the 
 place where he dwells, and was resolved, God continuing life and 
 health, that he would still so do. The Court accepted of his 
 promise ; and paying Court fees, he was discharged. 
 
 " Hopestill Foster John Peirce of Oburne appearing before 
 the Court to answer presentment of the Grand Jury for turning 
 their back on the holy ordinance of Baptism, confessed the present- 
 ment ; and being the first time, the Court sentenced them to be 
 admonished ; which was accordingly performed in open court ; and 
 paj'ing fees of Court, were discharged. 
 
 " John Russell of Oburne sen r . 8 appearing before the Court to 
 answer the presentment of the Grand Jury for renouncing 
 communion with the Church of Christ in that plase, whereoff he is 
 a member ; and this declared of late by his frequent absenting 
 himself from the Public ministry of God's word on the Lord's 
 Dayes, and turning his back on the holy Ordinance of Baptism, 
 and refusing to partake with the Church, in the Sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, joiynng himself to the schismaticall assembly of 
 the Anabaptists, and taking office power among them, casting out 
 John Johnson who was a member with them : He the said Russell 
 confessed the presentment ; and the Court considering the nature 
 of his Indictment, and the firm [former?] endeavors legally used 
 for his conviction and reformation, and by his obstinacy therein he 
 hath made himself lyable to the judgment and sensure of the Court 
 
 7 Copied from Lib. 3, pp. 11-13, and communicated by Thomas B. Wyman, Esq., of 
 Charlcstown. 
 
 8 No uncommon way of spelling Woburn in former days ; but whence 
 derived, uncertain. Beside John Russell, Senr^ his son, John Russell, Jr., 
 was also cited to appear before this Court. But his indictment, and the 
 result of his trial, are not mentioned in these extracts.
 
 154 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 of Assistants, do order that he give bond in ten pounds to appear 
 at the next Court of Assistants to answer the aforesaid present- 
 ment, and that he stands committed untill this order be fulfilled 
 John Kussell sen r . doth acknowledge himself to stand bound in 
 ten pounds sterling to be forfeited and payd to the crier of the 
 Court, at Boston, On condition that the said John Russell shall 
 appeare at the next Court of Assistants to be held at Boston, 
 to answer the presentment of y e . Grand Jury as is above declared ; 
 and that he shall abide the order of the Court therein, and not 
 depart without license. 
 
 " Matthew Johnson appearing before the Court to answer the 
 presentment of the Grand Jury for turning his back on the holy 
 ordinance of Infant Baptism, confessed the presentment : and 
 being the first time of his conviction, the Court sentenced him to 
 be admonished ; which was accordingly done in open Court : pay- 
 ing costs, he was discharged. 
 
 " Whereas John Wright, 9 Isaac Cole, Ffrancis Wiman, John 
 Wiman, Ffrancis Kendall, Robert Peirce, Matthew Smith & 
 Joseph Wright, members in full communion with the Church of 
 Christ at Woburne, were presented by the Grand Jury of the 
 County of Middlesex in New England at the Court in October last 
 for refuseing communion with the Church of Woburne in the Lord's 
 Supper, and rejecting the counsell of neighboring churches, and all 
 other measures for healing the disorder and scandall thereby occa- 
 sioned : This Court having heard their severall answers, wherein 
 they pretend and alledge that the grounds of their withdrawing 
 are sundry scruples in poynt of conscience, not daring to partake 
 with the church for fear of defilement by sin, giving some reasons 
 of their dissatisfaction, which not being satisfactory to the Court, 
 who are sensible of the scandall thereby redounding to our profes- 
 sion, and considering the directions given by the word of God and 
 laws of this Colony, requiring "the attendance of all due meanes 
 for preserving the peace and order of the churches in the wayes of 
 godliness and honesty, that so all God's ordinances may have pas- 
 sage unto edification, according to the rules of Christ. 
 
 "This Court do therefore, upon serious consideration of the 
 whole case, order that the respective churches of Charlestown, 
 
 9 Not Deacon John Wright, but a son of his ; as was also Joseph Wright, 
 presented at the same time. See notice of Joseph, at the close of this 
 chapter.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 155 
 
 Cambridge, Watertown, Redding & Billerica be moved and re- 
 quested from the Court, according to God's ordinance of commun- 
 ion of churches, to send their elders and messengers unto the 
 church of Wbburne the day of March next, where the brethren 
 that were presented as above said are ordered and required to give 
 a meeting together with the church there, and shall have liberty 
 humbly and inoffensively to declare their grievances, and the church 
 also to declare the whole case for the hearing of their proceedings : 
 And after the case is fully heard by the said councill, they are to 
 endeavor the healing of their spirits, and making of peace among 
 them, for the issuing of matters according to the word of God, and 
 to make returne of what they shall do herein to the next county 
 Court to be held at Cambridge : And the Recorder of this Court 
 is ordered seasonably to signify the Court's mind herein to the 
 several churches above named. It is ordered that the Court's final 
 determination in the above named case be respited, untill they 
 receive the councill's return, and the above named persons that 
 were presented by the Grand Jury are ordered to attend at the 
 next court at Cambridge." 
 
 By these extractPfrom the above mentioned authentic sources 
 of information, it appears, that thirteen citizens of Woburn were 
 prosecuted before the Middlesex County Court, in Dec. 1671, for 
 publicly manifesting contempt for the ordinance of Infant Bap- 
 tism, as administered in the church of Woburn ; or for with- 
 drawing from the worship or communion of that church, and 
 attending the assemblies of the Anabaptists, (as they were 
 called) which were not then allowed by law. Of these thirteen 
 persons, one was discharged upon his acknowledgment and 
 promise of change of conduct, and paying costs of Court. Three 
 received in Court a public admonition. One deemed more 
 irreclaimable than the rest, (viz: John Russell, Senr.,) was bound 
 over to the Court of Assistants, then the Supreme Court of the 
 Colony, for a final decision upon his case ; and sentence upon 
 the remaining eight was deferred by the Court, till the efficacy 
 of the reasonings and persuasions of an ecclesiastical council 
 could be tried for reducing them to terms of peace and unity 
 with the church of Woburn once more. This Council appears to 
 have met at the time and place appointed; for the Court after-
 
 156 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 wards ordered that its expense should be defrayed by the 
 Church. 10 But there being no known record of its result, or of 
 any further action of the Court in the case, it seems probable, 
 that the report of the Council was so far favorable to the persons 
 indicted, as that the Court deemed it expedient to discharge them. 
 Two of the eight persons whom the Council had to deal with, 
 viz, Joseph "Wright and John Wyman, seem to have been con- 
 vinced of error by the labors of the Council, or some other 
 instrumentality, and to have become cordially reconciled to the 
 church of Woburn again ; for the former person became after- 
 wards a deacon in that church, and was one of the subscribers 
 to the above-cited " Declaration," and the latter took an active 
 part in the settlement of Rev. Jabez Fox, as colleague of Rev. 
 Thomas Carter, in 1679; and in his will, dated March 10, 
 1683-4, he left a legacy of forty shillings to each of them, 
 styling them his "Reverend Pastors." His brother, Francis 
 Wyman, appears to have always retained his partiality for the 
 sentiments of the Baptists; for, in his will, dated Sept. 5th, 
 1698, a few months before his death, he bequeathed to the two 
 elders of the Baptist Church in Boston, Mr. Isaac Hull and 
 Mr. John Emblen, "twenty shillings apiece." But in naming 
 these gentlemen in his will, as he does not call them " his pas- 
 tors," as his brother John does Messrs. Carter and Fox in his 
 will, he gives room for the supposition that he ultimately 
 decided, from prudential considerations, to attend public wor- 
 ship with his neighbors where he lived ; and that, keeping his 
 peculiar sentiments on the subject of baptism to himself, as 
 implying nothing in his view essential to the Christian character, 
 he died in communion with the church of Woburn. The course 
 taken by the other five members of the church, with whom the 
 Council was to deal, by order of Court, is unknown. As I have 
 been unable, however, either by tradition or records, to discover 
 
 10 " This Court doth order that the charges expended in entertayning the 
 late councill at Woburne shall be satisfied by all the church (apportion*! ?) 
 as other charges are payd among them by order of the Selectmen ; and the 
 constable is ordered to levy the same." Quarter Court Records, Vol. III., 
 p. 37.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 157 
 
 any traces of Christians in Woburn, subsequently to this period, 
 who maintained the opinions and worship of the Baptist denomi- 
 nation, in opposition to Congregationalists, or in distinction 
 from them, previously to the troubles with Rev. Mr. Sargent, 
 about 1795, it seems but reasonable to conclude that all belong- 
 ing to Woburn, who had been summoned before the civil 
 tribunals for their Baptist sentiments and practices, December 
 1671, except John Russell, Senr., and John Russell, Jr., his son, 
 either renounced those sentiments and practices as erroneous ; 
 or else that they worshipped unitedly with their Congregational 
 brethren while they lived, not accounting the differences between 
 them as essential ; and that, when they died, their peculiarities 
 died with them in Woburn, or, at least, ceased to be publicly 
 manifested there and insisted upon by any who might hold 
 them. 
 
 But there was one person indicted as above, whose resolute 
 spirit no opposition could subdue, no suffering could break 
 down, or cause to swerve from the path which he deemed to be 
 right. John Russell, Senr., was one of the earliest inhabitants of 
 Woburn, being a subscriber to the Town Orders drawn up for 
 it at Charlestown, in 1640. By occupation he was a shoemaker ; 
 and, for several years, without interruption, was chosen to the 
 responsible office of Sealer of Leather. He was also one of the 
 Selectmen several years in succession; and, in 1664, was 
 appointed on a highly respectable and important committee of 
 seven for making distribution among the proprietors of the town 
 " of plow lands and swamps, and a particular division of the 
 remote timber, according to justice and equity." n He is like- 
 wise named in the Town Records of the same year as a deacon 
 of the church ; and, at that time, was doubtless an Orthodox 
 Congregationalist, both in profession and practice. But, after- 
 wards, embracing the peculiarities of the Baptists, he was in the 
 latter part of the year 1669, or in the former part of 1670, 
 admitted into the Baptist Church of Boston, which then met for 
 worship at Noddle's Island. Of this church, he was soon after 
 
 " Town Records, Vol. I., p. 29. 
 14
 
 158 HISTORY OF WOBTTRN. 
 
 chosen an elder. For in a letter from Edward Drinker, (a lead- 
 ing member of that church, and one of its founders,) directed to 
 Mr. Clarke and his Baptist Church at Newport, and dated 
 November 30, 1670, he takes the following notice of Mr. Rus- 
 sell : " The Lord has given us another elder, one John Russell 
 Senr., a gracious, wise and holy man that lives at Woburn, 
 where we have five brethren near that can meet with him j and 
 they meet together first days, when they cannot come to us ; 
 and I hear there are some there looking that way with them." 
 Before this, probably in consequence of the change in his relig- 
 ious views, he had become remiss in his attendance upon public 
 worship at Woburn, was wont to turn his back at the ministra- 
 tion of Infant Baptism, and refused to partake with the church 
 there, of which he then was, or recently had been, both a mem- 
 ber and an officer, in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 
 Upon these charges, and likewise for joining the Baptist Church 
 in Boston, which had not been regularly gathered according to 
 the laws of the Colony, and for accepting |Jie eldership among 
 them, and exercising the authority of that office in excommuni- 
 cating John Johnson, Senr., of Woburn, who had been admitted 
 a member before him, he was summoned and tried before the 
 Court of Quarter Sessions at Charlestown, December 19, 1671 : 
 and, by that Court, he was bound over, as we have seen, to 
 appear before the Court of Assistants at their next session. By 
 the decision of this tribunal, which was then the Supreme Judi- 
 cial Court, as well as principal Legislative body of the Colony, 
 ,he was committed to prison, but was shortly after released. 
 For in a letter from William Hamlit, a Baptist brother, dated at 
 Boston 14: 4 mo: (14 June) 1672, he is spoken of thus: 
 " I perceive you have heard, as if our brother Russel had died in 
 prison. Through grace he is yet in the land of the living, and 
 out of prison bonds ; but is in a doubtful way as to the recovery 
 of his outward health : but we ought to be quiet in the good will 
 and pleasure of our God, who is only wise. I remain your 
 loving brother, 
 
 "WILLIAM HAMLIT." 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 159 
 
 After the death of Elder Gould, first pastor of the Baptist 
 Church in Boston, in October 1675, Elder Miles, of Swansea, 
 seems to have statedly ministered to it till 1679, when he 
 returned to his former charge in Swansea, and Mr. Russell was 
 ordained to succeed Mr. Gould in Boston. It seems to have 
 been long taken for granted that the person thus ordained as 
 Elder Gould's successor in the pastoral office, was John Russell, 
 Senr., who had been an elder in the Baptist Church at Boston, 
 almost from the time of his admission as a member. But the 
 Records of Deaths in Woburn, represent "John Russell" to 
 have deceased June 1, 1676; and that John Russell, Senr., is 
 there intended, inspection of Woburn Records of Births, in 
 which the births of the children of John Russell, Jr., are 
 registered till January 1678, does plainly show. The obvious 
 inference from these statements is, that Elder John Russell, Senr., 
 died at Woburn, June 1, 1676, above three years before he is 
 commonly supposed to have been recognized as the pastor of the 
 Baptist Church in Boston. And this inference is confirmed by 
 the date of his Will in the Probate Office, which is May 27, 
 1676, 12 five days only before the date of the death referred to 
 as recorded in Woburn Town Book. Reflection upon these and 
 similar recorded facts has induced a firm persuasion, that the 
 successor of Elder Gould, in the pastoral office at Boston, was 
 John Russell, Jr., not John Russell, Senr. ; as, through inadver- 
 tence to the difference of the persons occasioned by the same- 
 ness of name and secular occupation, has been commonly sup- 
 posed. 
 
 John Russell, Jr., was probably born either in England, 
 before his father came to this country, or at Charlestown, where 
 his father resided before Woburn was settled ; married Sarah 
 Champney (of Cambridge, it is presumed), 31 October, 1661 ; 
 followed, doubtless, his father's trade of shoemaking ; and, like 
 his father before him, was chosen repeatedly in Woburn, Sealer 
 of Leather. 13 He was admitted to the Baptist Church in Boston 
 
 18 Abstract of Wills, taken from Probate Office, and eommunicated by 
 Thomas B. Wyman, Esq. 
 
 ^ Viz : for 1877 and 1678. Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 72, 79.
 
 160 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 some months at least, if not a year or more, before his father, 
 being the fourth male person received into that church after it 
 was constituted, in 1665; and was always regarded by the 
 other brethren, as a very respectable and valuable member. In 
 letters to that church from other churches and ministers of the 
 same denomination from abroad, as quoted in Backus' History 
 of the Baptists, he is repeatedly mentioned with his father in 
 their salutations, in terms of equal jespect and affection. He 
 was quite as obnoxious, too, as his father to the civil authorities ; 
 and was presented with him to the Court of Quarter Sessions 
 at the same time, December 1671. This fact we learn from a 
 letter from Benjamin Sweetzer, a Baptist member belonging to 
 Charlestown, to Mr Samuel Hubbard, a member of the Baptist 
 Church at Newport, R. I. In that letter, dated at Charlestown, 
 December 10, 1671, he writes, " The persecuting spirit begins 
 to stir again. Elder Russel and his son, and brother Foster, are 
 presented to the Court that is to be this month. We desire 
 your prayers for us, that the Lord would keep us, that we may 
 not dishonor that worthy name we have made profession of; 
 and that the Lord would still stand by us, and be seen amongst 
 us, as he has been in a wonderful manner, in preserving of us 
 until this day." 
 
 John Russell, Jr., was ordained, as successor of Elder Gould, 
 to the pastoral charge of the First Baptist Church in Boston, 
 July 28, 1679. At the same time, he removed his residence 
 from Woburn to Boston, according to the historian of the 
 Baptists, with whose statement on this point Woburn Records 
 do well agree. For these, while they record the births of John 
 Russell, Jr.'s children till January 1677-8, and his taxes in 
 Woburn till December 1679, the year of his removal to Boston, 
 make no mention of him afterwards, though they record the 
 death of his widow, Sarah, April 25, 1696; who, it seems, after 
 the death of her husband, removed back from Boston to 
 Woburn. At Boston, Elder Russell appears to have been a 
 zealous and successful laborer in his sacred office ; but he was 
 not permitted to continue in it long, being taken away by death, 
 December 21, 1680. Concerning him, Rev. Isaac Backus, the
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 161 
 
 historian of the Baptists, observes, " It is evident, that the gifts 
 and graces of Elder Russell were not small ; and his memory 
 is precious." 
 
 During the short period Elder Russell was in office, he wrote 
 a treatise in answer to some harsh reflections upon the Baptists, 
 contained in a then 'recent publication of Rev. Dr. Increase 
 Mather, asserting " The divine right of Infant Baptism." This 
 answer was entitled "A brief Narrative of some considerable 
 passages concerning the first gathering and further progress of a 
 church of Christ in Gospel order, in Boston in New England," 
 etc. It was " dated from Boston the 20th. of May 1680 " ; and, 
 being approved by his church, it was sent, for publication, to 
 London, where a preface to it was written by seven noted 
 Baptist ministers of that day. 
 
 The descendants of Elder John Russell, Senr., who continued 
 in Woburn, seem not to have retained his peculiar sentiments as 
 a Baptist, but to have been of the Congregational persuasion ; 
 and when the town was divided into two parishes in 1730, John 
 Russell, his great grandson, was the first Clerk of the First Con- 
 gregational Parish in Woburn, and also Parish Treasurer and a 
 Parish Assessor for several years in succession. But a grand- 
 daughter of Elder Russell, Senr., by his daughter, Mary Brooks, 
 wife of Timothy Brooks of Woburn, was married at Swansea to 
 a gentleman by the name of Mason, by whom she had three sons, 
 Job, Russell, and John Mason, all of whom were esteemed 
 preachers of the Baptist denomination in their day. 
 
 In reverting briefly to the civil prosecutions of the Baptists in 
 Woburn above cited, it cannot but be deeply regretted by all 
 who venerate the memory of our pious ancestors, that they 
 should have resorted to the measures they did in this matter. 
 As we view it at this distant day, it would seem that sound 
 policy, as well as consistency with their own professed princi- 
 ples, dictated a far more liberal course. For what had these 
 men done, that they should be compelled to answer for their 
 conduct before the judicial tribunals of the country, and there be 
 admonished as evil doers, fined, and one of them eventually 
 sentenced to imprisonment ? Had they committed any flagrant 
 14*
 
 162 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 crime ? This is not pretended. Had they been chargeable with 
 factious, seditious conduct, by which the peace of the community 
 was infringed, or the public safety endangered ? There appears 
 but little or no sound foundation for such an allegation as this. 
 The charge against them, which looks most like a civil misde- 
 meanor, is that of turning their backs in God's house at the 
 administration of infant baptism. This charge, all of them who 
 were presented for it, confessed in Court ; and I cannot help 
 thinking, that even our candid Baptist brethren of the present 
 day must own that they were blamable for this, as being a sort 
 of rude, irreverent behavior, very unseemly for the time and 
 place, which faithfulness to their principles did not require them 
 to show, and which was calculated to give needless oifence to 
 their pious Psedobaptist brethren ; and so was in this view a 
 species of wilful disturbance of public worship. For if this were 
 a right and becoming way of manifesting their conscientious 
 scruples about, or rejection of an ordinance, which the great 
 majority of their fellow-worshippers were equally conscientious 
 in observing, then some similar method might be properly taken 
 to express our dislike of, or objections against something which 
 might be said in prayer or preaching ; and in such case, what 
 scenes of disorder and confusion might our churches be rendered 
 by something exhibited to the eye only, without any help from 
 the voice or the foot ? Even this fault, however, seems quite as 
 proper a subject for animadversion from the pulpit, as before a 
 tribunal of justice. And as to all the other charges for which the 
 first Baptists in Woburn were presented to the Court, I am free 
 to express my apprehensions, that there was more wrong done to 
 them than by them. For absenting themselves from Commu- 
 nion, they were rightfully answerable, not to the civil authorities, 
 but to the church of Woburn, of which they were members. And 
 as to the accusations against them and others of their day, that 
 they had withdrawn from the established public worship, and 
 gathered themselves into conventicles and churches which were 
 without, or against the allowance of the civil government ; what 
 had they done in all this, but what our Puritan ancestors 
 had done themselves, or had pleaded for the right of doing,
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 163 
 
 or bitterly complained of as an infringement of the rights of 
 conscience, whenever against their own persuasion of what was 
 right they were forcibly prevented from doing, in their mother 
 country ? Consistency, then, required them to show the same 
 tender indulgence to 'the consciences of their dissenting brethren 
 here, that they had pleaded or claimed should be shown to 
 themselves by the bishops and church officials at home. For 
 otherwise, how could they fulfil the law of love, to do unto 
 others, as they would have others do to them? ". 
 
 But while we cannot justify our ancestors in their proceedings 
 against the early Baptists in Woburn, it behoves us in equity to 
 moderate our censures, and to make all those allowances for 
 them, which a due regard to their general character, and to the 
 peculiar opinions and customs of those times demands. A large 
 proportion of the magistrates, ministers and other leading men 
 of that day were indeed among the excellent of the earth, men 
 to whose pious care and benevolent exertions, not only their 
 own, but all succeeding generations have been largely indebted. 
 The sin of persecution, which has been often alleged against 
 them, is not one which lies particularly against them, but was a 
 sin of the times in which they lived. The rights of free inquiry, 
 and of liberty of conscience, are matters which were then at 
 best, but imperfectly understood j and a persuasion was almost 
 universally prevalent of the necessity of uniformity in religious 
 faith and worship in order to the public weal, and of the right 
 and duty of the civil magistrate to maintain it by force. These 
 two principles, understood in the extent to which they were 
 formerly carried, are now generally and justly regarded as erro- 
 neous. Still, they were embraced by the civil fathers of Massa- 
 chusetts with all sincerity. And from the practical influence of 
 these principles upon their minds and measures, rather than 
 from an inhuman, persecuting spirit, proceeded all their rigorous 
 laws and hard dealings towards those who dissented from them 
 in some particulars of their faith and practice. In passing those 
 laws, they seem to have aimed at the purity of the churches, and 
 the maintenance in them of truth and peace ; and in the execution 
 of those laws, while the edge of them was severely felt, not only
 
 164 HISTORY OP WOBUEN. 
 
 by Baptists, but by Episcopalians, Quakers, and by some individuals 
 even of their own denomination, the magistrates who put them in 
 force, appear all the while never to have been sensible that 
 they were violating the rights of conscience, but to have been 
 persuaded that they were only bearing that testimony to the 
 truth, which they were in duty bound to manifest, and by the 
 neglect of doing which, they would not only incur the judgments 
 of heaven themselves, but bring ruin upon the country which they 
 were set to defend and govern. As the renowned father of 
 Woburn, Capt. Edward Johnson, observes in his " Wonder-work- 
 ing Providence," concerning the immediate predecessors of the 
 rulers referred to ; " To them it seems unreasonable, and to 
 savour too much of hypocrisy, that any people should pray unto 
 the Lord for the speedy accomplishment of his word in the over- 
 throw of Antichrist, and in the mean time become a patron to 
 sinful opinions and damnable errors that oppose the truths of 
 Christ, admit it be, but in the bare permission of them." 
 
 But here lay the error of our pious ancestors and rulers in 
 former days. All men, whether rulers or subjects, are bound to 
 study, and seek after, and embrace and obey the truth of God 
 themselves, and in their several places, and according to their 
 several abilities and opportunities, to promote the reception of it 
 by others. This is the best way of bearing testimony to the truth. 
 But the Word of God nowhere authorizes rulers to employ 
 the sword of persecution or civil force to compel men to believe, 
 profess and follow its sacred dictates. The only sword that is 
 lawful to be used in the Christian warfare against error and sin 
 is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. All 
 other weapons are only carnal weapons, which are strictly for- 
 bidden to be employed, even in defence of the truth. While, 
 then, we admire and honor our ancestors for their many virtues 
 and great excellences, let us not be blind to their faults, or 
 attempt to justify or excuse them. Nor let us be so unjust to 
 them ourselves as to condemn them without measure, after the 
 manner of some, but candidly consider the numerous circum- 
 stances which palliate their failings, and willingly allow them all 
 the weight that is their due.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 165 
 
 Three years from the date of the memorable Declaration of 
 the Church, in 1703, had but just elapsed, when three of those 
 who subscribed it, viz, Deacon Walker, Major Johnson and 
 Major Convers, had finished their course ; so that their subscrip- 
 tion to it may with reason be regarded as their dying testimony 
 to the faith and order of the Church of Woburn at that day. 
 And as these gentlemen, as likewise the three subscribers who 
 survived them, were all men of great respectability and useful- 
 ness, a brief particular notice of each of them here may not be 
 unacceptable. 
 
 William Johnson, Esq., whose name stands at the head of 
 these worthies in their subscription to the Declaration, was the 
 third son of Capt. Edward Johnson, one of the principal founders 
 of the town and church of Woburn. He was born in England 
 about 1 630 ; was brought to New England, when a child, by his 
 father, together with his mother Susanna and six other children 
 of the family, in 1637; and removed with him, in 1641, from 
 Charlestown, his first place of abode on this side of the Atlan- 
 tic, to Woburn, where he continued to reside the rest of his days 
 in usefulness and honor. 
 
 His public spirit and talent for business were early discerned 
 by his fellow-citizens, who duly noticed and availed themselves 
 of them. He was chosen one of the Selectmen in 1664, and 
 again in 1672, and each following year in succession, till 1688. 
 Thai yea-, also, he was chosen Selectman at the usual time under 
 the Old Charter; but the choice on that day not 'being allowed 
 to stand by the arbitrary government of Sir Edmund Andros, 
 he appears to have declined a re-election on the day appointed 
 by the Governor and Council for making a new choice ; pre- 
 ferring a private station to holding office under the control of a 
 power that was so openly hostile to the liberties of the people. 
 
 Shortly before the death of his father, in 16 72-, he was chosen 
 to succeed him as Recorder or Town Clerk ; an office which he 
 held without interruption till 1688, in which year Lieutenant 
 (afterwards Major) Convers was elected. His father had been 
 constantly Town Clerk from the beginning of the town, in 1640, 
 till the year of his death; so that the whole term during
 
 166 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 which the father and son served the town, in this capacity, was 
 forty-eight years. 
 
 He represented the town in the General Court in 1674; and 
 again, eight years in succession, from 1676 till 1683 inclusively, 
 either alone or associated with Humphrey Davie, Esq., of Boston, 
 or with his distinguished townsman, Ensign James Convers. 
 
 In 1684, and the two following years, he was chosen one of 
 the Board of Assistants, which, under the First Charter, was not 
 only the Senate of the Colony, but the Supreme Court of Judica- 
 ture. But the Colonial Government, being superseded, in 1686, 
 by a President and Council, and quickly after, by a Governor 
 and Council of the King's appointment, Major Johnson lived in 
 retirement till the deposition of the Governor, Sir Edmund 
 Andros, at the insurrection of the people in April 1689. At 
 this interesting crisis, he was associated with other leading men 
 in the community as a " Council for the safety of the people and 
 conservation of the peace : " 14 and the old government, being 
 shortly after revived, till a new charter could be obtained of 
 King William, and the government orderly re-settled under it, 
 he resumed his seat at the Board of Assistants, which had been 
 vacated three years before. For his strong attachment to the 
 Old Charter, and his expected opposition to the New, his name 
 was dropped from the List of Councillors appointed by the 
 Crown in the Provincial Charter in 1691. From this time, the 
 part he took in the management of the public affairs of the coun- 
 try appears to have ceased. But the town of Woburn continued, 
 on various occasions, and in various ways, to enjoy the benefit of 
 his experience and services, till his death ; which took place, after 
 several months confinement, May 22, 1704. 
 
 Like his father before him, Major Johnson was eminently 
 skilful in surveying; and of the numerous grants and extensive 
 divisions of the common lands in the town, which were made 
 during the first sixty years from its incorporation, there were 
 but few which one or the other of these gentlemen was not 
 employed to lay out. He was also the largest proprietor of 
 
 14 Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, Vol. I., pp. 381-2.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 167 
 
 land in the town, excepting the brothers, John and "Francis 
 Wyman, in his day. In the Town Records, his homestead 
 (situate in " Plain Street," near what has been recently known 
 as Mr. Edmund Parker's farm) and seventy other distinct 
 tracts of land, containing nine hundred acres in all, obtained, 
 some by purchase, and some by inheritance or by grant from 
 the town, are recorded as his. A considerable portion of this 
 great landed estate lay in the northwesterly part of the town, 
 and was eventually settled upon and improved by his children 
 and grandchildren, who were among the principal founders and 
 inhabitants of the Second Precinct, or Burlington. 
 
 Major Johnson was highly esteemed for his wisdom and pru- 
 dence as a magistrate. Tradition relates that several persons 
 were brought before him for examination, accused of witchcraft, 
 probably in 1692, the year of the general delusion on this sub- 
 ject. Papers containing an account of these examinations are 
 said, on good authority, to have been once in the hands of his 
 descendants. These documents are now lost. But as none 
 belonging to Woburn appear to have been arraigned and prose- 
 cuted before the Court on this charge, it may be safely inferred 
 that he had penetration enough to discern the imposture or pre- 
 vailing error in this affair, and refused to commit the accused 
 for trial. 
 
 He was distinguished for his undeviating attachment to the 
 Old or Colony Charter, under which the people had enjoyed 
 the right of choosing their own Gove'rnor, and other privileges 
 of which they were very tenacious, but which had been con- 
 demned, and declared forfeited to the Crown in 1684. Like 
 Cooke, Wiswall, Oakes, and other noted public men of that day, 
 he was for insisting on that charter, or none ; expecting proba- 
 bly, that by resolutely refusing to accept from the King any 
 other charter, the people would eventually succeed in obtaining 
 the restoration of the old one. 15 In this expectation, he was 
 disappointed. And by his unwillingness to acknowledge and 
 submit to the government by a President and Council, which 
 
 Hutchinpon'B History, Vol. I., p. 414.
 
 168 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 immediately succeeded the Old Charter Government, he not 
 only lost his former influence in the direction of public affairs, 
 but was once in danger of being deprived of his personal 
 liberty. On this subject, Judge Sewall, a friend of his, and an 
 associate under the Old Government, thus writes in his Diary : 
 
 " 1686 July 30. About this time, William Johnson Esq. is 
 sharply reproved by the Council for his carriage on the Fast day, 
 staying at home himself, and having a Dozen Men at his House : 
 Told him must take y e Oath of Allegiance : he desired an hour's 
 consideration ; then said he could not take it : but when his Mitti- 
 mus writing or written, he consider'd again, and took it rather than 
 goe to Prison. Objected against that Clause of acknowledging 
 that to be Lawfull Authority which administered ; would see the 
 Seals." 
 
 Major Johnson was a professed Christian, and a member of 
 the church of Woburn; and his life appears to have been 
 answerable to his holy profession. In principle, he was a strict 
 Orthodox Congregationalist, as is evident from his subcription to 
 the Declaration of the Church, so often referred to. In his 
 Will, dated May 10, 1695, he distinctly recognizes the doctrine 
 of the Sacred Trinity ; and, after making distribution therein of 
 his worldly estate, he concludes with the following pious exhor- 
 tation : " And thus haveing finished my Will, I doe exort and 
 require all my children to live in peace one with another ; and 
 above all, [that] they honor and love the God of their father 
 and grandfather, and to walk in their stepps, so farr as they 
 have walked aright with God j and then I pray the God of love 
 and grace [peace ?] be with you all, Amen." 
 
 By his wife, Esther (daughter of Thomas Wiswall, ruling 
 elder of the church of Newton), whom he married May 16, 
 1655, Major Johnson had nine children, viz : six sons, William, 
 Edward, Ebenezer, Joseph, Benjamin and Josiah; and three 
 daughters : viz, Esther, Susanna and Abigail. Esther was mar- 
 ried to Seth Wyman, and became the mother of Lieutenant, 
 afterwards Captain, Seth Wyman, who distinguished himself at 
 Lovewell's Fight. Abigail was married to Samuel Peirce. Wil- 
 liam, the eldest son, appears to have been at first a shipwright in
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 169 
 
 Charlestown, and. after his father's death, to have lived on the 
 homestead in Woburn with his mother, agreeably to a codicil to 
 his father's will. The other five sons all resided in that part of 
 the town which afterwards became the Second Precinct; and 
 among them and their cliildren were found some who were zeal- 
 ous movers for the separation of that parish from the first, and 
 principal supporters of public worship in it. 
 
 Deacon Samuel Walker, who was the second to sign the fore- 
 going Declaration, and the direct ancestor of the family of his 
 name, which, springing from this town, has been honorably dis- 
 tinguished in all generations by the attainments and public ser- 
 vices of many of its members, both near and far off from their 
 original seat, was the eldest son of Samuel Walker, Senr., of 
 Woburn. 
 
 John Farmer, Esq., in his Genealogical Register, supposes that 
 this Samuel Walker, Senr., was a son of Augustine Walker, of 
 Charlestown, who had a son Samuel, born in 1642. And this 
 hypothesis of Farmer has been adopted by several others on 
 this point. But a decisive objection to this theory is that 
 Samuel Walker,' Senr., of Wobufn was a much older man than 
 Samuel, son of Augustine, of Charlestown; being, by a testi- 
 mony he gave in at Court, December 28, 1658, forty-three years 
 of age at that time. 16 This gentleman may on very plausible 
 grounds be concluded to be a son of Capt. Richard Walker, who 
 was one of the first settlers of Lynn in 1630, TO.S made free- 
 man of the colony, 1634, was chosen ensign of the military 
 company of that town, March 16367, and afterwards succes- 
 sively its lieutenant and captain; and was elected, 1640, 1641, 
 and again in 1648, 1649, the Deputy of Lynn to the General 
 Court. He died in May 1687, aged ninety-five years; and his 
 burial is briefly noticed by Judge Sewall in his Diary as follows : 
 "Monday May 16, 1687, 1 go to Reading, and visit Mr Brock; 
 and so to Salem. This day, Capt. Walker, a very aged Planter, 
 buried at Lin." Besides two daughters, Capt. Walker had two 
 sons, Richard and Samuel, both inhabitants of Reading. 
 
 Thomas B. Wyman, Esq., from Court files. 
 15
 
 170 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 Samuel Walker, Senr., of Woburn, presumed above to have 
 been the son of Capt. Richard Walker of Lynn, was born in 
 England; accompanied his father to New England, 1630; and 
 after residing with him a while at Lynn, he removed with his 
 brother Richard to Reading, originalfy Lynn Village; and 
 thence he subsequently appears, for some reasons, to have 
 removed once more, and to have permanently established himself 
 in Woburn, the adjoining town. He is first mentioned as an 
 inhabitant of Woburn in its Records, at the annual election of 
 town officers, February 25th, 16612, when he was appointed a 
 Surveyor of Highways for that year. By occupation, he was a 
 maltster; and was approved by the Selectmen, 1675, in order 
 to obtaining a license for keeping tavern, being the first person 
 known to have followed that business in Woburn. He appears 
 to have been much respected in his day ; being chosen Select- 
 man in 1668, and appointed by the town the year before on 
 a very important Committee for taking " a List of the persons 
 and estates of the right Proprietors ", among whom, it had been 
 voted to divide a large portion of the common lands of the 
 town. He died November 6th, 1684; when, agreeably to a 
 testimony given by him in Court, and referred to above, he must 
 have been in the 69th or 70th year of his age. 
 
 His children (the given name of his wife is unknown) were 
 Samuel, Jr., Israel, and probably John, Senr., of Woburn ; Han- 
 nah wife of James, son of Simon Thompson of Woburn; and 
 Joseph Walker of Billerica. 
 
 Samuel Walker, Jr., his son (distinguished likewise in Woburn 
 Records successively by the titles of Corporal, Sergeant, and 
 Deacon Walker), was the second subscriber to the memorable 
 '' Declaration " of the church of Woburn above cited, and a gen- 
 tleman of note and influence in his day. He was Selectman in 
 1679, and served the town in that office repeatedly afterwards. 
 He was a member of the Convention of the Colony, which met 
 in Boston 1689, upon the deposition of the governor, Sir Ed- 
 mund Andros ; and after the establishment of the government 
 under the Provincial Charter of 1691, he represented Woburn 
 in the* General Court, 1694. About 1692, he was chosen a
 
 HISTOBY OP WOBURN. 171 
 
 deacon of the church of Woburn, an office which he seems to 
 have retained through life. He died, January 18, 1703-4, aged 
 61 years. 
 
 Deacon Walker married, for his first wife, Sarah " Read," 
 [Reed] of Woburn, 10th September, (or, as the County Records 
 have it, 23d October,) a 662. By her, he had six sons : Edward, 
 John, Samuel, Timothy, Isaac, 17 and Ezekiel ; and one daughter, 
 Sarah, married, January 12, 1686, [1686-7] to Edward, son 
 of Major William Johnson. His wife, Sarah, dying Novem- 
 ber 1, 1681, he married, for his second wife, April 18, 1692, 
 Abigail, widow of Lieut. James Fowle of Woburn : but by her 
 he had no issue. 
 
 Among the descendants of Deacon Walker, there have been 
 in all generations numerous individuals useful and respected in 
 their day, and some of them, prominent members of society by 
 their influence, public services, and high standing in the communi- 
 ties in which they have lived. Of this latter description, in the 
 line of John, the second son of Deacon Walker, may be named, 
 
 1. 1. Mr. Edward Walker, son of John, born October 7, 
 1694; lived on his father's place (as did after him, his son 
 Josiah, and his grandson Josiah, both reputable farmers in their 
 day); married Esther Peirce, March 31, 1718, represented 
 Woburn in the General Court 1745, 1751, '52, '53, '54; and 
 was so highly esteemed by his fellow citizens for his integrity 
 and soundness of judgment, that it was customary to prefix Mr. 
 to his name, an honor rarely conferred in Woburn at that day. 
 He died December 6, 1787, at the advanced age of 93 years. 
 His wife died before him, September 23, 1761, aged 65 years. 
 
 2. General John Walker, a grandson of Edward, above named, 
 and a son of Capt. Joshua Walker. He was born in Woburn 
 
 17 The birth of Isaac Walker is recorded in Wobnrn Town Book, as fol- 
 lows : " Isaac, son of Samuel Walker 8en r , born ye 1st. of 9th. mo : 1677." 
 But here, it can hardly be doubted, there is a mistake of the clerk in 
 writing " Sen'" for "junr." He married, 20 Feb., 1704-5, Margery Bruce, 
 of Woburn ; and he, and his sons by her, Isaac, Jr., Ezekiel, and Timothy, 
 were some time resident at Pennicook, now Concord, N. H. See History 
 of Concord, by Rev. Dr. Bouton.
 
 172 HISTORY OP WOBTJRN. 
 
 Precinct, February 7, 1762, and was appointed, 1798, by the 
 elder President Adams, a Major-General, and commander of the 
 army at Oxford, the country then seeming to be in imminent 
 danger of a war with France. Subsequently, he took a leading 
 part in the measures adopted to procure a legal separation of 
 his native village from Woburn ; and, after it was incorporated 
 as a town by the name of Burlington, in 1799, he ever exerted 
 a powerful influence in the management of its affairs. He mar- 
 ried, January 22, 1784, Miss Lucy, daughter of Mr. Jonathan 
 Johnson, who was a descendant of the fourth generation from 
 Capt. Edward Johnson, a principal founder of Woburn. He 
 died, June 8, 1814, aged 53. 
 
 3. Hon. Timothy Walker of Charlestown, a brother of the 
 General's, noted for his business talents and his wealth, and 
 sometime a member of the Senate of this Commonwealth. 
 
 4. Rev. James Walker, D.D., a son of the General's ; born 
 in 1794; a graduate of Harvard University, 1814; several 
 years pastor of the Unitarian Church of Charlestown ; more 
 recently the accomplished President of the University ; and since 
 his resignation of that office, living honored and beloved in 
 retirement. 
 
 5. Dr. William Johnson Walker, a son of Hon. Timothy 
 Walker of Charlestown, was graduated at Harvard University, 
 1810 ; perfected his medical education in Europe ; and, upon his 
 return to his native land, rose to high distinction by his skill and 
 success as a physician and surgeon. He deceased lately in New- 
 port, R. L, whither he had retired from the practice of his pro- 
 fession. 
 
 H. Samuel, third son of the first Deacon Samuel Walker, was 
 born January 25, 16678; married Judith Howard, June 1st, 
 1689 ; occupied many years a housje upon Maple Meadow Plain 
 in Goshen, now Wilmington; but, about 1725, he removed to a 
 house, recently standing in the south part of Burlington, where 
 he spent the residue of his days. In 1709, he was chosen a 
 deacon of the First Church in Woburn. But, at the incorpora- 
 tion, 1730, of the Second Precinct of Woburn, now Burlington, 
 within the limits of which he then resided, he became of course a
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 173 
 
 supporter of the public worship there, and aided in gathering 
 the Precinct church, and in ordaining Rev. Supply Clap, its first 
 pastor, October 29, 1735. He was one of the ten brethren 
 (including the minister) who subscribed the " Articles of Agree- 
 ment," and the "Church Covenant," adopted on that solemn 
 occasion; and November 10th, following, he was chosen one 
 of the first two deacons of that church. In this office, he con- 
 tinued to serve till his death, which occurred September 28, 
 1744, in the 77th year of his age. A gravestone in Burlington 
 Old Burial Ground marks the place of his interment. His 
 wife, Judith, dying November 14, 1724, he married Mary, 
 widow of Capt. James Fowle, who survived him. She died at 
 Charlestown, October 23, 1748, a3t. 80. 
 
 1. Capt. Samuel Walker, son of the second Deacon Samuel 
 Walker and Judith, his wife, was born September 3, 1694; 
 lived in the same house his father had lived in, upon Maple 
 Meadow Plain, in Goshen, (so called) after his father had quitted 
 it, about 1725; was a principal mover in the effort to procure 
 the separation of Goshen from Woburn, and erecting it into a 
 distinct town, which resulted successfully in the incorporation of 
 Wilmington in 1730. By his wife, Hannah, he had twelve 
 children, nine of whom died in less than two months, in 1738, 
 of throat distemper. Capt. Walker died February 13, 1771; 
 Hannah, his widow, died May 13, 1788, aet. 99. 
 
 2. Rev. Timothy Walker, son of the second Deacon Samuel 
 Walker, and brother of the above Capt. Samuel Walker, was 
 born within the present bounds of Wilmington, July 27, 1705; 
 was graduated at Harvard College, 1725; was ordained first 
 minister of Penacook, (afterwards Rumford, now Concord, N. H.) 
 November 18, 1730; went three times to England, between 
 1753 and 1762, to appear before the King and Council, as Agent 
 of the Proprietors of Rumford, in a controversy they had with the 
 town of Bow ; and died, universally loved and lamented by his 
 people, September 1, 1782, in the 78th year of his age, and 52d 
 of his ministry. His wife, Sarah, daughter of James Burbeen of 
 Woburn, born June 17, 1701, died February 19, 1778, aet. 77, 
 and lies buried by his side. 
 
 15*
 
 174 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 3. Hon. Timothy Walker, son of Rev. Timothy and Mrs. 
 Sarah Walker, was born in Rumford, June 27, 1737; gradua- 
 ted at Harvard College, 1756; licensed to preach, 1759; but 
 after laboring in the sacred profession about six years, he 
 relinquished it for civil life ; was a gentleman of great influence, 
 and often employed both in town and State affairs ; accepted the 
 office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in New Hamp- 
 shire, in 1777; was Chief Justice of that Court from 1804 to 
 1809 : and died, May 5, 1822, in the 85th year of his age. By 
 his wife Susanna, daughter of Rev. Joseph and Mrs. Esther 
 Burbeen of Woburn, he had fourteen children, ten of whom lived 
 to grow up. 
 
 4. Deacon Timothy Walker, son of Capt. Samuel Walker of 
 Wilmington and Hannah his wife, born July 5, 1732, married, in 
 1758, Eunice, daughter of Joseph Brewster of Duxbury, who 
 was a descendant of the third generation from Elder William 
 Brewster of Plymouth in 1620; was chosen a deacon of the 
 church of Wilmington, and died there May 9, 1809, set. 77. 
 Eunice, his widow t died June 2, 1815, aet. 84 years. 
 
 5. Hon. Timothy Walker, a grandson of Deacon Timothy, 
 and a son of Benjamin Walker, Esq. and Susanna (Cook) 
 Walker his wife, was born in Wilmington, December 1, 1802, 
 graduated at Harvard College, 1826 ; studied law; settled as a 
 lawyer in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was eventually promoted to be 
 a Judge in one of the Courts of that State. He received from 
 his Alma Mater, in 1854, the honorary degree of LL.D., and 
 died in 1856. 
 
 6. Sears Cook Walker, brother of Hon. Timothy above 
 named, and son of Benjamin, Esq. and Susanna (Cook) Walker 
 of Wilmington, was born in Wilmington ; graduated at Harvard 
 College, 1825 ; eminent on both sides the Atlantic for his scien- 
 tific attainments, especially in Astronomy; and sometime 
 employed by the Government of the United States in the Coast 
 Survey. He resided, principally, it is believed at Philadelphia, 
 and died in 1853. 
 
 Joseph Wright, Senr., was son of Deacon John Wright, one of 
 the first settlers of Woburn, and a subscriber to the Town
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 175 
 
 Orders, agreed upon at Charlestown, December 18, 1640; a 
 Selectman of Woburn, 1645, and many years afterwards ; one of 
 the committee appointed by the General Court's Committee in 
 1668, for dividing the common lands "into proprieties," and a 
 deacon of the church from 1664 till his death, June 21, 1688. 
 His wife, Priscilla, died April 10, 1687. He left two sons, John 
 and Joseph, born before the settlement of Woburn, and three 
 daughters, Ruth, Deborah, and Sarah, born after. The deaths 
 of his son John and wife are recorded as follows : " John Wright 
 senr. died April 30. 1714 [aged 84 years: Gravestone] Abigail 
 wife of John Wright died Apl. 6. 1726 [aged 84 years. G. S.] 
 
 Joseph Wright, third subscriber to the Declaration of the 
 Church in 1703, is called in that Instrument Joseph Wright, 
 Senr., in distinction from his own son, Joseph Wright, Jr., who 
 was born March 14, 1667. Joseph Wright, Senr., was born 
 before the settlement of Woburn in 1641, either at Charlestown, 
 or possibly before his father, Deacon John Wright, had emigra- 
 ted from England to this country. He married Elizabeth 
 Hasell, November 1, 1661, by whom he had a numerous 
 progeny. He was one of the Selectmen of Woburn 1670, 
 1673, 1692; and a deacon of the church as early as 1698 
 (Town Records, Vol. III., p. 124), in which office he continued 
 through life. His death and that of his wife are recorded as 
 follows : '''Elizabeth, wife of Dea. Joseph Wright, died June 28, 
 1713." "Deacon Joseph Wright died 31 March 1724." 
 
 In December 1671, Joseph Wright, Senr., was presented by 
 the Grand Jury, with his brother John and six others, to the 
 court sitting at Charlestown, for withdrawing from the com- 
 munion of the church of Woburn, of which they all were mem- 
 bers, and for favoring in other ways the sentiments and practices 
 of the Baptists. But, subsequently, being convinced that he had 
 been in an error, he became reconciled to the church of Woburn, 
 accepted the office of a deacon in it, and subscribed the " Decla- 
 ration" made by it, which is decidedly Paedobaptist, in 1703. 
 
 James Convers, Senr., familiarly distinguished in the Town 
 Records as Ensign or Lieutenant Convers, and whose name 
 stands next to that of Deacon Wright among the subscribers to
 
 176 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 the above cited " Declaration," was born in England. He came 
 to this country with his father, Deacon Edward Convers, in the 
 fleet which conveyed Governor Winthrop, in 1630; sat down 
 first at Charlestown ; and thence removed to Woburn, among its 
 earliest settlers, in 1641. He married, October 24, 1643, Anna 
 Long, 18 daughter of Robert Long, of Charlestown, by whom he 
 he had ten children. Through a long life, he was a very valuable 
 and highly esteemed citizen; was repeatedly honored by the 
 town with the principal offices which it had to confer ; and sur- 
 viving his son, the Major, he died, May 10, 1715, aged 95 
 years. 19 In his will, dated August 28, 1712, he beqiieathed 
 as follows : " To my Reverend Pastor, Mr John Fox, twenty 
 shillings ; and to the church of Christ in Woburn, twenty shil- 
 lings to purchase a large flagon withall." The twenty last years 
 of his life were spent in retirement. But he was not one who 
 under any circumstances could live without care or concern for 
 the good of others. As indicative of this, the following anec- 
 dote respecting him seems worth preserving. As Hon. Judge 
 Sewall was once journeying homeward from Newbury to Boston, 
 he took the road through Andover and Woburn, then adjoining 
 towns. His passage through Woburn he notices in his Diary 
 
 thus: "1702 August 12. Right [Wright] conducts me to 
 
 Wooburn through the Land of Nod [in which he was largely 
 interested]. This is y e first time I have seen it. Got late to 
 Fowl's at Wooburn : Sick there, which made me uneasy. Aug. 
 13. Visit Mr Fox. View y e Hop-yards. Come home: very 
 hot. Met Mr Converse the Father, & discours'd him under a 
 Shady Tree. Won't give his Grandchildren till after his death, 
 for fear of giving offence. Express'd his Grief that Gov r Dud- 
 ley put men in place that were not good." 
 
 In this brief extract from the authentic record above referred 
 to, it is strongly intimated that Woburn, the mother, was once 
 as much noted for that now neglected branch of husbandry, the 
 raising of hops, as her daughters, Goshen or Wilmington, and 
 Shawshin or* Burlington, have been in recent times. The 
 
 is Woburn Records of Births, etc. 19 Gravestone.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 177 
 
 " shady tree," likewise there named, was doubtless the far-famed 
 Woburn Elm, which stood near the Convers Mill, in what is now 
 Winchester, and not far from the original house of the Convers 
 family. 20 Beneath the wide spread limbs of that lofty tree, 
 upon some block at its foot, methinks I see those venerable 
 Puritans discussing in a friendly manner some knotty point of 
 divinity ; or discoursing with solicitude upon matters which con- 
 cerned the welfare of their families, or of this, their adopted 
 country; glancing in their conversation, every now and then, 
 with a sigh at that better country, the heavenly Canaan, the 
 longed-for land of every genuine Puritan, as his final abode, the 
 land of his everlasting rest above. 
 
 William Lock, Sen., fifth subscriber to the Declaration, was 
 brought to New England, 1635, on board the "Planter," from 
 London, by Nicholas Davis, who, it is believed, was his uncle. 
 He was then a child of but six years old, and was probably born 
 at London, December 13, 1728; seems to have lived at first at 
 Charlestown; came early to Woburn, after its settlement; 
 married Mary, daughter of William Clark, of Watertown, 
 November 27, 1655, by whom he had nine children, one of 
 whom (the first) died in infancy ; lived near to Kendall's Mill, 
 in Woburn, on the spot where the late Capt. William Fox had 
 his dwelling; was of the Board of Selectmen, 1687, 1696; was 
 a deacon of the Church in 1700; and died June 16, 1720. 
 His wife, Mary, died before him, July 18, 1715. 
 
 His descendants in Woburn, Lexington, and West Cam- 
 bridge, have been very numerous. Among them was Rev. 
 Samuel Locke, D.D., President of Harvard College. He was the 
 son of Samuel Lock (a grandson of Deacon William) and of 
 Rebecca Lock, his wife ; was born at Woburn, 21 November 23, 
 
 * This elm stood in the front yard of Deacon Benjamin F. Thompson, a 
 few steps after crossing the railroad in Winchester, upon the left hand 
 side of the road leading to Medford, and was cut down by that gentleman, 
 (he once told me) some twenty years ago [1866]. 
 
 * l Biglow, in his History of Sherborn, claims him to have been a native 
 of Lancaster. But Woburn Records of Births, Marriages, etc., state that 
 his father and mother at marriage were both of Woburn, and record the 
 birth of this their son Samuel, and the births of four other of their chil- 
 dren, as occurring in the same town.
 
 178 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 1731; graduated at Harvard College, 1755; ordained pastor 
 of the church in Sherborn, November 7, 1759; installed Presi- 
 dent of the University, March 21, 1770; resigned that office 
 December 1, 1773; removed back to Sherborn, and there died 
 suddenly of apoplexy, January 15, 1778. 22 
 
 James Convers, Jr., the last of those worthies, who subscribed 
 the above Declaration of the church of Woburn in 1 703, and 
 familiarly known in his day as Maj. James Convers, was the 
 eldest son of James Convers, Senr., and was born in Woburn 
 November 16, 1645. He was a gentleman that, for a succes- 
 sion of years, appears to have faithfully and acceptably dis- 
 charged various civil trusts reposed in him by the town. 
 
 But he is most celebrated for his services to his country in the 
 military line, and especially for his gallant defence of Storer's 
 garrison at Wells, during the war against the French and East- 
 ern Indians, which began in 1688, and has been called, "The 
 Ten Years War." That exploit of Major (then Captain) Con- 
 vers, is spoken of, both by Hutchinson and by Belknap in their 
 respective Histories, in terms of commendation. 23 Mather also, 
 in his History of this War, entitled '' Decennium Luctuosum," 
 gives a minute and interesting account of this celebrated action, 
 and as it is hi hly creditable to this distinguished son of Woburn, 
 an abridgment of it may not improbably be gratifying to the 
 citizens of Woburn at the present day. 
 
 It seems that on November 29, 1690, six Indian sachems had 
 agreed at Sagadahock with Capt. John Alden upon a truce till 
 the first day of May 1691, on which day they promised to bring 
 all the English captives in their hands into Lieut. Storer's house 
 at Wells, and there conclude upon terms of a firm and lasting 
 peace. 
 
 Accordingly, on the day appointed, Deputy Governor Dan- 
 
 ** Woburn Records, Savage's Genealogical Register, Biglow's History. 
 
 83 HutcMnson's History, Vol. II., pp. 67, 68, 72. Belknap's History of 
 New Hampshire, p. 135. " But on the tenth day of June, [1691] an army 
 of Trench and Indians made a furious attack on Storer's garrison at Wells, 
 where Capt. Convers commanded; who, after a brave and resolute defence, 
 was so happy as to drive them off with great loss."
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 179 
 
 forth and certain other gentlemen came from Boston to Wells, 
 suitably guarded, expecting the fulfilment of this engagement by 
 the Indians. But, as Mather expresses it, " the Indians being 
 poor musicians for keeping of time," Capt. Convers went out, 
 and returned with some of them, who brought in six English cap- 
 tives in company, and promised that in twenty days more they 
 would bring in to Capt. Convers all the rest." After waiting for 
 the Indians beyond the term agreed upon, the Deputy Governor 
 and company withdrew ; and Capt. Convers, suspecting treach- 
 ery, made earnest application to the County of Essex for help to 
 be sent him as speedily as possible ; and received from that 
 quarter thirty-five men. This providential reinforcement saved 
 the place. For scarcely half an hour had elapsed from their 
 entering Storer's house on June 9, 1691, before Moxus, a fierce 
 sachem, beset it, with two hundred Indians. But, receiving a 
 brave repulse from the garrison within, he became discouraged 
 and drew off. This gave occasion to Madockawando, another 
 noted Indian sachem, and a virulent foe to the English, to say, 
 as was afterwards reported, " My brother Moxus has miss'd it 
 now ; but I will go myself the next year, and have the dog Con- 
 vers out of his hole." The event proved that this was no 
 empty threat ; that Madockawando meant as he said. For, on 
 June 10, 1692, just a year and a day from the time that Moxus 
 commenced his attack on the garrison of Wells the year before, 
 the cattle of that place came suddenly home from the woods 
 affrighted, and some of them wounded. Warned by this infalli- 
 ble sign that Indians were nigh, the inhabitants of the place fled 
 for refuge to the garrison house ; and the next morning, an army 
 of French and Indians, from 300 to 500 in number, commanded 
 by Labocree, a Frenchman, and under him, by Moxus, Madock- 
 awando, Egeremet, and other Indian sachems, was discovered 
 lurking around. To defend himself against this host, Capt. 
 Convers had only fifteen men in the garrison, and as many more 
 aboard of two sloops and a shallop in the river hard by, which 
 had recently arrived from Boston with ammunition for the 
 soldiers, and a contribution, of supplies for the impoverished 
 inhabitants of that vicinity. So weak and contemptible did the 

 
 180 . HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Indians account these few opponents, and so sure were they of 
 victory, that one of the first things they did after their arrival 
 was to agree upon a division among themselves of the prisoners 
 and of the spoils. 
 
 They then made a violent assault upon the garrison. But 
 meeting there a hot reception, and having no cannon, they were 
 glad to leave it for that time, and try their efforts upon the 
 sloops. So narrow was the river or inlet where these lay, that 
 the enemy could approach them within twelve yards of the land ; 
 and from hence, behind a pile of plank, and a haystack fortified 
 with posts and rails, they discharged their volleys upon them. 
 By means, too, of fire arrows, they succeeded several times in 
 setting the sloops on fire. But the sailors, " with a swab at the 
 end of a rope tied to a pole, and so dipt into the water," con- 
 trived to extinguish the spreading flames ; and, encouraged by 
 their resolute commander, Lieutenant Storer, they made such 
 stout resistance, that before night their assailants, disappointed, 
 withdrew. But they soon returned, to try the effect of strata- 
 gem and threatening. In the course of the night, they inquired of 
 the men on board the sloops, Who were their commanders ? And 
 being answered, "We have many commanders," the Indians 
 replied, " You lie ; you have none but Converse, and we will 
 have him too before morning." But morning arrived, and found 
 Convers still alive and well within the walls of Storer's house. 
 On that morning, by daylight, the Indians commenced prepara- 
 tions for another assault upon the garrison. They began to 
 march -to wards it in a body, with great display; and so terrific 
 was their appearance, that one of the garrison ventured to sug- 
 gest the expediency of a surrender. But Captain Convers, 
 rendered indignant by such a proposal, " vehemently protested 
 that he would lay the man dead who should so much as mut- 
 ter that base word any more." When the Indians had come 
 within a short distance from the garrison, they raised a shout 
 that caused the earth to ring : and crying out in English, " Fire, 
 and fall on, brave boys," they all, being drawn into three ranks, 
 fired in a body at once. 
 
 But, violent as this onset was, Capt. Convers was prepared to
 
 HISTORY OP WOBTTRN. 181 
 
 meet it. His men were all ready, waiting his commands ; and 
 the female inhabitants of the town, who had fled to the garrison 
 for protection at the approach of the enemy, were not only 
 active in handing ammunition to the men, but several armed 
 themselves with muskets, and discharged them. Capt. Convers 
 had given orders to his men to refrain from firing till they 
 could do it to most advantage ; and, when they came to discharge 
 their artillery at his word, such was the execution done, that 
 many of the enemy were swept down before them, and many 
 others were constrained to flee. Baffled in this, their second 
 attack upon the garrison, the enemy now renewed their 
 attempts upon the sloops. They constructed a raft, eighteen or 
 twenty feet square, which they loaded with combustible mate- 
 rials, and then towing it as near as they dared, set fire to it, 
 and left it for the tide to float it towards the sloops. And now 
 the men on board, perceiving their imminent danger of perish- 
 ing by fire, commended themselves to God for help. And 
 suddenly, it is recorded, the wind shifted, and the raft was 
 driven upon the opposite shore, and so much split as to let in 
 water, with which the fire was quenched. By this time, the 
 enemy's ammunition was nearly exhausted, and numbers of 
 them disheartened with their ill success, began to draw off. 
 The rest, after some consultation, thought best to send a flag 
 of truce towards the garrison advising them to surrender. But 
 Capt. Convers sent them word, that " he wanted nothing but for 
 men to come and fight him." The Indians replied, " Being you 
 are so stout, why don't you come and fight in the open field, 
 like a man, and not fight in a garrison like a Squaw ? " The 
 Captain rejoined, " What a fool are you ! do you think thirty 
 men a match for five hundred ? No : come with your thirty men " 
 upon the plain, and I'le meet you with my thirty as soon as 
 you will." Upon this, the Indian answered, " Nay, mee own, 
 English fashion is all one fool ; you kill mee, mee kill you ! No : 
 better ly somewhere, and shoot a man, and he no see ; that the 
 best soldier ! " 
 
 With this, the Indian enemy, from daring Capt. Convers, had 
 recourse to coaxing and flattery. But, finding him too wise to 
 16
 
 182 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 trust the promises of insidious foes, and that all their devices to 
 induce him to surrender, or to draw him from his stronghold, 
 were ineffectual, they were thrown into a rage, and with a horrid 
 imprecation declared, " We'll cut you as small as tobacco before 
 to-morrow morning." But the only reply which the intrepid 
 captain made to this vaporing threat, was, " to bid them come 
 on ; for he wanted work." The enemy themselves, notwithstand- 
 ing their boast what they would do with him, came near him no 
 more. Having now continued before the garrison and in its 
 neighborhood forty-eight hours, and been disappointed in all 
 their confident expectations, and defeated in all their efforts to 
 get the dog Convers (as they had called him) and his men into 
 their power, they first wreaked their vengeance upon all the cat- 
 tle they could light upon, and cruelly tortured to death a poor 
 unhappy captive they had taken on the morning they came to 
 Wells, and then marched off, leaving some of their dead behind 
 them, Labocree, their commander-in chief, among the rest; thus 
 giving cause of joy and thanksgiving unto God to the garrison, 
 and to the country at large, for so wonderful a deliverance. 
 
 For this, his brave and successful action, Captain Convers 
 was promoted the following year, by Governor Phipf>s, to the 
 rank of a Major, and appointed to the command of all the Massa- 
 chusetts forces then in Maine. Here, and in the Legislature, 
 he still continued to serve his country during the remainder of 
 the war : and shared at last in the honor of bringing it to an 
 end. Towards the close of the year 1698, he and Colonel John 
 Phillips, a member of the Council of the Province, with Captain 
 Cyprian Southack, commander of the Province Galley, sailed 
 from Boston for the Eastern country, intrusted by the Govern- 
 ment with full powers for effecting a peace with the Indians. 
 Proceeding to Casco Bay, they there met with the leading 
 Indian sachems, and persuaded them, January 7, 1699, to 
 accede to and solemnly subscribe a treaty, which was the same, 
 in the main, with the one they had entered into at Pemaquid, 
 but which they had broken, as they alleged, through the persua- 
 sion of the French. Peace had, previously to this, been made 
 with the French by the treaty of Ryswick, 1697. 
 
 In 1699, the year in which peace with the Indians was con-
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 183 
 
 eluded, and in the four preceding years, and again in 1701, and 
 the four following years, Major Convers was sent a member for 
 Woburn to the General Court ; and in three of those years, viz, 
 1699, 1702, 1703, he was chosen Speaker of the House. In 
 1706, he was again returned to the lower branch of the Legis- 
 lature ; but did not live to finish the term for which he had been 
 elected. Being seized, apparently, with some sudden, violent 
 sickness, death put an end at once to his usefulness and his life, 
 July 8, 1706, in the 61st year of his age. 
 
 Major Convers married, January 1, 1668-9, Hannah, a 
 daughter of Capt. John Carter. By her, he had nine children, 
 six sons and three daughters. Four of these died in infancy or 
 childhood, or in youth unmarried. Two of his sons, Robert and 
 Josiah, the second son of the name, were men of influence and 
 distinction in their day, and descendants of Josiah, of the third 
 and fourth generations from his son Josiah, Jr., still live in 
 Woburn, and maintain a highly respectable position and char- 
 acter in society. 
 
 While this distinguished citizen of Woburn was Town Clerk, 
 he performed one piece of service, for which the town doth now, 
 and ever will, owe him a grateful remembrance. After his acces- 
 sion to that office, observing that his predecessors had recorded 
 the Births, Marriages and Deaths in Woburn upon sundry loose 
 papers, which were then in a shattered and perishing condition, he 
 procured a blank folio volume, well bound, at his own expense, and 
 transcribed those Records into it, adding, in his own records of 
 births, the names of both the parents, instead of the father only, 
 as had previously been the custom. By this, his laudable care, 
 and by the subsequent purchase of the new volume by the town, 
 at the recommendation of his successor in the Clerk's office, 
 Lieutenant Fowle, the valuable records of almost fifty years 
 on the above mentioned topics, were preserved for posterity in 
 a fair hand, and in a durable form, which otherwise had long 
 since perished, or been scattered and lost. 24 
 
 24 The original letters of Major Convers to Governor Joseph Dudley 
 having been put into my hands by J. Wingate Thornton, Esq., of Boston, 
 I have thought it might be gratifying to many of the citizens of Woburn 
 to have copies of them presented in the Appendix ; which see, No. VII.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Seating the Meeting-House. Location of the Two Thousand Acres. 
 Province Loan Money. Woburn's Share of Lovewell's Fight, 17i5. 
 
 IT was observed in a former Chapter of this history, that seat- 
 ing the meeting-house, from time to time, became not unfre- 
 quently an occasion of disorder and contention. A memorable 
 instance of this occurred in 1710. The work of repairing and 
 enlarging the house of public worship the year before having 
 been completed, it became necessary to seat it anew. Accord- 
 ingly, at a general meeting, December 9, 1709, John Brooks, 
 Sergeant Eleazar Flegg, Sergeant John Tidd, Sergeant George 
 Reed, and James Fowle were chosen a committee for this pur- 
 pose. But so irksome was this office accounted, and at the 
 same time so thankless and invidious, that two of the persons 
 nominated for it on this occasion, Messrs. Tidd and Powle, 
 immediately declined. To supply their places, Messrs.* Peir son 
 Richardson and Ensign Samuel Blogget, were then elected. 
 But Mr. Blogget, signifying at once his unwillingness to serve, a 
 vacancy was again made in the committee. This vacancy, the 
 town did not attempt to fill ; and the remaining four members 
 went on to perform the work of their appointment. But in the 
 discharge of their office, they were far from giving general satis- 
 faction. At the time of their election, the town had instructed 
 them to have respect, in their official labors, to three things j 
 viz, to age, to what men had done towards building the meet- 
 ing-house at the first, and towards its recent repairs and enlarge- 
 ment ; and finally, to their proportion in the public charges. 
 
 But, in seating the people, the committee seem to have paid 
 more regard to the last two of these qualifications than to the 
 first ; and to have preferred to the front seats in the temple the 
 wealthy and liberal, though young, before the aged members of 
 the church and community that were poor, and so of necessity
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 185 
 
 but slender contributors towards the cost of the late work upon 
 the house of God. This manner of proceeding laid the founda- 
 tion of much murmuring and discontent. At a meeting of the 
 Selectmen, February 6, 1709-10, a petition was handed in to 
 them, signed by about fifty-seven inhabitants, alleging that what 
 the Seating Committee had done, in the fulfilment of their trust, 
 was illegal, and greatly prejudicial to the peace of the town ; 
 and praying that the town might be called together for the 
 choice of another Committee, who should perform the work 
 anew. Two of the Selectmen were opposed to granting this 
 petition, apprehensive of the difficulties which might ensue. But 
 the other three were so far convinced of the necessity of the 
 meeting petitioned for, that they gave orders for warning one to 
 be held March 6th, the day for the annual choice of town 
 officers, at 8 o'clock in the morning. By fixing upon this early 
 hour for the meeting requested, the Selectmen who called it, 
 doubtless intended to have the petition acted upon under their 
 own supervision and authority, before a new choice of Selectmen 
 was made. Accordingly, the day being come, and the town 
 assembled at the hour specified, as soon as the meeting was 
 opened, and a Moderator chosen, those three Selectmen, at the 
 motion of many of the people, ordered the Moderator, Ensign 
 John Peirce, to call for votes for the choice of a new Seating 
 Committee. But this, he utterly refused to do ; and the Select- 
 men, in consequence, commanded the Town Clerk to record his 
 refusal. A motion was then made and carried, that the Town 
 Clerk should record the reason which the Moderator had 
 rendered for his refusal to make the choice of the Committee 
 petitioned for, the first thing to be done on that occasion ; viz : 
 that he thought it most proper, that the choice of town officers, 
 which was the regular business of the day, should be first 
 attended ; and then, if there were time left, the petition might be 
 acted upon by the town, if they saw fit. 
 
 The consequence of this altercation was, that no seating com- 
 mittee was chosen at this time, and the people were obliged to 
 acquiesce for the present in the arrangements of the committee 
 appointed at the former meeting. Still, the dissatisfaction with 
 16*
 
 186 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 those arrangements did not cease. At a meeting of the Select- 
 men May 7, 1711, a petition was presented them from several 
 of the inhabitants, declaring themselves " much aggrieved at the 
 disorderly seating of many persons, in the House of God, the 
 aintient behind the backs of the youth, which they apprehended 
 not to be according to the Law of God, which requireth the youth 
 to rise up before the hoary head, and to honour the person of the 
 old man : " and, therefore, the petitioners moved the Selectmen to 
 call the town together, " to regulate such disorders, that so peace 
 and order may be in the house of God." 1 In compliance with 
 this request, the Selectmen directed the Constables, in warning 
 a town meeting, May 18th, for the choice of a Representative, to 
 give notice also, that at the same meeting some proper method 
 would be considered for the redress of the irregularitcs com- 
 plained of. At the meeting thus notified, the petition referred 
 to was read, and some debate arising respecting it and the dis- 
 orders alleged therein, it was moved by some, as a good expe- 
 dient for remedying them, that the town declare the last seating 
 of the meeting-house void. This question was put, and the 
 majority voting in the affirmative, the last seating was annulled, 
 and no provision being made at the same time for a new seating, 
 it is presumed that the people, upon some acknowledged princi- 
 ples of propriety, seated themselves, and probably to better 
 mutual satisfaction, than any committee, in the existing state of 
 feeling, could have done it for them. 
 
 In view of this and similar contentions among our ancestors on 
 this subject, we have cause of congratulation that houses of pub- 
 lic worship at the present day are constructed, and seats assigned 
 in them, on a plan which supersedes the need of a seating com- 
 mittee. It is readily granted, that respect is always and every- 
 where due to age, especially in the house of God, and were the 
 floors of our meeting-houses now occupied with long seats, as of 
 old, it might be justly regarded as a gross impropriety, and one 
 that ought to be rectified, if aged and respectable, yet poor mem- 
 bers of the church were seated behind the young, who had 
 
 1 Town Records, Vol. V., p. 185.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 187 
 
 nothing but wealth and a large share in the public taxes to 
 recommend them. But then, while the old custom prevailed, 
 there would unavoidably arise cases, almost innumerable, of per- 
 sons, whose respective claims to precedence it would be next to 
 impossible to adjust with exactness. And the grievance spring- 
 ing from a supposed erroneous decision in such instances would, 
 doubtless, be greatly increased by the prevailing sensitiveness 
 in former days upon the subject of rank in society. The first 
 settlers of New England were men to be ever deeply venerated 
 for their piety, and their many sterling virtues. But they 
 brought over with them high notions of family rank, and station. 
 Such distinctions, the institutions and customs of the mother 
 country had created and cherished ; and under the influence of 
 education and habit, our earliest ancestors here attached an 
 inordinate importance to them themselves, and were jealous of 
 any neglect of them by others. And while their descendants of 
 the first and second generations had much degenerated, it is to 
 be feared, from their praiseworthy qualities, they retained with 
 little or no diminution their sentiments with regard to rank and 
 condition in society. Many illustrations of this state of feeling, 
 at the commencement of the last century, might be given were it 
 necessary. But there is an anecdote showing its existence in 
 Woburn and its vicinity at that period, which may not be amiss 
 to relate. A tradition of unquestionable correctness states, 
 that a certain lady, a daughter of a prominent family in this 
 town, who was married and lived in Billerica, observing one of 
 her sons connecting himself in marriage with a young woman 
 whom she deemed to be of a family far inferior to her own, felt 
 sufficiently chagrined at the circumstance, but thought best, for 
 that time, to keep her feelings to herself. But, hearing after- 
 wards, that another of her boys was following, in this respect, 
 his brother's steps, she could forbear no longer, but vented her 
 mortification with exclaiming, One slice of the brown loaf to a 
 family is surely enough." 
 
 In 1664, it will be recollected, the General Court made a 
 grant to this town of two thousand acres of land, to be taken up 
 wherever they could find it in this then wilderness, clear of any
 
 188 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 prior claim. 2 Votes had been passed by the town at different 
 times in relation to this grant ; but fifty years were suffered to 
 pass, before anything effectual was done towards its location. 
 But, in 1714. the town took up this business in earnest. At a 
 general meeting, May llth, of that year, a committee was 
 appointed to look out a place for the location of the 2000 
 acres formerly granted to the town. But that committee 
 neglecting to fulfil their appointment, (possibly from an appre- 
 hension that in consequence of the long delay there had been 
 on the part of Woburn, to lay down the land, some new author- 
 ity from the Court had become necessary or expedient,) a com- 
 mittee of two, viz : Ensign John Peirce and Sergeant John Tidd, 
 was chosen November 14, 1716, "to prefer a petition to the 
 General Court, for the renewal of their grant." 3 Accordingly, a 
 petition was addressed by these gentlemen to the Court, which 
 was favorably accepted. The grant was renewed, and at the 
 annual town meeting, March 4, 1716-17, Messrs. Ebenezer 
 Johnson and Eleazar Flegg were chosen a committee to look out 
 a place where they might take it up. 4 These gentlemen pro- 
 ceeded forthwith to the discharge of their commission. For the 
 location of the tract of land in question, they pitched upon a 
 place, called Turkey Hill, near Lancaster, west of Groton, and 
 within the bounds of what was afterwards incorporated as the 
 town of Lunenburg. Here, with the assistance of others whom 
 they took with them from Woburn, and of a committee from 
 Lancaster, they ran its lines, and established boundaries, which 
 from time to time were subsequently renewed. 5 
 
 Before the location and bounds of this grant were determined, 
 it had been contemplated to sell it, and to let the money upon 
 interest for the benefit of the town ; and a committee had been 
 appointed to carry this scheme into effect. But at a meeting, 
 May 15, 1724, the proprietors voted that the land should 
 remain for the present in the hands it was then in. They also 
 forbade any one interested therein, and all others, to cut or carry 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 29, 30. Town Records, Vol. V., p. 353. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. V., p. 357. " Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 20.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 189 
 
 off from it either wood or timber ; and chose Ensign Josiah 
 Convers and John Russell as a committee to take it into their 
 care, and to prosecute any who might trespass upon it. 6 In this 
 condition, it continued about ten years. How it was ultimately 
 disposed of, will appear in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 In 1721, March 31st, to remedy the scarcity of money then 
 much complained of, and to facilitate the payment of taxes, the 
 Legislature of Massachusetts, issued what was called, the 
 5 0,000 Loan. By this, was intended that amount in Bills of 
 Credit, which were distributed among the several towns, accord- 
 ing to the taxes they paid, and to be returned into the Province 
 Treasury, within a limited time. 7 At a general meeting in 
 Woburn, October 12, 1721, it was voted, that they would take 
 their proportion of " the fifty-thousand pound " out of the public 
 treasury, and would commit it to three trustees, to manage it as 
 the town should direct, and to receive one-sixth part of the 
 interest for their trouble. The persons chosen for this trust 
 were, Major Eleazar Flegg, Mr. John Brooks and Capt. John 
 Fowle ; who were instructed by the town to let the money, in 
 sums not less than ten pounds, nor greater than twenty pounds, 
 to any one man ; to let it at an interest of five per cent per 
 annum, to be for the town's use ; to keep it in their hands till 
 the last of the following May ; and that, if by that time, inhab- 
 itants of Woburn did not appear to take up the whole upon 
 good security, to let it to any person in the County, who should 
 offer landed or other security satisfactory to the trustees. 8 
 Woburn's share in this public loan was 624 : and much to 
 the praise of the trustees, it was managed by them on the 
 town's behalf with entire fidelity. In volume VII., p. 2, of the 
 Town Books are recorded five distinct receipts, acknowledg- 
 ing their payment of the principal into the Province Treasury, 
 in five equal instalments of 1 24: 16*. each; the first being 
 dated July 29, 1726, and the last, July 29, 1730. And there 
 is also upon record, in the same volume, paere 1st, a long 
 particular account of their disposal of the interest of this sum, 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 196. 
 Felt's Massachusetts Currency, p. 77. Town Records, Vol. VI., pp. 130, 131.
 
 190 HISTORY OF WOBUBN. 
 
 agreeably to vote of the town, for the payment of pauper bills, 
 county tax, representatives, school-masters and hire of preach- 
 ing, during the frequent indisposition of Rev. Mr. Fox. Never, 
 apparently, was a public trust more faithfully discharged than 
 this; never was there a happier illustration of following the 
 Apostle's example in a like case, of "providing for honest 
 things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight 
 of men." 
 
 But the town was not so fortunate in its investment, a few 
 years afterwards, of its share in the 60,000 loan so called. 
 The act of the Legislature granting this loan was passed early 
 in the year 1728, and was styled "An act for raising and settling 
 a public revenue for and towards defraying the necessary 
 charges of the government, by an emission of 60,000 in bills 
 of credit." " This was done to bring it within the words of the 
 [king's] instruction, which restrained the governor from consent- 
 ing to the issuing bills of credit, except for charges of govern- 
 ment. The interest of 4 per cent, or 2400, was to be applied 
 annually to the public charges, and gave colour for issuing the 
 principal sum of 60,000." 9 This loan, like the preceding one, 
 was distributed among the several towns in the Province, accord- 
 ing to their proportion in the public taxes. The sum to which 
 Woburn was entitled is not upon the Records of the town, but 
 could not have been far from 750. At a general meeting in 
 Woburn, April 4, 1728, it was voted "that the town would 
 take their proportion of the Sixty thousand pound, provided the 
 trustees would be bound to indemnifie the Town." 
 
 At the same time, three trustees, viz, Samuel Richardson, 
 Caleb Blogget, and John Fowle, were chosen to receive the 
 town's part of this loan, and to let it out; and the Selectmen 
 were appointed a committee to take security of them against loss 
 by their means. It was also voted, that the trustees should not 
 let more than 20, nor less than 10, to any one person; and 
 should be allowed a sixth part of the interest for their compen- 
 sation. 10 No mention is made in the Record of the rate of 
 
 Felt's Historical Account of Massachusetts Currency, p. 84. 
 o Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 347.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 191 
 
 interest to be demanded. But as four per cent of it was to be 
 paid annually into the Province Treasury, and a sixth part of it 
 was to go to the trustees, it appears evident that the money was 
 to be let at the rate of six per cent interest, and that the remain- 
 ing sixth part was to go towards defraying town charges. 9 No 
 account is to be found in the Records of the manner in which 
 either the principal or interest of Woburn's share of this loan 
 was at any time disposed of; and six years passed away, from 
 the time the town voted to accept it, before any inquiry was 
 instituted as to the manner in which it was managed. At a gen- 
 eral meeting, May 16, 1734, a committee of three was chosen 
 to reckon with the trustees " about the lone money of the first 
 and second Banck," n and to give an account of their doings at 
 the next annual meeting in March. 11 But no Report of this 
 committee is upon record ; and four years more rolled on before 
 the town awaked to a proper sense of its responsibility on this 
 subject, and to a suitable care for its own security. At a meet- 
 ing of the freeholders and other inhabitants, November 20, 
 1738, they chose a committee of three, viz., Messrs. William Tay, 
 Benjamin Johnson, and Samuel Eames, whom they fully author- 
 ized " to reckon, receive, and recover in the Law, for the town's 
 use, all such sum or sums of Province Bills as are due from 
 Capt. John Fowle, Mr Samuel Richardson and Capt. Caleb 
 Blogget, as trustees for the town for the .60,000 loan .... 
 and also to see that the trustees pay the full parte of said 
 money, that is due to the Province Treasurer, into the Treasury ; 
 and also to see that the town have the parte that is due to said 
 town": and to make return of their proceedings at the next 
 general town meeting after the May meeting ensuing. 12 
 
 But before the meeting here designated (which was not held 
 till December 28, 1739,) arrived, Woburn's proportion of the 
 above named loan, or a part of it, was called for into the public 
 treasury ; and the sum demanded not being forthcoming from the 
 trustees, the town was obliged to provide for the deficiency. A 
 Loan Tax," so called, of 250 7*. 6</. (which was probably 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 113. " Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 286.
 
 192 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 about one third part of the whole sum received by the trustees) 
 was assessed upon the inhabitants, February 13, 1739, to be 
 collected and paid by the. Constables " unto the Province 
 Treasurer, according to the direction of his Warrant." 13 This 
 sum now became due from the trustees to Woburn, instead of 
 the Treasurer of the Province; and the town seemed deter- 
 mined to recover it, if possible, together with the proportion of 
 the interest of the loan to which it was entitled, but which 
 appears to have been still unpaid. At a meeting, December 
 28, 1739, it granted anew to the Committee appointed Novem- 
 ber 20, 1738, full power and authority to demand, and "to 
 recover in the Law all such sum or sums of this Province's 
 Bills of Creditt as are due to the Inhabitants of Woobourn from 
 Mr Samuel Richardson, Capt. John Fowle and Capt. Caleb 
 Bloggett, as they are Trustees for said Town for their part of 
 the Sixty Thousand Pound Loan ; and the same to pursue to 
 final judgment and execution." 14 At a subsequent meeting, May 
 4, 1741, two members of this committee, viz : Lieut. Samuel Eames 
 and Mr William Tay, were re-appointed "to demand and 
 receive .the interest of the Loan Bills of Creditt, due to the town 
 from Capt. Caleb Bloggett and Mr Samuel Richardson ; and to 
 prosecute that affair in the Law to final judgment, if need be." 15 
 And finally, at a meeting, May 7, 1742, in acting upon an 
 article in the Warrant, to "consider whether the Town will remitt 
 all or any part of the interest due from the Committee [Trustees] 
 about the X60.000 Loan on a bond of forty two pounds ? " it 
 was decided in the negative. 15 This was taking a firm stand, 
 on the part of the town. But what was the effect of these votes 
 and resolutions, what was actually done by the Committee so 
 amply empowered by them, and what was the result of the 
 measures which the Committee adopted, the Records nowhere 
 show. These, on all the points just named, maintain every 
 where a studied silence. Considering, however, the respectable 
 standing which the Trustees had hitherto occupied in society, 
 the integrity which one of them had manifested as a trustee for 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VH., pp. 323-330. " Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 315. 
 
 "Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 368, 399.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 193 
 
 the management of the town's part of the preceding loan, the 
 security which they were severally required to give the 
 Selectmen to indemnify the town at their appointment to office, 
 and the apparent omission of the Committee to use their power 
 to commence a suit against them to recover what they owed to 
 the town, it seems more probable than otherwise, that they grad- 
 ually recovered from the embarrassments, under which they may 
 have labored for a time, and eventually satisfied all the demands 
 of the town against them, as trustees in the affair of the 
 60,000 loan. 
 
 It is lamentable to witness, or to have occasion to relate 
 instances, even of temporary delinquency, in persons intrusted 
 with public money. Such, of all men, are concerned to be faith- 
 ful to their trust. Generally speaking, a man may do what he 
 will with his own ; but he has no right to be careless or lavish 
 of that which is another's, or the property of the community. . 
 By unfaithfulness in the latter case, many are injured ; many 
 are aggrieved by his abuse of their confidence, and his own 
 reputation and usefulness inevitably suffer. But in the instance 
 before us, powerful reasons demand a charitable construction 
 upon the conduct of the trustees, and forbearance in the 
 sentence we pass on it. For many years, the General Court of 
 the Province had been making issues in paper money from time 
 to time, without any adequate provision to keep up its nominal 
 value. The consequence was, a growing scarcity of specie, and 
 a constant depreciation of their bills of credit. And yet, as 
 these bills were almost the only currency in the market, the 
 people were generally urgent in their calls for an increase of 
 them, and a majority in the popular branch of the Legislature 
 was always ready to gratify the wishes of their constituents in 
 this respect. But the more bills of credit were multiplied, the 
 more and faster did their value diminish : So that whereas, in 
 1710, eight shillings in bills were accounted equal in value to 
 an ounce of silver, sixty shillings in bills were reckoned, in 1 750, 
 but an equivalent to the same standard value. 16 Hence arose 
 
 i Felt's Historical Account of Massachusetts Currency, pp. 83, 186. 
 17
 
 194 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 universal embarrassment in the community; and to several 
 descriptions of people, severe and increasing suffering and 
 distress. Avaricious administrators of estates lay under a 
 strong temptation at least to detain the property of widows 
 and orphans in their hands, and to pay it at last in depreciated 
 paper ; ministers and other salaried men were reduced to great 
 straits, by being obliged to receive their salaries in a currency 
 not worth half its original nominal value ; and creditors were 
 kept out of their honest dues altogether, or compelled to take 
 up with what was far below their just claims. It is no ground- 
 less presumption therefore to suppose, that the delinquency of 
 the trustees of Woburn in the present instance was owing to 
 the failure of those to whom, with the town's authority, they had 
 lent the town's loan money to fulfil on demand their obligations, 
 rather than to any intention in the trustees to defraud. Nor is 
 it likely that their case was a singular one. Were inquiry 
 made, it would very probably be found, that the trustees for 
 this loan, in a considerable number of our towns, even men of 
 fair and unimpeachable characters, were rendered unable, by the 
 difficulties of the times to meet, at once, their public responsibil- 
 ities, and so, through dire necessity, and to their own grief, 
 became, for a season, the unwilling instruments of trouble and 
 loss to their fellow-citizens, and of disappointing the confidence 
 reposed in them. 
 
 In 1725 occurred that bloody encounter with Indians, which is 
 commonly distinguished as Lovewell's Fight. It took place, 
 May 8, 0. S., and its centennial anniversary was commemorated 
 on the spot, in an address before a large and intelligent 
 audience by Charles S. Davies, Esq., on the corresponding day in 
 N. S., May 19, 1825. As a considerable number of the English, 
 who fought in this engagement, were either inhabitants 
 of Woburn, or had originated from it, and as the event of it 
 was heard by the people of this place, at the time, with bitter 
 lamentation or with deep concern, a particular account of it will 
 not, I presume, be uninteresting to their descendants at this dis- 
 tant day. 
 
 During the war carried on by the English against the Abena-
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUEN. 195 
 
 quis or Eastern Indians, from 1722 to 1726, the government of 
 Massachusetts, to encourage scouting parties for the defence of 
 the frontiers, offered a bounty for Indian scales and captives in 
 1723, which was raised the next year to X100 each. With a 
 view to obtaining this bounty, as well as from motives of patriot- 
 ism, Capt. John Lovewell, of Dunstable, raised a company of 
 volunteers, and made two successful expeditions in pursuit of 
 Indians in December 1724, and early in 1725. In the latter 
 expedition of the two, he and his men killed ten Indians, whom 
 they surprised lying round a fire asleep near a pond in Wake- 
 field, N. H., since called Lovewell's Pond ; 17 and bringing their 
 scalps to Boston, they were paid XI, 000 for them out of the 
 public treasury. 17 Emboldened by this repeated success, he 
 quickly after undertook a third expedition for the same object. 
 On the 16th of April, 1725, he and forty-five others, inclusively 
 of a surgeon and a chaplain, marched from Dunstable for the 
 Indian villages at Pigwacket near the upper part of Saco River, 
 once the residence of a powerful tribe of Indians, and since 
 places of their occasional resort. 17 Before he had proceeded far, 
 one of his men disabled by lameness, and another by an old wound, 
 were dismissed and returned home. When they had reached the 
 great Ossipee pond, another of the company falling sick, they 
 halted, and built a small fort, which might serve as a place of 
 refuge in case of necessity. 17 Here they left the sick man, and 
 the surgeon to take care of him, and eight other men for a guard, 
 together with a considerable quantity of provision for their own 
 use, on their return. 17 
 
 The company was now reduced to thirty-four, inclusively of 
 the captain ; and their names (excepting that of one who fled at 
 the beginning of the fight, which it was therefore thought best to 
 consign to oblivion) were as follows : viz, Capt. John Lovewell, 
 Lieutenants Joseph Farwell and Jonathan Bobbins, Ensign 
 John Harwood, Sergeant Noah Johnson, Robert Usher and 
 Samuel Whiting of Dunstable ; Ensign Seth Wyman, Corporal 
 Thomas Richardson, Timothy Richardson, Ichabod Johnson and 
 
 17 Belknap's New Hampshire, in one vol., pp. 209, 210, etc. See also Hutchinson's History, 
 Vol. II., pp. 314, 315.
 
 196 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Josiah Johnson of Woburn ; Eleazar Davis, Josiah Davis, Josiah 
 Jones, David Melvin, Eleazar Melvin, Jacob Farrar and Joseph 
 Farrar of Concord; Mr Jonathan Fry of Andover, Chaplain ; 
 Sergeant Jacob Fullam of Weston; Corporal Edward Ling- 
 field of Nutfield, now Londonderry; Jonathan Kittredge and 
 Solomon Keyes of Billerica ; John Jefts, Daniel Woods, Thomas 
 Woods, John Chamberlain, Elias Barron, Isaac Lakin and 
 Joseph Gilson of Groton ; and Ebenezer Ayer and Abiel Asten 
 of Haverhill. 17 Pursuing their journey northward, about 
 twenty-two miles in a direct course, but forty miles by the indi- 
 rect road they are supposed to have taken, they came to a pond 
 near the Pigwacket villages by the Saco, and now within the 
 township of Fryburg, by the side of which pond they encamped. 17 
 On Saturday, May 8 (the day so fatal to many of them so full 
 of peril to them all), very early in the morning, while they were 
 at prayers, they heard a gun discharge ; and, not long after, they 
 espied an Indian standing on a point of land, which ran into the 
 pond, more than a mile distant. This point was a noted fishing 
 place: and, at the present day, there seems good reason to 
 believe that the Indian they observed was not stationed there 
 with any insidious design, but was entirely ignorant of there 
 being any English in the neighborhood, and that the gun which 
 they heard, he had fired at a flock of ducks. 17 But Captain 
 Lovewell and company had been alarmed the night before by 
 sundry noises, which they had attributed to enemies ; and now 
 the sight of this solitary Indian confirmed them in the persua- 
 sion that their suspicions had been well founded ; that a party 
 of the enemy was lying in wait between him and them ; and that 
 he had been set where he stood for a decoy to draw them that 
 way. Accordingly, a consultation was held by Captain Love- 
 well with his men, whether they should attempt a retreat, or 
 venture to face and fight an enemy, whom they could not expect, 
 as they had hoped, to take by surprise. Their answer generally 
 was, " We came out to meet the Enemy ; we have all along 
 prayed God we might find 'em ; and we had rather trust Provi- 
 dence with our lives, yea, die for our country, than try to return, 
 without seeing them, if we may, and be called cowards for our
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 197 
 
 pains." 18 Upon receiving this bold reply, the captain at once 
 decided, though with some misgivings, and, apparently, against 
 his own judgment, to go forward : and, still supposing the 
 enemy to be before him, he ordered his men to lay down their 
 packs where they were, that they might be as free from incum- 
 brance as possible ; to march with the utmost circumspection, 
 and in perfect readiness for an assault at an instant's warning. 
 
 But, while Capt. Lovewell,. with his men, was moving 
 cautiously onward, expecting that his wily foes lay concealed in 
 his front, they were in reality gathering and laying wait for him 
 in his rear. For it so happened, that in his march he crossed a 
 carrying place, to which, presently after he left it, came two 
 parties of Indians, with Paugus, a noted chief, and Wahwa at 
 their head, who had been scouting down Saco river, and were 
 now on their return to the lower village of Pigwacket, situate 
 upon a meadow by the Saco, about a mile and a half from the 
 pond. 17 These Indians, perceiving the tracks of Lovewell's 
 company at the carrying place, traced them back to their packs, 
 which they immediately seized upon and removed for their own 
 use ; and ascertaining by counting them, that their owners were 
 fewer in number than themselves, they skulked in ambush hard 
 by, and watched for their return. In the mean while, as Capt. 
 Lovewell and men were marching round the pond, to come at 
 the place where they had seen the Indian standing, they met him 
 returning by another path to the village, with his game and two 
 fowling pieces in his hands. Several of the company fired upon 
 him, and he returned the fire, and mortally wounded Capt. Love- 
 well, it was supposed, though he made but little complaint, and 
 was able to keep on his march. Ensign Wyman then fired and 
 killed the Indian; and another took his scalp. Having dis- 
 covered no enemy in their march, as they had anticipated, the 
 company now bent their way back toward the place where they 
 had left their packs. But, when they had reached the spot, and 
 while they were looking for their baggage, which had been 
 removed, (it being about 10 o'clock in the forenoon) the Indians 
 
 u Historical Memoirs, etc., by Rev. Thomas Symmes, of Bradford. 
 17* 

 
 198 HISTORY OF WOBUKN. 
 
 rose in two bodies in their front and in their rear ; and, with a 
 hideous yell, ran towards them with their arms presented. The 
 English likewise instantly presented arms, and ran to meet 
 them. Both parties fired when they had come within a few 
 yards of each other; and many of the Indians were killed at 
 once, while the English, most of them, escaped the first shot 
 unhurt. But so superior were the Indians to the English in 
 respect to numbers, that nine of the latter were slain quickly 
 after. These were, Capt. Lovewell, Sergeant Fullam, Ensign 
 Harwood, John Jefts, Jonathan Kittredge, Daniel Woods, 
 Ichabod Johnson, Thomas Woods, and Josiah Davis. Three 
 also were badly wounded, viz : Lieut. Farwell, Lieut. Bobbins 
 and Robert Usher; and the rest, perceiving the Indians were 
 endeavoring to surround them, retreated to the pond, which now- 
 covered their rear, while they were in some measure sheltered in 
 other quarters by a few large pine trees, and by a rocky point 
 running into the pond. 
 
 In this position, under the direction of Ensign Wyman, upon 
 whom devolved the command after Capt. Lovewell was killed, 
 and the two Lieutenants, Farwell and Bobbins, were disabled by 
 their wounds, they maintained a sharp, resolute contest till 
 about night. To intimidate them, the Indians kept up a constant 
 howling like wolves, and barking like dogs, and all manner of 
 hideous noises ; but the English answered them only by frequent 
 shouts and huzzas, such as they had made at firing their first 
 round. At one time, some of the Indians holding up ropes to 
 them, proposed to them to ask for quarter, but they spiritedly 
 replied, they would take none but at the muzzle of their guns. 
 Nothwithstanding their inferiority in number to the Indians, and 
 the faintness they experienced for want of food, of which they 
 had taken none since early in the morning, they continued fight- 
 ing courageously as men resolved to die rather than yield. 
 
 It was apparently during the afternoon fight, that Paugus, a 
 noted Indian chief, was killed by John Chamberlain of Groton,who 
 knew him. In the engagement, their guns having become foul, 
 they both went to the pond about the same time to cleanse them, 
 and there met. The following lively description of their
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 199 
 
 encounter, confirmed in the main by tradition, though embellished 
 probably by fancy in some of its minor circumstances, is quoted 
 by Lemuel Shattuck, Esq., in his History of Concord, from the 
 "Philadelphia Album," in 1828. 
 
 " They slowly and with equal movements cleansed their guns 
 and took their stations on the outer border of the beach. ' Now, 
 Paugus,' said Chamberlain, ' I'll have you j ' and with the quick- 
 ness and steadiness of an old hunter, sprung to loading his rifle. 
 ' Na, na, me have you,' replied Paugus ; and he handled his gun 
 with a dexterity that made the bold heart of Chamberlain beat 
 quick, and he almost raised his eyes to take his last look upon the 
 sun. They rammed their cartridges, and each at the same 
 instant cast his ramrod upon the sand. ' I'll have you, Paugus,' 
 shouted Chamberlain, as in his desperation he almost resolved 
 to rush upon the savage, with the breech of his rifle, lest he 
 should receive his bullets before he could load. The woods 
 across the pond echoed back the shout. Paugus trembled as he 
 applied his powder-horn to the priming ; Chamberlain heard the 
 grains of his powder rattle lightly upon the leaves beneath his 
 feet. Chamberlain struck his gun breech violently upon the 
 ground the rifle primed herself, he aimed, and his bullets 
 whistled through the heart of Paugus. He fell, and as he went 
 down, the bullet from the mouth of his ascending rifle touched 
 the hair upon the crown of Chamberlain, and passed off with- 
 out avenging the death of its dreadful master." 19 
 
 The fight was maintained with great obstinacy and resolution 
 on both sides ; and continued, with but little intermission, about 
 ten hours. Shortly after sunset, the Indians withdrew, being 
 the first to desist and quit the ground. They carried with them 
 their wounded and most of their dead ; and left the bodies of 
 Lovcwell, and the others whom they had killed at the commence- 
 ment of the action, unscalped ; and so much had they suffered in 
 the fight, through the firm resistance and skilful manoeuvring of 
 the English, that they went off with greatly reduced numbers. 
 In accounts subsequently received, it was stated, that " they were 
 
 19 Shattuck's History, p. 69.
 
 200 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 seventy in the whole, whereof forty were said to be killed on 
 the spot, eighteen more died of their wounds, and that twelve 
 only returned." 
 
 About midnight, after the moon had risen, the remnant of 
 Capt. Lovewell's company, who were able to travel, withdrew 
 from the field, and began their march towards the fort, which 
 they had built in coming, for a refuge. They left behind the 
 bodies of their nine companions who were killed at the com- 
 mencement of the engagement ; also Jacob Farrar, who was just 
 expiring; and Lieut. Bobbins and Robert Usher, who were 
 mortally wounded, and unable to accompany them. At parting, 
 Lieut. Bobbins requested them to load his gun, and leave 
 it with him, saying, " The Indians will come in the morning to 
 scalp me, and I'll kill one more of 'em, if I can." They com- 
 plied with his request : but the Indians do not appear to have 
 returned to the ground; and his body and those of the other 
 two were shortly after found dead, and lying, apparently, where 
 they severally breathed their last. They who marched from 
 this fatal spot were twenty in number, of whom eleven had been 
 badly wounded. But their troubles did not cease upon quitting 
 the field of battle. They suffered extremely from hunger ; their 
 provisions having fallen into the hands of the Indians on the 
 morning of the attack. 
 
 They had proceeded but about a mile and a half in their way, 
 when four of them, viz : Lieut. Farwell, Mr. Frye, Eleazar Davis 
 and Josiah Jones, were compelled, by the anguish of their 
 wounds, to stop, receiving encouragement from the rest, that as 
 soon as they reached the fort, they would send some of the guard 
 they had left there, to their assistance. Shortly after, on 
 coming to a thick piece of woods, the fear of making a track, by 
 which the Indians might discover and follow them, led the 
 remainder of this little band to separate into three divisions, 
 and one of these divisions consisting of Ensign Wyman and four 
 others, being actually pursued by three Indians to a considerable 
 distance, Elias Barron, an individual belonging to it, went astray 
 from his companions ; and, though his gun case was found after- 
 wards by the side of Ossipee river, yet he himself was never more
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 201 
 
 heard from. The other two divisions, eleven men in all, at length 
 recovered the fort. But to their surprise and grief, they found 
 it abandoned by those whom they had left there, who had been 
 frightened away by a terrific report brought them by the nameless 
 deserter, who had basely run from his post, and forsaken his 
 friends, when they most needed him, at the commencement of the 
 battle. Here, however, they were presently rejoiced by the 
 arrival of Solomon Keyes, who was not with them when they 
 began their march from the battle ground, and who had been 
 preserved to see them by means truly astonishing, as well as unex- 
 pected to himself. His report was, that, on the- day of battle, 
 after continuing to fight till, through loss of blood from three 
 wounds he had received, he could stand no longer, he crawled 
 to Ensign Wyman, and told him, " He was a dead man : But 
 (says he) if it be possible, I'll get out of the way of the Indians, 
 that they mayn't get my scalp." In his efforts to reach a place 
 where the Indians would not discover him, he lighted, provi- 
 dentially, upon a canoe in the pond : and, rolling himself into it, 
 he was driven by the wind a considerable distance towards the 
 fort ; and, then, being wonderfully strengthened, he was enabled 
 to perform the rest of the journey on foot, and so as to come to 
 the fort about the same time that the eleven just referred to 
 did. so And now these twelve men, having refreshed themselves 
 with provisions, which they found at the fort, proceeded to Dun- 
 stable, where they arrived, May 13, at night, being the fifth day 
 after the engagement. On May 15, they were rejoined by 
 Ensign Wyman and three of his party. By him they were told 
 that they had not tasted food of any sort from Saturday morn- 
 ing, the day of the fight, till the Wednesday following: when 
 two mouse-squirrels, which they caught and roasted whole, 
 seemed a delicious morsel to them ; and that, afterwards, par- 
 tridges and other game which they killed, comfortably supplied 
 their wants the rest of their journey. 90 
 
 In the mean while, their four companions, whom they had left 
 behind shortly after commencing their march from the battle- 
 field, waited patiently several days, in hope of receiving the 
 
 *> Bynames' Memoirs, etc,
 
 202 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 assistance from the fort which they had encouraged them to 
 expect, but which they failed to send them, in consequence of 
 their finding the fort deserted. But at length these four for- 
 saken ones, giving up the prospect of help in despair, set out 
 themselves on their way homeward, though their wounds had 
 become corrupt for want of dressing, and they themselves were 
 almost famished with hunger. Two of them, Davis and Jones, 
 after acute suffering, succeeded in their attempts to reach 
 the English settlements, the former coming in at Berwick, the 
 latter at Saco. But the effort proved too great for Lieut. Far- 
 well and Mr. Fry. According to information subsequently 
 given, by Davis, who kept with them both as long as they were 
 able to travel, Fry first gave up ; but Farwell held out several 
 days, till he had come within a few miles of the fort, and they 
 both doubtless died in the places where they were severally left 
 by Davis, being never seen or heard from more. Both these 
 gentlemen were very highly esteemed, and their deaths were 
 deeply lamented. 
 
 But there was something peculiarly affecting in the circum- 
 stances of the death of Mr. Fry, the chaplain. He was the son 
 of Mr. James Fry, of Andover, was graduated at Harvard Col- 
 lege, 1723; and at his decease had a journal, which he kept of 
 the expedition, in his pocket. He had much endeared himself 
 to the company, both by the excellency of his devotional per- 
 formances as chaplain, and also by his personal courage and 
 readiness to share with them in their dangers and hardships. 
 In the afternoon of the day of battle, he received a severe wound 
 fighting with the rest ; and, being disabled by it from further 
 active service, he was repeatedly heard praying aloud, that God 
 would preserve and prosper his brethren in arms, in their then 
 sharp conflict. After the fight had ceased, he travelled with the 
 rest a little way towards the fort; and, then, with Farwell, 
 Davis, and Jones, was left behind, being unable to go any 
 further. Here he stayed with them several days, looking in vain 
 for help from the fort ; and then set forward in company with 
 them again. But, after travelling several miles with them, per- 
 ceiving his strength fail him, and his end draw near, Mr. Fry 
 
 v
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 203 
 
 lay down, and, addressing Farwell and Davis, desired them 
 not to wait for him, for that he felt himself to be a dying man, 
 and should never rise any more. He likewise charged Davis, 
 if God should spare his life to get home, to go and tell his 
 father, "that he expected in a few hours to be in eternity ; and that 
 he was not afraid to die" 20 This is the last that is known of 
 this good man. He probably breathed his last in the place and 
 posture in which his companions left him. No monument marks 
 the spot where his untimely decease took place, and where his 
 remains rest. But an elm tree, which he planted with his own 
 hands before his father's door in Andover, still lives, or did 
 recently, and will be, while it stands, a memorial of him. 
 
 Such was the issue of this disastrous conflict. Twelve of our 
 men lay dead or dying on the field of battle : two were left in 
 their retreat to die of their wounds in the wilderness ; and one 
 went astray, and was never after heard of. Of the thirty-three 
 English who engaged in the fight, only eighteen lived to return 
 to their families : and of these, only nine, viz., Ensign Wyman, 
 Edward Lingfield, Thomas Richardson, David Melvin, Eleazar 
 Melvin, Ebenezer Ayer, Abiel Asten, Joseph Farrar, and Joseph 
 Gilson, escaped any considerable injury. The other nine, viz, 
 Sergt. Noah Johnson, Timothy Richardson, Josiah Johnson, 
 Samuel Whiting, John Chamberlain, Isaac Lakin, Eleazar Davis, 
 Josiah Jones, and Solomon Keyes, were badly wounded, and 
 some of them were made cripples or invalids for life. 
 
 The report of this fight and its lamentable result excited deep 
 concern, as well as sympathy for afflicted survivors, throughout 
 the community. In a message from Lieut. Governor Went- 
 worth of New Hampshire to the House of Representatives there, 
 May 17, 1725, he thus alludes to this melancholy affair. "I 
 received an express- from Lieut. Governor Dummer, giving an 
 account that Capt. Lovewell met a party of Indians at or near 
 Pigwacket, which broke Capt. Lovewell's company in pieces. I 
 have sent fifty-two men, under command of Capt. John Chesley, to 
 make the best of his way to Ossapy and Pigwacket, and thence 
 make diligent search for Capt. Lovewell's fort, &c., and to 
 relieve any wounded men they may meet in their way thither or
 
 204 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 elsewhere." The House, in their answer, May 22, say : " As for 
 the misfortune of Capt. Lovewell and his men, we desire to be 
 humble before God for so great a frown of his Providence, and 
 thank your Honour for sending a company for the relief of 
 any that may be yet alive." But the company of men sent on 
 this benevolent errand by Lieut. Governor Wentworth, some 
 how or other, missed their way, and never reached the scene of 
 the engagement. But Col. Tyng of Massachusetts, with a com- 
 pany of men from D unstable, went to the spot, and there found 
 and buried beneath an aged pine the twelve men of ours that 
 had been left there, dead or dying, on the night after the battle, 
 and carved their names on the neighboring trees. He also dis- 
 covered there three graves, one of which being opened was 
 found to contain the body of Paugus, the Indian chief, killed by 
 Chamberlain, as above related. Rev. Dr. Belknap, who visited 
 the place in 1784, observes in a note to his History of New 
 Hampshire, 21 that " the names of the dead, on the trees, and the 
 holes where balls had entered and been cut out, were [then] 
 plainly visible. . . . The trees had the appearance of being very 
 old, and one of them was fallen." 
 
 The intelligence of Lovewell's fight was heard at Woburn 
 with bitter mourning and lamentation. Inclusively of Sergt. 
 Noah Johnson (a native of Woburn, though then an inhabitant 
 of D unstable) six of her sons, belonging to three of her most 
 numerous and respectable families, and four of them grandsons 
 of Maj. William Johnson, had been engaged in it. Of these 
 six men, three were wounded, and one slain. The wounded 
 persons, Timothy Richardson, Noah Johnson and Josiah John- 
 son seem all to have ultimately recovered. But the death of 
 Ichabod Johnson, who fell in the beginning of the battle, proved 
 too hard a stroke for his fond father. Capt. Edward Johnson, 
 born March 19, 1658, was the second son of Maj. William 
 Johnson, and a grandson of Capt. Edward Johnson, one of the 
 principal settlers of the town, whose name he bore, and who 
 remembered him in his will. He lived about half a mile from 
 where Burlington meeting-house was afterwards built, in a house 
 
 Belknap's New Hampshire, p. 212, note.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 205 
 
 on the most easterly path to Shawshin, now the road to Bedford, 
 opposite to Mr. Alfred B. Shaw's, the cellar of which was, till 
 recently, visible; and through life he stood high among his 
 fellow-townsmen, in reputation and usefulness. He was many 
 years one of the Selectmen of Woburn ; its representative to the 
 General Court in 1700, and about 1720* was chosen a deacon 
 of the church. He was also a gentleman of handsome property 
 for that day ; and was blessed by his first wife, Sarah Walker, 
 with seven children, and with two by his second wife, widow 
 Abigail Thompson, whose maiden name was Gardiner. But of 
 these nine children, though all were deservedly dear to him, 
 Ichabod, the youngest son by his first wife, appears to have been 
 his Benjamin, the darling of his heart ; and when the news of the 
 sudden, bloody death of this favorite child, reached his ear, he 
 was so overcome by it, as that his gray hairs were brought 
 quickly down with sorrow to the grave. Neither honor, nor 
 wealth, nor any worldly blessing could now yield him consola- 
 tion or support. His surviving sons and daughters, his numer- 
 ous relatives and friends, all rose up to comfort him, but in vain. 
 Even that holy religion which he professed (for want doubtless 
 of a due application on his part of its blessed truths, promises 
 and exhortations to his own case) failed to minister its soothing, 
 healing balm to his wounded spirit. He seems to have 
 imagined, that with Ichabod the glory of his house had departed 
 (as the name denotes) ; and to have sunk in grief and despond- 
 ency. Before three months from the death of his son had fully 
 elapsed, the father went down to the grave mourning. He died 
 August 7, 1725, in the 68th year of his age; and as a venerable 
 granddaughter of his (Miss Abigail Johnson) once told me, he 
 died of a broken heart. 
 
 The Legislature of Massachusetts gave prompt and sub- 
 stantial evidence of sympathy for these unfortunate soldiers and: 
 their heirs. Soon after the battle, the widow of Capt. Lovewell 
 petitioned, that the Province would allow her for what he paid 
 for the supplies of the men who accompanied him. To this, the 
 
 * Compare Town Records, Vol. VI., pp. 67, 78. 
 18
 
 206 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Court agreed ; and gave her assurance, that when they came to 
 reward those who fought in the battle, they would consider her 
 case more particularly. Accordingly, June 17, 1725, they voted 
 to allow Capt. Love well and company or heirs, 300, for the 
 scalps of the three Indians killed (doubtless those whose graves 
 were found by Col. Tyng), though the scalps were not produced, 
 as the law required ; also, 30 to be paid to or for each of the 
 thirty-three men who had fought in the battle, amounting in all to 
 .990; also, 210 to the heirs of the six men killed, Capt. 
 Lovewell's portion to be <60, the rest 30 apiece. By the 
 six men killed, referred to in the last donation, were unquestion- 
 ably meant the six officers who were killed in the battle, or 
 died quickly after of their wounds, viz : Capt. Lovewell, Lieuts. 
 Robbins and Farwell, Ensign Harwood, Sergt. Fullam, and 
 the Chaplain, Rev. Mr. Fry. They also engaged with regard 
 to the wounded, that the subject of paying their physician's 
 bills, and of granting them pensions out of the public treasury, 
 should be considered the next session. 
 
 The result of their deliberations on this question appears to 
 have been in favor of the unfortunate men concerned. 22 And 
 
 28 " 1726, June 14. A Petition of Josiali Johnson of Woburne, shewing 
 that the wound he received in the late Battle of Pigwackett is now open, 
 and that he has expended since last November 4 :Hs. in order to get a 
 Cure, Praying the compassionate consideration of the Court for such fur- 
 ther alloicance in the Premises, as to them in their Wisdom shall be thought 
 meet : 
 
 " Read and committed to the Committee for Muster Rolls. 
 
 "June 16. Mr Lewis from the Committee for Muster Rolls Reported 
 on the Petition of Josiah Johnson, as Entred on the 14th, which was Read 
 and Accepted ; and Resolved that the sum of Eighteen Pounds Fourteen 
 Shillings be allowed and paid out of the Publick Treasury to the Petitioner 
 Josiah Johnson, in Answer to the said Petition: viz. 4:14s to discharge 
 the Doctor's Bill, the remaining 14 in Consideration of his Pain, and Loss 
 of Time, and Inability for Labour. Sent up for Concurrence." Votes of 
 Representatives. 
 
 In December of the same year, in answer to the Petition of Timothy 
 Richardson, another of the wounded men from Woburn, praying the Court 
 for relief " in consideration of the Wounds he received in the Battle of 
 Pigwackett against the Indian Enemy ; " a Resolve passed the House (which 
 was sent up, and was doubtless concurred in by the Council) granting 
 five pounds to be paid him out of the public treasury. Similar grants
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 207 
 
 finally, the General Court, in 1728, made a grant of Suncook, 
 now Pembroke, N. H., then conceived to be within the bounds of 
 Massachusetts, to sixty persons, forty-six of whom were the sur- 
 vivors or heirs of those who were engaged in this fight with the 
 Indians. Among the first settlers of this township was Sergt. 
 Noah Johnson, who had been wounded in that engagement. He 
 was a grandson of Maj. William Johnson, being the third son 
 of his eldest son William and of his wife Esther Gardiner; and 
 is remembered in his grandfather's will, dated April 2, 1700. 
 He was born, 1699, at Woburn, or possibly at Charlestown, 
 where his father, William Johnson, Jr., was living and wrought 
 as a shipwright in 1698. At the time of Lovewell's Fight, he 
 was a resident of D unstable, whence he removed to Pembroke, 
 after becoming entitled to a share in that grant, and there 
 became a deacon of the church. When advanced in life, 
 he moved his abode once more, to Plymouth, N. H., and there 
 died, August 13, 1798, at the great age of 99 years, 6 months 
 and 11 days, being the last survivor of that little band, who 
 hazarded their lives in the service of their country in the fight 
 at Pigwacket. 
 
 Before closing this article, some further notice seems justly 
 due to Ensign Seth Wyman, who had the conduct of Capt. 
 Lovewell's men the greater part of that eventful day. He was 
 a grandson of Lieut. John Wyman, a man of wealth and 
 distinction among the first settlers of Woburn, and the eldest 
 son of Mr. Seth Wyman and Esther, daughter of Maj. William 
 Johnson, his wife. He was born, September 13, 1686, probably 
 on a farm in the westerly part of Burlington, given his father by 
 his grandfather Wyman in his Will: and, January 26, 1715, 
 [1715-6 ?] he married Sarah Ross, of Billerica. At Lovewell's 
 Fight, he greatly distinguished himself by his self-possession, 
 fortitude and valor. All his superior officers having been killed 
 or mortally wounded early in the engagement, he had the corn- 
 were subsequently voted by the House to Josiah Johnson, whose wound 
 appears to have been worse and more difficult to be healed than those of 
 Richardson : the last as late as June 15, 1731. See Records of General 
 Court.
 
 208 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 mand of our men almost the whole time of its continuance ; and, 
 by his prudent management and courageous example, he was 
 doubtless, mainly instrumental, under God, for preserving so 
 many of them as there were from being utterly cut off. Seeing 
 them in danger of becoming dispirited in the contest, in view of 
 the greatly superior numbers and other advantages of the 
 enemy, he animated them to action (it was afterwards reported 
 by Eleazar Davis, who was one of them), by assuring them 
 " that the day would yet be their own, if their spirits did not 
 flag"; and so encouraged were they by his exhortations, and so 
 briskly did they fire in consequence, that several discharged 
 their muskets "between twenty and thirty times apiece." Imme- 
 diately upon his return, he was honored by Lieut.-Governor 
 Dummer, then Commander-in-Chief of Massachusetts, with a 
 Captain's commission. He had also presented him, in testi- 
 mony of the public approbation of his valor, a silver-hilted 
 sword. But he did not live long to enjoy his honors. To 
 encourage volunteers to enlist against the Indian enemy, the 
 General Court offered four shillings wages per day, in addition to 
 the bounty of XI 00 for every scalp. Upon this, many enlisted, 
 and marched under the command of Capt. Wyman and others. 
 But the extreme heat of the weather, and the prevalence of the 
 dysentery, prevented them from going far, and several of them 
 died upon their return, Capt. Wyman among the rest, who 
 deceased September, 5, 1725, before he had completed his 
 thirty-ninth year. His widow survived him but little more than 
 two years, dying November 5, 1727. Worthy descendants of 
 the third and fourth generations from this worthy man are still 
 living in Woburn and West Cambridge.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Schools from 1690 till 1775, Wages: Teachers: Master Fowle: School 
 Houses : Moving System : Schools beside Grammar School : School 
 Books : Contention about Masters, 1725. 
 
 IN the second chapter of this Work, notice was taken of the 
 Schools in Woburn during the first half century from its incor- 
 poration. In this chapter, the consideration of this interesting 
 subject will be resumed. It is proposed to give in it a some- 
 what minute and extended account of the condition and progress 
 of the public schools in the town, from 1690 till the beginning 
 of the Revolutionary War, in 1775. 
 
 At the commencement of the period above mentioned, in 
 regard to women's schools, the same ten shillings, or rather six 
 and eight penny per annum system, which had previously pre- 
 vailed in the town, still continued. For instance, the Selectmen, 
 say the Records, at a meeting of theirs, March 7, 16912, "sent 
 to speak with Mrs. Walker in order to keepe a scoole for lesser 
 children to learn them to read ; and agreed with her to performe 
 said servis, the Towne allowing her in pay, the sum of ten shil- 
 lings per the year." 1 By pay, is here meant, country produce, 
 as pork, Indian corn, rye, etc., upon which a discount was made 
 in those days of 30 or 33 per cent for money. Mrs. Walker 
 was the widow of Mr. Samuel Walker, the earliest progenitor in 
 Woburn of that well known and highly respected family of the 
 name, which has furnished the town with many valuable citizens, 
 and the country at large with some of its most distinguished 
 individuals. Leading a solitary life, this lady was willing to 
 keep school, both for company and for employment's sake. She 
 had served as a school teacher before, and living apparently in 
 the centre of the town, she doubtless appropriated a room in her 
 own house for a school-room. The good woman fulfilled the 
 
 Town Records, Vol. m., p. 157. 
 18*
 
 210 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 above engagement with the Selectmen ; and, two years afterwards, 
 she was credited by Constable Ebenezer Johnson with seven 
 shillings in money on her tax bill for her year's work, 2 the rent 
 of her room being reckoned gratis. This must have been cold 
 comfort to a widow's heart. Still, she ventured to try the busi- 
 ness one year more. At a meeting of the Selectmen, May 7, 
 1694, they agreed, the Records state, "with Mrs. (Mistress) 
 Walker to keep a scoole for the smaller sort of children, to learn 
 them to read, for the year insueing ; and the year to begin upon 
 the first of Aprill last past ; and she to have ten shillings in pay 
 allowed her by the town for the same." 3 Accordingly, Mrs. 
 Walker went on and completed this engagement, and at a final 
 settlement between her and the town, the account stands 
 recorded thus : 
 
 " The Widow Walker is Creditor : 
 
 " for scooling small children in the year 1694 until the first 
 of Aprill 1695, according to agreement with her per the 
 Selectmen, pay, 10s : money ----- 00 :06 :8 
 " To Widow Walker Dr. 
 
 " her rate to Jams ffoull in money 00 :02 :03 
 
 and to Ben. Simonds 00 :03 :02 
 
 paid by James Simonds, Constable in 96 - - - 00 :01 :03 
 
 :06 :08." 3 
 
 From this authentic document, it appears that this worthy 
 woman, having waited for her wages a whole year from the time 
 her work was done, received, after two years' taxes were 
 deducted, the sum of one shilling and threepence in silver for 
 her toil and pain in teaching a twelve-month all the little boys 
 and girls in Woburn that were sent to her, their alphabet, or 
 reading and spelling ; reckoning her room for their accommo- 
 dation as rent free. A fact like this can hardly fail to strike a 
 modern reader with surprise. One would have supposed, that 
 the least the town could have done in this case would have 
 been, to set off her taxes for the use of her room in their ser- 
 vice. No thanks to the Selectmen, that she did not starve long 
 before the term of her engagement with them was half expired. 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 8, Town Records, Vol. IV., pp. 24, 28.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 211 
 
 Notwithstanding the wide difference between the price of the 
 necessaries of life at that day and this, it is plain she must have 
 had other resources for a livelihood than school-teaching. Had 
 she depended solely on this, she must obviously have soon been 
 forced to relinquish it ; or else, like the widow of Sarepta, the 
 meal in her barrel, and the oil in her cruse, (to say nothing of 
 her wood) must have been daily replenished by miracle. 
 
 Such was the condition of primary schools in Woburn at the 
 close of the 17th century. Nor did grammar schools fare 
 any better. The studies of such schools were then held in low 
 estimation in the town ; and but few, if any of its youth, were 
 willing to attend to them. And hence, schools of this descrip- 
 tion were but inconstantly kept; and sometimes only after 
 intervals of several years. From the appointment of Mr. Samuel 
 Carter in 1686, as grammar school-master, and his failure to 
 get scholars to teach, no attempt seems to have been made in 
 Woburn to get up a grammar school again, till four years after. 
 At a meeting of the Selectmen, March 3, 1689-90, they agreed 
 with Mr. Carter anew, "to record the Selectmen's acts about 
 towne affaires " : and also " to keep a grammar school, paying 
 him thirty shillings for his service." 4 But whether he kept the 
 grammar school as agreed upon, and whether his success was 
 any better than before, there is nothing upon record to show. 
 The person next engaged for this office, was Rev. Jabez Fox, 
 with whom the inhabitants agreed, at a town meeting, March 
 26, 1694, that "he should teach and instruct any children that 
 belong to this town of Woobourne, to wright, and in the gramer, 
 all and so many as shall be sent unto him now for one year 
 insueing." 5 A similar engagement was made with him by the 
 Selectmen^ May 24, 1699, to keep school a year for instruction 
 in grammar alone. 5 But in neither of these engagements is 
 there any mention of compensation ; and as none appears from 
 the Records to have been ever paid, there is ground for pre- 
 suming, that none was ever stipulated ; and that Mr. Fox, antici- 
 pating he should have but few or no scholars to teach, demanded 
 
 Town Records, Vol. III., p. 138. Town Records, Vol. IV., pp. 22, 14.
 
 212 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 nothing for his labor. The next "year, at a general meeting, 
 March 1, 1699-1700, a committee of three was chosen to inquire 
 for, and treat with some suitable person to keep a grammar 
 school in the town, and occasionally to assist the Rev. Mr. Fox 
 in the ministry ; and to make report to the town of their doings 
 herein, before they agreed with the man. 5 But nothing was done 
 to effect by this committee in fulfilment of their commission ; and, 
 within three months from their appointment, the town was pre- 
 sented at the Court of Quarter Sessions, for want of a school 
 according to law. Startled in view of a presentment for such a 
 cause, the town, at a general meeting, May 31, appointed Maj. 
 William Johnson and Lieut. Josiah Convers a new committee 
 " to agree with Sir ffox or any other gentleman upon as easy 
 terms as they can," to keep school in Woburn for four months, 
 from June 10, upon trial. 6 Accordingly, this committee applied 
 to " Sir Fox," as Mr. John Fox, son of their minister, was 
 called, in common with all graduates of Harvard College during 
 the interval between taking their first, and their second or Mas- 
 ter's degree. With him they agreed to keep a grammar school in 
 Woburn for four months, from the day named, for <9. 6 And 
 so acceptable were his services during the term of his probation, 
 that the inhabitants, at a general meeting, December 4, following, 
 hired him, " by a very clear voat," for this service again, for a 
 year, to begin December 9, at a salary of 28 per annum. 6 
 These terms were of Mr. Fox's own proposing ; and the salary, 
 a handsome one for that day. But it was larger than Woburn 
 had ever as yet paid a master, or than it was willing the next 
 year to grant him again, especially as he had but few pupils to 
 instruct. At a meeting, January 28, 17012, the town being 
 notified that they were then destitute of a school-master, voted 
 to choose a committee to procure one forthwith, as the law 
 requires, " provided that a suitable person can be found to 
 officiate in that place, and will undertake the worke for the 
 space of one yeare in, and for said town, for such a sum as may 
 be agreed for, not exceeding twenty pounds, for one year." 7 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., pp. 165, 167. Town Records, Vol. IV., pp. 194, 200.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 213 
 
 The committee chosen for this purpose reported to the town, 
 March 2, 1701-2 following, that they had agreed with Mr. John 
 Fox, to keep a grammar school for one year from February 2d, 
 preceding ; and that, for this service, they had engaged to give 
 him " eighteen pounds certain ; and in case he should have more 
 worke in that place than he had the last year, he should have forty 
 shillings more." 7 This report was accepted by the people ; and 
 yet, reluctant to pay their worthy school-master even this greatly 
 reduced salary, less by more than a third than that which they 
 had given him the year before, they voted at the same meeting, 
 " that every person that shall send any children or servants to 
 the above said schoole in Woobourne, shall pay in to the select- 
 men of said town three pence per week for every child or ser- 
 vant that is sent or comes to the said schoole ; and the selectmen 
 to improve all such sums so payd in to them towards the dis- 
 charging the schoolmaster's sallery : but if any shall send their 
 children to said schoole, that in the judgment of the selectmen 
 are not well able to pay as above said, they have their liberty to 
 send their children to said schoole at the publick charge of the 
 town." 7 But this requirement of heads of families, who had 
 children or servants to send to school, to pay tuition money, 
 beside their proportion of the school tax, if indeed it were 
 legal, seems never to have been executed. No mention is made, 
 in the settlement of town accounts for that year, of the payment 
 of any money to the Selectmen from the source here indicated j 
 and the town appears never to have had recourse afterwards to 
 this expedient for lightening the school rates of some, legally 
 and equitably imposed, by laying a double portion of the expense 
 of schooling upon others. 
 
 Mr. John Fox continued to keep the grammar school in 
 Woburn quite up to the time of his ordination as their minister, 
 in October 1703, when he became disqualified, by a law then 
 recently enacted, for the office of a school teacher any longer. 8 
 At March meeting, 1703-4, the inhabitants chose Lieut. Josiah 
 Convers, one of the Selectmen of that year, and Lieut. John 
 
 Colony and Province Laws, p. 372.
 
 214 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 Carter, to inquire for and to hire a suitable person to keep a 
 grammar school. This committee promptly attended to their 
 duty in this matter : and not long after reported to the Select- 
 men, that, having made an unsuccessful application at the Col- 
 lege, they had gone to Andover, and proposed to Mr. Dudley 
 Bradstreet, of that town, to come and do the work of a school- 
 master at Woburn for the present, till they could provide them- 
 selves with another; that Mr. Bradstreet had signified his 
 agreement to their proposal under his hand ; that he had been 
 " personally at Woobourne at the time of Charlestown Court " ; 
 but no scholars presenting themselves as his pupils, he had 
 returned to Andover again; and, having "had his expences 
 borne, while he was in Woobourne, he had eighteen shillings in 
 silver for a gratuity." 9 Here is another striking token of the 
 indifference of the people of Woburn for grammar school 
 instruction at the commencement of the last century. But 
 why is it specified in the Committee's Report, that Mr. Brad- 
 street was at "Woobourne at the time of Charlestown Court"? 
 He was doubtless here at that particular time by an under- 
 standing with the committee, and to answer the same purpose 
 that another teacher, some thirty years afterwards was 
 expected to, who had a consideration made him by the town 
 "for standing in (as the Records express it) School master Two 
 Courts." 10 In both these cases, and in others that might be 
 named, the school committee (though men of good character, and 
 very respectable standing), wishing to save the town expense, 
 and yet avoid a legal presentment, resorted to artifice. In 
 making an agreement with a school-master, they would- stipulate 
 with him, that he must by all means be at Woburn, and keeping 
 school, in Court time, even if he were to be off the very next 
 week; fearing that otherwise, the Grand Jury, who were the 
 eye of the county, might spy out the deficiency, and present the 
 town ; and that the Justices of the Sessions might impose on it 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 265. 
 
 10 "To Mr Ebenr Flegg in full for keeping Grammar School in the year 
 past [1731] and standing in School Master two Courts, 13 :10 :0." Town 
 Records, Vol. VII., p. HO.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 215 
 
 a fine of 20 for its default, as the law required. But, in having 
 recourse to measures of this description, the committee cheated 
 themselves, their children, and the town, more than they did the 
 County and Province ; and, for the sake of saving a few paltry 
 shillings or pounds to the town, they defrauded the town and 
 its children of one of the most indispensable means to the pros- 
 perity and happiness of both. 
 
 In stating, however, the above facts, showing the backwardness 
 of the people of Woburn, at the . beginning of the last century, 
 to encourage public schools, it is by no means intended to 
 insinuate that they were singularly faulty in this thing. The 
 like delinquency, in other places, was at that time a matter of 
 complaint. And, hence, the General Court felt it incumbent on 
 them, iii 1701, to pass an additional Act relating to Schools and 
 School-masters. In the Preamble to that Act, they declare, that 
 the observance of the " wholesome and necessary Law," then in 
 force, requiring all towns containing fifty families to be constantly 
 provided with a school-master to teach children and youth to 
 read and write, and every town containing a hundred families 
 to establish a grammar school in it, and to procure by suitable 
 encouragement, a discreet person of good conversation, and well 
 instructed in the tongues, to keep it, was " shamefully neglected 
 by divers towns, and the penalty thereof not required, tending 
 greatly to the nourishment of ignorance and irreligion, whereof 
 grievous complaint is made." 
 
 And then, for the prevention of this evil, they proceed to 
 enact, among other particulars, that the penalty for the non- 
 observance of the law referred to, should be twenty pounds per 
 annum, instead of ten, as it had been hitherto. 11 And this 
 increased penalty proving insufficient for the end intended, the 
 Court, in 1718, passed another additional act, in which, after 
 setting forth, that " many towns," which were both obliged by 
 law, and abundantly able to support a grammar school, chose to 
 incur and pay the fine for the neglect of the law, rather than 
 maintain one, went on to enact, that fine should be increased to 
 
 11 Province Laws, 1702, Cbap. Ixxxil., pp. 371-2.
 
 216 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 thirty pounds, in the case of towns that had one hundred and 
 fifty families, and to forty pounds in the case of those which had 
 two hundred families. 12 No peculiar reproach then attaches 
 itself to Woburn, on account of its occasional failure at that 
 period to observe the law respecting schools and school-masters, 
 or of its reluctant compliance with it. The delinquency com- 
 plained of was a common one ; and in view of the fact, it became 
 an interesting inquiry, How we are to account for it ? Whence 
 proceeded the too general neglect at the commencement of the 
 last century, suitably to encourage and cherish Common Schools, 
 that far famed institution of our Puritan ancestors ? 
 
 One reason of this neglect, it may be plausibly conjectured, 
 was, that the generation then on the stage appreciated learning, 
 and the means of acquiring it, at a much lower rate than their 
 predecessors in general did. A considerable proportion of the 
 first settlers of Massachusetts came to this country an enlightened 
 people, and they were kept so by sitting under the ministry of 
 men, who, generally speaking, were lights in the world, and 
 whom for love, they had followed to these ends of the earth, that 
 they might continue to enjoy the benefit of their instructions. 
 From their pious and learned teachers, they had imbibed exalted 
 conceptions of the importance of learning, as an excellent hand- 
 maid of religion, and that high estimate of it which they had 
 brought with 'them across the Atlantic they still retained amidst 
 their numerous trials and hardships in this their adopted country. 
 Hence, they could not endure the thought (to use an expression 
 of their own), " that learning [should] be buried in the graves 
 of [their] forefathers in church and commonwealth ; " 13 but 
 were earnestly desirous, by erecting the college, and founding 
 common schools, to transmit the treasure to their posterity, as 
 the best earthly legacy they could leave them. But the mass of 
 their descendants of the two next generations seem to have been 
 far more absorbed in earthly cares, and in pursuits merely secu- 
 lar, than their fathers were. As they had confessedly declined 
 from the strict piety of their predecessors, so they appear to 
 
 " Province Laws, 1718, Chap, cxxviii., p. 420. 
 13 Colony Laws, Chap. Ixxxviii., p. 186.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 217 
 
 have had but a diminished sense of the importance of knowledge 
 and learning, and hence were less solicitous about providing the 
 means for educating their children in it. 
 
 Another reason seems to be, that competent instructors for 
 grammar schools were then scarce j too few, to supply the wants 
 of the whole community. This was a difficulty particularly felt 
 at Woburn. At the commencement of the last century, recent 
 graduates of Harvard College, though not a numerous body of 
 men, were almost the only persons willing and qualified to teach 
 schools of this description. And, as these few would naturally 
 go where they found most encouragement, and as Woburn then 
 too often made a point of engaging teachers who could be got 
 for the lowest wages, the School Committees sometimes expe- 
 rienced great difficulty in procuring masters, even when they 
 earnestly exerted themselves to do it. Take the following 
 instance, particularly noticed in the Records. 
 
 " Friday the 3d of November 1710. The Selectmen of Woobourn 
 met to consider how they might obtain a suitable person to keep a 
 grammar schoole in said town, but found it very difficult to do [so] 
 by reason that they heard that there was none to be had at Colledge : 
 whereupon they appointed Ensign John Peirce to goe to Boston, 
 and try if Dr Oaks his son, 14 or Mr. Kallender's son 15 might 
 be obtained for that end " etc. 16 " December the 8th, 1710. The 
 Selectmen of Wooburn being met together, Ensign John Peirce 
 made the following Return : that according to the Selectmen's 
 orders and appointment, he had been at Boston to speak with Dr 
 Oaks his son, and Mr Callender's son, and found that they were 
 already improved, and so could not be obtained : and that he had 
 made inquiry after some other suitable person to keep a grammar 
 schoole in Woobourn, but could not hear of any to be had. Soon 
 after, the Selectmen were informed, that it was probable, that Sir 
 Wigglesworth 17 might be obtained to keep a grammar schoole for 
 our town. Whereupon the said Selectmen appointed Lieut. John 
 Carter to goe to Cambridge, and treat with him about that matter. 
 
 14 Mr. Josiah Oakes, Harvard College, 1708, son of Dr. Thomas Oakes, of Boston. 
 
 u Mr. Elisha Callender, Harvard College, 1710, a son of Rev. Ellis Callender, minister of 
 the Baptist Church in Boston. ' Town Records, Vol. V., p. 165. 
 
 17 Edward Wigglesworth, Harvard College, 1710, and afterwards first Holiis Professor of 
 Divinity there. 
 
 19
 
 218 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Accordingly, soon after, Lieut. Carter made return to the Select- 
 men, that he had been at Cambridge, and had had a discourse with 
 Sir Wigglesworth with reference to keeping a grammar schoole in 
 Woobourn ; and that he the said Sir Wigglesworth did give some 
 encouragement in the matter, but could not give a full answer 
 until the beginning of the following week, and then appointed him 
 to come again for an answer. Accordingly the Selectmen ordered 
 Lieut. Carter to attend the time that Sir Wigglesworth had appoin- 
 ted to give his answer, and to wait upon him for it. But when 
 the said Lieut. John Carter came to Cambridge at the time before 
 appointed, he was informed that Sir Wigglesworth was engaged or 
 gone to Casco Bay Fort to keep a schoole there ; and there was no 
 further hope of obtaining of him." 
 
 " After this, Mr John Turft [Tufts] 18 informed that Mr Recom- 
 pence Wadsworth 19 had left the Schoole at Barnstable ; and was in 
 hopes we might obtain him to keep a Grammar Schoole in Woo- 
 bourn. Whereupon the Selectmen appointed Lieut. John Carter 
 and Mr Josiah Johnson to go to Boston, and discourse with said 
 Mr Wadsworth on Monday the llth. of December currant, with 
 reference to his keeping a Grammar Schoole in Woobourn. Accord- 
 ingly on the 12th. currant, agreement was made with the said Mr 
 Recompence Wadsworth to keep a Grammar Schoole in Woobourn 
 for the space of six months, and to begin the Schoole on the 18th. 
 currant, and so six months from that time, for the sum of twelve 
 pounds, and his board found him free by the Town of Woobourn. 
 Accordingly the said Mr Wadsworth came to Woobourn on Satur- 
 day the sixteenth day of the same month,- and the Selectmen 
 ordered James Fowle to board him upon the Town's accompt. But 
 in case the said Mr Wadsworth should be called off from keeping 
 said schoole by any other business within the said six months, [he 
 is] to give the Town seasonable warning." 20 
 
 Here was an instance in which the Selectmen, who were the 
 School Committee for 1710, were obliged to despatch three of 
 their number in succession upon four several journeys, two to 
 Boston, and two to Cambridge, in order to obtain a person 
 
 Of Harvard College, 1708 ; subsequently minister of Newbury. 
 
 Son of Timothy Wadsworth, of Boston, and grandson of Capt. Samuel Wadsworth, of 
 Milton; born 1688; Harvard College, 1708 ; diedl713. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. V., p. 170. 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 219 
 
 suitable to keep the grammar school ; and were repeatedly baf- 
 fled in their expectations, and kept six weeks in suspense before 
 they could secure a teacher to their mind, and get him on the 
 ground. School-masters, or those who sought the employment^ 
 were not then to be met at every corner ; nor was there a 
 choice of them to be selected from applicants twofold, or even 
 fourfold more numerous than the schools to be kept, as is often 
 the case at the present day. Then, if a committee would obtain 
 a well qualified master, they must, generally speaking, diligently 
 search him out, go from town to town, far and near, and be will- 
 ing to bear repeated disappointments, and still to persevere in 
 their efforts, before they lighted upon a man who would serve 
 their purpose. But so much difficulty as this, in obtaining a 
 competent teacher, must needs have rendered the office of School 
 Committee a burdensome one, and doubtless often operated as a 
 hinderance or discouragement from duly attempting to fulfil it. 
 
 But the principal cause, it is apprehended, why towns were 
 backward at the period mentioned, to sustain schools, or to pro- 
 vide for them competent instructors, was the scarcity of money, 
 the burden of taxes, and the consequent general poverty of the 
 people. Notwithstanding the issues of the mint in Massachu- 
 setts, which coined the famous New England shillings and pine 
 tree money for about thirty-six years, from 1652, specie had 
 become so scarce at the close of the 17th century, that many 
 towns found it very difficult, if not impossible, to pay their 
 taxes to the country, except in the produce of their soil, or in 
 articles of their own home manufacture. Thus, Hingham was 
 allowed the privilege, in 1687, of paying their taxes to govern- 
 ment in pails ; 21 and Woburn paid in part its County tax, for 
 1693, in shoes. 21 In 1685, the towns of Springfield and 
 Suffield petitioned the Government, setting forth " the difficulty 
 of their paying money taxes, which were assessed, beside those 
 payable in grain." The former town desired Government " to 
 receive their rates as formerly, in corne ; and noe more require 
 any money of your moneyless petitioners." And the inhabitants 
 
 Felt's History of Massachusetts Currency, p. 47. Town Records, Vol. III., p. 53.
 
 220 HISTORY OP WOBUEN. 
 
 ) 
 
 of the latter town, say in their petition, " Doe not for Charitie'a 
 sake enjoyne us to pay one penny more in money. Let it be 
 adjudged abundantly enough for us to pay henceforward our 
 country's dues in Corne, when we can raise it, and are not forced 
 to go to other towns to work for corne for our familyes." But 
 not only was money scarce, but the public taxes were exces- 
 sively burdensome. Notice was taken in a former chapter of 
 the heavy taxes during Philip's war, in 1675-1676, and the dis- 
 tress occasioned thereby to the community. In 1690, to defray 
 the public debt, contracted in the unfortunate expedition of that 
 year to Canada, the government issued the first paper currency 
 in this country. 22 And the next year, to discharge Woburn's 
 proportion of this debt, a tax was assessed, in which every 
 man's single rate was increased twenty-three fold ; 23 and which 
 amounted to the enormous sum, for that day, of 532 and 
 upward. 23 
 
 Other instances of very heavy taxes, imposed while the wars 
 against the Indians and French in the reigns of King William 
 III. and Queen Anne were going on, might be produced from 
 the Records. No wonder then, that the people, ground down to 
 
 22 Felt's History of Massachusetts Currency, pp. 49, 50. 
 
 23 Town Records, Vol. III., p. 150. '.'August the 27. 1691. The Select- 
 men met to make the Country Rate for the year ensuing [present ?] ; the 
 Commissioner [of the rate] and Constables also joining with them .... 
 August the 31. 1691. The Selectmen met at the house of Israel Reed with 
 the Commissioner and Constables, and finished the Country Rate which 
 they had before begun : they then also writ out a List of the said Rate, and 
 delivered it to the Commissioner, to carry to the Commissioners of the 
 County, according to law. 
 
 " October the 5. 1691. The Selectmen met and perfected the Rate made 
 for the raising of the 24 thousand pounds ; and for the raising of the town's 
 proportion in the said sum, every man's single rate were [was] 23 times 
 doubled. October the 6. 1691. Delivered for Constable John Peirce at his 
 house a List of his part of the 23 rates, containing the sum of 272 :18 :08. 
 with a warrant under the hands of the Selectmen to gather the same. The 
 same day abovesaid delivered for Constable John Teed at his house a list of 
 his part of the aforesaid 23 rates, containing the sum of 259 :05 :06, with 
 a warrant under the hands of the Selectmen to gather the same." The 
 country rate assessed Sept. 30, 1689, was but little over 32. Town 
 Records, Vol. III., pp. 132-135.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 221 
 
 the earth, as it were, by the public burdens, should feel unable, 
 and at times disinclined to give due support to institutions, 
 confessedly of the first necessity and importance. In 1704, a 
 considerable number of the inhabitants of Woburn, it has been 
 seen, remonstrated against granting at that time to Rev. Mr. 
 Fox a fixed salary, for the express reason of the pressure of 
 the war then carried on, and the weight of the taxes assessed to 
 sustain it. 24 Much more likely then would they be, under such 
 circumstances, to object to the expense of schooling, and at times 
 be tempted to evade, if possible, the requirements of the law 
 respecting it. In the condition they were then in, they were 
 averse to bestowing the encouragement that was desirable, both 
 upon the preaching of the gospel, and upon their public schools ? 
 not because they deemed those institutions of inferior moment, 
 or grudged their expense, but because they were reduced to such 
 straits, as that they could scarcely pay their taxes for their 
 country's defence, and provide bread for themselves and families. 
 And, accordingly, within a few years after, when they had be- 
 come more numerous and able, and their taxes lighter, they 
 immediately made more liberal grants for schools ; and not only 
 punctually paid their minister's stipulated salary, but year after 
 year made voluntary additions to it, especially in seasons when 
 provisions were unusually scarce and dear. 25 
 
 The town being without a school-master the greater part of 
 the year 1 706, was presented for that deficiency, in September, at 
 Cambridge Court j and the Selectmen were summoned to answer 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 269. 
 
 85 At a general town meeting, March 5, 1715-16, it was voted to add 
 twenty pounds to Rev. Mr Fox's salary for that year. The original con- 
 tract was for 80 per annum. At March meeting, 1716-17, it was voted 
 " that the Reverend Mr John Fox should have 20 pounds added to his 
 Fourscore this year, provided that he keep a Lecture once in six weeks if 
 he be able." At the same meeting, provision was made for the supply of 
 his pulpit, when he was " sick and unable to preach." In March 1724-5, 
 by voluntary vote of the town 30 was added to his original salary of 80, 
 without any condition, (Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 213,) and in March 
 1725-6, and again in March 1726-7, his salary was raised to 120 for each 
 of those years. Town Records, Vol. VL, pp. 265, 296. 
 19*
 
 222 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 the presentment. 26 In this exigency, they authorized Capt. 
 Josiah Convers, one of their number, to appear on their behalf, 
 who informed the Court, that the Selectmen had not been negli- 
 gent to inquire for a suitable school teacher ; and that, though 
 they had hitherto been unsuccessful, yet their efforts to procure 
 one were still continued. 26 This assurance seems to have satis- 
 fied the Court for the present. A teacher for the grammar 
 school in Woburn 26 was soon after engaged for six months, 
 from November 9, for ,15; and, at the expiration of that term, 
 in 1707, his engagement was prolonged. 26 The year following, 
 the town having learned by experience, that grand jurors would 
 do their duty in this case, according to their oaths, took season- 
 able care to prevent another presentment. At a general meet- 
 ing, March 1, 17078, they chose the Selectmen as a committee 
 to look out for and agree with some suitable person to keep a 
 grammar school in Woburn ; and " to provide one against the 
 next Court, which is the 9th. currant, if possible." 27 Agreeably 
 to the above appointment, the Selectmen employed Capt. Josiah 
 Convers, one of their number, to attend to this business : who 
 reported to the Selectmen, March 12, that he had agreed with 
 Mr. John Tufts to keep a grammar school in Woburn for the 
 space of one year, beginning with March 8: "And to improve 
 and pay him for eight months of the said time ; he to stay in 
 Town one month from the said eighth day of March ; and then 
 to come again when the town sends for him. And he to receive 
 out of the Town Treasury after the rate of thirty pounds per 
 annum for the time he stays in town as our school master." 28 
 This arrangement is evidently another instance of contrivance to 
 give the town's money and credit at the same time. 
 
 To prevent a presentment of the town, Mr. Tufts, the school- 
 master elect, must be at their call for a whole twelve-month. 
 He must commence his school the day before the Court sat ; and 
 after keeping it a month, he might go about his own private 
 occasions, if he pleased, but must come again when the town 
 sent for him, that so they might have him among them, keeping 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. V., pp. 35, 48. Town Records, Vol. V., p. 76. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. V., p. 82. 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 223 
 
 school, whenever the Court sat during that period, and especially 
 in March Term the next year. But at the same time, the Com- 
 mittee gave him to understand, that he would be actually 
 employed and paid only eight months of the twelve ; apprehend- 
 ing, perhaps, that unless he should prove a popular teacher, the 
 town's money for a longer time than that would be no better 
 than thrown away. But, contrary to the Committee-men's 
 fears perhaps in this respect, Mr. Tufts' labors proved so very 
 acceptable, that at the next March meeting, 1 708-9, the town 
 as a body voted him an invitation to continue them here the 
 whole of the next year, and authorized the Selectmen to hire him 
 for this end " upon as reasonable terms as may be." 29 And, 
 accordingly, the Selectmen, at a meeting of theirs, March 21st, 
 engaged Mr. Tufts to be the grammar school-master of Woburn 
 for the year ensuing; and, for this service, promised not only 
 to pay him in money, at the same rate as the year preceding, 
 viz: 30 per annum, but also that when he went into the 
 different quarters of the town to keep school, the inhabitants of 
 each quarter " should find him a horse to ride to meeting on " ; 
 a privilege which at that day was highly set by, and which was 
 afterwards indulged other masters in like circumstances, as 
 contributing -much to their general respectability, and especially 
 as increasing their influence over their pupils. 29 And now, from 
 this time, 1709, till 1775, the year of the Revolutionary war 
 began, Woburn appears to have been uniformly supplied with a 
 grammar school-master, for a longer or shorter portion of every 
 year save one. Influenced not only by desire to escape the 
 penalty of the law, all attempts to elude which they had found to 
 be vain or injurious to themselves, but also, it is to be hoped, 
 by a due regard for their own reputation, and for the best inter- 
 ests of their posterity, they henceforth constantly manifested a 
 disposition to maintain and encourage their grammar school ; 
 and so vigilant were they to see it duly provided with a teacher, 
 that they never allowed themselves, as late as 1775, to be again 
 
 *> Town Records, Vol. V., pp. 109, 111.
 
 224 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 presented for the want of one but once, viz : during the unfortu- 
 nate circumstances of the town, in 1732. 30 
 
 Their School Committees were careful every year to make 
 seasonable inquiry for a master ; they were concerned to find 
 one competent for the work ; and seemed willing to pay him an 
 equitable compensation. And the result of this wise policy was 
 an inestimable benefit to the rising generation, and the giving of 
 an impulse to the cause of education that has continued to the 
 present day. The masters whom they employed during this 
 period were commonly young gentlemen of liberal education 
 from abroad, and especially students in theology, resident at 
 Cambridge and in the vicinity; and some of them afterwards 
 distinguished themselves in the Christian ministry or in civil 
 life : as Hon. Nathaniel Saltonstall of Haverhill ; Hon. Jonathan 
 Sewall, Esq., the noted Attorney General at the commencement 
 of the Revolution; Rev. John Hancock of Braintree, now 
 Quincy, father of Governor Hancock; Rev. Habijah Weld of 
 Attleborough ; and that profound theologian and eminent minis- 
 ter of the Gospel, Rev. Peter Clark of Danvers. But a con- 
 siderable proportion of their grammar school-masters were 
 Woburn's own sons, who were born and instructed in the first 
 rudiments of learning within her own precincts, and then com- 
 pleted their education at the College in Cambridge. Of these, 
 some were honored in civil life : as Col. Jabez Fox of Portland, 
 son of Rev. John Fox of Woburn. Some eventually preached, 
 and became respected ministers of the gospel : as Rev. John 
 Gardner of Stow, Rev. Timothy Walker of Pennicook, now Con- 
 cord, N. H. ; Rev. Ebenezer Flegg of Chester, N. H., and Rev. 
 Ebenezer Wyman of Union, Ct. And others still of them were 
 either school-masters by profession, or at least, excellently quali- 
 fied for the employment, judging by the frequency with which 
 
 30 In an account of the disposal of money raised by the town, March 
 1732-3, for the payment of the town's debts and expenses, is the following 
 item: "Paid to Mr Josiah Johnson, due last year, 1.0.0. and for .... 
 money he paid at the Court for the Town's being presented for want of a 
 Schoole master, and about the Highway 11 :14 :10." Town Records, Vol. 
 VII., p. 168.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 225 
 
 they were engaged in it, in their native town. Such were Mr. 
 Isaac Richardson, Mr. Adam Richardson, Mr. Jabez Richardson, 
 Mr. Ebenezer Thompson, Mr. James Fowle, and more par- 
 ticularly, Mr. John Fowle ; a gentleman for many years distin- 
 guished by way of eminence in Woburn, by the title of 
 Master Fowle ; one whose stern manners, strict discipline and 
 aptness to teach, rendered him the terror of all idlers and 
 rogues in his school, but recommended him to the esteem of the 
 diligent and ingenuous, and whom such eminently scientific men 
 as Col. Loammi Baldwin and Benjamin Thompson, Count Rum- 
 ford, were not ashamed, in their younger days, to attend upon 
 his instructions, and to call their master. 
 
 This noted teacher was a son of Maj. John Fowle, and of 
 Mrs. Mary (Coiivers) Fowle, his wife; was born in Woburn, 
 February 1, 1726, [1726-7] graduated at Harvard College, 
 1747; commenced keeping school in Woburn, 1758, and from 
 that year till 1770, was constantly employed there in that work. 
 He died of a nervous fever, October 15, 1786. The following 
 anecdote, illustrative of his management and discipline in school, 
 was told me by Mrs. Mary, widow of Mr. James Bennett, and 
 daughter of Capt. Joshua Walker, of Woburn Precinct, who in 
 her childhood, attended Master Fowle's school, when it was 
 keeping in the Precinct, and who died, 1857, in the 94th year of 
 her age. He had a class of young men, studying Latin, who, 
 presuming upon their advanced age and standing, ventured to 
 take unwarrantable liberties in school hours. Master Fowle 
 .saw and watched them for some time without making complaint. 
 But he at length broke out, and addressed them in such words 
 as these : 
 
 " Ho, you Latiners, up there : you seem by your actions to 
 think, that because you sit in a higher seat, and are more forward 
 in j T our studies than the rest of the school, you may do here as you 
 like. But I'll quick let you know that you shan't. I have had my 
 eyes upon you for some time, though you did not know it. And now 
 I tell you what, boys. You, every one of you, deserve for what I've 
 seen in you a sound thrashing ; and a sound thrashing every one of 
 you shall have, unless you instantly come forward, and upon your
 
 226 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 
 
 knees on the floor ask pardon of me and of the whole school for 
 your misbehaviours. Come on then, I say ; come at once, and no 
 waiting ; or I'll be at you." 
 
 This command was dreadfully humiliating to the young rogues. 
 But, knowing that their master in his threats always meant as he 
 said, and that with him, it was but a word and a blow, they at 
 once reluctantly came forward, and ashamed and mortified, did 
 as they were bid. And we may be sure that Master Fowle had 
 never afterwards occasion to speak to them for the like offence. 
 
 Schools in Woburn seem to have been kept originally in the 
 dwelling-houses of their instructors, or of other persons inter- 
 ested in the promotion of learning, who severally fitted up a 
 room in their homes for this use at their own cost. The first 
 distinct notice on record of a place provided by the town to 
 keep school in was in 1700. After the town, at a general meet- 
 ing, December 4th, of that year, had agreed with Mr. John Fox to 
 keep the grammar school a twelve-month, the Selectmen hired 
 for his accommodation the house of George Reed, Jr., nigh the 
 meeting-house, at twenty shillings rent per annum. 31 This house 
 was accordingly fitted up as a school-house, at the town's 
 expense, and continued to be used for this purpose several 
 years afterwards. 32 In 1707, when the grammar school began 
 to be moved occasionally into different quarters of the town, 
 other private houses were hired by the town for the time they 
 were needed to keep it in. At a general town meeting, March 
 2, 1712-13, liberty was granted to any persons, who should be 
 disposed, to erect at their own cost a convenient school-house for 
 
 si Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 167. 
 
 32 The Town Dr. Oct. 1, 1700, for " Boards and Nayls for a table and 
 bench for y e Scoolhous two shillings and flue pence." Town Records, 
 Vol. IV., p. 16G. 
 
 The Town Cr. 1705. "By Cash paid to Sergt Geo. Heed for his house 
 rent last year, 8 shillings." 
 
 The Town Cr. 1705. By cash paid " to Constable Thos. Peirce for work 
 about repairing the forms & tables of the Schoole House," etc. Town 
 Records, Vol. V., p. 21. 
 
 The Town Dr. 1705. " To Sergt George Read for the rent of his house 
 for the Schoole this present year :9 :0." Town Records, Vol. V., p. 22.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 227 
 
 the town's use upon the town's land, " at any convenient place 
 between, the meeting house & Lieut. John Coggin's " ; the par- 
 ticular spot to be stated by the Selectmen. ra Accordingly, a 
 subscription paper for this purpose was put in circulation, which 
 obtained eighty subscribers. Rev. Mr. Fox headed the list with 
 1. Among other principal subscribers, Mr. Jacob Wyman 
 put down ! 15s.; Capt. Josiah Convers, 1 5s. ; Col. Jona- 
 than Tyng, 1 5s.; Mr. William Symmes, 16s. 6d. The whole 
 amount of the subscription was 41 15s. Gd. With this 
 encouragement, the undertakers proceeded to build a school- 
 house, which, when completely finished, cost <43 18s. 4rf., a 
 trifle over the sum subscribed for this end at the first. This 
 school-house, by direction of the Selectmen, was erected, say the 
 Records, "on the East side of the highway [to Wilmington?], 
 over against Thomas Leppingwells." 34 In compliance with the 
 request of sundry petitioners, liberty was given them at March 
 meeting, 17356, to remove it from its original location " down 
 near the meeting house," on condition of their being at the cost 
 of removing it, and fitting it up again " in good order to keep 
 schoole in." 35 But this, it seems, was not its final resting place. 
 For, at March meeting, 1744, it was voted, that the stated place 
 for the grammar school in the Old Parish, for that year, should 
 be as near the meeting-house as a spot to set a school-house on 
 could be procured. 36 
 
 Accordingly, in 1748, and other subsequent years, reference 
 is repeatedly made in the Records to the School-house in the 
 First Parish, as standing near the Meeting-house. And as this 
 school-house was the first one erected in the town, so, as late 
 as 1760, it appears to have been the only one, unless that in the 
 Precinct, the date of whose erection is not known, be an excep- 
 tion. In 1736, it was furnished not only with benches, a table 
 etc., as is usual, but also with a " Great Chair ", designed, no 
 doubt, to add dignity to the master, in presiding over the 
 miniature kingdom under his rule. 37 This chair was probably a 
 
 Town Records, Vol. V., p. 254. Town Records, Vol. V., p. 279. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 217, 224. Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 440. 
 
 17 1736, Sept. 13. The Town Dr. " To Ebenezer Johnson for a great 
 Chear for the Schoole House :10 :0." Town Records, Vol. VIL, p. 247.
 
 228 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 large flag bottomed one, with a high back, and with legs and 
 arms all curiously wrought and carved, like other chairs manu- 
 factured in those days, that are yet occasionally to be seen. And 
 such a favorite was this important article of school-house furni- 
 ture with the master, and so constantly used by him, that, within 
 eleven years, it had come to need seating anew. For at a meeting 
 of the Selectmen, September 25, 1747, an order was granted on 
 the Treasurer to pay Mr. Isaac Richardson 27 10s. Old Tenor 
 for keeping school that year; and 10 shillings Old Tenor more 
 that he paid to Mr. Samuel Kendall for " Bottoming the 
 School House Cheer." 38 
 
 From the time that a grammar school was established and 
 constantly kept in Woburn, the town seems to have considered 
 this school as fully answering the design of the law, and so to 
 have neglected the maintenance of other schools for teaching 
 children to read and write : for the Records make no mention, 
 after 1 700, of the appointment of any teachers, male or female, 
 for this office, or of granting them any compensation. There 
 can be no doubt, however, that women's schools, for this purpose, 
 were still kept here by private subscription. For, at a general 
 meeting, March 1, 1724-5, liberty was voted and given "to 
 several of the inhabitants thatT should agree to set up a school 
 house for children to learn to read in, upon the town's land in 
 the street, where it may be most convenient ; and the Selectmen 
 to set out the place." 39 And the liberty granted by this vote 
 not being, apparently, for some reason, improved, another vote 
 was passed at a general meeting, March 4, 1733-4, by which 
 leave was given to several persons who had petitioned for that 
 end, to erect a small school-house near the meeting-house, 
 where the Selectmen shall appoint, for the accommodation of a 
 school-mistress to instruct their children to read, and other 
 things that are necessary to learn. 40 And such a house, it is 
 probable, was built, and employed for the use intended, though 
 the Records are afterwards silent respecting it. 
 
 The grammar school in Woburn was originally kept, year 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VH., p. 521. Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 213. 
 
 _ Town Records, Vol. VTL, p. 171.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 229 
 
 after year, in one place only, viz, in the centre of the town. 
 But at a general meeting, March 3, 1706-7, it was agreed as 
 follows: "Forasmuch as our Town of Woobourne (is) situated 
 very scattering and remoat, so that the whole Town (cannot) be 
 benefitted alike, by the Schoolmaster's keeping the Schoole in 
 the Senter of the Town at all times, that therefore the Schoole 
 Master for the time being (shall) keep the Schoole one quarter 
 of the year in the Center of the Town, and the other three quar- 
 ters of the year in three of the remoat Quarters of the Town, 
 according to the direction and appointment of the Selectmen for 
 the time being." 41 This vote laid the foundation of the moving 
 school system, which was much, though not uniformly practised 
 in this town during a large part of the last century. By this, 
 the grammar school and its instructor were moved round into 
 the different sections of the town, for lengths of time propor- 
 tionate to the taxes they paid, by order of the Selectmen, or 
 some other committee of the town's appointment. At first, only 
 three of the remote quarters were named for the school to be 
 moved to ; and in each of these it was to be kept an equal time 
 as in the centre. But as settlements in the town extended and 
 multiplied, the school seems to have been wholly omitted some 
 years in the centre ; and the number of places in which it was 
 kept in the outskirts was increased. 
 
 The erection of a school-house in the centre, by private 
 individuals, in 1713, caused a temporary check to the moving 
 system, as it was probably intended to ; for we read nothing in 
 the Records of keeping school in the quarters for six years 
 afterwards. But at the annual meeting, March 2, 1718-9, it was 
 voted that the grammar school-master for the time to come 
 should " goe into the quarters of the Town " : from six weeks 
 to two months into the end of the town where Deacon Walker 
 lives [Goshen, or Wilmington] ; as long as that, into the end 
 where Deacon Johnson lives [Shawshin, or Burlington] ; and as 
 long as that into the West, and then as long into the East end. 42 
 At March meeting, 1728-9, it was voted "that the School Master 
 
 41 Town Records, Vol. V., p. 42. * Town Records, Vol. VI., jjp. 48, 49.
 
 230 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 should move j " and further, " that the School should be moved 
 so far as Mr. Thomas Belknap's [on the road to South Woburn, 
 or Winchester] their proportion; and to Sergeant Thomas 
 Reed's house [West end] their proportion j and to Sergt. Ben- 
 jamin Johnson's [Burlington] their proportion; and to the 
 School house at Goshen [Wilmington] their proportion ; and to 
 the house of Samuel Eames [East Woburn] their proportion." 43 
 At a town meeting, February 2, 17378, after resolving that the 
 school should be a movable one, the present and the ensuing 
 year (that is, the remainder of 1737, as then calculated, and 
 through 1738), it was voted that (1) the Precinct, (2) the Rich- 
 ardsons and the Carters at the southerly part of the town, (3) 
 the West, (4) the East, (5) New Bridge, should each have the 
 school among them according to what they pay ; that the school 
 should move to the southerly part of Richardson's Row for them 
 and the Carters ; and that the Selectmen should state the place 
 where the school should be kept. 44 And at March meeting, 
 1741-2, the town having appointed the Selectmen a committee to 
 provide a master for the grammar school that year, and voted 
 that he should move into the different quarters, proceeded to 
 choose Lieut. Joseph Richardson, Lieut. James Proctor, Lieut, 
 Samuel Carter, Ensign Samuel Wyman, Mr. Ebenezer Flagg, Mr. 
 William Tay and Mr. Timothy Brooks, as a committee " to agree 
 and determine on the severall places the Schoolmaster shall keep 
 the Schoole at, in said Town, and the time at each place, the 
 year ensuing " ; and to report to the Selectmen, who were 
 empowered to direct the master to go to the places, and to keep 
 the terms of time agreed upon, agreeably to the committee's 
 Report. 45 Accordingly, the Selectmen immediately engaged Mr. 
 James Fowle to keep the grammar school in Woburn a year, for 
 10, Old Tenor ; and shortly after, the committee for determin- 
 ing the places where the school should be kept, and how long 
 in each place, reported to the Selectmen as follows : That the 
 school should remove : 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 369. * Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 267. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 394-396.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUBN. 231 
 
 1. To Lieut. Samuel Kendall's (Kendall's Mill) on the 22d day of March 
 
 inst. and there keep till May 9th. 
 
 2. Thence to the School house (in the Centre) till July llth. 
 
 3. Thence to New Bridge, " house of Martha Tidds', or elsewhere," till 
 
 August 8th. 
 
 4. Thence to the house of Lieut. Joseph Richardson Jr. till Sept' 19th. 
 
 5. Thence to the Precinct, at some place that they shall agree upon, till 
 
 Dec r 31st. 
 
 6. Thence to the Carter's Quarter (South Village) house of Mr. Ebene- 
 
 zer Convers, till (1st) Monday in March next. 
 
 Signed by the Committee, March 18, 1741-2. 44 
 
 In this brief view of the operation of the moving school 
 system in Woburn. from its commencement in 1707 till 1742, 
 we may observe, that while the school-house, in the centre of the 
 Old Parish, is mentioned only once among the places, in which, 
 in the different years enumerated above, the grammar school was 
 ordered to be kept, the places in the outskirts for keeping it in 
 had increased from three to five. While some conveniences 
 resulted from this plan of conducting the school, its incon- 
 veniences to all parties concerned were many and serious. So 
 much trouble was it wont to occasion the teacher, that Master 
 Fowle petitioned the town one year, 1760 (but without success), 
 to make him some additional allowance besides his salary, " in 
 consideration of the fatigues he hath had by reason of there 
 being so many removals of (his) school." 46 The frequency of 
 these removals in the course of a year, and the shortness of the 
 time the school was kept in some of the quarters, (viz : from a 
 month to six weeks only) were both of them unfavorable circum- 
 stances to the comfort and improvement of the scholars. The 
 appointments, too, of time and place for the school by the com- 
 mittee (judging of them as well as we can at this distance of 
 time) appear to have been, in some instances, injudicious, and in 
 others to lie open to the suspicion of partiality. For example, 
 by the last quoted arrangement for January and February, 
 1 742-3, a season of the year, when the severity of the weather, 
 the badness of the travelling, and the superior opportunities 
 which children in the country then usually enjoy for attending 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VIII., pp. 285, 288.
 
 232 HISTORY OP WOBDRN. 
 
 school, would naturally have led the committee, one would sup- 
 pose, to fix upon the school-house in the centre, as the most 
 eligible place for keeping the school, and calculated to accommo- 
 date the largest number of pupils, it was ordered to the south- 
 ernmost extremity of the town, and where, in going to it, a very 
 large proportion of the children and youth, probably a majority 
 of the whole, must have been obliged to travel from two to five 
 miles, or relinquish the privilege of attending school altogether. 
 At times, too, the several committees for fixing the location of the 
 school year after year, gave cause to the inhabitants of some of 
 the quarters to conceive themselves to be slighted. There is on 
 file an original petition to the Selectmen without date, but 
 written probably about 1742, and subscribed by twenty-eight 
 inhabitants of Button End, complaining that they had not had 
 the school among them for nearly thirty years ; and earnestly 
 requesting that it might be kept that year in their neighborhood, 
 at the house of Capt. Joseph Richardson, Jr., where accommo- 
 dations were provided for it. 
 
 All these circumstances caused a growing dissatisfaction with 
 the system, and eventually a powerful opposition to it, although 
 many years a majority was found in town meeting who voted in 
 favor of it. At March meeting, 1 744, the town voted that the 
 Precinct should have their proportion of the school the year 
 ensuing ; and their proportional part of the time being deducted, 
 the school should be kept the remainder of the year in the Old 
 Parish, in one place as near the meeting-house as a spot to set a 
 school-house on could be procured. 47 And at March meet- 
 ing, 1 748, it was voted, ( 1 ) that the Precinct should have the 
 school that should be kept the present year, their proportionate 
 part of the time; and, (2) that the school should not be removed 
 about in the First Parish the ensuing year, " but be kept in the 
 School House near the Old Meeting House in said town the rest 
 of the year," after deducting the Second Parish's proportionable 
 part. 48 Votes to the same purpose with this last were passed 
 in the years 1749, 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754 and 1755. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 440. Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 538.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 233 
 
 In 1756, the town reverted, in part, to the moving plan. After 
 voting, March 1, that the school should be kept in the Precinct, 
 and in the school-house near the new meeting-house (of the Old 
 Parish), their proportional part, voted, that it should also be 
 moved to the East and West sides, as the Selectmen should pro- 
 portion the time j but, if either side neglected to provide a house 
 for the school, it was to be kept in the Centre School-house. 49 
 And, although the three next years the school was ordered again 
 into the quarters, yet, the year following, 1760, this plan was 
 again abandoned, and the grammar school confined to the Pre- 
 cinct, and the centre of the Old Parish. And between that year 
 and 1775, the system of moving the Grammar School into the 
 several different quarters of the town was laid aside, excepting 
 the years 1762, 1767 and 1768, and the school was kept only 
 in the Precinct, and at the school-house in the centre of the 
 First Parish. 
 
 In 1760 commenced the institution of schools different from 
 the grammar school, and inferior to it, in the remote parts of 
 the town. That year, after voting, at March meeting, that the 
 Precinct should have its proportional part of " the School," 
 (meaning, the grammar school) the year ensuing, and that the 
 rest of the time the school was keeping, it should be kept in the 
 school-house in the First Parish, and not be removed, and after 
 choosing a committee to provide a person suitable to take the 
 charge of such school, it was voted in May, that "they would allow 
 to each of the extream parts," (meaning the East, South and West 
 parts) " of the first parish in said town the sum of thirty-three 
 pounds six shillings and eight pence, Old Tenor, or equivalent in 
 Lawfull Money, to be draughted out of their Treasury by each 
 part, provided they appropriate said money in hireing some suita- 
 ble person to keep a school for the instruction of their children 
 before the first day of March next." 50 Votes, of a similar pur- 
 port, were passed. by the town, several of the subsequent years 
 previous to 1775. In 1761, for example, 400, Old Tenor, was 
 raised " for maintaining the Grammar School and other Schools " 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VTII., p. 172. Town Record., Vol. VHI., p. 291. 
 
 20*
 
 234 HISTORY OP WOBTJRN. 
 
 in the town that year. Of this sum, XI 00 was granted, to be 
 equally divided between the extreme parts of the First Parish, 
 "provided they hire some suitable person to keep a school for the 
 instruction of their children," in the course of that year. 51 In 
 1773, 40, lawful money, was raised for schools in Woburn; of 
 which sum, 3 6*. Sd. was allotted expressly to each of the east- 
 erly, southerly and westerly extremes, 10 in all, for the instruc- 
 tion of the children in those quarters j and a committee was 
 chosen to procure a suitable person or persons, for performing 
 this service among them, and for determining the times and places 
 of each school, while another committee was chosen to provide a 
 suitable master to keep the grammar school nine months, viz, five 
 months in the school-house in the First Parish, and four months 
 in the Precinct. 52 In March 1774, 40, lawful money, was raised 
 for the grammar school, to be kept in the Precinct its propor- 
 tional part, and the rest of the time in the school-house near the 
 meeting-house in the First Parish; and in May, 15 more, lawful 
 money, was raised for schools in the remote parts of the town ; 
 whereof, 5 was appropriated to the Precinct, as their propor- 
 tionate part, and the remaining 10, to the instruction of 
 children in the extreme part of the First Parish. 53 And, finally, 
 in 1775, forty pounds was raised for schooling that year, of 
 which sum each parish was to take its proportionate part, and 
 had liberty to unite with each other in hiring a grammar school- 
 master to serve the town in that capacity nine months that year, 
 and " the remaining part of said forty pounds to be appropriated 
 for the instruction of the children in the extream parts of the 
 parishes, as" each parish shall think will be for their best interest, 
 and to no other use." M 
 
 Thus was inaugurated a system of graded schools in Woburn, 
 which had apparently much influence in setting aside the old 
 custom of a moving grammar school, and in laying the foundations 
 of the school districts which followed. As late as 1775, there 
 were no school-houses in which to keep the schools in the 
 outskirts ; but they were kept in such private houses, and for 
 
 w Town Records, Vol. VIII., p. 312. 52 Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 198. 
 
 w Town Records, Vol. IX., pp. 235, 239. * Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 2T6.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 235 
 
 such lengths of time, in proportion to their taxes, as a committee, 
 appointed by the town for the purpose, was pleased to determine. 
 They were taught by male teachers, engaged for this employment 
 by a committee nominated by the town at March or May meet- 
 ing ; and as the pay of these teachers was smaller, so it is to be 
 presumed that their work was less laborious and diversified 
 than that of the instructors of the grammar school. 
 
 It would be gratifying to exhibit here a complete list of the 
 books used in the Woburn schools during the period of the above 
 survey ; but such a list, it would now be hardly possible to find or 
 collect. But the following school-books are still extant in Bur- 
 lington (Woburn precinct), inscribed, some of them, with the 
 names of their former owners, natives of Woburn, and pupils of 
 its schools before 1775, and all of them furnishing strong tokens 
 of having been studied in those schools previously to the year 
 just named. 
 
 1. "The Universal Spelling Book "etc. (place and date of 
 printing lost) : Part II. of which is styled " An easy Guide to 
 English Grammar, by Way of Question and Answer etc. etc. 
 
 Let all the foreign Tongues alone, 
 Till you can read and spell your own." 
 
 2. "The Youth's Instructor in the English Tongue: (Title 
 page wanting) In three parts ; of which part III. contains " Rules 
 in Arithmetic, with Forms of Bills, Bonds, Releases etc. etc." 
 
 3. A New Guide to the English Tongue : In Five Parts : 
 
 The Twenty Second Edition : 
 By Thomas Dilworth, School Master etc. 
 
 London 1760." 
 
 [With a likeness of the author prefixed, dressed in the costume 
 of an English school-master of that day.] 
 
 N. B. The work last mentioned has lost a number of pages. 
 Part III. contains " A short, but comprehensive Grammar of the 
 English Tongue, delivered in the most familiar and Instructive 
 Method of Question and Answer," etc. etc. Part IV. " An useful 
 Collection of Sentences in Prose and Verse ; Divine, Moral and 
 Historical," etc. ; and Part V. " Forms of Prayer for Children, 
 on several Occasions."
 
 236 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 Such was the condition of the public schools in Woburn, and 
 the progress evidently made in them, between 1690 and 1775. 
 At the commencement of the above term of time, primary schools 
 were but feebly and meanly sustained by the town ; and as to a 
 grammar school, scholars could not be found to attend one. 
 But long before the completion of that period, a grammar school 
 was constantly maintained in Woburn ; highly respectable teach- 
 ers were encouraged to take charge of it ; and parents manifested 
 much solicitude that their children might enjoy its privileges, and 
 that it might be located where they could conveniently attend it. 
 
 And here it may not be amiss to give some account of a con- 
 tention respecting one of the masters of the grammar school 
 during that period, with which the whole town was agitated. 
 In July 1725, the Selectmen, being the School Committee, hired 
 Mr. Ebenezer Flegg, a nephew of their chairman, Col. Eleazar 
 Flegg [Flagg], to keep the grammar school three months. 55 But 
 it appears that previously to this, one or more of the Selectmen, 
 or some one authorized by them, had spoken to Mr. Timothy 
 Walker, a son of Deacon Samuel Walker, in such terms as that 
 he considered the school as engaged to him, and was unwilling 
 to give it up. Mr. Flegg commenced keeping the school July 
 26, according to agreement; and Mr. Walker still insisting 
 upon his right, the Selectmen were requested to call a meeting 
 of the town to settle the difficulty; but this they refused to do. 
 Whereupon, application was made to Oliver Whiting, Esq., of 
 Billerica, a justice of the peace, who granted a warrant for the 
 meeting of the inhabitants of Woburn, " to reconcile the differ- 
 ence that has happened relating to their Schoolmasters, and to 
 determine which of them shall keep the said Town Schoole." 56 
 
 65 Col. "Flegg's " name and that of his nephew are here spelt as they are 
 found in Woburn Kecords, although Gershora, the Colonel's father's name, 
 and that of his remoter descendants in Woburn to this day, is spelt Flagg. 
 Dr. Bond, however, in his " Genealogies " and History of the Early Settlers 
 of Watertown, where the Woburn Flaggs originated, observes, that there 
 can be but very little doubt that the spelling of their name Flagg, though 
 now universally prevalent, is erroneous, and that the correct orthography 
 is Flegg. See Bond's Genealogies, etc., p. 762. 
 
 M Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 224.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 237 
 
 At that meeting, August 27, 1725, "after considerable debate," 
 the Moderator, Mr. Ebenezer Johnson, ordered Capt. Fowle, 
 the Town Clerk, to put upon record the warrant by which they 
 were then met, and also to record Mr. Timothy Walker as 
 school-master for the current year. At the same time, forty- 
 three persons entered a protest against passing, at that meeting, 
 any votes to be put upon the Town Book. 56 In accordance, 
 however, with the above injunction given by the Moderator to 
 the Town Clerk, Mr. Walker seems now to have been forcibly 
 put in possession of the town school-house. But as the Select- 
 men, who were the School Committee, still refused to acknowl- 
 edge his claims, he appealed to the law, by entering a complaint 
 in the Supreme Court against them and the Town Clerk. Mr. 
 Flegg appears to have continued keeping school in some private 
 dwelling, under the patronage of the Selectmen ; and when his 
 first engagement expired, they prolonged it one month more ; 57 
 and then hired a different master for the remainder of the year. 
 They also, in opposition to the meeting in August preceding, or 
 in order to justify themselves and the course they had taken in 
 view of the community, called another meeting, January 6, 
 1725-6 : the warrant for which is not upon record, but at which 
 it was voted, among other particulars, 
 
 1. " That the publick schoole and schoolehouse in said Town 
 should be under the care and regulation of the Selectmen of 
 said Town as formerly. 
 
 2. " That the Selectmen should prosecute in the Law any 
 person or persons that shall pretend and doe keep possession of 
 the publick Schoolhouse of said Town, without their order; 
 and also prosecute in the Law any person or persons that shall 
 demolish or harme the same. 
 
 3. " That what was voted at a meeting of some of the free- 
 holders and other inhabitants of said Town upon the twenty- 
 seventh of August last past concerning Schoolemasters should be 
 null and void, it being counted irregular." M 
 
 But before any votes were taken on this occasion, except that 
 for the choice of Moderator, a large number of the inhabitants 
 
 w Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 262. *> Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 245.
 
 238 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 present entered a Protest against any further action upon the 
 articles of the Warrant, for the following reasons among others, 
 viz : 
 
 " 1 . Because that in the Preface to the Warrant for this meet- 
 ing it seems to be intimated, that the Town is to signifie their 
 minds concerning the difference in Town relating to the Gram- 
 mar Schoole : Whereas we esteem [it] very unnecessary for the 
 Town to give themselves the trouble to signifie their minds con- 
 cerning a matter that is already in the hand of authority, and 
 waits for a determination j the signification of the Town's mind 
 concerning which will be of no consequence, neither pro nor 
 (con) : and also we esteem it high presumption and contempt, 
 for the Town thus to pretend to wrest the sword of Justice out of 
 the hands of the King's Justices. 
 
 " 2. Secondly, Because that the first Particular mentioned in 
 said warrant seems to be grounded upon a supposition, that 
 private men have hired a Grammar Schoole master, and put him 
 into the publick Schoole house of said Town ; which supposition 
 is absolutely false ; and therefore for the Town to be convened to 
 signifie their minds concerning a matter that is not, nor as we 
 know of, ever will be, is grossly absurd. 
 
 " 3. But granting the supposition to be true, yet the Law 
 prescribes that nothing shall be enacted at a Town Meeting, but 
 what is plainly set forth in the warrant, to the end that all men 
 may be well apprised of the occasion of their meeting ; but yet 
 in any of the particulars of this warrant they have neither set 
 forth who the schoole master is, nor the private men that have 
 hired him. 
 
 " 5. Because what in the second particular of said warrant, 
 " they call the publick Schoole house, is a particular propriety ; 
 and for the Town to commit the care and trust of any thing to 
 other men which is not their own, is inconsistant with reason. 
 
 " 6. Because we do not understand what they mean by Regulat- 
 ing the Town meeting in August : for if they mean to confirm 
 and establish any vote then passed, it is a thing unnecessary ;
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 239 
 
 and if it be, to repeal and disannul any, it is beyond their 
 power." 59 
 
 To this Protest, seventy-eight names were subscribed. Among 
 the subscribers, were many of the most respectable inhabitants 
 of the town, especially of the Johnson and Richardson, the 
 Thompson and Wyman families. And the reasons upon which 
 it was professedly grounded, do all seem weighty and forcible, 
 except the fifth, denying the right of the town to dispose of the 
 school-house, which was certainly lame. For, although that 
 building was erected at the expense of private individuals, yet 
 it was built upon the town's land and expressly for the town's 
 use. But all the conflicting votes, opinions and measures of 
 these two several meetings of the town, on this subject, were soon 
 superseded by the decision of the Court, which was in favor of 
 Mr. Walker, the complainant, and in pursuance of which, a writ 
 of mandamus 60 was quickly issued against the Selectmen and 
 Town Clerk. In compliance with this writ, the town came to 
 an amicable settlement with Mr. Walker not long after. At a 
 town meeting, June 13, 1726, it was voted, "that Mr Timothy 
 Walker should have the sum of twenty seven pounds, ten shill- 
 ings paid him out of the town treasury for services done in 
 keeping the school in Woburn in the year past : which money 
 was paid for peace and the ending of all former differences." 61 
 At the same time, Mr. Walker signed a certificate, acknowledg- 
 ing himself fully satisfied ; and discharging the Selectmen and 
 Town Clerk of all cost, to which they ever had been or might 
 be liable, in virtue of the writ of mandamus, whether claimed 
 by him, or by any under him.* 
 
 M Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 246. o See Appendix, Vin. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 276. 
 
 a Mr. Walker's certificate was written and signed by him on a separate 
 piece of paper. The following is a copy of it : 
 
 " Woburne June ye 13th. 1726 at a Town meeting. Whereas ye subscriber 
 entered a Complaint, whereby I obtained a Mandamus against Eliezer 
 Flegg Esqr and ye other Selectmen and Town Cleark of ye said Town in ye 
 yeare 1725,. for which I do acknowledge myself fully satisfied for all Trouble 
 and Charge, and Ingage to discharge ye sd. Selectmen & Towne Cleark of 
 any charge that hath or shall ever arise concerning sd. Mandamus, or shall 
 arise by me or any under me : as Witness my hand 
 
 " TIMOTHY WALKER."
 
 240 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 And thus an end was put to the contest, which had kept 
 the whole town in a state of turmoil and confusion almost a 
 twelvemonth. In reviewing it by the best light we can obtain 
 at this remote period of time, it seems a striking illustration of 
 those words of Solomon, b " The beginning of strife is as when 
 one letteth out water." The source of this contention was in 
 the beginning, like a shallow outlet, scarcely a hand's breadth 
 wide, to a large pond, which may be easily stopped. By some 
 unaccountable oversight, the Selectmen had hired two masters, 
 both of them gentlemen of unexceptionable character, to keep the 
 same school at the same time. Or else, for reasons now impos- 
 sible to ascertain, they had suddenly determined to pass by Mr. 
 Walker, whom they had engaged first, and to take Mr. Flagg in 
 his stead. But even now that they had opened a way for a 
 stream of contention, it seems as though a disposition to do 
 exactly right by Mr. Walker, and a little praiseworthy conde- 
 scension to apologize to Mr. Flagg for the disappointment they 
 might occasion him, would have quickly rectified their error- 
 But no. Having once taken a wrong step, the Selectmen acted 
 as though they thought they must go on, be the consequence what 
 it would : And now the bitter waters of Meribah began to run 
 apace : and urged on with the harsh surmises and stinging 
 reproaches of both parties, that which was at first an insignifi- 
 cant rill, soon swelled into a mighty stream, bearing down all 
 before it, and burying the peace of the town, till checked by the 
 mound erected by the strong arm of the Law. This gave the 
 passions of men time to cool ; and now a survey of the trouble 
 and expense in which they had involved themselves and the 
 town, doubtless led the aggressors in this affair to regret that 
 they had not better heeded the words of the Wise Man just 
 cited; and better followed his counsel attached to them, "to 
 leave off contention before it be meddled with." 
 
 b Prov. xvii. 14.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Separation of Goshen (Wilmington) as a Town, and of Shawshin (Burling- 
 ton) as a Precinct or Parish, in 1730 : Ordination of Eev. Edward Jack- 
 son, 1729 : Ordination Dinner. 
 
 WE have now arrived at a period in the history of Woburn, 
 when it was fast becoming a comparatively populous and 
 wealthy town. The number of persons rated there in the 
 Province tax of 1700 was only 187: 1 but in the Province tax 
 for 1725, 2 it had increased to 305. According to a Valuation 
 for the County of Middlesex, taken by order of the General 
 Court in 1708, Woburn was the fourth town in the county for 
 numbers and real estate ; ranking, in both these respects, next 
 after Charlestown, Cambridge, and Watertown ; taking the pre- 
 cedence of Concord ; and leaving Medford, its present flourish- 
 ing rival, far behind. 3 
 
 But a change was now impending, by which the population of 
 
 1 Town Records, Vol. IV., pp. 170-173. 
 
 2 Town Records, Vol. VI., pp. 248-255. 
 
 3 Town Records, Vol. V., p. 82. In the valuation here referred to, 
 returns are made from twenty towns, including Lancaster, now in the 
 county of Worcester. The number of polls, and the comparative estimate 
 of " real estate " in each of the towns above named, are as follows : 
 
 Polls. Estate. 
 
 Charlestown 270 53. 7. 8. 
 
 Cambridge - - - 260 - - 27. 9. 9. 
 
 Watertown- 250 26.12.10. 
 
 Woburn - - - 225 22. 8. 3. 
 
 Concord - - - 223 16.19. 5. 
 
 Medford ... 46 4.11. 7. 
 
 The commissioners, however, to whom these returns were submitted, 
 thought fit, upon examination , to abate from the estimate of " real estate " 
 
 In Charlestown - 8.0.0. 
 
 In Cambridge - ..... . . . . 1.0.0. 
 
 And to add to that of " real estate " in Watertown -* 2.0.0. 
 
 " " " " in Concord ... - 4.0.0. 
 
 21
 
 242 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 the town was very considerably diminished, and its prosperity 
 for a while, seriously checked. The change alluded to, was the 
 erection of Goshen, or the northerly quarter of Woburn, into a 
 distinct town; and of Shawshin, or the northwesterly quarter, 
 into a precinct or parish. This alteration did not originate in 
 any disaffection to Rev. Mr. Pox : for at the very time it was in 
 contemplation, or in being made, the people were giving him 
 almost every year fresh tokens of their favor and respect by 
 voluntary additions to his salary, and by generous provision for 
 the supply of his pulpit, when he was taken off by sickness from 
 preaching himself. 4 But it grew out of the inconvenience to 
 which the inhabitants of those quarters were subjected, by their 
 remoteness from the place of public worship. There can be no 
 question, that when the second meeting-house in Woburn was 
 built on the hill in 1672, its situation was central, or nearly so, 
 to the great mass of the population. But, since that time, new 
 settlements had been continually making at the north and north- 
 west. And hence the distances of the people in the several 
 quarters of the town from the meeting-house had now become 
 very unequal. For while the inhabitants of the south village 
 (now Winchester) were only between two and three miles from 
 the meeting-house, the dwelling-house of Sergeant Abraham 
 Jaquith, in Goshen, was quite seven miles off; and the Wymans' 
 farms in Shawshin, on the borders of Billerica, not less than five 
 miles. 
 
 These were long distances for the inhabitants of those 
 quarters of the town to travel on Sabbath morning, especially in 
 midwinter, when their narrow roads were apt to be blocked up 
 with snow, and next to impassable. But such was the zeal in 
 those days for attendance on public worship and the ordinances 
 of God's house, that, notwithstanding these inconveniences, the 
 people in those parts of the town would go to meeting, and be 
 there punctually too, at the appointed hour. Authentic tradition 
 
 4 One such addition, among others that might be named, is the follow- 
 ing: At March meeting, 1727-8, voted, "that the Rev d Mr John Fox should 
 have fourty pounds added to his sallery this present year; so as to make 
 his sallery six score pounds this year." Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 335.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 243 
 
 relates, that the inhabitants of the remotest corner of Goshen, 
 near Billerica line, would often travel to meeting in winter on 
 snow-shoes ; and that one of them, Deacon James Thompson, 
 would always be there by 8 o'clock in the morning, (in summer, 
 it is presumed) which was an hour at least before the public ser- 
 vices commenced. But, though the people of both the most 
 distant quarters of the town attended "meeting on the Sabbath 
 from choice, notwithstanding the inconveniences above alluded 
 to, rather than stay away, yet they accounted their subjection to 
 these difficulties by reason of their location, as a great hardship, 
 because they viewed it as unnecessary, and therefore unjust ; and, 
 after bearing it patiently for years, they at length decided to seek 
 relief from it in a legal way. 
 
 The first step taken apparently for this end was a petition to 
 the town from both " the Northwardly branches" thereof, which 
 was read at a town meeting called for the purpose, January 19, 
 1724-5. 5 The subject of this petition is not stated in the 
 Records : the consideration of it, when read, was deferred till the 
 annual meeting in May j and then it was answered in the nega- 
 tive, as follows : " Voated that they would not grant the Petition 
 that was offered to the Town by the two Northwardly Branches 
 of said Town, as it is set forth in said Petition." 6 But though 
 the petitioners were defeated in this their first effort, they were 
 not discouraged from pursuing the object they had in view. After 
 waiting a twelvemonth, they united in another joint petition to the 
 town. But the Selectmen refusing to call a meeting to consider 
 it, they applied to Oliver Whiting, Esq., of Billerica, a justice of 
 the peace for Middlesex county, who granted them a warrant 
 fora town meeting at Woburn, to be held February 10, 1725-6. 
 At that meeting, " the Question being put, Whether the Town 
 would proceed at present ? it was past in the nega- 
 tive": and further, it was then voted, "that the Town would 
 consider of the premises contained in Justice Whiting's Warrant 
 at March Meeting next." 7 
 
 The original drafts of the two joint petitions just mentioned, 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 208. Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 218. 
 
 i Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 261.
 
 244 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 
 
 and the warrants calling meetings of the town to consider them, 
 have long since been missing. And the Town Clerk, in recording 
 the action of the town upon them, seems not to have cared that 
 posterity should know anything respecting the subject of them. 
 In his record of the two meetings, January 19 and May 11, 
 1725, at which the first of these two petitions was considered, 
 he dropped not a word from which might be gathered what 
 the prayer of the petitioners was. But in his record of 
 the meeting, February 10, 1725-6, just noticed, called by Justice 
 Whiting to consider their second petition, he was not quite so 
 successful in shutting out the light on this matter. After writ- 
 ing, " the Question being put, ' Whether the Town would proceed 
 at present?'" he inadvertently added three other important 
 words, which, upon further reflection, he saw fit to efface, leaving 
 only, " it was pasUin the negative." Fortunately, however, in 
 drawing his pen twice across the three words referred to, he did 
 not do the work of obliteration so effectually, as to prevent our 
 reading distinctly beneath the erasure, "about a meetinghouse:" 
 and these three words, when considered with the vote passed at 
 March meeting, to which were adjourned the several articles of 
 Justice Whiting's Warrant not acted upon, and with the subse- 
 quent proceedings of the town, September 22 and October 2, 
 1727, let in abundance of light upon the subjects of the petitions 
 referred to. At the meeting, March 7, 1725-6, it was voted, 
 that sixteen pounds should be paid out of the town treasury 
 towards the support of preaching in both the northerly parts of 
 the town in the three shortest months of the winter, " In case 
 they do provide a minister to preach amongst them ; and if they 
 have not a minister to preach amongst them, they are not to have 
 any money out of the treasury." 8 This vote was passed, appar- 
 ently, to silence the complaints made about the distance of the 
 meeting-house, and to prevent, if possible, any further impor- 
 tunity from the complainants for the grant of their obnoxious 
 petitions, which the town had negatived at the two preced- 
 ing meetings. Comparing, therefore, the doings of the town, 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 266.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 245 
 
 February 10, and March 7, 1725-6, above recorded, with its 
 subsequent proceedings September 22, and October 2, 1727, 9 
 there can be but little doubt, that the prayer of the first joint 
 petition of the two northerly parts of the town was, that the meet- 
 ing-house built on the hill might be removed to a more central 
 situation ; and that of the second joint petition was, that the 
 meeting-house might be removed, as above ; or otherwise, that 
 the town would erect a new one on a site that would better 
 accommodate the petitioners, its remote inhabitants. 
 
 In pursuance of the vote of March 7, 1725-6, the sum of eight 
 pounds of the town's money was paid to the inhabitants of each 
 of the remote quarters respectively, viz : to Dea. James Thomp- 
 son, on behalf of Goshen; 10 and by Mr. Samuel Kendall, 
 Constable and Collector, to Mr. Benjamin Johnson and others, 
 on" behalf of Shawshin, 10 to defray the expense of preaching 
 within their respective bounds during the winter of 17267. 
 The grant of the above sums by the town, to these respective 
 portions of her population, for the purpose designated by her 
 vote, was a virtual acknowledgment on her part, that the 
 grievance they complained of had a real, and not an imaginary 
 foundation. And, accordingly, it was renewed the year following 
 to the inhabitants of Goshen, at their request, that they might 
 provide themselves with preaching in the winter of 1727-8. 11 
 But there is no record of a similar grant to Shawshin for that 
 winter. Whence it would seem, either that the town had some 
 special reason for denying the people of that quarter the favor 
 referred to, or else (which is more probable) that those people 
 themselves had omitted to ask it of the town, as they of Goshen 
 had done ; being dissatisfied with it, thinking themselves entitled 
 to some higher consideration, and having already made up their 
 minds to seek a more effectual remedy for the disadvantages 
 they labored under, than the temporary grant of a few pounds 
 year by year could yield them. In accordance with these senti- 
 ments, they presented a petition to the General Court at their 
 
 See onward, the doings of the town on those respective dates. 
 10 Town Records, Vol. VI., pp. 293, 294. Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 309. 
 
 21*
 
 246 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 session, in August 1727, the substance of which is stated in the 
 following extract from the Court Records : 
 
 " At a Great and General Court or Assembly, begun upon 
 Wednesday May 31. 1727, and continued by adjournment to 
 "Wednesday August 16th 1727, and then met. 
 
 " Thursday Aug. 24. 1727. 
 
 " A Petition of the Inhabitants of the North Westerly Part of 
 the Town of Woburn, Shewing, that the Meeting House for the 
 publick Worship of God in the said Town is situated so as to be 
 very far from the Center of the said Township, and by the increase 
 of the Inhabitants the House is too small to receive them with con- 
 venience : And forasmuch as the Petitioners are put to great 
 difficulties & inconveniences by reason of their remoteness, espe- 
 cially in the Winter Season, and in stormy Weather ; And there- 
 fore Praying that either the Meeting House may be removed to the 
 Center of the Town, or that the Petitioners may be set off a dis- 
 tinct Township or Precinct, and that a Committee of this Court 
 may be appointed to view that Part of the Town ; and that they 
 may be set off, as follows : viz. To be bounded Westerly two 
 miles & an half on Lexington Line ; on Billerica Line four miles ; 
 to run from the Lines of Lexington & Billerica into the Town of 
 Woburn four miles in Length : The Committee to make their 
 Report to this Court thereon. 
 
 " In the House of Representatives Read, and Voted that the 
 Petitioners forthwith serve the Town of Woburn with a Copy of 
 this Petition, that so they shew forth their Reasons, if any they 
 have, why the Prayer thereof should not be granted. 
 " In Council, Read & Concur'd. 
 
 " Consented to, Wm. Dummer." 12 
 
 Aroused by these proceedings of Shawshin, and by the order 
 of Court in relation to them, the town held a meeting Sep- 
 tember 22, 1727, at which, after choosing Mr. Joseph Wright, 
 Moderator, they passed the following votes : 
 
 " First, that they would choose a committee to agree with a 
 surveyor and two chainmen, to measure the township of Woburn 
 all round, and to find out the centre of the town. 
 
 Records of Court, Vol. XIII. ? p. 415.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 247 
 
 " 2dly. Voted that the Selectmen of Woburn were chosen' a 
 Committee by themselves, or men whom they should appoint 
 to be a Committee, to agree with a surveyor and two chain- 
 men: which surveyor and chainmen should be upon oath to 
 measure the town of Woburn all round, and find out the centre 
 of the town, and to give a plan of the same ; and that the sur- 
 veyor and chainmen should measure that piece of land petitioned 
 for to be a Township by the Northwesterly part of the Town, 
 and to give a plan of the same also." 13 
 
 They then, for the sake, no doubt, of receiving the surveyor's 
 return before they proceeded to further action, adjourned the 
 meeting with " the subject matter contained in the warrant for 
 the calling of" [it] to October 2. 
 
 The gentleman employed by the Committee, as above directed, 
 was Capt. Joseph Burnap, a noted surveyor of Reading, who, 
 with two chainmen of his providing, went to work, measured 
 the town, and made out a plan of it, for which service he was 
 afterwards duly paid. 14 How soon his plan was completed, and 
 where, according to it, the centre of the town was found to be, 
 the Records do not state. Apparently, however, he began his 
 work immediately, and finished in season to communicate the 
 result of his labors to the town at their adjourned meeting, 
 October 2, when they passed the following votes. 
 
 1. "First, Voted that they were not for having the meeting 
 house removed from the place where it now stands. 
 
 " 21y. Voted that they were not " for building a meetinghouse 
 for the Westerly part of the Town, as they have set forth in 
 their petition." 
 
 " Sly. Voted that the Town was not willing that the land 
 petitioned for in the Westerly part of the Town should be a 
 separate Township. 
 
 " 41y. Voted that they would choose a Committee to give in 
 answer to the Great and General Court, why the prayer of the 
 petition [i. e. of Shawshin] ' should not be granted.' 
 
 " 51y. Voted, that they would choose three men to be the 
 
 13 Town Records, Vol. VI., p 311.
 
 248 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Committee to goe to the Great and General Court to make 
 answer to the above said petition. 
 
 "61y. The men voted and chosen are Mr Caleb Blogget, 
 John Fowle, Mr Joseph Wright." H 
 
 From the decisive tone and character of these votes, the 
 matter in controversy between Woburn and its Northwesterly 
 district seemed to be now in a fair way of being speedily deter- 
 mined. But in this expectation, both parties were disappointed. 
 For it so happened, that in copying the Order of Court, issued 
 in consequence of the Petition of Shawshin, above referred to, 
 the day appointed by the Court of Woburn, to appear before 
 them, and assign its reasons against granting the prayer of that 
 petition, was, by some oversight, omitted. Of course, the Com- 
 mittee, chosen to make answer to the Court, on behalf of the 
 town, not being duly notified of the time set for their appearance 
 there, accounted themselves discharged from the duty of their 
 appointment, and the petition of Shawshin for that time fell 
 through. 
 
 Before another petition could be presented, and another 
 Order of Court be duly served, the town made an attempt 
 to adjust her difficulties with her uneasy children upon her 
 northern and northwestern bounds, upon terms of her own 
 proposing. At a general meeting of the freeholders and other 
 inhabitants, November 15, 1727, after the nomination of Mr. 
 Joseph Wright as Moderator, it was voted as follows : " That 
 the town of Woburn is willing, that the inhabitants of the North 
 and Northwesterly part of the town, should have half the land 
 on that side of the town set off to them either in a Precinct or a 
 Township, Provided they will build for themselves, and maintain 
 the publick worship of God amongst themselves, without the help 
 of the town for time to come." 15 This sounds like a fair offer ; 
 and with certain additional qualifications, it might have been 
 satisfactory at the time to those inhabitants of the town, on 
 account of whom it was made. But, expressed as it was, they 
 regarded the vote conveying it with distrust. They could not 
 
 " Town Records, Vol. VI., pp. 331, 333. Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 310.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 249 
 
 help observing, that, while the town took care by this vote to 
 secure herself from all expense in erecting a meeting-house and 
 supporting the gospel among them, she did not propose to free 
 them from all liability to charge, for enabling her to settle a 
 colleague with Rev. Mr. Fox. A plan for such a settlement was 
 now beginning to be talked of. 16 And the inhabitants of the 
 northern and northwestern quarters were jealous (and as the 
 event proved, not without reason) that the town was disposed to 
 hasten the measure, as a means, if speedily consummated, of 
 embarrassing the Court about consenting to their projected 
 separation; and of retaining it in her power, if they should 
 eventually be set off, to tax them their full proportion of the 
 ordination expenses, and settlement money of the colleague. In 
 view of these considerations, the people, both of Goshen and 
 Shawshin, appear from the first to have listened to the above 
 proposals of the town with dissatisfaction and neglect; and 
 those of Shawshin, disregarding the prospect of an adjustment of 
 difficulties which it held out, determined to embrace the earliest 
 opportunity for renewing the application to the General Court, 
 which it had made during its previous session in August, but 
 which, from causes already explained, had failed of its hoped for 
 issue. Accordingly, at the commencement of the next winter 
 session, January, 1727-8, they addressed the Legislature, as 
 follows : 
 
 " To the Hon ble - William Durmner Esq r . Lieut. Governour & Com- 
 mander in Chief, the Hon ble> the Council, and Representatives for 
 his Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England 
 in Gen 11 - Court assembled at Boston the 4th Day of January Anno 
 Dom. 1727": (1727-8). 
 " The renewed Petition of the Inhabitants of the North Westerly 
 
 part of the Town of Woburn within the County of Middlesex 
 Humbly sheweth : 
 
 " That whereas your Petitioners at the session of the Gen 1 '- 
 
 16 At town meeting, April 4, 1728, "Voted, that it was high time to be in 
 a way to settle another minister among us. 
 
 " Further it was voated that the town would hear three or four ministers 
 several Sabbath days, in order to settle one to help Mr Fox." Town 
 Hecords, Vol. VI., p. 347.
 
 250 HISTORY OP WOBDRN. 
 
 Court in August last preferred their Petition, therein setting forth 
 the Difficulties they labour under with respect to their attending 
 the publick Worship of God, at the Meeting House where it now 
 stands in the said Town, and praying to be relieved in such Man- 
 ner as is therein set forth : Upon which Petition the said Court 
 were pleased to Order that the Petitioners should serve the Town 
 of Woburn with a Copy of said Petition, that so they shew forth 
 their Reasons (if any they have) why the Prayer thereof should not 
 be granted ; And the Petitioners, above Twenty Days before the 
 sitting of the Generall Court in October last, served the Town with 
 a Copy of the said Petition, pursuant to the Direction in the said 
 Order : But so it happened, that in penning thereof, there was no 
 Day fix'd for the Respondents to give in their Answer, by Means 
 whereof the same has never to this Day been done, and your Peti- 
 tioners are without Remedj^, unless aided by your Honours : 
 
 " Wherefore your Petitioners humbly pray, that their said Peti- 
 tion may be Revived ; and Inasmuch as they have already served 
 the Town with a Copy thereof, as aforesaid, they may be obliged 
 to give in their Answer in some short limited time, and in default 
 thereof, the Petitioners may be relieved, agreeable to the Prayer 
 of their said Petition, as to the Wisdom and Justice of this Hon ble - 
 Court shall seem meet. 
 
 " And your Petitioners (as in Duty bound) shall ever pray &c. 
 
 " Ebenezer Johnson 
 " Benjamin Johnson 
 " In'the Name and by Order of the Rest of the Petitioners. 
 
 "In Council Jan. 4lh. 1727. 
 
 " Read & Ordered that the former Petition here referred to be 
 reviewed ; and that the Petitioners now serve the Town with a 
 Copy of this Petition & Order, that they may give in their 
 Answer, if they see Cause, on Thursday y e . llth. Instant. 
 " Sent down for Concurrence, 
 
 " J. WILLARD, Seer*. 
 
 " In the House of Representatives, Jan y . 6. 1727. 
 " Read & Concur'd, with y e . Amendment : viz*. Dele, on 
 Thursday y e . Eleventh Instant, and add the second Thursday 
 of y e . next Session. 
 
 " Sent up for Concurrence 
 
 " W m . DUDLEY, Spec r .
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 251 
 
 " In Council Jan . 8th. 1727. 
 " Read and Concur'd. 
 
 " J. WILLARD, Secr r . 
 " Consented to : 
 
 W m . DUMMER. 
 
 " Copy Examined " p r . J. WILLARD, SecrV 17 
 
 From the authoritative minutes on the back of the attested copy 
 of the above cited petition, it will be perceived that both branches 
 of the Legislature agreed to revive the petition, which had been 
 presented to the Court at their session in August preceding, 
 agreeably to the request of the petitioners. But their deferring 
 of the time set by the Council, at which Woburn was required 
 to respond to this revived petition, from January 11, 1727-8, 
 to so late a day as the second Thursday of the next session in 
 May, seems to have proved a fatal blow to the taking of any 
 further effective proceedings upon it. a 
 
 Discouraged and baffled by the failure of this, their second 
 application to the Court, and yet uneasy to remain in their 
 
 1T Attested copy on file. 
 
 The following is a copy of the action of the Court at their next 
 session upon the two petitions of Shawshin above cited. 
 
 "Friday, June 14. 1728. 
 
 " On the Petition of the North West Part of the Town of Wo- 
 burn, Enter'd August 24 [1727] and January 4. 1727 [1727-8]. 
 
 " In Council, Read again, together with the Petition herein 
 referred to, and the Answer of the Town of Woburn ; and the 
 same being duly considered, 
 
 " Ordered, that the Prayer of the Petition be so far granted, as 
 that Jonathan Dowse, Esq r . with such as shall be appointed by the 
 Hon' ble House of Representatives, be a Committee to view the 
 Town of Woburn, and consider the Situation & Circumstances of 
 the Inhabitants of the Northwesterly Part of the said Town, and 
 report at the next Fall session what they judge proper for the 
 Court to do, in answer to these Petitions. 
 
 " In the House of Representatives Read and Non-Concur'd ; and 
 Voted that the Petition be dismiss'd. 
 
 " In Council Read." " 
 
 b Court Records, Vol. XIV., pp. 83, 84. 

 
 252 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 present condition, the inhabitants of Shawshin now turned their 
 attention anew for relief to the town's vote of November 15, pre- 
 ceding. 15 And if the town would have sanctioned such a con- 
 struction of that vote as would in any measure have met their 
 feelings and views, and assured them of the like exemption from 
 taxation for the support of its own public worship that it had 
 demanded in that vote for itself in support of theirs, in case of a 
 separation between them, both they and their neighbors of 
 Goshen would now, it is very likely, have been glad to accept 
 the proposal of that vote, and have readily complied with the 
 condition annexed to it. To put the disposition of the town on 
 this head to the test, the people of Shawshin and Goshen handed 
 in to the Selectmen the following joint petition : 
 
 " Oborne July the 18 daye in the year 1728. 
 " To the Selectmen of Woborne : Wee the Inhabitants of the 
 Northwesterly and North Branches of said towne, commonly 
 called Shawshin and Goshen, desier you the Selectmen, in your 
 next Warrant to call a towne meeting, [to propose] that the 
 Towne explayne their vote concerning setting ofi' half of the towne- 
 ship to the said Branches ; and that in case these two Branches are 
 set off in order to support the Gospell among themselves, [to see 
 whether] the town will reimburse what charge they the said 
 Branches are att, in settling another Minister with the Reverend 
 Mr Fox, to them. 
 
 " JEAMS TOMPSON SIMON TOMPSOX 
 
 EBENEZER JOHNSON SAMUELL BUTTER 
 
 SAMUEL PEIRCE BENJAMIN HARNDEN 
 
 BENJAMIN JOHNSON JOHN JACQUETH 
 
 EDWARD JOHNSON JAMES SIMONDS 
 
 JAMES PROCTOR. SAMUELL JONES 
 
 KENDALL PEARSON." 18 
 
 But this petition never received any reply ; or, at least, any 
 that can be found on record. It is dated the same day that a 
 town meeting was held, to decide whether the inhabitants would 
 give a call to Mr. Edward Jackson to be their minister, as a 
 
 18 See original petition and signatures, in a bound volume of " Miscellaneous Records and 
 papers of Woburn," p. 106.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 253 
 
 colleague with Rev. Mr. Fox. This was then a favorite meas- 
 ure with the majority of the people of Woburn, and one which 
 they were very earnest to hasten to its consummation. For 
 reasons, therefore, which have been already intimated, and may 
 be easily conjectured, they did not care to hurry, in answering 
 the foregoing petition, or to give such an explanation of the 
 vote referred to in it as would satisfy the petitioners. 
 
 But there was still another, and a plausible reason for not 
 answering the above-quoted joint petition of Shawshin and 
 Goshen. A month before its date, viz, June 17, 1728, the peo- 
 ple of Goshen and of the adjoining part of Reading had pre- 
 ferred a petition to the General Court, setting forth the difficul- 
 ties they lay under, by reason of their remoteness from their 
 respective places of public worship j and praying they might be 
 erected into a " separate & distinct Precinct." This petition 
 had been read with favor in each branch of the Legislature ; and 
 the petitioners had been ordered to serve the towns of Woburn 
 and Reading with copies of their petition, that they might show 
 cause on the first Friday of the next Fall Session why the 
 prayer thereof should not be granted. 19 Of this petition of 
 Goshen, the inhabitants of Woburn had been doubtless notified, 
 agreeably to Order of Court, as they had long before been 
 aware of the two previous petitions of Shawshin to the Court 
 for the like purpose. It is not surprising, therefore, that these 
 petitions from both the remote quarters of the town to the 
 Court should be regarded as acts of opposition to the majority 
 of the inhabitants of Woburn ; and that the Town should not 
 be forward to gratify the petitioners by explaining their vote of 
 November 15, or giving them the assurance they expressed a 
 wish for, in their note to the Selectmen of July 18. 
 
 To defend the town, however, against the above petition of 
 Goshen, it was voted at a town meeting in Woburn, October 14, 
 1728, to choose a committee "to go to the Great and General 
 Court, to give the reasons why the prayer of the petition of 
 Goshen (so called) should not be granted." The committee 
 
 w Records of Court, Vol. XIV., p. 88.
 
 254 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 chosen for this end were Messrs. Jacob Wyman, Caleb Blogget, 
 and Jonathan Thompson. 20 Nothing, however, was done in Court 
 that year, or certainly nothing decisive, in regard to that petition : 
 and the people of Goshen were soon made to smart for pre- 
 suming to send it. Two months after they had presented it to 
 the Court, they preferred to the Selectmen, for the sake of 
 securing, for one winter more, the benefit of the allowance 
 which the town had made them the three years past, to procure 
 preaching within the winter, the following humble request : 
 
 "Woborne August the 19th. 1728. 
 
 " To the Seelectmen of Woborne : Wee the Inhabitants of 
 Goshen, as in time past, so now allso wee renew oure humble 
 Request to the Towne for a sum of money to support preaching the 
 next winter ; and Pray you the selectmen to signifie this our hum- 
 ble Request to the Towne in youre next Warrant. 
 
 " Presented by the subscribers hereto in behalf of the Rest. 
 
 " DANIEL PIERCE, . 
 JAM". TOMPSON, 
 KENDEL PARSON, 
 JOSEPH LEWES." 21 
 
 A like application seems to have been made at the same time 
 by the inhabitants of Shawshin. But they who hold the purse 
 strings of any public treasury, hold a rod in their hands, which 
 they find very convenient to chasten opposition with, and which 
 has often been administered for that purpose. At an adjourned 
 meeting of the town, November 11, 1728, it being put to vote 
 " whether the Town would grant a sum of money to Goshen and 
 Shawshin to pay for preaching among them in the Winter 
 season ? " it passed in the negative : ** and, though it was imme- 
 diately carried, to reconsider this vote at the next meeting, so 
 far as it related to Goshen, yet it does not appear to have been 
 ever actually reconsidered, or that any money was ever paid to 
 Goshen again out of the treasury of the town, for the above- 
 named purpose. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 351. 
 
 The original draft of this petition was to be seen, a few years ago, pasted between the 
 pages 91, 92, of Records, Vol. I., but it is now missing. 
 
 M Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 351.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 255 
 
 In this unhappy posture, the affairs of the petitioners remained 
 for a twelvemonth longer. During this period, while the town 
 taxed them their full proportion, not only of Rev. Mr. Fox's 
 salary, but of the settlement money and salary of his colleague, 
 Rev. Mr. Jackson, (who had been ordained August 1, 1729,) it 
 denied them even the small pittance, by which, in view of their 
 distance from the meeting-house, it had once aided them, in the 
 depth of winter, to provide for the public worship of God 
 among themselves. 
 
 But a prospect of permanent relief at length broke in upon 
 them. The following summer, another petition was preferred by 
 Shawshin to the General Court, subscribed by Ebenezer Johnson, 
 Benjamin Johnson, Edward Johnson, James Proctor and Simon 
 Thompson, on behalf of themselves and others, and praying to 
 be set off from Woburn, either as a town or a precinct. 23 This 
 petition, dated July 9, 1729, appears to have been presented to 
 the Court during an adjourned session at Cambridge in August 
 and September, and due order was taken for furnishing Woburn 
 with a copy of it, and for their giving answer to the Court 
 December 5, why the prayer of it should not be granted. 
 
 September 5, 1729, there was presented to the Court a "Peti- 
 tion of Samuel Eames, John Harnden, and sundry other inhabi- 
 tants of the towns of Woburn and Reading; setting forth their 
 difficulties, by reason of their remote situation from the places of 
 publick worship in their respective towns, and that they are 
 commodiously situated to make a distinct Precinct of the North- 
 easterly part of Woburn & the Westerly part of Reading ; And 
 therefore Praying that they may be set off from their respective 
 towns accordingly by certain lines particularly set forth and 
 described in the Petition." 
 
 " In Council : Read and dismiss'd." 24 
 
 But though the above petition, for reasons not assigned, was 
 rejected, yet it was soon followed by another from the same 
 people, praying to be made a Town, which found more favor ; as 
 appears by the following minutes of the Court : 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 10. Records of Court, Vol. XIV., pp. 393, 394. 
 ** Records of Court, Vol. XIV., pp. 293, 294.
 
 256 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 " At a General Court, begun & held at Salem Wednesday Maj r 
 28, 1729, and thence by sundry prorogations & adjournments to 
 Harvard College, Cambridge ; and thence continued by proroga- 
 tion to Boston Wednesday Nov. 19th. then met. 
 
 " Wednesday Nov. '26. 1729. 
 
 " A Petition of Daniel Pierce, Benjamin Harding [Harnden] 
 and Samuel Walker, a Committee appointed by sundry Inhabi- 
 tants of the North East part of Woburn and the Westerly part of 
 Reading ; Setting forth the difficulties they are under by reason of 
 their remoteness from the Places of publick Worship in their 
 respective Towns, And Praying to be sett off and constituted a 
 distinct Township, according to their former Petition to this 
 Court. 
 
 " In the House of Representatives Read & Ordered that the 
 Petitioners serve the Towns of Woburn & Reading with a Copy of 
 the Petition, that they shew cause on Fryday the sixth [fifth] of 
 December next, why the Prayer thereof should not be granted. 
 
 " In Council Read & Concur'd." 2S 
 
 At a General Town Meeting in Woburn, December 3, 1729, 
 two days before the day appointed by the Court for the parties 
 to give in their answers to the above petitions ; Messrs. Joseph 
 Wright and Jacob Wyman, were chosen a Committee to answer 
 on behalf of the town to the petition of the " Northeasterly part," 
 or Goshen; and Dea. George Reed, Capt. Robert Convers and 
 Mr. Caleb Blogget to answer to the petition of the " Northwes- 
 terly part," or Shawshin. 26 From the Town Accounts for 1729 27 
 it appears, that the hearing of the parties, December 5, before 
 the Court, occupied two days ; and the result was so far favora- 
 ble to the petitioners, as that the Court chose a Committee 
 from their own body to go upon the ground and judge for them- 
 selves concerning their ability to sustain municipal and parochial 
 institutions, and then to make report to the Court, at their next 
 session, what they considered right and proper to be done. 28 
 Notice was given to Woburn of the appointment of this Commit- 
 tee, and of the object of their coming ; . and at a meeting of the 
 
 M Records of Court, Vol. XIV., p. 323. * Records, Vol. VII., p. 39. 
 
 Records, Vol. VII., pp. 42, 43. Records of Court, Vol. XIV., pp. 330, 331.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 257 
 
 Selectmen, December 16, 172?, they appointed Messrs. Jacob 
 Wyman and Jacob Wright in behalf of the Selectmen to attend 
 the General Court's Committee, upon their view to Goshen & 
 Shawshin ; and Mr. Caleb Blogget to attend the Committee on 
 their view upon Shawshin." 26 The Court's Committee, consisting 
 of Hon. Jonathan Dowse and Hon. Spencer Phips, Esquires of 
 the Council and of Mr. John Hobson of Rowley, Maj. Daniel Epes 
 of Salem, and Mr. Joseph Hale of Boxford, of the House, appear 
 to have come to Woburn in the summer of 1730, and to have 
 spent several days here upon the business of their appointment ; 
 and their report to the Court, given in at the fall session, being 
 in favor of granting the prayer of the petitioners, Shawshin was 
 incorporated as the Precinct or Second Parish of Woburn, 
 September 16, 1730, 0. S.; and Goshen with the westerly 
 part of Reading, as a distinct town, by the name of Wilmington, 
 September 25, 1730, 0. S.; or September 27, and October 
 6, according to the present reckoning of time. The following 
 is the report of the Court's Committee respecting Shawshin : 
 
 " Province of the Massachusetts Bay : 
 
 " Sept. 16th. 1730. 
 
 " Jonathan Dowse Esq r ., from the Committee of both Houses, on 
 the petition of divers inhabitants of the Westerly and Northwest 
 parts of Woburn, praying for a new Precinct, gave in the follow- 
 ing Report : Viz. 
 
 " The Committee appointed on the petition of the inhabitants of 
 the Westerly and Northwesterly parts of Woburn, praying to be 
 erected into a Township or Precinct : in obedience to the within 
 order repaired to the land petitioned for, the Selectmen of said 
 town as well as the Petitioners being first seasonably notified of 
 the time of the Committee's going. And after having taken a full 
 and careful view of the land, and heard the parties on the subject 
 matter of the petition at large, and maturely and deliberately con- 
 sidered the same, and how far the town of Woburn may be hereby 
 affected ;' are humbly of opinion, that it will tend greatly to the 
 advancement of the public worship of God, that the lands within 
 mentioned be erected into a separate and distinct Precinct, by the 
 following Bounds ; (there being a sufficient number of inhabitants 
 therein to support and maintain the preaching of the Gospel there.) 
 22*
 
 258 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 Beginning at a great rock on John Lilley's land to the Northward 
 of his Barn, extending thence on a line to a Bridge, about ten rods 
 to the Southwesterly side of Timothy Snow's house, thence South- 
 westerly till it comes to Lexington line, two miles and an half to 
 the Eastward of Billerica Corner ; from thence Westerly to Biller- 
 ica Corner ; thence Northerly till it comes within one hundred 
 poles of Abraham Jaques' land ; thence to the Cold Spring Stone 
 Bridge, near the figure of Four Tree 4 ; and from thence Easterly to 
 the Rock first mentioned ; excluding the house and barn of the said 
 Timothy Snow, and [excepting?] whom, the Petitioners shall be 
 erected into a Precinct. The Committee cannot but be of opinion, 
 that the charge of supporting the Minister in the town or first 
 Parish in Woburn, will still be very easy on the Inhabitants of 
 that Parish. 
 
 " Which is submitted In the name and by order of the Com- 
 mittee 
 
 "July 1, 1730. "Jonathan Dowse." 
 
 " In Council Read and Ordered That this Report be accepted ; 
 and that the lands above bounded and described be erected into a 
 separate Precinct accordingly, and that the Inhabitants thereof be 
 vested with the powers and priviledges that the inhabitants of 
 other Precincts within this Province are or ought by law to be 
 vested with. 
 
 " In the House of Representatives, Read and concurred. 
 
 " Consented to : J. BELCHER." a 
 
 " Report of the Court's Committee on the Petition of Goshen, 
 
 etc., etc. 
 
 " Thursday Sept. 17. 1730. 
 
 " Jonathan Dowse Esq'r. from the Committee of both Houses on 
 the Petition of the Inhabitants of the North Easterly Part of 
 Woburn & the Westerly Part of Reading for a Township, gave in 
 the following, viz : 
 
 " The Committee appointed to repair to the North Easterly Part 
 of Woburn & Westerly Part of Reading, to hear all Parties within 
 named, and view the land within described & petitioned for, to be 
 a Township : Having first seasonably notified the Selectmen of 
 Woburn & Reading, as also the Petitioners, of their going, have 
 repaired to said Land, and taken a careful View of the same, and 
 
 29 Records of Court, Vol. XIV., pp. 393, 394.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 259 
 
 fully beard all the Parties therein concerned for & against the 
 Prayer of the Petition ; And after mature consideration thereon in 
 all its circumstances, are humbly of opinion, It is highly reasona- 
 ble that the Prayer of the Petition be granted, and that the Lands 
 within mentioned & describ'd, be erected into a separate & distinct 
 Township, by those Metes & Bounds accordingly, with the following 
 additional Bounds : The Line to extend from one hundred Rods to 
 the Southerly side of Jaques's Farm to the Stone Bridge called the 
 Cold Spring Bridge, near the Tree called the figure of Four Tree 
 4 ; thence on a Line to the Southerly Corner of John Townsend's 
 land, lately & now in the possession of Timothy Townsend, about 
 sixty rods Easterly from Woburn "West Line : Which is submitted. 
 " In the Name & by the Order of the Committee : 
 
 "JONATHAN DOWSE. 
 
 " In Council Read : and Ordered that this Report be Accepted, 
 and that Order [be taken] thereon [that] the Petitioners bring in a 
 Bill accordingly. 
 
 " In the House of Rep. Read & Concur'd." * 
 
 Thus was accomplished a separation, very important in its 
 consequences to the town of Woburn, after it had been in agita- 
 tion five years. By it, of three hundred and twelve persons 
 who had been taxed to pay Rev. Mr. Jackson's salary in August 
 1730, while the town yet remained undivided, forty-three had 
 been set off, in 1731, to Wilmington, and eighty-two were 
 included within the bounds of the Precinct or Second Parish ; 
 making in all, two-fifths of the whole number of persons who 
 had belonged to the First Parish in Woburn in 1730, and been 
 then taxed in it, but who now paid their minister tax elsewhere : 
 inflicting a blow on the First Parish in Woburn, from which it 
 did not recover for many years, as we shall see hereafter. 
 
 While steps were taking for the legal accomplishment of this 
 separation, the majority of the town were busily engaged, and 
 finally succeeded in promoting the settlement of a colleague with 
 the senior pastor, Rev. Mr. John Fox. This had become a strictly 
 necessary measure, although the urgency of its friends to complete 
 it, before the then contemplated separation of a very numerous 
 
 *> Court Records, Vol. XIV., p. 395.
 
 260 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 and respectable portion of their fellow citizens from the town 
 or First Parish could be carried into effect, could not but give 
 rise to suspicions that were injurious to their reputation. For a 
 number of years, Mr. Fox had been in a feeble state of health, 
 and often unable to perform his ministerial duties. As far back 
 as 1722, there are four charges in the Town Accounts, for that 
 year, for the hire of preachers, " when Mr Fox was sick." 31 
 At a meeting of the Selectmen, December 13, 1725, after agreeing 
 with Mr. Samuel Jennison (subsequently minister of Shrews- 
 bury) to keep the grammar school in Woburn, three months, 
 from December 15, they add in the Records, "And we do 
 expect that the said Samuell Jennison should assist to preach for 
 y e Rev. Mr Fox, as often as occasion should serve, he being often 
 indisposed and uncapable to preach." 32 And, accordingly, the 
 Town Accounts for 1725 do show that Mr. Jennison preached 
 for Mr. Fox, while keeping school, ten Sabbaths and one-half 
 day, at the town's expense; 33 and in 1726, the same Mr. Jenni- 
 son preached two Sabbaths more ; and Mr. Habijah Weld, six- 
 teen Sabbaths, at the expense of the town. 34 And at subsequent 
 periods, the charges are not uncommon for the supply of the 
 pulpit by the town, in consequence of Mr. Fox's illness, and 
 the prospect seemed to be, that unless stated, settled help were 
 soon provided for him, he would become ere long, altogether 
 unable to carry on the work of the ministry. 
 
 Accordingly, at a general meeting, April 4, 1728, the town 
 voted, first, " that it was high time to be in a way to settle 
 another minister among us ; " and 2dly, " that the town would 
 hear three or four ministers preach severall Sabbath days, in 
 order to settle one to help Mr. Fox." 35 The only prominent 
 candidate for this office, whom they appear to have employed, 
 was Mr. Edward Jackson of Newton, a graduate of Harvard 
 College in 1719. In him, the people became speedily so far 
 united, that at a town meeting, July 18, 1728, the church having 
 previously informed the inhabitants of their choice of him for 
 
 si Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 157. 8S Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 146. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 262. Town Records, Vol. VI., pp. 232, 294. 
 
 M Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 347.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 261 
 
 their minister, in order to his further settlement with them in 
 convenient time," the town immediately chose him, " by 145 
 votes, for a Minister for the town of Woburn." x They also 
 appointed a committee of ten to inform Mr. Jackson of the 
 choice of him by the church and town for their minister, viz : 
 the four deacons, Samuel Walker, William Lock, George Reed, 
 and James Thompson; also, Messrs. Joseph Wright, Samuel 
 Richardson, John Fowle, Jonathan Poole, Jacob Wyman and 
 Capt. Stephen Richardson ; and having directed this committee 
 to see to the supply of the pulpit in the mean while, they 
 adjourned the meeting to the first Tuesday in September next 
 ensuing. 
 
 At this adjourned meeting, September 3, 1728, it was voted 
 to grant "to Mr. Edward Jackson two hundred and fifty pounds 
 settlement, if he settle in the work of the Ministry in Woburn ; " 
 and also " one hundred and twenty pounds salary per year in 
 Bills of Credit, as the money now is, so long as he carrys on 
 the work of the ministry in Woburn." 37 After re-appointing 
 the former committee, and requesting some of them to go to 
 Mr. Jackson, and persuade him to come to Woburn and preach 
 the next Sabbath day, they adjourned the meeting to September 
 23, and then again to October 14, 1728. 
 
 In the mean while, Rev. Mr. Fox had begun to manifest 
 uneasiness at the proceedings going on. What the cause of his 
 uneasiness was, we are not told. But when it is considered, 
 that, according to well substantiated tradition, these two minis- 
 ters showed afterwards a rooted antipathy to each other, it 
 seems no improbable supposition, that Mr. Fox had already 
 imbibed a personal prejudice against Mr. Jackson, and that he 
 felt averse to receive him as his colleague. To obviate the 
 difficulty, whatever occasioned it, the town, at their adjourned 
 meeting, October 14, 1728, chose a committee of nine, "to 
 goe to the Rev. Mr Fox to see if they can make things easy 
 with him ; and if there be need, they shall goe to some of the 
 neighbouring ministers." The committee chosen for this pur- 
 
 *> Town Record*, Vol. VI., p. 849. ' Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 350.
 
 262 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 pose were Ensign Samuel Blogget, Messrs. Jonathan Thompson, 
 Josiah Johnson, John Tidd, Senr., Deacons Lock, Thompson, 
 Walker, and Reed, and Lieut. Peirson Richardson, who were 
 also to go and treat with Mr. Jackson " to supply the pulpit 
 for the present " : and to the above numerous committee, they 
 voted at an adjournment of this meeting, November 11, 1728, to 
 add four men more, viz, Mr. Jacob Wyman, Jonathan Poole, 
 Esq., and Messrs. John Peirce and Joseph Wright. 38 
 
 This large, overwhelming committee of thirteen (with help 
 from neighboring ministers, if needed) appears either to have 
 persuaded Rev. Mr. Fox freely to give his consent to Mr. Jack- 
 son's settlement with him as a colleague, or (which is more prob- 
 able) to have extorted from him a reluctant, unwilling assent 
 to it. And Mr. Jackson seems to have given an affirmative 
 answer to the call he had received from the church and town to 
 the pastoral and ministerial office, in the course of that winter. 
 For, at the annual town meeting, March 3, 1728-9, it was voted 
 that the former committee, chosen October 14, and November 
 11, 1728, "should be a committee still, in power to proceed 
 with the Church in bringing forward the ordination of Mr. 
 Edward Jackson ; and to proceed in calling such help of Elders 
 and Churches, as should be necessary in that case : and that 
 they be a committee to proceed to supply the pulpit, untill the 
 matter be accomplished, or further order of the Town be given 
 them." 
 
 And, further, it was voted, that " the Town would by a free 
 Contribution pay for preaching for the present, to Mr. Edward 
 Jackson, if he supply the pulpit, till the Town see cause to 
 come into some other method." 39 
 
 Agreeably to the vote at March meeting, 1729, due prepara- 
 tions for the solemnity having been made by the committee, 
 Rev. Mr. Edward Jackson was ordained as colleague pastor 
 with Rev. Mr. John Fox over the church of Woburn, August 1, 
 1729. 40 What churches were sent to on the occasion, and what 
 the exercises were of the solemnity, and by whom conducted, 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VI., pp. 350, 351. Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 370. 
 
 *> Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 11.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 263 
 
 no known memorial has been preserved. The Town Records 
 however have transmitted some account of the splendid and 
 costly entertainment made by the town at the ordination, in a 
 bill of Jonathan Poole, Esq., who was employed to provide it. 
 The following is a copy : 
 
 " To Mr Jonathan Poole Esq r for subsisting the Ministers 
 and Messengers and Gentlemen in the time of Mr. Jackson's 
 Ordination : 
 
 " To 433 Dinners a 2" : 6 d a Dinner . 54 : 2 : 6 d 
 " To Suppers & Breakfasts, 178:. . 08:18:0 
 
 To keeping 32 horses 4 days : . . 3:0:0 
 
 To Six Barrils & % of Cyder . . 4:11:0 
 
 " To 25 Gallons of wine . . 9:10:0 
 
 To 2 Gallons of Brandy & 4 Gallons Rhum 1:16:0 
 '.< To Loaf Suger, Lime Juice & Pipes . 1:12:0 
 
 N "83: 9:6." 41 
 
 Here is a bill, amounting to more than two-thirds of a year's 
 salary pledged to Mr. Jackson, for articles consumed at his 
 ordination entertainment. Our fathers were, generally speak- 
 ing, very prudent men in their use of money ; and more apt to 
 be parsimonious than profuse in their expenses for public pur- 
 poses. But here is an instance, that, in a comparative view, 
 seems to be well entitled to the charge of extravagance. And 
 such was the general character of ordination expenses during 
 the last century. How came it to be so ? Ordinations in the 
 times of the Apostles, were solemnized with prayer and fast- 
 ing. 42 Such, too, was the custom in the Church of England, from 
 which, for greater purity's sake, our ancestors separated. In 
 that Church, all ordinations are appointed to be held, exclu- 
 sively, upon the Sundays immediately following the Ember 
 
 41 Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 42. Esquire Poole's bill against the town 
 for expenses at Mr. Jackson's ordination was not the only one. Another 
 follows: " To Mr Noah Richardson for keeping the Ministers' & Messen- 
 gers' horses, in the time of Mr Jackson's ordination . . . 2.0.0." Town 
 Records, Vol. VII., p. 43. 
 
 Acts xvi. 3.
 
 264 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 weeks, (as certain stated quarterly solemnities were called,) that 
 were set apart for this purpose among others, to implore, with 
 fasting and prayer, the divine blessing upon the candidates, then 
 to be brought to the bishop to be ordained. 43 Such, also, was the 
 custom of the Presbyterians, who rose upon the ruins of Episco- 
 pacy in the time of the Westminster Assembly. Through their 
 influence, an ordinance was made by Parliament, directing that 
 all ordinations should be performed with prayer and fasting. 44 
 And such, too, was the custom of our Puritan ancestors them- 
 selves, at their first settlement in this country. Their earliest 
 ordinations were wont to be celebrated on days of solemn 
 fasting and prayer. 45 Whence then the change ? This can be 
 accounted for, it seems, only in this way. The earliest ordina- 
 tions here were performed by the churches themselves, over 
 which candidates were to be ordained, without the aid of the 
 elders of other churches. But when it became common for 
 churches, over which pastors were to be ordained, to ask sister 
 churches abroad to aid by their elders and messengers in the 
 solemnity, then it became necessary to provide for their hospi- 
 table entertainment. And entertainments on such occasions, at 
 first probably plain and simple, and by no means to be censured, 
 came at length to be sumptuous : and hence ordinations, from 
 being solemn religious services, degenerated in too many in- 
 stances, into occasions of excessive feasting and noisy dissipa- 
 tion. An aged minister in this county once said in my hearing, 
 that at his ordination, about half a century previous, such was 
 the noise and confusion on the common before the meeting-house, 
 that the exercises within it could scarcely be heard. And ordi- 
 nations and commencements, where it might be reasonably 
 expected that good order and decorum would prevail, became 
 too often scenes of noisy mirth and excess. 
 
 48 Wheatly on the Book of Common Prayer, Appendix to Chapter IV., Section 2; and 
 Chapter V., Section 2. 
 
 Neal's History of the Puritans, Vol. III., Chap, vi., pp. 281, 282. 
 Winthrop's History, by Savage, Vol. I., pp. 36, 114, 135, 259.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Variance between Rev. Messrs. Fox and Jackson. Lawsuits of Rev. Mr. 
 Fox, and of Rev. Mr. Jackson, against the Town, 1732, 1740. Sale of 
 the 2,000 Acres in 1734. Management of the Committee of Trust till 
 1772. 
 
 THE preceding chapter of this history of Woburn gives an 
 account of the settlement of Rev. Edward Jackson, as colleague 
 pastor with Rev. John Fox, in 1729 ; and of the incorporation 
 of the northerly quarter of the town, or Goshen, as a distinct 
 town, by the name of Wilmington, and of its northwesterly 
 quarter, or Shawshin, as its Second Precinct, in 1730. These 
 measures had been rendered in a degree necessary, by the fail- 
 ure of Mr. Fox's health, and by the remoteness of the districts 
 just named from the place of public worship. Still, their 
 immediate consequences to Woburn were embarrassing or 
 disastrous, and gave an apparent check to its previous pros- 
 perity, from which it did not fully recover for many years. 
 
 The separation of Wilmington from Woburn gave rise at 
 once to numerous perplexing questions, respecting taxes for the 
 ministry, paupers, and the undivided lands of Woburn that lay 
 within the bounds of Wilmington. In one or two instances, these 
 questions were settled by mutual agreement. But most of them 
 were put to rest only by the decision of the judicial tribunals of 
 the County, or by the positive refusal of Woburn to act upon the 
 petitions of Wilmington in relation to them. For example, at 
 the first town meeting held in Wilmington, October 20, 1730, a 
 committee of three was appointed to attempt the recovery from 
 Woburn of their proportion of Rev. Mr. Jackson's settlement 
 money and first year's salary. 1 This had been assessed upon 
 those inhabitants of Wilmington who belonged originally to 
 Woburn, within a month after Mr. Jackson's ordination, and but 
 
 1 Wilmington Town Records, Vol. I., p. 2. 
 23
 
 266 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 little more than a year before their incorporation into a separate 
 town. But as the money was assessed and demanded of them 
 after they had petitioned to be erected into a distinct township, 
 and while the General Court actually had their petition under 
 consideration, they thought themselves fairly entitled to a reim- 
 bursement of what had been exacted of them under such circum- 
 stances. Accordingly, a petition to this end from Wilmington 
 was exhibited at town meeting in Woburn, March 1, 1730-1, 
 with a request that an article, correspondent to it, might be 
 inserted in the warrant for their meeting in May. But this 
 unwelcome petition was at once summarily disposed of. No 
 sooner was it read, than the inhabitants of Woburn refused by 
 vote to notice it in the warrant referred to ; and the subject does 
 not appear to have been ever brought before them by Wil- 
 mington again. 2 
 
 In the mean while, the inhabitants of the precinct could not 
 rest content with their newly acquired parish privileges, but 
 aspired at those of a town, like those of their neighbors at Wil- 
 mington. At a precinct meeting, January 24, 17334 (which 
 was less than four years after their legal separation from the 
 First Parish), they chose a committee to apply to the Selectmen 
 for a town meeting, to see if Woburn would consent to their 
 being set off as a town by themselves, with their proportionate 
 share in its lands, revenues, etc. 3 And so zealous were they 
 for this measure, that within a little more than seven years from 
 this time, two other committees were successively chosen by them 
 with this end in view. 3 Whether the town was harassed 
 with applications from each of these three committees does not 
 appear from the Records. The petition presented by the one 
 first elected, and laid before the town at a meeting February 
 19, 17334, received so much attention, that a committee of 
 five was then chosen to confer with the Precinct Committee, 
 and agree upon proposals to be acted upon at an adjourned 
 meeting. But when the town came together at the adjournment, 
 they negatived the precinct's request. 4 And though the scheme 
 
 Wilmington Records, Vol. I., p. 2. Woburn Records, Vol. VTL, p. 86. 
 
 Precinct Records, Vol. I., pp. 49, 99, 119. * Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 165.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 267 
 
 of being erected into a separate township was afterwards 
 repeatedly revived in the precinct, yet it was without success 
 till about the close of the last century. 
 
 All these and other like questions and petitions, arising out 
 of the measures alluded to in the beginning of this chapter, 
 were in themselves sufficiently annoying ; and whether founded 
 in reason a^id equity or not, yet being urged with zeal, and some 
 of them with a persevering importunity, they must needs have 
 been to the town a source of much perplexity and vexation. 
 
 But there were ill consequences to Woburn, growing out of 
 Mr. Jackson's ordination, and the incorporation of Wilmington 
 and the Second Parish, which were far more serious than those 
 just mentioned. 
 
 One was, the well known unhappy dissension between the 
 ministers of the First Parish, Rev. Messrs. Fox and Jackson, 
 and the consequent division of their people into parties. On 
 what precisely this dissension was founded, has not been trans- 
 mitted for our information. Not improbably, Mr. Fox conceived 
 early a personal dislike to Mr. Jackson, or took offence at 
 something advanced in his preaching; and this was afterwards, 
 perhaps, increased by viewing him as the occasion of diverting 
 his people's affections and kind attentions from himself, and 
 possibly, too, by Mr. Jackson's neglecting to show him all the 
 respect and deference to which he thought himself entitled as 
 the senior pastor. 
 
 But however the difference between them originated, it cer- 
 tainly commenced with Mr. Jackson's ministry at Woburn : 5 
 and, instead of diminishing as time progressed, and acquaintance 
 with one another increased, it grew into a settled, thorough 
 aversion ; so that, as tradition says, they would not speak to 
 each other in the pulpit. And this mutual alienation of these 
 two professed servants of the Prince of peace, had a most 
 baleful effect upon his cause in this place. Particularly, it 
 became an occasion of division and bitter animosity among 
 the people of their charge. Every man in the parish had his 
 
 6 First Parish Records, Vol. I., p. 238. Petition.
 
 268 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 preference for one minister or the other. And these partialities 
 set the friends of each in hostile array against the friends of the 
 other, and long made the town a scene of frequent strife and 
 contention. An aged and very intelligent citizen of Woburn, 
 now deceased, 6 once observed to me, that his parents used to tell 
 him in his youth, that these parties far exceeded those which 
 arose more recently in Rev. Mr. Sargeant's day, in tjeir bitter- 
 ness towards one another ; so that when two opponents met in 
 the street, both would often be ready to fight, before one would 
 give the other the wall. With such feelings towards one another 
 in the week time, it is not surprising, that they could not always 
 worship comfortably together on the Sabbath; nor that the 
 lamentable alienation of these two ministers, and its consequen- 
 ces upon their people, should furnish, as it eventually did, a 
 successful plea for a further division of the First Parish into 
 the First and Third. 
 
 Another most serious evil to Woburn, resulting from Mr. 
 Jackson's ordination, and from the separation of Wilmington, 
 and of the Second Parish from the First, was the increased 
 difficulty of sustaining the ministry in the First Parish, and the 
 consequent repeated and unsuccessful lawsuits with Mr. Fox. 
 From 1716 to 1728, when the town was rapidly advancing, 
 both in numbers and wealth, and Mr. Fox was its only minister, 
 the burden of his salary was comparatively light j and, repeat- 
 edly during that period, the town, of its own accord, voted a 
 handsome and continually increasing addition to his stated 
 compensation, corresponding to the increasing depreciation of 
 the currency in which it was paid. But as soon as the infirm 
 health of Mr. Fox had made it evident that a new minister must 
 be settled, and the prospect opened of the success of Goshen and 
 Shawshin in their attempts at separation, the accustomed gene- 
 rosity of this people towards their aged minister ceased, and 
 was soon followed by a seeming reluctance even to do him 
 justice. For each of the years, 1729 and 1730, they granted him 
 only 80, his nominal salary, paid in depreciated bills of credit ; 
 
 Mr. Bartholomew Richardson.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 269 
 
 and in 1731 and 1732, when the incorporation of Wilmington 
 and the Second Parish had left them with two ministers to main- 
 tain, and diminished means for doing it, they wholly neglected 
 to raise any sum whatever for his support. 
 
 This ungenerous (not to say unjust) treatment of their senior 
 pastor, was not, however, without plausible pretexts to palliate 
 or excuse it, and perhaps, in the eye of some, to justify it. In 
 1704, when the town covenanted to give Mr. Fox an annual 
 salary of ,40 in money, and 40 in corn and other provisions 
 at market price, paper money (then but recently introduced into 
 the country) had fallen but little below its nominal value ; and 
 hence no clause was inserted in their contract with him, as 
 there was afterwards in that with Mr. Jackson, providing against 
 depreciation in the currency, and engaging to make his salary 
 always as good as it was when first granted. Moreover, in 
 regard to the continuance of that contract, it was expressly 
 stipulated in it, that it was " to remaine so long as the said Mr 
 John Fox shall continue and carry on the whole work of the 
 Ministry in Woobourne : " 7 and, therefore, when blindness and 
 sickness rendered him unable, for the time, to labor in his voca- 
 tion, and Mr. Jackson was ordained as a colleague pastor to 
 assist him, or supply his place, this contract became in law, 
 strictly speaking, null and void. Hence, when the town voted 
 him, in 1729 and 1730, ,80 per annum in bills of credit, which 
 had then sunk more than one-half below their nominal value, 8 
 the people still did as much as the letter of their contract 
 required ; and when they failed the two following years to grant 
 him any salary whatever, they might still plead in their defence, 
 with some color of reason, that they had broken no engagement : 
 that their original contract with Mr. Fox had expired, and there 
 was no other to fulfil. 
 
 This difficulty, arising from the failure of his contract, Mr. 
 Fox seems to have anticipated with uneasiness, and to have 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. IV., p. 270. 
 
 8 Felt on Massachusetts Currency, pp. 83, 135. "In 1710, Bills were worth at the rate of 
 8/ for an ounce of silver." "In 1730, Bills were in proportion of 21/, 20/, and 19/ for 
 one ounce of silver."
 
 270 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 objected, in view of it, to the ordination of Mr. Jackson as his 
 colleague, unless the town would come into some new engage- 
 ment with himself respecting his future support. For, at a town 
 meeting, October 14, 1728, shortly" after the inhabitants had 
 given to Mr. Jackson a call to the ministry, and while they were 
 treating with him about his settlement, they chose a large and 
 highly respectable committee of nine, which was subsequently 
 enlarged to thirteen, to goe to the Rev*- Mr Fox to see if they 
 can make things easy with him j and if there be need, they shall 
 goe to some of the neighbouring ministers." 9 What the uneasi- 
 ness of Mr. Fox was, which this committee was to attempt allay- 
 ing, is no where explained in the Records. Possibly, it arose 
 from the disaffection he had felt, from the beginning, towards 
 Mr. Jackson, and the dreary prospect of being connected in the 
 ministry for life with one whom he could not cordially approve. 
 It is more likely, however, that his uneasiness was occasioned by 
 anxiety respecting his support after Mr. Jackson should be set- 
 tled, and his own contract should cease. But if this were so, 
 this committee had no authority from the town to enter into 
 any new engagement on their behalf with Mr. Fox respecting 
 his compensation. All they were expected to do was, by fair 
 words, to persuade him to waive his objections to Mr. Jackson's 
 ordination for the present : and when that solemnity was over, 
 the town would be left at liberty to act on this subject as it 
 
 But though the town's contract with Mr. Fox at settlement 
 was now expired, and could avail him nothing to compel his 
 people to pay him annually the salary stipulated therein, yet 
 they were not released hereby in equity from all obligations to 
 him. He was still their ordained, settled minister. No dismis- 
 sion from office had ever been asked on his part, or granted on 
 theirs. No charge of immorality, no complaint of incompetency 
 or unfaithfulness in the discharge of his ministerial duties had 
 been alleged against him. He had labored for their good nearly 
 thirty of the best years of his life, without complaint on their 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VI., pp. 350, 351.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBTJRN. 271 
 
 part, and apparently to their general acceptance : and now that 
 the hand of God was upon him, afflicting him with weakness of 
 body, and blindness of eyes, this surely was no valid reason for 
 casting him off in his declining days, and turning him adrift on 
 the world, to get his living as he could. Under the circum- 
 stances of his case, both the law of equity held them bound to 
 make some competent provision for his support, and the then 
 law of the land obliged them to do it. 
 
 Of these, his^ claims both in law and equity upon his people, 
 Mr. Fox was well aware. And, therefore, having repeatedly 
 remonstrated with them for their neglect, and waited patiently 
 for the desired result without success, he was at length com- 
 pelled, by his necessities, to commence a legal prosecution. In 
 the spring of 1 732, he entered a formal complaint with the Court 
 of Sessions for this County, praying for their interference on 
 his behalf. This received a hearing at Cambridge in July: 
 and hereupon an Order of Court was duly issued for serving 
 the Town Clerk of Woburn with a copy of Mr. Fox's complaint 
 or petition, and for citing the town to appear and answer to it 
 at their next session. At a town meeting in Woburn, November 
 2, 1732, called, apparently, on purpose to consider what should 
 be done in the case, a motion was made by some for the choice 
 of a committee to settle the difficulty with Mr. Fox, before any 
 further proceedings of the Court were had : but the majority 
 were for standing a trial. And, accordingly, Messrs. Josiah 
 Johnson, Samuel Richardson and Jacob Wyman were chosen a 
 committee on behalf of the town, "to answer the Revd Mr 
 Fox's Complaint, [then] depending in Court, and to appeal, if 
 they saw cause, from Court to Court," unto a final issue. 10 Both 
 parties had a hearing before the Court of Sessions at Charles- 
 town in December ; and the case was decided in favor of Mr. 
 Fox. The subjoined extract from the records of that Court, to 
 which are added the names of the places where the Judges 
 belonged) exhibits a concise view of Mr. Fox's complaint, of 
 Woburn's defence by its committee, and of the judgment of the 
 Court, with the grounds upon which it was based. 
 
 *> Town Records, Vol. VH., p. 123.
 
 272 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 " Middlesex ss. At his Majesty's Court of General Sessions of 
 the Peace, begun & held for & within the County of Middlesex 
 at Charlestown on the Second Tuesday in December, being the 
 twelfth day of said Month Anno Domini One thousand seven hun- 
 dred and thirty two, In the sixth year of His Majesty's Reign, 
 By His Majesty's Justices of said Court : 
 
 " JONATHAN REMINGTON [Cambridge] 
 
 JONATHAN DOWSE } rnhri*rfml Es( l"- 
 
 CHARLES CHAMBERS 
 
 u o _i 
 
 I [Charlestown] 
 
 FRANCIS FULLAM [Weston] 
 
 JOSEPH BUCKMINSTER [Framinghain] 
 
 Justices of Said 
 Court." 
 
 THOMAS GREAVES [Charlestown] 
 FRANCIS BOWMAN [Cambridge] 
 ELEAZAR TYNG [Dunstable] 
 
 " Upon reading the Petition "and Complaint of the Rev. Mr 
 John Fox of Woburn in the County of Middlesex, Clerk, Showing 
 that whereas the Petitioner has been settled in the work of the 
 Ministry in said Town for more than twenty eight years past, 
 Which work and duty your Petitioner chearfully discharged in 
 said Town for many Years, but God having in his Providence so 
 ordered it that for more than four Years past the Petitioner has 
 been labouring under great bodily pains and weakness, insomuch 
 that he hath thereby been almost wholly taken off the duties of his 
 function : And whereas there has been a neglect of the Inhabitants 
 of said Town in makeing sufficient provision for the support of the 
 Petitioner for some years past, Viz*. Seventeen hundred twenty 
 nine & Seventeen hundred thirty, At or before which time the Con- 
 tract between the Petitioner & said Town was expired. Allowing 
 him but Eighty Pounds per Annum in Province Bills, as may be 
 made to appear by Town Records : And whereas there has been a 
 total neglect of makeiug any Provision at all for the support and 
 maintenance of the Petitioner fo~ almost this year and half last 
 past, Viz*, from the year Seventeen hundred thirty, Notwithstand- 
 ing his repeated Applications for relief; the Petitioner with the 
 greatest Concern and Sorrow is obliged from the most pressing 
 Necessities as a Gospel Minister now to address the Court that they 
 would consider his condition so far as to order him a Competent 
 Allowance for his relief and maintenance as the Law has made pro- 
 vision for remedy & redress where such neglects have been, As by 
 the Petition or Complaint on file : Which Petition was preferred at
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUEN. 273 
 
 the Court of the General Sessions of the Peace holden by Adjourn- 
 ment at Cambridge on the first Tuesday of July last, When it was 
 ordered that the Selectmen of Woburn be served with a Copy of 
 the Petition by the Petitioner that they appear at the then next 
 Court to shew Cause (if any they have) why the Prayer of the 
 Petition should not be granted, When the Consideration of the Peti- 
 tion was continued to this Term : 
 
 " The Parties by their Attorneys now appearing, and after a full 
 hearing of the Pleas and Allegations of the Petitioner together 
 with the Answer of the Committee of the Town of Woburn, who 
 Insist upon an Agreement made by the said Town with the Peti- 
 tioner some time after his settlement amongst them, it appearing 
 by the Confession of the said Committee that no Allowance has 
 been made for the Support of the Petitioner since the fourth day of 
 March seventeen hundred thirty thirty one, And that the Petitioner 
 is & continues to be a Settled Minister in said Town, and was 
 never as yet discharged therefrom, And that by the Providence of 
 God, and for no other reason the Petitioner is disabled from dis- 
 chargeing his Office as a Minister of the Gospel amongst them, 
 And no Contract appearing (now in force) whereby any Support or 
 Maintenance is provided for the Petitioner during such his Inability 
 as aforesaid, or that can Enervate the force of the Law of this 
 Province, enabling the Court of General Sessions of the Peace 
 effectually to provide for the Support of Ministers not otherwise 
 provided for : It's therefore Considered by the Court that the Sum 
 of Eighty Pounds in Money or good Bills of Credit on this Prov- 
 ince for the Year Seventeen hundred thirty one, As also the Sum 
 of Eighty pounds in like money for the Year Current, Viz*. Seven- 
 teen hundred thirty two be allowed to the Petitioner for his Support 
 and Maintenance. And Ordered that a Warrant from this Court 
 Issue out to the Selectmen of said Town requireing them forthwith 
 to Assess the Several Sums before mentioned on the Inhabitants 
 of said Town in manner & proportion as the Law in that 
 Case provided doth direct, And Cause the same to be Levyed 
 by the Constables of said Town by a warrant under the hands 
 of the said Selectmen or of the Town Clerk by their Order, 
 And that they pay the same unto the Petitioner on or before 
 the first day of May next. Also that the Petitioner shall 
 Recover and have of the said Town of Woburn his Costs of prose- 
 cution taxed at two pounds sixteen shillings & six pence." n 
 
 " Records of Court of Sessions for Middlesex, Vol. from 1728 to 1736, p. 291.
 
 274 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 From this judgment of the Court of Sessions, the Committee 
 for Woburn saw fit to appeal to the Superior Court of the 
 Province. But their appeal was to no purpose. At the next 
 session of the Superior Court, holden at Charlestown, January 
 30, 1732-3, both parties appearing, and being fully heard, the 
 Court decided as follows : " It's Considered & Ordered by the 
 Court, that the former Order or Judgment of the Court of 
 General Sessions of the Peace be and hereby is confirmed with 
 additional Costs of this Court." 12 Accordingly, the next month, 
 164 15s. Qd., the whole amount recovered by Mr. Fox in this 
 suit, including costs, was assessed upon all the inhabitants of 
 Woburn in both Parishes, and then paid over to Mr. Fox, 
 agreeably to Order of Court of Sessions. 13 
 
 But now arose a new difficulty in relation to this subject. 
 The inhabitants of the precinct felt aggrieved by the decision of 
 the Court of Sessions, ordering them virtually (being inhabi- 
 tants of Woburn) to be taxed for the years 1731, 1732, for the 
 support of a minister of the First Parish, from which they had 
 been set off upwards of two years. 14 And when they found 
 that decision was confirmed by the Superior Court, and was 
 actually being carried into execution, they resolved to apply to 
 the Legislature for redress of this conceived violation of their 
 corporate privileges. At a precinct meeting, March 7, 1732-3, 
 it was voted, " that Lieut. Edward Johnson, and Ensign James 
 Proctor be a Committee to address the Great and General 
 Court in the name and behalf of the Inhabitants of said 
 Precinct, that they may be dismissed from paying any part of 
 the eight score pounds of money that the Court of General 
 Sessions of the Peace ordered the town of Woburn to pay to 
 the Reverend Mr Fox, one of the Ministers of the first parish in 
 said Woburn." 15 This committee preferred a petition to the 
 Legislature in June, 1733, which was read a second time, 
 "together with the Answer of the first Parish in Woburn," 
 August 16, of the same year. And both parties being heard 
 
 Records of Sup. Court for Middlesex, kept at Boston, 17301734, leaf 230, p. 2. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 136-139. 
 
 i* Precinct Records, Vol. I., p. 36. Precinct Records, Vol. I., p. 39.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 275 
 
 thereon, the Court decided that the prayer of the petition should 
 not be granted. The Court ordered, however, at the same 
 time, that the Second Parish in Woburn should be " exempted 
 from any charge in the maintenance of the Rev. Mr John Fox 
 from the end of the year 1 732 " ; throwing hereby, for the 
 future, the whole burden of Mr. Fox's support, as well as of Mr. 
 Jackson's, on the First Parish. In consequence of this order of 
 the Legislature, the union which had subsisted hitherto from the 
 beginning, in the ordering of the parochial and of the municipal 
 affairs of Woburn, was now dissolved. All questions concern- 
 ing the settlement and salaries of ministers, which, till this time, 
 had been considered and determined in meetings of the town, 
 were henceforth to be decided, as at the present day, in meet- 
 ings of the several parishes or societies; and their votes 
 respecting them to be registered, together with all ministerial 
 taxes, in their own proper records. 
 
 The claims of Mr. Fox upon his people for a competent sup- 
 port had now been established both by the Legislative and by 
 the Judicial authorities of the Province. Still, a majority of the 
 First Parish of Woburn persisted to overlook or contest them. 
 Nothing was raised in Parish meeting for his maintenance dur- 
 ing four years, from March 1732. And the consequence was, 
 two more complaints to the Court of Sessions by Mr. Fox, in 
 1734 and 1736 ; 16 and two more judgments by that Court in his 
 favor j the former of which judgments was likewise confirmed, 
 upon appeal, by the Superior Court. 17 
 
 Thus, within the space of four years, the principal Religious 
 Society in Woburn had three lawsuits with their senior pastor 
 respecting his salary. But notwithstanding the great expense 
 of these altercations, and the irritation and bitterness usually 
 attendant upon such contests, the prevailing party in the parish 
 was not yet quite satisfied. No money was raised for Mr. Fox at 
 the annual meeting in March 1737 ; and hence another complaint 
 was made by him to the Court of Sessions at Cambridge, in May. 
 This complaint was subsequently withdrawn from Court, in pur- 
 suance of an accommodation effected between Mr. Fox and the 
 
 First Parish Record*, Vol. I., pp. 38, 63. " First Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 47, 48, 71, 74.
 
 276 HiSTOKr OP WOBURN. 
 
 parish at a meeting, where, happily more pacific counsels than 
 usual prevailed. 18 But at the annual meeting in March of the 
 next year, the old spirit of contention revived, and the claims of 
 Mr. Fox were once more utterly disregarded. Within a few 
 weeks, however, and apparently before there was opportunity 
 for lodging another complaint with the Court of Sessions, a par- 
 ish meeting was called, at the instance of certain peaceably dis- 
 posed persons, to see what sums of money the parish would 
 grant for the support of the Eev. Mr. Fox, or otherwise to " do 
 that which may be to the satisfaction of the said Mr. Fox, and 
 the peace and safety of the Parish." At this meeting, which 
 was held May 15, 1738, the majority being well aware of the 
 uselessness of contending with Mr. Fox in the law, had recourse 
 to artifice to carry their point. They voted " that they would 
 give the Reverend Mr John Fox seventy pounds in good passa- 
 ble Bills of Credit for the present year as a Gift, provided he 
 will discharge the parish in full until the fourth of June 1738." 19 
 The motives which prompted this vote were obviously an unwill- 
 ingness to own their obligations to him in equity, by granting 
 him anything as salary ; and also a desire to draw from him, 
 unawares, an implicit acknowledgment that what he received 
 from them was a gratuity, and not his just due. But their Fox 
 was too cunning to be caught in the trap thus insidiously set. 
 At their adjourned meeting, four days after, he sent them, by 
 their committee appointed to inform him of the above vote, the 
 following letter in reply. 
 
 ," Woobourn May ye 19th. 1738. 
 
 '* To the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the First Precinct or Parish 
 in Woobourn now convened at the meeting house : First. As to your late 
 vote of the seventy pounds by way of Gift, I am always ready with thanks 
 to acknowledge your goodness therein : And I shall receive it as a Gift, 
 and no otherwise ; but can by no means upon my receiving it, discharge 
 the parish of my salary to the fourth of June 1738 : which is the hard con- 
 dition of the voted Donation. 
 
 " 21y. If you will allow me for this present year (which expires the 
 fourth of June next ensuing) the sum of Eighty pounds as salary for my 
 support, I will accept of it for the sake of peace, rather than contend in 
 
 M First Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 81, 82. 
 19 First Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 99, 100. 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 277 
 
 the Law, and discharge the parish for said year. I can uprightly say it is 
 very grievous to me that I should be any ways burthensome to my people, 
 when I can be no more serviceable in the station in which God has placed 
 me. I shall at all times be ready to serve you to the utmost of my power. 
 
 " 3dly. As to the year coming on, I offer the parish to be at the charge 
 of supplying the pulpit one half of the time, for the same allowance which 
 of late you have made to the Rev. Mr Jackson, my Colleague. 
 
 " Thus praying that the God of peace would give you peace allways and 
 by all means, I remain " Your affectionate Pastor 
 
 " JOHN Fox." 19 
 
 Upon the reading of this letter, the same day it was written, 
 the Parish voted, after some debate, to give Mr. Fox 75 for 
 his support the then current year, if he would give them a 
 discharge in full to its close on June 4th ; and to this proposal, 
 Mr. Fox appears to have afterwards consented, although the 
 sum voted fell somewhat short of his offer. 19 And now com- 
 menced a remarkable change in the Parish for the better, in 
 their treatment of their senior pastor. True, both church and 
 parish saw fit to decline his offer to be at the charge of supply- 
 ing the pulpit half the time that year for the same compensation 
 they allowed Mr. Jackson. But in other respects, they showed 
 themselves wonderfully compliant. Weary of fruitless conten- 
 tion with him in the law, disappointed in all their expectations 
 of getting the advantage of him, and influenced too, it is proba- 
 ble, by respect for his age and the remembrance of his former 
 usefulness, and by a returning sense of their obligations to him 
 in equity, which recent unhappy occurrences had weakened or 
 interrupted, they henceforth, for several years, and with appar- 
 ent readiness, made honorable provisions for his maintenance. 
 At March meeting, the year following, 1738-9, they granted him 
 80, in Bills of Credit ; and this sum they gradually enlarged 
 to 90, 95 and 100 of the same currency, in some measure 
 corresponding to its constantly declining value. And this course, 
 so honorable to themselves, they continued to pursue, till the 
 separation of the Third Society from the First gave rise to new 
 difficulties and distractions, and led to new arrangements for 
 Mr. Fox's support, as there will hereafter be occasion to show. 
 
 But the contentions of Woburn with the ministers of its First 
 Parish at that period were not yet at an end. Now that Mr. 
 
 24
 
 278 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Fox had passed the ordeal, Mr. Jackson's turn came next. At 
 the time this gentleman was settled in Woburn, (viz : August 
 1729,) the town contracted to give him a salary of XI 20 per 
 annum "in Bills of Credit, as the money now is"; or, as its 
 vote on another occasion expressed it, .120 in Bills of Credit, 
 " as they now pass." 20 These phrases, "as the money now is," 
 and " as they now pass," in the town's contract with Mr. Jack- 
 son, or explanatory of it, were doubtless intended, and for 
 years were understood to signify, that if there should be in 
 future any further depreciation in the Bills of Credit in which 
 Mr. Jackson's salary was to be paid, they would annually add 
 enough to his compensation to make it equal in value to what it 
 was at his settlement, in 1729. As was probably anticipated, 
 these Bills continued from that date to decline from their nom- 
 inal value. 
 
 No remuneration, however, on this account was either asked 
 by Mr. Jackson, or offered by his people, till 1735. That year, 
 at the request of Mr. Jackson, the Parish Committee called a 
 meeting of the parish, to be held on the 1st of July, to consider 
 and act upon the subject. To the warrant issued by them 
 on this occasion, the preamble reads thus : " Whereas consider- 
 ing the great fall of the paper currency, or Bills of Credit since 
 the year 1729, the year the Rev d- Mr Jackson settled in the 
 work of the Ministry here, and he having never had allowance 
 or consideration therefor, according to the vote then passed, 
 relating to his annual support, that he should have 120 pounds 
 per annum as the money then was" etc., etc., etc. These words 
 of this preamble plainly show how the Parish Committee, and 
 probably all Woburn, understood the provisions of Mr. Jack- 
 son's contract at that day. 21 At the meeting then called, it was 
 voted (and, apparently, without debate or opposition) that Mr. 
 Jackson should have 100 in Bills of Credit, as a recompense 
 for their depreciation during the six years he had been settled 
 in the place: and Mr. Jackson, being present, expressed his 
 satisfaction with the grant, and did freely remit .20 of it to 
 
 *> Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 350; VII., p. 11. 
 First Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 51, 62. 

 
 HISTORY OF WOBFRN. 279 
 
 the parish. Similar grants, in view of the diminished and con- 
 stantly diminishing value of the paper currency of that day, 
 were made to Mr. Jackson the next four years, amounting in 
 all to 140 j and were all accepted by him in full satisfaction 
 of his demands on this account. But here the harmony, which 
 had hitherto subsisted between minister and people upon this 
 subject, was, for a while, broken up. In a warrant for a parish 
 meeting, December 7, 1739, respecting the two ministers, one 
 article was, " To see whether the inhabitants of said parish will 
 make the Rev (L Mr. Jackson's salary so good as it was when he 
 first settled here in the Ministry, according to Contract," etc. 
 At this meeting, after refusing to grant 50 for the purpose 
 stated in the above article of warrant, the inhabitants finally 
 voted " to give the Rev. Mr Edward Jackson forty & five pounds 
 in good passable Bills of Credit the present year, besides his 
 Annual Salary of one hundred and twenty pounds, provided he 
 will discharge the parish for the present year." * This was a 
 larger addition than they had ever raised before, for one year ; 
 and, if not a full equivalent for the depreciation which it was 
 designed to compensate, could not have been far from it. 19 But 
 it did not satisfy Mr. Jackson ; and, when waited upon by a 
 committee appointed at a parish meeting, March 24th, following, 
 to acquaint him, officially, with what the parish had voted him, 
 December 7th, before, and to inquire whether it would be accept- 
 able, he sent the people word by them, immediately, that he did 
 not accept it ; and that he desired no more of them " than for 
 them to make good their contract or agreement with him when 
 he first settled amongst them in the work of the Ministry." M 
 This tart, abrupt reply seems to have much irritated the inhabi- 
 tants, who at once made choice of a committee to examine the 
 contract made with Mr. Jackson at his settlement ; to ascertain 
 what the public Bills of Credit had depreciated since that time, 
 and to make return to the inhabitants of the parish at their 
 adjournment of this meeting. The committee selected for this 
 purpose were Roland Cotton, Esq., Capt. Isaac Dupee, and 
 
 * First Parish Records, Vol. I., p. 124. Felt on Massachusetts Currency, p. 135.
 
 280 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Capt." Stephen Richardson, of which gentlemen it is proper to 
 observe, that the first two were comparatively strangers, but 
 recently settled in Woburn ; and that the former of these two, 
 Roland Cotton, Esq., chairman of the committee, was decidedly 
 inimical to Mr. Jackson a few years afterward, and probably 
 was so at the time of this appointment. The committee thus 
 composed, instead of inquiring, as they were directed, how 
 much the currency had fallen in value since the settlement of 
 Mr. Jackson, seem to have set themselves at work to discover in 
 his contract, if possible, some plea by which the parish might be 
 released from all obligations to make him any allowance what- 
 ever on the score of depreciation. And the result of their 
 labors they communicated to the parish at its adjourned meet- 
 ing, April 7, 1740, in the following report: 
 
 " The Committee, to whom was referred the examination of the 
 Contract or Agreement made by the Town of Woobourn with the 
 Rev d . Mr.. Edward Jackson in September 1728 [1729?] relating 
 to his support, having considered the same, Report as their opinion, 
 that it was not the design and intention of that vote, to fix the 
 Salary to a silver standard, but only to distinguish the Currency as 
 it then was, from the Lawfull or Proclamation Currency at 6s. lOd. 
 per ounce : Consequently, they intended to give but one hundred 
 and twenty pounds Paper Currency, and are not obliged by said 
 Contract to advance any more per annum. 
 
 u Yet the Parish being sensible of the depreciation of those 
 Bills of Credit, have from time to time made an additional grant to 
 the Rev. Mr Jackson by Contributions and other ways ; which has 
 been truly laudable : And we trust the Parish will still from time 
 to time (as usual) encourage the heart and hands of the Rev d . Mr 
 Jackson, notwithstanding the great and pressing difficulties the 
 Parish labours under (as well as the whole Province) for want 
 of a medium. 
 
 " All which is humbly submitted. 
 
 " ROLAND COTTON ^ 
 
 ISAAC DCPEE > Committee. ^ 
 
 STEPHEN RICHARDSON j 
 
 " Woobourn April the 4th. 1740." 
 
 First Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 145-148. 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 281 
 
 The construction here put on the contract in question was 
 palpably contradictory to the sense in which it had been under- 
 stood in Woburn from the beginning, and which the parish had 
 repeatedly put on it in their action within the last five years. 
 But so vexed do the inhabitants appear to have been with Mr. 
 Jackson at this meeting, for refusing to accept what they had 
 voted him, December 7th, and for insisting upon a strict fulfilment 
 of their contract, that they voted to accept the report of their 
 committee, inconsistent as it was with their own declarations 
 and doings upon record. Still, in accordance with the recom- 
 mendation at the close of the report, they appointed a commit- 
 tee to wait on Mr. Jackson, "to know of him what (would) 
 sattisfie him for the present year beside his annual salary " ; and 
 then adjourned to May 19th, to hear his answer. 23 At that 
 adjourned meeting, what reply the committee brought from Mr. 
 Jackson is not found upon record. After repeated motions, 
 however, to add fifty-five pounds, and fifty pounds, to his stated 
 compensation, it was at length voted to add 45, "in good 
 passable Bills of Credit," for that present year, (ending August 
 1, 1740) on condition that he would discharge the parish to 
 that time. 23 The meeting was then dissolved ; and the parish 
 Assessors proceeded, July 10th, to assess the addition of 45, 
 voted as above, together with Mr. Jackson's stated salary of 
 120, without any notice from that gentleman of his satisfaction 
 therewith. But Mr. Jackson well understood his rights; and 
 not being willing to accept any sum whatever as a donation, 
 (according to the late accepted report) which he could claim as 
 his just and legal due, and especially one which he considered as 
 coming short even of that, he entered a complaint with the 
 Court of Sessions at Concord in August, and by their order, 
 duly served the Parish Committee with a copy. 24 
 
 When notified of this step of their pastor, the people per- 
 ceived they were in an evil case. They well knew that the 
 addition to Mr. Jackson's stated salary, which they had voted 
 to give him, May 19th, though now assessed, had never been 
 
 * First Parish Records, Vol. I., p. 152. 
 24*
 
 282 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 acknowledged by him as satisfactory. And they were probably 
 convinced too, now that their excited feelings had given way to 
 calm reflection, that the interpretation which had lately been 
 put upon their contract with him by their committee, and 
 approved by their own vote upon Record, would not bear exam- 
 ination in a Court of Justice. They now, therefore, began to 
 wish for an accommodation of their difference with their junior 
 pastor, before any further proceedings were had upon his com- 
 plaint. And, happily, at a meeting called to consider what should 
 be done in their present situation, and held November 25, 1740, 
 a mutual agreement between minister and people was harmo- 
 niously accomplished. The parish voted to add XI 5 to Mr. 
 Jackson's stated salary of .120, for the year ending August 1, 
 preceding, besides the 45 granted him May 19th, making his 
 salary, in all for that year, 180 in Province Bills. And this sum, 
 Mr. Jackson, who was present, signified his acceptance of, and 
 promised, in consideration of it, to give a discharge to the parish 
 for that year, and to withdraw immediately his complaint from 
 Court. At the same meeting likewise, the parish voted the same 
 addition to his stated compensation for the year which had com- 
 menced as for that which had recently ended. 25 And though an 
 effort was made by some disaffected persons, at a meeting 
 December 8th, to obtain a reconsideration of the above votes, 
 under pretence that the meeting at which they were passed 
 was illegal, yet it did not succeed. 25 And here was a termina- 
 tion of all differences between the First Parish of Woburn and 
 Rev. Mr. Jackson respecting his salary, till the separation of the 
 Third Parish in 1 746. Henceforth till then, the Parish annually 
 made additions of 60, 65, 80 and 100, Old Tenor, to Mr. 
 Jackson's salary, originally stated at 120, in order, accord- 
 ing to contract, to make it "as good as it was when he was 
 first settled in Woburn." 26 And these additions were severally 
 accepted by Mr. Jackson j and thus a lamentable and unedifying 
 contention was amicably settled in a manner that was honorable 
 to the parish, and conducive to the peace and usefulness of 
 their junior pastor. 
 
 ** First P. R., Vol. I., pp. 154, 156, 157. First P. R., Vol. L, pp. 186, 188, 205, 206, 221, 234.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 283 
 
 While Woburn, First Parish, was involved in these costly, 
 unhappy contentions with its ministers about their salaries, and 
 burdened with an additional weight of taxes, in consequence of 
 the incorporation of Wilmington and the Second Precinct, the 
 town found some relief in the sale of its two thousand acres 
 at Turkey Hills, now Lunenburg, in the County of Worcester. 
 Concerning this tract of territory, it has already been related, 
 that though granted to Woburn by the General Court, in 1664, 
 it was not located till 1717. But little was done respecting it 
 for seven years after. At a general town meeting, May 15, 
 1724, the proprietors voted, " that it should lie as it does, until 
 the town or proprietors of the same should see cause to alter it, 
 or pass some other vote upon it." 27 Accordingly, for about ten 
 years longer from this date, it lay in a state of nature, unim- 
 proved ; and though the town was repeatedly called upon to pay 
 taxes for it to Lunenburg, 27 yet it derived but little or no bene- 
 fit from it, except occasionally from the rent of its meadows. 
 Measures were taken, however, from time to time, to run its 
 lines, and renew its bounds, and to prevent the spoliation of its 
 timber ; and a committee was appointed to take care of the land, 
 and to prosecute any persons who might trespass upon it. But at 
 a general meeting of the inhabitants, May 22, 1733, it was voted, 
 " that the 2000 acres of land lying in Lunenburg should be put 
 upon sale, and the interest of the money be improved for the use 
 of the Town." Accordingly, a committee of five, viz., Mr. Josiah 
 Johnson, Capt. John Fowle, Mr. Samuel Richardson, Lieut. Ed- 
 ward Johnson, and Lieut. Samuel Kendall, was then chosen to 
 sell this land to the highest bidder, giving inhabitants of Woburn 
 the first offer of it. 28 And, at a subsequent meeting, January 21, 
 1733-4, the town directed the committee to sell it altogether, in 
 one body, and empowered them, or any three of them, to give a 
 warrantee deed of it, in their capacity of town's committee ; and 
 voted, that the town (would) defend them in their so doing, they 
 returning the interest of the purchase money to the use of the 
 town, or sufficient security to the town's acceptance. 28 
 
 In pursuance of these votes, three of the committee, viz : Mr. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VI., p. 196; VII., pp. 45, 140. 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 151, 164, 166.
 
 284 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 Josiah Johnson, Capt. John Fowle and Lieut. Edward Johnson, 
 made on the day last mentioned, a conditional sale of the land 
 to Ensign Israel Reed of Woburn, for 3,300, in Bills of Credit 
 on the Province, eight respectable fellow-citizens offering to be 
 his bondsmen. 28 The price for the land, and the security 
 tendered by Air. Reed for the payment of the money, were both 
 accepted by the town at a meeting, February 19th, of the same 
 year ; 28 and the bargain was completed by the committee's giving 
 a deed to Mr. Reed on the town's behalf. The purchase money 
 for the land, viz : 3,300, in depreciated Bills of Credit, was 
 worth in 1734, (the year of sale) about 1,100, lawful money, or 
 $3,666.67, in the currency of the present day. 29 As portions of 
 this sum were paid in, from time to time, by Ensign Reed, it was 
 loaned by the committee to divers inhabitants of Woburn, 
 chiefly, in sums of 100, to any two individuals, secured by their 
 mutual or joint bond. 30 And as fast as the interest accruing 
 from these loans, or from the portion of the purchase money still 
 remaining in the hands of Mr. Reed, was received by the com- 
 mittee, or by Capt. Fowle, who was one of them, and also 
 Town Treasurer, it was appropriated to the payment of taxes 
 and town charges, by order of the town. 31 By this wise arrange- 
 ment, a large proportion of the taxes in Woburn, for County and 
 Province, and also of its town expenses of every description, 
 were defrayed several years out of the proceeds from the sale of 
 its 2,000 acres. For instance, it was voted at March meeting, 
 
 1735, to raise two rates for the payment of town debts and 
 necessary charges; but, at a meeting in November following, 
 that vote was reconsidered : the rates were never assessed, and 
 the charges they were designed to meet, for schools, support of 
 paupers, county tax, and a multitude of other expenses, were 
 paid out of the town's interest money. 32 And from the same 
 resource, was paid by order of the town, its Province tax for 
 
 1736, amounting to 244 15*. Od. after it had been actually 
 proportioned upon the inhabitants ; as were likewise various 
 other town expenses for the same year. 33 
 
 29 Felt on Massachusetts Currency, pp. 83, 135. 
 
 w> Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 218, 222. si Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 219. 
 
 ** Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 242, 246. Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 250.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 285 
 
 But where public money is intrusted to the care of individuals, 
 it may always be expected that there will be many who will be 
 watching them with a jealous eye ; and some, who in their eager- 
 ness to be handling it themselves, will each think they know of 
 one, at least, in whose care it would be safer and better man- 
 aged than where it is. Though the committee who sold the 
 two thousand acres, and had the charge of receiving and letting 
 out the pay, took bonds of those to whom they loaned it, yet 
 they were not under bonds themselves. For the purchase 
 money being secured by Mr. Reed's sureties, and the money 
 loaned being secured by joint bonds from the several borrowers, 
 the town had not deemed it necessary to demand security of 
 their committee likewise, so long as they regularly paid over, 
 as they received it, the interest of the money they had loaned 
 to the town's use. But this circumstance of their not being 
 under bonds themselves for so large an amount (though expected 
 to be put by loan into other men's hands, not to remain in their 
 own) awakened the apprehensions of many who were, doubtless, 
 unfeignedly anxious for the safety of the town's property, and 
 afforded them, and some others at the same time, who were only 
 watching for an opportunity to promote their own personal 
 interest or influence, a handle for complaint. 
 
 In 1735, the very first year after the land was sold, an 
 attempt was made, at May meeting, to choose a new committee 
 to look after the .3,300 which the land at Lunenburg had been 
 sold for, with the interest thereof. But such were the reputation 
 and influence of the existing committee, so prudently had they 
 loaned the portion of the purchase money which had been paid 
 in to them, and so punctual were they to bring the interest which 
 they were now just beginning to receive, to the treasurer for the 
 town's use, that this motion to discharge them was negatived. 34 
 But the leaders in this effort, nothing baffled by defeat this year, 
 renewed their attempt the next. In the warrant for May meet- 
 ing, 1736, one article was, "To see whether the Town will 
 choose a Committee to call in the money due to the town from 
 Ensign Israel Reed : or to choose a Committee to take security 
 
 M Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 198, 200.
 
 286 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 from the Committee in whose hands the Town's Bonds are 
 reposed ? " But at that meeting, the majority wore still so well 
 satisfied with Mr. Reed's sureties, and so confident of the in- 
 tegrity of the present committee in their management of the 
 town's property, that they passed over this article of the war- 
 rant without taking any action upon it. 35 But a continual drop- 
 ping will wear away stones, and oft repeated insinuations against 
 any individuals in a community, or persevering attempts to 
 infuse jealousies and suspicions of them into the public mind, 
 will hardly fail of making a disparaging impression at last, 
 whether deserved or not. At a meeting, February 2, 1737-8, 
 the town chose a committee of three, viz, Mr. John Russell, 
 Jonathan Poole, Esq., and Mr. Jacob Wyman, " to see what cir- 
 cumstances the money that the 2,000 acres of land at Lunenburg 
 was sold for, is under, and what security there is for the same," 
 etc. 36 And in the warrant for the March meeting ensuing, one 
 article was, " To hear the Report of this committee ; and if 
 the town shall think the security of the said money not to be 
 good, to take better security of the standing Committee, if they 
 will give it, or choose a committee that will give security to 
 the town's acceptance by making a Return of the sale of said 
 land to the Town in order to be recorded, and discharge the old 
 Committee." 37 
 
 In this article (a few words being transposed which are evi- 
 dently misplaced upon the records, as they are here copied) it is 
 plainly implied, that a return from the old or Standing Commit- 
 tee of their sale of the land, to be put upon record, would be 
 deemed sufficient security for their faithfulness in the discharge 
 of their trust. Accordingly, at the meeting, March 6th, such a 
 return was actually made, accepted by the Town, and put upon 
 record, subscribed by each member of the Standing Committee, 
 with his own hand. 38 And yet, at the same meeting, (at the 
 instigation doubtless of some whom nothing done by the old 
 committee could reconcile or please) the town voted, " that the 
 security given by the Committee (of trust) to the Town is not 
 
 s Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 226, 227. 3C Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 267. 
 
 a? Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 276. Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 151.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 287 
 
 sufficient." 39 And, at a subsequent meeting, May 19th, follow- 
 ing, they chose a committee of nine, to whom, or to a majority of 
 them, provided they gave security to the Town Treasurer to the 
 Town's acceptance, they gave full power " to call in and take the 
 charge of all the Town's money which the Two Thousand Acres 
 of land lying at Lunenburg was sold for by the Town to Ensign 
 Israel Reed " ; and also, " full power to discharge the former 
 Committee (viz : Mr. Josiah Johnson, Capt. John Fowle, and 
 Lieut. Edward Johnson) upon their surrendering up said 
 money." 40 The committee chosen for these purposes, were 
 Jonathan Poole, Esq., Nathan Richardson, William Tay, Benja- 
 min Johnson, Nathan Wyman, Ensign James Procter, Capt. John 
 Fowle, Lieut. Edward Johnson, and Thomas Belknap, Jr.; 40 
 of whom, two, it will be observed, viz : Capt. Fowle and Lieut. 
 Johnson, were on the original committee that sold the land. 
 And now the grand question was, what shall be the security 
 which the new committee should give? On this point, there 
 was evidently much hesitation, and great division of opinion. 
 A meeting was appointed, November 20, 1738, to decide this 
 matter ; but all which could be effected, was barely to vote that 
 they would have security from their new committee for their 
 money, and then to adjourn for a fortnight. 
 
 At the adjournment, it was determined, that " those persons 
 that have the Trust of letting out the Town's 3,000 and 300 
 shall give personal Bonds with lawful Interest for the use of the 
 Town, to a Committee that the Town shall appoint and their 
 successors, and acknowledge their bonds, and said bonds to be 
 recorded in the County Records." 41 A further adjournment 
 was then voted to December 25, when it was probably ascer- 
 tained that several members of the committee of nine chosen, 
 and especially the two that had belonged to the old committee, 
 would not accept the trust upon the conditions that had recently 
 been prescribed. For, on that day, a new committee of nine 
 was chosen, consisting of Jonathan Poole, Esq., for chairman, 
 Josiah Peirce, Lieut. James Simonds, William Tay, Edward 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 275. 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 282, 297. Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 286.
 
 288 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 Walker, Nathan Richardson, Benjamin Johnson, David W) man, 
 and Quartermaster Timothy Brooks. There was likewise 
 chosen another committee of three, viz, Mr. Timothy Snow, 
 Lieut. Peirson Richardson, and Mr. Nathan Wyman, which was 
 to take bonds and good security, on behalf of the town of 
 Woburn, of the committee of nine for the care and management 
 of the town's money. The following votes were then passed by 
 the Town for the direction of these, its several committees, on 
 this subject : 
 
 1. That the committee of nine that day chosen " to receive the 
 money or bonds of the old committee, (to wit, Mr. Josiah Johnson, 
 John Fowle, Lieut. Edward Johnson,") shall have " full power to 
 recover in the law the said bonds or money ; and upon their receiv- 
 ing the said money and bonds of the old Committee aforemen- 
 tioned, then by a Receipt under their hands or the major part of 
 them, fully to discharge the said Josiah Johnson, John Fowle, Mr 
 Edward Johnson the aforementioned Committee and their heirs of 
 the full sum of three thousand and three hundred pounds (and) the 
 interest of the same, for which they the said Committee sold the 
 land for, lying in the township of Lunenburg, for the town of 
 Woburn. 
 
 2dly. " Voted, That the Receipt so given by the said Committee 
 shall be laid upon record in the Book of Records for Woburn. 
 
 31y. " Voted, That the above said Committee [of nine] shall 
 upon their receiving the said money or bonds into their hands and 
 under their care and charge, shall let it out unto the inhabitants of 
 the town of Woburn, and that for no more than lawful interest. 
 
 41y. " Voted, That the said Committee, upon their receiving the 
 said money or bonds, shall give bond or bonds, to the value of 
 three thousand and three hundred pounds with lawful interest 
 to Mr Timothy Snow, Mr Peirson Richardson and Mr Nathan 
 Wyman, trustees chosen by said town to receive the same, and 
 keep them for and in behalf of the Town. 
 
 51y. " Voted, That the bonds for the sum of three thousand 
 and three hundred pound with the interest, given by the above 
 said Committee to the above said Trustees, shall be for one year : " 
 [that is, it is presumed, shall be recoverable in one year]. 
 
 61y. " Voted, That the said Trustees shall make return of said
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 289 
 
 bonds so received by them for and in behalf of said Town, for 
 the sum above mentioned."' 42 
 
 Such was the arrangement made by the town for the security 
 of its money, about to be put into the hands of its newly appoin- 
 ted Committee. And had this arrangement been firmly adhered 
 to, and insisted on by the town, this committee would have been 
 effectually guarded against temptation to deviate from a strictly 
 upright course, and been prompted by motives of interest, as 
 well as of duty and honor, to manage their trust with a single 
 eye to the public benefit. But men are not always willing to 
 be dealt with themselves by the same measure that they would 
 have others dealt by, under like circumstances. No sooner had 
 the old committee been dismissed, upon the plea of insufficient 
 security, and the new one chosen and had accepted, than the 
 latter began to flinch at complying with the conditions of their 
 office, to shrink and hold back from giving themselves such secu- 
 rity as that, for the want of which they had raised such a breeze 
 against their predecessors. Accordingly, they and their friends 
 speedily combined to procure a relaxation of the strict terms of 
 their appointment. At the same time, another party arose, 
 which being disgusted with the hollow pretences and fruitless 
 contentions on this subject, with which the town had been so 
 long disturbed, was for procuring the dismission of all the com- 
 mittees in this affair, calling in the money, and distributing it 
 among the several inhabitants of the town, or between the two 
 parishes, according to their respective taxes. 43 But the former 
 party prevailed. 
 
 At a meeting, February 21, 1738-9, after confirming its choice 
 of the committee of nine, as a committee of trust to succeed the 
 old committee, and renewing its grant to them of all necessary 
 powers to this end, the town materially changed the security 
 demanded of them at their election two months before. It 
 allowed them to loan its money in the capacity of a town's 
 committee only, without giving personal bonds ; and required of 
 them, beside being sworn to the faithful discharge of their trust, 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 287, 288. Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 300, 338. 
 25
 
 290 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 to give such security for the 3,300 as should be satisfactory to 
 the town. 44 And the better to determine what that security 
 ought to be, a committee was appointed, viz : Mr. Josiah John- 
 son, Capt. Isaac Dupee, Capt. John Fowle, Jr., Dr. Jonathan 
 Haywood, Ensign James Procter, Mr. Nathan Blogget and Mr. 
 John Russell, to prepare a draft in writing, which, being accepted 
 by the town, should be entered in the Town Book. 44 This com- 
 mittee was expected to report at March meeting, then close at 
 hand. But this expectation was doomed to disappointment. 
 The committee, it seems, could not agree upon any report which 
 the town might be thought willing to accept. And, when the time 
 arrived for submitting their draft to its consideration, provision 
 was suddenly made for substituting something very different in 
 its stead. At that meeting, March 5, 1738-9, Mr. Roland 
 Cotton, Capt. Isaac Dupee, Dr. Jonathan Haywood, Mr. James 
 Procter and Mr. John Russell, were appointed to draft a resolu- 
 tion, by which all persons who should hire the town's Loan 
 Money might be excluded from voting and acting in town 
 meeting, in all questions respecting it. These gentlemen (all of 
 whom, except the chairman, had been on the drafting committee, 
 chosen at the preceding meeting) drew up on the spot the follow- 
 ing resolution, which was immediately accepted by the town: 
 " Voted, that in all votes touching or in any ways concerning the 
 letting out or calling in of the said monies or security for said 
 monies belonging to said Town, or the appointing committee men 
 to manage the same, or in the removing or displacing of com- 
 mittees or any of them relating to said money or security, no 
 person or persons that holds any part or parcell thereof, or hath 
 taken any part or parcell thereof upon loan, shall have any vote 
 or voice therein ; | but] during the time of their being principal 
 for the same or any part thereof shall be from voting debarred 
 and excluded." 45 
 
 This resolve sounds, in reading it, a very stringent one ; and, 
 could it have been executed, might have been effectual to answer 
 the end intended. But the difficulty was, to execute it. There 
 is not the least evidence that it was ever even attempted to be 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 303, 304. Town Records, Vol. VH., p. 308.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 291 
 
 enforced. And when it is considered (as a credible tradition 
 to be referred to hereafter, gives too much reason for sup- 
 posing) that a large proportion, if not a majority of the voters 
 in town affairs, eventually became debtors to the town for larger 
 or smaller sums of its loan money, it is easy to see how this 
 resolution, so forcible in words, should become a mere dead 
 letter on the Records, utterly impracticable in Woburn at that 
 day. And thus the several provisions made by the town for its 
 security, in respect to the money for its two thousand acres, 
 while in the hands of its new or second committee, were vir- 
 tually rendered, one after another, null and void. The several 
 members of that committee were pledged, as was understood at 
 their appointment, to give personal bonds for their fidelity in 
 the management of the town's money intrusted to them: but 
 they, or their friends for them, had contrived to evade this 
 obligation, by procuring the substitution of easier terms in its 
 stead. They were ordered to be sworn to the faithful dis- 
 charge of their trust; but there is no notice on the Records 
 that an oath, to this purpose, was ever administered to them. 
 They were required to give such security as a committee, chosen 
 expressly for this end, should agree upon, and as the town, 
 when it was submitted to them, should accept. But, for reasons 
 that can only be conjectured, that committee never reported. A 
 second committee was then appointed for drafting such security, 
 which did report. But the resolution which they recommended, 
 and the town accepted, was such, that while it bound in words 
 both the committee which let the town's money, and the inhabi- 
 tants who borrowed it, appears to have been found impracticable 
 to be executed ; unequal to hold or restrain either the lenders 
 or the borrowers of the money to be secured. And thus, not- 
 withstanding all the noise and bluster with which, for four 
 years, the town had been agitated about getting better security 
 for the money arising from the sale of the town's land at Lunen- 
 berg than the committee who sold it had given, the town was 
 not a whit better off than before. The new committee of nine 
 gave no better security, in effect for their fidelity, than the old 
 committee of three had done, which had been displaced to make
 
 292 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 way for it. The only difference was, that the responsibility 
 which had once been borne by three, was now divided between 
 nine; and whereas the former committee had given all the 
 security that was originally asked of them by the town, the 
 latter committee had contrived, themselves, or by their friends, 
 to get rid of, or to nullify that which had been successively 
 demanded of them, and which, by not declining at their appoint- 
 ment or confirmation in office, they had virtually agreed, in good 
 faith, to give. 
 
 And now the new committee of trust, (or at least, as many of 
 them as saw fit to accept, 40 ) being firmly established in their 
 office, and furnished by the town with all requisite powers 
 for the discharge of it, went to work. To this time, the 
 proceeds of the sale of the 2,000 acres, consisting principally of 
 bonds for a portion of the purchase money still due from Ensign 
 Reed, and of bonds for loans to inhabitants of Woburn of 
 moneys received from him, had remained in the hands of the 
 original committee. At a general meeting, Febuary 21, 17389, 
 the town by vote ordered that committee to deliver up those 
 bonds and whatever money they had of the town's, into the 
 hands of the new committee. 46 But for some reason, now un- 
 known, they demurred about doing it, and in consequence of 
 their delay, the new committee instituted a suit at law against 
 them, before the Court of Common Pleas for Middlesex, at its 
 session in Concord, the following August. At the trial, the 
 plaintiffs, in the name of the inhabitants of Woburn, alleged 
 that the defendants had often refused and, still continued to 
 refuse, giving them a reasonable account of the money they had 
 received for the land which they had been commissioned to sell 
 for the town's use ; and laid the damage at 4,000. On the 
 other hand, the defendants, by their attorney, William Brattle, 
 Esq., averred, that they always had been, and now were ready 
 to account with their employers in this matter. Upon this 
 
 40 Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 282. All of the committee of nine first chosen not accept- 
 ing, another committee was appointed containing some new names; which see pp. 297, 303. 
 And it subsequently appeared that two or three of those never acted with the rest. 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 297, 303, 304.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 293 
 
 declaration, the Court appointed Samuel Danforth, Esq., of Cam- 
 bridge, Thomas Jenner, Joseph Lemmon, and Samuel Gary, 
 Esqrs., of Charlestown, and Judah Morris, the celebrated Jewish 
 convert to Christianity and teacher of Hebrew in Harvard Col- 
 lege, or any three of them, as " Auditors of the Account, in this 
 Action, and ordered that the Defendants account before the said 
 Auditors accordingly : and the Action was continued to (the De- 
 cember) Term for their Report." At the session of the Court 
 at Charlestown, in December, the Auditors reported, " that hav- 
 ing heard the Parties and examined their papers, they find that 
 there is due to the Inhabitants of the Town of Woburn from the 
 said Committee, the Defendants, three thousand three hundred 
 pounds for Principal, and two hundred thirty seven pounds seven 
 shillings for Interest to this day, in the whole, three thousand five 
 hundred thirty seven pounds seven shillings ; which with eight hun- 
 dred ninety five pounds thirteen shillings they have paid in to the 
 Town Treasurer, and seven pounds now allowed them with four- 
 teen pounds formerly paid them by the Town, is in full for their 
 trouble in viewing, selling the Land, and letting out the Money ; 
 which several Sums before mentioned we judge to be in full of 
 all dues and demands from the Defendants to the Inhabitants of 
 the Town of Woburn." 
 
 This Report, subscribed by Thomas Jenner, Joseph Lemmon 
 and Judah Morris, Auditors, the Court accepted, and ordered it 
 to be recorded ; and decided upon the Action as follows : " that 
 the Inhabitants of Woburn aforesaid recover against the said 
 Josiah Johnson, John Fowle and Edward Johnson the sum of 
 three thousand five hundred thirty seven pounds seven shillings 
 money Damage, and Costs of Suit with the charge of Auditing, 
 the whole whereof taxed at twenty eight pounds seven shillings 
 & six pence." 47 From this judgment, the defendants appealed 
 to the next Superior Court for the County. But their appeal was 
 to no purpose. Within a few days after the decision of the In- 
 ferior Court, Mr. Josiah Johnson, chairman of the old commit- 
 tee, died. 48 And from his heirs and from the two surviving 
 
 Records of Inferior Court at Cambridge; December, 1737 August, 1740, p. 667. 
 
 Records of Births and Deaths in Woburn. 
 25*
 
 294 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 
 
 members of that committee, Capt. Fowle and Dea. Edward 
 Johnson, of the Precinct, there was afterwards recovered in the 
 law, for damage and costs, the increased sum of 3,623 11s. 
 For this large amount, settlement appears to have been made by 
 the old committee shortly after, by delivering up the bonds 
 and all other property of the town in their hands to the new 
 committee; who accordingly stand recorded as responsible to 
 the town for it, in the Town Book, June 18, 1741. 49 
 
 From the last mentioned date, June 18, 1741, when the 
 new committee had obtained the entire control of the town's 
 money for their 2,000 acres, they seem to have managed it for 
 some time to general satisfaction. The sum taken into their 
 hands, amounted, it was just observed, to 3,623 11s. From 
 this deducting 87 14s.. allowed them by the town for lawyers' 
 fees, and their own time and expenses in attending Court 
 during their suit against the old committee, there remained 
 3,535 17s. to be disposed of by them for the benefit of the 
 town. Of this sum, 3,300 constituted a permanent Loan Fund 
 for the benefit of the town, from the proceeds of the sale of its 
 land in Lunenburg, and now consisted principally of bonds 
 given jointly and severally by individuals for money they had 
 unitedly borrowed from it upon interest, in sums not exceeding 
 100 each. 
 
 The residue, 235 17s. seems to have been an accumulation 
 of interest, which had been received by the old committee ; and 
 which, being now paid into the treasury of the town, and added 
 to so much of the interest annually due upon the bonds, as the 
 new committee collected and paid, proved sufficient, several 
 years, for defraying all the usual town and county expenses, and 
 saved the necessity of assessing any tax in Woburn for ordi- 
 nary purposes, except the Province tax, till February 1 746-7. 
 
 But now the new committee became gradually very dilatory 
 and backward in collecting and paying in the interest due on 
 the town's loan money intrusted to their care. As the Treas- 
 urer's book shows, they were accustomed to pay portions of this 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VH., pp. 371, 372.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 295 
 
 interest every year, but, generally speaking, not till it had been 
 due above a twelvemonth ; and then in such partial payments, 
 as all of them together did not satisfy the just claims of the 
 town. The failure of the committee in this respect was doubt- 
 less owing, in a very considerable degree, to the depreciation of 
 money then prevalent. Province Bills of Credit, in which the 
 interest money from the loan fund was wont to be paid, were 
 not worth so much in 1741, when the committee took that fund 
 into their charge, as they were in 1734, when the land in 
 Lunenburg was sold, and the fund was established from the 
 proceeds of its sale ; and this, their diminished value, was con- 
 tinually diminishing. 50 To remove the difficulty, which this 
 constant depreciation must obviously occasion, both to the com- 
 mittee who had the charge of the loan money, and to those who 
 were indebted to them for loans from it, the town, at a meeting, 
 August 27, 1744, voted, that "the Town will not require the 
 Sink of their Money in the hands of the present Committee, 
 neither shall the same be required by the said Committee of 
 those who have said Money in their hands, untill further order 
 from the Town." 51 But this vote (which proved in the end a 
 virtual relinquishment of the fund itself, for the sake of securing 
 the prompt payment of the interest due upon sums loaned from it) 
 did not answer the end intended. While it greatly facilitated 
 the action of the committee in collecting and paying up the 
 interest due to the town, it did not effect any material change for 
 the better in their management on this head. With some honor- 
 able exceptions, they still made but partial payments of the 
 interest coming to the town from its loan fund ; and were gener- 
 ally a year or more behind hand in doing this. This remissness 
 caused much vexation and uneasiness, and great loss to the 
 people of Woburn. It obliged the town to have recourse once 
 more to taxation (from which, through aid from its loan fund, it 
 had been for several years in good measure free,) for defraying 
 its common necessary charges. It became at length a matter of 
 
 60 Bills in 1734 were in the proportion of twenty -four shillings to one ounce of silver; from 
 1741 to 1744, as twenty-eight shillings to one ounce; and in 1745, as thirty-five shillings to an 
 ounce of silver in value. See felt on Massachusetts Currency, p. 135. 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 451.
 
 296 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 public, serious complaint in town meeting ; and for a series of 
 years, this community was much occupied in devising, and in 
 some instances adopting, a variety of measures for correcting 
 the negligence of the committee in this matter, and for remedying 
 the inconveniences and troubles which it occasioned. But such 
 were the intrinsic defects in these measures themselves, or the 
 difficulty of carrying them in town meeting, in the face of the 
 opposition which they excited, or the lack of energy or decision 
 in those who were appointed to carry them into effect, or the 
 strong influence exerted to thwart or defeat their execution, that 
 little or nothing was accomplished by them. For instance, (to 
 notice some of these measures in a brief, summary way,) at a 
 town meeting, March 6, 1748-9, the town treasurer was ordered 
 to sue each committee-man at the law, who failed to pay in the 
 interest coming from him, within a year from the time it became 
 due ; but this was a delicate business, which the treasurer seems 
 to have been averse to meddling with; and so nothing was 
 done. 52 
 
 It was proposed in the warrant for a meeting, May 22, 1753, 
 to choose a committee to inquire, why the interest of their 
 loan money was not paid in, agreeably to vote of the town ? 
 But when the town came together, the article was dismissed, and 
 no inquiry was made. 53 
 
 Again, the town ordered the committee, May 13, 1754, to 
 reduce every bond in their hands to lawful money which had not 
 been reduced before, and then to sue it, unless the interest due 
 on it were paid before the next Inferior Court ; but this severe 
 expedient proved, eventually, to be a mere empty threat ; or if 
 actually tried, it was without success. 54 
 
 Again, at a meeting, May 12, 1757, the town empowered and 
 directed its treasurer to demand forthwith, of the committee for 
 its Loan Fund, the interest then due from it to the town ; and 
 in case of neglect to pay, to sue immediately for the principal, 
 held by each delinquent. But there is no evidence that this 
 order was ever complied with by the Treasurer. 55 
 
 M Town Records, Vol. VIII., p. 16. Town Records, Vol. VIII., pp. 104, 106. 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. VIII., p. 131. Town Records, Vol. VIII., p. 205.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 297 
 
 Furthermore, it was once and again proposed to discharge the 
 present committee upon their delivering up the town's property 
 in their care, and then to elect a new committee, or appoint the 
 Town Treasurer for the same trust. But in each instance, the 
 article of the warrant suggesting such change, was either dis- 
 missed, or adjourned from one meeting to another, till the design 
 was dropped, and the old committee were still allowed to retain 
 their office. 56 
 
 And finally, a committee of three, viz., Josiah Johnson, Esq., 
 James Fowle, Esq., and Mr. Isaac Snow, was appointed, March 
 1764, to settle all accounts with the committee for the town's 
 loan money; and in the warrant for May meeting, the same 
 year, one article was, to see whether the town would accept that 
 committee's report ? But in the Record of this meeting, a pro- 
 found silence is observed on this subject ; and it does not appear 
 whether the committee ever presented the expected report, or 
 whether it was ever acted upon or not. 57 
 
 In the mean while, changes, from various causes, were taking 
 place in the committee. Three of the nine originally appointed, 
 viz., Messrs. Edward Walker, Josiah Pierce, and Lieut James 
 Simonds, do not appear to have ever accepted the trust ; or if 
 they ever acted with the rest, they did so but for a little while. 
 Capt. Benjamin Johnson was displaced by the town in 1756, 
 and Mr. Nathaniel Brooks put in his room. Death also was 
 beginning to do his work, and to compel some of them to pay 
 the debt of nature, if they could not, or would not, their dues to 
 the town. Jonathan Poole, Esq., chairman of the committee, 
 died about 1755; and Mr. David Wyman about 1762; and 
 Mr. Oliver Richardson and Capt. Benjamin Wyman were chosen 
 respectively to supply their places. And these changes, and the 
 prospect of others like them, seem to have combined with other 
 circumstances to rouse the town at last to efficient action. 
 
 At a general meeting, May 18, 1767, it was voted, " that the 
 Town's Loan Money that is in the hands of individuals, and the 
 hands of the Committee, should be transferred into the hands of 
 
 K Town Rec., Vol. VIII., pp. 331, 333, 337, 338. " Town Rec., Vol. VIII., pp. 394 400, 401.
 
 298 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 the town treasurer for the use and benefit of said town." A 
 committee also was chosen at the same time, consisting of Capt. 
 Benjamin Johnson, Josiah Johnson, Esq., and Lieut. Samuel 
 Thompson, to assist the treasurer in receiving the town's money 
 of the loan committee, " and taking good security for the same." 
 " Voted also that the Treasurer, and the Committee chosen to 
 assist said Treasurer, be and are hereby authorized and empow- 
 ered to reckon and settle with the said Committee that has said 
 town's Loan Money in their hands, and said Treasurer to give 
 them a Discharge for their trust in that affair." 58 And at May 
 meeting, the following year, the same gentlemen were chosen 
 and empowered by the town as a committee " to reckon and 
 settle with Deacon Nathan Richardson, Lieut. William Tay, 
 Capt. Timothy Brooks, Mr Oliver Richardson, Mr Nathaniel 
 Brooks, and Capt. Benjamin Wyman for their service and 
 trouble as Committee men for the Town's Loan Money, and 
 make each of them such allowance for their service as they can 
 agree with them for, not to exceed one penny upon the Pound 
 per year, and take a receipt of each and every of them ; that 
 so the town may have a full discharge from each and every of 
 them from any further demand that either of them can have 
 upon the town for said service, and Report at the next town 
 meeting." 59 
 
 Here seems to be the winding up of the office of committee 
 for the Town's loan money. Henceforth, its trust and duties 
 devolved upon the Town Treasurer, Eleazar Flag Poole, Esq. 
 At March meeting, 1770, the town directed this gentleman "to 
 sue all those bonds for (its) Loan Money that is (arc) not 
 changed into Lawfull money, at the next Inferior Court in the 
 County of Middlesex; he first advising with the Selectmen 
 before he puts said Bonds in Suit." 60 In pursuance of these 
 orders, Mr. Poole commenced, that year and the next, five law- 
 suits in the Inferior Court; in all which, he recovered his 
 demand on the town's behalf with costs. 61 In two of these 
 suits, however, Joshua Richardson, the defendant, ventured to 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. EX., p. 38. Town Records, Vol. EX., p. 64. 
 
 Town Record*, Vol. EX., p. 106.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUKN. 299 
 
 appeal to the Superior Court, and gave bonds to prosecute his 
 appeal. 61 But at a session of that Court in Charlestown, April 
 14, 1772, he failed to appear: upon which the Court, at the 
 prayer of Mr. Poole, confirmed the judgment of the Lower Court, 
 with additional damages and costs. 62 At March meeting, 1772, 
 that gentleman stated, in his account for the preceding year, 
 then rendered, (attested by the Auditing Committee, and after- 
 wards accepted by the Town,) that he had received as principal 
 of the loan money, X76 0*. 3d., and as interest for the same, 
 5 15*. 7fd., total received, X81 15s. lOf </. ; and that there was 
 still due to the town, as principal, X30 13s. 04J., and as interest to 
 March 12, 1772, X8 16s. 5d. ; and also, that by a receipt he had, it 
 appeared that there was still in the hands of Nathaniel Brooks, 
 of the town's loan money, X2 2s. 4d., as principal, and XI 18s. as 
 interest, in all, X43 10s. Id., due to the town on this account. 63 
 At May meeting, 1772, an attempt was made to prevail with the 
 Town to remit to certain individuals a portion of what they 
 owed, on account of the loan money, or grant them a longer time 
 to pay their dues in ; but, to both these proposals, the Town 
 voted a positive refusal. 64 And at a general meeting, June 15, 
 of the same year, the Treasurer was ordered, by vote of the 
 town, " to put in prosecution the conditional note he (had) in 
 his hands, relative to a part of the (town's) Loan money, given 
 to him by Mr James Wyman " ; and also, " to prosecute the 
 Receipt he (had) in his hands, that was given by Mr. Nathaniel 
 Brooks and Mr. David Wyman to Mrs. Esther Poole deceased, 
 relative to said town's Loan money." ^ But on account of some 
 acknowledged illegality in this meeting, the abeve orders were 
 rendered void, and never afterward renewed. Weary of con- 
 tending for years about their loan money, and discouraged by the 
 failure of their numerous past efforts to get the management of 
 it again into their own hands, till they saw there was compara- 
 tively but little to contend for, they ceased from this time to make 
 it a subject of discussion and action in town meeting ; and the 
 
 Records of Court; communicated by Lorenzo Marrett, Esq., of East Cambridge. 
 Records of Superior Court, 1772, leaf 50, 2d page. < Treasurer's Book, p. 266. 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 164. <* Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 168.
 
 300 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 events which immediately led to the Revolutionary War soon 
 diverted their attention another way; and their remaining 
 claims for the loan money were speedily forgotten or over- 
 looked. 
 
 It is melancholy to witness so large and productive a fund 
 as the Woburn Loan money once constituted, and one that 
 promised originally to be of so great and lasting utility, frit- 
 tered away in the course of a few years into nothing ; and curi- 
 osity may incline many to inquire the cause. When that fund 
 was created, at the sale, in 1734, of Woburn's 2,000 acres in 
 Lunenburg, it was worth 3,300, in Massachusetts Bills of Credit. 
 As these Bills then passed at the rate of twenty-four shillings 
 for an ounce of silver at eight shillings, or sixty shillings for 
 two and one-half ounces of silver, equal to twenty shillings, or 
 one pound ; the whole value of the fund at its commencement 
 was 1,100, lawful money. 66 In 1741, when the new committee 
 recovered in the law the Loan stock from the old committee, 
 and took the entire charge of it into their hands, the Bills 
 of Credit being then valued at twenty-eight shillings for 
 an ounce of silver, 66 tho worth of the fund was diminished 
 to X942 6s. But so rapidly did they decline in worth be- 
 tween 1745, 1749 and 1750, that in the two years last named, 
 they had sunk into what was called Old Tenor currency, in 
 which an ounce of silver was reckoned an equivalent lor sixty 
 shillings in Province Bills. 66 The committee, aware of 
 the tendency of the money in their care to depreciate, 
 became alarmed, it seems, in 1744. But the town relieved 
 them of their apprehensions, by voting, at a meeting in August 
 1 744, not to exact of their committee " the sink of their money " 
 in the payment of interest accruing upon it, and directed 
 them at the same time not to exact it of those to whom they had 
 loaned it. 67 And now the disastrous effect of the depreciation of 
 the currency upon the Woburn Loan Fund began strikingly to 
 show itself. From 1745, down to 1750, inclusively, when Old 
 Tenor money became no longer a legal tender, and lawful money 
 
 > Felt's Massachusetts Currency, p. 135. w Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 451.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 301 
 
 was substituted in its stead, all payments into the treasury, 
 whether of principal from the Loan Fund, or of interest into 
 it, were in Old Tenor ; and thus it continued to be for several 
 years after. For instance, when the town voted, in 1761, to 
 take from its Loan Fund 200, Old Tenor, or its equivalent in 
 lawful money, to pay to Medford, in fulfilment of its agreement, 
 in order to be released in future from all obligation to help 
 maintain Medford Bridge, the whole sum taken from the fund 
 for this purpose was only 26 13s. 4</., lawful money. 68 And 
 the full amount of interest paid into the Treasury, by Lieut. 
 William Tay, one of the new Committee, for the portion of the 
 Loan Fund in his care, which had for a series of years been 33 
 0*. Od., Old Tenor, was reduced to 4 8s. lawful in 1749. 
 
 In each of these two instances was a depreciation of Province 
 Bills, reckoned in Old Tenor, of 7 10s., for 1 lawful money. 
 Computed by this standard, the whole Loan Fund of Woburn, 
 viz, 3,300, as it was originally, and as it was when taken in 
 charge by the new committee in 1741, was worth, in 1750, only 
 440 lawful money. Here then, we see the main cause of 
 the constantly diminishing value, and final ruin of Woburn Loan 
 Fund. This sad issue is not to be imputed to the incapacity of 
 the second committee, who had the charge of the fund while its 
 depreciation was principally going on ; for there were among them, 
 men highly esteemed for their business talents, as well as integ- 
 rity and moral worth. It was not the result of their defrauding 
 the town of any portion of its Loan Money, either interest or 
 principal. For the Treasurer's Records exhibit numerous and 
 constant payments by them of the interest of the fund committed 
 to their management, so that a sum less than 10 of the interest 
 accruing upon the fund, remained unpaid at the final settlement 
 of the Treasurer, in 1772. And although their customary failure 
 to pay the interest, till a year had elapsed after it became due, 
 was a source of loss to the town, and of much disappointment 
 and vexation, yet even this failure doubtless arose, in most 
 cases, from the failure of those to whom they had loaned the 
 
 Town Record*, Vol. VIII., p. 46?.. 
 26
 
 302 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 money to pay the interest as it had become due. And as to the 
 principal of the fund, the Treasurer's Records credit the com- 
 mittee with numerous payments of it, between 1761 and 1767, 
 amounting in all to 337 18s. 9d., which being added to 76 
 Os. 3d., that the Treasurer himself received, according to his final 
 account, March 1772, after the fund was intrusted to his care, 
 and the 32 15s. Sd., of the principal, which he then claimed to 
 be due, amounted to 446 14s. 8d., a sum little exceeding that, 
 when the whole fund, in passing from Province Bills to Old 
 Tenor currency, and from that to lawful money, was then 
 accounted to be worth. 
 
 The final loss then of Woburn Loan Fund must be regarded 
 as one of the unhappy consequences of issuing, by the Govern- 
 ment of Massachusetts, Bills or Notes as money, without a suit- 
 able care promptly to redeem them, and thus keep up their 
 credit. This was a very common way of producing money at 
 the commencement of the last century, which the Legislature 
 was in a manner constrained by circumstances to resort to, and 
 which the people thejnselves were very reluctant should be given 
 up. But the more of these Bills were issued, the greater became 
 the general distrust of them; they continually diminished in 
 value ; and the consequence of their depreciation (to say nothing 
 of a great increase of crime and moral evil) was a multitude of 
 losses and calamitCiS both to individuals and to communities at 
 large. 

 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Establishment of Third Parish. Installation in it of Rev. Josiah Cotton. 
 Erection of Third Meeting-house of First Parish, and disposal of the 
 Second. Action at Law of Rev. Edward Jackson against Rev. Mr. Cot- 
 ton for a Libel. Death and Character of Rev. Mr. Jackson. 
 
 IN the chapter preceding, some account was given of the 
 unhappy difference between the two ministers of the First 
 Society in Woburn, Rev. Messrs. Fox and Jackson, and of the 
 consequent alienation of their respective friends from one 
 another. This alienation gradually increased, so as to become 
 the occasion, in 1 746, of a secession from the First Parish, and 
 of the legal establishment of a Third Society in the town, com- 
 monly distinguished at that day by the title of the " Separatists' 
 Society." The measures for effecting this separation commenced 
 with the friends of Rev. Mr. Fox, who handed in a petition to 
 the Parish Committee, August 31, 1745, requesting them, for 
 reasons therein declared, to call a parish meeting, and to insert 
 in their Warrant for it the prayer of the petitioners, that they 
 and those who might join them within a reasonable time might 
 be allowed by the parish to be set off " a separate & distinct 
 society"; and that they, their families and estates, might be 
 henceforth excused from paying anything toward the mainte- 
 nance of Rev. Mr. Jackson. 1 This petition, after some considera- 
 tion, the Parish Committee refused to grant. Whereupon, a 
 petition was presented, September 16, to Hon. Samuel Danforth, 
 Esq., one of the justices for the County of Middlesex, subscribed 
 by Roland Cotton, Jonathan Poole, John Fowle, Ebenezer 
 Flegg, and Joshua Sawyer, setting forth the denial which the 
 petition, subscribed by them and others, had met with from 
 the Parish Committee, and praying him to grant his warrant for 
 calling a parish meeting for the purposes mentioned in that peti- 
 tion. 2 In pursuance of this application, Justice Danforth issued 
 
 i Parish Rccordi, Vol. I., p. 236. Parish Records, Vol. I., p. 236.
 
 304 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 his Warrant for a parish meeting, to be held September 30, 
 " for the purpose of choosing any parish officers that might be 
 judged necessary; and of considering the petition of sundry of 
 the Freeholders of said Parish, as above expressed." At the 
 meeting thus obtained, it was voted, first, not to choose any new 
 officers ; and, then, after adjourning one hour for further consid- 
 eration, " It was put to vote, whether the Inhabitants would 
 dismiss those Petitioners, according as is set forth in their Peti- 
 tion ? and it passed in the negative, that they would not." 3 
 
 In the mean while, the Parish Committee had stolen a march 
 upon the petitioners, with a view either to check them in their 
 attempts at separation, or to extort from them as much aid as 
 possible for the benefit of the parish, before they could be 
 legally set off". During the four years immediately preceding 
 this, three unsuccessful attempts had been made to obtain a vote 
 of the parish to build a new meeting-house, or to repair the old 
 one. The proposal to build had been uniformly negatived ; and 
 forty shillings was all the parish would grant to repair. 4 But, 
 suddenly, an entire change of mind on this subject took place. 
 On the 1 8th of September, this year, (only two days after the 
 date of Justice Danforth's warrant for calling a Parish meeting, 
 to see if the parish would dismiss certain members thereof, that 
 they might become a distinct society,) the parish committee issued 
 a warrant for a parish meeting, to be held on the 26th of Sep- 
 tember, four days before the meeting called by Justice Danforth. 
 And, at that meeting, after granting the salaries of the two min- 
 isters for the current year, the Parish voted to build a new 
 meeting-house as soon as they conveniently could ; granted 
 1,000, Old Tenor, for the purchase of materials, and chose a 
 committee of five for carrying on the work. 5 
 
 And now the petitioners, baffled and irritated by these impoli- 
 tic, overbearing proceedings of the majority of the parish, and 
 confirmed more strongly than ever in their purpose to get off 
 from it, if possible, apply to the Legislature for redress in the 
 following petition : 
 
 * Parish Records, Vol. I., p. 237. ' Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 167, 205, 218. 
 Parish Records, Vol. I , p. 234.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 305 
 
 <; Province of the Massachusetts Bay. 
 
 "To His Excellency William Shirley, Esq r - Captain General 
 and Commander in chief in and over the Province of the Massa- 
 chusetts Bay, the Honourable the Council and House of Repre- 
 sentatives, in General Court assembled December y e llth. 1745 : 
 
 " Humbly shew the Subscribers, Inhabitants of the First Parish 
 in Woburn ; 
 
 " That they preferred a Petition to the Committee of the said 
 Parish on the 31st. of August last, setting forth, that the Rever- 
 end Mr Edward Jackson had been settled in the Ministry in said 
 Town about sixteen 3*ears, ever since which there has been an 
 unhappy and unaccountable difference between their senior Pastor 
 the Rev* Mr John Fox and the said Mr Jackson ; and notwithstand- 
 ing the earnest endeavours of many well disposed Ministers and 
 other Christian Brethren to reconcile these two ministers, and 
 induce them to live together as Ministers and Brethren ought to 
 do, yet that this alienation of affection evidently continues to this 
 day, greatly to the prejudice of Religion in this Parish, and the best 
 welfare of ourselves and Families whilst we remain in these very 
 distressing circumstances : we therefore earnestly desired and 
 requested them to call a Parish meeting according to law, and 
 insert in their warrant that it was the Prayer of us the Subscribers 
 and our Associates that should join to us in a reasonable time, to 
 be allowed by the Parish to be set off a separate and distinct 
 Society, that we our Families and Estates might be for the future 
 excused from paying anything toward the maintenance of the said 
 Mr Edward Jackson ; and we did in the said Petition engage to 
 the said Parish, that for the promotion of peace and that we and 
 our families might have the precious and invaluable liberty of wor- 
 shiping God without confusion and disorder, or any uncharitable 
 reflections upon each other, that we would take upon ourselves our 
 proportionable part of the charge of supporting and maintaining the 
 Reverend Mr John Fox, who is the Senior Pastor of that (this) 
 Church and Parish, and who is in justice entitled to as much or 
 more salary than the younger Pastor, although by the Providence 
 of God he is taken off from the publick ministerial performances : 
 and consequently we must be at the charge of settling another ; yet 
 we were heartily willing, though but very unable to be at the extra- 
 ordinary charge ; as we were very sensible this method would tend 
 to restore Peace to the Parish, and i,by the Blessing of God) to
 
 306 HISTORY OF WOBURtf. 
 
 promote the future Happiness of ourselves and Families here and 
 hereafter. 
 
 '* That the said Parish Committee, as we are informed, met 
 twice after the Petition was presented, but did not see cause to 
 call a Parish Meeting agreeable to our reasonable Request, which 
 obliged us to apply to one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace 
 according to Law, who issued a warrant on the IGth of September 
 last requiring the Freeholders & others qualified according to Law 
 to meet together to consider our Petition the 30th following : 
 which when the Parish Committee perceived, they suddenly met 
 together, as we were informed, and issued their warrant for a 
 meeting to see whether the Parish would build a new Meeting 
 House, and directed the Inhabitants to meet the week before the 
 Parish meeting ordered by the Justice, and would not insert our 
 Petition in their Warrant ; and when they met together, they (as 
 we apprehend, to baffle, distress and discourage us from our honest 
 & just design of being a distinct Society and living peaceably 
 together, and to render us unable to build a decent meeting house 
 for the publick worship of God) voted to raise a large sum of 
 money towards building themselves a meeting-house, though your 
 petitioners who were present, and sundry others, entered their 
 Protest against such a vote being put, forasmuch as the warning 
 for said meeting was exceeding short, and a great number of the 
 voters being absent ; and further at the meeting appointed by the 
 order of the Justice the week after, the Parish unreasonably 
 refused to grant the Prayer of your Petitioners, as by the Records 
 will appear. 
 
 " Now may it please your Excellency and Honours, as these 
 Proceedings manifestly tend to distress your Petitioners, and 
 prevent their enjoying Gospel privileges in Peace and Order, 
 They humbly pray that they with their Associates who shall join 
 with them in a reasonable time, as your Honours shall in your 
 wisdom judge meet, may be excused from paying any taxes for the 
 future either to the building a meeting-house for Mr Jackson, or to 
 his maintenance ; and that they may be set off a separate and dis- 
 tinct Society, which is of the greatest consequence to your poor 
 distressed Petitioners, who will as in duty bound ever Pray etc., 
 etc. " JACOB WRIGHT JUN' JONATHAN POOLE 
 
 JONATHAN Fox JOHN FOWLE 
 
 DAVID ALEXANDER JACOB WEIGHT 
 
 JOSHUA SAWYER EBENEZEII FLEGG 
 
 GERSHOM FLAGG JunV
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 307 
 
 "In the House of Representatives Dec r . 18th. 1745 Read and 
 ordered that the Petitioners serve the Clerk of the first Parish in 
 Woburn with a Copy of this Petition, that so they shew Cause if 
 any they have, on the first Wednesday of the next Session of this 
 Court, why the Prayer thereof should not be granted : and all Pro- 
 ceedings with respect to making Parish Taxes are suspended in the 
 meantime. 
 
 " Sent up for Concurrence. 
 
 " T. CUSHING, Speaker. 
 " In Council Deer 1 ". 18th. 1745. 
 " Read & Concur*. 
 
 " J. WILLARD, Sscr y . 
 
 " Consented to : 
 
 W. SHIRLEY." 6 
 
 A Copy of this Order of Court having been duly served, a 
 parish meeting was called January 2, 1745-6; at which a com- 
 mittee of five was chosen, " to go to the Great and General 
 Court to make answer to a Petition there preferred by sundry 
 of the Inhabitants of said Parish, and shew reason why they 
 should not be set off a separate Society as they have requested." 
 This committee consisting of Lieut. Samuel Kendall, Dea. Josiah 
 Peirce, and Messrs. Josiah Johnson, William Tay and Nathan 
 Richardson, doubtless appeared before the Court, on behalf of 
 the parish at the time appointed. 7 But what pleas they urged 
 against the prayer of the petitioners cannot now be ascertained, 
 the volume of the Court's Records for that year being unac- 
 countably missing. Certain it is, however, that the efforts of 
 the Parish Committee in this business were unsuccessful. At an 
 adjourned Session of the Legislature, apparently in August or 
 September 1746, they passed upon the prayer of the petition- 
 ers the following order, which is copied from papers, in the 
 hands of descendants in this town, of Lieut. Kendall, Chairman 
 of the committee. " Ordered that the Prayer of the Petition 
 be so far granted, as that the Petitioners with their Families and 
 Estates, together with such Persons and their Estates belonging 
 to said Parish, that shall hereafter, within twelve months next 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 238-240. ' Parish Records, Vol. 1., p. 242.
 
 308 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 coming, signify their desire of joining with them by writing 
 under their hands delivered into the Secretary's Office, be and 
 hereby are made and set off a distinct and separate Precinct, 
 and impowered to hold and exercise the same Privileges as all 
 other Precincts within this Province have, and by Law do enjoy ; 
 and also set free from any taxes toward the maintenance of Mr 
 Edward Jackson, and building and repairing said [First] Pre- 
 cinct Meeting-house, since the llth. of Dec r . last, when they 
 exhibited this Petition : Provided they pay annually one half 
 of what has been usually allowed by said Precinct towards the 
 support of the Rev d . Mr Fox their aged Pastor." 8 
 
 The Third Society in Wobtirn, being thus legally established, 
 proceeded to exercise the privileges with which they had been 
 vested. From a comparison of parish taxes, for Rev. Mr. Jack- 
 son's salary, for the years immediately before and after its 
 incorporation, the Third Society appears to have consisted of 
 about eighty heads of families and taxable persons, or very 
 nearly two-fifths of the old Society before the separation. 9 Among 
 them, besides Col. Roland Cotton, their leader, and the reputed 
 father of the Society, were several other men of note ; as Jona- 
 than Poole, Esq., Major John and Cornet Jacob Fowle; Cap- 
 tains Stephen and Joseph Richardson ; Messrs. John and Elijah 
 Leathe ; Messrs. Ebenezer, Gershom and Zechariah Flagg, Mr. 
 Jacob Wright and Son, Mr. John Russell; Capt. Samuel and 
 Mr. Jabez Carter, and Col. Jonathan, son of Rev. Mr. Fox. 
 The aged minister himself (Rev. Mr. Fox) appears, from some 
 circumstances, to have usually assembled with them, when able 
 to come abroad. They never arrived to have a proper, regu- 
 larly built meeting-house of their own, but met on the Sabbath 
 in an unfinished building that formerly stood opposite the 
 house of Dr. Silvanus Plympton, Senr., deceased, 10 and in which 
 there was a large room or hall, fitted up as a place of public 
 worship. A church was gathered in this Third Society, of 
 which Mr. John Leathe was chosen deacon. And their first and 
 
 Extract rom Petition of First Parish Committee to General Court, dated June 5, 1747, 
 and subscribed by Samuel Kendall, William Tay, and Nathan Richardson. 
 
 First Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 252, 267. 10 Mrs. Plympton.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 309 
 
 only pastor was Rev. Mr. Josiali Cotton, a brother of Col. 
 Roland, who had previously been a settled minister at Provi- 
 dence, Rhode Island. He was installed at Woburn, July 15, 
 1747; and the following brief notice of the solemnity appeared 
 the next day in the Boston Weekly News Letter. " Woburn 
 July 15. This Day the Rev. Mr. Josiah Cotton was installed Pas- 
 tor over the 3d. Church in this Town. The whole Affair was 
 carried on with the utmost Peace and Decency." 
 
 A vote was passed (it will be recollected) by the First Parish, 
 September 26, 1745, to build a new meeting-house, and to raise 
 XI, 000, Old Tenor, for the purchase of materials. This vote 
 was not then carried into execution, in .consequence of the order 
 issued by the General Court, December 18, following, in answer 
 to the prayer of the petitioners for the Third Society: which 
 order suspended for the present "all Proceedings with respect 
 to making Parish Taxes." Still, however, that design was not 
 forgotten ; and as soon as the separation of the Third Society 
 was fully accomplished, and the excitement which it had occa- 
 sioned had subsided, it was revived, and again made a subject 
 of public consideration. At an adjourned parish meeting, 
 October 19, 1747, in regard to an article in the warrant, To 
 see whether the Inhabitants of the Parish would build a new 
 meeting-house, agreeably to their former vote, or repair the old 
 one ? it was voted, to build a new one, the front of which should 
 be set " about the middle of the place where the old meeting- 
 house now standeth." A committee of nine, also, was chosen, 
 viz : Mr. Joshua Thornton, (a master carpenter, then recently 
 moved into town,) Lieut. Samuel Kendall, Dea. Samuel Eames, 
 Mr. David Wyman, Lieut. William Tay, Mr. Benjamin Richard- 
 son, Capt. Timothy Brooks, Mr. Isaac Snow and Mr. Nathaniel 
 Brooks, "to take care of and carry on the building of said 
 house " ; and this committee was instructed to draft a plan, to be 
 submitted to the parish at some future meeting. 11 And, at a parish 
 meeting, the following month, November 20, 1 747, It was voted 
 to proceed immediately with the building of a new meeting-house : 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 264, 285.
 
 310 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 the plan presented by the building committee was approved, 
 except in regard to the porch, which was reserved for further 
 consideration ; the building committee was authorized to provide 
 all the necessary materials, to be in readiness the following 
 spring; and 1,000, Old Tenor, was raised to defray the 
 expense. 12 
 
 But now began to be manifested a difference of opinion in 
 regard to the spot where the projected house of worship should 
 stand. It was at first determined (as has been seen) to erect it 
 on the site of the old house on the Meeting-house Hill. But, 
 soon a large and increasing number appeared in favor of build- 
 ing it on the Common, west of that hill. And hence, though it 
 was voted the following spring, April 5, 1 748, " that they would 
 not reconsider their former votes respecting the setting (of their 
 New Meeting House," yet this vote was carried but by a bare 
 majority; the minds of the people being very nearly equally 
 divided on the subject. And, hence, at an adjournment of that 
 meeting, three days after, it was mutually agreed by both parties 
 to leave the question of the place for the meeting-house to be 
 decided by lot. The lot was cast : and proving in favor of the 
 Hill, the spot originally agreed upon, it was " concluded to a 
 man," say the Records, by a subsequent vote, that the Hill should 
 be the place, agreeably to their former votes. It was resolved, 
 likewise, to take down the old meeting-house, as soon as they 
 were ready to frame the new one ; the building committee were 
 directed to provide materials, and go on with the work as fast 
 as possible; and another tax of 1,000, Old Tenor, was voted to 
 defray the charge of building. 13 
 
 But notwithstanding this seeming expression of unanimous 
 resolve in favor of the old site for the new meeting-house, there 
 were many still who could not be cordially reconciled to that 
 location, or long disguise their opposition to it. And the num- 
 ber and influence of these dissentients appear to have been con- 
 tinually increasing ; so as to cause embarrassment and delay about 
 demolishing the old meeting-house, and proceeding to build the 
 
 u Parish Records, Vol. I., p. 267. " Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 281, 282.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 311 
 
 new one upon its site, agreeably to vote of the parish. And 
 at length, at a meeting, October 10, 1748, it was voted by the 
 parish, that "notwithstanding all their former votes, (they) 
 would set their new Meeting House on the Knoll on the Train- 
 ing Field on the West side of the Country Road, as near the road 
 as it can conveniently be set." It was also voted as a desire of 
 the parish, that the Selectmen would call a town meeting, to 
 see whether the town will let the parish set their new meeting- 
 house in the place that was last determined on. And direction 
 was given their Building Committee to provide all the mate- 
 rials that were yet wanting, and to proceed to frame their new 
 meeting-house as soon as they could with conveniency. 14 Agree- 
 ably to the desire of the parish just expressed, a town meeting 
 was called October 26, 1748, when the town granted the First 
 Parish the liberty requested, to set their new meeting-house on 
 the spot which they had recently decided upon ; and also liberty 
 " of digging the Meeting House Hill so called, that is on the 
 Easterly side of the Country Road, so much of said hill as is 
 sufficient to straighten the aforesaid Road." 15 From these votes, 
 both of the town and parish it would seem, that the Common 
 in Woburn Centre must have then exhibited a very different 
 appearance from what it now does. Then, on the easterly side 
 of the hill, east of the great road from Wilmington and Billerica 
 to Medford, instead of abruptly terminating almost perpendicu- 
 larly as it does now, must have sloped gradually toward the 
 road ; and on the Common west of the road, where it will be 
 recollected by some that the third meeting-house of the First 
 Parish stood, there must have been then a knoll or small rise 
 of ground, instead of the level which we see there now. 
 
 The permanent settlement of the question, Where the pro- 
 posed meeting-house should stand ? seems to have given a fresh 
 start to the enterprise of erecting it. While the minds of the 
 people upon this subject were not made up, a whole year rolled 
 away, and little or nothing was done at framing the timber which 
 had been ordered and collected. But now that this question 
 
 " Pariah Records, Vol. I., pp. 284, 285. Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 643.
 
 312 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 was set at rest, the work of framing went on so rapidly, that 
 about the last of November, 1748, preparations were com- 
 menced for raising. To aid in this important operation, Mr. 
 Zebadiah Wyman was appointed to procure tackle from Boston ; 
 and to ensure energy enough to make the tackle work briskly, 
 (according to the notions of those days,) he was likewisedirected 
 to provide for the occasion two barrels of cider, twenty gallons 
 of rum, and one-fourth cwt. of sugar to sweeten it with, at the 
 expense of the parish : and Capt. Timothy Brooks was charged 
 with the care of these stores. At the same meeting, also, and at 
 successive adjournments, the parish voted, that the raising of 
 their new meeting-house should be commenced on Thursday, 
 December 1 ; that Tuesday, December 6, should be the raising 
 day ; and that a committee of three then chosen (viz : Capt. 
 Timothy Brooks, Lieut. William Tay, and Mr. David Wyman) 
 should provide a public entertainment on that day for Mr. 
 Joshua Thornton, their master carpenter, and for all strangers 
 attending the raising, that were not invited to private houses. 16 
 
 The meeting-house was, doubtless, raised December G, 1 748, 
 according to appointment. But the work of building and finish- 
 ing it proceeded with a singular slowness ; so that more than 
 three years from that date had passed away before the house 
 was fully completed. This delay appears to have been occa- 
 sioned, at least in part, by the difficulty found in collecting a tax 
 for the support of the two ministers which had been voted by 
 the parish to raise in September, 1 745, three months before the 
 petition for the incorporation of the Third Parish was presented 
 to the Court. It was not till March 22, 1749-50, above a 
 twelvemonth after the raising, that a committee of three was 
 chosen to draft a plan for seats and pews on the lower floor 
 and in the side (end ?) galleries ; and more than two years had 
 elapsed from that date when such a plan was presented at 
 parish meeting, and accepted, January 22, 1751. At the same 
 meeting, and at an adjournment of it, January 28, the parish 
 voted not to raise any money on their scats and pew lots, but to 
 
 " Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 287, 288.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUKN. 313 
 
 distribute them among those who had borne the expense of the 
 building, after the following manner : 
 
 A committee of five was chosen (viz : Dea. Samuel Eames, 
 and Messrs. Nathan Richardson, Josiah Johnson, Isaac Snow 
 and Edward Walker) to draw up a list of what sums each per- 
 son had been assessed in the .5,000, Old Tenor, which had been 
 raised for building the new meeting-house. The person that 
 should appear from this list to have been assessed the most, in 
 this amount of taxes for the meeting-house, upon his real and 
 personal estate (allowing but one poll to each estate) should 
 have the first choice of a pew lot, or of a seat, as he might prefer ; 
 the person taxed the next highest should have the second choice, 
 and so each one should choose successively, till all the pew lots 
 were taken up. Every person that chose a pew lot in prefer- 
 ence to a seat was to build a pew upon it, under direction of 
 the parish, at his own cost. He must also finish it, and dis- 
 charge all his dues upon what he had been taxed towards 
 defraying the charge of building the house, by the last of Sep- 
 tember 1751, or forfeit his lot to the use of the parish, unless 
 the parish by vote should grant him further liberty. 17 Such was 
 the plan adopted by your fathers for disposing of the accom- 
 modations of this their new house of worship. But many obsta- 
 cles were found in the way of its speedy execution. It was not 
 tillJuly 9, 1751, that the committee for drafting the list of each 
 one's taxes above referred to reported. Their list was imme- 
 diately accepted, and a committee chosen to " line out the Seats 
 and Pew Lotts " ; and July 23 was appointed as the day for the 
 people's choosing their several seats or pew lots, according to 
 their respective taxes. 18 Only a few, however, made their choice 
 on that day. Opportunities for doing it were given August 
 28, and at subsequent times. And when at last all the pew lots 
 were selected, the owners were slow to build on them. Money 
 was scarce ; many appear to have been owing for their meeting- 
 house assessments, and consequently were unwilling, under such 
 circumstances, by finishing their pews as they were required to, 
 
 " Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 322, 323. " Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. S29, 330. 
 
 27
 
 314 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 to risk the forfeiture both of their lots and all the cost they had 
 laid out upon them. And hence the parish was obliged repeat- 
 edly to lengthen out the time agreed upon, for delinquents to pay 
 up their respective assessments, and complete their pews. And 
 yet, by a parish vote passed so late as November 21, 1751, it 
 appears that all the pews were not then built, and probably 
 were not till January 22, following, 1752, the farthest day 
 agreed upon by the parish to allow delinquents to fulfil what 
 was required of them. 19 
 
 This third house of worship for the First Parish in Woburn, 
 as it was, after being enlarged, during Rev. Mr. Sherman's min- 
 istry, and when burnt in Rev. Mr. Chickering's, is doubtless 
 recollected by some still living in the town. But as it was origi- 
 nally, when it was built, and before its enlargement, there can be 
 none in Woburn now, who have any remembrance of it. Aided 
 however, by the reminiscences of an aged and very intelligent 
 citizen, now deceased, 20 concerning this house as it was in its 
 latter days, I have been able to deduce from the records the fol- 
 lowing description of its original structure and accommodations, 
 reserving for a future occasion some account of the enlargement 
 that was afterwards made in it. It was an edifice fifty-eight 
 feet long, forty-two feet wide, with twenty-four feet post, and 
 painted without, or within, or both, by this token ; that after it 
 was finished, the parish voted to give 10, Old Tenor, to Mr. John 
 White, in consideration of his hard bargain in painting their new 
 meeting-house. 21 It stood on the east side of the common, in 
 the centre of the town, having its east end close to the road 
 from Wilmington to Medford, very nearly opposite to where the 
 post-office is now kept (1867). 21 It had doors in its east and 
 west ends, and in its south side. To the last named, which was 
 its front door, it was proposed in the original plan, to erect a 
 porch ; but the parish, after having had the matter some time 
 under consideration, decided by vote there should be none. 22 
 
 The pulpit, with the deacon's seat in front of it, was on the 
 north side, in the centre ; and apparently without any other orna- 
 
 ' Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 339, 340. *> Mr. Bartholomew Richardson, Senr. 
 
 * Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 346, 347. August 17, 1749. Parish Records, Vol. I., p. 305.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 315 
 
 ment or furniture than the cushion from the old meeting-fyouse, 
 for which shortly after was substituted a new one, bought on pur- 
 pose for it by Capt. Timothy Brooks. The broad aisle leading to 
 the pulpit was four feet wide ; and diverging from this, near the 
 front door, were two narrow aisles, one on each side, running 
 by the wall pews all round the meeting-house, and meeting 
 before the pulpit. In the body of the house, fronting the pulpit, 
 were seven rows of high back seats, on each side of the broad 
 aisle, whence they were entered ; and back of these seven rows 
 of seats, and at their east and west ends, was a single row of 
 pews, which, from the circumstance of their compassing the seats 
 on every side but in front, were called border pews. The wall 
 pews were raised ten inches, and the border pews five inches, 
 above the floor of the house. 23 And the walls of each pew 
 throughout the house were to be built three feet and nine inches 
 high ; and ordered to be finished with balusters or " banesturs," 
 as those little pillars at the top of the pews were then called, of 
 which our fathers were universally so fond, as serving in their 
 view for ornament at least, if not for use, in their houses of 
 worship. 23 The Front Gallery contained four rows of seats 
 running the whole length, except where crossed by an aisle in 
 the centre, by which they were entered. The galleries at the 
 east and west ends contained two rows of pews each, with a 
 narrow aisle between each row. The whole number of pews on 
 the floor was forty-three, viz: twenty-seven wall pews and 
 sixteen border pews: and the pews in the east and west 
 end galleries were twenty-six in number, viz: six front and 
 seven back pews in each gallery. Pew No. 27. next to the 
 pulpit on the west, was reserved for the Ministry; and 
 accordingly was built by the parish, and appropriated by 
 vote to Rev. Mr. Jackson, one of the ministers for the time 
 being, so long as he should carry on the work of the ministry 
 among them. 24 All the other pews above and below, sixty- 
 eight in number, were appropriated to the individuals, who 
 made choice of the lots on which they respectively stood, 
 
 *> Parish Records, VoL I., p. 331. * Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 348, 349.
 
 316 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 according to their taxes, and built on them according to 
 order of the parish. Mr. Francis Johnson, for instance, having 
 been taxed the highest toward the meeting-house, had the first 
 choice of a pew lot therein ; and he chose No. 2, the next but 
 one east of the pulpit by the wall, and there built his pew, and 
 the same was confirmed to him by the parish, and put upon 
 record. So likewise the three foremost of the seven rows of 
 seats on each side of the broad aisle, on the floor of the house, 
 calculated to contain thirty persons in all; and the foremost 
 row of seats on each side of the aisle in the front gallery, 
 reckoned capable 'of accommodating eighteen persons, were 
 the private property of those who made choice of them. 
 The hindmost seat in the front gallery was the place 
 assigned to the negroes to sit in. The remaining four 
 rows of seats below, on each side of the broad aisle, and 
 the two middle rows of seats in the front gallery, were 
 common property, intended for the accommodation of any 
 persons belonging to the parish, who had no particular pew 
 or seat of their own. There was a singular exception to this 
 remark however. For some reason now unknown, the parish 
 voted at a certain meeting, that "Mr Josiah Parker (should) 
 have his seat in the fourth seat on the lower floor of the " New 
 Meeting House on the one side, and his wife (should) have her 
 seat in the fourth seat on the other side." 25 
 
 This meeting-house was probably finished about March 1752 ; 
 for in a warrant for a parish meeting, March 24th, of that year, 
 one article was, " To see whether the Parish (will) accept the 
 New Meeting House at the hands of the Committee chosen by 
 the said Parish to build the same ; Provided their Accompts 
 shall appear just and reasonable when adjusted." To build it, 
 the parish had raised by tax 5,000, Old Tenor, in five equal 
 assessments. A portion of this amount, however, appears from 
 the records, either to have been never collected, or to have been 
 diverted to some other purpose. The whole cost of the meeting- 
 house (exclusively of the pews, which were built at the charge 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. I., pp. 331, 333.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 317 
 
 of their owners) did not probably exceed 4,500, Old Tenor, a 
 sum equal to 600, lawful money ; or $2,000 of our present cur- 
 rency. There is no evidence that it was ever dedicated by any 
 special religious ceremony, or service on a week day, as is now 
 customary. The Episcopal Churches of Rome, and of England 
 hold to the holiness of particular days and places ; and hence the 
 religious observance by Christians of their communion of Christ- 
 mas, Good Friday and Easter ; and hence the consecration of 
 their churches and burial grounds by certain solemn rites and 
 ceremonies of religion. But our Puritan fathers acknowledged 
 no holiness in times or places for which they had no express or 
 clear warrant in the word of God ; and hence they denied the 
 religious obligation of observing Christmas, Saints' Days, or any 
 other day as holy except the Sabbath, which tliey regarded as 
 a permanent divine institution ; and hence too, they called their 
 houses of public worship not churches or houses of the Lord, but 
 meeting-houses ; houses for men to meet in, whether for the offices 
 of religion, or for the transaction of municipal affairs. And 
 accordingly, when -they built a meeting-house, they set it apart 
 for the worship of God, and the dispensation of His word and 
 ordinances, by no other solemnity, than by the preaching of an 
 appropriate discourse by their stated minister on the first Sab- 
 bath it was ready to be opened, after its completion. 
 
 The old meeting-house in Woburn, erected on the hill east 
 of the common in 1672, continued to be used for town and 
 parish meetings some time after the completion of the new one : 
 but at a meeting May 20, 1754, the parish voted to give their 
 old house to the town, provided that the town would erect a 
 convenient town house, and [or ? ] a house for their poor to work 
 in, within two years time. 26 The town took this offer into con- 
 sideration : and at a meeting in October of that year, they 
 appointed Mr. Isaac Snow, Capt. Timothy Brooks, and Dea. 
 Timothy Winn, as a committee to see what could be done with 
 the old meeting-house advantageously to the town. 27 This 
 committee seems to have reported at May meeting, 1755, when 
 
 * Parish Records, Vol. II., pp. 6, 7. Town Records, V^ 1. VIII., p. 138. 
 
 27*
 
 318 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 the town chose Mr. David Wyman, Capt. Joseph Richardson and 
 Mr. Benjamin Richardson, as a committee to agree with some 
 mechanic to take down the old meeting-house, and to erect out 
 of the same, and on the same spot, a town house, thirty feet 
 square, with twelve feet post, to be finished within six months. 28 
 In pursuance of this their commission, the committee, con- 
 tracted with Mr. Thomas Underwood, a carpenter then resident 
 in the town, to do the work. According to engagement, Mr. 
 Underwood took down the old building, (which, it will be 
 recollected, was forty feet square,) and reared up out of its 
 materials the walls of another, of the stipulated dimensions for a 
 town house. But discouraged, not improbably, by the failure 
 of the committee to furnish him with money from time to time, as 
 he needed it, in consequence of the exhausted state of the trea- 
 sury at that day, and the burdens of the French War which then 
 pressed hard upon the country, Mr. Underwood did not go on 
 to complete his undertaking with the spirit with which he com- 
 menced it. Impatient at his neglect, the town, at March meeting, 
 1757, two years afterwards, directed the building committee to 
 sue his bond at May Court, unless he should finish the town 
 house before. But the committee, thinking perhaps that nothing 
 would .be gained by such a suit, omitted, it seems, to prosecute 
 as ordered. At May meeting, the following year, the town 
 voted that their negligent committee should exert themselves, 
 and urge the finishing of their town house as quickly as pos- 
 sible. 29 But without money, the mare can't be made to go by 
 a town vote; and the town house still remained unfinished. 
 
 After waiting three years longer for the committee, to no pur- 
 pose, the town determined to take the matter into their own 
 hands, and see what they could do. At May meeting, 1761, 
 they voted that they would go on and finish their town house as 
 soon as it could possibly be done. 30 But now the town too 
 was found lagging behind its own resolution. In about seven 
 months after passing the last cited voie, so expressive of their 
 haste and impatience for the completion of this favorite project, 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. Vm., p. 157. Town Records, Vol. VIII., p. 236. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VTTI., p. 314.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBTJEN. 319 
 
 the inhabitants voted, December 22, 1761, not to proceed to 
 finish their town house so called ; but appointed a committee of 
 three (viz : Mr. Benjamin Wyman, Capt. Benjamin Johnson and 
 Lieut. Joshua Walker) to reckon and settle with the committee 
 for building it, and with Mr. Underwood, the contractor, and 
 then sell the building for the most it would fetch, for the benefit 
 of the town. 31 And by way of amendment of this vote, the 
 town, at an adjourned meeting, March 9, 1762, authorized their 
 auditing committee to sell their town house for <4 ($13.33), 
 provided they could obtain an acquittance to the town from all 
 further responsibilities in this affair. 31 Accordingly, this commit- 
 tee obtained a receipt of this description from Mr. Benjamin 
 Richardson on behalf of himself, and the rest of the building 
 committee, April 3, 1762. Whether Mr. Richardson took the 
 town house, as it was called, in compensation for the labor and 
 expense which had been bestowed on it by the building commit- 
 tee (of which he was one); or whether the auditing committee 
 sold it to some one else, and satisfied him out of the proceeds of 
 the sale, does not appear. The building continued to stand, 
 though in a neglected condition, many years after. In the Rev- 
 olutionary war, it was used as a place of deposit for fish and 
 military stores. 32 Mr. Zebadiah Wyman used it for some time 
 as a barn. 32 At length it was sold, it is believed, to Colonel 
 Loammi Baldwin, 32 who took it down. The materials were dis- 
 persed ; but one stick at least of its solid oak timber, cut down 
 in the forest nearly two hundred years ago, was recently to be 
 seen on the premises of the late Mr. William Fowle, deceased. 
 
 In 1752, about the time the new meeting-house was completed 
 all Woburn was thrown into consternation by an event which 
 affords melancholy proof of the virulence of the parties, into 
 which the town was then divided ; and of the iniquitous means 
 to which some men, otherwise deemed respectable, will some- 
 times resort for the sake of accomplishing their party purposes, 
 or gratifying their party feelings. A Mrs. Keziah Henshaw, (or 
 Hincher, as the name was then commonly pronounced,) widow 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VIII., p. 333. Zebadiah Wyman, Jr., Esq. informant.
 
 320 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 of Thomas Henshaw, who died in 1 747, gave birth to a babe ; 
 and at the time of her travail, as was certified by the midwife 
 under her hand, she laid it to Rev. Mr. Jackson. There is 
 abundant reason for believing that this charge was welcome, 
 though surprising news to Mr. Jackson's opposers, the friends 
 of Rev. Mr. Fox. Two of them in particular, according to a 
 tradition derived from a source of high respectability, 33 encour- 
 aged Mrs. Henshaw to go before a magistrate, and swear to the 
 truth of the report which she had put in circulation ; and that 
 when she had taken an oath to this effect, they were seen by a 
 friend of Mr. Jackson who was looking on, to put money into 
 her lap. Even these persons, however, were too cautious, it 
 seems, openly to assert the fact which that report was designed 
 to prove. But Rev. Josiah Cotton, the acting minister of their 
 party, with astonishing imprudence, did not hesitate to proclaim 
 it abroad. Credulously relying upon the truth of the story cer- 
 tified by the midwife, he on a certain day, in -the presence and 
 hearing of divers persons, charged Mr. Jackson with being the 
 father of the widow Henshaw's child ; " and called him, a vile, 
 wicked man, a fornicator, and unfit to be a minister." 34 For these 
 and other opprobrious speeches, uttered that day against him, 
 Mr. Jackson commenced an action against Mr. Cotton for a 
 libel : alleging in his declaration, that by means of his false, 
 scandalous words concerning him, he had been brought into dis- 
 grace and contempt; and that differences and quarrels had 
 arisen in the church and congregation to which he ministered, 
 by which he had been in great danger of being removed from his 
 pastoral offise : and laying his damages in consequence at 
 1,000. 34 
 
 The case was brought before the Court of Common Pleas, at 
 Concord, in September 1752. At this Court, Mr. Cotton, by 
 his attorney, Benjamin Kent, Esq., of Charlestown, seems to 
 have rested his defence, not upon any direct answer to what 
 had been alleged against him in Mr. Jackson's Declaration, 
 but upon the denial of some promise that Mr. Jackson had 
 
 33 Late Mr. Bartholomew Richardson, deceased. 
 
 Records of Superior Court, Vol. from 1752 to 1753, leaf 205, p. 2d ; and leaf 206.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 321 
 
 averred that he (Mr. Cotton) had made him. But Mr. Jackson's 
 attorney, Edmund Trowbridge, Esq., of Cambridge (afterwards 
 Judge Trowbridge), maintained, that the defendant's plea was 
 by no means a sufficient answer to his client's, the plaintiff's 
 Declaration ; and that he was not bound to reply to it. This 
 likewise was the opinion of the Court. And, accordingly, they 
 decided that Mr. Jackson should recover against Mr. Cotton 
 " the sum of One Thousand Pounds lawful money, Damage ; " 
 and XI 16s. 6d. the costs of suit. 35 From this Judgment of the 
 Inferior Court, Mr. Cotton appealed to the next Superior Court 
 of the Province for this County, holden at Charlestowri, 30 Jan- 
 uary, 1753. At this Court, after a full hearing of both parties 
 the case was committed to a jury, who returned as their verdict, 
 that "they (found) for the appellant Costs of Courts." And 
 this verdict of the jury was affirmed by the Court, who decided 
 that Mr. Cotton, the appellant, should recover Cost of Courts 
 against Mr. Jackson, the appellee. 34 
 
 By this decision, Mr. Jackson was thrown into a truly pitiable 
 condition. The former judgment of the Inferior Court in his 
 favor had now been reversed by the highest judicial tribunal in 
 the land, whence there was no appeal. His friends, many of 
 them, grew discouraged, and hung their heads. His enemies 
 triumphed, and freely uttered their jeers and taunts against him. 
 And to sum up his trials, a Council of churches and ministerial 
 brethren was convened, either just at this time, or at a little 
 earlier period of this difficulty, to consider and advise upon his 
 affairs. The -result of this Council, it is understood, was pub- 
 lished at the time, and a Copy long preserved in the house of the 
 late Capt. Ishmael Munroe, of Burlington, deceased. But several 
 years before his death, this copy was lost j and as no other is 
 known to exist, the object and doings of the Council referred to 
 can only be conjectured. It seems probable, however, that it 
 was called to consider the expediency of his dismission from his 
 pastoral charge : and it is very possible that Mr. Jackson alludes 
 to the proceedings of this Council, where he speaks, in his 
 
 Records of Inferior Court of Common Pleas for Middlesex, from Dec. 1750, to May, 1754, 
 pp. 303, 304.
 
 322 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Declaration, of the danger he had been in of removal from 
 office. But whatever the precise time and object of assembling the 
 Council were, the event shows, that -in such a dark, suspicious 
 case, they wisely judged it best to defer a decision against Mr. 
 Jackson till time should throw further light upon his conduct, and 
 prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. But even supposing 
 this Council to have resulted in such an expression of forbearance 
 towards an accused suffering Christian brother and friend, yet 
 its bare assembling on such an occasion, and upon such a subject 
 of consideration, must have been severely trying to the feel- 
 ings of Rev. Mr. Jackson, must have cost him many a pang. 
 Still, the good man under all these trials was wonderfully sus- 
 tained. The consciousness of his innocence of the crime laid 
 against him. and his acquittal from it by the All Seeing One, 
 proved to him a rock of support that could not be shaken, never 
 failed him. Nor was he wholly destitute of earthly friends to 
 encourage him. There were still a few at least among his 
 people who were confident of the falseness and malignity of the 
 accusation against him ; and that this would one day be made to 
 appear. And therefore, when his enemies would insultingly de- 
 mand of them, "If Mr. Jackson be innocent, why is he so 
 silent ? " these would reply (tradition says) "Aye : but by and 
 by the cry will be, ' When will Mr. Jackson have done ? ' " 
 meaning, When will he be satisfied with the revenge he will have 
 it in his power to inflict upon his accusers ? Cheered by the 
 countenance and firmness of such friends, Mr. Jackson quietly 
 persevered in the discharge of his ministerial du.ties ; kept his 
 mouth as with a bridle, and said little or nothing in his own de- 
 fence. When one or another of his people would now and then 
 come, and inquire of him, "Why, Mr. Jackson ! Don't you hear what 
 people say of you ? And do you say nothing ? Won't you offer 
 a word in reply?" His answer commonly was, "Aye, all in 
 good time." And thus this injured minister encouraged himself in 
 the Lord his God. He silently committed himself, in the way 
 of well doing, to Him that judgeth righteously; confident that 
 sooner or later, by one means or another, He would bring forth 
 his righteousness as the light, and his just dealing as the noon
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 323 
 
 day. And in this assurance he was not disappointed. But lit- 
 more than six months after the adverse decision of the Superior 
 Court in his case had pass&d away, when God, in his providence, 
 wonderfully interposed in his behalf, and by an occurence, appar- 
 ently the most trifling and accidental, wrought for him the 
 expected deliverance. 
 
 It happened one day, that, as Mr. Jackson's negro (Caesar, I 
 will call him) was at work near his master's house, there came 
 along another negro, the slave of one of Mr. Jackson's principal 
 opposers (whom I will call Cuff) ; when the following conver- 
 sation, substantially, ensued between them. " Good morning 
 Caesar," exclaimed Cuff, " Same to you," cried Caesar : "Where 
 you gwying ? " " Gwying ! " replied Cuff, " Gwying to Widder Hen- 
 shir's : got a letter : can you tell me where her lives ? " " Got 
 a letter ? " answered Caesar quickly ; " Got a letter ? give me : 
 I'll carry it to Massah Jackson : He'll point you where her lives." 
 Cuff upon this, with all simplicity, yields up the letter, and away 
 bounds Caesar with it to his master. The letter may reasonably 
 be supposed to have been unsealed ; for what the need of seals 
 to letters, carried by the hand of a poor ignorant African, that 
 had never learnt the alphabet, and to whom English and Latin, 
 Greek and Hebrew were all alike ? Seeing it to be in this con- 
 dition. Mr. Jackson ventured, to open it; and finding that its 
 contents furnished a complete exposure of the falsity of the 
 charge against him, or a direct clew to such a discovery, he 
 quickly copied it, and keeping the original for his own use, he 
 returned the copy by Caesar to Cuff; and Cuff, without perceiv- 
 ing or suspecting the change, took it from Caesar, and quietly 
 went on his way with it where he had been sent. 
 
 And now came Mr. Jackson's turn to triumph. He embraced 
 the first opportunity to petition the Superior Court for a review 
 of the case which had there been recently decided against him ; 
 concealing apparently, however, for the present, as far as was 
 possible, the source of the information upon which his petition 
 for a review was based. The Court granted his request ; and 
 at its next session for this County, whick was at Charlestown, 
 January 29, 1854, the same place where just a year before it
 
 324 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 decided against him, it now came to a decision in his favor ; and 
 one which completely vindicated his good name, which by its 
 former judgment came near being ruined. The following is a 
 copy of that decision taken from the records of the Superior 
 Court of this, then province, as it is there briefly expressed. 
 
 " At a Court held at Charlestown, Jany. 29. 1754. 
 " Edward Jackson of Woburn in the County of Middlesex, 
 Clerk, Plaintiff, vs. Josiah Cotton of Woburn aforesaid, Clerk, 
 Defendant. In a plea of Review of a plea of the Case &c ra as in 
 the Writ (on file) bearing date of sixteenth day of August last 
 at large appears : The Defendant altho' solemnly called to come 
 into Court, did not appear, but made Default, and the Plaintiff (the 
 Defendant having paid him the Costs) Releases his Demand for 
 Damages." 36 
 
 The " Writ on file" referred to in this Record, and which, 
 doubtless, set forth Mr. Jackson's reasons for asking a review of 
 his case allowed him, has been repeatedly sought for on the 
 files of the Court, but without success. The judgment of the 
 Court, however, in their review (or rather, as it may be termed, 
 the judgment of Mr. Cotton against himself ) is a complete vin- 
 dication of Mr. Jackson. Mr. Cotton, feeling he could not 
 defend himself, ventures not now to appear before those judges, 
 who, a year before, had decided in his favor. The Court 
 declares Mr. Jackson entitled to damages. But Mr. Jackson 
 generously relinquishes that demand to his new penitent suffer- 
 ing brother minister, he agreeing to pay the costs of Court. 
 And this account of the matter agrees in the main with the 
 popular tradition concerning the termination of this suit. That 
 tradition is, When the Court was assembled and ready to 
 attend to the Review petitioned for, Mr. Jackson put the letter 
 above referred to into his Attorney's hand. The lawyer shows 
 it to its author, a leading man of the Fox party, then present, 
 and asks him if he knew and would own his own hand ? The 
 writer blushed and was confounded. The cause being ex- 
 plained to Rev. Mr. Cotton, he ran out of the Court house, and 
 
 84 Records of Superior Court for Middlesex, from 1753-1754, leaf 122, p. 2d.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 325 
 
 cried like a child at perceiving how deceived or mistaken he 
 had been. And when it was signified in some way to Mr. Jack- 
 son that he had now his adversaries completely in his power, he 
 rose and said, " May it please your Honors, I desire not the 
 money of these men; I have no wish that they should be 
 deprived of their liberty ; all I ask of them is, that they stand 
 up and confess before the Court, and this whole assembly, that 
 the accusation they have laid against me, or helped to circulate, 
 is a false accusation." Mr. Jackson's proposal was complied 
 with. And while they left the Court house mortified and con- 
 founded, he left it with honor, and with the applause and 
 sympathy of all good men. And thus were fulfilled, in a portion 
 of his opposers at least, those words of the Psalmist, " He made 
 a pit and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. 
 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent 
 dealing shall come down upon his own pate." 
 
 Mr. Jackson did not long survive, to enjoy the vindication of 
 his character, which the late decision of the Court had estab- 
 lished to general satisfaction. During a large portion of the 
 year preceding, anxiety of mind seems to have undermin jd his 
 bodily health, so that a considerable portion of the time, the 
 parish was obliged to hire preaching ; and the remainder of the 
 year, he was still in a languishing condition. The parish im- 
 proved this opportunity to settle with him for their arrears, in 
 paying up his salary for past years ; and granted him a larger 
 sum than usual for the year then current. The restoration of 
 his credit, and the silencing of accusation against him, in conse* 
 quence of the last judgment of the Court, seem to have some- 
 what raised his spirits, and renewed his usefulness. But before 
 summer was gone, his health appears to have rapidly declined : so 
 that in September the parish voted to hire preaching again 
 for six weeks; but before that term was gone, their junior 
 pastor was no more. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Edward Jackson was a son of Deacon Edward 
 Jackson of Newton, and a grandson of Edward Jackson, who 
 arrived in New England about 1642; T^as made freeman in 
 1645, and settled in Newton, then a part of Cambridge, 
 
 28
 
 326 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 between 1642 and 1645. He was born at Newton, April 
 3, 1700; graduated at Harvard College, 1719, and was 
 ordained at Woburn, as colleague pastor with Rev. Mr. John 
 Fox, August 1, 1729. Through life, for anything that appears 
 to the contrary, he was sound in doctrine, correct in morals, and 
 his public labors and services were acceptable to his people, 
 though he has left nothing in print, by which the style, matter 
 and manner of his preaching can now be estimated. He lived 
 unmarried; and died September 24, 17 54, in the fifty-fifth year of 
 his age, and the twenty-sixth year of his ministry. The parish 
 provided for him at their cost a respectable funeral ; and by 
 their invitation, Rev. Messrs. Abbot of Charlestown, Appleton 
 of Cambridge, Cook of Menotomy (now West Cambridge,) 
 Morrill of Wilmington, Jones of Woburn Precinct, and Carnes 
 of Stoneham, accompanied his remains, as bearers, to his grave. 
 In view of the lamentable transactions recorded in the latter 
 part of this chapter, some, perhaps, may be ready to say that 
 religion and morals were at a low ebb in Woburn at that day. 
 But this would be a rash and unjust inference. It is not right to 
 judge of a whole community by the misconduct of a few of its 
 members. Doubtless, several of the prominent characters in the 
 scenes we have been just surveying were persons astonishingly 
 wanting both in principle and morals. But they were few in 
 comparison with the great body of the people. Many there 
 were, I doubt not, both of men and women then in Woburn, who 
 looked with grief upon some of the things done in the midst of 
 them, which have here been noticed ; and could not help passing 
 a judgment of entire disapprobation upon them in one way or 
 another, and sometimes expressing it. But after all, they kept 
 themselves aloof from the stripes, and reproaches, and false 
 accusations which then abounded; and meddled with them as 
 little as possible. They were diligent and exemplary in the 
 discharge of the duties of their several occupations and callings 
 in the week time : they were constant in the worship and service 
 of God upon the Sabbath ; they followed habitually the things 
 which make for peaqe ; in a word, they did justly and loved 
 mercy in their intercourse with men ; they walked humbly with
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUBN. 327 
 
 God ; and left a good example when they died for their children 
 to imitate. Such persons, though in the midst of a crooked and 
 perverse generation, are the excellent of the earth : they were in 
 that day-the salt of this town ; and for their saker, I doubt not, 
 a blessing has come down upon their posterity in different 
 generations then unborn.
 
 CHAPTER XT. 
 
 Ordination of Rev. Josiah Sherman. Death of Rev. John Fox. Reunion 
 of Third Parish with the First. Rev. Josiah Cotton dismissed, and 
 Third Church disbanded. Col. Roland Cotton. Enlargement of First 
 Parish meeting-house. Woburn in French War, 1755-1763. Memo- 
 rials of events in that war by Woburn men. Dismission of Rev. Mr. 
 Sherman. 
 
 THE last chapter of this History of Woburn closed with an 
 account of the death of Rev. Edward Jackson, junior pastor of the 
 First Church. This event occurred September 24, 1754. For 
 above a year previous, in consequence of his declining health, and 
 of the age and infirmities of the senior pastor, Rev. John Fox, the 
 pulpit of the First Church had been supplied by preachers from 
 abroad, at the cost of the parish. And it continued to be so 
 supplied for some weeks after Mr. Jackson's death, without any 
 special reference to the settlement of a colleague with Mr. Fox. 
 But at a meeting, January 6, 1755, the parish took some prelim- 
 inary steps to this important end. They directed their com- 
 mittee, for the supply of the pulpit, to employ Messrs. Aaron 
 Putnam, Jonas Clark and Stephen Minot, graduates of Harvard 
 College, who had recently commenced preaching, two Sabbaths 
 each ; and when these gentlemen had severally completed the 
 term of their respective engagements, the parish gave direction 
 for their continued employment among them, three Sabbaths 
 each in succession ; and at a meeting, June 18th, they attempted to 
 make choice of one of them for their minister. But as commonly 
 happens in such cases, the attempt was without eflect. Each of 
 the three candidates appears to have had a party among the 
 people in his favor ; the vote was a divided one ; and there being 
 no prospect of union in either of them, they were all three dis- 
 charged from further service in Woburn. 1 Mr. Putnam was 
 settled not long after at Pomfret, Conn, as Mr. Clark was in 
 
 i Records of First Parish, Woburn, Vol. II., pp. 11, 15, 20, 21.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 329 
 
 Lexington, Mass. Mr. Minot, a son of the venerated " Master " 
 Timothy Minot of Concord, received and accepted a call to the 
 pastoral care of a church in Portland, Maine, in 1759 ; but died 
 before the day appointed for his ordination arrived. 2 
 
 The gentleman next employed to preach here as a candidate 
 for settlement, was Mr. Nathaniel Potter, a native of Elizabeth- 
 town, N. J., and a graduate of Princeton College, N. J., 1753. 
 At a parish meeting, July 2, 1755, the committee for supplying 
 the desk was directed to hire him for three Sabbaths; the 
 engagement then entered into was subsequently prolonged 
 twice; and the last time, Mr. Potter was requested by the 
 committee (agreeably to instructions from the parish) "to 
 tarry a few days " in the place, in order that he and the people 
 might become better acquainted. At a meeting, September 22, 
 1755, the parish (in concurrence with the church) chose Mr. 
 Nathaniel Potter for their "Gospel minister"; voted to give 
 him a salary of 80 per annum, and 133 6s. 8d. settlement; 
 and then, after appointing their standing committee, jointly 
 with the committee of the church, to inform Mr. Potter of their 
 choice of him to the ministry, they adjourned their meeting to 
 October 20th. But at this adjourned meeting, Mr. Potter 
 returned a negative answer to their invitation. Upon the 19th 
 day of November following, 1755, he was ordained the pastor 
 of the church in Brookline, Mass., and after sustaining 
 that relation a term short of four years, he was dismissed 
 June 17, 1759. 3 
 
 But though the citizens of Woburn First Parish, had been 
 thus twice disappointed in their hopes of obtaining a settled 
 minister, yet they still persevered in their efforts to this end. 
 Nor were these efforts long without success. At their meeting, 
 October 20th, above referred to, after voting to leave it with 
 their committee to supply the pulpit at their discretion till 
 further orders, they adjourned for a fortnight, to November 3d. 
 But before that day arrived, Mr. Josiah Sherman, a graduate of 
 the same college with Mr. Potter, and very probably by his 
 
 * Shattuck's History of Concord, p. 247. 
 
 Parish Records. American Quarterly Register, Vol. VHI., p. 42. 
 28*
 
 330 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 recommendation, appears to have come to Woburn, and to have 
 preached one or more Sabbaths, by invitation of the committee. 
 At the adjourned meeting, November 3d, the parish voted to 
 request Mr. Sherman to preach for them as a candidate for 
 settlement, and to tarry in town; and appointed a numerous 
 committee to communicate this their request. By this com- 
 mittee, Mr. Sherman immediately signified to the parish his 
 compliance with their request, and so acceptable did his subse- 
 quent services prove, that all hearts seem to have been at once 
 united in his favor. At a parish meeting, December 1st, only four 
 weeks from the time he agreed to preach as a candidate, a call 
 was given Mr. Sherman, apparently unanimous, to settle in 
 Woburn. In this deeply interesting proceeding, the church 
 took the lead, casting twenty-four votes in favor of Mr. Sherman. 
 The parish then concurred, by a vote of eighty-three, in the 
 choice of the church; voted, to grant Mr. Sherman a settle- 
 ment of XI 33 6s. 8d., lawful money of this Province, and an 
 annual salary of X80 " so long as he shall carry on the work 
 of a Gospel Minister in said Parish : " and having chosen a 
 committee to inform him of these votes, adjourned their meeting 
 to December 22d. On that day, Mr. Sherman communicated 
 his acceptance of the call given him : upon which the parish 
 fixed upon January 28, 1756, as the day of ordination; and 
 then, at an adjournment of one week, December 29th, voted 
 as follows : 
 
 1. To accept the offer, made by Mr. Benjamin Flagg, of his house, for 
 the entertainment of the Council; and voted, that Lieut. William Tay, Mr. 
 Nathan Richardson and Mr. Zebadiah Wymau be a committee to provide 
 for the Council there. 
 
 2. "Voted by said Parish that the following Ministers and their 
 Churches be sent unto, to assist in the Ordination of Mr Josiah Sherman : 
 viz : the Rev d Mr Appleton of Cambridge, 
 
 Mr Dunbar of Stoughton, 
 
 MrTurellofMedford, 
 
 Mr Hobby, Reading, 
 
 Mr Cook, Menotomy [West Cambridge,] 
 
 Mr Morrill, Wilmington, 
 
 Mr Bridge, Chelmsford, 
 
 Mr Carnes, Stoneham, 
 
 Mr. Jones, Woburn, 2d Parish, 
 
 Mr Potter, Brookline."
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 331 
 
 3. "Then chose a committee of two, Mr Benjamin Wyman and Mr 
 Jabez Kicliardson, to assist Mr Sherman in drawing up the Letters missive 
 to the above Churches. 
 
 4. Requested Josiah Johnson Esq r . "to get Mr Sherman's Letter of 
 Recommendation from the Church in Milford in Connecticut." 4 
 
 Agreeably to arrangements cited above, Mr. Sherman appears 
 to have been first admitted by Letter, as a member into the 
 First Church of Woburn ; and then to have been ordained its 
 pastor, January 28, 1756, the day appointed. For, at the annual 
 parish meeting, March 8, 1756, it was voted that they would 
 raise 80 to pay Mr. Sherman's salary the present year, " which 
 began Jan y 28th, 1756 "j and 133 65. Sd. to pay his settle- 
 ment. 4 
 
 The ordination of Mr. Sherman was soon followed by the 
 death of the senior pastor, Rev. John Fox, who deceased 
 December 12, 1756, when about seventy-eight years of age. 
 
 He was the eldest son of his immediate predecessor at 
 Woburn, Rev. Jabez Fox; and was probably born at Cam- 
 bridge, where his father resided, and occasionally preached, 
 before he was settled at Woburn, in 1679. He was graduated 
 at Harvard College, 1698; took charge of the grammar school 
 in Woburn in 1700; and apparently continued in that employ- 
 ment at his father's death, in February 1702-3. Shortly after 
 that event, he was invited to preach three months upon proba- 
 tion in his father's place; at the expiration of this term, his 
 engagement was prolonged to three months more, and then 
 receiving an invitation to settle, which he accepted, he was 
 ordained over the church and town of Woburn, November 17, 
 1 703. For twenty years, his services were acknowledged with 
 frequent tokens of acceptance and success: such as repeated 
 voluntary grants from the town, in addition to his salary. 
 But then, his health began to fail, so that he was often indisposed 
 and unable to preach ; which brought the town under the unwel- 
 come necessity, first, of frequently hiring preaching from abroad, 
 and then of settling a colleague ; and for the last fifteen years 
 of his life, he was totally blind. The loss of health and sight, 
 however, did not wholly put a period to his usefulness. While 
 
 Parish Record*, Vol. H., pp. 22-24, 26.
 
 332 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 laboring under these great discouragements, he still occasionally 
 preached; "and often catechised the youth of his parish? 
 who use to resort to his house for this purpose, and to 
 receive his pious counsels and exhortations." In Alden's notice 
 of him, in his Collection of Epitaphs, two sermons of Mr. Fox 
 from i. Samuel xiv. 15, occasioned by the great earthquake 
 October 29, 1727, are spoken of, as then extant. 
 
 Mr. Fox married Mary, daughter of Hon. Edward Tyng, 
 (one of Sir Edmund Andros' Council, 1687) who having been 
 appointed Governor of Annapolis, in Nova Scotia, " was cap- 
 tured by the French in his passage to that place, carried into 
 France, and there died. Mrs. Fox survived her husband ; and 
 died in Woburn February 1764." Their children were, 
 
 1. John, born 13 February, 1703 [1703-4]; "who in early 
 life went to Ireland to live with a wealthy relative." 
 
 2. Jabez, born 25 May, 1705, graduated at Harvard College, 
 1727; studied theology, and commenced preaching; but, on ac- 
 count of feeble health, relinquished his profession; settled at 
 Falmouth [Portland], where he spent an honorable and useful 
 life, and was for a number of years a member of the Provincial 
 Council of Massachusetts. He died 7 April, 1755, in the fif- 
 tieth year of his age. Anna, his first wife, died and was buried 
 at Woburn, August 5, 1 746, aged forty-five years. For a second 
 wife, he married Ann, widow of Phinehas Jones, who died June 
 9, 1758, aged forty-three. 
 
 3. Mary, born 26 October, 1706: married to Rev. Hebijah 
 Weld, of Attleborough, October 17, 1728. 
 
 4. Edward, born 26 October, 1708: lost at sea, in his pas- 
 sage to England. 
 
 5. Thomas, born 7 April, 1711 ; a goldsmith at Boston. 
 
 6. Judith, born 10 August, 1712; married to Rev. Nathan 
 Stone, of Southborough, October 31, 1734, being his second wife. 
 
 7. Jonathan, born 26 March, 1716 : married to Ruth Carter, 
 August 17, 1737; lived and died at Woburn, where he was 
 known as Col. Jonathan Fox. 5 
 
 Woburn Town Records. Woburn Records of Births, etc. Alden's Epitaphs, Vol. I., 
 No. 238, and Vol. II., No. 321. Rev. Joseph Green's Diary, in Collections of William 
 Gibbs, Esq.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 333 
 
 Shortly after the death of Rev. Mr. Jackson, in 1754, and 
 before that of Rev. Mr. Fox, in 1756, an effort was commenced 
 to re-unite the Third Religious Society in Woburn with the 
 First, which eventually proved successful. As the unhappy 
 differences between those reverend gentlemen and their respective 
 partisans had led to the establishment of the Third Society, so 
 at the death of Rev. Mr. Jackson, one main reason for its con- 
 * tinuance was removed. Accordingly, at a legal meeting of the 
 First Parish on Monday, April 14, 1755, Dea. Samuel Eames ; 
 Lieut. William Tay, Mr. Josiah Johnson, Mr. Oliver Richardson 
 and Mr. Isaac Snow were chosen a committee to treat with a 
 committee of the Third Parish on the subject of a re-union with 
 the First. This committee of the First Parish reported, after 
 an adjournment of one hour, that " the Third Parish say they are 
 willing to unite with the First." Whereupon it was voted by 
 the First Parish, " that they stand ready and willing (upon their 
 desire) to receive the Third Parish into union upon reasonable 
 & equitable terms: and desire their disposition thereunto in 
 the like manner." And at a subsequent meeting of the Third 
 Parish, April 28, 1755, they voted that they were "willing and 
 desirous to unite with the First Parish in said Town on such 
 terms as the said Parishes shall agree on." But though both 
 parties were thus ready to signify, that a re-union would be 
 acceptable to them, yet it was found very difficult to agree on 
 the precise terms. At an adjourned meeting of the First 
 Parish, May 21, 1755, they voted the following proposal 
 to the Third, viz : That they will let the " Third Parish in 
 Woburn come into their new Meeting House in common with 
 them, in case they will first pay their full proportion of cost of 
 building their new Meeting House : allowing those persons to 
 hold their pews and seats that will not give them up : provided 
 other grievances shall be removed and satisfied," On the other 
 hand, the Third Parish, at a meeting!, on the same day with the 
 above, passed the following vote. "May 21, [1755] Voted in 
 the Third Parish in Woburn, that they stand ready and willing 
 to pay their just proportion (with the First Parish in said 
 Town) of what the new Meeting House is worth: Provided
 
 334 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 they can come into said House upon an equal right with the 
 First Parish : and in case the Parishes cannot agree on what 
 the said House is worth, they are willing to leave the matter to 
 men mutually chosen. 
 
 Test. JOHN LEATHE, Parish Clerk." 
 
 But neither of these two offers was satisfactory to the party 
 to whom it was made. And yet the project of reunion was too 
 advantageous to both parishes to be abandoned or lost sight 
 of. The Third Parish, in particular, found new and strong 
 incentives to continue their efforts for a reunion with the First, 
 in the departure from them of their own minister, and in the 
 settlement over the First Parish of Rev. Mr. Sherman, in 1756. 
 Hence numerous meetings were held, and various proposals 
 were made by both parishes to secure this desirable object, 
 during the years 1756, 1757 and 1758. But nothing effectual 
 was done till March 1759. On the first day of that month, 
 the Third Parish voted as follows : 
 
 Woburn, March the first, 1759. Voted in the Third Parish 
 in said Town, that we of the Third Parish in said Town are 
 willing to unite with the First Parish in said Town, on the 
 following terms, viz : That we will pay into the Treasury of 
 the said First Parish Fifty two Pounds towards the Rev. Mr 
 Sherman's salary in twelve months from the date hereof: Like- 
 wise we are willing to be taxed and pay with you of the First 
 Parish towards the Rev. Mr Sherman's salary from the 28th 
 day of January last (1759) : Provided the First Parish mutually 
 petition the General Court with us, to be incorporated into one 
 Parish : p . JOHN LEATHE, Parish Clerk." 6 
 
 At an adjourned meeting of the First Parish, on the same day 
 as the above, at Mr. James Fowle's, Innholder, voted as follows : 
 
 " Having received a Vote from the Third Parish, Voted that 
 they will accept of the vote passed this day in the Third Par- 
 ish in said Town, in order for uniting the said two Parishes, 
 and be incorporated into one Parish : and chose Josiah Johnson 
 Esq r . Lt. William Tay and Mr. Isaac Snow to be a Committee 
 
 First Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 44.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 335 
 
 to join with a Committee of the said Third Parish to petition 
 the Great & General Court that they may be so united." 6 
 
 In fulfilment of their appointment, the joint committee of both 
 parishes petitioned the General Court to unite them again ; and 
 the Court passed on their petition as follows : 
 
 " MARCH 28, 1759. 
 
 " A Petition of Josiah Johnson and others in behalf of the First 
 and Third Parishes in Woburn, setting forth, that heretofore they 
 were the First Parish in that Town, but by means of some unhappy 
 contentions were divided and made two separate Parishes : That as 
 these contentions with the causes of them are removed, and as the 
 said Third Parish is destitute of a Minister, both Parishes are 
 desirous of reuniting and being made the First Parish in Woburn 
 upon certain terms mentioned in said Petition, And praying that 
 they may be united accordingly : 
 
 " In. the House of Representatives : Voted, that the Prayer of the 
 Petition be granted, _and that the said First and Third Parishes in 
 Woburn, aforesaid be and hereby are to all intents and purposes 
 reunited, incorporated and erected into one intire Parish or Pre- 
 cinct, and henceforward to be the First Parish or Precinct in 
 Woburn aforesaid, in the same manner as it was before the division 
 thereof into two Parishes : And that the Inhabitants thereof be 
 henceforward invested with the like privileges, Immunities and 
 Powers that any other Parishes or Precincts within this Province 
 are invested withal, any Law or Order to the contrary notwith- 
 standing. 
 
 " Provided, nevertheless, that the said Third Parish shall by the 
 first day of March next pay and deliver into the Treasury of the 
 said First Parish the sum of Fifty two Pounds of lawful money of 
 this Province toward the yearly Salary of the present Minister 
 of the aforesaid First Parish, which became due on the 27th day of 
 January last, and from that day forward to be jointly taxed with 
 the said First Parish for their Minister's Salary, and all other 
 Parish or Precinct charges. 
 
 " Provided, also, that each of the ^Parishes aforesaid may and 
 shall severally adjust, settle and finish their own proper Parish 
 Accounts and Affairs, and pay and discharge their several debts 
 respectively due from them, as heretofore they might have done ; 
 and be and hereby are fully impowered for those ends and purposes
 
 336 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 to lay and impose suitable taxes upon the Polls and Estates within 
 their respective parishes sufficient therefor, and may sue and be 
 sued (for any debts already contracted) by the name of the First or 
 Third Parish, in the same manner as if they had not been thus 
 reunited and incorporated together. 
 " In Council : Read and Concurred. 
 " Consented to by the Governor." 7 
 
 By this act of the Legislature, the reunion of the two parishes, 
 so much desired by both parties, and of such mutual advantage 
 to both, was legally accomplished", after a separation of fifteen 
 years. Agreeably, however, to the last provision of the Court's 
 Resolve, the first parish, as such, held one meeting more, in order 
 to finish their own proper business, receive money due to them, 
 and pay their own debts, in distinction from the Third Parish.. 
 On February 29, 1760, a warrant was issued by the Clerk of the 
 First Parish to Mr. Jonathan Lawrence, Collector, requiring him 
 " to warn and give notice to all the Freeholders and other In- 
 habitants of [Woburn] that were of the First Parish in Woburn, 
 before the Third Parish in said Town was united with them, to 
 assemble and convene at the Meeting House in said Parish on 
 Monday the tenth day of March next, at One of the Clock after- 
 noon, then and there to elect and depute Parish Officers, viz. a 
 Parish Clerk, a Parish Committee, Assessors, Treasurer, Col- 
 lector, and all other Officers needful to serve the said Parish, 
 as in their former capacity, the year ensuing," etc., etc. 
 
 Of the meeting thus warned, the record begins thus : 
 
 " At a legal Meeting of the First Parish in Woburn, in their 
 capacity before the Third Parish in said Town was united to them, 
 on Monday the 10th. day of March 1760, they proceeded as fol- 
 lows." etc., etc. 
 
 Having chosen parish officers, as they had been wont, they passed 
 the following votes among others : 
 
 " That the money due from the said First Parish shall be paid 
 out of the fifty-two Pounds, due to them from the Third Parish in 
 said Town. 
 
 " That if those that were of the Third Parish in Woburn will 
 
 General Court Records, Vol. XXII., 1757-1759, pp. 585, 586.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 337 
 
 provide money to enlarge the Meeting House belonging to the said 
 First Parish, equal as those of the said First Parish have paid for 
 said Meeting House, that they shall have room in said House equal 
 and according to their pay with those of the said First Parish. 
 And if the equal proportion of money be not sufficient to finish the 
 said addition, then it shall be finished at the joint charge of both 
 the said Parishes." 8 
 
 This latter vote seems to have been acceded to by the Third 
 Parish : for, from henceforth, both parishes appear to have met 
 and worshipped together in one place, and to have acted together 
 as one society. The above meeting of the First Parish, in dis- 
 tinction from the Third, is the last upon record. The next meet- 
 ing was held, indeed, on the same day as the above ; but at that 
 meeting both societies acted as one. 
 
 When the question of a reunion of the First and Third 
 Parishes in Woburn began to be agitated, shortly after the death 
 of Rev. Mr. Jackson, in September, 1 754, Rev. Josiah Cotton 
 was the settled minister of the Third Parish. But, perceiving 
 the inclination of his people to join the First Parish again, and 
 that his continuance in office might be an obstacle to this good 
 end, he saw fit to call a Council of several churches to meet 
 June 30, 1756, and "to advise & direct him with respect to 
 his removal," etc. 9 The Records of the Third Church being now 
 unfortunately lost, 10 the particulars of the advice which this 
 Council gave him cannot now be recovered. There can be no 
 doubt, however, that the Council convened at Woburn on the 
 day appointed, advised him, under existing circumstances, to ask 
 a dismission from his people ; and that, in compliance with their 
 advice, he asked and obtained an orderly and honorable dismis- 
 sion from his pastoral and ministerial charge ; and shortly after 
 removed his residence from Woburn. 
 
 Rev. Josiah Cotton, pastor of the Third Church in Woburn, 
 was son of Rev. Rowland Cotton of Sandwich; a brother 
 of Rev. John Cotton of Newton, of Rev. Nathaniel Cotton of 
 
 First Parish Records, Vol. II., p, 49. 
 
 Records of Church of Woburn Precinct, or Burlington, Vol. I., p. 164. 
 o " An extract from the Chh Book belonging to the third Chh in Woburn " ia copied in 
 the Burlington Church Records, Vol. I., p. 22.
 
 338 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Bristol, R. L, of Col. Roland Cotton of Woburn, and of Rev. 
 Ward Cotton of Hampton, N. H. ; a grandson of Rev. John 
 Cotton of Plymouth ; and a descendant of the third generation 
 from Rev. John Cotton, the renowned Teacher of First Church, 
 Boston. He was born at Sandwich, in June, 1703 j 11 graduated 
 at Harvard College, 1722; ordained, October 23, 1728, pastor 
 of a Congregational church at Providence, R. L, which was 
 gathered the same day, 12 and continued to minister there till 
 after May, 1736. 12 He was installed pastor of the Third Church, 
 Woburn, July 15, 1747; 13 and after his dismission from that 
 people in 1756, he was installed at Sandown, N. H., November 
 28, 1759 ; 14 and there died May 27, 1780, aged seventy-seven. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Cotton married Susanna before he came to 
 
 Woburn. It is not known that he had more than two children, 
 viz : 1. a daughter who died in Woburn, and upon whose grave- 
 stone in the old Burying Place there is inscribed as follows : 
 
 " Susanna, daughter of Rev. Josiah & Susanna Cotton, who 
 died Aug. 3. 1748, aged 10 years." 15 
 
 2. A daughter, Sarah, who was baptized (apparently in the 
 Precinct, or Second Church of Woburn) by Rev. Thomas Jones, 
 pastor, November 28, 1756, after her father's dismission from the 
 Third Church, and before he finally left the town. [See Bur- 
 lington Chh. Records.] 
 
 His brother Roland, it seems, had removed from the town 
 before him. Of this once prominent citizen of Woburn, a brief 
 account may not be unacceptable. 
 
 Roland Cotton, Esq., was the third son of Rev. Roland 
 Cotton of Sandwich; was born in that town about 1701; 14 
 graduated at Harvard College, 1719 ; and upon his first coming 
 to Woburn, sojourned a while at the house of his uncle, 
 Nathaniel Saltonstall, Esq., who was his mother's brother, and 
 brother to Gurdon Saltonstall, Esq., Governor of Connecticut ; 
 and who, at his death, June 23, 1739, is said to have made him 
 
 Rev. Abel Patten, from Sandwich Town Records. 
 
 i* Journal of Rev. Dr. Bewail, Boston. Boston Weekly News Letter, of July 16. 
 " Genealogy of Cotton Family, N. E. Historical and Genealogical Reg'r, Vol. I., p. 165. 
 Copies of Inscriptions, by Nathan Wyman, Esq.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBff. 339 
 
 sole heir to his large estate. 16 He is first noticed as an inhabi- 
 tant of Woburn in the Province Tax List for 1737 ; and then in 
 the list of the same tax for 1744, by the title of Col. Roland 
 Cotton. 17 He was chosen in 1737, and the seven immediately 
 succeeding years, to represent the town of Woburn in the 
 General Court. 17 And in 1739, and perhaps other years, he was 
 appointed Clerk of the House of Representatives ; and was said 
 to have discharged the duties of that trust " with fidelity and 
 despatch, and to great acceptance." But in consequence, it is 
 supposed, of alleged inconsistency of profession and conduct in 
 his political career, of seemingly arbitrary (not to say, illegal and 
 unjust) proceedings with which he was charged, in the impress- 
 ment of men for military service, and of his settled hostility to 
 Rev. Mr. Jackson, his popularity in Woburn after 1744 rapidly 
 declined. He appears to have left Woburn early in 1754, if not 
 before, and to have gone back to Sandwich, where he built for 
 himself a house, and where he probably spent the remainder of 
 his days. 16 He married Deborah Mason, October 3, 1760, who 
 died at Sandwich, August 1766. 16 It is not known whether he 
 left posterity. 
 
 To his generosity, while living in Woburn, the church of the 
 Second Parish (now Burlington) became indebted for the gift of 
 two handsome silver cups, dated 1740 and 1741, for the com- 
 munion service ; and also previously to him and his uncle Salton- 
 stall for their joint gift of another like cup for the same use. 
 The kind donors have long since ceased from the earth ; but by 
 these sacred offerings, their names inscribed on them, will long 
 be kept in grateful remembrance. 
 
 At his house in Woburn, died a maiden sister of his in 1 742, 
 of good repute, as " Vertuous, Usefull & Obliging in her Day 
 etc." 16 Upon her grave in the old burying-place in Woburn 
 is engraved the following singular inscription : 
 
 Letter of William G. Brooki, Esq., from Diary of Joiiah Cotton, Bq. t brother of 
 Rev. Robert Cotton of Sandwich. 
 
 17 Woburn Records.
 
 340 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 "Here lyes the Remains of 
 
 M". ELIZABETH COTTON, 
 
 Daughter of the Rev* . 
 
 ROLAND COTTON, late 
 
 of Sandwich. Dec d : who died 
 
 A VIRGIN October 12*. 1742, 
 
 Ataris 46. 
 
 " If a Virgin Marry, She hath not Sinned, 
 Neverth u such shall have trouble in the Flesh : 
 But he that giveth her not in Marriage doth better : 1S 
 She is happier if she so Abide." 
 
 Comparing the lists of parish taxes, assessed immediately 
 before and after the reunion of the Third Parish with the First, 
 we find that by this transaction exclusively of non-residents, fifty- 
 five were added, as members of the First Parish, to the one hun- 
 dred and fifty-three that previously belonged to it. 19 So large an 
 addition to the parish of taxable inhabitants, with their families, 
 must obviously render necessary, increased accommodations in 
 their house of public worship. Such necessity had been anticipa- 
 ted while the proposals for reunion were pending, and had been 
 in some measure provided for in the votes that finally decided in 
 its favor. But in consequence, probably, of some division of 
 opinion, how much it would be needful to enlarge the meeting- 
 house, or what proportion of the expense should be borne by 
 those who had belonged to the Third Society, for whose accom- 
 modation principally, such enlargement was required, no meas- 
 ures for this end were attempted till 1769. Then the want of 
 more room in the meeting-house was so sensibly felt, especially 
 by those who had been of the Third Parish, that articles were 
 inserted in the warrants for several successive meetings of the 
 parish, having in view the making of more seats in the meeting- 
 house ; and committees were successively appointed to consider 
 how this object might best be attained. And in the warrant for 
 a meeting called to be June 14, 1770, there was an article " To 
 see if the Parish will hear the Petition of some men that [had 
 been] of the Third Parish in said Town, in order to consult and 
 
 William Gibbs, Esq. ; taken from Woburn Old Burying Hill. 
 Parish Records, Vol. II., pp. 42-46.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 341 
 
 agree upon some methods and measures that shall be thought 
 and voted most expedient and beneficial, for their having equal 
 and proper room in the parish meeting-house, agreeable to 
 their Petition." 80 But at that meeting, and at an adjournment 
 of it, September 3, 1770, after many fruitless proposals, nothing 
 was done, and the meeting was dissolved. 
 
 Such a result must needs have occasioned much disappoint- 
 ment and irritation of feeling, especially in the former members 
 of the Third Society, who suffered most from the alleged incon- 
 venience. Seemingly to allay such feelings, a meeting was 
 held only a fortnight after, at which a committee of five was 
 chosen " to seat some elderly men and high payers in the Parish 
 Rates, and [who] have no seats assigned them to be seated 
 in the unappropriated seats during the Parish's pleasure." 81 
 
 But this measure, while it made an invidious distinction, could 
 evidently afford only a partial relief from the evil complained 
 of. Hence the question of enlarging the meeting-house, which 
 alone proposed an adequate remedy, did not cease to be 
 agitated. In the course of the eighteen months immediately 
 following, plans for opening the house of worship twelve feet, 
 eighteen feet and a half, and twenty feet, were submitted to the 
 parish and considered; but not one of them all then obtained 
 general and permanent approbation; for though the plan for 
 opening twelve feet was repeatedly voted acceptance, yet it 
 was not long acquiesced in. It was not till March 30, 1772, 
 that the first effectual step was taken towards the desired and 
 much needed enlargement of this House of God. At a parish 
 meeting on that day, it was voted, 
 
 "1. That they will open the Meeting House eighteen feet and a 
 half, and move to the West, the Pulpit being in the Centre. 
 
 " 3. That the new Pews that shall be made in the addition to 
 the Meeting House, shall be sold to the highest bidder ; they pay- 
 ing one-third part of the money they bid for the Pew, at the Pew's 
 being struck off to them ; and giving security for the payment of 
 the other two thirds ; viz. one third at the closing up said house, 
 and one third at the finishing the same ; with sureties. 
 
 *> Pariah Records, Vol. II., p. 119. Parish Record., Vol. H., p.,121. 
 
 29*
 
 342 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 " 4. And if any of the said Pews be sold or struck off to any 
 Person that hath one of the old pews, he shall immediately resign 
 his old pew to the Parish, to be sold in the same manner that the 
 New Pews are sold." 22 
 
 In pursuance of these resolves, the parish voted at an adjourn- 
 ment of this meeting, and at a subsequent one June 8, that they 
 would "have Twenty-two Pews made in the Parish Meeting 
 House, part in the addition of eighteen feet & half, and part 
 in the old house, all on the lower floor ; and the Parish Pew 
 moved up to the Pulpit, as it stands now." They also chose 
 Capt. Benjamin Wyman, and Messrs. Jacob and Joseph Wright, 
 a committee to sell the pew ground in the meeting-house, both in 
 the addition, and in the old part of the house, to the highest bid- 
 der at a public vendue, he belonging to the parish, and appointed 
 Mr. Loammi Baldwin, vendue master. 23 And at an adjourned 
 meeting, June 22, they appointed a committee of three (viz: 
 Messrs. Jacob Wright, Benjamin Wyman, and Jonathan Fox) to 
 hire workmen to complete the contemplated enlargement j and 
 made provision for defraying the expense, from the money aris- 
 ing from the sale of pew ground. And finally they voted, that 
 the common seats on the lower floor and in the galleries that 
 are made or shall be made in the meeting-house, shall be com- 
 mon for the people of the parish to sit in, during the parish's 
 pleasure. 24 
 
 The committee chosen to sell the pew ground at auction dis- 
 charged the duties of their appointment June 22, and June 29, 
 
 1772. The whole was sold on one or the other of those days : 
 and each purchaser paid down 4 10s., Old Tenor, as earnest 
 money ; and the remainder with a single exception, by January 
 
 17 73, or shortly after. The whole amount raised by this sale of 
 pew ground, for twenty-two additional pews on the lower floor 
 of the house, was, 2,125, Old Tenor, or $944$ , 25 
 
 The committee for hiring workmen, employed Messrs. John 
 Tay and Bartholomew Richardson. These two gentlemen cove- 
 nanted on their part with the committee, within three months 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 129. Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 130. 
 
 * Parish Records, Vol. H., p. 131. Parish Records, Vol. II., pp. 133, 134.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 343 
 
 from the date of their contract, viz : July 27, 1772, " to open the 
 Meeting House in said Parish, and move to the West eighteen 
 feet & a half; and move the Pulpit to the middle of the House 
 on the North side ; and provide all kind of materials, and fill 
 up the vacancy opened, and finish all parts thereof in the same 
 form & fashion with the Old House, except building the Pews : 
 and wheresoever any part of the Old House is broken or 
 defaced by them, they will make it good, and all the mate- 
 rials for said house and the work shall be good and mer- 
 chantable to the acceptance of the said Committee." 
 
 And the committee covenanted on their part, and in their 
 capacity, with Messrs. Tay and Richardson to pay them, for 
 their labor and expense, 150 lawful money (or $500) in all, at 
 three several payments, the last on or before October 10, fol- 
 lowing, or at the finishing of the house. 
 
 And to insure the faithful performance of this contract on 
 both sides, each party bound itself to the other in the penal sum 
 of 300 lawful money, " to be well and truly paid by the defec- 
 tive party to the party performing." 
 
 Although the fact is not recorded, yet there can be no doubt 
 that the enlargement of the meeting-house thus contracted for 
 was faithfully completed by the time agreed upon, viz : October 
 27, 1772. Nor is there cause to question but that the pews 
 were built in due season by the several purchasers of the pew 
 ground, as was done in this meeting-house at its erection in 
 1749, 1750. 
 
 And now, that nothing might be wanting thoroughly to furnish 
 this house of worship for its intended use, the parish, at a meet- 
 ing January 18th, the following year, 1773, chose Josiah John- 
 son, Esq. and Joseph Wright a committee to sell the old bell, 
 and to purchase a new one, that should weigh about four hun- 
 dred and fifty pounds. b 
 
 In 1755 began that sharp national contest known in New 
 England as " the last French war ; " and which continued, with 
 some abatements, till the definitive treaty of peace, signed at 
 
 . Parish Record*, Vol. H., p. 137. b Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 1.
 
 344 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Paris, February 10, 1763. This war was occasioned by en- 
 croachments, which the French were constantly making in Nova 
 Scotia, a province ceded by them to Great Britain, or acknow- 
 ledged to belong to her, by a succession of treaties ; and by their 
 commencing a chain of settlements and fortifications, which were 
 designed to extend the whole length of the northern and western 
 frontiers of the English colonies, and which would prove exceed- 
 ingly embarrassing and detrimental to their interests in time of 
 peace, and might be successfully employed for their utter ruin or 
 subjugation in time of war. Remonstrances against these pro- 
 ceedings having been repeatedly urged in vain, hostilities between 
 the two nations actually commenced in 1755, although war was 
 not publicly declared till the following year. 
 
 In this war, in the result of which all the British colonies bor- 
 dering on the Atlantic were so deeply interested, the inhabitants 
 of New England in general engaged with a hearty zeal, and 
 with a willingness to make every sacrifice in their power, in 
 order to bring it to a successful issue. And although, through 
 the rashness, or imbecility and folly of the military commanders, 
 appointed and sent here by the government in England, these col- 
 onists were grieved and mortified the first three years of the 
 war to see a constant series of losses and defeats and disappoint- 
 ments, yet upon a change of men and measures, they were over- 
 joyed to behold the former discouraging prospect entirely 
 reversed ; to witness success and victory everywhere attendant 
 upon the arms of Britain and her colonies, especially in the cam- 
 paign of 1759, when Quebec was taken, and the vast region of 
 Canada subdued. For from the first settlement of New England, 
 Canada had been a perpetual scourge to her inhabitants ; a con- 
 stant source of vexation to her commerce, of war and bloodshed 
 to her people, and of malicious, mischievous interference with 
 her Indian neighbors. Hence they longed to see this settlement 
 of France subdued ; they freely offered their persons and their 
 fortunes to the accomplishment of this end in the present war. 
 And " great and universal was the joy (saith Rev. Dr. Trumbull 
 in his History of Connecticut) 26 which spread through the Eng- 
 
 * Vol. II., Chap. K., p. 429.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 345 
 
 lish Colonies, especially through New England, on the conquest 
 of Canada, which, for more than a century, had occasioned so 
 much alarm, such an expense of blood and treasure to them, as 
 well as to the sister colonies. Many had been their own and 
 their forefathers' fastings and prayers for this great event. Now, 
 they conceived, that they were fully answered. Days of public 
 thanksgiving were generally appointed in New England to recog- 
 nize the divine goodness, and ascribe due honors to HIM, whose 
 is the greatness and the victory, and whose kingdom ruleth over 
 all." 
 
 In order to the accomplishment, however, of this most desir- 
 able end, for which so many united devout thanksgivings were 
 offered by a whole people unto God, numerous and costly were 
 the sacrifices, both of treasure and life, which the colonies were 
 called to make to procure it. In relating the close of the war, the 
 Keverend Historian just quoted, thus describes these sacrifices. 
 " For nearly eight years they had been making the most strenuous 
 exertions to carry on the war, and to assist his Majesty to hum- 
 ble the pride of their common enemy. Their burdens and losses 
 had been great. As the provincials enlisted for one campaign 
 only, a new army was to be raised, new bounties given, and 
 new clothing to be furnished, every spring. So great was the 
 expense, that the colonies were obliged not only to emit bills of 
 credit to a great amount, but to tax the people as highly as they 
 could bear. Besides the public bounties given by the colonies, 
 the merchants, farmers, and gentlemen of character were obliged 
 to advance considerable sums to encourage the enlistments, or 
 they must have left their farms, merchandise, and various employ- 
 ments, and gone into actual service. Especially was this the 
 case with the northern colonies. New England, in general, had, 
 during the war, ten thousand men in the field. Some years, the 
 two colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut furnished that 
 number. Massachusetts annually sent into the field five thou- 
 sand five hundred men, and one year, seven thousand. Besides 
 her annual quota, this colony, for several years, garrisoned Louis- 
 burg and Nova Scotia, that the regular troops might be employed 
 in the expeditions against Canada. On the application of the
 
 346 HisioRr OP WOBURN. 
 
 British admiral, she furnished five hundred seamen, in the expe- 
 dition against Louisburg and Quebec. At several times, many 
 others were impressed out of the vessels employed in the fishery. 
 According to the statement made by Governor Bernard, and 
 transmitted to the lords of trade, the colony had expended in 
 the war, eight hundred and eighteen thousand pounds sterling. 
 Of this sum, three hundred and twenty-eight thousand pounds 
 had been replaced by parliamentary grants. Four hundred and 
 ninety thousand pounds [or $2,177,777] were expended, for 
 which the colony had no parliamentary compensation." 27 In the 
 course of this war, too, it has been estimated by the same 
 Reverend Historian, that the colonies lost considerably more 
 than twenty thousand men. " These, in general," continues he, 
 " were their most firm and hardy young men, the flower of their 
 country. Many others were maimed and enervated in the many 
 distant and arduous campaigns during the war. And as the 
 New England colonies furnished much the greatest number of 
 men, so this loss fell with the heaviest weight upon them." 27 
 
 Of the public losses and sacrifices, particularly those sus- 
 tained by Massachusetts, during this war, Woburn had her full 
 share. During the five years immediately preceding 1755, when 
 the country was at peace, the average amount of her proportion 
 of the Province Tax was only XI 39 9*. bd. lawful money. But 
 from 1755, when hostilities commenced, till 1763, inclusively, 
 when peace was concluded between the two contending nations, 
 the annual average amount of her proportion of the same tax 
 was 518 9s. $d., almost four times as much as the average in 
 time of peace. But, oppressive as these taxes were, yet such 
 was the patriotic zeal of the people, they appear to have been 
 borne by them, and paid without complaint. 
 
 But what is still more observable is the large proportion of 
 men furnished by Woburn in that war for military service. 
 From a partial examination of the voluminous muster roll 
 returns of that war, preserved in the archives of Massachusetts, 
 and also from family papers and indisputable popular tradition, 
 
 * TrumbulT* Connecticut, Vol. II., Chap, xxii., pp. 463-455.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 347 
 
 it appears, that one hundred and twenty-seven of the inhabi- 
 tants of this town were enlisted or impressed for service, in the 
 successive stages, and for the various enterprises of that long 
 and bloody contest. And, were the examination of the public 
 documents above referred to completed, it would not improbably 
 enlarge that number to one hundred and fifty. In 1755, when 
 the war commenced, fifty-four Woburn men were enrolled for the 
 expeditions set on foot that year against Nova Scotia and Crown 
 Point alone. Now this number is more than two-elevenths of 
 all the males in Woburn that were taxed upon the Province tax 
 lists of that year, 28 and more than one in twenty-eight of all the 
 inhabitants of the town the same year, reckoning its population 
 in 1755 to have been 1500, which is a large estimate. 29 But 
 what a heavy burden would it now appear to be, if two- 
 elevenths of all the taxable males in any town, or if one out of 
 every twenty-eight of its inhabitants, including old and young, 
 men, women and children, were to be drafted and sent off 
 upon active military service in any one year ! 
 
 Two interesting memorials, one written, the other tradition- 
 ary, of persons and events in this war, have been handed down 
 to us by Woburn men, and are well deserving notice in this 
 connection. 
 
 The written memorial is a journal of Samuel Thompson, 
 Esq., once a well known, highly respected citizen of this 
 place, now deceased, which was kept by him, while serving in 
 this war, as a soldier. In April, 1758, he joined a company 
 enlisted for the Northern campaign, commanded by Capt. Eben- 
 ezer Jones, then of Wilmington, but of Woburn three years 
 before, when he was a leader in the expedition against Crown 
 Point. This company started for the place of its destination 
 May 24th, and reached Fort Edward, June 17th. When it 
 began its march, Mr. Thompson was one of the sergeants : but in 
 consequence of the sudden death of its commander and several 
 
 w Viz : 142 on 
 
 162-168 
 
 the west list, and 152 on the east list=294. Town Records, Vol. VH. 
 
 pp. 
 
 . 
 The total population of Woburn, ten years af erwards, viz : 1765, was 1,515. See Report 
 
 , 
 of Town Clerk of Woburn for 1865, p. 31
 
 348 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 -* 
 
 other officers, of wounds received in an attack by the Indians, 
 he was advanced to be a lieutenant. The journal referred to 
 is an account kept by him, daily, of his marches, hardships, and 
 the innumerable incidents which befell him or his fellow-soldiers, 
 or which he had occasion to notice in the public service, from 
 the time he left home in May 1758, till his return thither again 
 in November of the same year. The entire document has been 
 accounted as well worth copying and preserving in this connec- 
 tion; and a place has therefore been given to a copy of it in 
 the Appendix to this work, No. IX. 
 
 The traditionary anecdote referred to, in connection with the 
 war of 1755-1763, respects Capt. John Wood, son of John 
 and Esther Wood, who was born August 23, 1740, within the 
 limits of Woburn precinct (now Burlington) where he resided 
 all his days, and died there, October 19, 1809. 
 
 At the age of sixteen, and in the second year of the war, Wood 
 repaired to Concord to enlist. The enlisting officer, seeing he 
 was but a stripling, passed him by till all other applicants had 
 left. He then addressed Wood in some such terms as these : 
 " Well, youngster : and what have you come here for ? " " To 
 enlist, Sir," said Wood, "if you will accept me." " To enlist!" 
 replied the officer: "Why, do you think you can kill an 
 Indian?" "I don't know about that, Sir," said Wood: "but 
 I think I can fire a bullet into an oak stump as far as any other 
 man." The officer perceiving by this time that he was a bold, 
 hardy, ingenuous youth, though not so old as he could wish, at 
 length took down his age, measured him, and going through all 
 the other ceremonies of enlistment, dismissed him to the com- 
 pany in which he was to serve. 
 
 At a certain time during the period of his enlistment in the 
 war, being under the command (as he used to say) of Benedict 
 Arnold, the future traitor in the War of the Revolution, as he 
 and his company were marching through the forests of Canada 
 in midwinter, with the snow three feet under them on a level, 
 and the weather exceedingly cold, one of his comrades was 
 seized with a sore on one of his legs, which became so swollen 
 and painful as totally to disable him for keeping up with the
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 349 
 
 rest. This the captain perceived; and being resolved not to 
 leave him behind to perish with cold, or by the hand of the 
 enemy, and yet being unwilling to stop to take care of him, 
 feeling it to be important to hasten to the post he was going to, 
 which was thirty miles ahead, he called his men together, and 
 then bade any one, who might be willing to stop there and take 
 care of the poor lame soldier till he could send relief from the 
 fort he was marching for, to present his arms. But no one 
 answering to his bidding, John Wood stepped forward, and 
 offered himself for this benevolent, yet hard and trying service. 
 The captain gratefully accepted his offer; and after employing 
 some of his men to build him a little shanty for his shelter, and 
 others to collect in the forest sufficient wood for his fuel, he gave 
 him such necessaries as he could spare him, and a two-quart 
 wooden bottle of rum for his comfort and that of the suiferer he 
 was to wait upon, and then proceeded with his men on their 
 march. 
 
 Early the next morning, as Wood drew aside a blanket which 
 served for a door to his shanty, and looked out/ he spied four or 
 five Indians approaching, and as he had reason to think, with 
 hostile intent. At this sight, he was utterly dismayed for a few 
 moments. But quickly perceiving it would be of no use to 
 attempt either to resist or to run, he resorted to kindness for 
 protection. He instantly takes the bottle of rum which had 
 been given him, into his hands, and, going out and holding it up 
 to the Indians, cries out " Oncapee, Oncapee," their word for 
 ardent spirit. Upon this, the Indians stepped up, but refused to 
 drink, fearing it might be poison, till Wood drank himself. But 
 still apprehending that he might treacherously hold in his mouth 
 what he knew would be death to take down, they insisted upon 
 his drinking again, and make it appear to them that he swallowed 
 it. Wood readily took another sip, which made such a motion 
 before their eyes as it passed down his throat, that the Indians 
 instantly dismissed all suspicions of any evil design in his offer- 
 ing them " Oncapee," and drank of it freely, as much as they 
 thought proper. And now Wood takes them into his hoveb 
 and shows them the diseased swollen limb of his comrade under 
 30
 
 350 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 his charge, as he lay helpless upon the leaves or whatever 
 served him for a bed. Upon viewing it attentively, one of the 
 Indians (who, it seems, was an Indian doctor,) signified to 
 Wood, that he could cure that sore, and that he wished for a 
 flint. The flint being brought, the Indian pounded it to pieces 
 as well as he could, and taking the splinters, he stuck the sore 
 with them by their sharp points, very thickly, which soon caused 
 matter or water to ooze from the swollen leg. And now this 
 Indian surgeon repairs to a tall hemlock hard by, and scraping 
 away the deep snow at its foot, he takes a little herb he found 
 there, and gives Wood to understand that he must make of it a 
 wash which he must apply to the diseased leg three times a day. 
 And now the red men of the forest depart, leaving Wood 
 unharmed, he prepares and applies the wash as directed ; and in 
 three days, within which time the promised help from the fort 
 arrived, the poor, lame soldier entirely recovered the use of his 
 limb, and was able to go with Wood and the rest to his company 
 again. How much real, disinterested benevolence did Wood 
 display on this cfccasion ! And what evidence did the uncivilized 
 Indians he had to do with furnish, by their forbearance and 
 kind offices towards two defenceless foes, that, notwithstanding 
 the horrid cruelties with which their countrymen were sometimes 
 chargeable, they could and would act at times in a manner that 
 deserves and challenges our warmest praise. 
 
 The ministry of Rev. Mr. Sherman (who, it has been already 
 stated, was ordained in Woburn in 1755,) commenced under 
 very favorable auspices, and promised several years to be long, 
 harmonious and successful. But pecuniary embarrassments, 
 incurred by him originally in the purchase of his house and 
 lands, at length produced uneasiness between him and his peo- 
 ple. To relieve him in his perplexed situation, recourse was 
 had, but unsuccessfully, to various expedients. At one time, 
 the parish voted to give him 100 as a present; but this vote 
 was presently after reconsidered, and declared null and void. 
 It was also proposed, that they should purchase of him his home- 
 stead, and then allow him to occupy it free of rent j but this 
 measure, also for his help, when they came to act upon it, they
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUEN. 351 
 
 declined to adopt. They raised for him, however, in 1761, and 
 three years afterward in succession, in addition to his salary, 
 eight or ten pounds in money for procuring his firewood ; and 
 in 1765, they voted him a permanent grant of ten pounds per 
 annum, for this purpose, so long as he should " carry on the 
 whole work of a Gospel Minister " among them. 30 But this 
 grant, though very acceptable to Mr. Sherman, did not essen- 
 tially relieve him, or satisfy his wants. He was very desirous, 
 that beside this help, an addition should be made to his stated 
 salary in money, so long as he continued to preach among them ; 
 and that while he retained his pastoral relation to the church 
 in the place, some provision should be made for his support and 
 comfort, in case he should be necessarily taken ofi' from his 
 ministerial labors by any Providential occurrence. And at length 
 a mutual agreement to this effect was entered into between him 
 and the parish, through their committee, which is here copied 
 from the records. 
 
 " Whereas the Rev. Mr Josiah Sherman, Pastor of the First 
 Church in Woburn, appeared in a legal Parish meeting of the First 
 Parish in said Town, on the 20th day of October A. D. 1766, and 
 requested of them, that they would make an addition of ten pounds 
 of Lawful Money to his salary, to be paid to him annually so long 
 as he shall carry on the whole work of the Gospel Ministry in said 
 Parish ; and state sixty pounds of his salary to be paid to him 
 annually so long as he shall sustain the character of a Pastor to 
 the Church in said Parish, in case he shall be taken oft his labours 
 in Providence : 
 
 " In answer to which Request (after the said Parish and the 
 Rev d Mr. Josiah Sherman had mutually agreed thereto) the said 
 Parish on the said Twentieth day of October A.D. 1766, passed 
 the following votes, which are to take place and be in force from 
 and after the twenty-eighth day of January, Anno Domini 1767. 
 
 " Voted, by said Parish, that they will add to the Rev. Mr 
 Josiah Sherman's salary Ten Pounds of Lawful Money, to be paid 
 to him annually, so long as he shall carry on the whole work of a 
 Gospel Minister in said Parish, in case he will be therewith con- 
 tented for the future. 
 
 so Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 86.
 
 352 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 " Voted, that they will state only fifty Pounds Lawful Money to 
 be paid to him annually for his support, so long as he is in the 
 Pastoral Office in said Parish, when he shall be taken off his 
 labours in Providence, in case that he shall request no more, unless 
 he is constrained by necessity to ask more : but not to exceed ten 
 pounds. 
 
 " In Testimony of our mutual consent to the above agreement, 
 we have hereunto set our hands this seventeenth day of December, 
 Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six. 
 
 " JOSIAH SHERMAN, Pastor. 
 " BENJA. WYMAN 
 WILLIAM TAT 
 JOSIAH PARKER 
 Committee, in the Name of the Parish." 31 
 
 In accordance with this engagement, the parish at a meeting 
 March 16, 1767, voted "to raise XI 00 Lawful for Mr. Sher- 
 man's salary and firewood the present year, which began January 
 28th, 1767." 32 For more than seven years, Mr. Sherman for- 
 bore to make any complaint, upon record, of the provisions of 
 the above agreement. But necessity seems then to have compelled 
 him to open his mouth. In the warrant for a parish meeting, to 
 be held March 14, 1774, one article was, " To see if the Parish 
 will take the Rev. Mr Josiah Sherman's circumstances under 
 their consideration, and grant him proper relief; or vote him a 
 Release from his Ministerial Relation to them, according to his 
 request on February 15, 1774." 33 This renewed application by 
 Rev. Mr. Sherman to his people, for their help, prepared the way 
 for a twelvemonth's debate and altercation among them upon 
 the subject of his affairs. During that period of time, various 
 plans for his relief were proposed and urged by his friends ; 
 but these were all, one after another, obstructed or defeated by a 
 party, that now openly appeared in opposition to Mr. Sherman. 
 In view of this opposition, Mr. Sherman became quite disheart- 
 ened. As matters now were, he saw no prospect of securing a 
 comfortable maintenance for himself and family. His people, he 
 
 i Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 96. s* Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 98. 
 
 s> Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 152. 

 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 353 
 
 thought, now eyed him in the sanctuary with a different look 
 from that which they once used to present in the Sabbath 
 assembly. It seemed to him that his comfort and usefulness in 
 the place were now gone: and hence he felt constrained to 
 address the parish committee in a letter, dated January 18, 
 1775, expressing an earnest request that they would call a 
 parish meeting as soon as possible, to see if the parish would be 
 pleased to release him from his ministerial connection. In com- 
 pliance with this request, a meeting of the parish was held 
 February 6, 1775. But though a majority could not be obtained 
 in parish meeting to aid Mr. Sherman in the way he desired, 
 yet so deep rooted was the attachment to him of many, and so 
 strong appears to have been the expectation of retaining him 
 upon some terms or other, that, at this meeting, a majority could 
 not be found willing to part with him. After sending for Mr. 
 Sherman, and conferring with him, and debating the matter 
 some time, the parish decided after he withdrew, by a vote of 
 thirty-seven to thirty-four, not to dismiss him. 34 
 
 Three other fruitless meetings concerning Mr. Sherman were 
 held February 15th, March 20th and March 27th. That on 
 March 20th was convened in answer to the petition of seventeen 
 persons, to see if the parish would relieve Mr. Sherman by 
 purchasing the place he lived on, or by granting him a sum of 
 money, or in any other way they should deem expedient, and 
 would be agreeable to Mr. Sherman. But at the meeting it was 
 voted not to act on the warrant, and the meeting was declared 
 dissolved. 35 And at the meeting, March 27th, (it being the 
 annual parish meeting) an article was inserted in the warrant, 
 at the petition of ten persons, seconded by a written note from 
 Mr. Sherman, earnestly requesting the parish to release him that 
 day; it was voted again, after adjourning to March 28th, and 
 conferring with Mr. Sherman once more, not to release him. 36 
 
 In the mean while, there was a meeting of the church upon 
 Mr. Sherman's affairs, which resulted as follows : 
 
 "At a meeting of the first Church in Woburn conven'd at 
 
 * Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 170. Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 174. 
 
 M Parish Records, Vol. H., p. 179. 
 30*
 
 354 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 the meeting house in the first Parish in said Town March 
 27th. 1775. 
 
 " The following Votes were passed. 
 
 " 1. That they would dismiss and recommend Mr Josiah 
 Sherman, their present Pastor, in answer to his request. 
 
 " Then the following Recommendation was read. 
 
 "At a Meeting of the first Church in Woburn March 
 27th. 1775: 
 
 " The Rev. d Mr Sherman, who hath been for many years Pastor 
 of this Church, having represented that he is under great difficul- 
 ties respecting his temporal Circumstances, which, he finds, cannot 
 be removed without disturbing the peace and harmony of this 
 Society ; that he therefore thinks it necessary, his Pastoral relation 
 should be dissolved ; and having accordingly requested a dismission 
 from us as Pastor : 
 
 " The Church having taken the said request, and the circum- 
 stances which attend it, into their serious and deliberate consider- 
 ation, cannot but express their sincere regret at parting with a 
 Minister, whose doctrine and morals have been unexceptionable 
 while he hath been with us, and who hath discharged the duties of 
 his office and trust reposed in him with fidelity and diligence. But 
 as there seems to be no way of removing the difficulties under 
 which Mr Sherman labors, without introducing great contentions 
 and divisions among us, We are obliged to consent to his removal ; 
 and do accordingly dismiss him from his Pastoral Relation to this 
 Church, and Recommend him, as one who is well qualified for the 
 Gospel Ministry, to any Church who may employ him in that 
 sacred work. We heartily wish him all the comforts of that 
 Gospel which he hath preached to us ; and that he may be an 
 Instrument of building up the Redeemer's Kingdom in the world. 
 
 " 2. Voted that they were willing to subscribe that form of dis- 
 mission and Recommendation that was then read to them. 
 
 " 3. Voted that they would appoint and make choice of a Com- 
 mittee to sign said Recommendation in their name. 
 
 "4. Voted Deacon Nathan Richardson, Deacon Samuel Wyman, 
 and Brother William Tay to be a Committee for that purpose. 
 
 " JOSIAH SHERMAN, Pastor." 37 
 
 87 Church Records.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 355 
 
 Quickly after this action taken by the Church, a petition was 
 handed in to the parish committee, signed by Deacon Nathan 
 Richardson and others, to call a meeting on April 11, 1775, to 
 see if the parish would do anything to relieve Mr. Sherman 
 under his present difficulties, and make him comfortable among 
 them ; or, if not, to see if they would release him : and also to 
 act upon another request of Mr. Sherman to be released, dated 
 April 3, 1775. 
 
 At this meeting of the parish, April 15, 1775, it was voted, 
 " that [they] will not relieve the Rev d - Josiah Sherman (accord- 
 ing to his ? Request). 
 
 " Voted to dismiss the Rev d- Josiah Sherman from his Ministe- 
 rial Relation to them, according to his Request, upon his giving 
 the Parish full and proper discharges." 38 
 
 And thus, after a year's altercation, was accomplished the dis- 
 mission of the Rev. Mr. Sherman from his charge in Woburn, 
 much to the grief of a large proportion of the inhabitants, and 
 greatly, it seems, to the detriment of the cause of religion in 
 the place. It caused the parties concerned to be exceedingly 
 embittered one against the other : so that in all subsequent pro- 
 ceedings of the parish, respecting the employment of candidates to 
 preach, or the re-settlement of the ministry among them, whatever 
 pleased one party, excited the distrust or the opposition of the 
 other; and sufficient union among the people could not be 
 obtained to settle a successor to Mr. Sherman for ten years to 
 come. 
 
 Rev. Josiah Sherman was a son of William Sherman, and a 
 brother of Hon. Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of 
 Independence, 1776, and of Rev. Nathanael Sherman of Bedford, 
 Mass., and a descendant of the third generation from Capt. John 
 Sherman, a highly respected citizen of Watertown, its represen- 
 tative in the General Court 1651, 1653, 1663, and eminent for 
 his skill as a surveyor of land, in which capacity he was frequently 
 employed by the Colonial Legislature. He was a cousin to the 
 distinguished minister of Watertown, Rev. John Sherman, who 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. H., p. 181.
 
 356 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 died in 1685, as did Capt. Sherman in 1691. They both origi- 
 nated in Dedham, Essex County, England ; and both came to 
 New England about 1635. 
 
 William Sherman, above mentioned, a son of Mr. Joseph 
 Sherman of Watertown, and a grandson of Capt. John, was a 
 shoemaker by trade ; resided successively at Charlestown, New- 
 ton, Stoughton and Watertown ; and married at Watertown, for 
 his second wife, Mehetabel, daughter of Benjamin Wellington of 
 that place, September 3, (13?) 1715. In the record of this 
 marriage, he is said to have been then of Charlestown. But he 
 soon removed to Newton, where his son Roger was born in 
 1721; and in 1723, he removed to Stoughton, the birthplace 
 probably of his son Nathanael. 
 
 Josiah, fourth son of William and Mehetabel (Wellington) 
 Sherman, the future minister of Woburn, was born at Water- 
 town, April 2, 1729 ; was graduated at Nassau Hall, Princeton, 
 N. J., 1754; studied theology with Rev. Dr. Bellamy of Beth- 
 lehem, Conn, and with Rev. Mr. Graham of Southbury, was 
 ordained at Woburn, January 28, 1756, and dismissed April 11, 
 1775. From Woburn, he went to Milford, (New Milford?) 
 Conn. In 1781, after leaving Milford, and residing a short time 
 with his family at Stratford, he was installed at Goshen, Conn. 
 Being dismissed from Goshen, in 1788, he lived a while at Shef- 
 field, Mass., and then received and accepted an invitation to 
 settle over the church and society in Woodbridge, Ct., but died 
 soon after his arrival there, November 24, 1789. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Sherman was much extolled in his day as a very 
 eloquent preacher. "His elocution (writes one) was very dis- 
 tinct, tho' fluent & rapid. His voice was excellent. His mind 
 was discriminating. His eloquence was often pathetic, some- 
 times very powerful, and always of such a character as to com- 
 mand the respect & attention of his audience." "While at 
 
 Goshen, he published several discourses One was from 
 
 the text, ' And he fain would have filled his belly with the husks 
 which the swine did eat;' and was addressed to infidels, in 
 consequence of the publication of " Ethan Allen's Theology."
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 357 
 
 " The others were on ' the Redemption by Jesus Christ ; ' and 
 the 'History of Melchizedec." In 1760, while at Woburn, he 
 preached the Artillery Election Sermon from Psalm cxlix. 6 ; 
 but this was not published. 
 
 During Rev. Mr. Sherman's ministry in Woburn, and the 
 short period which elapsed from his dismission, April 11, 1775, 
 and November 26th following, the admissions into his church 
 were one hundred and twenty-six; viz, forty-four males, and 
 eighty-two females, of whom one hundred and nineteen were by 
 profession, and seven by letter. The baptisms were three 
 hundred and ninety-one; viz, three hundred and eighty-one 
 infants, and ten adults. 
 
 He married January 24, 1757, Martha, daughter of Hon. 
 James Minot of Concord, by his second wife, Elizabeth Merrick, 
 of Brookfield, and by her had issue, viz : 
 
 1. Roger Minot, born December 9, 1757 : of Fairfield Conn. : 
 graduated at Yale College, 1794: LL.D., Judge of Sup. Court, 
 Conn. 
 
 2. Martha, born December 8, 1758. 
 
 3. Elizabeth, born March 26, 1761. 
 
 4. Mary, born February 3, 1 763. 
 
 5. Susanna, born April 7, 1765.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Revolutionary War, Sacrifices of Woburn In, both of Men and Money. 
 Depreciation of Money, and exorbitant prices. Convention at Concord, 
 to remedy this evil. Constitutions of this State, and of the United 
 States Government approved. Colonel Baldwin Count Rumford. 
 
 THE declaration of peace between England and France, in 
 1763, found the inhabitants of Woburn a loyal people. They 
 were strongly attached to the mother country and its government : 
 and during the war, just brought to a close, they had given sig- 
 nal proof of this their attachment, in freely hazarding their lives, 
 and submitting to many and costly sacrifices, to extend and 
 establish the dominion of Britain. But the unconstitutional 
 enactments and oppressive proceedings of the Parliament of 
 England, which quickly followed the restoration of peace, awa- 
 kened in all her American colonies, especially in Massachusetts, a 
 feeling of distrust and apprehension, which gradually alienated 
 the minds of the people from the mother country, and issued in 
 open dissatisfaction, complaint, and opposition. This feeling 
 occasionally manifested itself in Woburn. For instance, it 
 prompted the people there, at a meeting, October 20, 1766 (in 
 disregard to the King's recommendation or injunction), to direct 
 their representative in General Court, Josiah Johnson, Esq., not 
 to consent to making up the damages, which Lieut. Governor 
 Hutchinson and other crown officers in Boston had sustained the 
 year before, by the violence of a mob, excited by their resent- 
 ment at parliament's passing the Stamp Act. 1 Again, it showed 
 itself in their sending delegates (at the invitation of the Select- 
 men of Boston) to a convention assembled at Boston, September 
 22, 1768, from numerous towns and districts in the province, to 
 confer with one another upon the existing state of public affairs, 
 and to consider what was to be done. 2 Woburn was represented 
 
 1 Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 10, new paging. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 78. Massachusetts Gazette, September 22, 1768. Hatficld 
 ec li ned sending delegates, for reasons. See Massachusetts Gazette, October 6, 1768.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 359 
 
 in that Convention by Mr. Oliver Richardson and Deacon Samuel 
 Wyman. The date of their appointment is not recorded. But 
 at a meeting, March 6, 1769, the town voted them twenty shil- 
 lings each " for their time and expences at the late Convention 
 in Boston." 2 
 
 But the most noticeable tokens of their uneasiness and dis- 
 satisfaction at the public condition were exhibited at a town 
 meeting, called January 14, 1773, to consult what measures to 
 take at that " alarming crisis," that would be " most conducive 
 to the public weal." 3 At this meeting, a recent communication 
 from the town of Boston, " relative to the publick affairs of 
 Government" was first read, and then a committee of nine was 
 chosen, consisting of Lieut. William Tay, Lieut. Joshua Walker, 
 Mr. Joseph Wright, Lieut. Samuel Thompson, Deacon Samuel 
 Wyman, Capt. Thomas Peirce, Mr. Robert Douglas, Dr. Samuel 
 Blogget, Deacon Timothy Winn, to take into consideration the 
 important matters suggested by the above communication, and to 
 report to the town at an adjourned meeting. 3 On the day of 
 adjournment, February 1, 1773, this committee presented to the 
 town a report, consisting of twelve resolutions, in which they 
 acknowledge King George to be their rightful sovereign, profess 
 their attachment to his person, and their confidence in his readi- 
 ness to do justice to his subjects in these colonies, could their 
 complaints be laid before him. They likewise declare their 
 satisfaction with the British constitution ; and disclaim all dis- 
 position to cast off their allegiance, or to murmur against the 
 rulers set over them, with a view to obstruct their influence, or 
 weaken their authority, so long as their rulers governed their 
 measures by the principles of the constitution from which their 
 authority was derived. At the same time, they assert their right 
 to petition government for the rectifying of wrongs which they 
 endured, in violation of the constitution of the British govern- 
 ment; and specify particular grievances which they conceived 
 they were subjected to, by reason of certain proceedings and 
 acts of parliament, contrary to tl e privileges, to which, as 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IX., pp. 188-191.
 
 3 GO HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 British subjects, they deemed themselves entitled. Among the 
 grievances complained of, were the following, viz : 
 
 The assumption, by parliament, of power to bind them by 
 laws, and to impose on them taxes, without their consent either 
 in person, or by their representatives. 
 
 The delivery, by the Governor, of Castle William, which they 
 regarded as the property of the province, under its jurisdiction, 
 and the " key of its defence," into the hands of troops, over 
 whom, nevertheless, the Governor himself had declared, that he 
 had no authority or control. 
 
 The exorbitant power of the officers of the Customs. 
 
 The extending of the power of the Vice Admiralty Court, so 
 as virtually to deprive the people of this province of their right, 
 in many instances, to a trial by a jury. 
 
 The appointment of the Judges of the Superior Court of the 
 province, the grant of their salaries, and the term of their con- 
 tinuance in office, by the King, thus rendering the Judges 
 entirely dependent upon the Crown for their creation and sup- 
 port, and independent of the people, whose property, liberty 
 and lives, do often turn upon their opinions and decisions. 3 
 
 This report was unanimously accepted by the town; instruc- 
 tions, in accordance with it, were given to Mr. Oliver Richardson 
 their representative in General Court ; 4 the clerk was ordered 
 to return an attested copy of the proceedings of the meeting to 
 the corresponding committee of the town of Boston; and a 
 committee of five was chosen on behalf of Woburn ; viz, Deacon 
 Samuel Wyman, Mr. Robert Douglas, Dr. Samuel Blogget, Mr. 
 Loammi Baldwin, and Deacon Timothy Winn, to correspond 
 with Boston, and any other towns they thought proper. 4 
 
 During the interval which elapsed between the proceedings 
 just recorded, and April 19, 1775, the inhabitants of Woburn 
 gave various tokens of their continued distrust of the govern- 
 ment over them, and of their dissatisfaction with it. They 
 repeatedly manifested apprehensions of the approaching contest, 
 and concern to be prepared for it in season. At a general 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IX., pp. 191, 192.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 361 
 
 meeting, December 23, 1773, they voted to build a house to put 
 their stock of ammunition in ; and chose a committee of three, 
 to see that the work was done; 5 and subsequently, they 
 appointed the Selectmen a committee to procure an additional 
 stock of ammunition, viz : two barrels of powder, and bullets 
 and flints in proportion, for the use and benefit of the town. 5 
 At a meeting, January 4, 1775, the town chose Dea. Samuel 
 Wyman, a delegate to the Provincial Congress, which was to 
 assemble at Cambridge, (or some other convenient place,) Feb- 
 ruary 1st. They likewise directed their constable, to pay the 
 moneys which they then had in their hands, or might thereafter 
 be raised by the town to defray " the publick charges of Gov- 
 ernment," to Henry Gardner, Esq., of Stow, till further order 
 be given by the town to the contrary. And agreeably to this 
 direction, Woburn's proportion of the province tax, <75 ISs. 
 5d., apportioned by the General Court, May 25, 1774, and 
 assessed January 11, 1775, was paid by the constables to the 
 said Henry Gardner, Esq., instead of Harrison Gray, Esq., 
 the treasurer of the province, appointed the year preceding 
 by the General Court. 6 
 
 At the same meeting, a committee of twenty-one was chosen 
 by the town, as a " Committee of Inspection," " to see that 
 the Association of the Continental Congress [the Non Importa- 
 tion Agreement ?] be strictly adhered to." 6 
 
 And, finally, at a meeting, April 17, 1775, it was voted "to 
 raise a number of Minute Men so called, not exceeding fifty, and 
 they to meet half a day every week in each month the six suc- 
 ceeding months, viz : May, June, July, August, September and 
 October, for Instructing themselves in the military science of 
 handling the firelock ; and if called into service, the town voted 
 to each man a Dollar as a premium for their services, exclusive 
 of what they shall be allowed by the government." 7 
 
 At length, that momentous day, April 19, 1775, arrived, 
 when commenced the conflict, which issued in the acknowledg- 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IX., pp. 227, 276. Town Records, Vol. EX., pp. 252, 262. 
 
 7 Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 280. 
 
 31
 
 362 HISTORY OF WOBTTRN. 
 
 ment of these United States, as an independent nation. Before 
 daybreak, on the morning of that day, the citizens of Woburn 
 had been notified of the march of the British troops towards 
 Lexington with hostile intent, by means of special messengers, 
 beat of drum, etc., etc. 8 At the receipt of this intelligence, while 
 some stayed behind, to protect their terrified families, or to con- 
 vey them to places of greater safety, others, in large numbers, 
 hastened to Lexington, not in military array, but promiscuously, 
 armed or unarmed, by the road, or across the fields, 9 as happened 
 to be most convenient, to the defence and aid of their country- 
 men in that hour of peril. Of those who thus went from 
 Woburn, two did not live to return, viz : Mr. Asahel Porter, son 
 of Mr. William Porter, who was shot down by the British in the 
 early part of the day ; and Mr. Daniel Thompson, brother of 
 Samuel Thompson, Esq., who was killed by the enemy in their 
 retreat from Concord. They were both young men of promise ; 
 and the following notice of their funerals is extracted from a 
 recent reprint of a sheet published at that period, giving 
 accounts of Lexington fight, taken from E. Russell's Salem 
 Gazette, or Newbury and Marblehead Advertiser of April 21st, 
 April 25th, and May 5th. "Same day [Friday, April 21st] the 
 remains of Mess. Azel [Asahel ?] Porter and Daniel Thompson, 
 of Woburn, who also fell victims to tyranny, were decently 
 interred at that place, attended to the grave by a multitude of 
 persons, who assembled on the occasion from that and the 
 neighboring towns : Before they were interred, a very suitable 
 sermon and prayer was delivered by the Rev. Mr Sherman." 
 
 8 Mrs. Betsey, widow of Amos Taylor, of Burlington, (whose 100th 
 birthday was commemorated at her request by religious exercises and an 
 appropriate address at her house, October 31, 1864,) once told me, that 
 while it was yet dark, on the morning of the 19th of April, a messenger was 
 despatched from Capt. Joshua Walker, commander of the then military 
 company of the precinct, to her father, Mr. Jonathan Proctor, the drum- 
 mer of that company, to beat an alarm as soon as possible ; for that the 
 " red-coats " were on the march towards Lexington, etc., etc. 
 
 9 It is matter of authentic tradition, that as Woburn men crossed the 
 fields on their way to Lexington, on the 19th of April, the winter rye 
 waved like grass before the wind; indicating that to be an unusually for- 
 ward season.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 363 
 
 Rev. Mr. Marrett, ordained pastor of the church in Woburn 
 precinct, December 1774, gives the following account of the 
 transactions of this memorable day, in his interleaved Almanacs, 
 " 1775, April 19. Fair, windy & cold. A Distressing Day. 
 About 800 Regulars marched from Boston to Concord. As 
 they went up, they killed 8 men at Lexington meeting house : 
 they huzza'd and then fired, as our men had turned their backs 
 (who in number were about one hundred) ; and then they pro- 
 ceeded to Concord. The adjacent country was alarmed the 
 latter part of the night preceding. The action at Lexington 
 was just before sunrise. Our men pursued them to and from 
 Concord on their retreat back ; and several killed on both sides, 
 but much the least on our side, as we pickt them off on their 
 retreat. The regulars were reinforced at Lexington to aid their 
 retreat by 800 with two field pieces. They burnt 3 houses in 
 Lexington, and one barn, and did other mischief to buildings. 
 They were pursued to Charlestown, where they entrenched on 
 a hill just over the Neck. Thus commences an important 
 period." 
 
 Two incidents of that eventful day, in which persons belong- 
 ing to Woburn were concerned, and both of which have been 
 transmitted by authentic and reliable tradition, it may not be 
 uninteresting to rehearse. 
 
 Mr. Silvanus Wood, then living at Kendall's Mill in Woburn, 
 was awaked while in bed before daybreak that morning, by a 
 messenger who called to him, announcing that a party of British 
 soldiers was on the march towards Lexington, and urging him 
 to go and join Capt. Parker's company then assembled on 
 Lexington Common. He went, and was mustered in Capt. 
 Parker's company, and was in its ranks when the men were 
 fired upon by the British, after they had turned their backs to 
 retreat, in obedience to the orders of their captain. 10 When 
 the British continued their march that morning towards Concord, 
 Wood followed with his gun in their rear, accompanied by 
 another person who was without a gun. Upon or near Park- 
 
 10 Mr. Wood.
 
 364 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 hurst's Hill, in Lexington, about a mile from the meeting-house, 
 observing a British soldier turn aside from the ranks upon some 
 necessary occasion, he hastened up to him while he was alone, 
 and pointing his gun to his breast, ordered him immediately to 
 deliver up himself and his weapon to him, or he should instantly 
 be a dead man. The soldier, taken thus by surprise, and when 
 unable to defend himself, or receive help from others, obeyed ; 
 and Wood taking his musket to himself, and giving his own gun 
 into the charge of his unarmed associate, bade him take that 
 man to such a person (or place) in Lexington ; and then pro- 
 ceeded himself in the track of the British, towards Concord. 
 What became of the British private, who, taken in an evil hour 
 had surrendered himself and weapon to Wood, could never 
 afterwards be satisfactorily ascertained. It has been conjectured 
 that the soldier, having a supply of British gold in his pockets, 
 offered a piece of it to the person who had him in charge, and 
 with it successfully bribed him to give him his liberty. Upon 
 the ground of this seemingly unavailing capture however, Wood 
 always claimed the honor of having taken the first prisoner in 
 the American War. And urging this claim at Washington, 
 about the year 1 824, he obtained, with the aid of Hon. Edward 
 Everett, then Representative in Congress for the District of 
 Middlesex, a handsome pension for life. 10 
 
 Mr. Wood was son of John and Esther Wood, of Woburn Pre- 
 cinct, and a younger brother of the Capt. John Wood mentioned 
 in the chapter preceding. He was born January 27, 1749, 0. S. ; 
 admitted a member of the Precinct Church, July 5, 1772 ; was a 
 lieutenant in the Continental army, in his brother's company, and 
 in the regiment commanded by Col. Loammi Baldwin ; and died 
 on his valuable farm at Woburn, west side, August 12, 1840, at 
 the advanced age of ninety-one years. His son, of the same name, 
 Mr. Silvanus Wood, of Woburn, from whom some of the facts 
 respecting his father in the above brief notice were originally 
 derived, and by whom all were confirmed, still (1867) lives. 
 
 Upon the evening of April 1 8th, Hon. John Hancock and Hon- 
 Samuel Adams, having left the Provincial Congress, which had 
 adjourned from Concord on the 15th, came to the house of Rev.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 365 
 
 Jonas Clark, of Lexington, to lodge. But as soon as it was 
 ascertained, very early the next morning, that a party of British 
 soldiers was approaching Lexington, Capt. Parker, Rev. Mr. 
 Clark, or some other friend of the above-named illustrious, but 
 proscribed guests of the minister, put them in charge (it is said) 
 of Sergeant, afterwards Colonel Edmund Munroe, to conduct 
 them to a place of safety ; and he, in fulfilment of this charge, 
 directed them (together with Miss Dorothy Quincy, the future 
 wife of Mr. Hancock) to Madam Jones', in Woburn Precinct, 
 widow of Rev. Thomas Jones, the former minister, whose family 
 was on intimate terms with Rev. Mr. Clark's, and whose house 
 was but about four miles from Lexington Centre. And here 
 the good lady of the house, who was a zealous Whig, in honor of 
 her distinguished guests, and to gratify them as highly as possible, 
 exerted herself to the utmost to provide for them an elegant din- 
 ner. Among other delicacies prepared for the occasion was a 
 fine salmon, which had been presented to Messrs. Hancock and 
 Adams, as a rare dainty at that early season ; but which, having 
 been left behind in their hasty flight from Lexington, the coach- 
 man had been sent back, after their arrival at Mrs. Jones', to 
 bring with him on his return. 
 
 The hour for dinner being at length come, Mrs. Jones, with 
 her honored guests, and Rev. Mr. Marrett, the recently settled 
 minister of the parish, then boarding at her house, sat down 
 with keen appetites to the repast she had provided for them. 
 But scarcely had they seated themselves at the table, when a man 
 fresh from the bloody scenes at Lexington, rushed into the room 
 where they were, and with uplifted hands and affrighted looks 
 exclaimed, " My wife, I fear, is by this time in etarnity ; and as 
 to you, (addressing himself to Hancock and Adams) you had 
 better look out for yourselves, for the enemy will soon be at 
 your heels." Startled by this unexpected, earnest warning, all 
 the company instantly rose from the table, and prepared for 
 concealment or flight. Their first care was, to put the coach out 
 of sight, in which Mrs. Jones' guests had been conveyed from 
 Lexington, and which was then standing by the road side in 
 front of the house. This was hurried into Path Woods, in the 
 31*
 
 366 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 northwest part of the precinct, near the road to Billerica. Mr. 
 Marrett next conducted Mrs. Jones' illustrious visitors to the 
 house of Mr. Amos Wyman, situate in an obscure corner of Bed- 
 ford, Billerica and Woburn Precinct, where were collected the 
 women and children of several of the neighboring families, who 
 had fled thither for safety; fearing that if they remained at 
 home, " the regulars" might come, and murder them, or carry 
 them off. And now, as soon as Messrs. Hancock and Adams 
 had had time to become calm after their flight, they besought 
 Mrs. Wyman to give them a little food ; saying they had had 
 neither breakfast nor dinner that day. Their good natured 
 hostess, in ready compliance with their request, took down 
 from a shelf a wooden tray, containing some cold boiled salt 
 pork, and also (it is believed) some cold boiled potatoes unpealed, 
 and brown bread ; and upon this plain, coarse fare, they made a 
 hearty meal. 11 Upon their return to Mrs. Jones' the next day, 
 they learned that the enemy had not come there in pursuit of 
 them. Either they had never intended it, or else, being closely 
 pursued from Concord by their exasperated and hourly increas- 
 ing Yankee foes, they thought it best to take a prudent care for 
 their own safety, rather than to digress in their march, into the 
 neighboring towns, in pursuit of Hancock and Adams. Not 
 many years since, it was a current report in Lexington, that 
 Hancock, in gratitude to Mrs. Wyman for her kindness to him 
 and Adams at her house, in their flight for fear of the British, 
 made a present to her of a cow. 
 
 Through the whole contest with the mother country now 
 begun, Woburn acted a decided and zealous part. At the com- 
 mencement of the war, a few of her citizens were charged with 
 being inimical to the cause of their country. 12 But the great 
 
 " Report of Madam JoneB, confirmed by Madam Hancock, afterwards Madam Scott. 
 
 12 At a town meeting, June 23, 1777, in pursuance of previous arrange- 
 ments, the Selectmen reported the names of Caleb Simonds and Luther 
 Simonds, as being, in their opinion, " enemies to this and the United 
 States." Whereupon it was voted "that the said Caleb and Luther 
 Simonds be tried, to see whether they be inimical to this and the United 
 States, agreeably to an Act entitled an ' Act for securing this and the 
 United States against the dangers to which they are exposed by the
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 367 
 
 body of the people were steadfast opposers of the unconstitu- 
 tional claims and pretensions of Great Britain, and determined 
 to do all in their power to preserve inviolate those rights and 
 liberties for which they were contending. 
 
 In particular, a very large number of her citizens, in propor- 
 tion to her population, enlisted in the war. 
 
 In the year 1775, the number of the male inhabitants of 
 Woburn who were taxed in the Province or State tax for that 
 year, was three hundred and eleven. This number was after- 
 wards considerably enlarged each year of the war's continuance, 
 so that at its close, in 1783, the average number of the male 
 inhabitants of Woburn who had been annually taxed in the 
 ordinary State tax, while the war was going on, was three hun- 
 dred and thirty-two. But from various authentic documents, 
 especially from numerous town orders for the payment of her 
 soldiers, and their receipts for the same, still preserved in the 
 archives of Woburn, it appears, that no fewer than three hun- 
 dred and seventy-six distinct individuals, from among her own 
 male population, enlisted in the service of their country in this 
 contest, besides forty-six persons from abroad, who were 
 employed and paid by the town for the same purpose. For a 
 list of those persons, see Appendix, No. XII. 
 
 At the beginning of the war, men were procured to serve in 
 it, by drafting in equal proportions from the three military com- 
 panies then belonging to the town. Afterwards, enlistments 
 were obtained by a committee appointed by the town, " to hire 
 men into the War." In this way, the three years' men were 
 enlisted in the Continental army from Woburn in 1777, and 
 the six months' men, in 1780. And subsequently the method of 
 classing was resorted to for this purpose. It seems that, agree- 
 ably to Resolves of the General Court, in Feb. 1781, and March 
 1782, the assessors of every deficient town were authorized to 
 distribute all its taxable inhabitants (where the people had not 
 
 internal enemies thereof.' " The meeting was then adjourned to July 7th, 
 when after long debate, it was again adjourned to the last Monday in 
 August, and then again to September 15, when the whole design was 
 abandoned, and the meeting dissolved. Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 377.
 
 368 
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 already classed themselves) into as many classes as the quota 
 of men required of it amounted to, to assess where necessary, 
 the several members of each class their just proportion of the 
 expense of procuring its man ; and, if any one proved delinquent 
 in paying his assessment, to put the amount into the hands of a 
 collector, to collect and pay it over to the treasurer of the town. 
 Several documents, illustrative of this new, unusual mode of 
 obtaining men to serve in war, are still extant in Woburn ; from 
 which, as matters of curiosity, the following are selected. 
 
 " Memorandum of a Class made out by James Fowle jun r , and 
 others, in order to hire Philip Alexander as a Soldier for three 
 years, to fill up the Continental Army, agreeably to Recommenda- 
 tion of the General Court. 
 
 3ads. Names. 
 
 Heads 
 
 Names. 
 
 
 Silver Tax 
 
 7.12.5 
 
 James Fowle jun r . 
 
 2 :14.0. 
 
 1 
 
 John Tay 
 
 0:19.7 
 
 John Bruce 
 
 5.0 
 
 1 
 
 Col. Loammi Baldwin 
 
 2:2:4 
 
 John Richardson 
 
 13.8 
 
 1 
 
 Mr Jacob Coggin 
 
 10:8 
 
 Benj n . Fowle 
 
 1 :10.8 
 
 1 
 
 James Tottingham 
 
 6.0 
 
 David Wyman 
 
 9.4 
 
 2 
 
 Daniel Reed 
 
 2:2:0 
 
 Aaron Tay 
 
 1:3:1 
 
 2 
 
 Capt. Nathi. Brooks 
 
 1:17:4 
 
 1 John Fox 
 
 9.0 
 
 1 
 
 Philip Alexander 
 
 5.0 
 
 1. James Wyman 
 
 7.8 
 
 
 
 
 
 7:12:5 
 
 " Double four times" 
 Woburn June 7th. 1781. 
 
 To Mr James Fowle & Class.' 
 
 15:15:4 
 Pay to Mr Paul Wyman 4 :6 
 
 "1510:10: 
 
 " SAMUEL BLODGET 
 " ZEB U - WYMAN 
 
 " We the Subscribers [have] assessed the delinquent members 
 
 belonging to the Class No. 2 (Capt. Nathaniel Brooks head of said 
 
 Class) the sum of 22 :5 :7 : and committed the same to Mr Paul 
 
 Wyman, one of the Collectors of Woburn, to collect and pay to 
 
 the Treasurer of Woburn, according to the Resolve of the Great 
 
 and General Court, dated March y e 8th. 1782. 
 
 " SAMUEL THOMPSON 
 
 " JEDUTHUN RICHARDSON 
 
 "Woburn April 26. 1782." 
 
 w Class Papers on file. 
 
 > Assessors. 13
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 369 
 
 Of the large number above designated of the citizens of Wo- 
 burn, engaged in the war, all did not serve their country in one 
 way only ; but a considerable proportion of them, at different 
 periods of the contest, in more ways than one. In the years 1 775, 
 1776, there were various military services, or "tours of duty," 
 as they were tended, to employ her men, as enlisting for eight 
 months, and afterwards, for one year, in the Continental Army ; 
 guarding at the lines of Boston, Charlestown, Cambridge, and 
 Roxbury ; serving in detachments sent into the States of New 
 York and New Jersey ; and joining the expeditions to Ticonde- 
 roga and Canada. In one or more of these ways, during the two 
 years named above, one hundred and eighty citizens of the town 
 enlisted in the war, as appears from orders on the Treasurer still 
 extant, which were given in their favor, and are receipted by 
 them; and which, being dated, for the most part, early in 1777, 
 the year next following, are expressly stated to be in payment 
 of services performed " in the present War," or " before Jan- 
 uary 1777." 
 
 Subsequently to 1776, (as appears from additional orders on 
 file for the payment of soldiers, and from other authentic or reli- 
 able documents, still preserved,) numerous individuals, inhabitants 
 of Woburn, and persons who were strangers in the place, were 
 enlisted in the war, for various other services, such as the exigen- 
 cies of the times required. 
 
 But Woburn manifested her zeal in sustaining the War for 
 Independence, not only by furnishing men to contend in the 
 struggle, but also by liberal grants of money for the encourage- 
 ment of those men, and large supplies, according to their ability, 
 of food and clothing for their support. 
 
 At -a town meeting, held December 13, 1776, and called "in 
 observance of the Resolves of the Continental Congress now 
 sitting at Philadelphia," it was voted to raise XI, 500 lawful 
 money, " to defray the charges that had or may arise, relative 
 to the raising or hiring men in this town for the defence of these 
 American Colonies, relating to the unhappy dispute between 
 them and Great Britain." ..... 
 
 " Voted, to choose a Committee of nine men ' to enquire and
 
 370 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 see what each and every one has paid 14 and to ascertain the sum 
 total of said charges : and to report to the town upon the 
 adjournment, what each turn or tour of duty shall be set at, for 
 their acceptance.' etc. etc. 
 
 "Also Voted, that the Town will proportion the necessary 
 charges that have arisen over and above those" Encouragements 
 that have been given by the Continent or this State since April 
 y.. 19th. 1775, and all Charges [that] shall arise, during these 
 unhappy disputes with Great Britain, relating to hiring troops 
 for our defence ; and to levy the same as all other taxes are 
 levied." 15 
 
 At the adjournment of this meeting, December 27, 1776, the 
 committee of nine, then appointed, reported as follows : 
 
 " To each and every Person, which is to be paid out of the 
 Town Treasury, as follows, Viz. 
 
 " For the first eight Months in the year 1775, 
 
 per man 4 : :0. 
 
 " For the two Months Service in the beginning 
 
 of 1776. 1: 0:0 
 
 " For twelve Months in the Continental Army 8 : :0. 
 
 " For five Months at Ticonderoga 12:0 :0. 
 
 " For five Months at or near Boston lines. :12 :0. 
 
 For two Months at New York 6 : :0. 
 
 " For the three Months at New York [and New 
 
 Jersey?] 12: 0:0." 15 
 
 This Report was read and accepted. And now to defray the 
 expenses hitherto incurred by Woburn in the war, and especially 
 to pay her soldiers the bounties which she had engaged to give 
 them, over and above the encouragements that had been given 
 them by this State or the country to expect, the .1,500 lawful 
 money, which it had been voted to raise for these purposes, was 
 
 14 In this expression (has paid) and others which occur in the lists of 
 two of the military companies in Woburn (Documents, Vol. I., II.,) it 
 seems to be implied that several, both of the soldiers and other citizens, 
 advanced money to pay immediate expenses of the war, and had it 
 deducted from their proportion of the tax of 1,500, soon after assessed. 
 " Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 331.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBTJRN. 371 
 
 assessed February 18, 1777. And from its proceeds, apparently, 
 there was paid 
 
 "To the 22 men who engaged in the two 
 
 months service at the beginning of 1776 23 :13 :0 
 
 "To those who enlisted for a year in the 
 
 Continental Army 247 :13 :4 
 
 " To the men who marched June 24th, 1776 
 [to Ticoiideroga] under Capt. Samuel 
 Tay 607 :13 :8. 
 
 "To 20 men, who served 2 months in 1776 
 under Capt. Samuel Belknap, in New 
 York 120: 0:0. 
 
 " To 2 1 men, who served three months under 
 the same commander in New York, or 
 New Jersey 303 : 2 :7." 
 
 Amounting in all to . . 1302 :2 : 7 16 
 
 The residue of the XI, 5 00 lawful money, (equivalent to 1,562 
 depreciated currency, 17 ) voted, December 13, 1776, to be raised 
 by tax for the payment of military expenses, was probably paid 
 in the bounties agreed upon to give the men who enlisted in 
 1775 for eight months, in the Continental army, and to those 
 who served five months at one time, in 1776, at the Boston 
 lines. 
 
 Subsequently to 1776, Woburn paid during the war, in boun- 
 ties to her soldiers, the nominal sum of 48,944 Os. 8d. This 
 sounds like an enormous amount of money to be appropriated 
 by a single town to this purpose, at that day. But here it is to 
 be observed that while, previously to the commencement of 1777 
 
 18 War Document, XJI. 
 
 17 War Document, XVIII., " the whole amount of the expenses 
 [bounties] arising by the War, in Capt. Samuel Belknap's Company, from 
 the beginning of the present War up to the tirst of January 1777 
 
 533: 2: 8i 
 
 " Amount of do in Capt. Jesse Wymau's Company 4(1 : 1 : 3. 
 
 " Amount of ditto in Capt. Joshua Walker's Company 567 :18 :ll 
 
 " Amouut 1502:2:11."
 
 372 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 bounties were equivalent in value, or nearly so, to their nominal, 
 amount in lawful money, they were paid from the beginning of 
 that year in depreciated bills of credit ; and their depreciation 
 increased with surprising rapidity towards the close of the war. 
 On this head, Lemuel Shattuck, Esq., remarks, in his History of 
 Concord, " The value of money was regulated monthly." .... 
 " January 1st. 1777, $100 in silver was worth $105 currency; 
 in 1778 [January 1st?] $328; in 1779, $742; in 1780, $2,934; 
 and in February 1781, $7,500." 18 At this rate of depreciation, it 
 is obvious that the nominal bounties paid by Woburn, after 
 1776, to the soldiers in her employ, would quickly become 
 greatly diminished in value. To ascertain their real worth in 
 lawful money, let $100 in silver be accounted as equivalent to 
 $105 currency through the whole year 1777, as it was, according 
 to Mr. Shattuck, on the first day of January of that year ; let 
 the same sum in silver be estimated equal, agreeably to his 
 statements, to $328 paper, in 1778 ; to $742, in 1779 ; to $2,934, 
 in 1780; 19 and to $7,500 paper in February 1781, which was 
 as soon, almost without exception, as the bounties due to the 
 six months' men, hired in June 1780, were paid them; and the 
 nominal amount of the bounties paid by Woburn after 1776, 
 would at once be reduced from .48,944 8s. to 5,283 4s. in 
 lawful money. To this sum add the XI, 500, paid before 1777, 
 and the sum total of the bounties paid by Woburn in the war 
 of the Revolution will be 6,783 4s., lawful money. 
 
 The annexed schedule exhibits the numbers of the men employed 
 by Woburn, in distinct companies, for various military services 
 after 1776; the times and j)laces when and where they served; 
 the names of their respective commanders ; the kind of service in 
 which they were severally engaged; the nominal bounties they 
 received for those services ; and the annual amount, nearly, of 
 those bounties in lawful money ; so far as these several particu- 
 lars can now be ascertained. 
 
 18 History of Concord, p. 123. 
 
 " Zebadiah Wyman, Esq., Treasurer of Woburn in 1780, casually remarks on a loose 
 paper left behind him, " 1400 Paper Dollars, in the year 1780, Augt 4th. is 6 :0 :0 [or 
 $20] in specie." In this proportion, $100 in silver would be equal to $7,000 paper at that 
 time ; and between August 4, and December 31, 1780, there would be ample room for $7,000 
 to sink five hundred dollars.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 373 
 
 SCHEDULE. 
 
 1777 : $100=$105. Fourteen men, 3 months from 
 Jany 1st., in a " tour of duty" at Boston, at 12 /each 8 :8 * 
 
 Twelve men, 2 months, under Capt. Jesse Wyman, 
 at Rhode Island 72 :0 zo 
 
 Twenty nine men, about 4 months, under Capt. 
 Abraham Foster [of Wilmington?] at the Westward, 
 [against Burgoyne] 491 :8 8l 
 
 Sixty four men in the "Fifteen Battalions" re- 
 quired of Massachusetts for the Continental Army, 
 enlisted for three years, or during the War. 1558 :0 2S 
 
 Twenty men, 2 months from Sepf 1st. at Cam- 
 bridge, under Lieut. Joseph Johnson, "guarding 
 Stores." 154 :8 M 
 
 Twenty five men, 5 months from Nov r 1st. under 
 Capt. Cad wallader Ford of Wilmington, "guarding 
 prisoners " at Cambridge. 283 :14 ** 
 
 Twenty six men, hired Deer 22d. to do military 
 duty, for a bounty of 12.00 each; but service and 
 commander not named. 312 :00 K 2742 :00 
 
 1778: $100=$328. Twenty men, 3 months at 
 Bunker Hill, under Capt. Jesse Wyman, by Order 
 of Court, Feb. 7. 1778. 216 :10 M 
 
 Eight men, 3 months from April 2d. under Lieut. 
 Nathan Dix, guarding prisoners at or near Cam- 
 bridge. 88 :8 OT 
 
 Four men, under Capt. Benjan Edgell, in Rhode 
 Island, till Jany 1. 1779, by Order of Court June 10. 
 1778. 129:00 W 
 
 Twenty seven men, by Resolve of Court June 25 
 [23d?] 1778, 15 days at the Lines, "to guard prison- 
 ers." 67: 10 s " 
 
 Eight men, by Order of Brigadier, June 26<k to 
 serve 5 months at the Lines, " to guard prisoners of 
 Convention." 108 :00 * 
 
 Twelve men, hired April 20th. to join the Conti- 
 
 20 Documents, X., XVTII. 
 
 11 Documents, XVTII. This document mentions twenty-four men only. But there are 
 twenty-nine orders on file for paying twenty-nine distinct individuals, as engaged in the ex- 
 pedition under Capt. Foster. 
 
 ** Documents, X., XVUI. Documents, V., VUI., X., XVHI. 
 
 " Documents, VI., VUI., X., XVIII. Documents, XII. 
 
 *> Documents, VIII., X., XVI , XVHI. Documents, VII., VUI., X., XVIII. 
 
 Document*, XV. *> The captured army of Burgoyne. The treaty of capitulation, 
 by which it was surrendered to Gates, was called a "Convention." 
 
 32
 
 374 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 nental Army at Fishkill for 9 months : bounty paid. 1190 :00 3U 
 
 Eight men hired to do duty at the North River, as 
 Militia, for eight months : bounty 815 :00 30 
 
 Six weeks men (number not stated) to serve in 
 Rhode Island ; by Order of Council July 1778. 335 :14 3l 
 
 Men (number not given) engaged Sept* Gth. to 
 serve in Rhode Island, and afterwards ordered to 
 Boston, under Lieut. Joseph Winn, for 3i months, 
 ending Jany 1st. 1779. 339 :8 1003 :00 
 
 1779 : $100=$742. Levies of fifty men in all made 
 In January, April, June and October 1779, and bounty 
 money paid them, amounting to 7976:00; but to 
 what place these men were ordered, and for what 
 service is not stated 32 7976 :00 1074 : 1 8 
 
 1780. Twenty seven men, to serve 3 months in 
 Rhode Island, under Capt. William Green of Reading. 
 Their wages appear to have been paid them by the 
 town, which was then reimbursed by the State. No 
 bounty mentioned. 33 
 
 Twenty nine men were hired to serve in the Con- 
 tinental Army six months, for a bounty of 1200 :00 
 each, paper money. 34800 :00 34 464 :00 
 
 Amount of Bounties after 1776. 48945 :08 5283 :18 
 
 1781 : $100=$7500. But it was not only men for 
 the army, and bounty money to encourage them to 
 enlist, that was required of Woburn. In the course 
 of the War, in common with all the other towns in 
 the State, this town was called upon to furnish her 
 due proportion of meat for the sustenance of the 
 soldiers, and of raiment for their wear, and of horses 
 for cavalry or draught. And from numerous Docu- 
 ments, originally kept in the town treasurer's office, 
 and still extant, there can be no doubt that the town 
 fully answered all the demands made on her for these ' 
 ends. 
 
 Documents, X., X VIII. si Documents, XII., XV. 
 
 Documents, XII. Documents, IX. 
 
 34 Document, XII., and orders on file for the payment of the men. 
 12 bounty per man appears to be the sum originally agreed upon. But 
 in consequence of the continued depreciation of the paper currency, 
 orders were eventually given many of the soldiers for their bounty, 
 amounting to 1,650 and 1,800 currency. And yet, in paying two such 
 orders in 1782, the treasurer allowed in lawful money only 12 2s. 8d. for 
 1,800, and only 12 for 1,650 currency, including in both instances, 
 " expenses of travel home."
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 375 
 
 Nominal or 
 Depreciated, 
 
 Nominal or Lawful 
 
 Money. 
 
 1780: $100=$2934. 
 
 By two Resolves of the State Legislature, passed 
 in September and December 1780, Woburn was re- 
 quired to supply the Continental Army with 24078 
 pounds of beef; or if the town preferred, to furnish 
 the worth of that quantity of provision in money. 
 In these two instances, agents employed by the town 
 raised a large proportion of the beef required ; and 
 two Beef Taxes were assessed in October and De- 4 
 
 cember of that year, amounting to 54927 currency, 
 to pay for the whole. 54927 :00 1872 :01 :00 
 
 1781 : $100=$7500. From the following Receipt 
 on file, the Legislature appears to have passed a 
 third Resolve on this subject Jany 4. 1781. " Woburn 
 Feb. 20. 1781. Received of the town of Woburn, 
 by the hand of Mr Zebadiah Wyman, treasurer for 
 said town, the sum of five thousand pounds, in lieu 
 of three thousand five hundred and three pounds & 
 two thirds of a pound of beef, in part of said town's 
 proportion of beef, agreeable to a Resolve of the 
 General Court Jany 4. 1781 ; for which I have given 
 duplicate Receipts. Reuben Kimball, Agent." 5000 :00 66 :13 :4 
 
 A fourth Resolve was passed by the Court June 
 22d. 1781, by which 9938 Ibs. of beef was appor- 
 tioned on Woburn for the supply of the Army. In 
 regard to this requisition, the town at a meeting 
 July 16. 1781 chose a committee of five, to purchase 
 the proportion of beef now called for, at the town's 
 expense. Several citizens advanced specie for the 
 immediate purchase of the beef demanded ; agents 
 procured the meat asked for; and were eventually 
 reimbursed by Orders on the town treasurer. If the 
 charge per 100 Ibs for the 9938 Ibs was equal to that 
 charged for a portion of that quantity mentioned in 
 the annexed Order, 35 viz. 33/9<Z lawful money per 
 100 Ibs, the whole cost was 167 :14 lawful money, 
 equal to 12525 and upwards of depreciated cur- 
 rency that year. 12525 :00 167 :14 :0 
 
 Total expense of the town for beef 
 
 15 " To the Treasurer of the Town of Woburn : Sir, please to pay Col. 
 Loammi Baldwin eight pounds in specie, in part for three thousand pounds 
 of beef, he supplied the Town of Woburn for the use of the army, at 
 33/9 per hundred, in 1781. Woburn Feb. 11. 1782. 
 
 Zebh Wyman > 
 
 Joseph Johnson &c $ Selectmen of Woburn."
 
 376 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Again, Woburn was repeatedly called upon to furnish its due 
 proportion of clothing for the army. A Resolve was passed 
 by the State Legislature, March 13, 1778, requiring each town 
 in the State to provide for the army as many shirts, pairs of 
 shoes and pairs of stockings, as would be equal to one-seventh 
 part of all its male inhabitants. These articles when collected 
 in any town were to be delivered by its Selectmen or committee 
 to the agent appointed for the county in which that town was 
 situated. The agent, in his turn, was to provide wagons or other 
 suitable carriages, at the public expense, for the conveyance of 
 those articles to the State Commissary in the northern or in 
 the southern department of the army, agreeably to directions of 
 the resolve. And the commissioners were required to deliver 
 without delay, in their respective departments, out of the articles 
 of clothing thus put into their hands, by the several towns, one 
 shirt, one pair of shoes and one pair of stockings, as " a present 
 from the people of this State," to each non-commissioned offi- 
 cer, and to each private soldier, raised in this State, and enlisted 
 in the service for three years, or during the war, towards fill- 
 ing up the State's quota of the continental army. 36 This Re- 
 solve was printed, and a copy was sent to each town, and one 
 to each agent in the State. And Woburn, upon receiving a copy, 
 showed no backwardness to comply with its requisitions. At 
 town meeting, March 31st, soon after the Resolve was passed, 
 it was voted to draw money out of the treasury, to buy stock- 
 ings, shoes and shirts with, for Woburn's part of the continen- 
 tal army. And numerous orders on the town treasurer, still 
 preserved on file, do show that in compliance with this Resolve 
 of the Legislature, large supplies of every description of cloth- 
 ing mentioned in it, at a cost of above 650, were brought in to 
 the Selectmen, to be transported under their care, to the state 
 storehouse in Concord, kept by James Barrett, Esq., agent for 
 
 " The Continental Journal, and Weekly Advertiser," Boston, March 19, 1778.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 377 
 
 the county of Middlesex. See copies of a few of these orders 
 in the notes. 37 
 
 Moreover, a Resolve was passed by the State Legislature, June 
 22, 1781, "for collecting clothes for this Commonwealth's quota 
 of the Continental army," etc., etc. 38 By this Resolve, there was 
 apportioned upon the whole county of Middlesex nine hundred and 
 ninety-three shirts, and as many pairs of stockings, and of shoes, 
 and four hundred and ninety-six blankets ; and of these articles, 
 Woburn was required to supply forty-two shirts, forty-two pairs 
 of stockings, forty-two pairs of shoes, and twenty-one blankets ; 
 the same apportionment as was set upon the adjoining town of 
 Reading. To make sure of, or to facilitate Woburn's compliance 
 with this requisition, a meeting, to be held August 13, 1781, was 
 
 37 " To the Town Treasurer. 
 
 " Sir : Please pay Pea. David Blanchard forty one pounds and eight 
 pence in full for Shirts and Hose, and making Shirts, and for Collecting 
 and carrying the store to Concord for the Continental Soldiers ; and this 
 shall be your Discharge for the same. 
 
 " 41 =0 :8. " William Tay 
 
 " Woburn Sept* 10. 1778. " Samuel Thompson (.selectmen " 
 
 " Jed B Kichardson 
 "Jona. Tidd J 
 
 " Sir Please to pay to Sami Leathe twenty seven pounds in full for 
 fifteen pair Shoes he has supplied the Town with for the use of the Conti- 
 nental Soldiers. 
 
 " Woburn, May 4th. 1778. " William Tay 
 
 44 To Jona. Lawrence, Treasurer. " Sami Thompson [-Selectmen" 
 " Benja n Edgell 
 " Jed n Richardson J 
 
 "To the Town Treasurer. 
 
 " Sir : Please to pay Col. Loammi Baldwin eighty seven pounds, six 
 shillings & eight pence in full for Shirts he dcLvared to the Selectmen to 
 turn into the State Store &c &c &c 
 
 " Woburn llth Feb y 1780. [SigQed] j Selectmen." 
 
 " To the Town Treasurer. 
 
 " Sir, Please to pay Zechariah Richardson twenty pounds for Hose he 
 delivered to the Selectmen, to turn into the State Store ; and this shall 
 be &c &c &c " William Tay 
 
 " Woburn llth. February 1780. " Sam 1 Thompson ^Selectmen.' 
 " Benjn Edgell 
 
 Vol. of Resolves at the State House; No. LX1V.
 
 378 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 notified by the Selectmen, of such inhabitants as were disposed 
 to give their assistance towards it. At that meeting, sundry in- 
 dividuals agreed to secure the complement of clothing for the 
 soldiers that was demanded of this town ; and there can be no 
 question that their agreement was duly and faithfully fulfilled. 
 Many individuals, both male and female, were now set on work, 
 procuring cloth and making it up into shirts, knitting stockings, 
 making shoes, and providing blankets ; and upon finishing their 
 work, they severally presented their bills, and obtained orders 
 for payment out of the treasury of the town, which, in return, 
 agreeably to provisions of the Resolve of Court above re- 
 ferred to, was reimbursed for its expense upon the articles of 
 raiment supplied by it, out of the treasury of the State. Orders 
 yet extant, obtained for articles of clothing for the army, fur- 
 nished by inhabitants of Woburn under this Resolve of Court, 
 amount to about .100. Copies of a few of these Orders are 
 given in the notes. 39 
 
 39 " Sir, Please to pay Mr Sami Leathe one pound ten shillings two 
 pence two farthings in part for fifteen pairs Shoes he supplied the Select- 
 men with in December 1781. Woburn Jany 28. 1782. 
 
 " To Mr Zebh Wyman " Loammi Baldwin 1 
 
 " Treasurer for s* Town. Paul Wyman 
 
 " Zebh Wyman J 
 " Sir, Please to pay Mr Sami Leathe five pounds, nineteen shillings & 
 nine pence two farthings in full for fifteen pairs of Shoes, at 10 / a Pair, 
 he supplied the Selectmen with in Decemb r 1781 ; he having received an 
 Order for the other part. Woburn Jany 28th. 1782. 
 
 " To Mr Zebadiah Wyman " Loammi Baldwin "1 
 
 " Treasurer for s* Town." " Paul Wyman I wtfoaru " 
 
 " Zebh Wyman j 
 
 " Sir : Please to pay Mr Jacob Caldwell five Pounds two Shillings in full 
 for four Blankets he supplied the Selectmen of Woburn for ye use of y 
 Army in 1781, at 25/ 6. Woburn Feb. 18. 1782 
 " To Mr Zebh Wyman, Treasurer for Woburn. 
 
 " Loammi Baldwin 1 
 "Joseph Johnson i Selectmen 
 "Zebh Wyman f Wo burn." 
 " Ezra Wyman J 
 
 " Woburn February 19. 1782. 
 
 " Sir, Please to pay to Paul Wyman the sum of seven pounds, it being 
 in part for his procuring the following parts of Clothing : Viz' Shirts,
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 379 
 
 During the whole of the Revolutionary War, Woburn was 
 excessively burdened with taxes, the larger portion of which 
 that war had originated, and rendered necessary. In 1774, the 
 year before the commencement of the contest, its province tax 
 was but 75 18*. 5d', its county tax, 21 2*. 6^.; and its town 
 rate only XI 50; making its taxes, of every description, for that 
 year but little more than 247. But during the years the 
 war continued, viz: from 1775 to 1783, inclusively, taxes in 
 Woburu rose within a trifle to the enormous nominal sum of 
 300,000. Most of these rates, it is true, were made payable 
 in the depreciated, ever declining currency of that day. But 
 after making all due allowance for the depreciation of the pa- 
 per they were payable in, they will be found, when added to 
 the taxes that were expressly ordered, or evidently intended 
 to be assessed in lawful money, or to be paid in silver or 
 gold, to amount to a little more than 2 8,000, lawful money. 40 
 In the course of the nine years above referred to, there were 
 assessed in Woburn, and ordered to be collected and paid over 
 to the Town, County, or State Treasurer, twelve town and five 
 county rates ; twelve State taxes, three " Continental taxes," (as 
 they were termed) ; two " War taxes," four " Silver " or " hard 
 money taxes," and two "Beef taxes," 41 making forty assess- 
 
 shoes, stockings and blankets he supplied the State for Woburn in 1781 : 
 and his Receipt &c " Zeb^ Wyman 1 
 
 " To the Treasurer of the Town. " Joseph Johnson f ^obum" 
 
 " Ezra Wyman 
 
 40 In reducing sums in paper currency to their equivalents in lawful 
 money, I have observed here and elsewhere the rule suggested by Lemuel 
 Shattuck, Esq., in his History of Concord, and quoted above in this 
 chapter. 
 
 41 The reason of the distinction made in the records between " Conti- 
 nental" and " State" taxes is unknown. Taxes of both descriptions were 
 made by order of the General Court of the State, and were payable alike 
 to the State Treasurer, without naming any distinct object for either. The 
 two " War taxes " were ordered by votes of the town in 1776 and 1777, 
 expressly to enable the town to defray the charges incurred by it thus far 
 in the war. Of the four " Silver," or " Hard money taxes," two were 
 imposed by the town and two by the State. The " Beef Taxes " were to 
 raise money for the purchase of beef for the army. All taxes assessed 
 after 1780 appear to have been in " lawful money."
 
 380 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 meuts within nine years. That these public burdens must have 
 weighed very heavily upon the people will be readily perceived. 
 Especially must this have been the case in the year 1780, when, 
 beside a tax of 376, to be paid in specie, no less than eight 
 other taxes were assessed in Woburn, amounting, in all, to 
 230,880 currency, equal" to 7,869 8s., lawful money, or to 
 8,245 8s., inclusively of the silver tax of 376, just referred to. 
 Again, to pay the " large town tax," as it was called, assessed in 
 July of that year, and amounting, nominally, to 60,190, equiva- 
 lent to 2,05 1 9s., lawful money, there were only three hundred 
 and seventy-seven residents, and fifty-six non-resident tax payers ; 
 of the residents, twenty-three were widows and unmarried 
 females, and seventy-four paid only a poll-tax or less ; and of 
 the fifty-six non-residents, forty-nine paid less than a poll-tax, 
 which, in that assessment, was 41 currency. Under such 
 circumstances, how must these and the like burdens have ground 
 some of those they fell upon to the very dist, as it were ! And 
 what could have sustained any under the load, but the persuasion, 
 that the load of oppression which they must otherwise have 
 borne, was still heavier ; and that they were contending for a 
 boon, which was more precious than houses, lands, money, or 
 life itself could be without it ? 
 
 The burdens of taxation which the war for Independence 
 occasioned were vastly enhanced by the constant depreciation 
 of the paper currency, which the government issued to pay the 
 expense of the contest. For two or three years after the war 
 broke out, the currency seems to have varied but little in value 
 from lawful money. But in the fourth year (1778) that variation 
 had become considerable, and was continually increasing. Wages 
 for labor by the month, paid at the end of six months, in the 
 nominal sum agreed upon, would not purchase for the laborer 
 nearly so large a supply of necessaries for his family as they 
 would when contracted for. Goods bought to be sold again 
 seldom brought back to the trader a return of equal worth to 
 his purchase money, though it might nominally exceed it. And 
 a legacy devised to a widow in needy circumstances, kept back 
 a year by the executor, as the law allowed, and then paid in the
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 381 
 
 paper currency of the day, was sure to be of far inferior worth 
 to the sum named and intended in the will. To remedy the 
 grievous evils growing out of this state of things, and which were 
 universally felt, a State convention was held at Concord, July 14, 
 1779, in which Woburn was represented by its delegate, Deacon 
 Samuel Thompson. There were present at this convention one 
 hundred and seventy-four delegates, who, "after passing some very 
 spirited resolutions, fixing the prices of several articles of mer- 
 chandise, and agreeing upon an address to the people, adjourned 
 on the 1 7th, recommending another similar Convention to meet 
 again in October." 42 The proceedings of the convention, "relative 
 to the lowering the exorbitant prices of all and each of the neces- 
 saries of life," were accepted by the inhabitants of Woburn, at a 
 meeting August 4th, and a committee of nine was chosen " to 
 report to the town on this subject at the adjournment of the 
 meeting to August 26th. The report of this committee, which 
 was duly presented and accepted by the town, was as follows : 
 
 ""West India Flip or Toddy at 12s. per mug or bowl: New 
 England 10s. per mug. 
 
 "A common Dinner 15 / ; other meals in proportion. 
 
 "Keeping a horse at hay 15 / ; at grass 10 / per night. 
 
 " Oats 45 / per bushel ; 5 / per mess. 
 
 "A yoke of Oxen 12 / per night at grass. 
 
 "Lodging 4 / per night. 
 
 " Day Labour 48 / , being found, until the last of August ; after 
 that, 36 / per day. 
 
 "A Team carrying a ton weight, 18 / per mile, not going 
 more than 90 miles. 
 
 " Carpenters and Masons 54 / per day, being found. 
 
 " Horse shoeing all round, steeling the fore shoes at the toe> 
 3 12s. 
 
 "Shoeing Oxen, 16 dollars per yoke: other smith work in 
 proportion. 
 
 ' A Tailor 36 / per day. 
 
 " Green Hides 3 / per pound : Sole Leather 1 8 / per pound ; 
 and all other Leather in proportion. 
 
 * Shattuck's Concord, p. 122.
 
 382 HISTORY OP WOBTJRN. . 
 
 " Mens best Shoes 1 8 dollars per pair ; women's best Leather 
 Shoes 84 / . 
 
 " For making mens shoes 48 / : Womens, 40 / per pair : aiid 
 other work in proportion. 
 
 " Cloth Shoes, finding the leather and heels, 54 / . 
 
 "Shecps Wool, 23 / per pound; Flax, 15 / per Ib; Rough 
 Tallow 9 / per pound. 
 
 " And all other mechanics that are not mentioned here, are to 
 work in the same proportions as those that are here mentioned. 
 " Per Order of the Committee, 
 
 BENJ". EDGEL, Clerk." 43 
 
 At the same adjourned meeting, (August 26th,) a committee of 
 fifteen was chosen "to Inspect and see that the Resolves of the 
 Convention begun and held at Concord on the fourteenth day 
 of July last, and the Resolves of the Committee chosen by this 
 Town at a General Town Meeting, August the 4th. 1779, be 
 strictly adhered to in each and every particular." 
 
 A committee also of three was chosen at the same time, con- 
 sisting of Dr. Samuel Blogget, Timothy Winn, Jr., and Isaac 
 Johnson, which " should draw up something by way of Instruc- 
 tions" for the committee of inspection. This committee of 
 three, after a short interval, made a report, which being read, 
 was accepted and passed. Their report contained several very 
 stringent resolutions, among which was substantially the fol- 
 lowing, namely: That if any person belonging to this town 
 should violate the resolutions of the Concord Convention, or 
 those of this town made in pursuance thereof, he should, upon con- 
 viction, [at a public trial before the committee of inspection] be 
 accounted as an enemy of his country, have his name published 
 in the newspapers of Boston, and be cut off from all intercourse 
 and dealings with the other inhabitants of the town for such a 
 term of time as the committee of inspection should appoint. 44 
 
 But it was probably soon found by experience that it is easier 
 to pass resolutions concerning such matters, than to enforce 
 them. We read of no one being accused of a breach of these 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IX., pp. 521, 522. Town Records, Vol. IX., pp. 521, 522. 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 383 
 
 Orders of the town, or of suffering the penalty annexed to the 
 transgression of them. At a town meeting, October 22, 1779, 
 a new committee was chosen " to stipulate prices for the town 
 of Woburn." At an adjournment of this meeting, November 1st, 
 the report of this committee in regard to prices was recommitted, 
 for the sake of making amendments and additions ; and then it 
 was voted to abide by it. But at a further adjournment, Novem- 
 ber 13th, this vote was reconsidered. Learning by experience 
 doubtless, that there were insuperable difficulties in the way of 
 carrying the resolutions they had passed on this subject into 
 effect, nothing more was done about them, and they were all 
 suffered to go to rest. 
 
 Amid the din of war, the attention of the people of Massa- 
 chusetts generally was diverted, in 1780, to a very different 
 subject. 
 
 A new constitution or form of government for Massachusetts, 
 framed by the State Legislature of 1777, had been sent to 
 Woburn, May 1778, for the consideration of its inhabitants. 
 But this being read and deliberately considered in town meeting, 
 June 8th following, had been unanimously disapproved. At the 
 same time, the people had instructed their representative for 
 that year, Col. Loammi. Baldwin, to favor no plan for drawing 
 up another constitution, except in a convention chosen by the 
 people at large, expressly for that purpose. 45 The constitution 
 now laid before them had been framed and sanctioned by such 
 a convention, which had assembled at Cambridge in September 
 1779, and in which Woburn had been represented by Dr. Sam- 
 uel Blogget, as its delegate. 46 Al a legal meeting, May 15, 1780, 
 a committee of fifteen was chosen to consider the proposed con- 
 stitution, and to report to the town at its adjournment, June 5th. 
 On the day appointed, this committee reported ; and the town 
 voted to pass upon the new constitution submitted to them, arti- 
 cle by article. 
 
 The Bill of Rights was approved, except the third article, 
 relative to provision by law for the support of public worship, 
 
 Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 451. Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 621.
 
 384 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 which met some opposition. The article, however, was finally 
 accepted as it stood, by a vote of fifty-two to twenty-three. 
 
 The article of the constitution requiring in voters a property 
 qualification was offensive to some; and an amendment was 
 carried, allowing every freeman the privilege of voting, who was 
 twenty-one years of age. 
 
 At an adjournment of this business to June 7th, votes were 
 passed, that delegates to Congress should be qualified as were 
 representatives to our own General Court, and that all or- 
 dained ministers of the gospel, and attorneys-at-law should be 
 excluded from seats in the Legislature of Massachusetts. 
 
 It was voted, moreover, as the sense of the inhabitants of 
 Woburn, that at the expiration of seven years from the ratifica- 
 tion of the new constitution, a convention should be called to 
 revise it. 
 
 And now, having finished the consideration of the proposed 
 new constitution of Government for Massachusetts, Woburn 
 voted its acceptance of it, excepting the articles objected to, and 
 amended by twenty-two votes in the affirmative, to two in the 
 negative. 47 
 
 The Federal Constitution, or Form of Government for the 
 United States, was drawn up in a convention of delegates from 
 twelve States, assembled in Philadelphia ; and was unanimously 
 agreed to by all the States present, September 17, 1787. Agree- 
 ably to a Resolve passed by the Legislature of Massachusetts, 
 October 1787, this constitution was submitted to the con- 
 sideration of a convention chosen by the several towns and 
 districts of this Commonwealth, which assembled in Boston, 
 January 9, 1788, and which, after several weeks of careful 
 deliberation, voted to adopt it. The delegates of Woburn to 
 this convention, chosen at a town meeting, December 17, 1787, 
 were Deacon Timothy Winn and Mr. James Fowle, Jr. Deacon 
 Winn opposed the adoption of this constitution without some 
 amendments ; and prepared a speech to deliver before the con- 
 vention upon the subject, when a motion was expected to be 
 
 Town Records, Vol. X., pp. 24, 25.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURX. 385 
 
 made for the appointment of a committee which should endeavor 
 to harmonize the conflicting views of different members of that 
 body, and, by consenting to certain amendments of the constitu- 
 tion, to insure its acceptance by the unanimous or very general 
 voice of its members. But it so happened, that the proposed 
 conciliatory committee was appointed, and its report accepted 
 at a time when Deacon Winn was absent from the convention. 
 And being consequently disappointed in his intentions to deliver 
 in person the speech he had prepared for the occasion, he sub- 
 mitted it for publication, as " a part of the debate " before the 
 convention, in one of the newspapers of the day. See a copy 
 of it in the Boston Independent Chronicle of March 27, 1788. 
 
 During the Revolutionary "War, two gentlemen, natives of 
 Woburn, attained to great eminence in society, of whom it seems 
 a matter of right, that some particular notice should here be 
 taken. 
 
 To begin with the elder of the two, Colonel Loammi Baldwin. 
 He was son of James and Ruth (Richardson) Baldwin, and a 
 descendant of the third generation from Deacon Henry Baldwin, 
 one of the first settlers of Woburn, and a subscriber to the " Town 
 Orders," drawn up at CLarlestown, for the regulation of the then 
 projected new settlement, in December 1641. 
 
 His father was by trade a carpenter, of good repute ; and is 
 reported to have been the master workman in the erection of 
 the precinct (Burlington) meeting-house in 1732, which is still 
 standing. 
 
 He was born at " New Bridge," (North Woburn) January 10, 
 1744, O. S., or January 21, 1744-5, N. S. Discovering from 
 early life a strong desire for acquiring knowledge, he was a con- 
 stant attendant upon the instructions of Master Fowle, that noted 
 teacher of the grammar school in Woburn, both in the centre of 
 the town and at the precinct, many years in succession. And at a 
 more advanced period of life, with a view to obtaining a thorough 
 acquaintance with Natural and Experimental Philosophy, he was 
 accustomed to walk from North Woburn to Cambridge, in com- 
 pany with his school-mate, Benjamin Thompson (afterwards 
 Count Rumford), to attend the lectures of Professor Winthrop 
 (for which liberty had been given them) ; and upon their return
 
 386 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 home on foot, they were wont to make rude instruments for them- 
 selves, with which to illustrate the principles they had heard laid 
 down in the lecture-room at the college. 
 
 At the commencement of the war in 1775, he enlisted for the 
 service of his country in the regiment of foot, commanded by 
 Col. Samuel Gerrish. Here he was rapidly advanced to be Lieut.- 
 Colonel : and upon the retirement of Col. Gerrish from the army, 
 in August of that year, he was put at the head of the regiment, and 
 was, not long after, commissioned to be Colonel. 
 
 His regiment was originally distinguished as the 38th, and con- 
 sisted of eight companies, all of them stationed at Boston lines, 
 viz : four at Sewall's Point, Brookline, three at Chelsea, and one 
 (Capt. Wood's company of Woburn) at Medford. But upon the 
 reorganization of the army at the close of 1775, it included ten 
 companies, and was designated as the 26th regiment. Till the end 
 of 1775, Col. Baldwin remained near Boston: but in April, 1776, 
 he followed Washington to New York city ; 48 and there we find 
 him June 22d, at the " Grand Battery, in the command of the 
 ' Main Guard." 
 
 When Washington was compelled, by the superior numbers of the 
 enemy, to evacuate New York, September 14, 1776, and to retreat 
 to the west, or Pennsylvania side of the Delaware, about Decem- 
 ber 8th, Baldwin with his men followed him. And on the memo- 
 rable night of December 25, 1776, when in face of a violent and 
 extremely cold storm of snow and hail the Commander in Chief 
 recrossed the Delaware to the Jersey side, and took by surprise at 
 Trenton the next morning a body of about 1 ,000 Hessian troops, 
 commanded by Col. Rahl, Col. Baldwin and his men 49 accompanied 
 
 48 The following passages are extracts from the folio volume deposited 
 at the State House by the Baldwin family, and containing his correspond- 
 ence and various memoranda : 
 
 " New York Api. 19. 1776 Abstract for Non-Commissioned Officers & 
 Soldiers .... in 26th. Reg* commanded by Col. Loanimi Baldwin for 
 month of Feby 1776." 
 
 " A Report of the main Guard at the Grand Battery N. Y. June 13. 1776." 
 " A List of the Main Guard, under the command of Lt. Col. Baldwin 
 [Col. Loainmi Baldwin?] June 22. 1776." 
 
 49 " A Return of the Officers and Soldiers belonging to the 26th. Reg* 
 commanded by Col. Loammi Baldwin, that went on the Expedition to 
 Trentown the 26th. inst. December." 
 
 " Trenton Jany y e 2d. 1777. 
 
 " This will impower Corp' Caleb Simonds to receive all that I do not 
 receive at my discharge, namely, wages, allowance money granted by the
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 387 
 
 the General in his daring enterprise, and partook of the honor and 
 joy with which it was crowned ; a victory most unexpected and 
 disastrous to the British, but most reviving to the desponding 
 minds of the friends of liberty and of the American cause. 
 
 Colonel Baldwin was honorably discharged from the continental 
 army about 1777, on account of ill health. But his subsequent 
 life, spent in his native place, though free from the hardships and 
 dangers of the camp, was by no means a life of leisure and retire- 
 ment. He still retained and cherished the enterprising spirit and 
 active habits of his youth. And his fellow-citizens highly appre- 
 ciating his talents and capacity for business, and confident of his 
 integrity and zeal for the public good, took frequent opportunities 
 for manifesting their respect for him, and found him ample employ- 
 ment the remainder of his days. We find him appointed on a 
 large proportion of all the committees chosen for a long succession 
 of years, on important town business ; and of these, he was gen- 
 erally the chairman. In 1780, he was appointed High Sheriff of 
 the County of Middlesex, being the first who held that office in 
 this county, after the adoption of the State constitution. In 1778, 
 1779, and again in 1800 and the four immediately following years, 
 he represented Woburn in the General Court. At the election of 
 representative to Congress for Essex South District (to which 
 Woburn was then attached) in 1794, he had all the votes cast in 
 Woburn but one. In August and September 1796, he had all the 
 votes ; and in November of that 3 T ear, at the third trial for the 
 choice of the same officer, he had seventy-four votes out of the 
 seventy-six that were then cast in Woburn. And at elections in 
 other years, he was a prominent candidate among those held up in 
 Woburn, for the office of State Senator, Lieutenant Governor of 
 the Commonwealth, and Elector of President of the United 
 
 States. 50 
 
 General, and for arras, ammunition &c taken at Trenton the 26th. of Dec* 
 
 1776. "Ebeiiezer ?" [Ebenezer Lock?] 
 
 " Rowley, July 25th. 1778. 
 
 " Col. Baldwin : Sir, Be pleased to pay unto Jonathan Stickney my travel 
 money from the Army at Trenton to Rowley in the year 1776, and my 
 share of plunder money that was taken at Trintown, and his Receipt shall 
 be your discharge. " Joseph Stickney." 
 
 50 To the above it may be added, that Col. Baldwin, on account doubtless 
 of his enlarged acquaintance with mathematics, and his familiarity with 
 arts connected therewith, was chosen a member of the American Academy 
 of Arts and Sciences; and received from Harvard College in 1785 the 
 honorary degree of Master of Arts.
 
 388 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 But though Col. Baldwin was deservedly a favorite with his 
 fellow-townsmen and with his fellow-citizens generally, he was not 
 an abject seeker of popularity not one, who, for the sake of win- 
 ning or prolonging the popular favor, stood ready to sacrifice his 
 principles of duty to the public. Witness his protest with others 
 against the action of the town in the time of Shays' Rebellion. 
 In 1786, 1787, when the Executive was constrained to call out a 
 military force to put that rebellion down, the town of Woburn, 
 in a moment of high excitement, voted January 29, 1787 : 
 
 "1. Not to give any encouragement to the men called out to go 
 into the present Expedition. 
 
 " 2. Not to aid or assist in the present Expedition." 
 
 But against this proceeding of the town, Col. Baldwin and 
 thirty-six others immediately entered their protests ; and, two days 
 after, the town itself reconsidered the votes it had passed on this 
 subject. 
 
 The prominent part taken by Col. Baldwin in the construction 
 and establishment of the Middlesex Canal will be adverted to 
 more particularly in a following chapter. To him also are the 
 community indebted for the introduction to public notice, and for 
 the earliest cultivation of the Baldwin apple. The history of this 
 celebrated variety of fruit, as connected with his name, is under- 
 stood, upon good authority, to be this : As Col. Baldwin was 
 one da} r surveying land at a place called Butters' Row in Wilming- 
 ton, near the bounds of that town, Woburn and Burlington, he 
 observed one or more wpodpeckers continually flying to a certain 
 tree, growing on land of Mr. James Butters, hard by. Prompted 
 by curiosit} 7 to ascertain the cause of their frequenting that tree, 
 he at length went to it ; and finding under it apples of an excellent 
 flavor, and well worth cultivating, he returned to the tree the next 
 spring, and took from it scions to graft into stocks of his own. 
 Other persons in that vicinity, induced by his example or advice, 
 grafted trees of theirs soon after with scions from the same stock. 
 And, subsequently, whenever Col. Baldwin attended court, or went 
 into different parts of the county, as High Sheriff, he was accus- 
 tomed to carry scions of this variety of apple with him, and to 
 distribute them among his friends ; so that this species of fruit 
 soon came to be extensively known and cultivated. The original 
 tree, it is said, was blown down in the famous " September gale," 
 in 1815.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 389 
 
 At first, apples of this description were called by many, 
 " Butters' Apples," from the name of the person upon whose 
 land the original tree was found ; and by others, " Woodpecker 
 Apples," from the bird, whose constant flight to it attracted the 
 notice of Col. Baldwin, and led to the discovery of the excellency 
 of the fruit which grew on it. But, on a certain day, (it is 
 reported) when Col. Baldwin had a party of gentlemen at his 
 house to dine, he set before them a dish of these apples ; and one 
 of his guests, admiring their good qualities, asked him by what 
 name they were known ? " By no name in particular," the 
 Colonel replied ; " call them, if you please, Baldwin apples." 
 And this has ever since been their common name. 
 
 Col. Baldwin's first wife was Mary, daughter of James Fowle, Esq : 
 for many years Town Clerk of Woburn. His children by her 
 were: 
 
 1. Cyrus, for many years the respected agent of the Middlesex 
 Canal Company, residing at the head of the canal in Chelmsford. 
 
 2. Mary, who died young, of scarlet fever, May 13, 1776, when 
 her father was absent in the war. 
 
 3. Benjamin Franklin, Esq., who died suddenly October 1821, as 
 he was on his return to Woburn from the catfte show in Brighton. 
 
 4. Loammi, Esq., born in 1780, graduated at Harvard Univer- 
 sity, 1800, a well known and highly respected civil engineer ; died 
 in 1838. 
 
 5. Hon. James Fowle, born in 1782 ; settled in Boston as a 
 merchant ; sometime member of the Senate of Massachusetts, for 
 the County of Suffolk ; and prominent among the Commissioners 
 for introducing pure water into Boston from the lake Cochituate. 
 He died after a very short illness, May 20, 1862. 
 
 Col. Baldwin's first wife, Mary, dying September 27, 1786, 51 
 he married for his second wife, Margaret, daughter of Josiah 
 Fowle, of Woburn. His children by her were : 
 
 1. Clarissa, wife of Thomas B. Coolidge. 
 
 2. George R., born in 1798, and now (1867) the only surviving 
 child of Col. Loammi Baldwin. He is still the proprietor of the 
 original farm of his ancestors, and the occupant of the spacious 
 mansion of his father. 
 
 Col. Baldwin's second wife, Margaret, died August 8, 1799. 51 
 He himself deceased October 20, 1807. 51 
 
 "' Diary of Samuel Thompson, Esq.
 
 390 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, was a descendant of the 
 fifth generation from James Thompson, who was born, in England 
 probably, in 1593, emigrated to New England about 1630 ; took up 
 his abode at Charlestown, Mass., was admitted with his wife Eliza- 
 beth into the church of Charlestown, July 81, 1633 ; became one 
 of the earliest settlers of Woburn, being a subscriber with thirty- 
 one others to the original Town Orders in December 1640 ; was a 
 member of the first Board of Selectmen, chosen 1644 ; and died, 
 1682, aged eighty-nine years. 
 
 Benjamin Thompson, his father, was the son of Capt. Ebenezer 
 Thompson and Hannah (Convers) his wife ; was born November 27, 
 1729 ; and married, 1752, Ruth Simonds, daughter of Lieut. James 
 Simonds, a worthy descendant of the third generation from Wil- 
 liam Simouds, another of the early settlers of Woburn. Lieut. 
 Simonds served his country in the French and Indian wars ; was 
 an inhabitant of Woburn Precinct (now Burlington) ; dwelt in the 
 house, recently of Capt. Ishmael Munroe, that stood where the road 
 from the precinct meeting-house to Lexington intersects the an- 
 cient road from Woburn Centre to Hodge Hole Meadows in Bur- 
 lington ; was Precinct Clerk from 1733 to 1747; married Mary, 
 daughter of James and Mary Fowle, of Woburn, June 17, 1714 ; 
 and died July 30, 1775, aged eighty-nine. 
 
 Benjamin Thompson, the future Count of Rumford, and son of 
 the above Benjamin and Ruth Thompson, was born March 26, 
 1753, in the west end of the house of his grandfather, Capt. Eben- 
 ezer Thompson, where his parents went to live immediately after 
 their marriage. That house, an ancient two-story dwelling house, 
 is still standing ; recently, till her death, the home of the Count's 
 first cousin, the widow of Willard Jones, and situate a few rods 
 south of the meeting-house in North Woburn; at the corner of the 
 road coming from Burlington, and of the road leading from 
 Woburn Centre to Wilmington ; and is distinguished by a huge 
 willow tree growing directty in front of it. 
 
 In this humble dwelling, the child Benjamin continued to live 
 with his mother and grandfather after the death of his father, who 
 died November 7, 1754, when the boy was hardly one year and 
 eight months old. But in March 1756, his mother married, for her 
 second husband, Mr. Josiah Pierce, Jr., of Woburn, 52 and took her 
 
 52 " Josiah Peirce junr entered his Intentions of Marriage with Ruth Thompson, both 
 Woburn, Jany 1. 1756." (Woburn Records of Int. of Marriage.)
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 391 
 
 son Benjamin with her to her new home ; a house, it is said, that 
 once stood directly opposite the Baldwin mansion, but is now taken 
 down, though the cellar of it is yet visible. 
 
 He was distinguished, while yet a boy, by quickness of apprehen- 
 sion, fondness for books, and a genius for mechanical invention. 
 At a suitable age, he was sent (accompanied by his neighbor and 
 school-mate, Loammi Baldwin) to that celebrated teacher in 
 Woburn, Master John Fowle, a graduate of Harvard College, 1747 ; 
 who kept the grammar school in his native town, some ten or 
 twelve years in succession. By him he was taught reading, writing, 
 arithmetic, and the grammar of his own language, through the 
 medium of the Latin. After leaving Mr. Fowle at eleven years of 
 age, he was put under the charge of a Mr. Hill of Medford, with 
 whom he proceeded in the study of mathematics ; and was also 
 taught astronomy ; of bis proficiency in which, he gave evidence by 
 calculating eclipses of the sun and moon. 
 
 At the age of thirteen, he was bound an apprentice to Mr. John 
 Appleton, a respectable merchant in Salem ; and while he was with 
 him, he industriously improved his leisure moments in extending 
 his acquaintance with mathematics and physical science. But 
 this gentleman, having in consequence of the growing difficulties 
 between Great Britain and her Colonies, entered into the non- 
 importation agreement, his business became so contracted, that he 
 no longer needed an apprentice ; and young Thompson was allowed 
 to return to his mother's in Woburn. From the same cause, he left 
 the employ of Mr. Hopestill Capen, a dry goods dealer in Boston, 
 in whose store, some time after he quitted Mr. Appleton, he was 
 engaged in the Spring of 1770 as a clerk. 
 
 The leisure which these successive relinquishments of commercial 
 pursuits gave young' Thompson, was diligently employed by him 
 either in school-keeping, or in the cultivation of his own mind. 
 In the winter of 1768-9, we find him teaching a school at Wilming- 
 ton. And in the summer of 1709, he applied himself to the study 
 of anatomy and physiology, under the direction of Dr. John Hay, 
 a physician then resident in Woburn, with a view to qualifying 
 himself for the practice of medicine. 
 
 In the summer of 1770, after quitting Mr. Capen's store in 
 Boston, he and his friend and school-mate, Loammi Baldwin, 
 obtained liberty to attend Professor Winthrop's course of lectures 
 upon Natural Philosophy, delivered in Harvard College. This
 
 392 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 was a privilege which was highly appreciated by them both. In 
 their attendance upon these lectures, they were accustomed to 
 walk from Woburn to Cambridge ; and upon their return, they 
 would employ themselves in attempts to illustrate the principles 
 which they had heard laid down in the lecture-room, by experi- 
 ments and rude instruments of their own contriving. 
 
 In the autumn of 1770, he took charge of a school at Concord, 
 N. H., (then called Rumford) ; and while fulfilling this engage- 
 ment, he became acquainted with Mrs. Sarah Rolfe, daughter of 
 Rev. Timothy Walker, the first minister of the place, and widow 
 of Col. Benjamin Rolfe, one of the early settlers of Concord, and 
 a gentleman of influence there, who deceased in 1770. This lady 
 he married, in 1772, and came into possession by her of a large 
 property. And attending with her, not long after their marriage, 
 a military muster at Portsmouth, N. H., he was introduced to 
 Gov. Wentworth, who conceived such an esteem for him, that 
 he quickly after conferred on him the office of Major, in one of 
 the New Hampshire regiments. 
 
 But this sudden military promotion was deeply resented by the 
 officers over whose heads he had been unexpectedly elevated. 
 Henceforth, they omitted no opportunity of doing him an injury. 
 At the commencement of the Revolutionary War, they but too 
 successfully, spread an insinuation that he was disaffected to the 
 cause of his country ; and that he held a criminal correspondence 
 with Gov. Wentworth and Gen. Gage. To refute this latter 
 charge, he solemnly averred that the correspondence he had 
 holden with Gov. Wentworth was not of a political character, 
 and was begun before the Governor avowed himself a tory, and 
 while his administration was popular with all parties ; and that 
 his only letter to Gen. Gage consisted of six lines, requesting 
 him to order that two deserters from the British army, in 1774, 
 whom he had employed on his farm in Concord, N. H., and whom 
 Gen. Gage had pardoned upon their return to their ranks, at 
 the intercession of Maj. Thompson while in Boston, might not 
 publicly reveal the name of their successful advocate with the 
 General on their behalf. 
 
 But no defence he could make, no explanation he could offer of 
 the charges alleged against him, could free him from public sus- 
 picion and obloquy. At Concord, he was not suffered to remain in 
 safety and peace : and when he came to Woburn, he was on one
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 393 
 
 memorable occasion in danger of personal violence, from which, 
 probably, only the interposition of his friend, Baldwin, delivered 
 him ; and, on another occasion, he was arrested and tried in the 
 meeting-house at Woburn, before the Committee of Correspond- 
 ence, upon the charge of disaffection to the cause of his country. 
 This trial resulted in his release from arrest, but a refusal on the 
 part of the court to give him a full acquittal. Considering this 
 refusal as unjust, he appealed to the Committee of Safety for the 
 colony, which referred him to the Provincial Congress ; and this 
 body declined acting on the petition he presented them. Deeply 
 resenting this treatment, and the insults to which he was con- 
 stantly subjected, finding that the actual services he was occasion- 
 ally enabled to render the popular cause were insufficient to secure 
 him the public confidence, and that his repeated efforts to obtain 
 a command in the army of his country were unavailing, he at 
 length made up his mind to remove to a distance from this scene 
 of trial. Accordingly, in a letter to his father-in-law, Rev. Timo- 
 thy "Walker, he assures him, that not being conscious of any 
 feelings or acts in his political career that were inimical to the 
 interests of the land of his birth, he could not conscientiously 
 make any confessions to his opponents, (as that gentleman had 
 proposed he might do, for the sake of appeasing their animosity) ; 
 he assigns reasons why he deemed it imperatively necessary to 
 retire to some place at a distance from his friends in this vicinity ; 
 and earnestly and affectionately commends his wife and daughter 
 to his care. 53 And then collecting what money he could, from 
 every resource at his command, and giving out, that having failed 
 to obtain employment in the northern army, he was going south 
 to find means of support, he left Cambridge, October 10, 1775 ; 
 and going to the nearest post-town, accompanied by Josiah 
 Peirce, Jr., (3d?) his half brother, he there dismissed him; and 
 then went on his way, leaving his relatives and friends here in 
 utter uncertainty where he was, how he was situated, and what he 
 was doing, till the revolutionary struggle was over. 
 
 Maj. Thompson himself proceeded directly to Newport ; and 
 finding there the next day a boat belonging to the British Frigate 
 Scarborough, he was conveyed in it to the frigate, which took him 
 on board ; and after remaining in it a few days, he was landed at 
 Boston, which was still occupied by Gen. Gage, and his army. 
 
 Renwick'8 Life, Appendix, pp. 210-218, In Sparks's Collection.
 
 394 HISTORY OP WOBTJBN. 
 
 And when Gage's successor, Gen. Howe, evacuated Boston, in 
 March following, he sent his despatches containing the news to 
 England by Thompson, who re-embarked in the ship which had con- 
 veyed him to Boston, while Gen. Howe himself with his army 
 sailed for Halifax. 
 
 The despatches borne by Thompson were directed to Lord 
 George Germaine, Secretary of State for the department, to which 
 the affairs of the colonies were intrusted. By this powerful min- 
 ister, he was very graciously received, and immediately offered 
 employment in his own department, which Thompson thankfully 
 accepted, and entered at once on the discharge of his official duties. 
 And in this employment he acquitted himself with so much ability 
 and faithfulness, that within four years from his arrival in England, 
 he was advanced to the dignity of " under Secretary of State." 
 
 Early in 1784, being on a tour to the continent, Col. Thomp- 
 son received a flattering invitation from Charles Frederick, Elector 
 and reigning Duke of Bavaria, to come and reside with him at 
 Munich his Capital, with encouraging assurances of advantageous 
 employment. Being inclined to accept this invitation, he went 
 back to England shortly after receiving it, to obtain permission 
 from the King to enter into the service of a foreign prince. Such 
 permission was readily granted him. And, as a testimonial of the 
 royal approbation of his labors while in England, the king conferred 
 on him the honor of knighthood, accepted his resignation as a 
 colonel of dragoons, (an office with which he had been recently 
 invested,) and allowed him to retain the half pay of his military 
 rank ; a privilege which was continued to him through life. 
 
 Going from England to Munich, before the close of the year 
 1784, he found an honorable post assigned him near the person of 
 the sovereign ; and there he at once commenced a series of exer- 
 tions and labors, which proved very successful, and highly bene- 
 ficial both to the government and to the public. He effected very 
 important reforms in the military establishment of the country. 
 He brought about arrangements, by which the soldiers were better 
 fed, clothed and paid ; were encouraged in various industrial pur- 
 suits for the benefit of themselves and families : schools were 
 founded, in which they and their children were instructed gratis in 
 the rudiments of learning ; and workshops were provided, in which 
 their uniforms were made, and military equipments were wrought 
 by their own hands and those of their wives, the State furnishing 
 the raw materials.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 395 
 
 He adopted measures likewise, by which mendicity, that had 
 grown to be an enormous evil in Munich, was utterly abolished 
 there. But while he put down beggary in Munich, he instituted 
 means, by which, through the voluntary contributions of its inhab- 
 itants, and the countenance and aid of the principal officers of 
 State, and by a council chosen by them from among the people, 
 the poor were in all respects amply provided for, were trained und 
 inured to habits of honest industry, and were led to cherish senti- 
 ments of self-respect, which fostered in them both the desire and. 
 the ability to get their own living, and to make themselves inde- 
 pendent of the public aid. These benevolent, disinterested labors 
 of Sir Benjamin Thompson for the poor of Munich kindled in them 
 the warmest sentiments of veneration, gratitude, and love ; senti- 
 ments of which they repeatedly gave public unmistakable tokens. 
 On occasion of his being once seized with a dangerous illness, 
 while he had the management of the workhouse established for 
 their benefit, " its inmates," we are told, " went in procession to 
 the cathedral, where, at their request, divine service was performed, 
 and public prayers offered for his recovery : and four years after- 
 wards, when the news of his being ill at Naples reached Mu- 
 nich, they voluntarily set apart an hour each evening, to join in 
 supplications for his restoration to health." 54 
 
 Nor was it by the poor only that he was honored, revered, and 
 caressed. Many were the tokens conferred on him of the high 
 esteem in which he was held for his abilities and worth by his 
 noble friend, the Elector, and by the literati of Bavaria, and other 
 countries of Germany. Among the numerous honorary distinctions 
 awarded him, was his admission " as a member of the two acade- 
 mies of Munich and Manheim ; " his election in 1787 as " a mem- 
 ber of the Academy of Science at Berlin ; " his appointment of 
 44 Councillor of State " to the Elector ; Lieut.-General of the Army 
 of Bavaria; " Commander-in-chief of the General Staff';" "Min- 
 ister of War ; " " Superintendent of the Police of the Electorate ; " 
 and to crown all, " in the interval between the death of the 
 Emperor Joseph, and the coronation of his successor Leopold," 
 his friend, the Elector, becoming Vicar of the empire, availed 
 himself of the prerogatives of that office, to make him ' a Count of 
 the Holy Roman Empire." " In receiving the last dignity, he 
 chose a title in remembrance of the country of his nativity, and of 
 
 Eenwick's Lifu, Chap, vi., p. 98.
 
 396 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 
 
 the place endeared by recollections both of pleasure and pain ; and 
 was thenceforth known as Count of Ruinford, from one of the 
 names by which the residence of his wife had been distinguished." M 
 
 After a residence of about ten years in Bavaria, his health 
 became impaired, and he sought relief in a journey to Naples. 
 But this expedient proving ineffectual, he, on his return to Munich, 
 obtained leave to visit England again, which. he did in 1795, 
 after an absence of eleven years. Here he received great atten- 
 tion from his former friends and associates, was consulted in almost 
 all schemes for the promotion of public benevolent ends, and 
 published his essays for the improvement of fireplaces, and the 
 cure of smoky chimneys. And now having recovered his health, 
 (his principal inducement for making this visit to England) he 
 was enabled advantageously to pursue his philosophical inquiries 
 and experiments both in England and in Ireland, when alarming 
 intelligence from the Electorate hastened his departure from Lon- 
 don to Munich. Arriving in that city early in 1796, he found it 
 in a state of terror and consternation. The war between France 
 and Austria, which followed the French Revolution, had brought 
 an army of each of the contending parties into the neighborhood, 
 or to the very walls of the city. And the Elector, alarmed for his 
 own safety, fled from his capital, eight days after the arrival 
 of Rumford, having first appointed him head of the Council 
 of Regency, during his absence. Availing himself of the power 
 conferred on him by this appointment, Rumford put himself at 
 the head of the Bavarian forces, and by his resolute yet prudent 
 management, he induced both the opposing armies to desist from 
 their threatened hostile purposes, and to retire ; thus averting the 
 danger which threatened the city, and opening a way for the Elec- 
 tor's return. For this, his services, the inhabitants of Munich 
 gave Rumford unequivocal tokens of their gratitude. And the 
 Elector loaded him with new honors, and permitted him to settle 
 one-half of the pension which he allowed him on his daughter, 
 (who had accompanied him thither from England,) and extended 
 its term to the duration of her life. 56 
 
 To recover his health, which was again giving way, he was 
 induced, with the elector's leave, to make another journey to 
 England, accompanied by his daughter, in 1798. While there, 
 the fame of his attainments in learning, philosophy and usefulness 
 
 BO Renwick'e Life, Chap, iv., pp. 69-71. > Kenwiek's Life, Chap, ix., p. 156.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 397 
 
 having spread far and wide, he received a formal invitation from 
 the government of the United States to revisit his native land. 
 This invitation, his daughter was very urgent with him to accept 
 immediately. He himself was strongly inclined to do so ; and 
 wrote to his friend, Col. Loammi Baldwin, of Woburn, Mass., to 
 secure for him a house and land in the vicinity of Cambridge, 
 which he might make the place of his residence on his arrival, and 
 leave to his daughter for a home, when he had done with it. But 
 being, in the mean while, earnestly solicited to assist in the estab- 
 lishment of the "Royal Institution," an institution patronized by 
 the King, aided by liberal contributions of the wealthy, and 
 designed, according to its charter, for " diffusing the knowledge, 
 and facilitating the general introduction of useful mechanical 
 inventions and improvements, and for teaching, by courses of 
 philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science 
 to the useful purposes of life," he was reluctantly persuaded, from 
 motives of duty, to postpone his intended visit to the United 
 States, and never afterwards found it convenient to resume it. 57 
 
 The death of the Elector, Charles Frederic, Rumford's zealous 
 patron, benefactor, and fast friend, in 1799, changed the whole 
 future course of his life. For the Elector's nephew and successor, 
 Prince Maximilian Joseph Deux Fonts, though the first to intro- 
 duce Rumford to the notice of his uncle, and still friendly to him, 
 was so wrought upon by his nobles, who were jealous of the fame 
 and influence of Rumford, as to show himself indisposed to find 
 him the employment which the old Elector had. This state of 
 things, Rumford perceived upon his return from England to Bava- 
 ria. And, disappointed and mortified by the neglect he had to 
 submit to, having first assisted in reorganizing " the Bavarian 
 Academy of Sciences," he took his final leave of the Electorate. 58 
 
 But he did not go from it without leaving behind, in the hearts 
 of the people, a grateful remembrance of his benevolent exertions, 
 not only for the correction of great evils existent among them, 
 and for the advancement of their highest and best worldly inter- 
 ests, but also for the promotion of their pleasure, entertainment 
 and comfort, in their leisure moments. To use the words of his 
 biographer, " In the immediate vicinity of Munich was a large 
 extent of waste land, which had formerly been a hunting ground of 
 the Prince : and although the game had long since been extirpated, 
 
 ,*Renwick'8 Life, Ch. ix., pp. 157-161. Kan-wick'i Life, Cb. ix., pp. 164-1M. 
 
 35
 
 398 HISTORY OF WOBTTRN. 
 
 and the forest had disappeared, it was still the property of the 
 Elector. Rumford, who had in England imbibed a taste for the 
 art of landscape gardening .... proposed to render this profit- 
 able, by converting portions of it into a ' ferine ornee,' [an orna- 
 mental farm,] while other parts were laid out in walks and drives, 
 for the recreation of the inhabitants of Munich. The circuit of 
 the grounds was six miles, around which a road was constructed, 
 embellished at intervals with picturesque cottages and dwellings, 
 that were occupied by the tenants who cultivated portions of the 
 ground, or by those employed in superintending and taking care 
 of the grounds. 
 
 " To diversify the features of the ground, a space was excavated, 
 which filled with water, formed a beautiful artificial lake, while the 
 earth removed from it was employed to form a mount (mound ?). 
 To accommodate the citizens in search of recreation, a public 
 coffee-house was erected, and committed to the charge of a respec- 
 table keeper, while edifices intended for embellishment, afforded 
 seats at the best points of view. 
 
 " After Rumford left Bavaria, the principal nobility and inhab- 
 itants of Munich chose to express their gratitude for his exertions 
 in procuring them this place of recreation, by erecting a monument 
 to commemorate his agency, on which they also caused to be recor- 
 ded his services in rooting out mendicity, and founding institutions 
 for education." 59 
 
 89 " This monument is of a quadrangular form, having two principal 
 fronts opposite to each other, ornamented with basso relievos and inscrip- 
 tions. On one side is an inscription in the German language, of which the 
 following is a literal translation : 
 
 " ' Stay, Wanderer. 
 At the creative flat of Charles Theodore, 
 
 Rumford, the Friend of Mankind, 
 By Genius, Taste, and Love inspired, 
 Changed this once desert Place 
 Into what thou now beholdest.' 
 
 " On the opposite side of the monument, under a bust of Count Rum- 
 ford: 
 
 " ' To him, 
 Who rooted out the greatest of public Evils, 
 
 Idleness and Mendicity, 
 Relieved and instructed the Poor, 
 And founded many Institutions 
 For the Education of our Youth.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 399 
 
 After quitting Bavaria, having employed himself some time in 
 travelling in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, Rumford arrived at 
 length in Paris, where he was received with all due honor and dis- 
 tinction. His daughter had now left him, having returned to 
 America about the time he gave up his projected voyage to his 
 native land. And the Count himself becoming acquainted at Paris 
 with the widowed lady of Lavoisier, the celebrated chemist, a 
 mutual attachment between them ensued, which terminated in their 
 marriage, as soon as the requisite certificates of his own birth, and 
 of the death of his first wife (which he had written his daughter in 
 July 1804 to procure for him) could be obtained from the United 
 States. He now took up his abode in the village of Auteuil (near 
 Paris), which had belonged to his wife's former husband, and been 
 the seat of many of his important discoveries in physical and chem- 
 ical science. And here Rumford himself continued to pursue his 
 philosophical inquiries and studies, till death removed him from the 
 world. His decease, occasioned by a fever, occurred August 21, 
 1814, at his villa in Auteuil, in the sixty-second year of his age, 
 " depriving mankind of one of its most eminent benefactors, and 
 science of one of its brightest ornaments." 60 
 
 Count Rumford left behind him many precious memorials of his 
 filial affection, and of his general benevolence and largeness of 
 heart. 
 
 In letters, written between 1795 and 1808, to his mother, who 
 lived to an advanced age, he gave reiterated assurances of his 
 warmest gratitude and love ; and in proof of this, he transmitted 
 to her ten thousand dollars in stocks of the United States, as a 
 deed of gift, to be absolutely at her disposal. For his daughter 
 Sarah, (known here as the Countess, who died lately at Concord, 
 N. H.,) he made ample provision for her comfort and support. Nor 
 did he forget, in the distribution of his bounty, an unfortunate sis- 
 ter-in-law, Ruth, a daughter of his mother by her second marriage. 
 Learning that his mother had bequeathed by will, out of the moneys 
 he had given her, a thousand dollars to his daughter Sarah, he 
 
 Go, Wanderer, 
 And strive to equal him 
 In Genius and Activity, 
 
 And us 
 In Gratitude.' " 
 
 Renwick's Life, Chap, vil., pp 123, 124. 
 
 > lienwick's Life, Chap, ix., pp. 166-168; Chap, xi., p. 201.
 
 400 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 wrote to his mother, requesting her to make a new will, and to 
 devise to Ruth the legacy she had intended for Sarah. 61 
 
 Nor did he confine his beneficence to the narrow circle of his 
 family connections and early friends. In the year 1796, being at 
 that time in London, " he presented to the American Academy of 
 Arts and Sciences at Boston, five thousand dollars, in the three per 
 cent Stocks of the United States "...." to the end that the 
 interest of the same may be received from time to time forever, 
 and the amount of the same applied and given, once every second 
 year, as a premium to the author of the most important discovery, 
 or useful improvement, which shall be made and published by print- 
 ing, or in any way made known to the public, in any part of the 
 continent of America, or in any of the American islands, during the 
 preceding two years, on heat, or on light ; the preference always 
 being given to such discoveries, as shall, in the opinion of the 
 academy, tend most to promote the good of mankind." 62 
 
 " By his Will, Count Rumford bequeathed to Harvard College 
 one thousand dollars annually, and the reversion of other sums, 
 for the purpose of founding a professorship ' to teach, by regular 
 courses of academical and public lectures, accompanied with proper 
 experiments, the utility of the physical and mathematical sciences, 
 for the improvement of the useful arts, and for the extension of 
 the industry, prosperity, happiness, and well-being of society.' 
 The amount of property which came into the hands of the corpo- 
 ration of the College, in 1815, after the death of Count Rumford, 
 was about eleven hundred dollars annually, subject to a deduction 
 of about two hundred dollars a year, payable to the Countess, his 
 daughter, in case she should fail to receive her annuity of two 
 thousand florins from the Court of Bavaria. The University was 
 also to receive the reversion of about four hundred and forty dol- 
 lars annually, after the death of certain annuitants. 
 
 " The Rumford professorship was accordingly established in the 
 university, and went into operation in the year 1816. Dr. Jacob 
 Bigelow was the first professor, who occupied the chair eleven 
 years, and was succeeded by Mr. Daniel Treadwell. Hitherto this 
 foundation has produced all the benefits which the liberal donor 
 could have anticipated. A course of lectures is annually delivered 
 to the undergraduates and other students of the university. The 
 aggregate amount of the fund at this time, according to the Treas- 
 
 M Renwick's Life, Appendix, pp. J07-209. * Renwick's Life, Appendix, p. 202.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUEN. 401 
 
 urer's last Annual Report is about twenty-nine thousand dollars. 
 A valuable apparatus, consisting of machines, models and instru- 
 ments, suitable for illustrating the topics embraced in the lectures, 
 has been added to the department." 63 
 
 In view of the literary studies, of the diversified labors and sacri- 
 fices of Count Ruinford to benefit his fellow-men, as well as of the 
 final disposal of his property, all must acknowledge him entitled to 
 the highest praise, as a practical philosopher and philanthropist, 
 an ardent lover of learning, and friend to the cause of humanity. 
 
 In respect to his religious sentiments, Rumford cherished appar- 
 ently unshaken faith in the being and infinite perfections, the 
 universal providence and government of God. In speaking upon 
 this subject, his biographer observes, 
 
 " Above all, in his inquiries he never lost sight of the 
 
 most important object of science, its bearing upon the evidences 
 of natural theology ; and, at every new step in his discoveries, 
 pauses to show in what manner they illustrate the power 1 and wis- 
 dom of the Deity. After dwelling upon this subject, he goes on 
 to say, 
 
 " ' But I must take care not to tire my reader by pursuing these 
 speculations too far. If I have persisted in them, if I have dwelt 
 upon them with peculiar satisfaction and complacency, it is because 
 I think them uncommonly interesting, and also because I conceived 
 they might be of use in this age of refinement and skepticism. 
 
 '"If, among barbarous nations, the fear of a God, and the prac- 
 tice of religious duties, tend to soften savage dispositions, and to 
 prepare the mind for those sweet enjoyments which result from 
 peace, order, and friendly intercourse ; a belief in the existence of 
 a Supreme Intelligence, who rules and governs the universe with 
 wisdom and goodness, is not less essential to the happiness of 
 those, who, by cultivating their mental powers, have learnt to know 
 how little can be known.' " 64 
 
 It is truly refreshing to read the above passage, dictated, as it 
 was, by one so eminent for learning and practical philosophy, as 
 Count Rumford, and bearing his testimony, as it does, to truths 
 lying at the foundation of all true religion. And it would have 
 been exceedingly gratifying to have closed the foregoing brief 
 sketch of him in this History of Woburn, his native place, with 
 an additional statement upon good authority, that he was a pro- 
 
 Renwick's Life, Appendix, p. 206. Renwick'a Life, Chap, xi., pp. 196, 197. 
 
 35*
 
 402 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 fessed Christian, an exemplary, consistent follower of the meek 
 and holy Jesus. But such a statement, his biography, so often 
 quoted above, does not, in any passage that has been observed, 
 warrant to be made concerning him. It is true that Rumford is 
 once or twice there presented, as calling himself a Protestant, in 
 distinction from the Catholic population around him. Such an 
 avowal is a sufficient proof that he preferred the Protestant to the 
 Catholic understanding of the Christian religion. But it seems 
 far from being equivalent to an express declaration of faith in the 
 gospel of Christ, and a serious, habitual purpose to be governed 
 by its principles and rules.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Difficulties in which the Town was Involved at the Conclusion of the 
 Revolutionary War. Its Opposition to the Return of the Refugees. 
 Its Stand in Shay's Rebellion. Its Embarrassments by Debt. 
 Measures for Payment of Debt. Middlesex Canal. Schools from 
 1775 to 1866. New Orders for School Districts. New School- 
 houses. Warren Academy. Incorporation of Burlington. Public 
 Solemnities at the Death of Washington. 
 
 THOUGH the peace agreed upon, 1783, between Great Britain 
 and the United States had put a stop to the War of the Revolu- 
 tion, yet, the bitterness and animosity which that war had given 
 rise to, were not at once allayed. In particular, the hard 
 thoughts and inimical feelings, which the refugees (as they were 
 termed) had excited in their former brethren and fellow-citizens, 
 against themselves, by fleeing from their native country, and 
 declining to take part with its defenders in their contest for 
 liberty and independence, still rankled in the breasts of multi- 
 tudes. Such feelings were manifested in Woburn, especially on 
 the following occasion. 
 
 At a general town meeting, May 12, 1783, " Voted, that the 
 Selectmen draw up a letter, as an answer to a letter received 
 from the town of Boston, relative to the return of Absentees and 
 Conspirators, dated April the 10th. 1783, and send it to said 
 town." 
 
 " Unanimously Voted it as their opinion, that the Absentees 
 and Conspirators or Refugees ought never to be suffered to 
 return, but be excluded from having lot or portion among us." 1 
 
 At the samp time, a committee, consisting of Mr. William 
 Scott, Col. Loammi Baldwin and Capt. John Wood, was appointed 
 to draft instructions to their representative in General Court, 
 upon this and other interesting subjects, and to submit them to 
 
 1 Town Record*, Vol. X., p. 293.
 
 404 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 the town for its acceptance, on the day that meeting should be 
 adjourned to. 
 
 Accordingly, such instructions were laid before the town by 
 the committee at their adjourned meeting, May 26th; and were 
 as follows : 
 
 "To Capt. Samuel Belknap. 
 " Sir, 
 
 " The inhabitants of this town, convinced of your integrity, up- 
 rightness, and warm attachment to the cause of liberty and interest 
 of your country ; and having experienced your fidelity, when you 
 last filled that important office, have now elected you their repre- 
 sentative in the Great and General Court. 
 
 " We hope you will still persist with that rectitude of conduct 
 which you have hitherto pursued ; and that you, neither being persua- 
 ded by flattery, intimidated by menace, or stimulated by sinister 
 views or personal emoluments, will not deviate from that path of 
 duty, or betray that confidence reposed in you by your constituents. 
 
 " The town you represent, have voted your being furnished with 
 Instruction ; and has unanimously voted against the resettlement 
 in this State of all such men, as have, in our glorious contest for 
 liberty, proved inimical to their country, let them be of whatever 
 denomination ; whether stigmatized by the name of Tory, Refugee, 
 Conspirator, or Absentee. 
 
 " Although the crimes of some have been atrocious, and that 
 [those] of others attended with less criminality ; yet all, by their 
 good offices, their cash, and counsel to our implacable enemies ; 
 [by] the bent of their inclination to betray their country, or the 
 denial of that assistance which was their duty to perform in the 
 time of danger, have forfeited their claim to our protection, 
 and must frustrate their overtures to become citizens of the State. 
 They chose their Party, they chose their King, and to their own 
 Master let them stand or fall. 
 
 " Tho' we are (by the blessing of God) in the peaceable pos- 
 session of a land flowing with milk and honey, yet the Land of 
 Canaan will enjoy no rest, while the Philistines *are suffered to 
 dwell amongst us. 
 
 " When the British King (like Rehoboam of old) answered our 
 Petitions with threats of whipping with scorpions, and the alarm 
 was sounded, ' To your tents, O Israel : what portion have we in
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 405 
 
 David ? Neither have we Inheritance in the Son of Jesse (or 
 George) : ' the "Whigs obey'd, but the Tories shrank from danger. 
 
 " Our burned towns, and the wanton destruction of property, 
 the loss of our blood and treasure, must ever prove an insuperable 
 barrier against such men being reinstated, as became devotees to 
 the shrine of royalty. 
 
 " After delivering this compendium of our sentiments, we In- 
 struct 3 r ou to use every effort to prevent the return of men thus 
 characterized, to their former possessions, whose aims will be, to 
 sow the seeds of discord among us. A little leaven may ferment 
 the whole mass. Principiis obsta, as to vice, is a maxim inculcated 
 by theologists, and amongst physicians, for the early suppression 
 of morbific qualities : the same maxim is applicable in politics inju- 
 rious to the Commonwealth." 
 
 " Yort'll bear in mind, that Congress are obliged only to recom- 
 mend, but they neither can nor will offer coercion. 
 
 " We recommend the framing of such Acts, as tend to encourage 
 Learning, Commerce and Agriculture. Lest enormous grants, sala- 
 ries, pensions, etc., should exceed our finances, comparative views 
 are to be taken, and strict economy observed. 
 
 " An Application to Congress is highly expedient to recommend 
 their Consolidating their old Emission, and rousing it from its 
 present lethargic state, which causes so much discontent. 
 
 " The shutting the Continental Loan Office gives fresh alarm, 
 and National Credit suffers reproach. Reputation, or National 
 Faith once lost, is hard to be regain'd ; its preservation should be 
 guarded with caution. 
 
 " You will sacredly observe the foregoing Instructions, provided 
 they do not militate with our Definitive Treaty of Peace. 
 Signed by Order of the Town, 
 
 JAMES FOWLE Junr. Town Clerk. 
 
 * 
 " The Town voted to accept of the above Instructions ; and 
 
 ordered their Town Clerk to give a Copy of the same to Capt. 
 Samuel Belknap, Representative for said Town, and attest the 
 same in behalf of said Town." 2 
 
 At the close of the war, the inhabitants of Woburn were 
 in a depressed and straitened condition. The boon they had 
 
 * Town Record*, Vol. X., pp. 294, 295.
 
 406 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 fought for was won ; but not without great sacrifices of property 
 and life. During the war, heavy losses had been incurred; 
 business had been much deranged; many hopes of worldly 
 prosperity had been disappointed; numerous efforts for acquir- 
 ing, arid plans for securing worldly wealth, had failed, or been 
 defeated. The town, likewise, was much in debt. To provide 
 money for paying the bounties demanded, in making up its 
 quotas of men that were at various times called for, to enlist in 
 the public service, the town had been obliged to borrow con- 
 siderable sums of money upon note ; 3 of which, when pay- 
 ment was demanded, its narrow finances rendered it unable to 
 refund: so that, in 1786, several executions were issued in court 
 against it. 
 
 In view of the unhappy situation the people of Woburn were 
 then in, may be plausibly conjectured the reasons of the part 
 which they took in Shay's rebellion, in 1786-7. Oppressed with 
 their own pecuniary burdens, and suffering the like public 
 grievances, real or imaginary, which their brethren in the west- 
 ern parts of the State were complaining of, they felt more 
 sympathy with them than was meet, when they rose up in resist- 
 ance to the government that was set over them, and to the laws 
 of the land. Hence, when called upon to assist by a military 
 force to suppress the rebellion, the town voted, January 29, 
 1787, 
 
 " Not to act upon the second Article in the Warrant, which 
 Article was, To see if the town will do any thing concerning 
 the Training Band now sent for. 
 
 " Voted, not to give any encouragement to the men called for, 
 to go into the present Expedition. 
 
 " Voted, not to aid nor assist in the present Expedition." 4 
 And though a protest was immediately made, and entered in the 
 town book, against the last two votes, by thirty-seven prominent 
 and highly respectable citizens ; and though at an adjournment 
 
 The principal due upon the notes against the town March 1, 1786, amounted to 
 1304 Os. Td. For interest on the same, 133 Us. 7d. a 
 Town Records, Vol. X., p. 484. 
 Town Records, Vol. XI., p. 67. 

 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 407 
 
 of the meeting two days after, these same votes were reconsid- 
 ered by the town itself; yet, at a town meeting, October 22d, 
 following, " It was Voted not to act upon the Article relative to 
 making any consideration to those persons that were draughted 
 to go into the Government's service thirty days under Capt. 
 William Blanchard in Jan 7 last past." 5 And yet again, at a 
 meeting of the town, May 5, 1788, it was " Voted Not to make 
 any allowance to those persons that hired or went in the Expe- 
 dition from this Town after Daniel Shays in January One 
 Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty Seven, agreeable to a 
 Petition signed by William Carter and others." 6 
 
 Notwithstanding the appearance of hostility to the govern- 
 ment, and of favoring the rebel cause, which these votes mani- 
 fest, it is not known that any inhabitant of this town ever 
 openly joined the rebels in their outrageous attempts. The 
 people of Woburn had always hitherto approved themselves as 
 loyal to the government set over them, as those of any town in 
 the State. The votes above referred to were passed in a moment 
 of excitement, and under the pressure of difficulties, which the 
 majority of them had been led, like the rebels, erroneously to 
 ascribe to the government. But when the prudent measures 
 which their rulers adopted had relieved them of those diffi- 
 culties, and time had opened their eyes to their mistake, in 
 supposing their government to have been the cause of them, their 
 former sentiments of loyalty revived ; and they probably would 
 have been ashamed, within no long time after, to repeat the 
 action referred to, on the occurrence of any similar occasion. 
 
 To extricate itself from its pecuniary embarrassments, the town 
 had recourse, at different times, between 1783 and 1789, to va- 
 rious expedients. 
 
 The treasurer was authorized to put off all the paper money 
 of the new emission in his hands, belonging to the town, to the 
 best advantage ; and to deliver all the paper money of the old 
 emission belonging to the town, that was lying in his hands, to 
 Mr. Isaac Johnson, who was to dispose of it in the best manner 
 
 Town Recorda, Vol. XI., p. 108. Town Records, Vol. XI., p. 164.
 
 408 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 he could ; taking care not to allow more than one hundred and 
 ffty paper dollars for one hard one: and both persons to be 
 accountable to the town. 7 
 
 He was authorized to call in all debts due to the town upon 
 note, from persons he judged able to pay : and to sell, at public 
 auction, certain parcels of real estate, supposed to belong to the 
 town, as the Meeting-house Hill, and the School-house Pond, 
 (so called) with land adjoining, and to give a title or deed of 
 the same. 8 
 
 The delinquent collectors were required to gather and to pay 
 immediately the sums in which they were deficient ; and were 
 authorized to allow a liberal premium to all who would pay in 
 advance, or within a short time, their taxes about to be assessed, 
 in order " to satisfie the Executions " against the town. 9 
 
 Finally, at a meeting, March 19, 1787, the town voted to raise 
 a tax of 300 lawful money, to be paid in hard money only, to 
 defray the town debts due out of town, and them only. 10 
 
 By these and similar prudent means, the town was ere long 
 cleared of debt, and began to flourish and prosper. The people 
 were roused from their state of depression ; and they began to 
 pursue their wonted avocations with cheerfulness and success. 
 
 Among the effects of that spirit of enterprise and improve- 
 ment, public and private, which the restoration of peace to the 
 country, the clearing of the town from its embarrassments by 
 debt, and the revival of business and mutual confidence had 
 awakened or cherished, may be reckoned the Middlesex Canal. 
 Its construction was authorized by an act of the Legislature 
 passed June 22, 1793, by which "James Sullivan Esq r . of Bos- 
 ton, Oliver Prescott of Groton, James Winthrop of Cambridge, 
 Loammi Baldwin of Woburn, Benjamin Hall, Jonathan Porter 
 and others of Medford were incorporated, they and their suc- 
 cessors, as a Corporation forever, by the name of the Proprie- 
 tors of the Middlesex Canal. 11 It was at first contemplated to 
 carry the canal only from the waters of the Merrimack River in 
 
 i Town Records, Vol. X., p. 329. Town Records, Vol. X., p. 465 ; Vol. XI., p. 152. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. XI., p. 152 ; Vol. XI., pp. 6,7. ' Town Records, Vol. XI., p. 77. 
 
 Special Laws of Massachusetts, Vol. I., p. 465; Vol. H., pp. 26, 241, 342; Vol. III., p. 131.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 409 
 
 Chelmsford to those of the Medford River, through Billerica, 
 Wilmington, Woburn, and Medford. But subsequent acts al- 
 lowed the proprietors to continue it to Charles River, and there 
 to open a communication with Boston by boats ; extended the 
 time for completing it to three years, from June 22, 1803 ; and 
 authorized them to demand forever a toll of one-sixteenth of a 
 dollar per mile for every ton of goods conveyed in boats, and 
 for every ton of timber floated on rafts. 11 As a considerable 
 part of the canal lay within the bounds of Woburn, much, if not 
 the chief portion of the care and responsibility in constructing it, 
 rested upon that noted citizen of Woburn, and one of the prin- 
 cipal proprietors of the canal, Col. Loammi Baldwin. With 
 him, it was a favorite enterprise. He entered with a warm zeal 
 upon the undertaking, and much of his time and care were 
 spent upon the work. By vote of the directors, he attended Mr. 
 Weston, a skilful English surveyor, whom he had procured from 
 Philadelphia, in surveying the route of the canal from Chelms- 
 ford, in 1794. He was constantly with the numerous workmen 
 employed upon it, overseeing and directing them. And highly 
 was he gratified, doubtless, in seeing it become navigable from 
 the Merrimack to Charles River, in 1803. 12 The facilities it 
 afforded for the transportation of timber and country produce to 
 Boston, and of merchandise from the city to its head in Chelms- 
 ford, rendered it a work of great and growing public utility, and 
 for several years a source of increasing revenue to the proprie- 
 tors. But railroads and steam-cars at length superseded it. 
 The year the Lowell railroad went into full operation, the 
 receipts of the canal fell off one-third. When the Lowell and 
 Nashua road went into operation, the receipts of the canal 
 were reduced another third. Shortly after, the dividends hardly 
 sufficed to pay for current expenses and repairs : 12 and now 
 (1867) a large proportion of the track of the canal through 
 Woburn has been filled up with earth again ; and over spots 
 where rafts were once wafted, and boats were seen passing, 
 
 11 Historical Sketch, etc., etc., by Caleb Eddy, Esq., agent of the corporation, pp. 4-.
 
 410 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 
 
 loaded with goods and persons, houses have been erected, and 
 are inhabited, as on the solid ground by the way-side. 
 
 The history of the schools in Woburn, which was brought 
 down in Chapter VII. to the year 1775, will now be resumed. 
 
 During the first seven years of the Revolutionary war, begun 
 in 1775, 4:0 lawful money, or its equivalent in the depreciated 
 paper of that day, was annually raised in Woburn for school- 
 ing. In 1775 and 1776, such a portion of that amount was laid 
 out each of those years, as was sufficient to keep a grammar 
 school in the two parishes nine months in the whole ; and the 
 remainder was appropriated to the instruction of children in the 
 extreme parts of the town. But, under this arrangement, it is 
 obvious that the advantages for schooling in the remote quarters 
 of the two parishes must have been very small. To remedy 
 this defect, the town speedily adopted a new method of appro- 
 priating its school money. For the fifteen years immediately 
 succeeding 1776, a school committee to manage the affairs of the 
 schools was but seldom chosen, and no provision was made ex- 
 pressly for a grammar school, except in 1778 and 1787. During 
 that whole period, there was a gradual increase in the sum 
 annually raised for schooling, from 40, to .60, 80 and 90, 
 lawful money, a year. But the decision of the important ques- 
 tions, How shall the money be laid out ? Who shall be employed 
 to teach ? When, and where, and how long, shall the schools be 
 kept ? seems to have been left to a committee for apportioning the 
 money, or to the majority of the inhabitants of each parish, or of 
 the several districts. This committee would first apportion the 
 school money to each parish, " according to their pay," towards 
 the town taxes, and then leave to each parish, or to the several dis- 
 tricts in the First Parish, to determine what was to be done with 
 the portion severally allotted them. The practice of the town on 
 this subject seems, during all this time, to have been agreeable to 
 its vote, March 1, 1779 : "That the Second Parish should have 
 their proportionable part of the money that is granted by the 
 town for schooling the ensuing year, to be appropriated to that
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 411 
 
 use, and no other ; and that each parish may hire whom they 
 please, and at any season of the year when they please." 13 
 
 But in the year 1792, a new era commenced in Woburn, in 
 regard to schools. At March meeting, of that year, a committee, 
 consisting of the two clergymen of the town, Rev. Messrs. Sar- 
 geant and Marrett, and of five other prominent citizens, was 
 chosen, " to examine into the government of the Schools, and to 
 recommend some uniform system of instruction." 14 The report 
 of this committee, which was submitted to the town May 7th, was 
 as follows : 
 
 " The influence of Education on society, the advantages arising 
 from it in advancing Religion and Morality, in distinguishing 
 between the unlettered Savage and the refinement of civilization, 
 will ever excite towns and other bodies corporate, to be particularly 
 attentive to the System of Education pursued in the Instruction of 
 the rising Generation. 
 
 " "We have therefore, as a Committee of the Town of Woburn. 
 chosen for the express purpose of forming a uniform System of 
 Instruction in the respective Schools, unanimously agreed to 
 recommend the following : Viz. 
 
 " 1st. We recommend an exact attention to the Law of the 
 Commonwealth, as to the choice, recommendation, and literary 
 acquirements of each instructor, as first impressions are usually 
 lasting. We think each Master ought to be a man of morality 
 and education : and we would wish that the Town would be careful 
 in the choice of their School Committee, so that none may be 
 appointed to procure Masters, except such as are capable of judg- 
 ing of the abilities of the Masters, or will take measures to be 
 informed of their characters and qualifications. 
 
 " 2cl. The School to be opened and closed with Prayers, which 
 we think decent, and becoming creatures dependent on a Creator. 
 
 " 3d. We also recommend that the Holy Bible should be read 
 once each day by such Class as is capable of reading the same, and 
 such parts selected, at the discretion of the Master, as may best 
 suit the age and capacity of the children. 
 
 " We also recommend to the use of the Schools the following 
 Books, Viz. Perry's Spelling Book and Grammar ; Webster's In- 
 
 " Town Records, Vol. EX., p. 498. " Town Records, Vol. XII., pp. 66, 68.
 
 412 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 Btitutes, Third Part; The Children's Friend, Ladies' Accidence, 
 Art of Speaking, Morse's Geography abridged, last edition : one 
 or all of them, as can be made convenient to the Parents, Masters 
 and Children : the mode of teaching them to be left with each 
 Master. 
 
 " To such as study Latin we recommend the following Books : 
 viz. Cheever's Accidence, or the Philadelphia Latin Grammar ; 
 Corderiu^ Colloquies ; JEsop's Fables ; Eutropius, Castalio's Latin 
 Testament, Ward's Latin Grammar ; Clark's Introduction to 
 making Latin ; Virgil, and Tully ; Greek Grammar and Greek Tes- 
 tament. We also recommend Pike's, Fenning's, Fisher's, or Bonny- 
 castle's Arithmetic ; and to the upper Class, an attention to Eng- 
 lish Composition, once each week or fortnight, as may best suit 
 the convenience of the Master. 
 
 "4. We also recommend Jeuk's [Jenkin's?] Art of Writing, to 
 be pursued as far as possible by each Master in his School, as 
 being the most easy, concise and plain method ever published. We 
 wish also due attention may be paid to the Paper, Pens and Ink of 
 each Scholar ; as 'tis of more consequence that they should be 
 good at the commencement of their writing than when further 
 advanced. 
 
 " 51y. We recommend the School to be Classed at the discretion 
 of the Master. We also wish to shew our disapprobation of 
 Corporal punishments ; and recommend as a substitute, Public 
 Admonition, degradation to the bottom of the Class ; and if they 
 continue refractory & stubborn, after all measures are used, we 
 recommend a dismission of such Scholars from the School for such 
 time as the Master may direct, and not [to be] again admitted, 
 unless by a written confession in open School, and a promise of 
 amendment. 
 
 " 61y. We recommend that the Catechism be taught in School 
 once a week, especially the Commandments, with their several 
 explanations. 
 
 "71y. We also would recommend, that the Selectmen provide 
 [for] the poor Scholars in each School, Paper, Pens, Ink and 
 Books, at the charge of the Town, if they are poor Orphans, or 
 Children of such Parents, who are unable to provide for them ; 
 so that each Child may have the advantage of a free School, and 
 be made useful to himself and others. 
 
 *' 81y. We recommend a visitation of the respective Schools by 

 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 413 
 
 the Ministers of the Town, the School Committee, and the Select- 
 men, on the day previous to each Master's finishing his respective 
 School ; notice being given them by the respective Masters : at 
 which time [there shall be] an Examination of the Scholars, and 
 specimens exhibited of their several acquirements in knowledge, 
 and a Journal of the behaviour of each Scholar shall be shewn by 
 the Master, who shall keep a Book for that purpose : and the 
 Visiting Committee shall give such marks of approbation and dis- 
 approbation as they shall think proper. . . We think a measure of 
 this kind would have a good effect on Master and pupils. 
 
 " "We earnestly wish the interest, welfare and happiness of the 
 rising Generation : and submit the preceding recommendations to 
 the consideration of the town. 
 
 " LOAMMI BALDWIN ~) 
 
 JOSEPH BARTLETT 
 
 ZEB. WYMAN 
 
 REUBEN KIMBALL 
 JOHN WALKER 
 SAMUEL S A RGB ANT 
 
 Committee.' 
 
 " The Town Voted to accept the above Report : and that the 
 Town Clerk shall Record said Report in the Town Book of 
 Records of Town Meetings ; and that the Town Clerk furnish 
 each School master with a copy of said Report at the opening of 
 the Schools, and that each Master shall return said copy to the 
 Town Clerk at the close of his School." 15 
 
 On the same day that the above report was read and accepted, 
 viz: May 7, 1792, there was likewise appointed a committee to 
 divide the town into school districts. This committee reported 
 May 28th, as follows: 
 
 REPORT, ETC. 
 
 "The Committee appointed to divide the Town of Woburn into 
 School Districts, have attended that business, and Report as fol- 
 lows : viz. 
 
 " That the whole of the Grammar School be kept in the School 
 house nigh the Meeting house in each Parish in said Town, and 
 to be proportioned according to the sum that each Parish may pay 
 towards the town taxes. Also that there be a School District, 
 
 w Town Records, Vol. XH., pp. 73, 75, 76. 
 36*
 
 414 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 agreeable to a Petition of Mr Josiah Walker and others, to consist 
 of the following persons within the Lines of said District, here 
 mentioned, Viz. James Walker, William Abbot, Isaac Marion, Dea. 
 Timothy Winn, Ensign Timothy Winn, John Kendall, Lt. Joseph 
 Winn, Timothy Winn 3d. William Young, John Bruce jun r ., Bill 
 Center, Josiah Walker, Josiah Walker jun r .$ Nathan Pierce, Jona- 
 than Tjler, John Bruce, Reuben Johnson, Nathan Simonds, Ebene- 
 zer Cununings, Ezra Wyman, Thomas Gleason and Jeremiah 
 Winn." 16 Also that the Districts called Richardson's Row, Button 
 End, and New Bridge, extend and include the same as they formerly 
 have done. Also the West District extend and include the same 
 as formerly, excepting those who are included in Josiah Walker's 
 District. Also that the Second Parish draw out of the Town Treas- 
 ury their proportion of the money assessed for supporting the 
 Schools, in the same proportion as they pay towards the Town Tax, 
 and to be divided into two equal parts (all excepting that part which 
 is or may be appropriated to keep the Grammar School, as afore- 
 said, and those who belong to Walker's District) ; said money to 
 be laid out in the two School Houses proposed to be erected, one 
 for the North District, near the South end of the lane leading to 
 Wilmington by William Carter's ; the other at or near Joshua Ken- 
 dall's, at a place called the Wood Market. Also that the other 
 Districts draw their money out of said Town Treasury, according 
 as they pay towards the town taxes, and la}' said money out for 
 Schooling, as the Law directs, and agreeably to the direction of 
 the Town." 
 
 " ZEBEDIAH WYMAN 
 
 JOSEPH BROWN 
 
 JOHN WALKER 
 
 JOSIAH PARKER 
 
 x Committee. 17 
 
 JAMES REED 
 JESSE DEAN 
 SAMUEL THOMPSON 
 Woburn 28th. May, 1792." 
 
 Finally, to perfect its arrangements in regard to Schools, the 
 town built in 1794 and the year following, nine new school- 
 
 Town Records, Vol. XH., p 74. To this district it was voted, May 6, 1794, to add 
 Mr. Samuel Walker, Benjamin Wyman, John Flagg, Jesse Russell, Robert Douglas, and 
 David Cummings. Town Records, Vol. XII., p . 143. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 74.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 415 
 
 houses, one in each of the recently formed districts, at a cost of 
 580, or $1,933^ in all. At its meeting in March 1794, a 
 committee of nine, or one for each district, was chosen for this 
 purpose among others, to view the school-houses which then 
 were, and to estimate the expense of repairing them, or of 
 building new ones, in the several districts. 18 This committee, 
 consisting of Capt. Joseph Bartlett, Mr. Josiah Parker, Lieut. 
 Jeduthan Richardson, Mr. Elijah Leathe, Jr., Mr. Abijah Thomp- 
 son, Mr. Timothy Winn, Jr., Capt. James Reed, Ensign Jesse 
 Dean, and Col. John Walker, reported at May meeting that 
 year as follows : " We recommend to the Town to raise the sum 
 of one hundred and fifty pounds, in addition to the sum of one 
 hundred and fifty pounds which was voted [for Schooling] at 
 March meeting, to be appropriated to build School houses in 
 the several Districts." They also recommended to the town, 
 that each district should pay for its schooling that year by sub- 
 scription; and that this sum of three hundred pounds, when 
 raised, should be appropriated in the following manner, viz : 
 The first Parish middle District to have 55. 0. 0. 
 The second Parish middle District to have 45. 0. 
 The West Side " 40. 5. 
 
 Richardson's Row " " 28 : 17 : 6 
 
 New Bridge " 27:17:6 
 
 Button End " 25: 0:0 
 
 Lt. Joseph Winn's [District] " " 25 : : 
 
 Capt. James Reed " " 26:10:0 
 
 Lt. Jesse Dean " 26:10:0 
 
 300:00:0" 19 
 
 In compliance with this recommendation, the town voted to 
 raise the 300 for the purpose designated in the report. It 
 also appointed the same gentlemen to be a committee to super- 
 intend the erection of the school-houses, each in his own dis- 
 trict ; to see that the work was completed ; and that a deed to 
 
 " Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 137. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. XII., pp. 143, 144. Supposing that the 300 raised in May 1795, 
 to complete the school-houses, was appropriated in the several districts in the same propor- 
 tion as the above, each school-house would cost just double what was first estimated it would.
 
 416 HISTORY OP WOBTTRN. 
 
 the town of the land on which each school-house stood should 
 be obtained. 19 
 
 But the people, in their zeal and hurry for building the new 
 school-houses, overlooked or neglected making provision by 
 subscription, as the committee had recommended, for the support 
 of schooling that year. In consequence of this neglect, the 
 town was presented the next year (1795) by the Grand Jury 
 for not complying with the requirements of the law on this 
 head. To avert the penalty in such cases imposed, or to pro- 
 cure the remission or abatement of it, Capt. Joseph Bartlett 
 was employed as agent for the town, to attend the Court at 
 Concord, and there to plead the expense the town had incurred 
 in building school-houses, etc., etc., during the time it was pre- 
 sented, in palliation of its neglect to fulfil the requirements of 
 the law ; but how he succeeded in his agency is not known. 20 
 
 In the mean while, the building of the new school-houses went 
 on. At May meeting, 1795, the building committee reported, 
 that, in their estimation, it would cost ,280 more than had 
 been granted for the purpose in May 1794, to complete them. 
 Whereupon, the town voted 300 " for the purpose of finishing 
 said School houses." It was also voted, if any surplus remained 
 of the 300, above the cost of finishing the school-houses, it 
 should be appropriated to support schooling in them the present 
 year (in addition to the 100 raised in April for the same use) ; 
 and that the building committee should also be " the committee 
 to provide schooling in the several districts the present year." 20 
 
 And now the public schools in Woburn, being provided with 
 every needful accommodation, and under the favorable influence 
 of the new regulations, began to flourish as they never had 
 before. And, although for a little while they were checked in 
 their progress by the incorporation of the Second Parish as a 
 distinct town, in 1799, yet they speedily surmounted that obsta- 
 cle in their onward course. Parents have since showed a 
 livelier interest for the education of their children than they 
 
 Towu Records, Vol. XII., p. 143. *> Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 195.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 417 
 
 formerly exhibited, and have made more liberal grants of money 
 for the promotion of this excellent end. Hence their schools 
 have been multiplied in number ; the terms of time which they 
 were wont to be kept have been prolonged ; and their children 
 have enjoyed far superior advantages, and more enlarged means 
 and opportunities for the acquisition of knowledge than they 
 heretofore have been accustomed to. And as the town itself 
 has of late years surprisingly increased both in population and 
 in wealth, so there has been a marked and a very rapid pro- 
 gress in its schools, both in the number of their pupils, and in 
 the privileges of instruction which they have afforded. 
 
 In this connection, while treating of the public schools of 
 Woburn, it seems an appropriate time and place to give some 
 account of Warren Academy, situate in the midst of it. 
 
 This* important institution of learning derives its name as 
 well as being from its munificent founder, Isaac Warren, Esq., 
 of Charlestown. That benevolent gentleman, after much delib- 
 eration how he might bestow a portion of the wealth, which a 
 kind Providence had put into his hands, so as best to promote 
 the glory of the Giver, and the good of his fellow-men, came at 
 length to the conclusion, that he could in no way do more for 
 the advancement of these ends, than by making a donation for 
 the establishment of an institution " for the Literary, Moral and 
 Religious Instruction of Youth : " and Woburn was selected by 
 him for the site of this institution, because it was then dis- 
 tinguished by a remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit of 
 God, and an extensive, powerful revival of evangelical religion. 
 
 Under the influence of this conclusion, Mr. Warren was led 
 to procure a meeting, February 21, 1827, at the house of his 
 pastor, Rev. Warren Fay of Charlestown, where, in his own 
 presence, and that of Rev. Messrs. Fay and Joseph Bennett 
 of Woburn, the preliminaries of the designed institution were 
 drawn up and agreed upon. After prayer to God, it was there 
 determined to found an academy at Woburn, on the principles 
 of the gospel, denominated " Orthodox or Calvinistic ; " intend- 
 ing that it should always be under the instruction of pious Gal-
 
 418 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 vinistic teachers; and that no others should ever be em- 
 ployed. 21 
 
 " A compact was then drawn up, including the form of a sub- 
 scription paper, and stipulating that the three persons above 
 named, Isaac Warren Esq r ., Rev. Warren Fay, and Rev. Joseph 
 Bennett, and also the Hon Samuel Hubbard [of Boston] 
 should have the right and power of appointing such persons to 
 be associated with them as Trustees, and forming such bye laws 
 and regulations for the benefit of the Academy, as in the first 
 instance they should think proper." ^ 
 
 Then, at the time and place above named, Isaac Warren, 
 Esq., subscribed five thousand dollars, on condition that five 
 thousand dollars more should be obtained ; and this required 
 sum was secured by the special exertions of Rev. Mr. Bennett, 
 chiefly from among the inhabitants of Woburn. 
 
 The Trustees first organized, May 31, 1827, when they chose 
 Isaac Warren, Esq., chairman, Rev. Warren Fay, secretary, efcd 
 Rev. Joseph Bennett, treasurer. The same day, the Board of 
 Trustees was enlarged by the choice of Benjamin Wyman, Esq., 
 and Capt. Joseph Gardner, both of Woburn; and September 19, 
 1829, by the choice of Rev. Aaron Warner of Medford. 
 
 In pursuance of votes passed by the Trustees at several suc- 
 cessive meetings, subsequently to the above, a building suitable 
 for an Academy was erected on the eminence, since known as 
 Academy Hill, and finished in 1827 or 1828; a preceptor was 
 appointed for one year ; the terms of tuition were fixed at four 
 dollars per quarter, except in the case of beneficiaries of the 
 American Education Society, who, it was voted, should receive 
 instruction at the academy gratis ; a system of by-laws, pro- 
 
 81 To secure the fixture compliance with this vote more effectually, it was 
 voted at the annual meeting, August 21, 1835, " That the Trustees intend 
 to sustain the principles on which this Seminary was founded, and to 
 employ none but ' pious Calvinistic Instructors ; ' and that it be understood 
 as established in this Board for all future time, that its character shall be 
 Evangelical or Calvinistic ; and none but those of the above mentioned 
 religious views shall be eligible to membership in this Board." (Academy 
 Records.) 
 
 Academy Records.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 419 
 
 posed by Rev. Mr. Fay, was adopted, and ordered to be 
 recorded; and the Legislature of Massachusetts was petitioned 
 for an act of incorporation, which was granted, March 10, 1830, 
 and accepted by the Trustees, April 24th, of the same year. 22 
 
 By the Act of Incorporation it was ordered, that the number 
 of the trustees should never exceed eleven, nor be less than five, 
 at any one time : and the trustees were empowered to fill their 
 own vacancies ; to choose their own officers ; to hold funds, to a 
 certain amount, for the benefit of the academy ; and to make 
 by-laws and regulations for their own government, and that of 
 the institution under their care. 
 
 The by-laws and rules approved and adopted previously to the 
 Act of Incorporation, or subsequently to it, provided 
 
 1. That there should be " four vacations in the academy annu- 
 ally, commencing on the Monday next preceding the last Wednes- 
 day of May, August, November, and February. The vacations 
 commencing in Maj T , August and November shall be two weeks 
 each, and the one in February one week." 
 
 2. That there should be a stated meeting of the trustees annually, 
 to be held in the town of Woburn ; beside special meetings, that 
 might be called by the Committee of Arrangements. The stated 
 meeting was originally held at the close of the summer term : In 
 1850, ^it was ordered to be held at the close of the fall term ; but in 
 1863, the old arrangement was reverted to. 
 
 3. That the officers of the institution should be elected annually 
 at the stated meeting. 
 
 4. That there should be, at the stated meeting of the trustees, 
 a public examination of the students of the academy, on which 
 occasion, prayer was to be offered, and an address delivered by one of 
 the trustees previously appointed. There were also to be examina- 
 tions of the students by the examining committee before the vaca- 
 tion in May and November. 
 
 5. The students were required to attend the devotional exercises 
 in the academy on week days, and public worship on the Sabbath. 
 
 6. They were forbidden to go out of town in term time without 
 the consent of parent or preceptor ; to enter into any enclosure 
 without the permission of the owner ; to frequent taverns, to use 
 profane language, to practice games of chance, etc., etc.
 
 420 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 7. The preceptor was directed to read the Holy Scriptures and 
 to offer prayer in the academy morning and evening ; to appoint, 
 with the advice of the examining committee, the exercises of the 
 school, and the books to be studied ; to maintain over the students 
 a constant supervision, in school and out ; to give them kind and 
 faithful advice for direction, or in forming their habits, manners, 
 and deportment ; and habitually to seek their highest intellectual 
 improvement, their increase in " religious knowledge, and the 
 advancement of their spiritual and immortal interests." 22 
 
 On Wednesday, June 27, 1838, the academy building was 
 consumed by fire. This at the time, was reputed to be the work 
 of an incendiary. But though a reward of a hundred dollars 
 was offered for the detection of the person or persons who 
 perpetrated the crime, and though several individuals were ex- 
 amined in regard to it, yet no one was ever proved to have 
 been concerned in the commission of it. 
 
 A committee was speedily appointed to examine the ruins, 
 who reported it expedient to rebuild the old walls, as they 
 stood, beginning a few feet from the top. This report was 
 accepted; a building committee was chosen; and so rapidly, 
 under its direction, did the work of reconstruction proceed, that 
 the new building was ready for occupation by December follow- 
 ing ; and the academy, in the course of that month, was opened 
 anew with appropriate exercises, especially with an address, by 
 previous appointment, from Rev. Dr. Fay. 22 
 
 In the mean while, Rev. Mr. Bennett, who had been appointed 
 and requested to solicit donations in aid of the institution, 
 (especially to "replace the philosophical apparatus, destroyed 
 by the fire,) was so successful in his efforts to this end, as 
 to raise above $1,400 by subscription, besides books. Of the 
 money thus generously contributed, it was voted to lay out five 
 hundred dollars upon the purchase of a suitable philosophical 
 apparatus; and a committee consisting of Rev. Dr. Fay, Rev. 
 Joseph Bennett and George W. Warren, Esq., of Charlestown, 
 was chosen for the purpose. The treasurer also was directed 
 to procure a plain clock for the school-room. 22 
 
 By the sale in 1857, of the boarding house, and of land at-
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 421 
 
 tached to it, "the invested funds of the Institution were ma- 
 terially increased, and the means of its usefulness were pro- 
 portionably enlarged." And hence the committee on lands, 
 etc., chosen in 1856, and consisting of Gen. A. Thompson, Rev. 
 E. W. Clark, Rev. J. Edwards, George "W. Warren, Esq., and 
 Deacon Thos. Richardson, took occasion to report at the an- 
 nual meeting of the board, November 20, 1857, that "while 
 the principal of the fjmd should be kept good, it is desirable 
 that the income of the fund should be principally employed in 
 putting the Academy building and Grounds around in complete 
 order ; in providing in the Building a Room for the Meetings of 
 the Trustees; and also in making an annual addition to the 
 Library and Philosophical Apparatus." 
 
 And bearing in mind, " that this new accession to the Fund of 
 the Trustees has been almost wholly derived from the sale of 
 the Boarding House and appurtenances, which was the donation 
 of Isaac Warren Esq. the founder of the Institution, and in 
 addition to his original subscription, both of which were made 
 in his lifetime : It seems highly proper, that the Trustees should 
 provide for a permanent memorial of him, to be placed in the 
 proposed Trustees' room, as a mark of respect to his memory, 
 and in token of his beneficence to this Institution. 
 
 " The Committee therefore unanimously propose the adoption 
 of the votes herewith subjoined. 
 
 " For the Committee, 
 
 G. WASH". WARREN." 
 
 " Voted, That this Committee be authorized, at such time as 
 they may deem proper, to put the Academy Building in complete 
 repair ; to provide a cellar and furnace for the same ; to provide 
 and furnish a room for the use of the Trustees ; and to grade and 
 ornament the grounds about the building in a suitable manner. 
 
 " Voted, That in grateful recognition of the liberal endowment 
 made by Isaac Warren, Esq., the founder of this Institution, the 
 President be requested and authorized to procure on behalf of 
 the Board, a Marble Bust of him, to be placed in the Trustees, 
 room. 
 
 37
 
 422 
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 " On motion made, it was voted to accept and adopt the above 
 Report and the accompanying Votes." ^ 
 
 List of Preceptors of the Academy. 
 1828. Mr. Alfred W. Pike. 
 1831. Mr. Jarvis Gregg. 
 1831, Sept. 23. Mr. Cyrus Holmes. 
 1836, Aug. 26. Mr. A. K. Hathaway. 
 1842. Eev. A. P. Chute. 
 1846. Mr. Abner Eice. 
 
 Mr. Osgood Johnson. Had resigned, Nov. 16, 1853. 
 
 1853. Mr. J. J. Ladd. 
 1859. Mr. E. W. Stone. 
 1861. Mr. D. W. Sanborn. 
 1865. Mr. William A. Stone, M. A. 
 
 At the Annual Meeting, August 4, 1865, the Board of Trustees was com- 
 posed as follows : 
 
 Gen. Abijah Thompson, Esq., admitted 1834. 
 
 George W. Warren, Esq., 
 
 Eev. Joseph L. Bennett, 
 
 Dea. Thomas Eichardson, 
 
 Hon. Horace Conn, 
 
 Eev. J. B. Miles, 
 
 Eev. E. T. Eobinson, 
 
 Eev. Joseph C. Bodwell, D. D., 
 
 Ephraim Cutter, M. D., 
 
 Dea. John E. Kimball, 
 
 Eev. Elihu P. Marvin, 
 
 Eev. Melancthon G. Wheeler, 
 
 Treasurer. 
 
 1835. President. 
 
 1852. 
 
 1854. 
 
 1856. 
 
 1856. 
 
 1856. 
 
 1862. 
 
 1863. Secretary. 
 
 1865. 
 
 1865.. 
 
 1865. 
 
 Several of the former Members of the Board (as Eev. Aaron Warner) 
 have resigned in consequence of a change of residence ; and to others who 
 have deceased, merited tributes of respect have been paid, as follows : To 
 Eev. Joseph Bennett, August 16, 1848. To Capt. Joseph Gardiner, Novem- 
 ber 19, 1858 ; and to Dr. Benjamin Cutter (for thirty years Secretary) June 
 18, 1864. 
 
 In 1799, an important division of Woburn was effected, viz: 
 the separation of the Second Parish from the First, and its 
 incorporation by the General Court as a distinct town, by the 
 name of Burlington. Attempts for this end had been repeatedly 
 made before, viz : in January, 1733-4, only three years after the 
 incorporation of the parish; and, again, in 1774 and in 1782 ; 23 
 but they had all been defeated by the timely and decided oppo- 
 
 1 Parish Records, Vol. I., p. 51 ; Vol. H., pp. 110, 170, 171.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 423 
 
 sition of the First Parish. But the measure aimed at in these 
 successive efforts was carried at last. The motion for this pur- 
 pose commenced in this, as in all the preceding instances, in the 
 precinct. At a parish meeting, May 29, 1797, it was 
 
 " 1st. Voted unanimously, to take measures to obtain a divi- 
 sion of the town of Woburn, so that the Second Parish in said 
 town might be incorporated into a separate town. 
 
 " 21y. Voted, to choose a Committee of seven persons, who are 
 directed to take such measures as shall appear to them reason- 
 able and proper to obtain said separation. The Committee 
 chosen were 
 
 " JOHN WALKER, ESQ., ENSIGN TIMOTHY WINN, 
 
 CAPT. REUBEN KIMBALL, MR. EDWARD WALKER, 
 
 CAPT. JOHN WOOD, MR. JOHN CALDWELL, 
 
 MAJ. JOHN RADFORD. 
 
 " Sly. Voted that the above persons be a Committee, and are 
 directed to collect the minds of all the qualified voters in said 
 Parish, respecting a separation of said town of Woburn." 
 
 At an adjournment of the meeting to June 1st, P. M., two 
 more persons were added to the Committee above named, viz : 
 Capt. James Reed and Mr. James Walker. 
 
 " 41y. Voted that the above Committee of nine persons be 
 directed to petition the General Court of this Commonwealth 
 jointly, or by any one or more of them, in behalf of said Parish, 
 and to take and use all reasonable and lawful measures to obtain 
 the object above mentioned. Also voted that the above men- 
 tioned nine persons be a Committee to make and receive in 
 behalf of said Parish such proposals as they may judge proper 
 and expedient respecting said separation. 
 
 " 51y. Voted to raise the sum of fifty dollars, to defray the 
 expense that may arise in prosecuting the above object." 24 
 
 The committee chosen by the parish to obtain, if possible, a 
 division of the town, seem now to have drawn up a memorial on 
 this subject, and to have presented it to the General Court at its 
 next session. And at a precinct meeting, February 7, 1798: 
 
 * Parish Records, continuation of, pp. 4, 5.
 
 424 HISTORY OP WOBTTRN. 
 
 " After having the proceedings of the Committee made known, 
 
 " Voted unanimously, that they approve thereof. 
 
 " Voted, that the Memorial presented to the General Court by 
 them [the Committee] is perfectly agreeable to their minds, and 
 that they are anxious to have the prayer thereof granted. 
 
 " Voted unanimously, that the Committee chosen in May last 
 to petition the General Court for a division of the Town of 
 Woburn, are empowered generally to act and agree in behalf of 
 said Parish in every matter or thing that may come before the 
 Genera! Court respecting the division aforesaid." 25 
 
 And at a still subsequent meeting, March 12, 1798, the 
 parish " Voted, that the Committee already chosen, be requested 
 to proceed agreeably to their Instructions, and to use all possi- 
 ble means in their power to obtain a separation of the town of 
 Woburn, agreeably to their Memorial, or in any other way they 
 shall think proper : and that all the powers that have heretofore 
 at any legal meeting been granted them, are still continued in 
 force." 26 
 
 But the majority of the town was decidedly opposed to the 
 contemplated division ; and did not look with unconcern upon 
 the zealous efforts of the people of the Second Parish to pro- 
 cure it. At a general meeting of the inhabitants of the town, 
 at the meeting-house of the First Parish, December 18, 1797, in 
 acting upon an article of the warrant, relative to setting off the 
 Second Parish as a town, it was found that eighty-six were 
 against such a separation, and thirty-nine in favor. Five agents 
 were then chosen to attend the General Court at their next 
 session, to oppose a division of the town, viz : 
 
 COL. LOAMMI BALDWIN, 
 
 SAMUEL THOMPSON, ESQ., 
 
 MAJ. JEREMIAH CLAPP, J Agents. 27 
 
 DANIEL WYMAN, 
 
 ABIJAH THOMPSON, 
 
 And at a town meeting, April 2, 1798, in relation to a 
 memorial of the Second Parish in Woburn, respecting a division 
 
 Parish Records, continuation of, p. 7. K Continuation of Parish Records, p. 14. 
 Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 280.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 425 
 
 of the town, " Voted a Committee of nine Persons to inquire 
 into the grounds of uneasiness of the Second Parish, which has 
 occasioned their application to the Legislature for a Division of 
 this town, and report at the next meeting. 
 " COL. LOAMMI BALDWIN, 
 
 SAMUEL THOMPSON, ESQ., 
 
 MAJ. JEREMIAH CLAPP, 
 
 CAPT. BENJAMIN WYMAN, 
 
 MR. BILL RUSSELL, ^Committee." 28 
 
 CAPT. JOSEPH BROWN, 
 
 MR. JAMES WALKER, 
 
 GEN. JOHN WALKER, 
 
 CAPT. JOHN WOOD, 
 
 Mem, Fifty-eight votes for choosing a committee, thirty-five 
 against. 
 
 At a town meeting, May 7, 1798, the committee reported as 
 follows : 
 
 " The Committee appointed by the town of Woburn to inquire 
 into the grounds of uneasiness of the Second Parish in Woburn, 
 which has occasioned their application to the Legislature for 
 a Division of this Town, have attended that service; and 
 report, that your Committee held a meeting at the house of 
 Capt. John Wood, Jun., in said Second Parish on 23d ultimo, 
 and have previously notified the Committee who had been ap- 
 pointed by the 2d Parish to apply to the General Court for the 
 division of the town, and to attend with such others as might 
 be best capable of giving information respecting the grounds 
 of uneasiness, as required by the town. And after diligent 
 inquiry was made of the Committee of the Second Parish, and 
 many others who attended, your Committee could not find as 
 there were any real grounds of uneasiness existing, neither was 
 there one word of complaint made, but what the Second Parish 
 have had its full proportion of advantages equal and in common 
 with the rest of the town : and it is the opinion of your Com- 
 
 Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 307. 
 37*
 
 426 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 mittee, that there does not actually exist any real grounds for 
 uneasiness at all; but we have great reason to fear that the 
 present movements and attempts for a division of the town orig- 
 inated altegether in private views. 
 
 " LOAMMI BALDWIN. 
 
 SAMUEL THOMPSON, 
 
 JEREMIAH CLAPP, 
 
 BENJAMIN WYMAN, f Committee. 29 
 
 JOSEPH BROWN, 
 
 BILL RUSSELL, 
 " ZEBADIAH WYMAN, Town Clerk." 
 
 The committee's report, as above, was accepted. Three 
 agents were then chosen, viz : Maj. Jeremiah Clapp, Mr. Abijah 
 Thompson and Capt. Joseph Brown, who should attend the 
 General Court, at its next session, to oppose a division, and 
 were directed to remonstrate in writing against it. 
 
 Voted, also, that the Representative of the town, Samuel 
 Thompson, Esq., be instructed to use his influence in the Court 
 in opposition to a division of the town. 29 
 
 But at this stage of the proceedings in reference to a division 
 of the town, the inhabitants of the Second Parish seem to have 
 stolen a march upon those of the First. A general town meet- 
 ing was called, to be held October 1, 1798, at the meeting-house 
 of the Second Parish. One article of the warrant for this 
 meeting was, " To see if the Town will choose a Committee to 
 meet the Committee which is appointed by the General Court, 
 on a Petition of General Walker and others to view the Town, 
 in order to ascertain the expediency of a division of said Town 
 into two Towns, or into a Town and District. Also to see if 
 the Town will give their Committee, when chosen, any particu- 
 lar instructions respecting the matter, or do any thing in regard 
 to the same, that they may think best when met together." From 
 some cause or other, a large portion of the inhabitants of the 
 First Parish appear to have been absent from this meeting: 
 
 i'own Records, Vol.XII., p. 309. 

 
 HISTORY OF WOBUEN. 427 
 
 and the consequence was, that votes were then passed, which 
 directly contravened the measures taken by the town in the two 
 meetings next preceding. In acting upon the article above 
 cited, a committee was chosen to meet the Court's committee, 
 consisting of Lieut.. Joseph Winn, Gen. John Walker and Mr. 
 John Kendall j and a second committee was appointed to draft 
 instructions for the first, which were accepted by the town, and 
 were as follows, viz : 
 
 " That the Committee this day appointed to attend the Com- 
 mittee from the General Court be instructed to attend said 
 Committee, and use their endeavours, in behalf of the Town of 
 Woburn, to have the town divided, agreeable to the Prayers of 
 the inhabitants of the Second Parish in said town, and that all 
 just and equitable measures be taken by them to have the same 
 accomplished as soon as may be ; and that they appear in behalf 
 of said town, at the next session of the General Court, and 
 urge the necessity and utility of the measure in the most press- 
 ing manner they are able, or in any other way they may think 
 most proper to accomplish a division of said town." 30 
 
 But at a general town meeting, at the meeting-house of the 
 First Parish, November 5, 1798, the action of the meeting, 
 October 1st, in regard to a division of the town, was entirely 
 reversed. 
 
 In answer to the petition of a number of the inhabitants " to 
 see if the Town will dismiss the Committee which was chosen 
 at their last town meeting to attend the Hon. Committee from the 
 General Court upon a Division of the Town " : the house was 
 polled, and eighty-three were for acting on this article, and 
 forty-three against. 
 
 "Voted, that the Committee, which was chosen on the 1st 
 Oct. 1798, viz, Messrs. Gen. John Walker, Lieut. Joseph Winn 
 and Mr. John Kendall, for the purpose of meeting the Hon. 
 Committee from the General Court, by a vote of the town this 
 day passed is dismissed from any further service for the town 
 as a Committee. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 311.
 
 428 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 "Voted, to choose Agents to attend the General Court, or 
 any Committee that is or may be appointed by the General 
 Court, upon a Division of the Town." 
 
 Chose three agents by hand vote : to whom two more were 
 presently added : 
 
 COL. LOAMMI BALDWIN, 
 MAJ. JEREMIAH CLAPP, 
 MR. ABIJAH THOMPSON, J> Agents. 
 MR. NATHAN SIMONDS, 
 CAPT. JOSEPH BROWN, 
 Voted, that the instructions which Col. Loammi Baldwin has 
 this day drawn up be the instructions for the above agents : 
 which instructions were as follows : 
 
 Instructions : 
 
 " I. Voted, to choose a standing Committee of five persons to 
 be Agents for the Town to oppose a Division of the Town, any 
 three of which Committee shall constitute a quorum to do busi- 
 ness, and no more than three are to attend at any one time, at 
 the expense of the town. And the said Committee are re- 
 quested and authorized to attend when it shall be necessary, at 
 the General Court, or before any Committee that has been or 
 that may hereafter be appointed, upon the Division of the Town, 
 and in the name and in behalf of this town, to oppose any 
 division thereof, and to remonstrate against the continuance of 
 those expensive measures which are pursuing against it ; and if 
 necessary, to petition the Legislature, to be heard on the sub- 
 ject upon the floor of the House; and generally to do and 
 transact every thing which they may think necessary for the 
 interest of the town, to prevent a measure which appears 
 pregnant with so many evils as tnat of the division of the 
 town. 
 
 " 2d. And it is also further Voted, that the numbers of Voters 
 present at the appointment of said Committee be taken, and a 
 Record thereof made ; and the said Committee with the forego- 
 ing Commission shall continue and exist for the term of one year 
 next ensuing this date, if the cause which has given rise for their 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 429 
 
 appointment shall continue so long, unless in the mean time they 
 shall be dismissed, or their commission altered, in legal Town 
 Meeting, when there shall be as many Voters at least present 
 as there are now at the appointment of said Committee. 
 
 " 3d. Voted, that Samuel Thompson, Esq., who is appointed to 
 represent this town in the General Court, the present year, be 
 instructed, and is hereby instructed, to use his influence and 
 utmost endeavors in the General Court to prevent a division of 
 the town, and if possible, to put a speedy stop to the expensive 
 measures which have been unreasonably pursued against the 
 rights, the interest and happiness of the citizens thereof. 
 
 "Voted, that all the instructions and directions given to 
 Messrs. Gen. John Walker, Lt. Joseph Winn and John Kendall, 
 the Committee chosen at the last meeting to attend the General 
 Court's Committee upon the Division of the Town be repealed, 
 and made null and void." 31 
 
 But all the strenuous efforts of the majority of the town to 
 prevent the contemplated division of it did not avail. Such 
 were the representations made to the Court, on the part of the 
 Second Parish, or such the adroitness of its management for 
 securing the end aimed at, that the Court came at last to the 
 conclusion, that a division of the town was expedient ; and on 
 February 28, 1799, incorporated the Second Parish of Woburn 
 as a distinct town, by the name of Burlington. 32 
 
 By this act of the Legislature, Woburn lost 7,418 acres of 
 territory, beside the Locke Farm, which was originally included 
 in it, but which, after the incorporation of Burlington, was set 
 off to Lexington. 33 
 
 Of three hundred and fifty-three persons resident in Woburn, 
 who were taxed there upon the town tax in 1798, there were 
 ninety-six who belonged to the precinct. 34 
 
 Of a town tax raised in Woburn, 1798, and amounting to 
 $2,703.10, the Second Parish paid I795.20. 34 
 
 The population of Woburn, Winchester and Burlington was 
 
 M Town Records, Vol. XII., pp. 314, 315. Special Laws of Mass., Vol. II., p. 283. 
 
 Plan of Burlington, by Bart. Richardson, 1831. * Town Records, Vol. XII., pp. 317-343.
 
 430 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 as follows, according to the United States census, in the years 
 named : 
 
 1790. 1800. 1810. 1820. 1830. 1840. 1850. 1860. 
 
 Woburn, 1,727 1,228 1,219 1,519 1,977 2,993 3,956 6,287 35 
 Winchester, 1,353 1,937 
 
 Burlington, 534 471 508 446 510 545 606 
 
 N. B. Winchester was incorporated April 30, 1850, from 
 parts of Woburn, Medford and West Cambridge. 36 
 
 Burlington incorporated February 28, 1799, originally Wo- 
 burn, Second Parish : part of it annexed to Lexington, January 
 10, 1810. 37 
 
 The death of General Washington (deservedly called the 
 Father of his Country) in December 1799, excited a universal 
 and profound sensation of grief throughout the United States. 
 At a town meeting in Woburn, January 8, 1800, called as soon 
 as could be after the event was announced, it was voted: 
 
 "1. That a week day be assigned, on which the Town may 
 pay their respects to the memory of the late General George 
 Washington, who died on the 14th of December, A. D. 1799. 
 
 " 2. That the Selectmen with three other Gentlemen, viz. Col. 
 Loammi Baldwin, Major Jeremiah Clapp, and Dea. Josiah Con- 
 vers, be a Committee to appoint said day, and concert a mode 
 in which the town may proceed to pay their respects to the 
 memory of their friend, Gen . George Washington deceased." 
 
 The Report of the Committee, rendered within an hour after, 
 was : 
 
 " The citizens of the town of Woburn, being deeply affected at 
 the death of his Excellency, George Washington Esq. late Gen- 
 eral of the Armies of the United States, who died the 14th 
 Dec. last, do resolve that Thursday, the 16th instant, be set 
 apart to testify their respect to the memory of their late beloved 
 friend and patron, General George Washington. 
 
 " And that it be recommended to the Inhabitants of this Town 
 to suspend the ordinary business of labour, and that an Eulo- 
 gium adapted to the occasion be delivered at the Meeting 
 House on said day. 
 
 M Public Documents, Annual Statistics, 1861, No. 1, pp. 30, 31. 
 Public Documents, etc., 1864, No. 1, p. 15. 
 w Public Documents, 1864, No. 1, pp. 13, 14.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 431 
 
 " Voted to recommend to all the male inhabitants to wear a 
 black crape or ribbon on their left arm, and the females, 
 black trimming on their head dresses, for the term of thirty 
 
 This report was accepted by the town, which then chose a 
 committee of nine persons, to make and carry into effect the 
 necessary arrangements for said day, viz : 
 
 COL. LOAMMI BALDWIN. 
 
 SAMUEL THOMPSON, ESQ. 
 
 DBA. JOSIAH CONVERS. 
 
 MR. ABIJAH THOMPSON. 
 
 CAPT. JOSEPH BOND. 
 
 LIEUT. JOSEPH LAWRENCE. 
 
 CAPT. BENJAMIN WYMAN. 
 
 MR. ELIJAH LEATHE, JR. 
 
 MAJ. JEREMIAH CLAPP. 38 
 
 Finally, " Voted, in case that an Orator cannot be obtained to 
 pronounce an Eulogium on the day appointed, the above Com- 
 mittee are authorized to appoint another time for said Solemnity, 
 and to give seasonable notice to the Town of the time they may 
 appoint." 38 
 
 The services in commemoration of the death of Washington 
 were held January 16th, (the day recommended by the Com- 
 mittee,) in the old meeting-house on the Common, which was so 
 densely crowded with attendants, that it was found necessary to 
 prop it up. An escort was formed by the military company 
 under the command of Lieut. Stephen Richardson ; and by the 
 children and youth of the public schools. Prayer was offered 
 by Rev. Daniel Oliver, then preaching in Woburn. An address, 
 adapted to the occasion, was delivered by Rev. Dr. Morse of 
 Charlestown, founded on the words Deut. xxxiv. 7. "And 
 Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died ; his 
 eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." Rev. Elias 
 Smith, of the Baptist society, made the concluding prayer. 39 
 
 M Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 358. 
 Communication from Col. Leonard Thompson, by Nathan Wyman, Esq., town clerk.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Ecclesiastical History from 1775. First Church : Rev. Messrs. Sargeant, 
 Chickering, Bennett. 
 
 To resume the ecclesiastical history of Woburn, which was 
 brought down in Chapter XL, to 1775 : 
 
 At the commencement of the present century, in consequence 
 of the incorporation of the Second Parish as the town of Bur- 
 lington in 1799, the old first congregational parish of Woburn 
 comprehended all the inhabitants of the town, excepting the few 
 connected with the Baptist Society, which had been then but 
 recently formed. To preserve harmony with that society, how- 
 ever, the town entered into an engagement with it, September 28, 
 1801, to omit taxing its members for the support of Congrega- 
 tional preaching, or any other religious purpose, on condition of 
 its returning every year, by the first of May, to the town asses- 
 sors, a list of those who belonged to it. 1 And moreover, it 
 forbore, after 1802, to enter in the town records (agreeably to 
 previous custom) its proceedings relative to raising money for 
 preaching, or to the settlement or maintenance of its ministers, 
 but transferred them to a new volume, termed the " Parish 
 Books" or otherwise "the Ministerial Book of Records." 2 The 
 last tax for the support of preaching that is recorded in the 
 town book was raised by the town September 21, 1801, and 
 recorded in the Town Records, Vol. XIII., p. 62-66. 
 
 After the dismission of Rev. Mr. Sherman, in 1775, the First 
 Parish was almost ten years without a settled minister. The 
 friends of the dismissed pastor were too much soured and 
 grieved at his removal, to be very ready to agree with his op- 
 ponents in the choice of a successor. Upon two occasions, 
 they manifested much solicitude to have Mr. Sherman invited 
 back and resettled over them. Particularly, at a parish meet- 
 
 i Town Records, Vol. XIII., p. 47. 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. XIII., pp. 70, 126, 186, 188, 217, 254, 348, 379.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 433 
 
 ing, December 8, 1778, in taking steps to determine how many 
 were in favor of giving him such an invitation, the people were 
 found to be very nearly equally divided. 3 
 
 At a meeting, April 5, 1779, it was voted to set apart April 
 22d, as a day of fasting and prayer, " in order to the settlement 
 of a Gospel Minister in this Parish ;" and to apply to the follow- 
 ing ministers in the vicinity, viz : 
 
 Rev. Messrs. MORRILL of Wilmington, 
 
 " " CLARK of Lexington, 
 
 " " THACHER of Maiden, 
 
 " " PRENTISS of Reading, 
 
 " MARRETT of Woburn. Second Parish, 
 
 " " OSGOOD of Medford, 
 " to assist the Parish, and carry on the work of the day." 4 
 
 During the long period which elapsed that Woburn First 
 Parish was destitute of a settled ministry, numerous candidates 
 were employed, with a view to settlement over them. Among 
 the more prominent of these were Messrs. Caleb Jewett, in 
 1779, William Greenough, in 1780, Jonathan Homer, in 1781, 
 and Phinehas Wright, in 1784. Each of these gentlemen was 
 successively called by the church to the pastoral office ; and, in 
 respect to the two named last, the parish voted concurrence 
 with the church, and a salary. But they all declined continuing 
 in Woburn. Mr. Jewett was afterwards settled, it is believed, 
 in Maine; Messrs. Greenough and Homer in Newton; and 
 Mr. Wright in Bolton. 
 
 December 8, 1784, the church made choice of Mr. Samuel Sar- 
 geant for their pastor. With this choice the parish concurred, 
 at a meeting December 13th, when they voted to give him annu- 
 ally <150 salary, so long as he should do the whole work of the 
 ministry in the parish, and 150 settlement. And at an adjourn- 
 ment of this meeting, January 3, 1785, it was voted to pay Mr. 
 Sargeant his settlement one half in one year, and the other half 
 in two years from that time ; and to give him 50 annually for 
 his maintenance, so long as he shall be the minister of the parish, 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. II., pp. 219, 220. Prfrish Records, Vol. II. Page not noted by clerk.
 
 434 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 should he fail, by reason of age, etc., to do the whole work of 
 the ministry. 5 
 
 And at an adjourned meeting, January 24th, the parish voted, 
 by forty votes to twenty, their continued satisfaction with their 
 previous proceedings on this head ; and appointed a committee 
 " to complete a contract with Mr. Samuel Sargeant," who that 
 day accepted the invitation given him to settle. 5 
 
 February 14th, a committee of the parish was appointed to 
 meet a committee of the church, to make provision for the 
 ordination; and also with Mr. Sargeant to determine what 
 churches to apply to, for their assistance on the occasion. The 
 day appointed for the ordination is not named either in the 
 church or in the parish records j but from the Precinct Church 
 Records, it appears to have taken place March 14, 1785, Mr. 
 Sargeant having been received into the fellowship of the Church 
 a fortnight before. 
 
 At this time, there were, on the Parish tax lists for 1785, one 
 hundred and twenty-seven resident persons on the west list, and 
 one hundred and four resident persons on the east list, taxed 
 for the minister's salary. 5 
 
 But scarcely was Mr. Sargeant regularly inducted into the 
 pastoral office, before those troubles commenced respecting him, 
 with which the parish was agitated for nearly fourteen years. 
 The choice of him by the parish, as their minister, was far from 
 unanimous, as is evident from their proceedings at their meeting 
 January 24, 1785, at which they confirmed their previous 
 doings at his election; and subsequent acquaintance with him, 
 and use to his ministrations did not allay the opposition to 
 him, or increase the number of his friends. At a meeting of the 
 parish May 1, 1786, Mr. Zachariah Richardson, a stanch friend 
 of Mr. Sherman, and who seemed hardly willing to sit under 
 the preaching of any other minister, brought forward a petition 
 that every one might be allowed to pay his parish tux wherever 
 he attended preaching: and though the parish refused, by forty 
 votes to twenty-three, to act on this petition, yet another petition, 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. II.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 435 
 
 signed by the same individual and ten others, was presented 
 at a meeting October 29th of the next year, urging that a com- 
 mittee might be chosen, to see if they can agree with the Rev. 
 Samuel Sargeant, that he should quit the desk. 5 
 
 Before the end of the year 1786, several members of Woburn 
 First Parish had withdrawn from the public worship of their own 
 town, and frequently attended the meetings of the Baptist society 
 in West Cambridge : and though the assessors in Woburn were 
 directed by the parish to assess the parish taxes, as they had 
 been wont to, yet at several parish meetings in Woburn, in 1787 
 and 1788, it was a matter of debate, what should be done with 
 the parish taxes of those persons ; whether they should be paid 
 to the Baptists, who demanded them of the parish treasurer, 
 or not. 
 
 Alarmed by these contentions, and tokens of alienation from 
 Rev. Mr. Sargeant on the part of many, several prominent citi- 
 zens procured a parish meeting, to be called January 4, 1790, to 
 see if the parish will act upon the following articles, agreeably 
 to the petition of Bartholomew Richardson and others : 
 
 First, " To see if the Parish will take any measures to recon- 
 cile and heal the divisions and uneasiness that do now and have 
 for some time past subsisted between a considerable number of 
 the Parish and the Rev d Mr Samuel Sargeant. 
 
 " Second, To choose a large committee to wait on the Rev. 
 Mr Sargeant, to confer with him on the subject of a reconcilia- 
 tion and compromise between him and a great number of the 
 Parish, and if possible, to lay a plan for obtaining peace and 
 unity once more amongst us." 6 
 
 At this meeting, January 4, 1790, a numerous committee, viz : 
 Dr. Samuel Bloggett, Messrs. Jesse Richardson, Robert Douglas, 
 Elijah Leathe, Deacon Zebadiah Wyman, Messrs. Joseph Winn, 
 Josiah Convers, Lieut. Jeduthan Richardson, Maj. John Hast- 
 ings, Mr. Paul Wyman, Capt. Joseph Bartlett, Samuel Thompson, 
 Esq., and Mr. Daniel Wyman, thirteen in all, was chosen, to 
 take part in the efforts proposed above ; and also upon certain 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. II.
 
 436 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 
 
 papers communicated by Mr. Sargeant, and to report at adjourn- 
 ment, January 18th. 
 
 At the adjournment, the committee reported that they did not 
 consider the proposals of Mr. Sargeant, contained in his letters 
 communicated to the parish, as sufficient to calm the disaffection. 
 
 44 That they had waited on Mr Sargeant, and had informed him, 
 as far as was in their power, with regard to the existing uneasi- 
 ness ; that he expressed great grief thereat ; had ever sought their 
 welfare ; was sensible of the burdens of his people ; was willing to 
 sustain an equal share with any of his brethren ; and (with regard 
 to his demands on the Parish) had never exacted interest on his 
 Orders ; on the contrary, had often settled them, after they had 
 been due 15 or 20 months, without any compensation for delay, 
 even when he was paying interest himself for money he had bor- 
 rowed ; that he had never in any year since his residence among 
 them, received, on an average, more than 10 over and above a 
 sufficiency to pay for his own board and horse keeping, at the rate 
 he gave while a Candidate ; and that he had never received a 
 farthing of his settlement money since the day it was voted : 
 finally, that if he were chargeable with rash or imprudent speeches, 
 had injured any one, or done any thing inconsistent with the 
 character of a Christian minister or gentleman, he was willing to 
 make any proper satisfaction ; and to submit all matters of uneasi- 
 ness to a Mutual Council of Churches, and abide its decision." 
 
 The report, of which the above is an abstract of the princi- 
 pal particulars, is signed by Joseph Bartlett, the committee's 
 clerk. And in perusing it, one cannot but perceive reason for 
 Christian sympathy with Rev. Mr. Sargeant, in some of its state- 
 ments, and in others just cause of complaint on his part against 
 the parish for delinquency in not fulfilling their engagements 
 with him. 
 
 But the report did not satisfy the parish, which decided not 
 to accept it, by sixteen votes to thirty-three, and then referred 
 the matter anew to the same committee, with some enlargement 
 of their commission, to report further at an adjourned meeting, 
 January 28th. 6 
 
 At the adjournment, the committee added to their former report, 
 that having inquired into and considered certain speeches reported 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 437 
 
 to have been made by Rev. Mr. Sargeant, they had found one to 
 be without foundation, and as to another, they had not been able 
 to obtain satisfaction. 
 
 They further reported, that having endeavored impartially to 
 acquaint themselves with the sentiments of the inhabitants of the 
 Parish, with regard to Mr. Sargeant, " they had found 24 decidedly 
 in his favor. 
 
 " 48 inclined to have the connection between Mr. Sargeant and 
 his people dissolved. 
 
 " 50, who had not seen fit to manifest their wishes. 
 
 " 22 who had signed off to the Baptists. 
 
 " And a few remained, whom they had not seen, and whose 
 sentiments, in regard to Mr. Sargeant, they had had no opportu- 
 nity to ascertain." 
 
 This report was read and accepted ; and then the meeting was 
 dissolved. 6 
 
 In the year 1790, Mr. Sargeant sued the parish at law, proba- 
 bly for his settlement money. No defence was attempted by 
 the parish in this suit ; but they agreed to be defaulted. 
 
 About the same time, Rev. Thomas Green, minister of the 
 Baptist society in West Cambridge, sued the parish for recovery 
 of the taxes of those inhabitants of Woburn, who attended wor- 
 ship in his society. Committees were successively appointed to 
 defend the parish against Mr. Green. But eventually, the case 
 was decided in Mr. Green's favor, who obtained an execution 
 against the parish ; and orders were given to the parish asses- 
 sors, October 17, 1791, "to omit taxing those persons reputed 
 to belong to Mr. Thomas Green's Society, whose names are 
 returned to the [Parish] Committee, except Benjamin Fowle, 
 Ephraim Tottingham, and such others, as the assessors may think 
 best to tax or not, according to the assessors' discretion." 
 
 At a meeting of the Parish, September 27, 1792, an address to 
 the church, drawn up by a committee chosen for the purpose, was 
 submitted to the parish, in which it was stated, " that the disaffection 
 to Mr. Sargeant had existed several years, was continually increas- 
 ing, and disturbing not only their religious transactions, but the 
 harmony of their social intercourse ; and threatening, unless a 
 remedy was speedily applied, the most injurious consequences :
 
 438 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 that ' a new Religion, had been introduced among them, and the 
 usual place of worship had been forsaken by a considerable number 
 of valuable citizens ; and that many who continued to attend, did it 
 more from a sense of duty, and a love of good order, than from 
 any expectation of benefit : that they did not now complain, on 
 behalf of the parish, of the religious or moral character of Mr Sar- 
 geant ; but that so unintelligible were his instructions, and so 
 mysterious and dark his mode of communication, that the general 
 complaint was, that neither profit nor advantage could be expected ; 
 and that they believed the general wish of the parish was for an 
 amicable separation, such as would be honorable to Mr. Sargeant, 
 and not injurious to them ; and that unless a separation did take 
 place, they had good reason to believe that a number of others, 
 Mr. Sargeant's hearers, would withdraw." 7 
 
 This address was accepted by the parish, and the committee 
 which drew it up, soon after, at the request of the parish, presented 
 it to the church. From the church records, it appears that the 
 church met October 24th, to hear the address read ; and appointed 
 a committee of three, viz, Samuel Thompson, Esq., Deacons Obadiah 
 Kendall and Zebadiah Wyman, to prepare an answer. 
 
 But their answer, whatever it was, did not satisfy the parish, 
 or divert them from their purpose, which was to get rid of Mr. 
 Sargeant. At their adjourned meeting, October 29th, they chose 
 a committee of five, viz : Capt. Joseph Bartlett, Mr. Jeremiah 
 Clapp, Capt. Joseph Brown, Ichabod Parker and Josiah Par- 
 ker, to meet the church, and to request that a committee might 
 be chosen from their body to join with the parish committee 
 " to wait upon Mr. Sargeant, and see what agreement can be 
 made with him, relative to his relinquishing his connexion over 
 this Parish " ; and report at the adjournment of this meeting, 
 November 12th. 
 
 The above request of the parish was communicated to the 
 church, November 2d, when it was voted to resolve the church 
 into a committee of the whole, to join the committee from the 
 parish. This joint committee met November 5th; but after 
 calling Deacon Zebadiah Wyman to the chair, they came to no 
 conclusion, and dissolved the meeting. (See Church Records.) 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. H. 

 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 439 
 
 At a meeting of the parish, January 28, 1793, it was put to 
 vote 
 
 1. "To see if the Parish will submit the present difficulty exist- 
 ing between the Rev d- Samuel Sargeant and a number of the Parish 
 (agreeably to the original Contract with Mr Sargeant at his settle- 
 ment) to a Mutual Council of Churches. 
 
 2. " Then voted to choose a Committee of five persons, to 
 Request Mr Samuel Sargeant to call a Church Meeting, to see if 
 the Church will join in a Council ; and Report to the Parish at their 
 adjournment. 
 
 " Then made choice of Mr Abijah Thompson, Capt. Joseph 
 Brown, Mr Paul Wyman, Capt. Joseph Bartlett, and Mr Jere- 
 miah Clapp" ; and voted to adjourn to the 18th of February next, 
 at 2 of the clock, P. M. 8 
 
 February 18, 1793, the parish met according to their ad- 
 journment, and called upon their committee for their report, 
 who said they had none, although the church had met. But from 
 the Church Records, we learn the proceedings of the church in 
 regard to those of the parish, at their meeting January 28th, and 
 upon other interesting matters, as follows : 
 
 The church met February 18, 1793, and heard read the pro- 
 ceedings of the parish at their meeting, January 28th. When 
 it was voted, after mature deliberation, 
 
 1. " Not to act at present on the request of the Parish." 
 
 2. Informed Mr. Sargeant that a number of persons appeared 
 disposed to withdraw from the parish, and requested him to say, 
 whether in case they should withdraw, he would relinquish the 
 proportion of his salary, for which such persons would be liable ? 
 To which Mr. Sargeant replied as follows : 
 
 " Should a number of persons relinquish their connexion with the 
 Parish, and join any other denomination of Christians, the loss 
 shall be mine, not the parish's. Pay me from year to year the same 
 proportion on Polls, real and personal Estate, as you paid the last 
 year in the sum of one hundred pounds and I will relinquish the 
 deficiency." 
 
 These doings were sent to the parish, and the parish dissolved 
 their meeting. 9 
 
 In this unhappy posture of affairs, the First Church and Par- 
 ish in Woburn continued, in relation to their pastor, Rev. Mr. 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. III., p. 1. > Parish Records, Vol. III., p. 2.
 
 440 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Sargeant, for five years more. A large number of the parish 
 were earnestly desirous that the connection between them and 
 their minister should be dissolved. But a majority of the church 
 appear to have resolutely adhered to him, and been very unwill- 
 ing to part with him. But in 1798, the church, alarmed at the 
 then state of things, and apparently fearing that to retain Mr. 
 Sargeant in the ministry among them any longer might be fatal 
 to the peace of the parish, and to the interests of religion in it, 
 came to the conclusion it would be best to carry into effect an 
 agreement entered into by them and Mr. Sargeant just before his 
 ordination. That agreement was as follows : 
 
 In the warrant for a parish meeting, March 19, 1798, one 
 article was, * 
 
 "To see what the Parish will do, respecting the uneasiness of 
 a number of persons belonging to said Parish, relative to sitting 
 under the Rev. Samuel Sargeant's preaching," etc. In acting 
 at the meeting upon this article, " Voted to poll the House on 
 the Question of the uneasiness under the Rev. Mr Samuel Sar- 
 geant's preaching: which was accordingly done. The Return 
 was, that thirty-five were uneasy, and nine otherwise minded." 10 
 
 The parish then proceeded to choose a committee of- seven 
 persons, viz : Maj. Jeremiah Clapp, Mr. Deacon Wyman, Capt. 
 Joseph Brown, Mr. Jacob Peirce, Capt. Benjamin Wyman, Mr. 
 Bill Russell, and Capt. Abijah Thompson, " to request the Rev. 
 Samuel Sargeant and the Church to call a Church meeting for 
 the purpose of choosing a Committee to meet the Parish Com- 
 mittee, to consult together respecting the uneasiness of a number 
 of persons belonging to said Parish, relative to their sitting under 
 the Rev d . Mr Samuel Sargeant's Preaching." 10 
 
 The committee of seven, chosen as above, proceeded to com- 
 municate the request of the parish to the church, who voted 
 compliance with it, and at a meeting, April 9th, having heard the 
 doings of the parish, March 19th, chose from their own body 
 Samuel Thompson Esq., Deacon Jeduthan Richardson, Deacon 
 Obadiah Kendall, Abijah Thompson and Joseph Lawrence, as a 
 committee, to join with the committee from the parish. At a parish 
 meeting, July 2d, this joint committee reported as follows, viz : 
 
 w Pariah Records, Vol. m., pp. 40, 41.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 441 
 
 " We the Subscribers, a joint Committee chosen from the Church 
 and Parish to consider the present uneasiness subsisting between 
 the Rev. Samuel Sargeant the Church and Parish, have attended that 
 business agreeably to their instructions, and report as follows : viz. 
 that after waiting upon Mr. Sargeant at his house, and consulting 
 with him, find he will not come to any agreement, nor make any 
 proposals respecting the terms of a Separation ; but does not 
 object to a Council agreed upon by him and the Church : and we 
 recommend to the Parish to leave it with Mr. Sargeant and the 
 Church to agree upon a Council, and that the uneasiness together 
 with all matters of dispute be submitted to their determination. 
 
 " JEDUTHDN RICHARDSON ) Q , n 
 
 " July 2, 1798. jEREM h . CLAPP. 5 * 
 
 The parish voted to accept the above report; and also to 
 join with the church in a council; and that their committee 
 should unite with the committee from the church in making the 
 necessary provision for receiving the council. 
 
 Hitherto, the church seems to have entertained a lingering 
 hope, that an accommodation on some terms might be effected 
 between Rev. Mr. Sargeant and the parish, and thus save the 
 necessity of calling a council. But the result of the conference 
 between him and the joint committee, related in the report just 
 given, convinced them it was useless to cherish such an expecta- 
 tion any longer. 
 
 Accordingly, at a meeting July 9th, they voted with Mr. 
 Sargeant's concurrence, to call a mutual council of five churches, 
 viz : the church in Chelsea, the church in Billerica, two churches in 
 Reading, and the church in Salem, of which Rev. Messrs. Payson, 
 Cumings, Stone, Prentiss and Barnard, D. D., were pastors. 
 
 2. Appointed Tuesday, 25th September next, 10 o'clock, 
 A. M., for the Council to convene ; and the pastor and deacons 
 to be the committee to send the letters missive. 
 
 The following is the form of a letter missive agreed upon at 
 a church meeting : 
 
 To the Church in Billerica : " Woburn 23d ' Jul ? 1798 ' 
 
 " Rev d - Hon b - and Beloved. 
 
 " The first Church of Christ in Woburn, sendeth Greeting. 
 
 " Earnestly requesting your Presence with us on Tuesday 25th Sept r - 
 next, at 10 o'clock A. M. by your Pastor and Delegate, 
 " Parish Records, Vol. III., p. 43.
 
 442 
 
 HISTORF OP WOBURN. 
 
 "To consider 'The uneasiness of those Persons belonging to this 
 Parish relative to their sitting under the Rev. Samuel Sargeant's preach- 
 ing'; and to judge of the expediency of his continuing his pastoral 
 relation to this Church. And if it be expedient to dissolve the pastoral 
 Relation, to judge on what Terms and Conditions it shall be dissolved; 
 according to the mutual agreement between Mr Sargeant and the Church 
 dated 28th. Febr. 1785. 
 
 " Wishing Grace, Mercy and Peace to be multiplied unto you, We sub- 
 scribe ourselves Yours in the Faith and Fellowship of the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ : 
 
 " The other Churches sent unto are 
 " The Church in Chelsea, Two Chh" in Reading 
 The Church in Salem, of which 
 Rev. Mr Payson, Stone, Prentiss an^d Barnard D.D. 
 
 are Pastors." 
 
 " The Rev. Mr Henry Cummings. 
 To be communicated." 
 
 SAMUEL SARGEANT, Pastor. \ Committee 
 
 SAMUEL THOMPSON, ^ > of the 
 
 JEDUTHUN RICHARDSON, $ Deacons - ) Church. 
 
 At a legal parish meeting, September 17, 1798 : 
 " Voted to instruct their present Committee to join the Commit- 
 tee from the Church and Parish ; and for the Joint Committee to 
 proceed to lay all complaints, difficulties or grievances subsisting 
 between the Rev. Mr Sargeant, the Church and Parish that they 
 may think proper, before the Council, which is mutually chosen by 
 Mr Sargeant and the Church, to be assembled at Woburn on Tues- 
 day the 25th. instant, and that they furnish the Rev d . Samuel Sar- 
 geant with a Copy of the same as soon as may be. 
 " The Names of the Joint Committee : 
 
 "The Joint 
 Committee 
 
 " The Parish then 
 Voted to add two 
 more to the Com- 
 mittee, viz : 
 
 f Dea. SAMUEL THOMPSON 
 Dea. OBADIAH KENDALL 
 Dea. JEDUTHDN RICHARDSON 
 JOSEPH LAWRENCE 
 ABIJAH THOMPSON 
 JEREMIAH CLAPP 
 ICHABOD PARKER 
 JOSIAH PARKER 
 OBADIAH KENDALL Jun r . 
 JOSEPH BROWN. 
 DANIEL WYMAN 
 BENJAMIN WYMAN 
 
 "On the part of 
 the Church." 
 
 'On the part of 
 the Parish." 
 
 'Added two 
 more." 
 
 Voted to dissolve the Meeting. 
 
 SAMUEL THOMPSON, Parish Clerk." 12 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. HI., p. 44.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 443 
 
 Address of the joint Committee of the Church and Parish to the 
 Mutual Council. 
 
 Prepared agreeably to instructions of the Parish, at a meeting, September 
 17, 1798. 
 
 " To the Venerable Council, to be assembled at Woburn 25th 
 of September 1798. 
 
 " A statement of the following Grievances and Difficulties sub- 
 sisting between -the Rev. Samuel Sargeant and the First Church 
 and Parish in Woburn, [is] submitted to them for their considera- 
 tion and decision by the Joint Committee chosen by the Church 
 and Parish for that purpose. 
 
 " It appears that the uneasiness originated at or about the time 
 of Mr. Sargeant's settlement A. D. 1785, and notwithstanding the 
 opposition that was then made against him by a large number of 
 the inhabitants, it was thought best by the Council to ordain him. 
 
 " We further state that ever since Mr. Sargeant was ordained, 
 the opposition has increased. Several attempts at different times 
 have been made to dissolve the connexion, as may appear by the 
 Parish Records. 
 
 " A Baptist Society has been formed, principally consisting of 
 Inhabitants that have left the first Parish, in consequence (as we 
 apprehend) of their being dissatisfied with Mr Sargeant. And we 
 sensibly feel the loss of so large a number who have already with- 
 drawn from us ; and have great reason to fear, that a very consid- 
 erable number more will soon leave us, unless some measures be 
 speedily taken to prevent it. 
 
 " We further say, that the mysterious and unintelligible manner 
 of Mr. Sargeant's communicating his ideas is the general complaint 
 of his hearers : and it is further alleged that he has neglected 
 Catechising the children ; nor has kept up Lectures, according to 
 the practice of other churches ; and that his Visits have been few 
 and partial. For these and other reasons there is such a general 
 uneasiness in the Parish, that we do believe his usefulness is near 
 at an end in this place ; and that a dissolution of his Ministerial 
 Relation will be most for the peace, happiness and interest of both 
 him and the Parish. 
 
 " As it will be too tedious (if not impossible) to exhibit on paper 
 all that may be necessary to lay before the Council, we wish to 
 reserve the liberty to offer all such other matters as may be expe- 
 dient for them to hear relating to the premises ; and that Mr 
 Sargeant have liberty to do the same.
 
 444 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 " As there is provision in the Contract made between Mr. Sar- 
 geant and the Church, that either party being dissatisGed with the 
 Result of a mutual Council, may have a right to appeal to the 
 Association, and should there be an Appeal, we expect the Church 
 and Parish will have the liberty to offer any new matters to the 
 Association that they may think proper, provided they furnish Mr. 
 Sargeant seasonably with a Copy of the same." 13 
 " Result of Council. 
 
 " WOBURN, 27th. Sept. 1798. 
 
 " An ecclesiastical Council, consisting of the following Churches, 
 viz. The Church in Chelsea, the Church in Billerica, the North 
 Church in Salem, the first and second Church in Reading, being 
 convened agreeable to Letters Missive from the Rev. [Samuel] 
 Sargeant and the church of Christ in the first Parish in Woburn, 
 to consider their circumstances, and the expediency of dissolving 
 his pastoral Relation, as stated in said Letters Missive : Having 
 addressed the Throne of Grace for Light and Direction, and hav- 
 ing attended to the discussions and state [statements?] of the 
 parties in said Parish, particularly to the uneasiness of a large 
 number of the Church and people under the pastoral care of the 
 Rev. Mr Sargeant, who wish to have his ministerial connexion 
 with them dissolved. 
 
 "And having viewed and compared the probable consequences, 
 both of his continuing in the ministry among them, and of a disso- 
 lution of his pastoral relation, are clearly of opinion, that circum- 
 stances are such, as make it expedient that his said relation should 
 be dissolved, provided they shall be willing to make him any rea- 
 sonable compensation. And, accordingly, the Council do unani- 
 mously advise him the said Mr Sargeant to ask a dismission from 
 the church and people of his charge, on condition that they shall 
 pay him nine hundred dollars, that sum being judged no more than 
 a reasonable compensation for his relinquishing his contract. 
 
 " "We do not advise to this measure on account of any culpability 
 which we have found in Mr Sargeant. For justice and charity to 
 him oblige us to say that his moral character as a Man, as a 
 Christian, and as a Minister, stands fair and unimpeached ; no 
 charges having been offered of any immoral Conduct, false Doctrine 
 or criminal delinquency in office. 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. III., p. 45.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 445 
 
 " We find ourselves therefore constrained to observe, that it 
 cannot but be a painful consideration to all sincere Christians, 
 and particularly discouraging to the ministers of the Gospel to 
 reflect, that any of the sacred order, after having spent the best 
 part of their days in the service of the Sanctuary with a fair 
 character, maintained through the whole of their ministry, should 
 in consequence of divisions and uneasinesses, which do not impli- 
 cate them in criminality, be reduced to the disagreeable alternative 
 of taking a dismission, or living in a most uncomfortable and per- 
 plexing controversy with a great part of their parishioners. 
 
 " Mr Sargeant, so far as we are able to get acquainted with the 
 circumstances of his case, falls under the above predicament. 
 
 " And being ourselves persuaded of his integrity and upright- 
 ness, and the goodness of his heart and character, "We can, and do 
 with the greatest sincerity, recommend him to any people who may 
 see fit to employ him as a minister. 
 
 * Though unfeignedly grieved at the separation which may now 
 take place between their Pastor and this Church and People, yet 
 we have been highly pleased with the honorable manner in which 
 they have conducted the whole hearing before us. 
 
 "We have earnestly wished this temper might have issued in your 
 Order and happiness, still united together. But our wishes in this 
 respect are not gratified. The Relation between you being* dis- 
 solved, according to our advice, cherish that humility and peni- 
 tence, which become you upon an event so serious and affecting. 
 
 " We humbly trust, as a Council, we have heard you with 
 patience and impartiality ; and have decided in the integrity of our 
 hearts. 
 
 " All that remains for us to do is to commend you to the bless- 
 ing of Almighty God, which is more valuable than any thing else. 
 
 "Wherever the Pastor of this Church goes, may he prosper, and 
 finally receive a Crown of Life which shall never fade away ! 
 
 " May the Church and People have peace and be edified, and be 
 continually under His guidance, who is able to preserve them from 
 falling, and to present them faultless before the presence of his 
 glory with exceeding joy. 
 
 " Phillips Payson, Moderator. 
 
 " Caleb Prentiss, Scribe." 
 
 " The above is the Result of a mutual Council of Churches,
 
 446 HISTORY OP WOBTTRN. 
 
 chosen by Mr Sargeant and the Church in the first Parish in 
 Woburn 9th. July 1798, and convened 25th. Sept r . 1798. 
 
 " True Copy : Attest. SAMUEL SARGEANT, Pastor." 
 But the difficulties with Rev. Mr. Sargeant were not yet ended. 
 The compensation awarded him by the council for relinquishing 
 his contract seems to have been considered by the parish as 
 excessive. At a parish meeting, October 10, 1798, the Result 
 of Council having been read, a committee of seven was chosen, 
 which was empowered "to v make such agreement with the Rev. 
 Mr. Samuel Sargeant on such terms of separation as they may 
 think expedient." At an adjournment of this meeting, November 
 7th, the committee reported verbally to the parish, " that they had 
 applied to Mr. Sargeant, but could not come to any agreement 
 with him, which they thought would be satisfactory to the Par- 
 ish." Whereupon it was voted, after some consultation, " That 
 the Parish do not comply with the Result of the Council." 14 
 
 At a meeting, April 8, 1799, in compliance with an article in 
 the warrant, " to see if the Parish will take any measure by a 
 committee or otherwise to make a final settlement with the Rev. 
 Samuel Sargeant," the parish chose a committee of five for this 
 purpose, viz : Mr. Abijah Thompson, Mr. Daniel Reed, Lieut. 
 Joseph Lawrence, Maj. Jeremiah Clapp, and Mr. Bartholomew 
 Richardson, Jr., which reported at an adjournment of that 
 meeting, April 29, 1799, that they "had agreed with the Rev. 
 Samuel Sargeant to quit his Ministerial connection, together with 
 all contracts heretofore entered into by him with the Church and 
 Parish, and to receive from the Parish the sum of four hun- 
 dred dollars together with his salary up to the twenty-eighth day 
 of May next, as specified in the Memorandum of Agreement 
 made between Mr Sargeant and the Committee authorized for 
 the above purpose, Woburn April 9th. 1799. 
 
 "ABIJAH THOMPSON 
 DANIEL REED. 
 JOSEPH LAWRENCE 
 JEREMIAH CLAPP 
 BARTH W . RICHARDSON." 
 
 " Parish Records, Vol. HI., pp. 48, 49.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 447 
 
 The report was accepted : and the committee was directed, 
 with the treasurer, to complete the settlement with Mr. Sargeant, 
 in the way and manner above reported, as soon as possible, and 
 then report to the parish. 15 And when this arrangement was 
 carried into effect, the connection between Rev. Mr. Sargeant 
 and the people of Woburn doubtless ceased. 
 
 Rev. Samuel Sargeant was born at Worcester, November 6, 
 1755 ; graduated at Dartmouth College, 1783, where he studied 
 divinity under the direction of Rev. Professor Ripley. Dismissed 
 from Woburn, he removed to Chester, Vt., and was never reset- 
 tled in the ministry. At different times, however, he made sev- 
 eral missionary tours in the employment of the Connecticut and 
 Massachusetts Missionary Societies ; particularly in the northern 
 parts of Vermont, in Wayne and Luzerne counties, Pennsylvania, 
 and in Oneida county, New York. He also had the charge of 
 the church in Chester, and at times preached in the town by 
 contract for a longer or a shorter period, as occasion offered ; 
 but without settlement. He died at Chester, June 2, 181 8, aged 
 sixty-three. 16 
 
 During his ministry at Woburn, there were sixty-two admis- 
 sions to the church ; one hundred and eighty infants and one 
 adult were baptized ; and one hundred and twelve marriages on 
 record were solemnized, inclusively of his own. 17 
 
 After the withdrawal of Rev. Mr. Sargeant, May 27, 1799, 
 agreeably to the advice of a Mutual Council convened at Woburn 
 in September of the year before, the Church remained destitute 
 of a settled pastor several years. 
 
 July 14, 1801, the church gave a call to the pastoral office to 
 Mr. Joshua Lane, a graduate of Harvard College, in 1799. In 
 this choice, the town concurred in September. It also voted to 
 give him six hundred dollars as a settlement, and an annual 
 salary of four hundred and fifty dollars, so long as he should 
 continue their Gospel minister. 18 And at a subsequent town 
 
 i Parish Records, Vol. III., pp. 66, 67. 
 
 Phineas O. Sargeant, Esq., his son; Am. Quarterly Register, Vol. XI., pp. 176, 188. - 
 
 " Church Records. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. XIII., pp. 46, 60, 61. Church Records, Vol. I., p. 81.
 
 448 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 meeting, December 21st, it was stipulated, that if Mr. Lane 
 should be taken off from preaching by infirmity or old age, he 
 should "relinquish one half of his salary"; thus virtually prom- 
 ising to pay him, through life, under the circumstances supposed, 
 the other half if he continued in his pastoral relation. 
 
 Upon these terms, Mr. Lane accepted the invitation given him 
 to settle in VVoburn. December 28th, committees of the church 
 and town met withvMr. Lane to make some necessary arrange- 
 ments preliminary to his ordination. But not being able to finish 
 them then for want of time, they adjourned the completion of them 
 for a few days. But before the day of adjournment arrived, Mr. 
 Lane altered his mind, and requested the town in writing, with- 
 out assigning his reasons, to release him from his engagement to 
 settle with them as their minister. 18 
 
 At a meeting, May 17, 1802, the church gave a call to Mr. 
 Humphrey Moore, another son of Harvard, of the class of 1799, 
 to become their pastor. With this call, the town concurred, by 
 a very full vote. But Mr. Moore's answer was in the negative. 
 He was subsequently settled in the ministry at Milford, N. H. 
 where (August 19, 1867) he still continues. 
 
 At a meeting, December 5, 1803, the church, by an unanimous 
 vote of all the brethren present, made choice of Mr. Joseph 
 Chickering for their pastor. In this choice the town concurred 
 unanimously, December, 22, 1803; and voted, December 29th, to 
 give him an annual salary of six hundred and fifty dollars, and 
 fitteen cords of good hard wood; and eight hundred dollars 
 within a year from his ordination, as a settlement : and further- 
 more the town voted, January 26, 1804, " That when by reason 
 old age, or other infirmity, Mr Joseph Chickering shall be unable 
 to perform the work of the Gospel Ministry, he shall then 
 receive one half of the aforesaid Annual Salary, to be equally 
 apportioned on the Money and Wood, during the time he shall 
 stand in the connection of a Gospel Minister in the Town of 
 Woburn. 19 
 
 This invitation Mr. Chickering accepted, February 12, 1804. 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. III., pp. 96, 98.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 449 
 
 The ordination was appointed to be on Wednesday, March 28th ; 
 and the following churches with their respective pastors were 
 requested to assist in the solemnity : viz. 
 Lexington, under the pastoral care of Rev. JONAS CLARK. 
 Reading, North Church, " " Rev. ELIAB STONE. 
 Medfield, " " Rev. THOMAS PRENTISS, 
 
 Andover, South Church, " " Rev. JONATHAN FRENCH. 
 Medford, " " Rev. DAVID OSGOOD. 
 
 Billerica, " u Rev. HENRY CUMINGS. 
 
 Burlington, " a Rev. JOHN MARRETT. 
 
 Dedham, First Church, Rev. JOSHUA BATES. 
 Dedhaui, South Church, " ' Rev. JABEZ CHICKERING. 
 Dedham, West Church, " " Rev. THOMAS THACHER. 
 Cambridge, West Church, " " Rev. THADDEUS FISKE. 
 Brookline, " " Rev. JOHN PIERCE. 
 
 Bedford, " " Rev. SAMUEL STEARNS. 
 
 Medway, " Rev. LUTHER WRIGHT. 
 
 Milford, N. H. " Rev. HUMPHREY MOORE. 
 
 On the day set for the ordination, delegates from all the afore- 
 named churches, and all the pastors except Rev. Messrs. Prentiss 
 and French, appeared at the place appointed, and formed in 
 council choosing Rev. Jonas Clark for Moderator, and Rev. 
 Thaddeus Fiske for Scribe. Having gone through with the 
 usual preliminary inquiries and examination, the council ex- 
 pressed unanimously their satisfaction, and voted they were 
 ready to proceed to ordination. 
 
 To Rev. Mr. CLARKE the Council assigned The Charge. 
 To Rev. Mr. STONE " " The Ordaining Prayer. 
 
 To Rev. Mr. MARRETT " The Right Hand of Fel- 
 
 lowship. 
 
 To Rev. Dr. CUMINGS, " The Introductory Prayer. 
 
 To Rev. Mr. THACHER " The Concluding Prayer. 
 
 At the meeting-house, all the parts were performed agreeably 
 to the above appointments of the Council. Rev. Jabez Chicker- 
 ing, father of the pastor elect, by previous request, preached the 
 sermon. " The exercises were performed and attended to with 
 
 39*
 
 450 . HISTORY OP WOBTJRN. 
 
 becoming solemnity ; and perfect order and regularity marked 
 the proceedings of the whole day." 20 
 
 In 1808, the third meeting-house in Woburn, erected on the 
 southeast side of the common, finished in 1752, and in which 
 Rev. Mr. Chickering was ordained in 1804, was burnt down. 
 This catastrophe is noticed as follows, in a note to his dedication 
 sermon. "On the night of the 17th of June, 1808, at about 
 half past eleven o'clock, the meeting house was discovered to be 
 on fire, and in less than an hour was reduced to ashes. Several 
 circumstances evinced design, and caution to prevent other dam- 
 age. There is only one considerable opening from the common 
 where the house stood, which is to the southwest ; and a night was 
 chosen, when the wind blew from the northeast. Had it blown 
 from any other quarter, other buildings must inevitably have 
 been consumed. Most of the powder in the tower of the house, 
 amounting to near 200 pounds, must also have been removed, as 
 the explosion was so inconsiderable, that many persons who 
 were awake, and within a mile of the spot, did not notice it. 
 The west door was also observed to be open, when the fire was 
 first discovered. Notwithstanding design was so evident, no 
 circumstance has transpired to justify a suspicion of any indivi- 
 dual." 21 A reward of five hundred dollars was offered by the 
 town, and advertised in two of the public newspapers, to any 
 who would detect the person or persons who perpetrated the 
 crime 22 ; but no discovery was ever made public, and the in- 
 cendiary or incendiaries escaped with impunity. 
 
 At several town meetings previous to the fire, it had been a 
 question for consideration, whether to repair the old meeting- 
 house or build a new one ? 23 At an adjourned meeting, June 
 5th, especially, it was at one time decided by thirty-four votes to 
 thirty-three, to repair. But this decision was presently recon- 
 sidered ; and a committee was appointed to examine the meeting 
 house, to see what partial repairs might be made to save the 
 timbers from their present decaying condition, and to report at 
 an adjournment of the meeting for one fortnight, viz : 011 June 
 
 *> Church Records, Vol. I., pp. 82-85. Dedication Sermon, note (a), p. 24. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. XIII., p. 274. Town Records, Vol. XIII., pp. 269, 271.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 451 
 
 19th. Hence, there was obviously cause for suspecting that the 
 author of the conflagration was some one who was opposed to 
 repairing the meeting-house, and who hence took this effectual 
 method to prevent it. 
 
 The town met June 19th, at the Centre school-house, and 
 decided by sixty-seven votes to three to build a new meeting- 
 house ; and chose a committee to draught a plan for the same, 
 and to estimate the quantity of materials requisite to build it, 
 either of wood or brick. 24 This committee made report to the 
 town at its next meeting, June 27th, when their plan for the 
 new house was accepted; and then, and at a subsequent ad- 
 journment, it was determined to build it of wood, and to erect 
 it on the spot where the centre school-house then stood ; a com- 
 mittee was chosen, consisting of Maj. Benjamin Franklin Bald- 
 win, Lieut. Willard Jones and Lieut. Bartholomew Richardson, 
 Jr., as agents for contracting for the materials and workman- 
 ship ; the sum of $6,000 was raised for the purpose of building, 
 to be assessed according to the direction of the Treasurer ; and 
 the Treasurer himself was authorized to hire that sum, as it 
 might be demanded for use. 25 Such was the abundant prepara- 
 tion made by the town for the erection of its fourth meeting- 
 house, to supply the place of the third, which had been burnt. 
 And such was the zeal and expedition with which the above- 
 named agents, as a building committee, discharged their trust, 
 that within one year from the time the old one was destroyed 
 by fire, the new one was ready for occupation. It stood on the 
 site afterwards occupied by its successor, the fifth congrega. 
 tional meeting-house, now owned, enlarged and adorned by the 
 Unitarian Society; "was a building fifty-five feet wide, and 
 sixty long, exclusive of a projection, six feet by thirty in front, 
 and ornamented with a handsome steeple. The entry on the 
 gallery floor afforded a convenient hall for public meetings on 
 business, and was finished with accommodations for that , pur- 
 pose." 26 It was solemnly dedicated, June 28, 1809, when an 
 appropriate and interesting discourse was delivered to the large 
 
 * Town Record*, Vol. XIIT., p. 272. *> Town Records, Vol. XIII., p. 275. 
 
 * Dedication Sermon, note (h), p. 28.
 
 452 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 audience assembled on the occasion, by Rev. Joseph Chickering, 
 the pastor, from Acts vn. 48. " The Most High dwelleth not in 
 temples made with hands." This discourse, with very valuable 
 historical notes appended to it, was afterwards published by 
 request. 
 
 Previously to the dedication, it had been decided in town 
 meeting, May 25, 1809, and subsequently, not to pay the ex- 
 pense of building the new meeting-house by a tax on the town, 
 but by the sale of the pews at public auction. 27 In pursuance of 
 this plan, the building committee was directed to number and 
 appraise the pews ; and according to the report of this commit- 
 tee (enlarged by the addition of four other persons) made June 
 8th, and accepted, each pew was to be appraised in proportion 
 to its value and situation in the house; the sum total was to 
 amount to $8,000 j no pew was to be sold for a sum less than 
 the appraisement ; the town clerk was to make a record of all 
 the pews sold, together with the purchasers' names and prices 
 paid; and pew No. 51 was to be reserved for the use of the 
 town. 26 The auction was held in, the meeting-house on Monday, 
 June 19th; and the proceeds of the sale, including the choice 
 money, amounted to $10,911, which exceeded the cost of the 
 building by $3,000. 24 
 
 In regard to this surplus, arising from the sale of pews in the 
 meeting-house, a committee chosen by the town to devise the best 
 method of appropriating it, recommended in their report, to 
 make of it, and of all other moneys that might be given for the 
 same end, " a perpetual fund, towards the support of the Regular 
 Ordained Minister of the Congregational Society " in Woburn ; 
 and that when the interest of the whole fund should amount to two 
 hundred dollars per annum, " to apply the interest of the whole 
 Fund, annually, towards the support of the said Congregational 
 Minister." 28 This report was accepted: and agreeably to its 
 recommendation, the town voted October 16, 1809, "to choose a 
 Board of Trustees, to be incorporated into a body politic for the 
 
 *> Town Records, Vol. XIII., p. 317. 
 
 * Town Records, Vol. XIII., p. 320. For the clerk's record of the pewa sold, names of 
 purchasers, etc, see Town Records, Vol. XIII., pp. 433-437.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 453 
 
 purpose of superintending and taking care of any Money, Moneys, 
 Lands or Donations, appropriated or established as a Fund 
 for the purpose of supporting the Gospel Ministry in the Con- 
 gregational Society in the Town of Woburn." The gentlemen 
 chosen as trustees of this fund on this occasion were : 
 
 Maj. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BALDWIN, 
 
 Lieut. BARTHOLOMEW RICHARDSON, Jr. 
 
 Lieut. WILLARD JONES, 
 ^ Mr. JACOB PEIRCE, 
 
 Mr. DANIEL WYMAN. 29 
 
 The Legislature was petitioned to incorporate these trustees 
 and their successors for the end mentioned, by a committee of 
 the town's appointment : and the desired act of incorporation 
 was granted, February 24, 1810. 30 But by an act of Court, 
 passed April 1, 1861, the trustees were authorized to apply the 
 fund in their hands, which had been designed for the support of 
 the Congregational minister in Woburn, to the payment of the 
 debts of the First Congregational Society. See Acts and Re- 
 solves, 1861 : p. 444. 
 
 At the commencement of Rev. Mr. Chickering's ministry in 
 Woburn, circumstances bade fair that it would be long and suc- 
 cessful, and very acceptable to the people. Attendance upon his 
 public services on the Sabbath was unusually full and constant. 
 The young manifested, it is understood, an unwonted concern in 
 spiritual and divine things. Through the exertions of the pas- 
 tor, a warm interest had been excited in the breasts of the people 
 in several of the benevolent and religious societies got up at 
 that day ; as the Middlesex County Bible Society, and the Mid- 
 dlesex Evangelical Society. And as his ministry progressed, 
 there were, previously to 1811, large accessions to his church, 
 of members both male and female, young and old. 
 
 But at the expiration of about seven years from his settle- 
 ment, a cloud arose, which darkened the fair prospect which had 
 hitherto presented itself. About that time, an unhappy variance 
 took place between Rev. Mr. Chickering and a prominent pa- 
 
 Town Records, Vol XIII., pp. 324, 326. Special Statutes of Mass., Vol. IV., p. 255.
 
 454 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 rishioner, a gentleman of high standing and extensive influence. 
 It respected (as it is understood) a piece of land belonging to 
 Mr. Chickering, which the gentleman referred to wished to pur- 
 chase, that he might avail himself of a brook running through it 
 for manufacturing purposes. Mr. Chickering was willing to sell 
 it; but requested some security to be given, that seemed to him 
 necessary, that the use to be made of it might not damage his 
 other property in the vicinity. The security demanded, that 
 gentleman was unwilling to give. Mr. Chickering still insisted 
 upon it, as an indispensable condition of selling his land. ' But 
 the other persisted in declining to give it. Hence the negotia- 
 tion between them was broken off; and an alienation ensued 
 which was never healed. Mutual friends to them both looked 
 on with sad concern, and made repeated attempts to effect a 
 reconciliation ; but in vain. 31 Neither party would yield what 
 the other insisted on, to make up the breach between them. And 
 though the church continued to increase, especially during a sea- 
 son of revival in the year 1817, yet, through the influence of 
 some opponents doubtless, the minds of many of the people were 
 soured, and they no longer appreciated Mr. Chickering's services 
 as they once did. At length, at a meeting of the parish, held 
 January 8, 1821, such votes were passed, as induced Mr. Chick- 
 ering to make the following communication, first to the society, 
 and then to the church. 
 
 "A. D. 1821, Jan. 28. The church was requested to stop 
 after public worship, and the following communication was made 
 by the pastor. 
 " Dear brethren, 
 
 " You all know, that the following communication has been 
 made to the parish, and accepted by them in a regular parish 
 meeting." 
 
 31 One such effort is referred to in Article 16th, of Warrant for Town 
 Meeting, March 4, 1811, as follows : "To see if the Town will by a Com- 
 mittee or otherwise take any measures to settle the unhappy difficulty 
 existing between the Rev. Joseph Chickering and Major Benj. F. Baldwin ; 
 or do any thing whereby the peace, unity and happiness of the Congrega- 
 tional Society in said Town maybe restored and preserved." (Town 
 Records, Vol. XIII., p. 378.) 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBTJRN. 455 
 
 " To the Congregational Parish in Woburn. 
 
 " Brethren & Friends : 
 
 " It was long my expectation and the wish of my heart to 
 spend my days in' your service. I would still cherish this wish, 
 were there such a degree of union among you, as might encourage 
 a reasonable hope, that my labors might be useful. But the result 
 of your last parish meeting is in my view, and in view of most of 
 those I have consulted, a decisive indication that my removal has 
 become expedient, and that any further effort to prevent it would 
 be injurious to your peace and to the interests of religion. I hope 
 therefore, that those who have been most attached to my minis- 
 try, will acquiesce, with Christian condescension, in an event pain- 
 ful alike to themselves and to me. To avoid unnecessary delay and 
 discussion, I propose that my pastoral and ministerial relation to 
 this church and people be dissolved on the following conditions : 
 
 "1. That the church shall consent to my removal. 
 
 " 2, That an ecclesiastical council be called to look into our pro- 
 ceedings, dissolve the relation, and give me such a recommendation 
 as they may think proper. 
 
 " 3. That the relation be dissolved in six months, from the time 
 when these proposals shall be accepted and recorded by the parish ; 
 during which time I shall supply the pulpit, and perform such pas- 
 toral duties, as under existing circumstances may be convenient. 
 
 " 4. That my salary for the present year be paid with the usual 
 punctuality ; and the proportion of it which may be due for the 
 next year, ten days before my removal ; the wood being com- 
 muted to money, as for several years past. 
 
 "5. I am willing that these proposals, when accepted by the 
 parish and church, should be laid before a council for their sanc- 
 tion, as soon as the parish may choose. 
 
 "6. If any of them be thought objectionable, they shall be sub- 
 mitted to the council for their decision. 
 
 " When it is considered, that I have voluntarily relinquished all 
 claim of indemnification for the pecuniary loss which I must inevi- 
 tably sustain in disposing of my property, I trust that none will 
 think these proposals unreasonable. And, Brethren and Friends, 
 let me intreat that neither unchristian irritation or resentment may 
 be indulged on the one hand, or unbecoming exultation on the 
 other. The event is solemn. It must be reviewed at the judg- 
 ment day ; and so must the feelings with which it is effected.
 
 456 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 God grant, that you may now, and at all future times, follow after 
 the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may 
 edify another ; that your self command, mutual forbearance, har- 
 mony and Christian feelings, on this trying occasion, may be a 
 presage of the manner, in which you will seek, and settle another 
 minister : And may the great Shepherd give you a pastor, who 
 shall be more prudent, more useful, and more happy in retaining 
 your affection, than 
 
 " Your humble, afflicted, but affectionate Servant in the Lord, 
 " Woburn Jan. 22, 1821. " JOSEPH CHICKERING." 
 
 " As one condition of my being dismissed is the consent of 
 the church, I now ask your consent, dearly beloved brethren, to 
 this measure. None will doubt, that such a request must be 
 painful to me, as the granting of it will be to most of you. But 
 I am fully satisfied, after the most mature and prayerful delib- 
 eration, that such an event has become expedient ; and therefore 
 hope, that you will unitedly acquiesce in it, and seek the con- 
 tinuance of Christian ordinances, after the period above speci- 
 fied, by such instruments as God in his good Providence may 
 provide." 
 
 " Whereupon voted, 
 
 " 1. That a meeting to consider and act on this communica- 
 tion be holden on Saturday next, one o'clock, P. M. 
 
 " 2. That the meeting be at the centre school-house. 
 
 " 3. At the request of the Pastor, that the Rev. Mr Emerson 
 of South Reading, be invited to attend and moderate the meet- 
 ing." 32 
 
 " Feb. 3, 1821, the church met according to appointment. 
 
 " The Rev. Reuben Emerson being present, agreeably to the 
 request of the church, moderated the meeting. 
 
 " The record of the last meeting was read ; after which the Mode- 
 rator led in prayer. 
 
 " After free conversation, 
 
 " Voted, that a committee of three persons be chosen to prepare, 
 and lay before the church, votes on the subject now under con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Church Records, Vol. I., pp. 176-179.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 457 
 
 " Voted, that the committee consist of three persons. 
 
 " Chose Deacon Wyman, Brother Calvin Richardson and Jona- 
 than Tidd. 
 
 " The committee reported the following resolutions : 
 
 " 1. Resolved, as the expression of the feelings of the members 
 of the church, that it is not their wish and desire that the Rev. 
 Joseph Chickering should be dismissed from his pastoral relation 
 to them, could he continue in that relation with a prospect of 
 future usefulness. 
 
 " 2. Resolved, as the sense of this church, that under the exist- 
 ing circumstances of the parish, and in consequence of the pro- 
 posals made by the Rev. Mr Chickering to said parish, and 
 accepted by them at their last meeting, the members of the church 
 view it to be their duty (though with the deepest feelings of regret) 
 to yield their consent, that the pastoral relation between them and 
 their pastor should be dissolved, agreeably to the proposals made 
 by him. 
 
 " The first Resolution was passed unanimously. 
 
 " The second Resolution was passed, nemine contradicente. 
 
 " Voted thanks to the Rev. Moderator for his kind services. 
 
 " Voted, that after prayers this meeting be dissolved. 
 
 " The meeting was concluded with prayer by the Moderator 
 " REUBEN EMERSON, Moderator. 
 
 " JOSEPH CHICKERING, Scribe." 33 
 
 "Feb. 11, 1821. The church being requested to tarry after 
 the close of public exercises : 
 
 " Voted, To choose a committee of four, to join with the Pas- 
 tor and a committee already chosen by the parish, in agreeing 
 on and assembling a council for the purposes specified in the 
 communication acted on at our last meeting : also to appear be- 
 fore the Council in behalf of the church, to give any information, 
 and make any communications that may be requested. 
 
 " Chose Deacon Benj. Wyman, and Bros. Calvin Richardson, 
 Uriah Manning and Josiah Walker. 
 
 "Feb. 15, 1821. The above named Committee met, on 
 the 15th of February, with the parish committee and the pastor, 
 
 Church Records, Vol. I., pp. 179-181. 
 40
 
 458 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 and agreed on the churches and time named in the following 
 letter missive, which was sent to each pastor to be communicated : 
 
 "The Congregational Church and Parish in Woburn 
 to the Church in under the pastoral care of Rev. 
 
 "Reverend and beloved: 
 
 " It has pleased God to permit such opposition to arise against the Rev. 
 Joseph Chickering our Pastor, that he has judged it expedient to propose 
 to us the dissolution of his ministerial relation. His proposal, with the 
 terms annexed to it, have been accepted by the parish. The Church has 
 also deemed it ' their duty, though with the deepest feelings of regret, to 
 yield their consent.' The parties have mutually agreed to request an 
 ecclesiastical Council, to consist of the following pastors and churches. 
 Rev. Dr. Ripley, Concord; Rev. Dr. Holmes, Cambridge ; Rev. Freegrace 
 Raynolds, Wilmington ; Rev. Samuel Stearns, Bedford ; Rev. Reuben Emer- 
 son, S. Reading ; Rev. Samuel Sewall, Burlington ; and Rev. Justin 
 Edwards, Audover; to meet, according to our Pastor's request, ' look into 
 our proceedings, dissolve the relation, and give him such a recommenda- 
 tion as they may think proper." This is therefore to request your assist- 
 ance, by your Rev. Pastor and a delegate, on Wednesday, the llth day 
 of April next, for the purposes above specified. 
 
 " Wishing you grace, mercy and peace, and requesting your prayers to 
 God for his blessing, direction and support under our trials, we subscribe 
 ourselves very respectfully. 
 
 "Yours in the Lord. 
 
 "Signed by the Pastor, Benj. Wyman for the church, and Bill Russell 
 for the Parish." 34 
 
 " Result of Council. 
 
 " A Council, convoked by the Congregational Church and Parish 
 in Woburn, in concurrence with their Pastor, to look into their 
 proceedings, with a view to the dissolution of the pastoral relation, 
 met at Woburn on the llth day of April, 1821. 
 " Present : 
 
 " The Church in Concord, Rev. EZRA RIPLEY, D. D., Pastor. 
 
 " The first Church in Cambridge : Rev. ABIEL HOLMES, D. D., 
 Pastor ; Bro. ABEL WHITNEY, Delegate. 
 
 " The Church in Wilmington : Rev. FREEGRACE RAYNOLDS, Pas- 
 tor ; Dea. BENJ. FOSTER, Delegate. 
 
 " The Church in Bedford : Rev. SAMUEL STEARNS, Pastor ; Bro. 
 AMARIAH PRESTON, Delegate. 
 
 " The Church in So. Reading : Rev. REUBEN EMERSON, Pastor. 
 
 " The Church in Burlington : Rev. SAMUEL SEWALL, Pastor ; 
 Bro. EBENEZER CUMMINGS, Delegate. 
 
 " The South Church in Andover : Rev. JUSTIN EDWARDS, Pastor ; 
 Bro. SOLOMON HOLT, Delegate. 
 
 Church Records, Vol. I., pp. 181, 182.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 459 
 
 " Rev. Dr. Ripley was chosen Moderator, and Rev. Mr. Edwards, 
 Scribe. 
 
 " The Council, having attended to the subject before them with 
 that serious deliberation which its importance required, and with 
 prayer to the Father of lights for direction, came unanimously to 
 the following Result : 
 
 " That the pastoral relation between the Reverend Joseph Chick- 
 ering and the Congregational Church and Society in Woburn be, 
 and hereby is dissolved, on the conditions to which they have 
 mutually agreed. 
 
 " In arriving at this result, the Council have been highly grati- 
 fied to find nothing alleged, or insinuated against the moral, or 
 Christian, or ministerial character of the Pastor : yet this fact could 
 not but render the measures for his dismission the more mysterious, 
 and this act of the Council the more difficult and reluctant. Tak- 
 ing into view however past occurrences and the prospect of the 
 future, the Council are united in approving the measure proposed 
 by the Pastor and People ; a measure, which, although " deeply 
 regretted" by the Church and many others, appears to be best 
 adapted to the interests and happiness of the whole. 
 
 " The spirit which has marked the proceedings of the Church 
 and Society during the sitting of the Council has been honorable 
 to both ; and is considered as a favorable indication of future 
 union and peace. For that peace and union the Council devoutly 
 pray ; and unitedly commend the Church and Society to the care 
 and benediction of the Divine Head of the Church. 
 
 " With the knowledge of the respectable talents, the moral and 
 Christian character, and the ministerial qualifications of the Rev. 
 Mr. Chickering, and in the belief that his past success in the min- 
 istry is a good pledge of his future usefulness, the Council very 
 cordially recommend him to the Christian community, as a pious, 
 able and faithful minister of Jesus Christ, wherever the Providence 
 of God may call him. 
 
 "Attest. JUSTIN EDWARDS, Scribe, EZRA RIPLEY, Moderator, 
 ' ; ABIEL HOLMES. ABEL WHITNEY. 
 
 FREEGRACE RAYNOLDS. BENJAMIN FOSTER. 
 
 SAMUEL STEARNS. AMARIAH PRESTON. 
 
 REUBEN EMERSON. EBENEZER CUMMINGS, Jun. 
 
 SAMUEL SEWALL. SOLOMON HOLT." 35 
 
 M Church Records, Vol. I., pp. 18S-185.
 
 460 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 1821, July 17, the church met, agreeably to appointment on 
 the previous Sabbath, and voted to choose a Moderator, and a 
 clerk, to serve during the pleasure of the church, after the pas- 
 toral relation of Rev. Mr. Chickering shall cease. 
 
 Chose for Moderator, Deacon Benjamin Wyman. 
 " Clerk, Deacon Benjamin Wyman. 
 
 "Voted, That a Committee of five persons be chosen to form 
 a vote expressive of the affection of this church towards their 
 Pastor, the Rev. Joseph Chickering; containing such a recom- 
 mendation as may be proper in such a case ; and to lay the same 
 before the church. Chose Deacons Josiah Wright, Ebenezer 
 Lawrence and Benjamin Wyman ; and Brothers Jonas Hale and 
 Uriah Manning." 
 
 September 9th, (Sabbath) the church being stopped after the 
 exercises of the day, the above committee submitted to them the 
 following vote for their acceptance, viz : 
 
 " That the Rev. Joseph Chickering has been the pastor of this 
 church more than seventeen years last past ; during which time he 
 has conducted himself as a diligent, faithful and affectionate pas- 
 tor, and one whose labors (we believe) have been blest to the good 
 of many souls in this place ; and they do hereby express their 
 united and most cordial affection for him, as their late pastor ; and 
 do most deeply lament the occasion of his pastoral relation to 
 them being dissolved. 
 
 " With the knowledge they have of his respectable talents, his 
 moral and Christian character, and his ministerial qualifications, 
 and in the full belief that his past success is a good pledge of his 
 future usefulness, [they] do most cordially recommend him to the 
 Christian community as a pious, able and faithful minister of Jesus 
 Christ, wheresoever the providence of God may call him. 
 " Woburn, Sept. 4th, 1821. 
 
 " JOSIAH WRIGHT, 
 
 EBENEZER LAWRENCE, 
 
 BENJAMIN WYMAN, }> Committee. 
 
 JONAS HALE, 
 
 URIAH MANNING. 
 
 " Voted unanimously by the Church." 3G 
 
 *> Church Records, Vol. I., pp. 186, 187. 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBTTRN. 461 
 
 During the ministry of Rev. Mr. Chickering, one hundred 
 and sixty-four were admitted to the church, viz: Fifty-five 
 males, and one hundred and nine females ; and two hundred 
 and seventy were baptized, viz : Two hundred and thirty 
 children, and forty adults. 
 
 Of the one hundred and sixty-four admissions, sixty-six were 
 during a season of revival, in 1817; and of these, twenty-four 
 were in one day, viz : June 1st. 
 
 One hundred and eighty-seven couples were united by him in 
 marriage. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Chickering was son of Rev. Jabez Chickering, 
 pastor of the church in the South Parish of Dedham. He was 
 born in that parish, April 30, 1780; graduated at Harvard Uni- 
 versity, 1799; studied theology at Cambridge under the direc- 
 tion of Rev. Professor Tappan; ordained at Woburn, March 
 28, 1804; dismissed at his own request, with the sanction of 
 a Council, April 11, 1821 ; and after retiring from Woburn, was 
 installed over the church in Phillipston, Worcester County, 
 Mass., July 10, 1822; dismissed at his own request, in conse- 
 quence of bodily infirmity, July 16, 1835; but continued to 
 reside at Phillipston till his decease, January 27, 1844, where 
 also his widow died shortly after him. 
 
 Mr. Chickering married twice: first, Miss Betsey, daughter 
 of the venerable Deacon John White of Concord ; and she 
 dying, November 3, 1815, he married, secondly, Miss Sarah 
 Abbot Holt, of Albany, Me. By his first wife, he had five 
 children, of whom the three youngest (one an infant) died with- 
 in about a fortnight of their mother's decease, before or after. 
 By his second wife, he had a daughter and two sons, Betsey, 
 Henry and Abbot, born at Woburn ; and one or more children, 
 it is believed, born at Phillipston. Of his two surviving chil- 
 dren by his first wife, the elder is Rev. John White Chickering, 
 D. D., recently pastor of a church in Portland, Me. ; now an 
 agent in the temperance cause, a resident in Boston : the younger 
 is Mr. Joseph Chickering, a very successful and highly respected 
 mechanic at the west. 
 
 After the dismission of Rev. Mr. Chickering, in 1821, the 
 40*
 
 462 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 church took some steps, in September following, towards settling 
 in the ministry Mr. Hutchins Taylor, with whose preaching, they 
 expressed themselves satisfied. 37 But not succeeding in this 
 attempt, they gave an unanimous call, November 19, 1821, to 
 Mr. Joseph Bennett, to become their pastor. In this choice, 
 the parish unanimously concurred; and offered him a salary of 
 seven hundred dollars per annum. 38 Mr. Bennett communicated 
 to the people his acceptance of the invitation given him, on 
 Thanksgiving day, December 6th ; and, subsequently, committees 
 of the church and parish agreed with him on the day for the 
 ordination, and the churches to be invited to assist in Council 
 on the solemn occasion. The result of the Council was as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "At an Ecclesiastical Council holden at Woburn, January 
 1st, 1822. 
 
 " Present : 
 
 " Andover, Theological Seminary : Rev. Dr. JAMES MURDOCH, 
 Pastor ; LEWIS DWIGHT, Delegate. 
 
 "Andover South Parish: Rev. JUSTIN EDWARDS, Pastor; NA- 
 THANIEL SWIFT, Delegate. 
 
 " Tewksbury : Rev. JACOB COGGIN, Pastor ; OLIVER CLARK, 
 Delegate. 
 
 " Wilmington : Rev. FREEGRACE RATNOLDS, Pastor ; Dea. BENJ. 
 FOSTER, Delegate. 
 
 " Reading, West Parish : Rev. SAMUEL GREEN, Pastor ; TIMO- 
 THY WAKEFIELD, BENJ. PRATT ; Delegates. 
 
 " South Reading : Rev. REUBEN EMERSON, Pastor ; JAMES 
 GOULD, Delegate. 
 
 " Burlington : Rev. SAMUEL SEW ALL, Pastor ; Dea. JONATHAN 
 SIMONDS, Dea. NATHL. CUTTER, Delegates. 
 
 " Stoneham : Rev. JOHN H. STEVENS, Pastor ; Dea. JABEZ 
 LYNDE, BRO. THADDEUS RICHARDSON, Delegates. 
 
 " Bedford : Rev. SAMUEL STEARNS, Pastor ; BENJ. SIMONDS, 
 JUN., MATTHEW HAYWARD, Delegates. 
 
 " Charlestown : Rev. WARREN FAY, Pastor ; Dea. ISAAC WAR- 
 REN, MATTHEW SKELTON, Delegates. 
 
 Church Records, Vol. I., p. 188. Pariah Records, Vol. III., pp. 366, 367.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 463 
 
 " Dorchester : Rev. JOHN CODMAN, Pastor ; BRO. NATHANIEL 
 SWIFT, Delegate. 
 
 " Framingham : Rev. DAVID KELLOGG, Pastor ; Dea. LUTHER 
 HAVEN, Delegate. 
 
 " West Cambridge : Rev. THADDEUS FISKE, D.D., Pastor ; Dea. 
 EPHRAIM FROST, EPHRAIM CUTTER, Delegates. 
 
 " Tyngsborough : Rev. NATHL. LAWRENCE, Pastor ; Dea. JOHN 
 FARWELL, JEREMIAH HOWARD, Delegates. 
 
 "Chose Rev. Mr. David Kellogg, Moderator: Chose Rev. 
 Samuel Sewall, Scribe. 
 
 " The Council opened with prayer by the Rev. Moderator. 
 " The proceedings of the Church and Parish in regard to the 
 choice of Mr. Joseph Bennett as their Gospel Minister were then 
 read by the Scribe, and were voted by the Council to be regular 
 and satisfactory. 
 
 " Certificates of Mr. Bennett's church membership, and of his 
 Approbation and License to preach by the Marlborough Associa- 
 tion, were then produced and read, as likewise his answer to the 
 call of the Church and Society; acceptance of all which docu- 
 ments was voted by the Council. 
 
 The Candidate then read his Confession of Faith. The 
 members having put such questions as they pleased to the Candi- 
 date, -voted themselves satisfied, and that they were ready to 
 proceed to the Ordination. 
 
 " Voted that the Rev. Mr. CODMAN make the Introductory Prayer. 
 " " Rev. Mr. FAY preach the Sermon. 
 
 " " Rev. Dr. MURDOCK make the Ordaining Prayer. 
 
 " " Rev. Mr. KELLOGG give the Charge. 
 
 " " Rev. Mr. GREEN give the Right Hand of Fellowship. 
 
 " " Rev. Mr. COGGIN address the Church and People. 
 
 " " Rev. Mr. LAWRENCE make the Concluding Prayer. 
 
 " The Council then adjourned to the Meeting House. 
 
 " DAVID KELLOGG, Moderator. 
 "Attest. SAMUEL SEWALL, Scribe." 39 
 
 Church Records, Vol. I., pp. 200, 201.
 
 464 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 " Previous to the Ordination, the Church were requested to 
 assemble for a few moments ; when, they having received Mr 
 Bennett's Dismission and Recommendation from the Church in 
 Framingham, voted unanimously to receive him as a member in 
 full communion with this church. 
 
 " Moved by Dea. Wright, that the thanks of this Church be 
 presented to Benjamin Wyman for his faithful service as Mode- 
 rator & Clerk of the Church. Voted unanimously. 
 
 " Attest, BENJAMIN WYMAN, Clerk. 40 
 
 The ministry of Rev. Mr. Bennett was distinguished by large 
 accessions to the church, especially in the year 1827, (a year of 
 revival,) when two hundred and twenty-six were added to its 
 numbers, two hundred and twelve by profession, and fourteen 
 by letter. During the same period, too, the discipline of the 
 church was enforced with more than usual strenuousness ; 4l 
 the Sabbath school was diligently promoted and numerously 
 attended j and various societies, both of the town and State, for 
 the advancement of Christian knowledge and charity, were lib- 
 erally encouraged. For all these tokens of spiritual and moral 
 growth and prosperity, the town and the public were largely 
 indebted to the zealous labors and kind efforts of Rev. Mr. Ben- 
 nett. 
 
 But in 1840, the increase and prosperity of the church sus- 
 tained a temporary check by the dismission of the members of 
 the South Village. It was in this quarter, probably, that the 
 first dwelling-house in the town was erected, viz : at the Con- 
 vers' mill. And yet, for a long succession of years, the settle- 
 ments there had been so slow, and the inhabitants so few and 
 scattering, that no school-house appears to have been built in 
 the place till 1790; and though a public school was some years 
 appointed to be kept there, it could be accommodated only in 
 some private house, and that only for a few weeks in the course 
 of the season. Other years, the children who attended school 
 must be provided with a private one at the cost of their parents, 
 
 Church Records, Vol. I., p. 201. 
 
 41 Between 1823 and 1841, thirty-two cases of discipline are recorded in Church Records, 
 Vol. I., of which twenty resulted in excommunication.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 465 
 
 or travel to the centre of the town, which is from one to two 
 miles distant. 
 
 But, from the operation of various causes, especially the loca- 
 tion of the Lowell Railroad through the centre of the village, it 
 began, about 1830, rapidly to increase both in business and in 
 population ; and at length, feeling themselves competent to sus- 
 tain public worship among themselves, the inhabitants com- 
 menced a series of measures to obtain for themselves the 
 privilege. The first step taken to this end was the following 
 resolution, submitted to the church by Deacon Benjamin F. 
 Thompson, at a meeting, March 21, 1839: "Resolved as the 
 sense of this church, that there ought to be another orthodox 
 church and society established in this town, when, in the opinion 
 of this church, the necessary funds shall be obtained to carry the 
 same properly into effect." ^ But the discussion to which this 
 resolution, and another offered in its stead, gave rise, occasion- 
 ing delay, they were both withdrawn by the mover; and the 
 following letter was read to the church after Communion, 
 November 2, 1840. 
 
 " To the Congregational Church, Woburn, Mass. 
 " Dear Brethren and Friends : 
 
 " We, the subscribers, deeming it our duty, as well as our con- 
 venience, to colonize and congregate in the South Village of this 
 town for the purpose of worshipping the God of our fathers in the 
 way we have been taught, request that } r ou would give us a dismis- 
 sion from the body with which we are still happily united, to the 
 end that we may be constituted the South Congregational Church 
 in Woburn. And we ask it, not from any dissatisfaction as it 
 respects Pastor, Church, or Congregation ; for no dissatisfaction 
 exists, as we hope there never may, but love, concord, and recip- 
 rocal kindness. But we make the request, because we are per- 
 suaded that the advancement of truth and righteousness will be 
 promoted by the means, as more will be induced to attend the 
 public worship of God, and can attend it more conveniently : Be- 
 cause the church is so large and efficient, that we can well be 
 spared, and a large and flourishing church still remain : Because 
 
 Church Records, Vol. I., p. 246.
 
 466 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 the growing population of the town demands another place of wor- 
 ship, and the place we have chosen is suited to accommodate such 
 increasing population : Because we think we can sustain the reg- 
 ular administration of the word and ordinances, and have ample 
 means to sustain the same here : and Because we think that both 
 you and we can to better advantage enjoy the stated means of 
 grace. 
 
 " On these principles, we present the preceding request : hoping 
 and expecting, that it will not only be kindly and cheerfully granted, 
 but that Christian love, brotherly kindness, fellowship and good- 
 will, which we trust we now feel, will henceforth be reciprocated. 
 [Subscribed by] 
 
 " N. B. JOHNSON. 
 
 B. F. THOMPSON. 
 
 MARSHALL WYMAN. 
 
 STEPHEN CUTTER. 
 
 OLIVER R. CLARK. 
 [and by ninety-seven others, male and female.] 
 
 The request presented in the foregoing letter was immediately 
 granted. The result was, the dedication in South Woburn, 
 December 30, 1840, of a new house of worship, which had been 
 some time, apparently, in process of erection ; the speedy gather- 
 ing of the brethren and sisters dismissed as above from First 
 Church of Woburn, into a distinct Congregational Church; the 
 ordination of Rev. George P. Smith as its pastor, June 17, 
 1841; and the incorporation by the Legislature of the village 
 of South Woburn, together with portions of Medford and West 
 Cambridge, as the town of Winchester, April 30, I860. 43 
 
 The day next after the dedication in South Woburn, viz: 
 December 31, 1840, the fifth meeting-house of the First Congre- 
 gational Society in Woburn was dedicated. Its fourth house of 
 public worship had stood only thirty-one years. But upon exami- 
 nation, in order to some repairs, it was ascertained that the timber 
 used in its construction had become so far decayed and rotten, 
 in consequence probably of having been cut at a wrong season 
 of the year, that it was judged safest and best to take it down 
 
 Massachusetts Special Laws, Vol. IX., pp. 234, 235. 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBTTRN. 467 
 
 entirely, and to build anew. Accordingly, a handsome and con- 
 venient edifice, seventy feet by sixty, was erected on the site of 
 the former meeting-house, with a vestry in the basement, which 
 had for some time been finished and occupied as the place of 
 worship, before the main building was completed. The dedi- 
 cation services, December 31, 1840, were, 1st. Invocation, and 
 reading of portions of the Scriptures by Rev. Mr. Sewall, of Bur- 
 lington; 2d. Introductory prayer by Rev. Mr. Baker, of Med- 
 ford ; 3d. Sermon, by the pastor, Rev. Mr. Bennett, from Haggai 
 ii. 9. " The glory of this latter house shall be greater," etc., 
 etc. ; 4th. Consecrating prayer, by Rev. Mr. Coggin, of Tewks- 
 bury ; 5th. Address to the people, by Rev. Mr. Albro, of Cam- 
 bridge; and 6th. Concluding prayer, by Rev. Mr. Norwood, of 
 Wilmington. 
 
 For many years, Rev. Mr. Bennett continued to be very pop- 
 ular and successful in his ministry. His pulpit services were 
 highly acceptable both to his own people, and to all the churches 
 in the vicinity. But he was naturally of a very nervous tempera- 
 ment, and easily excited ; and hence at times he would be very 
 elevated in his spirits, and at others deeply depressed. Over this, 
 his natural predisposition, his excellent lady exerted a powerful 
 influence ; and so long as her life was spared to him, she gener- 
 ally managed so as to keep it from running into either extreme. 
 But after her decease, February 11, 1846, there was nothing left 
 to check and regulate it. Causes comparatively trifling would 
 often raise his spirits so far, as that he would unawares become 
 quite eccentric both in speech and in action ; and then again his 
 spirits would flag and sink so low, that he would apparently 
 begin to think that his usefulness was gone, and that his life was 
 no longer desirable to himself or others. And hence, in one of 
 these deplorable turns of melancholy depression, he was left to 
 take his own life, November 19, 1847. His funeral was very 
 largely attended at the meeting-house by his brethren in the min- 
 istry, and by the inhabitants of Woburn and the neighboring 
 towns. A sermon was preached on the solemn occasion by Rev. 
 Dr. John W. Chickering, of Portland, who happened to be on 
 a visit to Rev. Mr. Bennett at the time of his decease. This
 
 468 HISTORY OF WOBTJRN. 
 
 sermon was published at the expense of the church ; and at a 
 parish meeting, December 6th following, it was voted to pay a 
 full year's salary to the heirs of Rev. Mr. Bennett. 44 
 
 Rev. Joseph Bennett was born at Framingham, May 13, 1798 ; 
 was graduated at Harvard University, 1818: studied theology 
 at the institution in Andover ; was ordained at Woburn, January 
 1, 1822, and was married in February following to Miss Mary 
 Lamson, " his ever-discreet counsellor, as well as affectionate and 
 beloved friend." By her he had two children, viz: 1. Rev. 
 Joseph Lamson Bennett, minister first at East Cambridge, now 
 at Lockport, N. Y. ; and 2. Mary Lamson Bennett, married to 
 Rev. Thomas Morong, of Gloucester, Mass. 
 
 During his ministry in Woburn, seven hundred and sixty 
 persons, (including himself,) were admitted into the church, 
 viz : five hundred and ninety-six by profession, and one hundred 
 and sixty-four by letter ; and six hundred and nine were bap- 
 tized, viz : three hundred and seventy-one infants and children 
 and two hundred and thirty-eight adults. Also, two hundred 
 and forty-two marriages are recorded, as solemnized by him to 
 January 1, 1843, inclusively. Marriages solemnized by him 
 subsequently to that date, were not recorded by him on the 
 church book. 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. III., p. 523.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 First Church : Rev. Messrs. Edwards, March, and Bodwell. Congrega- 
 tional Church, North Woburn. Baptist Church. Independent Baptist 
 Church. Universalist Church. Unitarian Church. Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church. Roman Catholic Church. Protestant Episcopal Church. 
 
 AFTER the decease of Rev. Mr. Bennett, the church took speedy 
 action for the settlement of another pastor. It gave, March 1 7, 
 1848, an unanimous invitation to Mr. Jonathan Edwards, of 
 Andover, to become their pastor. In this measure of the church, 
 the parish concurred, March 20th, and voted a salary to Mr. 
 Edwards of a thousand dollars per annum, payable semi-annually, 
 with this proviso, " That either party might dissolve the connec- 
 tion by a mutual Council, after giving six months' notice of its 
 intention." l And at a meeting, May 22d, in compliance with a 
 wish expressed by Mr. Edwards, the parish voted to allow him 
 the privilege of an annual vacation of four Sabbaths ; and added, 
 to his salary before stipulated, fifty dollars, to enable him to 
 supply the pulpit during his vacation. 2 The invitation given 
 him thus qualified, Mr. Edwards accepted May 26th. In the 
 interval which elapsed before his ordination, the church voted as 
 follows: "Resolved that we do not consider the relation of 
 Pastor and Church to be complete, without the pastor becoming 
 a member of the particular church of which he is the overseer." 3 
 Agreeably to this vote, Mr. Edwards was admitted into the 
 First Church of Woburn, September 3d, and ordained its pas- 
 tor, September 7, 1848. 
 
 The ordaining council consisted of pastors and delegates from 
 eleven churches, and of Rev. Justin Edwards, D. D., father of 
 the candidate. The public services on the interesting occasion 
 were as follows, viz : 
 
 Parish Records, Vol. HI., pp 528, 529. Parish Records, Vol. III., pp. 530-532. 
 
 3 Church Record*, Vol. III., p. 213. 
 41
 
 470 HISTORY OF WOBT7RN. 
 
 . Reading of the minutes, by the scribe, Rev. William Ives 
 Burdington of Charlestown. 
 
 Introductory Prayer, by Rev. J. L. TAYLOR, Andover. 
 
 Reading the Scriptures, by Rev. ALEXANDER J. SESSIONS, 
 Salem. 
 
 Sermon, by Rev. E. N. KIRK, Boston. 
 
 Ordaining Prayer, by Rev. REUBEN EMERSON, South Reading. 
 
 Charge, by Rev. JUSTIN EDWARDS, Andover. 
 
 Right Hand, by Rev. GEORGE RICHARDS, Central Church, 
 Boston. 
 
 Address to the People, by Rev. JOHN W. CHICKERING, 
 Portland. 
 
 Concluding Prayer, by Rev. JACOB COGGIN, Tewksbury. 
 
 Rev. BROWN EMERSON, D. D., Salem, Moderator. 4 
 
 During the eight years of Rev. Mr. Edwards' continuance in 
 Woburn, entire harmony and mutual confidence prevailed be- 
 tween him and his people. In discharging the duties of his 
 sacred office, his heart was often gladdened and encouraged in 
 perceiving that his labors were not in vain in the Lord j and 
 the people on their part repeatedly manifested their satisfaction 
 with him, and respect for him, by various tokens of kindness and 
 affection ; and especially by complying, virtually, with the follow- 
 ing vote of the church, passed February 20, 1854. "Voted 
 unanimously, that we recommend to the Parish, to raise the 
 salary of Rev. Jona. Edwards to a sum not "less that fifteen hun- 
 dred dollars." 5 
 
 But suddenly this fair prospect of a long, as well as success- 
 ful ministry by Rev. Mr. Edwards, was broken up. January 2, 
 1856, he requested the church to unite with him in calling a 
 mutual council for his dismission, he having received, as he 
 stated to them, a pressing call to go elsewhere " to engage in a 
 new and highly important church enterprise in an unoccupied 
 field ; " expressing at the same time the pleasure he had derived 
 from his present connection; his regret at leaving, his best 
 wishes and prayers for the church, etc., etc. The church, with 
 
 Church Records, Vol. III., pp. 216, 217. Church Record., Vol. HI., p. 227. 

 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 471 
 
 expressions of regret, acceded to his request for calling a 
 council ; and voted to unite with the parish committee, if they 
 saw fit, to carry this measure into effect. 6 Accordingly, a 
 council was called; and agreeably to its decision, Rev. Mr. 
 Edwards was dismissed from Woburn, January 21, 1856. 6 
 
 Rev. Jonathan Edwards was son of Rev. Justin Edwards, 
 D. D., of Andover, and Mrs. Lydia (Bigelow) Edwards ; was 
 born at Andover, July 17, 1820; graduated at Yale College, 
 1840; studied theology at New Haven and at Andover; was 
 graduated at Andover Theological Seminary, 1847, but contin- 
 ued there a year longer as " Abbott Resident." Upon his leav- 
 ing Woburn, he took charge of Plymouth congregational church 
 in Rochester, N. Y., as its first pastor, February 14, 1856; 
 removed from Rochester on account of health, November 1862, 
 came to Dedham, Mass., and was there installed, as successor to 
 Rev. Ebenezer Burgess, D. D., January 1, 1863, over the First 
 Congregational Church in that ancient town, which was gathered 
 in 1638. Upon February 26, 1865, he sailed on a voyage for 
 health ; and after visiting England, Scotland, France, and other 
 countries on the continent of Europe, he returned to his charge 
 in Dedham, August 1865. 7 
 
 During his ministry in Woburn, fifty-nine were received into 
 his church by profession, and ninety-nine by letter : total, one 
 hundred and fifty-eight. 
 
 There were seveflty-eight baptisms of infants, and thirty-one 
 of adults : total, one hundred and nine. 8 
 
 Marriages solemized by him, during his ministry, were fifty- 
 two. 8 
 
 1856, August 18, the church voted unanimously to extend a 
 call to Rev. Daniel March, of Brooklyn, N. Y., to become their 
 pastor. 9 The parish concurred with the church in this choice, 
 and offered Rev. Mr. March a salary of $1,600 annually, in case 
 he should accept the call given him to become their gospel 
 minister. Mr. March accepted the call given him, and October 
 1st was appointed as the day for his installation. On that day, a 
 
 Church Records, Vol. IH., pp. 229-231. 1 Letter of Rev. Mr. Edwards, June 8, 186. 
 
 Church Record*. Church Records, Vol. III., p. 235.
 
 472 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 
 
 council of fourteen churches assembled in the vestry of the 
 church, and after the usual examination and inquiries were gone 
 through with to their satisfaction, the council voted they were 
 ready to proceed to installation. The public services on this 
 occasion were: 
 
 1. Introductory Prayer by Rev. DANIEL R. CADY, West Cam- 
 bridge. 
 
 2. Reading of the Scriptures, by Rev. J. I. M. MANNING, of 
 Mystic Church, Medford. 
 
 3. Sermon, by Rev. A. L. STONE, Park Street Church, Boston. 
 
 4. Installing Prayer, by Rev. L. Thompson, West Amcsbury. 
 
 5. Charge, by Rev. J. W. CHICKERING, D. D., Portland. 
 
 6. Right Hand, by Rev. R. T. ROBINSON, Winchester. 
 
 7. Address to the people, by Rev. E. B. FOSTER, John Street 
 Church, Lowell. 
 
 8. Concluding Prayer, by Rev. J. L. BENNETT, East Cambridge. 
 
 Rev. David T. KIMBALL, (Ipswich,) Moderator. 
 Rev. E. P. MARVIN, Medford 2d Church, Scribe. 10 
 
 The connection of the First Church and Society in Woburn 
 with Rev. Mr. March, as their pastor and minister, was prosper- 
 ous and happy; but not destined to be of long duration. 1862, 
 February 7, the church met to consider the request of the pastor, 
 communicated the preceding Sabbath, to accept his resignation 
 of the pastoral office. Voted, to accept his resignation. 
 
 Voted, to choose a committee of the church to unite with a 
 committee of the parish, and with the pastor, in calling an 
 ecclesiastical council to effect his dismission. 11 
 
 1857, February 17, a council at the joint invitation of the 
 First Church, society and pastor, met in Woburn, in which six 
 churches by pastors and delegates were represented ; Rev. Wil- 
 liam Barrows, Moderator, and Rev. R. T. Robinson, Scribe. 
 
 Papers were presented to the council, containing Rev. Mr. 
 March's letter of resignation, a certified copy of the action of 
 the church, and the record of the doings of the parish. 
 
 w Church Records, Vol. III., pp. 236, 237. " Church Records, Vol. III., p. 247.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 473 
 
 Verbal statements also were made by Rev. Mr. March, and 
 by the respective committees ; after which, the council voted to 
 be by themselves, and came to the following result, which was 
 unanimously adopted. 
 
 Result. 
 
 " The Rev. Mr. March having resigned his office of Pastor of the 
 First Congregational Church and Society in Woburn, and the 
 Church and Society having voted unanimously to accept his resig- 
 nation, the Council convened see no other course for them to pursue, 
 than to complete the dissolution of the Pastoral Relation ; and the 
 same is declared to be, and it hereby is dissolved. 
 
 " In coming to this Result, the Council cannot but regret, while 
 they feel and would bear testimony to the fact, that Rev. Mr. March 
 has acted conscientiously in this thing, and with a sincere desire to 
 know and do the will of God, that a pastoral connection so 
 recently and happily formed, one too which has proved so harmo- 
 nious and productive of good, should be broken up. They deeply 
 sympathize with the Church and Society in their severe disappoint- 
 ment in the loss of their chosen and much loved Pastor : and ex- 
 press the hope, that blessed of God as they have been in thejr 
 history hitherto, and united as they still are, having always shown 
 a high appreciation of the Pastoral relation and office, the Great 
 Head of the Church will speedily guide them to the selection and 
 settlement of another Pastor, under whose ministry they shall con- 
 tinue to prosper in the future, as in the past. 
 
 ' The Council also would give expression to their high estimation 
 of, and undiminished confidence in, the Rev. Mr March, both as a 
 sincere and devoted Christainman, and an able and faithful minis- 
 ter of the Gospel. It is their united and fervent prayer, that in 
 whatever station he may be placed, he may still show himself ap- 
 proved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, and may 
 ever receive largely of that grace, which is alone sufficient for the 
 great and responsible work committed unto his hand. 
 
 " W. BARROWS, Moderator. 
 
 " Woburn, Feb. 17, 1862. R. T. ROBINSON, Scribe." 12 
 
 Rev. Mr. March was born at Millbury, Mass., July 21, 1806; 
 graduated at Yale College, 1840; studied theology at the sem- 
 
 11 Church Records, Vol. III., pp. 247-249. 
 41*
 
 474 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 inary in Yale College two years (having previously studied pri- 
 vately) and received license to preach; was ordained over the 
 church in Cheshire, Conn., April 29, 1845; installed over First 
 Church in Nashua, N. H., January 3, 1849; installed over the 
 South Congregational Church in Brooklyn, N. Y., January 16, 
 1855 ; at Woburn, October 1, 1856 ; and over the Clinton Street 
 Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, February 23, 1862. 13 
 
 During Rev. Mr. March's ministry in Woburn, two hundred 
 and fourteen were admitted to the church, viz : one hundred and 
 thirty-seven by profession, and seventy-seven by letter; one 
 hundred and twenty-four were baptized, viz : sixty -three infants, 
 and sixty-one adults, and forty-three marriages were solemnized 
 by him. 
 
 At a meeting of the church, October 6, 1862, it was voted 
 unanimously, (seventy-five votes in the affirmative, and none in 
 the negative,) " That the First Congregational Church in Wo- 
 burn extend an invitation to Rev. J. C. Bodwell of Framingham, 
 Mass., to become its Pastor." In this measure the parish con- 
 curred ; and also voted to give Mr. Bodwell an annual salary of 
 $1,600, (which was afterwards increased to $2,000,) if he should 
 settle over them. The invitation thus given him was accepted 
 by Rev. Mr. Bodwell; and a council of ten churches (including 
 Saxonville, Rev. B. G. Northrop) convened for his installation 
 at the vestry of First Church, Woburn, November 11, 1862; 
 of which Rev. E. P. Marvin was chosen Moderator, and Rev. 
 Charles R. Bliss, Scribe. ... 
 
 The council listened to communications stating proceedings 
 of the church and parish in extending a call to Rev. J. C. Bod- 
 well to settle over them ; to the letter containing their call ; to 
 the reply of Mr. Bodwell, in evidence of his church member- 
 ship ; and to a report of the council, dismissing him from his 
 former charge : all which being satisfactory, they proceeded to 
 examination. 
 
 After attending to a very full and clear written statement of 
 the theological views of the candidate, a statement of his reli- 
 
 Letter from Rev. Mr. March.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 475 
 
 gious experience, and motives in entering the ministry, council 
 being by themselves, voted they were satisfied, and ready to pro- 
 ceed to installation. Services on this occasion, were as follows : 
 
 Invocation, Rev. CHARLES R. BLISS. 
 
 Reading of the Scriptures, Rev. B. G. NORTHROP. 
 
 Introductory Prayer, Rev. J. S. KENNARD, Baptist. 
 
 Sermon, Rev. J. G. TUCKER, Holliston. 
 
 Prayer of Installation, Rev. DANIEL R. CADY. 
 
 Charge, Rev. W. BARROWS. 
 
 Right Hand, Rev. R. T. ROBINSON. 
 
 Address to the People, Rev. E. P. MARVIN. 
 
 Benediction, the PASTOR. 
 
 E. P. MARVIN, Moderator. 
 C. R. BLISS, Scribe. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Bodwell commenced his ministry in Woburn under 
 very favorable auspices. His people were attentive at his public 
 services ; a very large majority became warmly attached to him ; 
 and in evidence of this attachment, they not only paid him punc- 
 tually his stipulated salary from year to year, but at the begin- 
 ning of the year 1866, they presented him with $1,400 as a free 
 gift. 
 
 But in view of an invitation given him to become the principal 
 of the Theological Institute at Hartford, Conn., he thought pro- 
 per to request a dismission from his pastoral charge in Woburn. 
 This request was granted by his church and people ; and his 
 dismission was sanctioned by an Ecclesiastical Council assem- 
 bled in Woburn, August 3, 1866, as appears by the annexed 
 authentic record of its proceedings : 
 
 Result of Council. 
 
 " Pursuant to letters missive, an Ecclesiastical Council convened 
 on Frida} r , August 3d, 1866, in the lecture room of the First Congre- 
 gational Church in Woburn, to consider and act upon the request 
 of their pastor, Rev. Jos. C. Bodwell, D. D., for a dismission from 
 bis pastoral relation to them. The following churches were repre- 
 sented : 
 
 " North Congregational church, Woburn : Rev. M. G. WHEELER, 
 pastor, Dea C. R. THOMPSON, delegate.
 
 476 HISTORY OF WOBTTRN. 
 
 " 1st Trinitarian Congregational church, Medford: Rev. JAMES 
 T. McCoLLUM, pastor, Dea. HENRY L. BARNES, delegate. 
 
 "1st Congregational church, Winchester; Dea. O. R. CLARK, 
 delegate. 
 
 " Congregational church, Stoneham ; Dea. SILAS DEAN, delegate. 
 
 " 1st Congregational church, Middletown, Ct., Rev. J. TAYLOR, 
 D. D., pastor. 
 
 " Old South church, Reading ; Rev. WILLIAM BARROWS, pastor, 
 D. T. H. SWEETSER, Dea. H. WHEELER, delegates. 
 
 "Congregational church, Billerica, Rev. J. G. D. STEARNS, 
 pastor. 
 
 "Congregational church, West Killingly, Ct., Rev. W. W. 
 DAVENPORT, pastor. . 
 
 " Rev. E. P. MARVIN, D. D., of Medford. 
 
 " The Council was organized by the choice of Rev. William 
 Barrows, Moderator, and Rev. W. W. Davenport, Scribe. 
 
 " The Moderator opened the Council with prayer. The letter of 
 Rev. Dr. Bodwell, asking a dismission in order that he may accept 
 a professorship in the Theological Seminary at Hartford, Ct. was 
 read to the Council, together with the action of the church and 
 society thereon, uniting with him in calling the Council. Remarks 
 were made by Dr. Taylor, Dr. Marvin, Mr. Davenport, Mr. W. A. 
 Stone of the committee of the Church, and by Dr. Bodwell. 
 
 " The Council being by itself, Dr. Marvin offered the following 
 resolution : ' Resolved, That in the opinion of this Council, it is 
 expedient that the request of Dr. Bodwell for a dismission, should be 
 granted, in order that he may accept the professorship to which he 
 has been elected in the Theological Seminary at Hartford : and his 
 pastoral relation to the First Church in Woburn is hereby dissolved, 
 the dissolution to take effect on the first day of September next.' " 
 
 The Resolution was unanimously adopted. 
 
 The scribe, the moderator, and Dr. Marvin were appointed a 
 committee to prepare a result of council. The committee reported 
 the following, which was unanimously adopted. 
 
 " The Council have come to this result with much sorrow, both 
 on account of the great personal loss which we feel in the removal 
 of so able a preacher, so cultivated and genial a man, and so true a 
 Christian friend ; and also on account of the heavy sacrifice which 
 this church and people are called to make. The deep affection 
 cherished by the society for their minister ; his superior abilities as 
 a preacher and pastor ; the marked success which has crowned his
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 477 
 
 labors in this broad and difficult field ; the steady accessions by 
 profession to the church ; the removal of a burdensome debt of 
 $40,000 from the society ; the constant growth of the congregation ; 
 the unusual influence of the pastor upon the schools of the town, 
 and upon the community in general, all convince us that it is no 
 ordinary loss which this church and society must now sustain. 
 
 " Nevertheless, the call which comes from another field of the 
 highest importance to the cause of Christ, as presented so forcibly 
 to this Council, constrains us, as it has the church and parish, to 
 feel that it is the clear and imperative voice of the Head of the 
 church, which calls Dr. Bodwell away from his successful labors 
 here. The peculiar interest which he has excited in the young men 
 of the Theological Seminary at Hartford, and the unanimity and 
 earnestness of the call from the Board of Trustees and the generous 
 benefactors of the institution, are unmistakable indications that 
 God has, in his providence, even a more important field for him to 
 occupy. 
 
 " The Council also desire to express their unqualified confidence 
 in Rev. Dr. Bodwell, as an able and faithful minister of the Gospel, 
 sound in the faith, apt to teach, and wise to win souls. They 
 tender to him their sympathy in this rupturing of the ties of affec- 
 tion that bind him to his people. 
 
 " They also tender to the church and society their sincere and 
 affectionate sympathy in the trial to which they are subjected in 
 the providence of God, which takes from them a pastor to whom 
 they cling with the warmest attachment and unwavering confidence ; 
 and our trust is, that the Great Head of the church will care for 
 them in their bereavement, and will soon send them a faithful and 
 acceptable pastor, to feed them with knowledge and understanding. 
 We trust that they may be comforted by the consideration, that he 
 whom they surrender at the Master's call, is to be useful to them 
 and to many other churches, in the new form of service in which 
 he is now to be engaged. 
 
 " The minutes were read and approved ; and, after prayer by the 
 Moderator, the Council was dissolved. 
 
 " Attest. W. Barrows, Moderator. 
 
 " William W. Davenport, Scribe." 14 
 
 " Rev. Joseph Connor Bodwell, D. D., was born at Sanbornton, 
 N. H., June 11, 1812, a son of Rev. Abraham Bodwell, a gradu- 
 
 J Church Records ; Minutes of Council.
 
 478 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 ate of Harvard College, 1805, and pastor of the Congregational 
 church in Sanbornton, from 1806 to 1852. 
 
 " Joseph C. Bodwell, his son, was fitted for college, at the 
 academy in his native place ; was graduated at Dartmouth Col- 
 lege, 1833; was a teacher of youth three years in Haverhill, 
 N. H., and in Sanbornton. In 1836, he went to London, and 
 pursued his theological studies at Highbury College, under the 
 venerable Dr. Henderson. On the 3d of April, 1839, Mr. Bod- 
 well was ordained as pastor of the Independent Church, wor- 
 shipping in St. Nicholas Street, Weymouth, a beautiful watering 
 place in the South of England, and a favorite resort of King 
 George IH. and the lamented princess Charlotte. On the 15th 
 of May, 1839, he was married to Catharine, only daughter of 
 John Sykes, Esq., of Highbury Park, London. On the 22d of 
 June, 1847, he was installed pastor of the Independent Church 
 in Northgate Street, Bury St. Edmund's, famous in former ages 
 for its magnificent Norman tower, and for its large and wealthy 
 abbey. In the autumn of 1850, Mr. Bodwell returned to the 
 United States with his wife, two sons and two daughters, having 
 buried a son and a daughter in England. On the 30th of June, 
 1852, he was installed at Framingham; whence he was dismissed 
 November 5, 1862, that he might accept a call to the pastoral 
 office in Woburn. In 1864, the degree of Doctor in Divinity 
 was conferred on him by Dartmouth College." 15 
 
 During the ministry of Rev. Dr. Bodwell in Woburn, there 
 were one hundred and three admissions to the . church, viz : fifty- 
 five by profession, and forty-eight by letter; sixty-three bap- 
 tisms, viz : thirty-six of infants, and twenty-seven of adults, 16 and 
 forty-two couples were united by him in marriage. 
 
 During the same period, too, there was erected, and in October 
 1863 dedicated by his society, a new church, an elegant and 
 stately edifice, said to be one of the largest, if not the largest 
 Congregational church in the State, being, in its extreme length; 
 one hundred and fifty feet, its extreme width, eighty feet, its 
 steeple one hundred and ninety-six feet in height, and capable 
 
 w Letter from Rev. Dr. Bodwell. " Certificate of Dr. Ephraim Cutter, clerk.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 479 
 
 of seating fifteen hundred persons. The cost of the organ was 
 $4,000, the cost of the building, in round numbers, was $62,000 ; 
 all which has now been paid for. 17 
 
 This ancient church, left destitute of a pastor by the dismis- 
 sion of Dr. Bodwell, contains now (October 1, 1866) five hun- 
 dred and thirty-four members, viz : one hundred and eighty-one 
 males, and three hundred and fifty-three females. 17 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH m NORTH WOBURN. 
 Previously to 1846, the inhabitants of North Woburn had 
 been attached to one or other of the religious societies in the 
 centre of the town, and there resorted on the Sabbath for public 
 worship. But that year, a number of gentlemen, inhabitants of 
 that village, formed the plan of setting up a meeting on the Sab- 
 bath among themselves ; by which they would not only procure 
 to themselves and families the privileges of public worship 
 nearer home, but might also encourage such of their neighbors 
 to attend, as had become negligent of the duty, on account of 
 their distance from the centre. In pursuance of this plan, they, 
 in September of that year, fitted up the chamber of the village 
 school-house, as a place of assembly on the Sabbath for public 
 worship j and then invited Rev. Samuel Sewall of Burlington, at 
 that time without pastoral charge, to preach on Sabbath days in 
 the room they had provided, for a year. Mr. Sewall accepted 
 the invitation ; and preached for the first time in North Woburn 
 school-house, October 11, 1846. The experiment proved a suc- 
 cessful one, and very gratifying to those who initiated it. Meet- 
 ings on Lord's days were well attended; one or two miles' 
 travel was saved each day to those who had hitherto been ac- 
 customed to worship in the centre ; and many were induced to 
 attend with them divine service, who from one cause or another 
 had become careless or indifferent about attending elsewhere. 
 Hence, Mr. Sewall's first engagement with them was prolonged 
 from year to year. In March 1849, a regular religious society, 
 upon evangelical principles, was formed in the village. In 
 
 i' Communication of Dr. Ephraim Cutter, clerk.
 
 480 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 June 1849, the foundations were laid for a new meeting-bouse, 
 which was completed and dedicated, October 1 1th, of that year. 
 On November 22d, of the same year, an orthodox church was 
 gathered in the place, consisting of twelve males and twenty- 
 eight females, of whom thirty-three had been dismissed and 
 recommended by First Church, Woburn, and seven by several 
 other churches. This solemn transaction was performed in the 
 presence and with the advice and sanction of the following 
 churches by their pastors and delegates, viz : First Church, 
 Woburn, Eev. Jonathan Edwards, pastor, and Deacon Stephen 
 Richardson, delegate; Wilmington, Rev. Barnabas M. Fay, pas- 
 tor, and Deacon Benjamin Foster, delegate ; Burlington, Rev. 
 Harrison G. Park, pastor, and Deacon John Marion, delegate ; 
 and South Woburn (Winchester) Church, Mr. Sumner Richard- 
 son, delegate. The public services of the occasion were held 
 in the meeting-house, P. M., when Rev. Mr. Fay offered the intro- 
 ductory prayer; Rev. Mr. Park propounded the articles of 
 faith and church covenant agreed upon, to the persons to be 
 embodied, for their public assent; and then offered the conse- 
 crating prayer ; and finally, Rev. Mr. Edwards, in the name of 
 his own church, and of the other churches here represented, 
 gave the right hand of fellowship to Deacon Thompson on 
 behalf of the church gathered and now solemnly recognized. 
 A handsome set of communion and other church furniture, con- 
 sisting of five plated cups, two tankards and a baptismal basin, 
 was now presented this new church by Rev. Mr. Edwards, on 
 behalf of individual members of his own church and society, in 
 an address to Rev. Mr. Sewall ; to which, at the request of the 
 church, he made a brief response, expressing thanks in their 
 name. Here, also, the church voted unanimously, that as the 
 society in this place had given Rev. Mr. Sewall an invitation* to 
 preach to them another year, they approved that choice, and 
 requested him to officiate at the communion, and to perform all 
 other pastoral acts that might be called for during that time. 
 The exercises of the solemnity were closed with the administra- 
 tion of the communion to the newly organized church, and to all 
 other professing Christians assembled on the interesting occa-
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 481 
 
 sion, by Rev. Mr. Sewall, assisted by Rev. Mr. Fay ; Deacons 
 Charles Thompson and Richardson, Foster and Marion, distri- 
 buting the elements. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Sewall continued to minister to the society in North 
 Woburn, as their stated supply, and as the acting pastor of the 
 church, till January 1852; when, in view of his advanced age, 
 and of the distance between the village and his home, he an- 
 nounced his intentions of declining any further engagement to 
 preach there, when his present engagement expired. 
 
 In June 1852, Rev. George T. Dole, who had previously been 
 settled as a minister in Beverly, but was then residing in Lowell, 
 commenced preaching as a candidate for settlement in North 
 Woburn. In August following, a call was given Mm to the pas- 
 toral office and to the gospel ministry in this place. This call 
 was accepted, and he was installed October 1 2th. The churches 
 convened in council on the occasion were, church in North Dan- 
 vers, Rev. Milton P. Braman ; First Church, Charlestown, Rev. 
 William I. Budington j South Reading, Rev. Messrs. Reuben and 
 Alfred Emerson ; Lowell, Rev. Amos Blanchard, D. D. ; Reading, 
 South Parish, Rev. Lyman Whiting ; Wilmington, Rev. Joseph E. 
 Swallow ; Woburn, First Church, Rev. Jonathan Edwards ; Bur- 
 lington, Rev. Samuel Sewall, delegate. Also Rev. Leander Thomp- 
 son, returned missionary from the East ; and Rev. Mr. Thompson, 
 of Dracut, were present. The public services of the solemnity 
 were, (1) Invocation and reading of the scriptures, by Rev. Mr. 
 Edwards; (2) Prayer, by Rev. L. Thompson; (3) Sermon, by 
 Rev. Mr. Braman, from 1. Cor. xii. 4. "Now there are diversi- 
 ties of gifts, but the same Spirit : " a very ingenious discourse ; 
 full of instruction, and well adapted to the occasion, and to the 
 times. (4) Installing prayer, by Rev. Mr. Sewall; (5) Right 
 Hand of Fellowship, by Rev. A. Emerson; (6) Charge, by Rev. 
 Mr. Budington; (7) Address to the people, by Rev. Dr. Blan- 
 chard; (8) Concluding prayer, by Rev. Mr. Whiting. 
 
 After laboring in the ministry with this church and people 
 three years, Rev. Mr. Dole was dismissed at his own request, 
 with the sanction of a council, October 3, 1855. During the 
 
 42
 
 482 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 two years which immediately followed his dismission, the pulpit 
 was supplied part of the time with preaching by students from 
 the Theological Seminary at Aridover, and part of the time the 
 house was closed. 
 
 In October 1857, Mr. Alpheus S. Nickerson, a student of 
 Andover Theological Seminary, was engaged to supply the pul- 
 pit a year ; and in December following, the church offered by 
 vote to invite a council to ordain him, though without a legal set- 
 tlemeid. This offer was accepted by Mr. Nickerson : and a coun- 
 cil was accordingly convened, December 16th, for this purpose, 
 consisting of the following churches, viz : First Church in Wo- 
 burn, Rev. Daniel March; Winchester, Rev. R. T. Robinson; 
 Mystic church in Medford, Rev. E. Marvin; Melrose, Rer. A. H. 
 Sessions; West Cambridge, Rev. D. Cady; Wilmington, Rev. S. 
 H. Tolman; South Reading, Rev. J. B. Johnson; Burlington, 
 Rev. S. Sewall, delegate. 
 
 This council, however, after a long and patient examination, 
 decided not to ordain Mr. Nickerson immediately ; but to give 
 him opportunity, after an interval of eight weeks, to come before 
 them once more, and be examined anew. But this decision did 
 not satisfy the church, which called another council, to meet Feb- 
 ruary 2, 1858, composed of the following churches, viz: Tewks- 
 bury, Rev. R. Tolman ; Pine Street, Boston, Rev. H. M. Dexter ; 
 Plymouth church, Chelsea, Rev. E. H. Nevins ; South Reading, 
 
 Rev. J. B. Johnson ; Chestnut Street, Chelsea, ; Park 
 
 Street, Boston, Rev. A. L. Stone; Dighton, Rev. C. Sanford; 
 First, Woburn, Rev. Daniel March; Winchester, Rev. R. T. 
 Robinson ; Wilmington, Rev. S. H. Tolman ; Bedford, Rev. H. 
 Patrick ; South Dennis, Rev. W. H. Sturtevant ; East Bridge- 
 water, . This second council, " after a careful and pro- 
 tracted consideration of the whole subject, decided to ordain Mr. 
 Nickerson;" which accordingly they did the same day. 
 
 In the month of April following, " Mr. Nickerson being with- 
 out a legal settlement, left the society of his own choice." For 
 several months afterwards, the meeting-house was not opened for 
 regular worship, though the Sabbath school organization was 
 kept up, and regular sessions maintained. From October 1858, 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 483 
 
 till May 1860, with the exception of short intervals, the pulpit 
 was supplied by students from the seminary in Andover. In 
 May 1860, Rev. Henry Kimball, of New York city, was engaged 
 to preach for one year. He was succeeded by Rev. Swift 
 Byington, whose services were so acceptable, that at the expira- 
 tion of his engagement for a year, the arrangement was con- 
 tinued almost another year; that. is, "as long as the society 
 furnished the means to pay his salary." 
 
 " After Mr Byington left, the house was closed for several 
 months, but was re-opened in the fall of 1863, and the pulpit 
 was supplied for more than a year by Rev. Mr. Harding, agent 
 of the Plymouth Monument Association." 
 
 In July 1865, an invitation was extended to Rev. Melancthon 
 G. Wheeler to become the stated pastor of the church and 
 society. This invitation was accepted, and he was accordingly 
 installed July 26, 1865, by a council then convened, consisting 
 of pastors and delegates from the following churches : 
 
 First Church Woburn, Rev. J. C. Bodwell, pastor; Deacon 
 Stephen Richardson, delegate. 
 
 Church in Stoneham, Deacon J. Dunlap, delegate. 
 
 Bethesda Church, Reading, Rev. W. H. Wilcox, pastor; 
 Deacon S. E. Park, delegate. 
 
 Church in West Amesbury, Rev. Leander Thompson, pastor ; 
 Bro. Andrew Frye, delegate. 
 
 Church in Winchester, Rev. R. T. Robinson, pastor ; Deacon 
 S. Abbott, delegate. 
 
 South Church, Reading, Rev. William Barrows, pastor ; Bro. 
 Nathan Bancroft, delegate. 
 
 Church in Wilmington, Deacon C. Morrill, delegate. 
 
 Church in Burlington, Deacon John Marion, delegate. 
 
 Church in South Reading, Rev. Charles R. Bliss, pastor ; Bro. 
 J. G. Aborn, delegate. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Wheeler still (November 20, 1866) continues pastor 
 of the church in North Woburn, where his services are highly 
 acceptable to the church and society. He was born in Charlotte, 
 Vermont ; graduated at Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., and 
 at Andover Theological Seminary; settled at Abington Centre,
 
 484 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Conway, Williamsburgh, and South Dartmouth, previously to his 
 installation at North Woburn. 
 
 The number of members in the North Woburn church, July 
 12, 1866, was fifty-nine. 18 
 
 BAPTIST CHURCH AND SOCIETY. 
 
 Notice was taken, it will "be remembered, in Chapter V., of 
 this history, of certain citizens of Woburn, some of them men of 
 distinction in the town, who withdrew from the worship of the 
 congregational society, embraced and practised the peculiarities 
 of the Baptist denomination, and were prosecuted therefor, in 
 1671, before the civil courts. But their meetings for distinctive 
 worship soon ceased. Most of them rejoined their congrega- 
 tional brethren ; some of them became officers in the old Con- 
 gregational Church and Society in Woburn; and in the next 
 generation, all visible tokens of their former separation ceased 
 to exist. 
 
 The present highly respectable Baptist Church in Woburn 
 originated in the disaffection towards Rev. Mr. Sargeant, which 
 sprang up in his society soon after his ordination in 1785. 
 Before the close of the year, 1786, several members of the Con- 
 gregational Parish, dissatisfied with Mr. Sargeant's preaching, 
 had begun to frequent the meetings of the Baptists in West 
 Cambridge, (then the northwest parish in Cambridge,) where a 
 small Baptist Church had been organized in 1781, and was then 
 under the pastoral care of Rev. Thomas Green. In 1790, the 
 number of those who had thus withdrawn from Mr. Sargeant's 
 society amounted to twenty-two; 19 and as the assessors of 
 Woburn still persisted in taxing them for the support of the 
 congregational worship, Rev. Mr. Green commenced a lawsuit, 
 in 1790, for the recovery of their parish taxes. In this suit, he 
 was successful : and thenceforth, the assessors of Woburn were 
 directed, October 17, 1791, "to omit taxing those persons 
 
 18 The above account of North Woburn Church has been derived partly from minutes of 
 my own, taken at the time, and partly from statements of Dea. Josiah Linscott, kindly fur- 
 Dished me from his own recollection, and from the Records of the Church. 
 
 19 Report of Committee of First Parish, at adjourned meeting, January 28, 1790.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 485 
 
 reputed to belong to Mr. Thomas Green's society, whose names 
 were returned to the parish committee, except Benj. Fowle, 
 Ephraim Tottingham, and such others, as the assessors think 
 best to tax or not, according to their own discretion." ^ 
 
 In the mean while, several who had withdrawn from the public 
 worship in Woburn to attend meeting in West Cambridge, had 
 joined the Baptist Church in that place ; and at their request, 
 an arrangement was made in 1790, with Rev. Mr. Green, its 
 pastor, to preach once a month in Woburn. Not long after, it 
 was agreed that he should preach half the time in Woburn ; the 
 name of the church was altered from " the Baptist Church in 
 Cambridge " to the "Cambridge and Woburn Baptist Church." 21 
 And so much more rapidly did the branch of this church in Wo- 
 burn gain in numbers and strength, than the mother church in 
 Cambridge, that " Cambridge" was, in a few years, dropped from 
 its title, and it was thenceforth styled and known, as the " Wo- 
 burn Baptist Church." 21 
 
 The first meetings of this church in Woburn were held in a 
 house belonging to Capt. John Edgell. This was a large unfin- 
 ished building erected on the spot, where a new house of Mr. 
 Henry Flagg now stands. " The whole of the second floor was 
 in one unfinished room, (with a great chimney stack running up 
 in the middle,) and furnished with plain benches. It was acce* 
 sible by a narrow stairway in the rear of the house ; and would 
 seat perhaps a hundred people. To this spot, the fathers and 
 mothers of this church resorted each Sabbath day," when they 
 held meeting in Woburn ; " and climbing those stairs, filled the 
 rude benches with perhaps threescore lowly worshippers." 21 
 
 In 1793, much to the regret of his people, Rev. Thomas Green 
 removed his residence to another place. He was succeeded by 
 Elder Simon Snow, who remained but about a year. In the 
 early part of 1 794, Elder Peak was called to preach half the 
 time in Woburn and in Newtown, N. H., alternately. He is 
 described as " a tall, slim man, dignified in appearance, and of 
 considerable intellectual power. His influence was felt at once 
 
 20 Record of First Parish. The reason of the distinction here made is unknown. 
 First sermon of Rev. Mr. Kennard. 
 42*
 
 486 
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 upon the church ; the congregation grew, till the room where 
 they met seemed too small to accommodate them ; and the church 
 resolved to arise and build a house unto the Lord. This was 
 in the spring of 1794. This was a brave resolution, for so feeble 
 a band. Yet the favor of God was manifested, as it always is, 
 when his people attempt great things for him. No sooner had 
 the building been begun, than the Spirit of God was poured out 
 upon the church, through the labors of Elder Peak ; and while 
 the temple of wood was being erected, the Holy Ghost was 
 building up the spiritual temple of lively stones. The work of 
 revival embraced both the Woburn church, and that in South 
 Reading j the church in Woburn was greatly refreshed ; and as 
 a result, thirty-five persons were baptized and added amidst much 
 rejoicing." 21 
 
 The meeting-house, which the Baptist Society commenced 
 building in the spring of 1794, was ready for occupation in 
 July of that year. 22 It was erected on the spot very near the 
 dwelling-house of the late Col. William Winn ; " The frame of 
 it is still standing, though very much altered in appearance, at 
 the corner of Main and Church streets, and has been for many 
 years used as a manufacturing establishment. When the, church 
 first met there, it was a plain frame building without finish or 
 nament. It was about forty feet square, and consisted of one 
 floor only, (the. walls and ceiling being left for several years 
 much in the style of a barn,) furnished with rude benches." But 
 uninviting as the appearance was which it presented, both within 
 and without, yet here Elder Peak, Drs. Baldwin, Stillman and 
 others, in visiting the weak churches, would stop and preach." 
 
 Meetings of the church still continued to be held in West Cam- 
 bridge and Woburn, alternately, till 1797 ; but very soon after, 
 the church voted to hold the services altogether in Woburn, it 
 being most convenient for a majority of the members. 23 
 
 After worshipping in the house just described some five or six 
 years, the brethren resolved to improve it : " which they did by 
 ceiling and plastering it, and putting in pews, which were square 
 
 " 1794. July 20. Baptists met at new meeting house first time." Diary of Samuel 
 Thompson, Esq. M Rev. Mr. Kennard's first sermon.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 487 
 
 and panelled, with the seats made to turn up in prayer time ; 
 there were two blocks of these, making in all thirty-five pews, and 
 an aisle running up the middle, and another round the walls. 
 They also put up a gallery, which was reached from a porch in the 
 west end, where also was the main entrance. The pulpit was 
 very high, with a sounding-board over it, as was the fashion in 
 those days ; and was reached by two short flights of stairs. In 
 front of the pulpit was the Deacon's Seat, where these elders in 
 the church sat facing the congregation, and apparently support- 
 ing the minister, and overlooking the flock." 23 
 
 The church continued to worship in this meeting-house " from 
 1 795 till 1 825 [1 794 till 1 828 ?] or about thirty years." During 
 this period, they were served in the pastoral office by Elder 
 Peak, who left in the latter part of 1795. 24 
 
 " He was followed by Rev. Elias Smith ; ' a man of singular 
 traits of character.' He remained two years, and then withdrew 
 from the church and the denomination, to enter upon a some- 
 what erratic course, so far as theological opinions and church 
 relations are concerned." 24 
 
 Rev. Mr. Smith was followed by Elder E^ Nelson, who was 
 pastor from 1802 till 1804; and was succeeded by Elder Isaiah 
 Stone, and h.e in 1809 by Elder S. Wydown. 
 
 " In the year 1 804, the Rev. Thomas Paul, a colored preacher? 
 visited the church, and supplied it for a number of months. He 
 was a man of more than ordinary genius and originality of 
 mind, independence of spirit, joined to deep humility before 
 God. His preaching was attended by the demonstration of the 
 Spirit and with power. A precious revival appeared in the 
 church ; and as a result, thirty-nine souls were brought to 
 Christ, and baptized into the fellowship of the church." 
 
 "In 1811, Rev. Thomas Waterman took the pastoral charge. 
 He was a man small of stature, like Paul, but with a manly 
 intellect. He had been educated in an English College, and 
 was eminent among a race of ministers, who had most of them 
 but very limited literary culture, for the extent of his attain- 
 
 Rev. Mr. Kennard's first Bcrmon. 
 ** Rev. Mr. Kennard's second sermon.
 
 488 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 merits In addition to his pastoral work, he .... kept 
 
 a school of a superior character, and was much respected in the 
 community, as a gentleman of refinement, and an able Christian 
 minister. He died suddenly, probably in a fit of apoplexy, after 
 having served the church to great acceptance about three years. 
 His remains lie in our cemetery, where a neat shaft, erected 
 through the exertions of a prominent member of this society, 
 still living, commemorates in modest terms his virtues. His 
 companion, who long outlived him, and who is well remembered 
 for her womanly and Christian character, has lately been laid 
 by his sleeping dust. 
 
 "In 1817, Rev. Herbert Marshall was ordained pastor. He 
 was a man of respectable, not of shining abilities as a preacher ; 
 but distinguished for his simple-hearted faith, his fervor and 
 industry in his work, and especially by his power in prayer. In 
 answer to his fervent prayers, the Spirit descended with wonder- 
 ful power upon the church and congregation, and a remarka- 
 bly deep and permanent work of grace was wrought in the 
 church. It seemed to reach every member, and is still remem- 
 bered and often referred to, as the great revival of 1817. 
 Seventy persons were baptized in one year ; and among them 
 some of the most valuable members the church has ever had." 
 
 "Rev. George Phippen became pastor in 1818 ; and was suc- 
 ceeded by Rev. Adoniram Judson, father of the Missionary, a 
 venerable and highly esteemed servant of God: who was fol- 
 lowed, 1823, by Rev. James N. Seaman. During these pastor- 
 ates, the church seemed under a cloud, and experienced some 
 trials. Very few were added to the church ; and the member- 
 ship on the whole diminished. 
 
 "With the settlement of Rev. Samuel Malory, in 1826, the 
 cloud seemed to break, and the sunshine of prosperity cheered 
 the church. An extensive revival of religion was sent from on 
 high, and seventy were received into the church by baptism, of 
 whom the same may be said as of those received during the 
 revival of 1817. In the increase of the church (which now 
 numbered over two hundred) and of the congregation, the 
 meeting-house began to be too small for them : and they must 

 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 489 
 
 either enlarge, or build a new house. From an account of the 
 movement contained in the ' Old Book of the Treasurer's Ac- 
 counts,' we learn, that Mrs. Rebecca Tottingham, who owned 
 the land adjacent to that on which the church stood, and which 
 it was necessary to purchase, if the house was enlarged, was 
 asked by a committee to sell it to the church for that purpose : 
 but that she, after due deliberation, (as the old Record goes) 
 gave a lot of land sufficient to enlarge the house, build sheds, 
 and a parsonage house, for the love, affection and esteem she had 
 for the Baptist Church and Society in this place. Let it be 
 spoken of for a memorial of her. 
 
 " Upon subsequent consideration however, it was thought best 
 to procure a lot in the centre of the town, and build a new 
 house." .... Accordingly, " a lot was procured ; and upon 
 it was a bakery, which was removed to make way for a place 
 where the Bread of Life might be held forth for the hungry. 
 It was begun in May 1827; was planned and superintended 
 by Brother Samuel Abbot, and finished and dedicated in the 
 spring of 1828. The original dimensions were fifty-eight by 
 sixty feet, with a porch of six feet in front. Its whole cost, 
 including the land, was about $8,000. It has since been en- 
 larged. The Record at the time appropriately says, 'We have 
 abundant reason to bless God for all our efforts to build an 
 House of Worship ; and if we will but view the hand of Prov- 
 idence, we shall see that all and every move has been over- 
 ruled for the best under the guidance of Heaven. To God be 
 all the glory ! ' 
 
 "From 1829 to 1833, Rev. B. C. Wade was pastor; and from 
 1 833 to 1 835, Rev. T. B. Ripley. Rev. N. Hooper followed from 
 1837 to 1840. During his time, there was quite a division in 
 the church. Forty-five of the members withdrew. While some 
 of these were such as had caused much dissension, others were 
 brother and sisters beloved and honored. Some of them still 
 survive, and still possess the confidence and esteem of those who 
 know them best. It is believed that in the case of most if not 
 all of the survivors of those sad days, the feelings that were 
 then kindled have long ago died away."
 
 490 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 "Mr. Hooper was succeeded by Rev. S. B. Randall, from 1844 
 to 1847, when Rev^J. C. Stockbridge became pastor. During 
 his ministry, a gracious work of conversion was enjoyed, and 
 about forty added in one year to the church. His ministry and 
 that of Brother Ricker and Brother Bronson being within the 
 memory of you all, I need not dwell upon them. You know 
 better than I, my hearers, their faithfulness, their ability and 
 their success. During Brother Ricker's time, this house was en- 
 larged and improved ; and during Brother Bronson's, the debt 
 incurred was paid off. 
 
 " The church has been blessed in its 'deacons : Thaddeus 
 Davis, Daniel Brooks, Josiah Converse, Jacob Richardson, Jesse 
 Converse, John Fowle, Samuel Tidd, all of whom have gone to 
 their rest. The deaths of Brothers Richardson and Tidd were a 
 peculiarly heavy blow. They fell suddenly and in their prime ; 
 cut down in the midst of most important services they were ren- 
 dering the church. She was plunged in deepest sorrow ; their 
 loss seemed irreparable. But their death was blessed to the 
 spiritual good of the church : and in regard to them, and the 
 other names mentioned, as well as those who have succeeded 
 them, we may say, how much does the church owe of gratitude 
 to God for giving them ! 
 
 " The total number added to those connected with the church 
 since its organization is about nine hundred. Of these about 
 six hundred and fifty have been received by baptism. Surely 
 God hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. 
 
 " During all these years, the doctrines of the church have re- 
 mained unaltered. There may have been, indeed, during the 
 early part of her history, a large development of what are called 
 the high Calvinistic doctrines, in regard to Sovereignty, Election, 
 etc., etc. These have not been withdrawn in their essence ; but 
 there has been a development also of other doctrines, which sup- 
 plement and limit those, so as to present a symmetrical system." 25 
 
 To the above account of the Baptist Church in Woburn, taken 
 almost entirely from two historical discourses concerning it 
 
 Rev. Mr. Kennard'g second sermon.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBTJBN. 491 
 
 preached by Rev. Mr. Kennard, the immediate predecessor of its 
 present pastor, Rev. Mr. Townley, may be added the following 
 brief notices of several of the more recent ministers of this church 
 and people, kindly furnished by Rev. Dr. Stockbridge and Mr. 
 John D. Tidd. 
 
 Rev. J. C. Stockbridge was born, June 8, 1818, at Yarmouth, 
 Maine ; received his academic education at the academy in his 
 native town; was graduated from Brown University, 1838; 
 studied theology at the Institution in Newton, where he was 
 graduated in 1844; and was installed as pastor of the Baptist 
 Church in Woburn, January 27, 1848. This relation he sus- 
 tained, " the happy pastor" of a people beloved by him, till Octo- 
 ber 1852, when he was dismissed from Woburn, that he might 
 assume the pastoral charge of the First Baptist Church in 
 Providence, R. I. to which he had been invited, during the ab- 
 sence of its minister, Rev. Dr. Granger, who had been appointed 
 as one of a deputation from the Missionary Union, to visit the 
 Baptist missionary stations in Burmah. 
 
 At the close of the year, he was called to the pastoral office 
 of the Charles Street Church, Boston, over which he was installed 
 October 23, 1853. In this position, he remained nearly eight 
 years; and during this time, viz : at commencement, in 1859, he 
 received from Harvard University the honorary degree of D. D. 
 
 His health beginning to fail him, that he might preserve that 
 invaluable blessing, as well as fulfil a long cherished purpose, he 
 gave up all ministerial labor early in 1865, and embarked for 
 Europe. Landing in Sicily, he went thence to Greece, and made 
 a visit of much interest at Athens. Returning to Sicily, he 
 commenced travelling extensively in Italy and Switzerland, and 
 over some portions of France and Germany; and in passing 
 along in these several countries, he remained some time at Rome 
 and Paris, and visited Naples, Florence, Bologna, Venice, Milan, 
 and Geneva. Sailing down the Rhine, he came to Cologne. 
 He then went to Holland, spent a few days at Amsterdam, 
 visited the Hague and Rotterdam, and crossing the sea from 
 Holland he came to England, where he spent several weeks, 
 making tours in various directions through the country ; took a
 
 492 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 short trip to Scotland, and then coming back to Liverpool, he 
 embarked in the steamer for New York, where he arrived in 
 safety, after an absence abroad of about eight months. 
 
 Soon after his return to this country, he took charge of the 
 Free Street Church, Portland, where he remained till recently ; 
 when the situation of Principal of a literary institution in Pro- 
 vidence being offered him, he accepted it, and his present resi- 
 dence is in that city. - 
 
 Rev. Joseph Ricker was installed February 14, 1853; dis- 
 missed April 1, 1858, and afterwards appointed chaplain of the 
 State Prison in Charlestown. He then became pastor of the 
 Baptist Church in Milford, Mass. ; and is now settled in Augusta, 
 Me. 
 
 Rev. B. F. Bronson entered upon his pastoral labors in this 
 church, June 1, 1858, without any public services of installa- 
 tion; was dismissed April 27, 1862, and settled in Roxbury, 
 receiving an appointment, In connection with his pastorate in 
 Roxbury, as Secretary of the Massachusetts Baptist State Con- 
 vention. He is now settled at Southbridge, Mass. 
 
 Rev. J. Spencer Kennard was installed October 31, 1862; 
 dismissed December 15, 1865; took charge of the Calvary 
 Church, Albany, N. Y. ; and is now settled in Philadelphia, Pa., 
 succeeding his honored father, who was removed by death from 
 a pastorate over the same church of more than twenty-five years. 
 
 The present pastor of this church, and immediate successor of 
 Mr. Kennard, is Rev. H. C. Townley, who was installed July 
 17, 1866. 
 
 In connection with his labors, there has been enjoyed by his 
 people an interesting season of revival. Since his settlement, 
 thirty-three persons have been baptized by him and added to 
 the church. And although for two or three months past there 
 has been no observable special interest, yet, during this inter- 
 val, a measure of interest has been kept up, which is at present 
 on the increase; and the members of this church "are confi- 
 dently expecting to be permitted soon to witness displays of 
 divine power in the conversion of the impenitent."
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 493 
 
 INDEPENDENT BAPTIST CHURCH. 
 
 The church in Woburn, thus denominated, originated in a 
 secession from the First Baptist Church. On the 22d day of 
 June, 1838, Leonard Fowle, Jesse Convers, George Flagg, John 
 Edgell, with thirty other members of the 'Baptist Church, thirty- 
 four in all, 26 requested letters of dismission from that church. 
 Their request was granted to each petitioner severally, in letters 
 after the following form : 
 
 " To all whom it may concern ; This may certify, that A. B. 
 is a member in good standing in the Baptist Church in Woburn, 
 Mass. ; and as such is hereby dismissed at his (or her) request, 
 and recommended to any church of the same faith and order. 
 Done at a regular meeting of the church : 
 
 Woburn, June 22d, 1838. A. A. NEWHALL, Clerk." 
 
 The reasons assigned by these brethren and sisters for re- 
 questing dismission from the church to which they had hitherto 
 belonged were : 
 
 1. First, "The admitting into the pulpit of others than the 
 professed ministers of the gospel, and the discussion of other 
 subjects than the gospel, from the pulpit, against the expressed 
 wish of the injured brothers and sisters." 
 
 2. Secondly and principally, " the seeming letting down of the 
 doctrines of grace, as found in the Word of God, and embodied 
 in the Church Covenant." 
 
 Having made repeated efforts for an adjustment of the diffi- 
 culties above suggested, without success, " they felt it a duty to 
 go out, however trying, not knowing whither they went." 
 
 These withdrawing brethren and sisters from the First Baptist 
 Church do not appear to have formed themselves into a separate 
 church by any new organization, but to have considered them- 
 selves as already such by mutual consent, and united by the 
 bonds of the covenant into which they had formerly entered. 
 
 By the courtesy of the First Baptist Church, they were allowed 
 the use of their old meeting-house, then unoccupied, at a mere 
 
 Forty-five, according to Rev. Mr. Kennard's second sermon. 
 43-
 
 494 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 nominal rent, till the chapel they now assemble in, was erected 
 for them by a member of their own body, Mrs. Sarah Convers. 
 
 Since their establishment as an Independent Church, they have 
 been favored successively with the pastoral services of Elders 
 Hartwell Osburn and Lemuel Cox, Jr., who labored among them 
 more than fourteen years, " much to their edification and comfort." 
 Since the year 1861, they have been without a stated minister, 
 but do not forsake the assembling of themselves together ; but 
 meet semi-monthly, " and enjoy a good degree of harmony, al- 
 though by frequent removals and deaths, their number]) is now 
 much reduced; being at this date (May 7, 1866) but about 
 thirty." 27 
 
 FIRST UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY. 
 
 About 1828, a number of Christians of the Universalist per- 
 suasion formed themselves into a society, and erected a meeting- 
 house, which was dedicated December 23, 1829, and was im- 
 proved by them as their house of worship several years. For 
 their first minister, they had Rev. Otis A. Skinner. His suc- 
 cessors in office (the dates of whose respective settlements have 
 not been preserved on record) were Rev. Messrs. Daniel D. 
 Smith, A. L. Balch, John Gregory and J. C. Waldo. 28 But 
 this society at length ceased to have preaching, and after retain- 
 ing possession of their meeting-house for some time, they eventu- 
 ally sold it to the town, and it is now occupied, with various 
 alterations, as the Town Hall. 
 
 SECOND UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY. 
 
 A Second Universalist Society was formed, and a constitution 
 adopted by it, early in 1841. At a meeting held in the meeting- 
 house of the First Universalist Society, April 5, 1841, and con- 
 tinued by adjournment to April 19th, this Second Society was 
 organized by the choice of Joshua V. Peirce as Clerk, John 
 Johnson, Jr., Moderator, Messrs. John Johnson, Jr., John Knight, 
 2d, and William Winn, Jr., as Standing Committee, Joshua V. 
 Peirce, as Treasurer, and Timothy Winn, as Collector. 
 
 w Letter of May 7, 1866, from a member of the Independent Church. 
 John Johnson, Esq., communication from.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 495 
 
 At a meeting, June 27, 1844, it was voted that they would 
 hold their meetings in the Town Hall, with the consent of the 
 " Unitarian Society " to release it to them a part of the time. 
 
 At a meeting held in the Town Hall, April 4th, 1845, one 
 article of the warrant was, " To see what measures they would 
 take to build a meeting-house the ensuing season," and a com- 
 mittee of three was then chosen to ascertain " how many pews 
 could be sold in a new house, and to report at the adjournment 
 of that meeting." The meeting-house which the society thus 
 appears to have contemplated building in the spring of 1845 
 was built and finished before winter that year, and from certain 
 minutes seems to have been dedicated November 21st. It is the 
 same house as that afterwards occupied by the Unitarian Society, 
 and more recently by the Methodists. 
 
 May 18, 1845, the society accepted the proposal of Rev. 
 W. B. Randolph to come and preach for them for what money 
 they could raise for his support, and voted him their thanks for 
 his offer. 29 But at a meeting, March 16, 1846, they voted not 
 to hire Mr. Randolph another year, and instructed their treas- 
 urer, April 14th, "to hire money sufficient to pay him what was 
 due to him to that date." 
 
 Rev. Mr. Randolph was the first and the last minister whom 
 the Second Universalist Society appears to have statedly em- 
 ployed. No other subsequently to him is mentioned on their 
 records. At a meeting, March 29, 1847, called "to see if they 
 would close up their affairs," 30 they seem to have dissolved 
 their connection with one another, as a distinct religious society, 
 and to have yielded up the disposal of their meeting-house, upon 
 some terms, to the Unitarians, who thenceforth had the charge 
 of providing the preacher employed in it, and of paying for his 
 services. 
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN SOCIETY. 
 
 Reference is made in the records of the Second Universalist 
 Society, 1 844, to Unitarians, as being at that time accustomed 
 to assemble for worship in the Town Hall. No regular legally 
 
 Memoranda, by John Johnson, Esq. Letter of Rev. Ell Fay.
 
 496 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 constituted society, however, of this denomination appears to 
 have, existed in Woburn, till 1847. By a warrant issued by 
 Albert H. Nelson, Esq., March 31, 1847, the members of a reli- 
 gious association, not named therein or incorporated, were ' 
 warned to assemble in the vestry of the Universalist meeting- 
 house that day, at a given hour. 31 In compliance with this 
 notice, several gentlemen of the Unitarian belief came together 
 at the time and place appointed, some of whom had had appa- 
 rently no previous connection with the Universalist Society, and 
 the first act of their proceedings on that occasion was, to organ- 
 ize the gentlemen present into " The First Unitarian Society in 
 Woburn." 31 
 
 At a parish meeting, held May 20, 1848, Rev. Henry F. Edes, 
 an alumnus of Bowdoin College, 1828, and of the Theological 
 School, Cambridge, 1831, was invited to become the pastor. 
 He accepted the invitation; but resigned March 18, 1850. 31 
 
 January 10, 1853, Mr. George F. Simmons was unanimously 
 called to the pastoral office ; but declined. 31 
 
 March 7, 1853, Rev. John M. Masters, a graduate, 1847, and 
 a tutor, 1850, of Harvard University, was chosen and accepted. 
 During his ministry, the church building was remodelled, and 
 the society prospered greatly. But, March 25, 1855, he ten- 
 dered his resignation, on account of ill health. 31 
 
 April 15, 1857, Rev. Rufus P. Stebbins, D. D., was elected 
 pastor. The office to which he was thus chosen, he accepted; 
 and continued to fill it till November 28, 1863. The society 
 prospered under his labors. 31 
 
 Rev. Dr. Stebbins is a native of Wilbraham, Mass. : was a 
 graduate of Amherst College, 1834; an alumnus of Cambridge 
 Theological School, 1837; settled in Leominster, September 20, 
 1 837-44. President of the Meadville Theological School, Mead- 
 vine, Pa., 1844-56 ; und received the honorary degree of D. D. 
 from Harvard University, 1851. 
 
 Rev. Eli Fay was chosen his successor, April 16, 1864, 32 and 
 still (1867) continues in office. 
 
 M Letter of Rev. Eli Fay. Letter of Rev. Eli Fay.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 497 
 
 Before the ministry of Rev. Dr. Stebbins in Woburn was com- 
 pleted, his society had taken measures to provide themselves 
 with a larger and more commodious house of worship. Thus far, 
 since their organization as .a society, they had met on sabbath 
 days in the church built by the Second Universalist Society, in 
 1 845, and which had been remodelled and enlarged by them, 
 during the ministry of Rev. Mr. Masters. But now, the more 
 fully to answer their wishes in this respect, they had purchased, 
 enlarged and adorned, at the cost of about forty thousand dollars, 
 the comparatively new church erected by the First Congrega- 
 tional Society of Woburn, in 1 841 ; and having finished their 
 labors upon this stately, elegant church edifice, they dedicated it 
 anew, April 16, 1865. 
 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 Methodist preaching was commenced in Woburn, at the town 
 house, 1850, by brethren of that denomination, Stephen M. Vail, 
 D. D., Leonard P. Frost, and J. W. Merrill, D. D. Previously, 
 there had been a few Methodists in the town, a portion if not all 
 of whom belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church in Med- 
 ford, and had for some time been organized as a class, nearly all 
 the members of which attended very punctually. 
 
 In February 1851, a church was organized by Amos Binney, 
 presiding elder, consisting of ten members in full communion, 
 and several probationers. 
 
 In May 1851, Brother H. Kendall, a local preacher, was ap- 
 pointed by the presiding elder to supply the people regularly with 
 preaching. He is characterized, as " earnest, laborious and suc- 
 cessful" in his^ vocation ; and at quitting the place, in 1852, he 
 left to the charge of his successor twenty-seven members in church 
 fellowship, and twelve probationers. 
 
 In 1852, he was followed by Brother J. B. Holman, a local 
 preacher, who made the earliest permanent church record. 
 
 In 1853, Brother Gary succeeded, the first appointed by the 
 Conference ; but left before the close of the year ; and was fol- 
 lowed by Brother H. R. Pa"menter from the Biblical Institution 
 at Concord, N. H. 
 
 43*,
 
 498 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 In 1854, Brother George Sutherland was stationed at Woburn 
 by the Conference ; preached there two years, and was very suc- 
 cessful in his labors. During his ministry, the chapel was moved 
 from the site now occupied by Lyceum Hall, and placed where it 
 now stands ; was bought of the parties that built and owned it, 
 paid for, and " filled to overflowing with an attentive congrega- 
 tion, most of whom loved God and each other." 
 
 In 1856, Brother Sutherland was followed by Brother Tread- 
 well; and he, in turn, in 1857, by Brother J. A. Ames, "who 
 was very successful. More persons were received on probation, 
 more baptized, and more married by the pastor of the Methodist 
 Church in Woburn during his two years' service, than in any 
 other equal length of time, during the first fourteen years of its 
 history." 
 
 Brother Ames was followed, in 1859, by Brother M. P. Web- 
 ster; and he, in 1860, by Brother Otheman; and he, in 1862, 
 by Brother Atkinson; and he, in 1863, by Brother Barney, a 
 student from Concord, N. H. 
 
 During the years 1862, 1863, "many were ready to give up 
 the organization ; and but for a very few determined spirits, the 
 church must have broken up. For a long time, the Records 
 show no conversions, no baptisms, and no marriages. In fact, 
 the church seems to have been crippled socially, financially and 
 spiritually." 
 
 During 1864, the church was supplied, under the presiding 
 elder, by Rev. N. D. George, who, with the church, succeeded in 
 obtaining pledges for nearly enough to meet the cash payment 
 ($5,000) on the church building we 33 now occupy. About one- 
 half of such pledges were collected, when Brother George was 
 succeeded, in 1865, by [the] present pastor, (Rev. M. M. Park- 
 hurst.) Between the 1st of April and 17th of May, the build- 
 ing was purchased, the balance of subscription ($2,500) was 
 collected and paid over, and a deed obtained. The church 
 building was thoroughly repaired, carpeted, cushioned. Gas 
 
 S3 The foregoing account is copied chiefly from communication of Bev. Mr. M. M. Park- 
 hurst, May 1866, the present pastor of this church.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 499 
 
 pipes were brought into the audience room ; a new pulpit, altar 
 rail and chairs purchased, and the house was re-opened May 
 17, 1865, with all the bills paid, but the small balance ($1,000) 
 of the purchase money of the church." 
 
 During the time from the 1st of April, 1865, to the present 
 [May 1866], the congregation has increased greatly; the sab- 
 bath school has doubled in numbers j the church has enlarged in 
 financial ability and social power ; and has increased its pastor's 
 salary, and its membership about four-tenths. 33 
 
 ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 
 
 In 1847, the Roman Catholics commenced holding meetings at 
 Woburn, in the Town Hall. A house of worship was erected 
 by them, in 1852, under the supervision of Father Carroll, who 
 then officiated among them as priest, and who was succeeded 
 in office by Father Brannigan. In 1862, Father McCarthy became 
 a resident priest in the town, and remained until 1864, when 
 Father John Qually became pastor. 34 
 
 The church erected in 1852 for the public worship of this 
 denomination of Christians, is now, it is understood, found too 
 strait for them, and strenuous efforts are now being made, under 
 the direction of Father Qually, and with the aid of several citi- 
 zens of the town, to build them a larger and more convenient 
 house for this purpose. 
 
 The present average attendance upon their Sunday services is 
 about eight hundred. A sabbath school of about two hundred 
 and fifty meets in the afternoon at the church. 34 
 
 PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Zealous efforts are now being made to establish an Episcopal 
 Society in Woburn. Numbers, it is understood, regularly meet 
 on the sabbath in Lyceum Hall, who make use there of the 
 Liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States 
 in their worship, and who hope ere long to see a church erected, 
 and a society legally formed, for the benefit of their denomina- 
 tion. And here it seems not inappropriate, and may be accept- 
 
 M Communication of Father Qually, April 21, 1806.
 
 500 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 able to the good people of Woburn, to remind them that the 
 worship of God, according to the forms and usages of the 
 Church of England, is no new thing in their town. 
 
 In 1751, immediately after the ordination of Rev. Thomas 
 Jones as pastor of the Second or Precinct Church in Woburn, 
 twelve dissatisfied persons out of the one hundred and three, 
 who were that year ratable inhabitants of the parish, signed off, 
 as was said, to the Church of England. 35 Most of them, it is 
 believed, joined the Episcopal Church in Cambridge ; but a few 
 of them appear to have connected themselves with one or other 
 of the three Episcopal Churches then in Boston. In the course 
 of the three next succeeding years, 1752, 1753, 1754, two others 
 joined them, and they were all rated each year by the Second 
 Parish Assessors for their minister taxes ; and those taxes were 
 severally paid over (as the Province law of 1742 then required) 
 to the Episcopal clergyman, upon whose services the Assessors 
 were certified, that they "usually and frequently attended." 
 But after 1754, they do not appear from the Parish Records to 
 have been rated at all by the Second Parish Assessors for their 
 parish taxes. 
 
 Shortly after the individuals above referred to had withdrawn 
 from the worship of the Second Precinct in Woburn to that of 
 the Church of England, they were joined by Benjamin Simonds, 
 
 35 "p r ofess'a or Pretended members of the Church of England, Inhabit- 
 ing this Parish : rated for Salary only. 
 
 "William Smith 7:8: 
 
 Robert Reed 6 :0. 
 
 Swithin Reed 18 :11. 
 
 Ebenezer Reed 18 :6. 
 
 George Reed jun' 9 :9. 
 Eliphaz Reed 9 :9. 
 
 James Perry 9 :2 
 
 Thomas Skelton jun. 16 :0 
 Caleb Simonds 18 :1 :2 
 
 Caleb Siraonds jun. 11 :0 :0 
 Seth Johnson 16 :0 :0 
 
 John Cutler 16 :5 :0." 
 
 Second Parish Records for 1752, Vol. //., p. 18.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 501 
 
 of the First Parish, 36 who proved a very important man among 
 them. His house is still standing, having its back to the road 
 at the north, but a magnificent elm growing in the yard on the 
 south side in front j and is the same house as that now occupied 
 by Mr. Jesse Cutler on the road from Burlington to Cummings- 
 ville. At this house, these professed Episcopalians met on ordi- 
 nary sabbaths for public worship, when the liturgy of the church 
 of England was read to them, and not improbably a printed 
 sermon likewise, by Mr. Thomas Skelton, Jr., one of their 
 number. But on extra occasions, when an Episcopal clergy- 
 man from Cambridge or Boston came to minister to them, they 
 would, as often as the weather allowed, meet in the yard under 
 the shade of the wide-spreading elm, no room in the house 
 being large enough to hold them, and there the minister would 
 preach to them, and celebrate the ordinances. The late Mrs. 
 William Kendall, of this town, once showed me an octavo 
 English prayer book, from which she said her grandfather, Mr. 
 Thomas Skelton, Jr., was accustomed to read the church of 
 England prayers on sabbath days in the Episcopal meeting at 
 Mr. Simonds' ; and Mr. Gideon Simonds, deceased, a son of Mr. 
 
 36 Copy of certificate, yet extant, of membership from Christ Church, 
 Boston, to Benjamin Simonds : 
 
 "This may Cartify the treasurer of the first precinct in Wooburn, that 
 Mr Benjamin Simonds of said precinct is a professed member of the 
 Church of England, and that he atends the publick worshep of God on 
 Sundays at Christ Church in Boston as frequently as he can, and as is 
 useuel at his Distance. 
 
 his 
 " TIMOTHY X CUTLER, minister of Christ Church in Boston 
 
 mark 
 
 "Boston September ye 10. 1759. 
 
 Witnes the signing of Docter Cutler, " JohnPigen J church wardins." 
 " Caleb Simonds juner, "Thomaslvers 3 
 
 " Sarah Cutler." 
 
 This certificate i^ accompanied by another on the same page, in the same 
 words, to the treasurer of the second precinct in Woburn ; and it bears 
 indubitable marks of being a transcript, taken by some ignorant and care- 
 less person from a genuine certificate of Rev. Dr. Cutler, signed by him 
 and his church wardens at the given date, except writing " his mark," 
 which must be deemed an expedient of the transcriber, adopted for some 
 purpose of his own.
 
 502 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 Caleb Simonds, Jr., a member of that meeting, once told me, 
 that he, and (I think I may confidently add) his brothers Calvin 
 and Jesse, were baptized by an Episcopal clergyman under that 
 venerable elm. 
 
 But at the commencement of the revolutionary war, this Epis- 
 copal meeting in Woburn, like several others of that denomina- 
 tion in various parts of New England, appears to have been 
 broken up. Its connection, however, with the Episcopal churches 
 in Boston, by which it had been patronized, was not at once dis- 
 solved, as the annexed certificate, still extant, seems to indicate. 
 
 Dec 1 . 4, A. D. 1781. Then was married Mr Ebenezer Page 
 to Miss Susanna Simons [daughter of the above named Benjamin 
 Simons] by the Rev. Mr. Samuel Parker of Boston." 
 
 Nor was the attachment to the royal government of England, 
 which the use of its established forms of public divine wor- 
 ship had nurtured and strengthened in this band of Episco- 
 palians in Woburn, at once renounced or cast off. The late 
 Capt. James Reed, Sen. of this town, once told me, that being col- 
 lector one year for Woburn, he presented a tax bill to Mr. 
 Thomas Skelton, Jr., the Episcopal reader mentioned above, 
 for payment. " I wont pay it," said Mr. Skelton ; " the govern- 
 ment that ordered the tax, is no lawful government ; and I wont 
 submit to any tax of its imposing." After repeatedly applying 
 to Mr. Skelton to pay the bill, Capt. Reed was peremptorily 
 commanded by the assessors of Woburn, to collect the tax, or 
 to take the body. Upon Capt. Reed's communicating the orders 
 he had received, Mr. Skelton instantly replied, " Well, take the 
 body, if you will ; but I suppose you will give me time to go up 
 stairs, and shift my clothes before you take me off." The liberty 
 asked was readily granted; but Mr. Skelton was gone to his 
 chamber so long, that Capt. Reed began to be seriously alarmed , 
 lest his debtor had given him the slip. At length Mr. Skelton 
 returning to him, said, " Capt. Reed, will you sign a paper I shall 
 give you, if I will pay you them taxes ?" " Sign ! " replied Capt. 
 Reed ; " Why, Mr. Skelton, I'll sign anything, if you will only 
 pay that demand." Mr. Skelton then produced a receipt to be
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 503 
 
 signed, expressed as follows : " Received of Thomas Skelton Jr., 
 he being threatened with imprisonment, his taxes due for such 
 a year." The receipt was quickly signed, and Mr. Skelton was 
 let off in peace. 
 
 At another time, the same Mr. Skelton sold a piece of land to 
 Mr. Swithin Reed, the Captain's father ; and, drawing up a deed 
 of it himself, gave it to the Captain to deliver. Upon reading it, 
 the old gentleman said to his son, " Jim, I don't know but this 
 deed is all right; yet it seems to me, it don't read exactly as 
 other deeds do. Here, take it to Cambridge, and show it to 
 " Mr. Deany," [Hon. Judge Francis Dana] " and he'll tell you at 
 once whether it be as it should be." Accordingly, the Captain 
 took it to Cambridge as directed, and the moment the judge read 
 it, he threw it aside, saying, " it was not worth a farthing." 
 "Why, what is the matter with it?" inquired the Captain. 
 " Matter ! " said the Judge : " Why, don't you see ? Instead of 
 dating it in such a year of the United States Independence, he 
 writes, " In such a year of His Majesty's Reign ! " 
 
 The prime movers of this Episcopal meeting have all of them 
 long since gone the way of all the earth. Their children, too, 
 are all dead. Those of them who continued in town, at the time 
 the war of the Revolution put a stop to their assembling on 
 the sabbath for Episcopal worship, joined to a man, it is believed, 
 the Precinct Congregational Society; and nothing more was 
 heard in Woburn or its precinct, of meeting to worship according 
 to the liturgy of the Church of England, till the present attempt 
 to establish an Episcopal Society was commenced. 
 
 P. S. On Tuesday, October 29, 1867, the corner-stone of an 
 Episcopal Church, to be called Trinity Church, was laid in Wo- 
 burn, in due form. The principal services of the occasion were 
 conducted by Rev. Dr. Huntington, rector of Emmanuel Church, 
 Boston. In consequence of the unfavorableness of the weather, 
 the persons who were to take part in, or to witness the exercises 
 of the solemnity, fifty or sixty in number, assembled at the house 
 of Mr. Oliver W. Rogers, adjoining the church, where appropriate 
 lessons from the Scriptures were read, prayers were offered, and
 
 504 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 the hymn, Te Deum Laudamus, was sung by the choir. Then 
 the whole company moved in procession to the church, where a 
 list was read by the Rev. H. D. Nicholson, the rector, of the 
 articles previously deposited in a metallic box let into the stone, 
 which lay ready to be set in its place. This list comprehended 
 an " historical sketch of the parish, names of the officers, by- 
 laws, names of building committee, architect, builder, copies of 
 Middlesex Journal, Christian Witness, order of service for the 
 day, etc., etc." 
 
 " Rev. Dr. Huntington then taking a hammer, and striking the 
 stone three blows, in the name of the Father and of the Son 
 and of the Holy Ghost, pronounced, 
 
 " ' I lay the corner-stone of an edifice to be here erected by 
 the name of Trinity Church, to be devoted to the service of 
 Almighty God, according to the doctrine, discipline, and worship 
 of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of 
 America. 
 
 " ' Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, 
 even Jesus Christ, who is God over all, blessed for evermore, 
 in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the for- 
 giveness of sins. Amen.' 
 
 " On their returning to the house, Dr. Huntington addressed 
 those assembled, in a most eloquent and masterly manner. 
 The exercises then concluded with a hymn." Middlesex Jour- 
 nal, Woburn, Nov. 2, 1867.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Progress of Woburn since 1800, in population, business, wealth, buildings, 
 schools, and other means of promoting the public welfare. 
 
 GREAT and rapid, during the last sixty years, have been the 
 advances of Woburn in numbers, business and wealth ; in all 
 the means of literary and social progress, and of spiritual pros- 
 perity and enjoyment. It is the design of this last chapter of 
 its history, to contrast the present condition of the town, in 
 respect to the above-named and other particulars, with what it 
 was at the commencement of this century, and in other previous 
 portions of its history. 
 
 POPULATION. Within the last twenty years, the number of 
 the inhabitants of Woburn has surprisingly increased. The 
 total population of the town in 1765, was 1,57s. 1 According 
 to the colonial census in 1776, it had advanced only to 1,6 9 1. 1 
 By the first census under the United States government in 1790, 
 the sum of the white and colored inhabitants was but 1,750. 
 By the second census in 1800, it had diminished to 1,246, in 
 consequence of the detachment of Burlington from Woburn the 
 year before. In 1810, the population was still further reduced 
 in number to 1,219, which is less by twenty-seven than it was in 
 1800. In 1820, it was only 1,579, which is but four more than 
 it was in 1765, fifty-five years before. But since 1820, the 
 increase has been very rapid. In 1830, the whole number of 
 inhabitants, according to the census taken that year, was 1,977; 
 in 1840, it was 2,994; and although by the incorporation of 
 Winchester as a separate town April 30, 1850, Woburn lost a 
 large number of people who previously belonged to it, yet by 
 the census of 1860, the sum total of its inhabitants had increased 
 to 6,295, which is more than double the number it contained in 
 
 ' * Town Report, March 1866, pp. 31, 32. 
 44 .
 
 506 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 1 840, only twenty years before ; and even this large number, 
 according to a State census of 1865, had advanced still further 
 on May 1st of that year to 7,003, an increase of 708 in five 
 years. 2 
 
 To accommodate its 1,575 inhabitants with dwellings, Wo- 
 burn was provided in 1765 with 228 houses; but in 1860, with 
 1,126 houses for its 6,295 inhabitants. 1 
 
 PRINCIPAL BUSINESS. The principal employment of the 
 original inhabitants of Woburn was doubtless the cultivation of 
 the soil, for which they all had larger or smaller grants of land 
 given them by the town. But at the present day (1867), the 
 employment pursued in the town more than any other is work 
 upon leather. For in a town report for the year ending March 
 1, 1866, it appears that of two hundred and forty-one children 
 whose births are registered in 1865, the fathers of ninety-four 
 were curriers, of twenty-four were tanners, of fourteen were 
 cordwainers, and of six were leather and shoe mauufacturers, 
 making a total of one hundred and thirty-eight employed upon 
 leather, and leaving only one hundred and three of all other 
 occupations. 3 
 
 The leather business was followed in Woburn from the 
 beginning, upon a small scale. John and Francis Wyman, 
 brothers, and among the first settlers of the town, were tanners ; 
 and, as tradition affirms, had their tanyard in the Wyman Lane, 
 near where the late Dea. Benjamin Wyman (a descendant from 
 Francis) had his dwelling. Gershom Flagg, too, another early 
 inhabitant, who came a young man, from Watertown, and mar- 
 ried in Woburn in 1668, was a tanner by trade, and had his 
 " dwelling hows, bark hows, mill hows, and bearne hows, tann 
 fats, with an acre of land more or less thereunto belonginge, 
 being or situate in High Street nere the meetting hows, bounded 
 West by Mr Thomas Carter, and East by the burying place, 
 South by the trayning feild." 4 And during Philip's war, Wo- 
 burn taxes at one time were partly paid in shoes, manufactured 
 
 Communication from Nathan Wyman, Esq., town clerk, 
 s Town Report, March 1866, pp. 3-7. 
 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 21, inverted.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 507 
 
 probably from leather prepared by one or all of the citizens 
 above named. 5 
 
 But it is not likely that either of them carried on the business 
 very extensively, or employed about it many hands. For Licui,. 
 John Wyman, having his eldest son killed by the Indians in the 
 swamp fight, December 1675, petitioned the General Court in 
 May following, that his servant, Robert Simpson, a tanner by 
 trade, whom he had " bought on purpose for the management of 
 his tan yard," but who had been long in the war, needed clothes, 
 and was then a garrison soldier in Hadley, might be allowed to 
 come home to him, that " so his lether now in the fatts may not 
 be spoyled ; " 6 which looks as though Mr. Wyman was not suf- 
 ficiently provided with help to conduct his business, or that the 
 servants he had then with him were not well skilled in the trade 
 they worked at. 
 
 The Messrs. Wyman appear to have been succeeded in their 
 business, in the same vicinity where they had wrought, by Jona- 
 than Wyman, a grandson of John j and also at a later period 
 (about 1768), by Mr. David Cummings, originally from Tops- 
 field, who is styled in sundry papers he left behind him, a 
 tanner, and who was an ancestor of the present John Cummings, 
 Jr., Esq. But tanners in Woburn were then few and scarce ; 
 and it has recently been told me by a middle-aged gentleman of 
 Burlington, that he could remember the time when it used to be 
 said, that " old Mr Jonathan Tidd, of New Bridge, was the only 
 tanner in Woburn." 
 
 But since Gen. Abijah Thompson entered into the business 
 of tanning, etc., about the year 1814, it has astonishingly and 
 with great rapidity increased in Woburn. According to the 
 statistics of the " Industry of Massachusetts," for the year ending 
 May I, 1865, p. 419, and published with the sanction of the 
 Secretary of the Commonwealth, there were that year in active 
 
 6 "Paid in to the Treasurer [1675] by John Richison, Constable, in silver 
 and debenters all advanced, the full sum of - - - - 68 :16 :3 
 " paid more by shoose and barly - - - - - 08:11:6" 
 
 Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 64, 65. 
 8 Extract from Colony Records, by Rev. Joseph B. Felt.
 
 508 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 operation in Woburn twenty-one tanning and currying estab- 
 lishments, which tanned and curried leather to the value of 
 $1,723,450, and employed five hundred and fifty-four hands. 
 There were also four establishments for making patent and 
 enamelled leather, estimated at $285,550, and finding employ 
 for fifty-eight hands. At the same time, there were manufac- 
 tured in the town 758 pairs of boots of all kinds, and of shoes 
 of all kinds 160,145 pairs, the making of which boots and shoes 
 employed two hundred and three males and one hundred and 
 five females, and the total value of which was estimated to be 
 $254,190. And although in this latter branch of business, the 
 manufacturing of boots and shoes, Woburn was excelled in 
 1865 by two or three towns in Middlesex County, as Holliston 
 and Hopkinton, yet there was no town in the county which then 
 equalled it in the extent and value of its tanning and currying. 7 
 
 WEALTH. An almost uninterrupted increase of the popula- 
 tion and business of the town, since the present century com- 
 menced, has vastly increased its wealth. Some judgment of this 
 increase may be formed by comparing the taxes of 1 800 and of 
 1865. In 1800, the sum assessed for town purposes was only 
 $2,205, and for State and county taxes, $613.50, making a total 
 of $2;818.50. 8 But in 1865, the sum total assessed for all pur- 
 poses, State, county and town, was $8 7,432.3 7. 9 
 Again, in 1865, the personal property assessed in Woburn 
 
 was $2,068,021 00 
 
 The real estate 3,144,455 00 
 
 Total valuation - - - $5,212,476 00 
 Whereas the total valuation in 1860, was - 4,504,341 00 
 
 Showing a gain in five years, of $708,135 00 
 
 WOBURN BRANCH RAILROAD. Another great improvement 
 made in the condition of Woburn during the present century 
 
 7 Industry of Massachusetts, May 1, 1865, p. 419. 
 Town Records, Vol. XILL, pp. 26, 29, 30. Town Report, 1866, p. 51.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 509 
 
 has resulted from the establishment of the Woburn Branch 
 Railroad. This road was chartered in 1 843, and was opened 
 for travel December 30, 1844. And it has unquestionably been 
 the means of greatly enlarging both the business and the wealth 
 of the town. Such are the facilities it affords for the speedy 
 transportation both of persons and of freight, that gentlemen of 
 Woburn who have business in Boston, or goods to be conveyed 
 to or from there, may, by means of the cars, go to the city in the 
 morning, transact their business, and return to Woburn at noon 
 or night, if they please ; and thus may share in the advantages 
 of Boston for trade, combined with the almost uninterrupted 
 enjoyment of domestic intercourse and the comforts of home. 
 
 The following estimate, kindly furnished me by Mr. Alvah 
 Wood, ticket-master on this road, of the business and travel 
 done upon it for one year between Woburn and Boston, or 
 between Woburn and some or other of the towns between, 
 shows that the citizens of Woburn have not been slow to per- 
 ceive and improve the privileges which this road afforded them. 
 
 u The amount received at Woburn Centre for tickets, for the 
 year 1866, was - - - - $21,185 46 
 
 The amount received for local freight - 19,48611 
 
 " " " through freight - 70,9^ 14 
 
 "Total collections for 1866 - - $111,62371 
 " The above amount is exclusive of commutation tickets, of 
 
 which there are about 130, which at $72 per year, would add to 
 
 the total $9,360. s 
 
 "Number of passengers [in 1866?] from Woburn Centre, 
 
 136,000." 
 
 BUILDINGS. Since the present century came in, the vast 
 increase of wealth in Woburn has effected a marked improve- 
 ment in its buildings of every description. In 1800, the only 
 considerable public edifice was the church on the training-field j 
 and that, though then capacious enough to accommodate the 
 people in their weekly worship, was erected close to the road 
 from Wilmington to Medford, was without porch, without steeple, 
 44*
 
 510 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 and had nothing of elegance to recommend it. And as to the 
 private dwelling-houses of the town at that period, though, 
 generally speaking, they were substantially built, neat and con- 
 venient, yet (if we may except the Baldwin mansion) there was 
 nothing beautiful or attractive about them. But now we see 
 scattered in all parts of the town, and quite thickly in the 
 centre, large and costly dwelling-houses, beautiful to look to, 
 and some even approaching magnificence. We see a convenient 
 town-house, instead of a contracted school-house, or a small 
 chamber over the church porch, to hold town meetings in. We 
 see a Lyceum Hall, intended for large gatherings of the people 
 on secular occasions, unsurpassed in capaciousness and elegance 
 by few if any buildings in the neighborhood, of the like design. 
 We see a lofty High School House, which is an ornament and an 
 honor to the town ; and we see four houses for public worship, 
 all of them highly respectable in appearance, and well adapted 
 to their intended use ; and two ef them in particular, stately, 
 imposing (as well as costly) structures, calculated in a measure 
 to excite in a spectator from abroad those sentiments of pious 
 awe, which the exercises within are professedly designed to 
 cherish and promote. And ere many months have passed away, 
 an additional church to the above four may be expected to be 
 seen in Woburn, viz : a new Catholic church, which is now in 
 process of erection, and which promises to be an elegant house 
 of worship, and sufficiently large to accommodate the numerous 
 worshippers of that denomination in the town. 
 
 POOR FARM. During the latter half of the last century, the 
 question was often agitated in town meeting, What shall be 
 done with the helpless poor, instead of boarding them out in 
 private families ? and resolves were repeatedly passed to build 
 or procure a workhouse, in which the poor might be employed 
 and maintained. 10 In particular, it was voted at a general town 
 meeting, April 7, 1794, 1. To have the poor of the town sup- 
 ported in a workhouse; 2. That the selectmen be a committee 
 
 10 Town Records, Vol. VII., pp. 56, 59; Vol. VHI., pp. 104, 147; Vol. XI., p. 153.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 511 
 
 to procure a house for that purpose. 3. That the selectmen 
 should not support or assist any of the poor, except those who 
 live in the workhouse. 11 Nothing effectual however was then 
 done to this end j and the above and other numerous Resolves 
 on this subject all came to nothing. But since 1800, a Poor 
 Farm of suitable extent, with the requisite buildings thereon, 
 has been purchased by the town ; and the poor are there com- 
 fortably provided for; and the old matter of discussion and 
 debate on this subject has been put to rest. 
 
 CEMETERY. The original Woburn burying-ground was sit- 
 uate, it is well known, on the hill in the centre of the town. But 
 this revered spot, where the remains of the honored fathers of 
 the town were committed to the dust, having long since been 
 filled, a place for a new burying-ground was purchased not far 
 from the railroad station, about the close of the last century. 
 But this too, in process of time, proving inadequate for the pur- 
 pose intended, a large tract of ground conveniently situated for 
 a public Cemetery for a town like Woburn, has been purchased 
 for this use since 1 800. This tract, now enlarged to about twenty- 
 eight or thirty acres, has been securely fenced, and laid out into 
 lots, which have been taken up by a large proportion of the families 
 in the place ; and many of them are now distinguished by suitable 
 ornaments, and exhibit impressive tokens of the respectful re- 
 membrance cherished by the living in Woburn for their honored 
 and beloved dead. And for its future enlargement, the sum of 
 five thousand dollars has been recently left by Mr. Sewell Flagg, 
 a citizen of the Town, who died June 17, 1866. a 
 
 u Town Records, Vol. XH., p. 141. 
 
 a Town Report for 1867, p. 61. The town voted, April 7, 1845, that the 
 selectmen be a committee to purchase, for a burial place, eight or ten acres 
 of Mr. Choate (Hon. Charles Choate?) which had been offered for the 
 purpose, at $75.00 per acre. At the same time, a committee of three was 
 appointed by the chair, to nominate a committee of five, to lay out the 
 new burial ground. Agreeably to its instructions, the committee of five 
 chosen, viz : Gen. Abijah Thompson, Col. Moses F. Winn, Messrs. Oliver 
 C. Rogers, Samuel T. Richardson and Nathaniel A. Richardson, laid out 
 the ground which was purchased by the selectmen, into lots, appraised
 
 512 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 SCHOOLS. Since the commencement of the present century, 
 great progress has been made in the public schools in Woburn, 
 and in measures for securing a good education therein. In 1795, 
 the town erected within its then bounds, nine school-houses, build- 
 ings of contracted dimensions and scanty accommodations, at an 
 expense of about 600, or $2,000. 12 In 1799, at the incorpo- 
 ration of the Second Parish, as Burlington, five only of those 
 school-houses, estimated as worth 350, or $1,126, were retained 
 by Woburn j 12 and in each of them was kept a separate school. 
 But in 1865, the town had twelve school-houses, most of them 
 new, large and handsome, and all of them convenient for their 
 intended use ; viz, the High School House, the Central Advanced, 
 and ten others beside, in which are kept twenty-two schools, 
 Primary, Intermediate, Advanced or Mixed, 13 and the whole 
 twelve, with their fixtures and the land they stamd upon, are 
 valued at $55,500. 13 
 
 the lots, and advertised them for sale at auction, October 30, 1845. Previ- 
 ously to the auction, however, this burial ground was solemnly conse- 
 crated to its intended use as follows : 
 
 " The Order of the Ceremonies at the Consecration of the Woburn 
 Cemetery on Tuesday, October 30, 1845, was as follows, viz : 
 
 ' 1. Invocation by Rev. Webster B. Randolph. 
 
 ' 2. Voluntary by the Marion Band. 
 
 ' 3. Reading of the Scriptures, by Rev. Silas B. Randall. 
 
 ' 4. An Original Hymn, composed for the occasion, by Mrs. Mary L. 
 Bennett. 
 
 ' 5. Address by Rev. Joseph Bennett. 
 
 ' 6. Consecrating Prayer, by Rev. Luther Wright. 
 
 ' 7. Old Hundred. 
 
 ' 8. Benediction by Rev. Silas B. Randall. 
 
 ' The day was fine, and the ceremonies were very interesting. They 
 commenced at one o'clock, P. M., and continued for about an hour. It has 
 been estimated there were above one thousand people present on the occa- 
 sion." Notice of Nathan Wyman, Jr., town clerk, in Town Records, Vol. 
 XVI., p. 378. 
 
 " Town Records, Vol. XII., pp. 143, 144, 195. By the terms of separation, 
 Woburn was entitled to six of the nine school-houses. But as one which 
 belonged to it stood within the bounds of Burlington, it was either sold 
 to Burlington at auction, according to order of the town, or by some 
 mutual agreement Burlington was allowed to keep it in possession. 
 Town Records, Vol. XIII., pp. 21, 44, 45. 
 
 u Town Report, 1866, pp. 18, 50.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBUBN. 513 
 
 In 1799, after the separation of Burlington, $300 was voted 
 for the support of schooling in Woburn. 14 In 1800, this sum 
 was increased to $350, 15 and gradually in subsequent years, to 
 $400, to $500, to $600, etc., etc., and April 20, 1839, the town 
 voted to raise $1,200 for the support of schools. But in 1865, 
 the town was at the cost of $10,500 and upwards, for school 
 purposes ; from which, after deducting $400 paid for the care 
 of school- rooms, there will remain $10,000 and upwards, appro- 
 priated to the compensation of teachers. 16 
 
 Nor is the progress of the schools in Woburn more conspic- 
 uous than the increased number and accommodations of its school- 
 houses, and in the liberal sums latterly granted by the town for 
 the payment of able teachers therein, than in the increased variety 
 of studies pursued in them, the improved method of taking those 
 studies in orderly succession, and the standard character of some, 
 (at least) of the books that are used. 17 
 
 The books introduced into the Woburn schools in 1792, by 
 the committee appointed " to recommend some uniform system of 
 instruction," formed by no means a contemptible list. 18 At that 
 that day, for instance, " Perry's Spelling Book," and " Child's 
 Friend," were used not only in Woburn, but very extensively and 
 successfully elsewhere, for teaching children to read and spell ; 
 " Pike's Arithmetic" was a text-book in Harvard College, as 
 late as 1800 ; " Cheever's Accidence" was in such high repute for 
 beginners in Latin, that it passed through twenty editions from 
 the press, and was still further recommended by the long and 
 eminently successful experience of its venerable author, Master 
 Ezekiel Cheever, who spent nearly seventy years of his life, in 
 teaching at New Haven, Ipswich, Charlestown and Boston, and 
 who died, head master of Boston Latin School, in 1 708, aged 
 ninety-three. And as to " Corderius," "Eutropius," and " Cas- 
 talis," they were in general if not universal use, in academies 
 and classical schools, as suitable introductions to Virgil and 
 Caesar's Commentaries. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. XH., pp. 363-355. " Town Records, Vol. Xm., pp. 13, 40. 
 w Town Report, 1866, pp. 18, 21. 
 
 Town Report, 1866, pp. 43, 44, compared with Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 75. 
 Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 75.
 
 514 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 But what gives the common, public schools of Woburn of the 
 present day the superiority over those which were kept there 
 sixty years ago, is not that all the books used in them now are 
 decidedly preferable to all the school-books of former days ; but 
 it is the orderly, thorough system of study now established in 
 them, and by the aid of which, gradual yet sure advances are now 
 made from the lower and easier branches of learning to those 
 which are higher, but more intricate or difficult. 
 
 In the public schools of Woburn, according to present arrange- 
 ments, there is a regular progressive course of study, calculated 
 to employ each scholar who goes through it, fourteen years ; viz, 
 three years in the primary school, till he be eight years old ; 
 three years in the intermediate ; four years in the advanced or 
 grammar school, and four years in the high school, where his 
 education is completed. Beginning with the first rudiments of 
 learning in the primary school, he is there taught Sargent's 
 Charts, Primer and First Reader ; Robinson's Progressive Pri- 
 mary Arithmetic, and Cornell's Primary Geography ; with exer- 
 cises on the slate and black-board. After remaining three years 
 in the primary school, he enters the intermediate school, where he 
 abides three years more, continuing his attention to reading and 
 spelling, in the use of Sargent's Second Reader and Spelling 
 Book ; pursues the study of Robinson's Progressive, Intellectual, 
 and Rudiments of Written Arithmetic, and Cornell's Inter- 
 mediate Geography ; and at the same time exercising himself in 
 writing, singing, and drawing maps, etc., on the slate and black- 
 board. Three years afterwards, he is admitted into the 
 advanced or grammar school, where, in addition to continued 
 attention to reading, spelling and writing, and to Robinson's 
 arithmetics, and to Cornell's Geography, he takes up the study 
 of familiar science, English Grammar, and Lossing's History of 
 the United States. Finally, after being connected four years 
 with the grammar school, he enters the high school, where for 
 four years more he enjoys the privilege of learning Latin or 
 French, and, at the selection of his parents, algebra, geometry, 
 chemistry, or botany ; ancient or modern history ; natural, moral 
 or mental philosophy; astronomy, Constitution of the United 

 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 515 
 
 States; rhetoric, and miscellaneous exercises in arithmetic, 
 surveying, geography, book-keeping, declamation, English lan- 
 guage, reading, composition. 19 
 
 PUBLIC TOWN LIBRARY. This important and valuable In- 
 stitution, unknown to the inhabitants of Woburn in the last 
 century, originated in the suggestion of one of the citizens of the 
 town, Jonathan Bowers Winn, Esq., in 1854. At town meeting, 
 in November, that year, he offered to give towards a Free Public 
 Library the money he had received, as a member of the Con- 
 stitutional Convention of 1853, provided the town would give a 
 like sum for the same purpose. At March Meeting, 1855, the 
 town voted to accept Mr. Winn's offer; and appropriated the 
 sum of three hundred dollars, to be expended, with Mr. Winn's 
 donation, in the purchase of books for a public library. It 
 likewise authorized the Selectmen to draw from the treasury such 
 additional sums as might be found necessary to providing a room 
 for the proposed library, and fitting it up with suitable con- 
 veniences. It also chose a committee of seven persons, and gave 
 them full powers, on the town's behalf, to provide and furnish a 
 room, to purchase books, to appoint a librarian, and to establish 
 all necessary By-Laws, Rules and Regulations for the observance 
 of those who should make use of the library. 20 
 
 Thus empowered, the Library Committee, consisting of J. B. 
 Winn, Albert H. Nelson, Esq., Joshua P. Convers, Esq., Dr. 
 Truman Rickard, Messrs. Lewis L. Whitney, Josiah Linscott 
 and Albert Thompson, proceeded promptly to fulfil the objects 
 of thuir appointment. They purchased books, which they had 
 selected with great care, for the library ; they prepared a room 
 in the Town Hall for its reception ; and they successfully exerted 
 their influence to increase their means for enlarging the library, 
 in procuring donations both of money and books. And thus, 
 
 19 Town Report, 1866, pp. 43, 44. It is not expected that each scholar 
 in the high school should engage in the study of all the branches of learn- 
 ing here enumerated, but only of such as their respective parents should 
 select, and prefer to have them pursue. 
 
 Catalogue of 1856, pp. 3, 4.
 
 516 HISTORY OP WOBDRN. 
 
 within three years from the time that the subject was first men- 
 tioned, they had the satisfaction of publicly announcing that a 
 valuable library of more than 1,700 volumes was open, without 
 cost or charge, to .all the resident citizens of the town, whether 
 poor or rich, who were twenty-one years of age, and who would 
 subscribe the By-Laws of the Institution, and conform to their 
 requirements. 20 
 
 In 1865, the library was removed to a locality more com- 
 modious and desirable than the room which it had occupied 
 hitherto in the Town Hall. There a new library room was 
 fitted up for it, and opened in October ; the books were arranged 
 anew j an addition was made to them of fifty volumes by purchase ; 
 of three hundred and seventy-five volumes which had once be- 
 longed to the Young Men's Society, but which now, with the 
 consent of the surviving Owners, were incorporated with the 
 town library ; and of one hundred and fifty volumes more, 
 belonging to the Agricultural Library, which, with the consent of 
 the proprietors, were now deposited in the town library, under 
 the care of the town. 21 
 
 With these additions, the whole number of books belonging to 
 the town library, according to the catalogue recently prepared, is 
 3,298 : 21 and to provide for its future increase, a generous legacy 
 of five hundred dollars, bequeathed for its benefit in the Will of 
 the late Hon. Bowen Buckman, Esq., who died November 16, 
 1864, has been placed in the hands of the Selectmen. This 
 bequest the present Library Committee recommend, should be 
 allowed to remain as a permanent fund, of which the interest 
 only should be annually expended. 21 
 
 Beside the town library, Woburn has three other institutions 
 of the kind : viz. 
 
 1. The Charitable Religious Library, connected with the First 
 Congregational Church, which was founded, 1807, under the 
 auspices of Rev. Mr. Chickering, and which now contains about 
 eight hundred volumes. 22 
 
 2. North Woburn Library, founded November 1840, and con- 
 taining at this present time seven hundred and five volumes. 23 
 
 21 Town Report of 1866, pp. 55-61. 
 82 Dr. Ephraim Gutter. ** Communication of N, Wyman, Esq., town clerk.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 517 
 
 3. Woburn Academy Library, containing three hundred or 
 four hundred volumes. 22 
 
 To the above excellent institutions, and a few others of a 
 similar character that might be named, which have all originated 
 since the present century commenced, may be added, 
 
 1. The Woburn Agricultural and Mechanic Association, incor- 
 porated March 5, 1830: J. B. Winn, President; John Johnson, 
 Secretary. 23 
 
 2. The Young Men's Literary Association, organized November 
 7, 1855 : E. F. Wyer, President,- H. A. Carter, Secretary. 23 
 
 3. Irish Literary Association, organized 1857. Timothy Cor- 
 coran, President ; Patrick Murphy, Secretary. 23 
 
 4. Natural History Society, organized 1859. John Cummings, 
 Jr., President ; J. F. Frisbie, Secretary. 23 
 
 SABBATH SCHOOLS. With this popular and laudable means of 
 imparting and widely diffusing religious instruction among the 
 young, Woburn is well provided. In former days, heads of fam- 
 ilies in this as well as in other towns throughout New England 
 appear to have been very diligent and conscientious in teaching 
 their children the great principles of the Christian religion and 
 morality by frequently exercising them in the catechism then in 
 use. And, accordingly, an aged minister in this vicinity (now I 
 trust in heaven) observed some years ago, in conversing with 
 me upon Sabbath Schools, " Why, the fact is, sir, that in my boy- 
 hood, every family was a Sabbath School." Pastors of churches, 
 too, at that day, were accustomed to consider themselves as 
 under indispensable obligations to hear and examine the chil- 
 dren and youth of their respective charges, at stated times, in 
 the catechism. And hence, when Rev. John Fox, the third 
 minister of Woburn, became totally blind, as he was for several 
 years the latter part of his life, he used, it is said on good 
 authority, 24 to have the young people of his flock come at times 
 to his chamber, and there to catechise them, and address to them 
 
 * Alden'g Epitaphs, Vol. I., p. 229, No. 238. 
 45
 
 518 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 his pious counsels. a And on the other hand, one of the charges 
 alleged (with what justice I cannot say) against Rev. Mr. Sar- 
 geant, of Woburn, before the Council that dismissed him in 
 1798, was, that he had neglected to catechise the children of his 
 people. 25 But since the introduction and establishment of Sab- 
 bath Schools in this town, at a period subsequent to the com- 
 mencement of the present century, they seem to have been 
 welcomed here and elsewhere as a means much preferable to 
 the catechism for instructing the young in the knowledge of 
 Christian truth and duty, and to have displaced, in very con- 
 siderable measure at least, the public catechetical exercises of 
 former years. 
 
 Woburn contains at the present day (1867) seven distinct 
 Sabbath Schools, viz : 
 
 1. Baptist, organized May 1818. No. of Scholars, 3S9 26 
 
 2. First Congregational, June 17, 1818. 575 ** 
 
 3. North Woburn Congl., November 1846. " 150 26 
 
 4. Methodist, August 1, 1850. " 141 
 
 5. Unitarian, " May 1853. 165 26 
 
 6. Protestant Episcopal, " June 1866. " ' 40 26 
 
 7. Roman Catholic, " 200 28 
 
 Making a total of 1,610 
 
 children and youth, who enjoy the inestimable privilege of weekly 
 instruction in the all-important truths and duties of religion and 
 
 Such too, apparently, was the custom of Rev. Mr. Jackson, junior col- 
 league to Rev. Mr. Fox. He used the Catechism in teaching the children 
 and youth of his congregation the great truths of religion and morality. 
 Prince, a negro slave, (belonging to Rev. Timothy Walker, first minister 
 of Penacook, now Concord, N. H.), a who originated in Woburn, and who 
 eventually returned to Woburn again, and died here in the almshouse, 
 September 6, 1825, aged 115 years, once 'told Col. Leonard Thompson of 
 this town, that he remembered Mr. Jackson's hearing him repeat his cate- 
 chism.b 
 
 Boutou's History of Concord, N. H., pp. 252, 253. b Col. Leonard Thompson. 
 
 25 Address to the Council by the Joint Committee of the Church and Parish. See Parish 
 Records, Vol. HI., p. 46. 
 
 Communication of N. Wyman, Esq., town clerk. 
 
 27 Congregational Quarterly, January 1867, page 73. 
 
 Communication of Rev. Father Qually, May 1867.
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 519 
 
 morality, of whom a considerable proportion derive no benefit 
 on these topics from parental teachings and example, and who, 
 destitute of the advantage in these respects which the Sabbath 
 Schools afford them, might be left to grow up in heathenish igno- 
 rance, the pests of civil society, and the grief of any Christian 
 community in which they reside. 
 
 Bank. No public institution for furnishing money upon loan 
 existed in Woburn previously to 1800. The Bank of Woburn 
 was incorporated in 1853. with a capital stock of $100,000. It 
 has since, viz, in January 1865, been changed to "First National 
 Bank" of Woburn, with its capital stock increased to $300,000. 29 
 It is a prosperous institution ; affords a safe and profitable in- 
 vestment for money ; and proves a great accommodation to the 
 business men of the town. Abijah Thompson, President; E. J. 
 Jenks, Cashier. 29 
 
 Woburn Five Cents Savings Bank] Incorporated, April 1854: 
 Amount of deposits, $90,379.57. Abijah Thompson, President; 
 James N. Dow, Secretary. 29 
 
 An excellent though recent institution ; affording the poor, the 
 fatherless and the widow, a means of saving a portion of their 
 scanty earnings, which might otherwise have been thoughtlessly 
 wasted and scattered to the winds ; and of gathering in time, by 
 little and little, a sum, which in some unforeseen exigency, may 
 prove a source to them of unspeakable comfort and advantage. 
 
 Woburn Gas Light Company. Incorporated 1854 : Gas works 
 built, 1855. Commenced making gas, January 10, 1856. D. D. 
 Hart, President in 1867; Aaron Thompson, Treasurer. 29 
 
 A most useful association, though of modern origin ; which, by 
 the gas its managers produce, renders the streets of Woburn 
 passable with comfort and safety by night, as well as by day ; 
 and furnishes the means of lighting up halls, and places of popu- 
 lar resort in the evening with a brilliant light, which largely con- 
 tributes to the ease and pleasure with which public speakers 
 
 Communication of N. Wyman, Esq., town clerk.
 
 520 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 may be heard on various interesting occasions, by the crowds 
 who assemble to listen to their addresses. 
 
 -, MASONIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 Mount Horeb Lodge. Instituted in 1856: contains at pres- 
 ent (1867) about eighty members. T. G. DAVIS, Master; C. K. 
 CONN, Secretary. 30 
 
 Good Samaritan Lodge. Instituted October 17, 1865; No. 
 of members, two hundred and fifty. GEORGE H. WOODSIDE, C. 
 T. ; FREDERIC W. ELLIS, Secretary. 30 
 
 FIRE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 An Act of the Legislature, 1851, establishing a Fire Depart- 
 ment in Woburn, was accepted April 7, 185 1. 31 
 
 " The Woburn Fire Department is organized as follows : 
 
 " Chief Engineer and four assistant engineers. 
 
 " Steam Fire Engine, ' Woburn No. 1,' built by the Amoskeag 
 Manufacturing Company, Manchester, N. H. ; in charge of an 
 engineer, fireman and driver. 
 
 "'Independent' Hose Company, No. 1, consists of twenty 
 members. They have charge of a beautiful four-wheeled hose 
 carriage, built by Button, of New York, and 1,200 feet service- 
 able hose. 
 
 " Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1, consists of fifteen mem- 
 bers. They have a serviceable truck, well supplied with hooks, 
 ladders, ropes, rakes, axes, etc. These three companies are 
 located on Railroad Street. 
 
 " ' Jacob Webster ' Engine Company, No. 2, consists of thirty- 
 nine members. They have a very good Howard & Davis hand 
 engine, and all the apparatus usual with such machines. This 
 company is at North Woburn. 
 
 u Washington Engine Company, No. 3, consists of one hun- 
 dred and seventeen members. They have a machine the exact 
 counterpart of No. 2. This company is at Cummingsville. 
 
 so Communication of N. Wyman, Esq., town clerk. 
 M Town Records, Vol. XVII., p. 332.
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 521 
 
 " Niagara Engine, No. 1, is at present without a company; but 
 is kept in good order, and can be used in an emergency. It is 
 kept in the basement of the First Congregational Meeting- 
 house." 
 
 "From JOHN L. PARKER." 32 
 
 CHARITABLE READING SOCIETY. 
 
 Lastly (though it be not the least of the numerous benevolent 
 associations in Woburn), must be noticed the " Charitable Read- 
 ing Society of Woburn, connected with the First Congregational 
 Church." This society originated with a young lady, who, con- 
 ceiving a strong desire to see established in Woburn an associa- 
 tion for self-improvement and doing good to others, similar to 
 one whose good fruits she had witnessed in Boston during the 
 winter of 181415, communicated her desire on her return to 
 another young lady of Woburn, of a kindred spirit. These two 
 combined, and drew up a skeleton constitution for such a society 
 as they wished for, which they submitted to their pastor, Rev. 
 Mr. Chickering, for his revision; and when they received it 
 from his hands amended and approved, they immediately put it 
 in circulation through the town for signatures. It was speedily 
 returned to them, with the addition of thirty names besides their 
 own. And then, agreeably to an article of the constitution, they 
 met at the Town Hall, on Wednesday P. M., June 21, 1815, to 
 organize. At that meeting, they elected their pastor's wife, Mrs. 
 Betsey Chickering, for their President; and chose all the other 
 requisite officers in due form : and though within five months 
 from their organization, they and the whole community were 
 afflicted with poignant grief by the death of their lovely and be- 
 loved President, yet they did not give way to discouragement. 
 The society still lived ; the vacancy caused by their President's 
 death was in due time filled by the election of Mrs. Mary B. 
 Wyman ; and before the first year of the society had expired, 
 thirty-three new members were added to their list. 
 
 The rules and customs of this society were, to meet once a 
 
 M Communicated by Nathan Wyman, Esq., September 24, 1867. 
 45*
 
 522 HISTORY OF WOBURN. 
 
 month cither at the house of some member, or in the room over 
 the porch of the Congregational meeting-house, then used as a 
 Town Hall ; to open each meeting with reading a portion from 
 the Scriptures, and -to offer prayer from a prayer-book procured 
 for them by Rev. Mr. Chickering : but this form of devotional 
 exercise was at an early period exchanged for extempore prayer. 
 Then followed the appointment of committees to search out and 
 to visit the poor, sick and infirm ; the hearing of reports of com- 
 mittees previously appointed for this purpose ; and the granting 
 of needed relief from funds raised principally, at first, from a 
 monthly contribution by each member of sixty cents each. Next 
 followed reading, by one or more of the members, portions of 
 some interesting and instructive publications, such as Blair's 
 Sermons, Hunter's Sacred Biography, Mason on Self Knowledge, 
 Mary Lundie Duncan, Lady Huntington, Parsons Cooke on Be- 
 nevolence, and occasionally extracts from the Boston Recorder 
 or Panoplist, the Missionary Herald, and " various magazines and 
 reports, calculated to raise the standard of benevolence by ap- 
 prising us of the world's want and wretchedness." 
 
 This society celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, 21st June, 
 1865, in the First Congregational Church, with the mutual 
 friendly greetings of its members both resident and from abroad, 
 and with appropriate exercises and addresses. From the pro- 
 ceedings on that occasion, which were afterwards published, it 
 appears, that during the fifty years of the society's existence 
 then completed, a total of $2,500 had been raised in money, and 
 paid out for various benevolent objects. Of this sum, $817 had 
 been bestowed on the poor about home, beside clothing and 
 other necessaries not counted ; a large share had been used in 
 fitting out children for the Sunday School ; several promising 
 young men had been assisted in their efforts to obtain a liberal 
 education; ministers, churches and colleges in straitened cir- 
 cumstances had been helped; contributions had been made to 
 several Missionary Societies, both domestic and foreign; and 
 certain missionaries in foreign lands had received benefactions ; 
 the Christian Commission, the Sanitary Commission, Sabbath 
 School Missions, the Freedman's Aid Society, and the Congrega-
 
 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 523 
 
 tional Aid Society, had all tasted the bounty of the Charitable 
 Reading Society of Woburn. Nor must it be forgotten or over- 
 looked that this society was the immediate instrument, under 
 God, of getting up the sabbath school in the First Congrega- 
 tional Society within three years from its own organization. At 
 a meeting, May 6, 1818, several members expressed themselves 
 as anxious to establish a sabbath school, but no vote was taken. 
 June 3d, it was voted to establish one. A special meeting for 
 this purpose was called, to be held June 17th, at the Town Hall. 
 A Constitution, which had been prepared, was then read twice, 
 adopted, and a board of managers (three of whom were living 
 at the late anniversary meeting) and a board of twelve lady 
 teachers were chosen. 
 
 Presidents of this Society for the first fifty years. 
 
 1815. Mrs. BETSEY CHICKERING. 
 
 1816. Mrs. MARY B. WYMAN. 
 
 1818, 20. Mrs. SARAH CHICKERING. 
 
 1819. Miss SUSAN CLAPP ? 
 1821. Mrs. E. LEATHE. 
 
 1822-Feb. 1846. Mrs. MARY BENNETT. 
 1846-47-48. Mrs. CELINDA THOMPSON. 
 1849-50-51. Mrs. ANNA B. THOMPSON. 
 1852-53-54. Mrs. N. B. GRAMMER. 
 1855. Mrs. A. G. CARTER. 33 
 
 In reviewing the statements presented in this chapter, showing 
 the advances which Woburn has made this century thus far, in 
 matters pertaining to the present comfort and respectability, and 
 to the future happiness of all her inhabitants,. well may her aged 
 citizens exclaim, What hath God wrought for us ! How many, 
 and how beneficial have been the changes which He in his kind 
 Providence has accomplished for this place ! Be thankful, my 
 friends, if in any measure he has employed you as his instru- 
 ments for effecting so much for the cause of humanity, and for 
 the promotion of your own benefit, and that of your children, and 
 
 83 Proceedings at celebration of fiftieth anniversary, 1865.
 
 524 HISTORY OP WOBURN. 
 
 children's children, yet unborn. Ascribe praise and thanksgiving 
 to him for the honorable distinction He has thus bestowed on 
 you. While life is spared, and your opportunities are lengthened 
 out, still labor to be continuing and multiplying and increasing 
 the benefits conferred by you on this place of your nativity or 
 long continued residence. Encourage those, who are rising up 
 to take the places you have so creditably filled, to pursue a 
 course like to that which you have followed, and which, with the 
 smiles of Heaven, has resulted in so much good, to yourselves 
 and to them: that when you quit this stage of action, others 
 whom you leave behind may call you blessed ; may praise God 
 for you, and for others of a like spirit who have gone before you, 
 and say, Behold the men by whom Woburn has been built up ! 
 
 Young men of Woburn, allow an old man who wishes you all 
 well, for your fathers' sake as well as your own, to address you 
 with a few words of congratulation and advice. You are about 
 to enter on the cultivation of fields in which others have wrought 
 before you ; to reap the fruits of their toil, and to enjoy the 
 privileges and advantages which they have labored to procure or 
 prolong to you. I rejoice in the happy lot which has fallen to 
 you, and which, it may be truly said, far exceeds that of hundreds, 
 nay thousands of others, even in this favored land. But remem- 
 ber that of them to whom, much is given, much will be required. 
 
 Be thankful then to God for the auspicious circumstances under 
 which you enter upon the duties and cares and labors of life. 
 Resolve, in his strength (which daily implore), that the choice 
 favors you inherit shall not diminish or turn to no account in 
 your hands. Improve well the means of enlarging your knowl- 
 edge, which your predecessors have so liberally provided. 
 Accustom yourselves to the active, industrious habits which you 
 have observed in them. In transacting the business of your 
 several callings, and in all your dealings with others around you, 
 use those methods only which the wise and good before you have 
 sanctioned by their instructions and example. Imbibe and cher- 
 ish that public spirit which they have manifested in aiming at 
 the good of others, as well as their own, in the various sacrifices 
 and generous exertions they have made. In a word, assured of
 
 HISTORY OP WOBUBN. 525 
 
 the intimate, inseparable connection there is between religious, 
 virtuous principle and action, with all real, lasting prosperity, 
 both private and public (a truth which you have seen illustrated 
 and proved in so many instances of actual fact, in the foregoing 
 history), make it your habitual concern to shun what is base and 
 dishonorable, to practise whatsoever things are pure, just, lovely 
 and of good report; and to seek to prosper in your several 
 worldly employments in those ways only which are enjoined by 
 the precepts and recommended by the example of the meek and 
 lowly Jesus, and by the gospel of his grace. So may you con- 
 fidently expect that the God of Heaven, the God of your fathers, 
 your own God, will guide and keep, prosper and bless you in all 
 your affairs and concerns ; will make all things work for your 
 good; will give you the satisfaction, as you proceed in your 
 earthly course, of seeing the continued and increasing prosperity 
 of this place of your abode, as being the result, in some good 
 degree, under God, of your benevolent efforts ; and before you 
 pass away, will impart to you joy unspeakable in reflecting that 
 you have not lived in vain ; that you have employed your time 
 and talents and means for good, in promoting the designs of 
 their Divine Author, and so as to secure through the Saviour his 
 everlasting approbation and reward.
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 HISTORY OF WOBURN.
 
 APPENDIX, No. I. 
 
 TOWN ORDERS FOR WOBURN, AGREED UPON BY THE COMMIS- 
 SIONERS AT THEIR FIRST MEETING, DECEMBER 18, 1640. 
 
 [Omitting the Preamble.] 
 
 " It is required that all persons admitted to be Inhabitance in 
 the said Towne shall by voluntary Agreement subscribe to these 
 Orders following ; upon which Condistion, they are admited. 
 
 " First Order for Sixpenc an Acre." " For the caring one [car- 
 rying on] Common Charges, all such persons as shall bee thought 
 meete to haue land and admittance for Inhabitance, shall paye for 
 every Acre of land formerly layd out by Charlestowne, but now in 
 the limmets of Woburne, six pence ; and for all hereafter layd out, 
 twelve pence. 
 
 " Second Order : to returne their lotts, if not improved in 15 
 months" " Every person taking lott or land in the said Towne 
 shall within fiueteen monthes after the laying out of the same, 
 bulde [build] for dwelling therone, and improve the said land by 
 planting ether in part or in whole ; or surrender the same upp to the 
 towne againe : also they shall not make sale of it to any person 
 but such as the Towne shall approve of." 
 
 " Thurd Order : about fencing" " That all manner of persons 
 shall fence their Catell of all sorts ether by fence or keeper : only 
 it is Required all garden plots and orchards shall bee well inclosed 
 ether by pale or otherwayes." 
 
 " Jfourth Order about Inmats" " That Noe maner of person 
 shall entertayne Inmate, ether married or other, for longer time 
 than three days, without the consent of fower [four] of the Select- 
 men : Every person ofending in this perticqler [particular] shall 
 paye to the use of the Towne for every day they offend herein six 
 pence." 
 
 fiuft Order : about timber" " That noe person shall sell or cutt 
 any younge Oake lyke to bee good timber, under eaight inches 
 square, upon forfitur [forfeiture] of flue shillings for euery such 
 offence." 
 
 46
 
 530 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. II. 
 
 " These Persons subscribed to these Orders.' 
 
 " Edward Johnson 
 Edward Conuars 
 John Mousall % 
 EzekiU Richison 
 Samuwell Richison 
 Thomas Richison 
 William Leraedt 
 James Thomson 
 John Wright 
 Michall Bacon 
 John Seers 
 John Wyman 
 flrances Wyman 
 Mr Thomas Graues 
 Nicholas Dauis 
 Nicholas Treerice 
 
 John Carter 
 Jams Conuars 
 Danill Bacon 
 Edward Winne 
 Henery Bolden 
 ffrances Kendall 
 John Teed 
 Henery Tottingham 
 Richerd Lowden 
 Will. Greene 
 Benjamen Butterffeild 
 Henery Jefts 
 Jams Parker 
 John Russell 
 Jams Britten 
 Thomas ffuller." 
 
 APPENDIX, No. II. 
 
 LINES m VERSE BY CAPT. EDWARD JOHNSON, 
 
 Referring to the difficulties encountered by him and the otJier Com- 
 missioners for the Settlement of Woburn, and prefixed by him to 
 the Town Records, Vol. L,p. 1. 
 
 "RECORDS FOR THE TOWNE OP WOBURNE, 
 
 ffrom the year 1640 : the 8 : day of th : 10 month : 
 
 Paulisper Fui. " 
 
 In peniles [pennyless] age I Woburne Towne began : 
 Charls Towne first mou'd the Court my lins to span : 
 To vewe my land place, Compild body [to] reare, 
 Nowell, Sims, Sedgwick, thes my patrons were. 
 Sum fearing I'le grow great upon these grounds, 
 Poore I wase putt to nurs among the Clownes ; 
 Who being taken with such myghty things 
 As had bin work of Noble Queeins and Kings, 
 
 1 Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 2.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. III. 531 
 
 Till Babe gan crye and great disturbance make, 
 
 Nurses Eepent they did her undertake. 
 
 One l leaues her quite ; another 2 hee doth hie 
 
 To foren lands free from the Baby's crye : 
 
 To [two] 3 more of seauen, seeing nursing prou'd soe thwarte, 
 
 Thought it more ease in following of the Carte. 
 
 A naighbour by, 4 hopeing the Babe wold bee 
 
 A pritty Girle, to rocking her went hee. 
 
 Too [two] 5 nurses less undanted then [than] the rest 
 
 ffirst howses fflnish : thus the Girle gane drest. 
 
 Its' rare to see how this poore Towne did rise 
 
 By weakest means : two [too] weake in great ones Eys : 
 
 And sure it is, that mettells' deere Exstraction 
 
 Had neuer share in this poore Town's Erextion ; 
 
 Without which metall and sum fresh supplys [supplies] 
 
 Patrons conclud she neuer upp wold rise. 
 
 If ever she mongst ladys haue a station, 
 
 Say 'twas ffrom Parents, not her education. 
 
 And now conclud the Lord's owiie hand it was, 
 
 That with weak means did bring this work to pass ; 
 
 Not only Towne, but Sister Church to [too] ade [add] 
 
 Which out of dust and ashes now is had. 
 
 Then all inhabit Woburne Towne, stay make 
 
 The Lord, not means, of all you undertake. 
 
 [Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 1.] 
 
 APPENDIX, No. III. 
 
 OLD AND NEW STYLE. 
 
 The distinction between Old Style and New owes its origin 
 to the difference in length between the Julian year and the Solar. 
 The Julian year (so named from Julius Cassar, who instituted 
 this way of reckoning time) consisted of 365 days and 6 hours ; 
 making three consecutive years of 365 days each, and the one 
 next following of 366 days, to be equivalent to four years of 
 the above denomination. The Julian year was in general use 
 throughout Christendom, in the computation of time, from the 
 sitting of the Nicene Council, A. D. 325, till A. D. 1582. It 
 
 i Ezeklel Richardson. * Thomas Graves. 
 
 * Samuel and Thomas Richardson ? Edward Johnson. 
 
 e Edward Oonvers, built at the Mill ; and John Mousall, on " Hilly Way."
 
 532 APPENDIX, NO. III. 
 
 was then ascertained by accurate observation, that it exceeded 
 the Solar year (or that which was measured by the apparent 
 annual motion of the sun from one point till his return to the 
 same point again) a little more than eleven minutes. This 
 excess, amounting to a day in about 131 years, or to three days 
 in 400 years, had arisen, in 1582, to about ten days since the 
 Nicene Council, A. D. 325, when the vernal equinox was on 
 March 21st, but was now thrown back to March llth. As this 
 change had caused derangement in the computation of Easter 
 day, that great festival of the Church, which was regulated by the 
 day on which that equinox occurred, Pope Gregory XIU., the 
 then Roman pontiff, ordered that ten days should be omitted in 
 the Calendar reckoning, thus restoring the vernal equinox to its 
 old place in the Calendar, the 21st of March. And to prevent 
 a recurrence of the error, he further directed, that the Bissextile 
 or Leap year should be omitted thrice every four hundred years, 
 viz : in each centennial year, the two first figures of which could 
 not be divided by four without a remainder, as A. D. 1700, 1800, 
 and 1900, and be reckoned only in those centennial years which 
 could bear such division, as A. D. 1600 and 2000. This method 
 of computing time was called, from its author, the Gregorian, or 
 otherwise, the New Style ; and was speedily adopted in all or 
 most Catholic countries. But in Great Britain, the Julian or 
 Old Style was still retained; and the year 1700 being consid- 
 ered there as a Leap year, the difference between the Old and 
 the New Style was now increased to eleven days. But in 1 752, 
 New Style was adopted in Great Britain and its American 
 dependencies; and the Calendar was corrected by dropping 
 eleven days in September ; thus bringing it into conformity with 
 the Gregorian Calendar. But in Russia, Old Style is still con- 
 tinued; and the year 1800 having consequently been accounted 
 there as a Leap year, the difference in that empire between Old 
 Style and New is grown to be twelve days. From the above 
 statements, it is plain, that to reduce dates in England and this 
 country from Old Style to New, ten days must be added for 
 events that occurred between 1600 and 1700; and eleven days 
 for such as took place between 1700 and the adoption of New
 
 APPENDIX, NO. III. 533 
 
 Style in Great Britain and its American Colonies in 1752. The 
 landing at Plymouth, for instance, was on December 11, 1620, 
 Old Style, answering to December 21st, New Style. And the 
 birthday of Washington occurring February 11, 1732, Old Style, 
 its date in New Style is February 22d. 
 
 Moreover, in countries which adopted the New Style at its 
 introduction in 1582, the year began with January 1st; whereas, 
 in Great Britain and its American colonies, March was anciently 
 regarded as the first month of the new year, and January and 
 February as the eleventh and twelfth months of the year preceding. 
 For instance, the first choice of Selectmen in Woburn is recorded 
 to have taken place on the 13th of the 2d month, (April 13th,) 
 1644; the second choice on the 19th of 12th month, "1644" 
 (viz: 19th of February, 1644-5); and the third choice, on the 
 3d of the 1st month, (3d of March,) 1646. l 
 
 But though March was then called in England and its depen- 
 dencies the first month of the year, yet in the eye of the law the 
 first day of the year was not till March 25th, or Lady Day. 
 Accordingly, Governor Winthrop, in writing to his wife from 
 aboard the Arbella, as he was about to sail for New England, 
 dates his letter March 22, 1629 ; and yet dates another letter, 
 written to her from aboard the same ship only six days after, 
 March 28, 1630. 2 
 
 Again, events that took place before 1752, between March 1st 
 and March 25th, were designated in England and this country 
 by a double date, as March 10th, -Bit-; for though they happened 
 in the first month of the new year, yet the law regarded them 
 as having taken place in the old year ; so that they were practi- 
 cally accounted as belonging to a period of time that was com- 
 mon to both years. And for a like reason, the custom of dou-i 
 ble dating came, at length, to be extended to events in, January 
 and February, as occurring in the year preceding, according to 
 Old Style, and in the year following, according to the New. 
 
 1 Woburn Records, Vol. I., pp. 6-8. 
 
 WinUirop's History, by Savage, Vol. I., Append!*, pp. 440, 44^ 
 
 46*
 
 534 APPENDIX, NO. IV. 
 
 APPENDIX, No. IV. 
 
 CHURCH COVENANT. 
 
 The Covenant agreed upon by the founders of the Church of Woburn 
 in. 1642, and copied from Johnson's Wonderworking Providence, in the 
 account given of the gathering of this church in Chapter I. of this History, 
 appears to have continued unchanged till 1756, when the following was 
 adopted, probably on the recommendation of Rev. Mr. Sherman, the junior 
 pastor: the Records containing the original covenant being then un- 
 accountably missing or lost. 
 
 The Covenant of the Church of Christ in Woburn, April 
 the 6th 1756. 
 
 " We whose names are hereunto subscribed, apprehending our- 
 selves called of God into a Church State of the Gospel, do first of 
 all confess ourselves unworthy to be so highly favoured of the 
 Lord, and admire that rich & free grace of his that triumphs 
 over so great unworthiness, and with an humble reliance upon the 
 aids of grace therein promised to those who, through a sense of 
 their own inability to do any good thing, do humbly wait on him 
 for all, we do thankfully lay hold on his Covenant, and chuse the 
 things that please him. 
 
 1. " We avouch the Lord to be our God, and give up ourselves 
 and our Seed after us in their generations to be his people, in the 
 truth and sincerity of our hearts. 
 
 2ly. " We give up ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ, to be ruled 
 and guided by him in the matters of his worship, and in our whole 
 conversation ; acknowledging him not only our alone Saviour, but 
 our King to reign and rule over us, and our Prophet and teacher 
 by his word and Spirit ; forsaking all other teachers and doctrines 
 which he has not commanded ; and we do wholly disclaim our own 
 righteousness in point of Justification, and depend alone upon him 
 for righteousness and Life, Grace and Glory. 
 
 3ly. " We do profess ourselves to be Congregational in our Judg- 
 ment, and do purpose to practise upon Congregational principles, 
 as far as they are agreeable to the doctrines of God's word, 
 looking upon the Platform of Discipline in general, as gathered 
 out of the word of God, and agreeing therewith. 
 
 4ly. " We do further promise, by the help of Christ, to walk with
 
 APPENDIX, NO. IV. 535 
 
 our brethren and sisters of this Congregation l in the spirit of 
 brotherly love, watching over them, and caring for them ; avoiding 
 all jealousies, suspicions, backbitings, censurings, quarrelings and 
 secret risings of heart against them ; forgiving and forbearing, 
 and yet seasonably admonishing and restoring them by a spirit of 
 meekness, and setting them in joynt again that have been overtaken 
 in any fault amongst us. 
 
 bly. " "We further promise and bind ourselves in the strength of 
 Christ to labour how we may advance the Gospel and Kingdom 
 of Christ ; how we may win and gain them that are without, how 
 we may settle grace and peace amongst ourselves : and seek as 
 much as we can the peace of all the Churches ; seeking the help, 
 counsel and direction of other churches, if need be ; not putting a 
 stumbling block before any, but will labour to abstain from all 
 appearance [of evil]. 
 
 6ty. " "We do hereby promise to behave and demean ourselves 
 obediently in all lawfull things to those that God hath or shall 
 place over us in the Church or Commonwealth ; knowing that it is 
 our duty not to grieve them, but to encourage them in their places, 
 and in the administration of the charge which God hath committed 
 unto them. 
 
 lly. " We Resolve, by the help and strength of God, to approve 
 ourselves in our particular callings as becometh saints : shunning 
 idleness, not sloathfull in business, knowing that idleness is the bane 
 of any Society : Neither will we deal h[ardly] or oppressingly with 
 any wherein we are the Lord's stewards. And further ? [finally] 
 we promise to dedicate our Children to God, and to teach them 
 the good knowledge of God the Lord, according to the best of our 
 abilities, and to fear and serve him with us, that it may be well 
 with them and us forever. 
 
 " These things we solemnly promise, as in the presence of the 
 omniscient Jehovah." 
 
 Entered here by Jabez Richardson." Chh. Rec. Vol. I., p. 3. 
 
 On the page of the Records next following the above Cove- 
 nant is the annexed List of subscribers to it, or otherwise, of 
 the male members of the Church at the time of its adoption. 
 
 i That is, " of this Church." Anciently, the word Congregation was often used, a* 
 synonymous with Church.
 
 536 APPENDIX, NO. IV. 
 
 " The Rev d . Mr John Fox Edward Walker 
 
 The Rev d . Mr Josiah Sherman Nathan Richardson 
 
 Deacon Josiah Peirce Benjamin Richardson 
 
 Deacon Samuel Eames Isaac Snow 
 
 Samuel Neauards [Nevers] Joseph Wright 
 
 David Wyman John Wright 
 
 Nathan Wyman Thomas Richardson 
 
 Jacob Richardson Thomas Wright 
 
 John Holdwin [Holden] Ebenezer Brooks 
 
 William Tay Josiah Parker 
 
 Samuel Kendall Josiah Johnson." 
 
 Church Records, Vol. J., p. 4. 
 
 COVENANT OP ADMISSION INTO THE CHURCH OF WOBURN. 
 
 At a meeting of the Church, 1768, November 13th, " Voted that 
 the following Covenant, or Confession of Faith, should be made 
 use of, and consented to, by all who are received as Members of 
 this Church. 
 
 The Church Covenant. 
 
 " You do now solemnly and sincerely give up yourself and yours 
 to God in the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the Covenant of 
 Grace, to be for him, and him only ; resolving and engaging to 
 make the Word of God the rule of your faith and practice [as it is 
 explained in our well-known Catechism composed by the Assembly 
 of Divines at Westminster]. You do take the ever blessed Jeho- 
 vah for your chief good and last End. You do take the Lord Jesus 
 Christ for your Prophet, Priest and King ; the Holy Ghost for 
 your Sanctifier, Leader and Comforter : promising, by the help of 
 God, to walk before him in holiness and righteousness all your 
 days. You do also put yourself under the care and watch of this 
 Church, and the government of Christ herein ; and promise to 
 attend duly on the holy Ordinances of Christ here administered for 
 your edification in faith and holiness. This you solemnly engage 
 and promise before God, Angels, and this Assembly. 
 
 " Then I signify to you, in the name and with the concurrence 
 of this Church, that we receive you into our sacred Fellowship 
 and Communion ; and do promise, through Christ's assistance, to 
 watch over you, #nd carry ourselves towards you with such broth- 
 erly affection and Christian regard, as the Rules of the Gospel
 
 APPENDIX, NO. IV. 537 
 
 demand and enjoin in such a relation. This we do, imploring our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, that both we and you may be found faithful in 
 his Covenant, and may have grace to serve him with that holiness 
 which becomes his House forever. 
 
 " I now declare you to be a member of this Church in full Com- 
 munion " Church Records, Vol. l,p. 70. 
 
 The words enclosed in brackets in the above Covenant were erased by 
 vote of the Church, June 27, 1785. See Church Records, p. 34. And in 
 this altered form, it continued to be used at admissions as late as 1809. 1 
 Previously to admission and entering into Covenant, however, candidates, 
 it is understood, were required in 1838, and before, to give their assent to 
 the following Confession of Faith, which is of more recent adoption in 
 this Church, viz : 
 
 CONFESSION OP FAITH. 
 
 " You believe there is but one God, the Creator, Preserver, and 
 Governor of the Universe ; a Being self-existent and immutable, 
 infinite in power, wisdom, justice, goodness, mercy, and truth. 
 
 " You believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament 
 were given by the inspiration of God, and are a perfect rule of faith 
 and practice. 
 
 '* You befieve that God is revealed in the Scriptures as the Fa- 
 ther, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; and that these three are one, 
 and in all divine attributes equal. 
 
 "You believe that God made all things for himself; that known 
 unto him are all his works from the beginning ; that he governs all 
 things according to the counsel of his own will ; and that the prin- 
 ciples and administration of his government are perfectly holy, just, 
 and good, 
 
 '* You believe that God created man holy, and that he fell from 
 his happy state by sinning against God ; that, in consequence of 
 the fall, mankind are born without holiness, and continue alienated 
 from God, until renewed and reconciled by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 " You believe that God, as an act of pure mercy, gave his Son 
 to die for the sins of the world, and that Jesus Christ, by his suffer- 
 ings and death, has made an atonement sufficient for the redemp- 
 tion of all mankind ; so that God can be just and the justifier of 
 him that believeth ; and that upon condition of repentance and of 
 faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, pardon and eternal life are sincerely 
 offered to all. 
 
 " You believe that mankind do, of their own accord, refuse to 
 
 1 ^bickering's Dedication Sermon, Appendix, p. 27, %
 
 538 APPENDIX, NO. IV. 
 
 comply with these conditions, to the aggravation of their guilt and 
 condemnation ; but that God, notwithstanding he perceived how 
 mankind would treat the Gospel of his Son, did always purpose t 
 save from deserved ruin, great multitudes of the human race, 
 through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. 
 
 " You believe that without a change of heart by the special 
 agency of the Holy Spirit, no one can be an heir of eternal life. 
 
 *' You believe in the necessity of such repentance for sin, as 
 arises from supreme love to God ; and of such faith in Jesus Christ, 
 as includes an affectionate submission to him and reliance upon him 
 for pardon and eternal life. 
 
 " You believe that men are dependent upon God to give repent- 
 ance and faith, because they are voluntarily and obstinately opposed 
 to their duty ; and that the influence of the Holy Spirit is bestowed, 
 not as a reward of antecedent merit, or well doing on the part of 
 him who receives it, but as a free gift of God ; and yet that this 
 influence of the Spirit is ordinarily so inseparably connected with 
 the careful use of means by the sinner, as creates entire obligation 
 and ample encouragement to attend upon them, and renders all 
 hopes of conversion in the neglect of means eminently pre- 
 sumptuous. 
 
 " You believe that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both 
 of the just and of the unjust, when all must stand before the judg- 
 ment seat of Christ, and receive a sentence of retribution, according 
 to the deeds done in the body ; and that the wicked will go into 
 punishment, and the righteous into life, both of which will never 
 end. 
 
 " Moreover you believe, that in this world the Lord Jesus Christ 
 has a visible Church, the terms of admission to which are a public 
 profession of faith in Christ, sustained by credible evidence ; that 
 Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances to be observed in 
 the Church to the end of the world ; that none but members of the 
 visible church, in regular standing, have a right to partake of the 
 Lord's Supper. 
 
 All these things you truly confess and cordially believe. 
 
 (Those who have not been baptized, here receive the ordinance of Bap- 
 tism.) 
 
 You will now enter into Covenant with God, and with this 
 Church. 
 
 (For Covenant, see above.)
 
 APPENDIX, NO. V. 539 
 
 APPENDIX, No. V. 
 
 WHENCE WOBURN DEBITED ITS NAME. 1 
 Curiosity may prompt the inquiry, Why was the town at its 
 incorporation called Woburn ? Was it not (it may be asked in 
 reply) from respect for Hon. Richard Russell, who came to 
 Charlestown in 1640, from Herefordshire, England, and quickly 
 took rank among the prominent and most influential citizens not 
 only of Charlestown, (which he represented in the General Court, 
 in 1643,) but throughout the Colony, of which he was many years 
 an assistant, and the treasurer from 1645 till his death in 1676 ? 
 This distinguished gentleman, it may be plausibly supposed, was 
 a relative of the noble family of the Russells, in Bedfordshire, 
 England, who had long been settled at Woburn, in that County, 
 and were proprietors of Woburn Abbey, or of a palace built on 
 its site, which they made their home. If this conjecture be cor- 
 rect, the giving to this town of the name it bears admits of an 
 easy explanation. When Charlestown Village was to be incor- 
 porated, in 1642, and it was asked by the Court, What name it 
 should be known by ? the members from Charlestown, viz : Hon. 
 Increase Nowell, of the Assistants, Capt. Robert Sedgwick and 
 Mr. Francis Willoughby, Deputies for the September Session, or 
 either of them, may be readily conceived to have proposed the 
 name of Woburn, out of regard to their newly arrived but highly 
 valued fellow-citizen, Richard Russell, and also with a view to 
 perpetuate in this town the name of the favorite residence of his 
 noble relatives in the mother country. 
 
 Woburn, in England, is described as follows in the " Complete System 
 of Geography," London 1747 : 
 
 " Woburn in the Hundred of Manshead is of chief Note for the Palace of 
 the Duke of Bedford, where stood the ancient Abbey, which was founded 
 Anno 1145 ; and for a Canal before it, that carries a Yacht of thirty or forty 
 Tons, and several smaller pleasure Boats. The 19th. of June 1724, above a 
 hundred of its Houses were burnt down, which are since neatly rebuilt, 
 and a fine Market place erected, intirely at the Expence of the Duke of 
 Bedford ; so that the Town makes a handsome Appearance. Here is a Free- 
 school founded by Francis [Russell] Earl of Bedford ; and a Charity School 
 for thirty Boys, who are both cloth'd and taught, founded and maintain'd 
 by Wriothesley late Duke of Bedford and his Duchess." 
 
 Vol. I. Bedfordshire, p. 132, folio. 
 
 1 Chap. 1, Note 26.
 
 540 APPENDIX, NO. n. 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. VI. 
 
 LAND OF NOD. 
 
 See History, Chapter I., Note 38. 
 
 The 3,000 acres given up by Woburn, in exchange for land 
 received from Charlestown, according to the final agreement 
 between the two towns, concluded upon July 29, 1650, lay at the 
 northern extremity of the four miles square, adjoining Andover, 
 and within the limits of what is now Wilmington. Though the 
 rights of property in it were yielded to Charlestown, yet for all 
 municipal control and regulations, it was considered as still 
 within thjs bounds of Woburn. It was called "the land of 
 Nod;" a name probably suggested, (as Hon. Richard Frothing- 
 ham happily conjectures in his History of Charlestown, No. 3, 
 p. 1 1 1 )" by a comparison of its forlorn condition, so far remote 
 from Church ordinances, with the Nod to which Cain wandered, 
 when he went from the presence of the Lord, Genesis IV." 
 And by this name it was long known, and still is, by many of 
 Wilmington, at the present day. 
 
 This tract of land continued for years in a neglected, unculti- 
 vated state. Its precise location, by suitable metes and bounds, 
 was not determined till June 1671 ; and it was not till Septem- 
 ber 1674, that Woburn formally resigned her propriety in it, 
 according to the following certificate in Woburn Records : 
 
 "The 21 of September, Seventy fower, Charlstowne men, Mr 
 William Sims and Edward Wilson, in the behalfe of the propry- 
 etors of the land of Node, did goe with Woburne Committee, 
 and resaiue their three thousand Acres in the land of Nod, 
 according to bounds giuen under their hands upon Record, bear- 
 ing date the 20 : of the 4 mo. [20 June] 71 j with which bounds 
 they were fully sattisfied." Woburn Records, Vol. L, p. 54. 
 
 But how happened it that these 3,000 acres were surren- 
 dered, not to Charlestown, to which it was given in exchange 
 by Woburn in 1650, but to the proprietors of the land of Nod? 
 and who were these proprietors? It seems that in 1643, one 
 year only after the incorporation of Woburn, and seven years
 
 APPENDIX, NO. VI. 541 
 
 before the mutual agreement between Charlestown and Woburn, 
 in regard to their respective bounds, etc., etc., was entered into, 
 Charlestown, considering the land of Nod as already her own, 
 (in consequence, probably, of some previous understanding 
 between the two towns,) parcelled it out among twelve of her 
 prominent citizens, in the following proportions, viz : 
 
 To Robert Sedgwick was granted 300 acres. 
 
 Zechariah Symmes " 300 " 
 
 Thomas Allen " 300 " 
 
 Richard Russell " 300 " 
 
 Francis Willoughby 300 
 
 John Allen 300 
 
 William Stitson " 250 " 
 
 William Phillips " 200 " 
 
 Ralph Woory 200 
 
 Robert Cooke " 250 
 
 Thomas Graves " 250 
 
 Mr. Barnard " 200 " l 
 
 But these gentlemen held the land thus given them but in low 
 estimation. Several of them surrendered back their respective 
 grants to the town again. And of the grants thus relinquished, 
 Charlestown in 1652 bestowed five hundred acres upon Francis 
 Norton. Subsequently, Francis Willoushby bought the shares 
 of Francis Norton and John Allen, which, added to his own, 
 made 1,100 acres. In 1683, May 1st, Lawrence Hammond, who 
 had married Francis Willoughby 's widow, sold these 1,100 acres 
 to John Hull, of Boston ; who dying in September of the same 
 year, his rights in Nod fell to Samuel Sewall, (afterwards Judge 
 Se wall,) who had married Hull's daughter and only heir; and 
 who, for some years, was accustomed to lease a portion of the 
 meadow in Nod, and to receive rent for it. Hearing of this, 
 Charlestown appointed a committee to examine into its rights 
 in Nod. In their Report, dated December 25, 1704, this 
 committee say : " We are informed that there are several per- 
 
 1 Frothlngham's Charlestown, No. 3, p. 112. 
 47
 
 542 APPENDIX, NO. VI. 
 
 sons that claim part of that tract of land (Nod) which we cannot 
 allow of: for we are very well satisfied, that this tract of land 
 was originally the land that Woburn exchanged with Charles- 
 town for lands then belonging to Charlestown ; and we cannot 
 find any record that this land was ever legally conveyed to any 
 particular person." The town accepted this Report; and con- 
 ceiving itself agreeably to it to be the rightful owner of all the 
 territory in dispute, leased to two individuals the whole of the 
 meadow contained in it. This assumption by Charlestown was 
 resisted by Judge Sewall, who wrote as follows to one of the 
 lejsees above referred to : 
 
 " BOSTON, June 6. 1705. 
 
 " Friend : I am informed that some Charlestown Gentlemen have lately 
 Lett to you and Henry Holt of Andover all the Meadow belonging to the 
 Land of Nod. These are to acquaint you that I have a good Right to above 
 a third part of the said Meadow, and am in the actual Improvement of it. 
 I made a Lease of it to Thomas Asten of Andover the 28th. of August last 
 for eleven years. I Lett it before to Oliver Holt by Lease in writing; and 
 for many years before, I Lett it out to others, and received the rent. My 
 Interest in that Land cost a great deal of Money. My Deed is Acknowl- 
 edged, and has been upon Record above Twenty Year. I have an honest 
 and legal Right : which I acquaint you with, to prevent your giving my 
 Tenant any disturbance : and Rest 
 
 "Your loving friend, S. S. 
 
 " Let your partner in the Lease see what I say to you." 
 
 " Sent by Peirson Richardson." 2 
 
 In consequence, apparently, of this step taken by Judge 
 Sewall, Charlestown commenced an action at law against him. 
 The case was tried at Cambridge, before a Special Court, 
 September 18, 1705; and again, upon the appeal of Charles- 
 town, before the Superior Court of the Province at Cambridge, 
 July 29, 1706; and on both occasions, the decision was in 
 Sewall's favor. 3 Thus the rights of individual proprietors to 
 portions of the land were legally confirmed ; and Charlestown 
 was found to be entitled to only a part of Nod, and not the 
 whole, as it had recently claimed. At a meeting of the Pro- 
 prietors, at Charlestown, April 14, 1718, it was voted to divide 
 
 * Sewall's Letter Book, p. 174. Sewall's Diary.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. VII. 543 
 
 the whole 3,000 acres ; and Capt. Joseph Burnap, of Reading, a 
 noted Surveyor, was employed to do it. 3 The work was accom- 
 plished by him November 10, 1718; and on November 25th, Capt. 
 Burnap presented to the Proprietors at Charlestown a Plan of 
 the whole, divided into Shares. 3 Lot No. 1 of 300 acres 
 fell to Judge Sewall, who sold it to Samuel Dummer, Esq., a 
 brother or near relative of Lieut.- Gov. William Dummer, Esq. ; 
 and acknowledged the deed of it March 9, 1726-7. 3 Other 
 proprietors doubtless parted with their interest in it from time 
 to time in a like way. And "a vote of Charlestown May 10. 
 1742 indicates that a part of the town's share of it has 
 been sold; and a Committee was then authorized to sell the 
 remainder. " x 
 
 APPENDIX, No. VII. 
 
 1. LETTER OF MAJOR CONVERS TO GOVERNOR JOSEPH DUDLEY. 
 
 [ Superscription. ] 
 
 "For His Exc y . Joseph Dudly, Esq r . Capt n . Gen u . Gou r . In 
 Chiefe, &c. 
 
 " These. 
 
 Woob n . August 14 th , 1704. 
 " May it pleas Your Exc y . 
 
 " I Received Your Excel 8 . Order of y 6 . 10 th , Courrant, I 
 Rec d . it y 6 . same day about 4 in y e . afternoone, for the detaching 
 45 Soldiers <fec : and to post y m . in 3 squadrons under y 6 . Comand 
 of a Sarg*. to Each, viz. Groaton, Lanchester & Malburow. I 
 forthwith sent out my Warrants to all y e . touns in y e . Lower 
 Regam 1 ; the Soldiers were all Impress* 1 y*. night and y. llth day 
 and began to March, the 12 day I went and posted them ac- 
 cording to Order, Giueing the sarg te . written Orders to obserue 
 till further Orders, directing them to take advice of the Capt s . of 
 the Respectiue touns :
 
 544 APPENDIX, NO. VII. 
 
 " At Malburow, John Benjamin sarg*. 15 men ^ 
 " Lanchester, Benjamin Wilson sarg 1 . 14 men > 45. 
 "Groaton, Joseph Child, sarg'. 16 men ) 
 
 here is y e . whole Number Your Excelencey sent for, posted ac- 
 cording to order. I think there are too many garrasons in 
 every toune. If these men be Reposted, one at a garrason, and 
 two at another, I shall account my labour lost, and y e . men next 
 to thrown away, Saving alwayes, what is in Obedience to Your 
 Exc 8 . Comand there is nothing lost or thrown away. 
 u Exc 1 . S r . I pray for a gracious pardon, and am 
 
 " Your Very Humble Ready and Obedient Serv*. 
 
 JAMS. CONVERSE." 
 
 2. LETTER OP MAJOR JAMES CONVERS TO JOSEPH DUDLEY, ESQ., 
 GOVERNOR, &c. 
 
 [Superscription.] 
 
 " To His ExceK Joseph Dudley, Esq r . Capt n . Gen", and Govern', 
 in Chief &c These. 
 
 For her Maj te . Service." 
 
 "Woobourne: Jan: 27 th . 1704. [1704-5. 
 " May it pleas Your Excel y . 
 
 "I Rec d . Your Exc 8 . Letter to Coll. Ting on tuseday last 
 about ten, and [with] much a-doo I found a Snow-Shoo man, and 
 posted it away, and it got to Coll. Tings (as I understand) about 
 one of y e . clock y*. night, my meaning is, about one of y e . Clock 
 in the morning. I also Rec d . your Exel 8 . order about mustering 
 of Sixty men to be in a Readiness at an hours Warning to march 
 to y 6 . assistance of y e . frontiers &c : this I Rec d . y e . 25th. in y e . 
 night, y e . 26. I prosecuted it as far as I could : I haue not been 
 so far as y e . next Neighbours hous this fortnight, we cannot goe 
 on horsback nor a foot, the snow is so exseeding deep, but I 
 writ Warrants and sent by my lad to Capt. Johnson and other 
 officers to Rais about sixty, but knowing y*. there was not one 
 third of y*. number of Snow shoos in toune, and most of y m .
 
 APPENDIX, NO. vm. 545 
 
 troopers y*. Hue at the farms, I sent therefore to y e . troop officers 
 that are in our toune to muster y m . and I hope Your Exc y . will 
 exscuse me, I sent to Maj r . Sweyne to provide 35 or 40 more, 
 to be Comanded by Lt. Tho 8 . Nichols of y*. toune [Reading ?] 
 If any thing could be done on horsback, I am Ready, but not 
 else I am not able. I doubt all these will not make aboue 20 
 or 30 Snow shoo men. I do not know what there is at Maiden 
 and Charlst n . farms and Mistick : I know there are som at Cam- 
 bridg farms and Watter towne, and they Hue Neerer y n . we, If 
 your Exc y . pleas to Order Coll. Phillips to look after y m . Your 
 Exc y . pro [promised ?] Coll. Phillips and Coll. ffoxcroft y*. I 
 should be a perpetual drouge [drudge] to y m . and so I am, I am 
 Willing to do what I can, but not all. Wattertoune and Cam- 
 bridge farms exspect a Call, pleas to let y m . haue it. So Craue- 
 ing pardon, I Humbly subscribe Your Exc 8 . poore and old, but 
 very Ready Willing Servant 
 
 " to y e . utmost of my abillety, 
 
 " JAM*. CONVERSE." 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. 
 
 WRIT OP MANDAMUS. 1 
 
 "Province of the ) George, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, 
 Mass* Bay. Suffolk sc. ) France & Ireland King, Defender of the ffaith, &c. 
 
 " To Eleazer Flegg Esqr. Joseph Wright John Fowle Josiah 
 Converse James Peirce Yeomen all^ of Woburn in our County 
 of Middlesex, Selectmen of the s d Town, and to the said John 
 Fowle Clerk of the said Town, Greeting. 
 
 "Whereas on the sixth day of July last past Timothy 
 Walker of Woburn afores d Gent n was hired by you the Select 
 men afores d , to keep the Grammar School in the Town afores d , 
 for one quarter of a year, to Commence on Monday the nine- 
 teenth of the same July, at Eleven pounds money for the s d quar- 
 ter, and accordingly Entered upon y e s d service ; and afterwards 
 
 1 Copy of the original writ, kindly lent me by its present owner, J. Wingate Thornton, 
 Esq., of Boston. 
 
 47*
 
 546 APPENDIX, NO. vni. 
 
 differences arising in the s d Town concerning his appointment 
 to y 6 s d Office, Upon the 27th day of August last past, the s d 
 Town being convened to make their Election, and settle what 
 schoolmaster they thought proper Elected and Voted y e s d Tim- 
 othy Walker to be y 6 School Master for the present year, he 
 being before that approved according to Law for the afores d 
 service, And y e Moderator accordingly declared his Election, 
 and Ordered you the Town Clerk aforesaid to Record y e War- 
 rant for the s d Meeting, and y e Election of the s d Timothy 
 Walker as afores d . Whereupon y e s d Timothy Walker offered 
 to keep y e s d School, Yet you the s d John Fowle, to whom of 
 right it belongs to Record y 6 Election afores d , tho' often desired, 
 have refused and still do refuse to do it. And you the Select- 
 men afores d , to whom it belongs to admit the s d School Master, 
 tho' often requested have refused & still do refuse to admit 
 y 6 s d Timothy Walker to keep y e s d Grammar School, tho' he has 
 often offered himself to you to that End. But you have admit- 
 ted and put into y e s d office one Ebenezer Flegg, of Woburn 
 afores d Gent n to y e great damage & grievance of the said Tim- 
 othy Walker, as we have perceived by his Complaint. Where- 
 upon he has supplicated us that we would provide him suitable 
 Remedy in this behalf. We, therefore, willing as is just to pro- 
 vide for the afores d Timothy Walker due & speedy Justice in 
 this behalf, Command you, y e s d John Fowle to Record y e War- 
 rant and Election afores d without delay ; and you the s d Select- 
 men to Remove y e s d Eb r Flegg and admit the s d Timothy 
 Walker to y e place and office of Grammar School Master of y c 
 s d Town of Woburn, without delay, or signify to us the Cause 
 why you do not, least by your Defaults repeated Complaints 
 come to us : And Certify to Us how you have Executed this 
 Precept, Remitting this Writ to Us at Boston before our Jus- 
 tices of our Superior Court of Judicature, Court of Assize, and 
 General Gaol Delivery at Boston within our County of Suffolk 
 on ffriday the 15th day of October next at Eleven of the 
 Clock in y e forenoon of y e s d day. Witness Samuel Sewall, 
 Esq r . at Boston this ninth day of September In the Twelfth 
 year of our Reign, Annoq. Dom. 1725. 
 
 BENJ K ROLFE, Clerk"
 
 APPENDIX, NO. IX. 547 
 
 APPENDIX, No. IX. 
 
 DIARY OF LIEUT. SAMUEL THOMPSON OP WOBURN, 
 A Soldier in the French War, during the year 1758. 
 
 1758 May 24. Set out from home, and went to Concord. Received the 
 Bounty, and went to Bolton, and lodged at David Alexander's, 1 Thurs- 
 day night. 
 
 25. Went to Worcester, and received our Blankets and lodged. 
 
 26. Marched to Leicester : lodged. 
 
 27. Saturday, went to Brookfleld. 
 
 28. Sunday : went to Cold Spring meeting house, and lodged there. 
 
 29. Monday : march to old Hadley : lodged. 
 
 30. Tuesday afternoon ; went over y e . ferry and lodged. 
 
 31. Wednesday : Election : took out our provision and ammunition at 
 Northampton and lodged. A rainy storm stopped us 3 or 4 days. 
 
 June 1. Thursday : loitered all day at Northampton. 
 
 2. Friday : lazing at Northampton & lodged. 
 
 3. Saturday. Marched from Northampton into the woods for 
 Pantoocick Fort, where we come to a tavern about ten miles from 
 Northampton, and camped. 
 
 4. Sunday : marched all day in the woods over several Rivers. 
 
 5. Monday : bad marching, sloughs and mountains, rivers, stumps : very 
 weary, and so camped. 
 
 6. Tuesday: marched to Pantoosick Fort about 11 o'clock, and took 
 out bread for four days, and then went to Fort Conectecaw and camped. 
 
 7. Wednesday, marched to a Dutch place, where we got at 12 o'clock. 
 Stopped 3 hours : then marched over several bad rivers ; and poplar * 
 was almost cast away. Camped in ye. wood ; and Mr. Crosby's arm was 
 put out &c. 
 
 8. Thursday : marched to the half way house by 10 o'clock, where we 
 stopped some hours, and then marched till we came over against Albany, 
 one mile East of the River, or thereabouts. 
 
 9. Friday : marched on the East side of Hudson River, and lost in 
 ye. wood ; but we came to ye. River again : we made but one mile good, 
 and went seven miles as we judged ; and had to creep up the banks, and 
 
 had like to have lost our horse : but at last we came to by ye. River, 
 
 and lodged at Flat bush. 
 
 10. Took out store for one week 5 miles above Albany, and lodged in 
 a barn. 
 
 11. Sunday: two sermons preached to the Soldiers. Abijah 3 had a 
 sore throat : and we lodged in the said barn, which was every night full 
 of Soldiers. 
 
 i A son of Philip and Joanna Alexander, born at Woburn, 7 September, 1716. 
 " Mare named Popler." a His brother Abijah, afterward Sheriff.
 
 548 APPENDIX, NO. IX. 
 
 12. Went over to Albany, and spent the rest of ye. day, and lodged in 
 the barn again &c &c. 
 
 13. Tuesday : Spent all 'day again at Flat bush, and lodged in the said 
 barn. 
 
 14. Wednesday : drawed up in the forenoon in order to march, and 
 marched. In the afternoon ; but I went up ye. River in a battow to the 
 Half Moon, and camped very weary. 
 
 15. Thursday : marched from the Half Moon to Stillwater, and lodged. 
 
 16. Friday, marched from Stillwater to Salletoag, 4 and camped: a 
 mile or two beyond : we took stores for three days, and Abijah was some 
 better. So went in Fort 
 
 17. Saturday : from thence we went to Fort Miller, where we stayed 
 one hour or two ; and then we marched to Fort Edward by 5 oclock after- 
 noon, and we camped in the woods. 
 
 18. Sunday : we stayed where we camped ye. night before ; and we had 
 two Sermons ; and between Sermons I went over ye. river, and viewed 
 Fort Edward, which was exceeding strong, commanded with a numerous 
 artillery ; and I returned and heard a sermon, Sun 2 hours high. At night 
 I went down to Fort Miller with 8 men, with a packet to Major Gage. 
 And with 8 men came up in the battow. In the same evening by 11 o'clock 
 came to my old Camp. 
 
 19. Monday : kept at our Camp still, and lodged. 
 
 20. Took out stores at Fort Edward, and divided some of them ; and 
 camped. 
 
 21. Wednesday; divided the rest of ye stores : a smart thunder shower. 
 
 22. Thursday, I went out in a Scout of three hundred after Indians, 
 but we found none : so we returned after 4 or 5 hours scout at seven in y e . 
 evening. A man whipt 10 lashes. 
 
 23. Friday, at our old encampments. 24. Saturday, Still at our en- 
 campments. 
 
 25. Sunday : marched from Fort Edward to the Half Way Brook and 
 camped. This morning, as we got to ye. Fort Edward, we heard a very 
 smart firing half a mile in ye. wood. We thought y*. Major Rogers had 
 .found a party of ye. enemy ; we expected a very smart fight : but ye. Gen- 
 eral had given leave for four or five hundred Rangers to go out and hold a 
 bush fight for i of an hour. 
 
 26. Monday ; rainy morning. Camped at the Half way Brook. 
 
 27. Tuesday. Some rain. Camped at the Half way Brook. 
 
 28. Wednesday. For these some days past we have much marching ; 
 and the men keep passing along for y e . engagement every day great num- 
 bers. And this day I received a letter which caused me much joy. I had 
 a letter from Mr. Snow that all was well ; and Mr. Alexander came this 
 day to the Half way Brook ; and we camp'd within ye. Fort. 
 
 29. Thursday, three of my Mess went to ye. Lake with Capt. Jones : 
 we camped in the Fort. 
 
 30. Friday, all day on guard in the Fort. Forces still on ye. march up 
 to the Lake : great preparations every day. I sent a letter home. 
 
 Saratoga.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. IX. 549 
 
 July 1. Saturday we camped in the Fort of Pickets : again I sent a let- 
 ter home. 
 
 2. Sunday, I marched up to ye. Lake with 10 men, and came back to the 
 Halfway Brook, and right back to y. Lake again : and on our march there 
 was a smart thunder shower, and we were all very wet ; and when we 
 came to camp, it rained ; but we made a fire, and dryed us as well as we 
 could, and camped about half a mile this side of the Lake. 
 
 Monday, In y e . morning, we marched down to the Lake, and fetched our 
 men ; and Col. Cummings had orders to stay with 500 men to keep at the 
 Lake, and many of our men were uneasy and sorry : we camped where 
 General Johnson had a fight with y. enemy ; and I went to see the ruins 
 of y e . Fort, and all y e . entrenchments that the French dug ; and I see where 
 the bombs and bullets had cut down trees and dug holes. 
 
 4. Tuesday, camped where Gen 1 . Johnson had his fight 
 
 Wednesday, our Army set sail in battows for the Narrows ; and the 
 
 army consists of 25000 & 400 and odd men. 
 
 5. At 5 in the morning they mustered and set off as fast as they could ; 
 and we saw them till noon, and when they had got off, we struck our tents, 
 and removed into the Fort William Henry, and set up our tents there and 
 camped. 
 
 6. Thursday, in ye. afternoon, the Mohawks came in, and I was on 
 guard all day. Saml Tay took a vomit, and was ill with a bloody Flux, 
 and I was full of business all day. 
 
 7. Friday : The Mohawks set sail for the Narrows. Abijah was sick 
 and took a vomit. I had scarcely time to cook, as the Hampshire forces 
 came to us in the afternoon. 
 
 8. Saturday, Post came from the Narrows; and they brought Lord 
 How 5 to ye. Fort, who was slain at their landing ; and in ye. afternoon 
 there came in 100 and odd men, French prisoners, into the Fort. 
 
 9. Sunday morning, In a surprise by bad news from the Narrows, 
 and all day in a Concern ; for sometimes we heard that our army was 
 defeated, and then that they did prosper and gain ground,; but on the 
 whole, our army was forced to give over their trial for the Narrows, and 
 return to our great astonishment & amazement, and with a great loss, 
 among the old Countrymen in a special manner, and till our army came 
 and landed at Fort William Henry, and brought in many wounded men, 
 and so camped that night in confusion ; and the Mohawks brought in some 
 scalps : yet our Provincials did not lose so many men as we feared we 
 had lost. The Highlanders lost many men, and the Regulars lost many : 
 the Jersey Blues lost many, and the Yorkers suffered in the loss of 
 many men. 
 
 * " Howe, George, lord viscount, was the eldest son of Sir E. Scrope, second lord viscount 
 Howe in Ireland. He commanded five thousand British troops, which arrived at Halifax in 
 July, 1757. In the next year, when Abercrombie proceeded against Ticonderoga, in an 
 attack on the advanced guard of the French in the woods, Lord Howe fell on the first fire, 
 in July 1758, aged 33. In him, says Mante, 'the soul of the army seemed to expire.' By 
 his military talent* and many virtues he had acquired esteem and affection. Massachusetts 
 erected a monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey, at the expense of 250 pounds." 
 Allen's Biog. Diet.
 
 550 APPENDIX, NO. IX. 
 
 10. Monday in the morning I went and viewed the wounded men ; and 
 some of them were dead, and some were taking on and complaining with 
 pain : a wofull sight indeed, and all lay in confusion : and just at night we 
 struck our tents, and moved out of ye Fort, and pitched where General 
 Johnson had his fight. 
 
 11. Tuesday, unloaded all ye. Battows, and piled up the Stores, and - 
 camped. 
 
 12. Wednesday, took out five days allowance, and divided it to the 
 - Company ; flour, pork, beef and rice, and butter, and camped. 
 
 13. Thursday, struck our tents in ye. morning, and went with all our 
 luggage about one mile (to the South West of the Fort) from where we 
 camped, and could not find our ground where it was laid out ; and we took 
 out one day's allowance of fresh beef, and divided it to the Company, and 
 camped ? at random here and there. 
 
 14. Friday, struck our tents in the morning, and went back to the 
 Halfway Brook, and carried exceeding heavy packs .... ; was uneasy 
 with moving so often; and when we came there, Capt. Tay's son was 
 dead and was buried this evening ; and we camped within the stockades. 
 
 15. Saturday, Fixed up our Fort, and uncle Josiah Wright 6 was ex- 
 ceeding bad, and he died about four o'clock afternoon, and was buried 
 about dusk, and I followed him to his grave as the nighest Relation he had 
 there, and saw the last respects paid, and thanked them all for their 
 service, and returned to our camps. 
 
 16. Sunday, Mr. Morrill preached two Sermons, (1.) from Psalm 37 & 7 
 verse, and (2.) Luke 16, v. 31. two fine sermons : and Col. Gates' Regiment 
 march by Half-way Brook to day to Fort Edw<* : so we camped. 
 
 17. Monday forenoon we went out in a scout with 9 men ; but we see 
 nothing and returned : scouted in ye. afternoon, & see nothing. I was 
 not well ; I had a bad spell. This night we were alarmed by ye. watch. 
 
 18. Tuesday, divided some stores : Mr. Ephraim Kendall 7 died : and 
 there was a very smart thunder shower ; 3 or 4 as hard claps as ever I 
 heard ; and a rainy afternoon : and Mr. Kendall was buried : myself not 
 well. 
 
 19. Wednesday : some poorly, yet I went about and camped. 
 
 20. Thursday, in the morning, 10 men in a scout waylaid by the Indi- 
 ans, and shot at and larmed the Fort, and a number of our men went out 
 to assist them, and the enemy followed our men down to our Fort, and in 
 their retreat, Capt. Jones and Lieut. Godfrey were killed, and Capt. Law- 
 rence and Capt. Dakin, and Lieut. Curtis and Ens. Davis, and two or three 
 non-commissioned officers and privates, to the number of fourteen men, 
 who were brought into the Fort, all scalped but Ens n . Davis, who was 
 killed within 20 or 30 rods from the Fort : and there was one grave dug, 
 and all of them were buried together, the officers by themselves at one 
 
 Josiah, son of Josiah and Ruth Wright, born 2 December, 1701. Esquire Thompson's 
 mother, Ruth Wright, was a sister of the Josiah here mentioned as sick and dead. 
 
 i Ephraim Kendall and Ruth Peirce, both of Wilmington, married 24 February, 173?. Wo- 
 burn Records of Births, Marriages, etc.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. IX. 551 
 
 end, and the rest at the other end of the grave ; and Mr. Morrill made a 
 prayer at the grave, and it was a solemn funeral : and NatW Eaton died in 
 the Fort and was buried ; and we kept a very strong guard that night of 
 100 men. Haggit [and] William Coggin wounded. 
 
 A List of Men's names that were killed in this fight. 
 Capt. Ebenezer Jones of Wilmington 
 Capt. Dakin of Sudbury 
 
 Lieut. SamueU Curtice of Ditto. 
 Private Grout of do 
 
 Lieut. Simon Godfrey of Billerica 
 Capt. Lawrence of Groton 
 
 Corpi Gould of Groton Gore 
 
 Private Abel Satle [Sawtell] of Groton 
 Private Eleazer Eames of Groton 
 Do Stephen Foster Do. 
 
 Serg*. Oliver Wright, Westford 
 Private Simon Wheeler Do 
 Eiisn. Davis of Methuen 
 
 Serg*. Russel of Concord 
 
 Private Abraham Harden [Harnden?] of Pembroke. 
 Private Payson of Kowley 
 
 Private Patterson 
 
 We have also an account that there are seven of our men carried into 
 Ticonderoga, which make up the number of those that were missing. 
 
 21. Friday, in y e . forenoon, a party of about 150 went out to find more 
 men that were missing, and we found 4 men who were scalped, and we 
 buried them, and so returned: and at prayer this evening we were Laromed 
 by a false outcry. Nicholas Brown died and was buried ; and Moses Hag- 
 git died. 
 
 22. Saturday, This morning Moses Haggit was buried: and we 
 trenched half round y e . Fort this day a small trench. Our men are very 
 poor, and we scarce could get men for work and for guard ; but for my 
 own part, I am very well. 
 
 23. Sunday : no preaching, for Mr. Morrill was very poor : and about 
 one or two oclock, all our Camp got in an uproar, and some had slung 
 their packs in order to march right off; and for my own part, I thought 
 that they would have risen and marched right off; but our Colonels under- 
 stood it, and went about in the Regiment, and spoke very sharp, and put 
 them all to silence, and ordered them all to work again, in the afternoon ; 
 and so they left the flurry. 
 
 24. Monday, we had an eighteen pounder come to our Fort, and I 
 worked. In y afternoon we set another row of pickets round the Flanker. 
 Nicholas Noyes died this night in the Fort. 
 
 25. Tuesday, all the fires are ordered out of fort, ovens excepted ; and 
 Nicholas Noyes was buried ; and about noon order came to march right off 
 from ye. Halfway Brook to the Lake, and we got up to the Lake at dark, 
 and setup our tent, and lay warm, altho' it was a very rainy night.
 
 552 APPENDIX, NO. IX. 
 
 26. Wednesday : loitering all y. forenoon : a little thunder shower ; 
 and we moved our tents, and set them up in a regular form, and so 
 camped. 
 
 27. Thursday ; worked all day making breast work ; and all the Regi- 
 ments move under arms at 9 and 5. that forenoon and afternoon. 
 
 28. Friday we went up 13 of us to peal bark about 8 miles toward the 
 Narrows, and we got a considerable quantity for to make camp. And in 
 the evening there came news that the Indians had killed a number of 
 teams and their guard below y e . Halfway Brook ; and there was a scout 
 fitting to go after them, and that made a great confusion in the minds of 
 men, for we knew not what was the reason of so great a noise in y. 
 camp. 
 
 29. Saturday : Flying news about ye. Scout that was gone out after 
 those Indians that did the mischief: and in the night there came in a Post 
 from Rogers. 
 
 30. Sunday, before day they did muster, and sent out seventy five men 
 out of our Regiment, eleven out of our Company, who went a little after 
 sunrise down the Lake, and what the News was, we could not tell ; yet all 
 sorts of camp news was brief* about. But when our men were gone, they 
 set [sent?] eleven more at one minute's warning, with 3 days provision, as 
 those who were gone before, which did amount to 75 more out of our Reg- 
 iment, and the number of men already gone is guessed to be nigh 1000 
 men, and y e . same number to be at one minute's warning with 3 days pro- 
 vision ; yet there was but about 200 that went off about 2 oclock. 80 in 
 Col. Nichols Regiment. 
 
 31. Monday, very rainy, and nothing but camp news all the forenoon; 
 but fair in the afternoon, and in the evening there came in some of the 
 men that went down the Lake. 
 
 August 1. [Tuesday]. Early in ye morning those men were ordered 
 right down the Lake again : and about 80 of Col. Nichols' Regiment were 
 ordered right down to y e Half way Brook, and I among the rest, and the 
 whole number was about 800 men, who were stationed at the Half way 
 Brook for a spell. Took 3 days provision : bread, pork. 
 
 2. Wednesday at the Half way Brook, a Post came and told us that 
 Cape Breton was taken ; and Gershom Flegg came up, and brought me a 
 letter that all was well at home, which caused me much joy. 
 
 3. Thursday, orders that no man should ease himself in ye. Fort ; and 
 that the Roll must be called over, morning and evening ; and a Scout of 
 three or four hundred sent out after the Indians ; and the duty is very hard 
 for the men. 
 
 4. Friday. Took out 2 days stores, and divided it to the men : pork, 
 bread, flour. 
 
 5. Saturday, a Scout sent out, but see nothing ; duty very hard : and 
 Colonel Fitch went down to Fort Edward with his Regiment : and some 
 of our men were on duty twice in a day. 
 
 " Brief;" " a provincialism, in the sense of rife, common, or prevalent, in England, and 
 the United States." Worcester's Dictionary.
 
 APPENWX, NO. IX. 553 
 
 6. Sunday : took out 3 days stores and divided it : pork, bisket, butter, 
 peas : and the rest of Col. Fitch's men went down to Fort Edward. 
 
 7. Monday, 20 odd men came from ye South Bay who were poor 
 [poorly] ; and said that Major Rogers will come away in a day or two. 
 
 8. Tuesday : all our men and [on ?] duty ; and news came from Major 
 Rogers, and we sent 400 men to him, and 200 from above Fort Edward 
 who were at work, 600 in all ; and Capt. Brewer came down from ye Lake 
 about 10 o'clock at night with 100 men. 
 
 9. Wednesday : about 10 o'clock we had more men come from Rogers, 
 and he beat the enemy, and lost about men, and got 52 scalps, and 
 came to Fort Edward, and brought in his wounded into Fort Edward. 
 
 10. Thursday : not much news. 11. Friday, about forty teams for the 
 Lake from Fort Edward. 
 
 12. Saturday : fixed our things, and marched to Lake George, and 
 camped there. 
 
 18. Sunday : 2 fine Sermons : and at noon Order for a Scout to go to 
 the South Bay, and our men that were in the height [fight ?] with Rogers, 
 came in to us at the Lake from Fort Edward. 
 
 14. Monday : a large Scout of five or six hundred men sent out after the 
 enemy ; some say, 1000 men : and just at night, a picquet guard raised, 50 
 men, in our Regiment. 
 
 15. Tuesday : I was on the picquet guard, and went to Half way Brook, 
 and was wet. 
 
 16. Wednesday : a cold storm ; and I worked to build me a house ; and 
 nothing remarkable. 
 
 17. Thursday; nothing remarkable. 18. Friday, we sold Beer; and 
 nothing remarkable. 19. Saturday : nothing remarkable. 
 
 20. Sunday : I was on guard, and could not go to meeting : and it 
 rained almost all day. 21. Monday : nothing remarkable. 
 
 22. Tuesday : the Scout came in, and a great number of teams just at 
 night. 
 
 23. Wednesday: not well; nothing remarkable. 24. Thursday, not 
 well, but kept about. Our Company was filled out. 
 
 25. Friday. A party drawed up to send out to the Half way Brook, and 
 I went there, and was stated there ; and the same day went half way to 
 Fort Edward, and came back to Half way Brook. 
 
 26. Saturday ; on guard at the Half way Brook ; 14 men went up to y. 
 Lake alone, and came back well, all of them. 
 
 27. Sunday. On guard till 8 oclock in the morning ; and a number of 
 teams, about 20, which went from Fort Edward to the Lake. 
 
 28. Monday, certified that Cape Breton was taken, and 63 cannon shot 
 at Fort Edward and small arms. In joy we made a great fire, and every 
 soldier had a j ill of Rum at the Half way Brook : and it was a very rainy 
 night. 
 
 29. Tuesday : 140 of us went and made a breast work ; and we had a 
 jill of rum ; and we had a remarkable drink of flip this evening : a very 
 cold night. 30. Wednesday : nothing remarkable. 
 
 48
 
 554 APPENDIX, NO. IX. 
 
 31. Thursday : full of camp news about going home. 
 
 September 1. Friday: Quite the reverse : for there came up two brass 
 24 pounders, and 21 teams loaded with shot, and other teams, to the num- 
 ber of 70 teams ; and all the news is, go forward. 
 
 2. Saturday: I on guard; and the teams went up from here to the 
 Lake ; and a Scout went out for 7 days of 700 men. 
 
 3. Sunday : on guard till 8 oclock in the morning; and about noon Mr 
 James Wyman came here, and we sent letters home by him : and there 
 were 8 teams went up to the Lake this day. 
 
 4. Monday : nothing extraordinary only camp news, that the French 
 are coming to take us : rainy night. 
 
 5. Tuesday : I on guard ; and we earned half a jill of rum by making a 
 great many bonfires. 
 
 6. Wednesday: on guard till 8 o'clock: news of a great scout of 
 Indians. 
 
 7. Thursday : on escort down towards Fort Edward ; and a great num- 
 ber of teams up to the Lake. Joseph Russel 9 died yesterday. 
 
 8. Friday : the Scout came in, and we were relieved from the Half way 
 Brook, and went up to the Lake, and came [camped?] there. 
 
 9. Saturday: the picquet guard went to meet the teams; a Sergeant 
 and four men went forward to tell Half way Brook guard that the picquet 
 was coming ; and the Indians shot the Sergeant and scalped him before 
 one man got to him ; and then the Indians ran away. 
 
 10. Sunday : on guard all day, the Quarter guard : and nothing remark- 
 able. 
 
 11. Monday: on guard till 8 o'clock; and certified that Cateraguea was 
 taken ; and in token there were great fires made upon the high mountains 
 round y e . Lake, a mile or two distant from Fort William Henry, and there 
 was above 100 Cannon fired, and all the army fired 3 times round with 
 small arms, and huzza'd, and threw up their hats ; and it was a great day 
 in ye. army. 
 
 12. Tuesday, we built up our chimney and .... 13. Wednesday : not 
 very well, but keep about. . . . Abijah is poor. 
 
 14. Thursday : both of us not well, but I keep about : and I heard it 
 was Thanksgiving at the Bay. It was a rainy night, and we were all very 
 poor &c. 
 
 15. Friday: I was very poor, but just keep about, and I took physick: 
 Abijah was poor, and Jesse Wyman was poor, and Lieut. Fassett died this 
 night. 
 
 16. Saturday : Lt. Pearson, and his brother, and Serjt. Nichols got a 
 pass home ; and I was poorly. Lt. Fassett was buried : and this night I 
 took pills for physick. 
 
 17. Sunday : not well, but keep about a little. Mr Morrill came up 
 from Albany, and preached two sermons this day. 
 
 18. Monday: some better: pretty cold weather. Camp news about 
 going home in 3 weeks ; but all uncertain. 
 
 * Joseph Russell, son of Joseph and Jane Russell, and grandson of John, Jr., and Eliza- 
 beth Russell, born at Woburn, 22 September, 1713. Woburn Records.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. IX. 555 
 
 19. Tuesday : walked about down to the Lake, and see 'em fit up the bat- 
 tows ; and great preparations, and what it will amount to I know not : 
 some better. 
 
 20. Wednesday: much better; and our Sutler had stores come up for 
 the Regiment. Camp news. 
 
 21. Thursday : I was on the picquet guard, but went no where, and no 
 remarkables : pretty warm weather for the season of the year. 
 
 22. Friday. Received 3 letters, that all was well at home : and this even- 
 ing, two of Capt. Parker's [company) died very sudden, Mansfield and 
 Ebenr. Knight : and the Half way Brook was relieved this day. 
 
 23. Saturday. I was on guard all day. Camp news brief. 70 or 80 
 teams come up. Jeremiah Blanchard, and John and Moses (Barns ?) came 
 from Fort Edward &c. 
 
 24. Sunday : on guard till 8 o'clock ; and Mr. Joshua Tompson set out 
 for home. Mr. Morrill preached 2 sermons from 2. Cor. 4 & 18 all day : 
 and just at night a Scout of 150 went down the Lake. 
 
 25. Monday : a party went to get hay ; but we did not know where. 
 John Richardson, James Wright, Salem Scipio 10 went ; but we heard they 
 went about 4 miles from the Lake ; and there were 70 odd teams came up. 
 Sam. Tidd took a vomit. 
 
 26. Tuesday : I on the picquet, but went no where. 
 
 27. Wednesday, the picquet went to Half way Brook, and our haying 
 party came home. Sam Tidd poor &c and five teams and 7 or 8 wagons 
 came up. 
 
 28. Thursday. I sawed some boards for to make me a house; and 
 nothing remarkable. Camp news very brief. Sam. Tidd poor. 
 
 29. Friday : yesterday all the fires in the Camps ordered out of the 
 Breast work from 8 oclock till sun down ; and obeyed generally yester- 
 day : and at night the Scout came in, who went out last Sunday. 
 
 30. Saturday : on the main guard on [L ?] Hill all day, and I kept 
 time in the evening till 1 o'clock, and the Captain & the other Lieutenant 
 the rest of the night; and a number of our men that were sick were 
 viewed, and are to go away. 
 
 October 1. Sunday: on the main guard till 8 oclock: and Sam. Tidd 
 poor; and I heard Mr Morrill preach in the afternoon [from] 97 Psalm, 1st 
 v,erse : and much Camp news ; and a Flag of Truce set out for the Nar- 
 rows ; and a number of our sick were sent off to day ; and Abijah was 
 something poor. 
 
 2. Monday : Sam 1 . Tidd poor ; and a rainy afternoon ; and Camp news 
 very brief about going home &c and Mr Sam'. Abbot died. 
 
 3. Tuesday: Mr Abbot buried; and Abijah and Sam. Tidd very poor. 
 I worked on my house. 
 
 4. Wednesday : 'bijah and Sam. Tidd poor : I worked on my house : and 
 very cold weather. 
 
 6. Thursday: very cold morning; and I worked on my house; and 
 much Camp news ; and a party detached for Half way Brook to morrow. 
 
 A slave, often mentioned in Woburn Records by this name ; from Salem, I suppose.
 
 556 APPENDIX, NO. IX. 
 
 6. Friday : a raw day ; and our men went to relieve those at Half way 
 Brook; and General Amherst came up yesterday, and our army was 
 drawed up all round the Breast work for the new General to view this day, 
 every Regiment by themselves. Sam. Tidd very poor. 
 
 7. Saturday : a pleasant day : Sam 11 . Tidd very bad, and myself some 
 poor & 'bijah ; and some wagons came up. 
 
 8. Sunday. Samii. Tidd no better ; 'bijah and I some better. Mr. Mor- 
 rill preached this day [from] John 8. & 9 verse forenoon, and 2d Peter, 3 
 chapt. 10, 11, 12 verses afternoon. 
 
 9. Monday : Sam. Tidd very bad, and some of our men viewed, and 
 Capt. Osgood and Wn>. Coggin got a pass ; and Thomas Blanchard died this 
 evening. 
 
 10. Tuesday : Capt. Osgood and Bill Coggin set out for home ; and 
 Sam. Tidd 11 died; and Thomas Blanchard and Sam. Tidd buried : a rainy 
 night : on duty in the forenoon. 
 
 11. Wednesday : some poor for some days past, but I kept about : noth- 
 ing remarkable. 
 
 12. Thursday : about 35 viewed, and got a pass to go home : and no 
 remarkables. 
 
 13. Friday : on the main guard at the old Picquet Fort, and a regular 
 Captain, both of us fifty men, 25 each : a rainy night, but I lay dry and 
 warm by a good fire at night. 
 
 14. Saturday : on guard till eight o'clock in the morning : much camp 
 news about going home next week &c. 
 
 15. Sunday : pretty cold weather. Mr. Mori-ill's text, 1 Kings, 8 chapter, 
 67, 58, 60 & 61 st. verses [in the forenoon] 26 Isaiah, 8, 9 verses, afternoon : 
 and Mr. James Wyman came up and brought letters, that all was well 
 at home. 
 
 16. Monday : about 30 of our Regiment got a pass to go home, and 
 about 100 teams came up this day. . . . 
 
 17. Tuesday : the teams carried the artillery down to Fort Edward, and 
 a great number of waggons came up to carry away the Battows. 
 
 18. Wednesday, 100 Battows went down in ye morning, and Col. Wor- 
 cester's regiment went down, and the teams and more waggons came up 
 and loaded. 
 
 19. Thursday : the teams and waggons went down again loaded, and 
 seven of our Company and Jesse Wyman went home, and late in ye night, 
 the waggons come and loaded again. 
 
 20. Friday : on the main guard, and a number of battows carried down, 
 and teams and waggons come up and loaded. 
 
 21. Saturday : the teams and waggons went down : we drawed 4 days 
 provision: and Lieut. Joshua Walker & Serj* [McCord?] set out forborne: 
 and they were unrigging the Sloop, and she haled up about 30 or 40 whale 
 boats down y e Lake to sink them ; and the waggons came up again. 
 
 Samuel, son of Samuel and Phebe Tidd, born 17 May, 1741 ; died, under age, in the 
 y at Lake George, October 10, 1758. [See State Muster Boll.]
 
 APPENDIX, NO. IX. 557 
 
 22. Sunday: the waggons went down again with battows, and they 
 haled a number of battows down the Lake to sink ; and they knocked 
 down the barracks within the new Picket Fort, and they bury the guns 
 belonging to the Sloop, and the boards of the barracks, and the Sloop 
 irons, and many other things : and Mr. Morrill preached ; his text, 1 
 Thessalonians 2, 12 forenoon: no preaching in the afternoon ; for Orders 
 came, that our Regiment with 2 more Regiments, and every 20 men to 
 draw battows down to Fort Edward tomorrow. 
 
 23. Monday : we drawed out a number of battows down to Fort Edward, 
 and camped 94 [by ?] a Store house : very cold night. 
 
 24. Tuesday; Set out from Fort Edward in a battow, and we had a 
 very bad spell at the Falls at Fort Miller. We haled our battow out on 
 the land forty rod, and put it in the River again, and we got stuck in the 
 Falls. I got out and lifted in the River one hour in y e . dark, and we got 
 off, and went on shore, and set up three tents, and put our Sick in one ; 
 and it was a rainy night, and we made a great fire. 
 
 25. Wednesday, I went on land part of the day, and part by water ; 
 and we camped three miles below Stillwater in a house : a rainy night, 
 and a very bad snow storm all the fore part of the next day. 
 
 26. Thursday : I marched all day, and crossed the River at Half Moon 
 at one or two o'clock, and went to Flatbush, and lodged in a house. I 
 bought a good supper. 
 
 27. Friday : went in a battow to Green Bush, and got into a barn with 
 our Sick. And I went to Albany and drawed provision for y e Company, 
 and lay in ye barn at Green Bush ; and I had a very bad cold. 
 
 28. Saturday : very bad cold ; and Abijah and the rest of our Com- 
 pany set out for home in the morning ; and I went about to take care of 
 the Sick, and felt pretty poor. Samii. Hutchinson and Dani. Holt sick. I 
 put SamU. Hutchinson into Hospitall, and Camped in Barn. 
 
 29. Sunday : Set out from Green Bush about 10 o'clock, and came to 
 half way house about noon, and rid in a waggon to Canterhook 1 * mills 
 before sundown, and Camped in a barn. 
 
 30. Monday : Set out from Kenderhook before sun rise, and went to 
 Goodaneers, and eat chocolate, and went to Stone house 11 o'clock. Set 
 out from thence to Lovejoy's, and eat beef and turnips, and paid for it; 
 and went to Roberts', and lodged in his barn, &c. 
 
 31. Tuesday : eat - and milk at Roberts' ; paid for it, and set out 
 from thence, and came to Sheffield about 10 o'clock at ye meeting house we 
 marched to Davis's, and I eat beef and potatoes about 2 oclock : then we 
 set out from thence, and went to Mr. Brewer's about 3 o'clock, where 
 we eat supper and breakfast on Province cost, and I lodged in a bed. 
 
 November 1. Wednesday set out from Brewer's, sun i hour high ; went 
 into Green woods to a house 11 miles from Brewer's : eat a dinner on the 
 Province cost. Set out from thence about noon, and came to Glascow 
 meeting house at 3 o'clock. Stopped there a few minutes, and went one 
 
 48*
 
 558 APPENDIX, NO. X. 
 
 mile to a tavern and lodged in a barn. I see Mr. Zorobabel Snow at this 
 place. I eat on the Province cost. 
 
 2. Thursday : Set out from the tavern at break of day, and came to 
 Westfleld; Sun hour high. I eat chocolate at my own cost. Set out from 
 there, and came to Springfield about 2 oclock to the River, and went over 
 to a tavern one mile this side, and eat on the Province cost. Then I went 
 6 mile further, and lodged in a barn ; eat supper on the Province cost. 
 
 3. Friday : Set out before sunrise, and went ten mile, before breakfast 
 to Graves's ; eat on the Province cost, and then went to Brimfleld to uncle 
 James Tompson's, 13 and got there 4 oclock, and lodged there in a bed. 
 
 4. Saturday : stayed at uncle James Tompson's till 3 oclock, and set 
 out and went 4 mile : met Daniel u and went back to uncle's, and lay 
 there and Daniel. 
 
 6. Sunday. Set out from uncle's, and got lost ; but we came to uncle 
 Hartwell's about 1 oclock, and eat a good dinner. Set out from thence, 
 Sun i hour high, and rode to Worcester to Brown's, and lodged there. 
 
 6. Monday. Set out from Brown's, and came to Agar's [Hagar's ?] and 
 went to breakfast ; poor chocolate : then rode as far as Deacon Rice's ; 
 went to dinner; poor beef: then rode to Roes [Munroe's?] of Concord; 
 drinked some cherry, and then rode home to my own house, where I found 
 them all well, &c., on Monday night, about 9 oclock the 6th of November 
 seventeen hundred fifty-eight. 
 
 APPENDIX, No. X. 
 
 FRENCH NEUTRALS. 
 
 During the war, which commenced in 1755, between England 
 and France, frequent references are made in the Woburn Trea- 
 surer's Records to the Neutral French. These originally were 
 inhabitants of Nova Scotia, about seven thousand in number, 
 "mild, frugal, industrious and pious" in their character; Colo- 
 nists of France, but who, upon the cession of that Province by 
 France to England, at the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, became right- 
 fully subjects of Great Britain. But such was their attachment to 
 their native country, its government and religion, that though they 
 were allowed to hold their lands upon condition of taking the oath of 
 allegiance to the Sovereign of England, yet they refused to do this, 
 except with this qualification, that they should not be obliged, in case 
 
 " James, son of Jonathan and Frances Thompson, born H November, 1696 ; a brother of 
 Esquire Samuel Thompson's father. 
 
 " Daniel Thompson, brother of Esquire Samuel ; killed eventually at Concord flght, 
 April 19, 1775.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. X. 559 
 
 of any future war between France and England, to take up arms in 
 defence of the British Province they now inhabited, against their 
 own countrymen. By this qualification to their oath of allegiance, 
 these French Colonists took the position, and acquired the name of 
 Neutrals between the French and English : and had their conduct 
 afterwards been always answerable to the name and position they 
 had so assumed, they would, not improbably, have been suffered 
 to remain unmolested, both as to their property and their persons. 
 But during the war between France and England, which commenced 
 in 1755, it was alleged against them by the English, that they had 
 abandoned their neutral character and position ; that they " fur- 
 nished the French and Indians with intelligence, quarters, pro- 
 visions, and assistance in annoying the government of the Province ; 
 that three hundred of them were actually found in arms at the tak- 
 ing of Fort Beau-sejour ; and that notwithstanding an offer was 
 made to such of them as had not been openly in arms to be 
 allowed to continue in possession of their land, if they would take 
 the oath of allegiance without any qualification, they unanimously 
 refused it." l 
 
 In view of these charges (which were probably just, as to many 
 individuals among them) , the Lieut.-Governor of the Province and 
 his Council, when met together to consider what was best to be 
 done with this people, decided that it would not be consistent with 
 the public safety that they should remain any longer in the Pro- 
 vince ; and that if they were allowed to remove to Canada, the 
 result would be, to replenish the armies of France. Hence they 
 resolved to remove them all by force, and to distribute them among 
 the several British Colonies, " where they could not unite in any 
 offensive measures, and where they might be naturalized to the 
 government and country." l 
 
 The execution of this plan was intrusted principally to the Mas- 
 sachusetts forces, headed by Lieut.-Colonel Winslow. 2 A conve- 
 nient time having arrived, the inhabitants, who had hitherto been 
 kept in entire ignorance of their destiny, " were called into the dif- 
 ferent ports to hear the King's orders, as they were termed. At 
 Grand Pre, where Col. Winslow had the immediate command, four 
 hundred and eighteen of their best men assembled. These being 
 shut into the church (for that too had become an arsenal) he placed 
 
 1 Minot'B History of Massachusetts, Vol. I., pp. 220, 221, 222. 
 * Lieut.-Colonel John Winslow of Marshfield.
 
 560 APPENDIX, NO. X. 
 
 himself with his officers in the centre, and addressed them thus : 
 * Gentlemen : I have received from his Excellency, Governor 
 Lawrence, the King's commission which I have in my hand ; and 
 by his orders you are convened together, to manifest to you his 
 Majesty's final resolution to the French inhabitants of this his Pro- 
 vince of Nova Scotia ; who for almost half a century have had 
 more indulgence granted them, than any of his subjects in any part 
 of his dominions. What use you have made of it, you yourselves 
 best know. 
 
 " * The part of duty I am now upon, though necessary, is very 
 disagreeable to my natural make and temper, as I know it must be 
 grievous to you, who are of the same species. 
 
 " ' But it is not my business to animadvert, but to obey such 
 orders as I receive ; and therefore, without hesitation, shall deliver 
 you his Majesty's orders and instructions ; namely , 
 
 " ' That your land and tenements, cattle of all kinds, and live 
 stock of all sorts, are forfeited to the crown, with all other your 
 effects, saving your money and household goods ; and you your- 
 selves to be removed from this his Province.' 
 
 " Thus it is peremptorily his Majesty's orders, that the whole 
 French inhabitants of these districts be removed ; and I am, 
 through his Majesty's goodness, directed to allow you liberty to 
 carry off your money and household goods, as many as you can 
 without discommoding the vessels you go in. I shall do every- 
 thing in my power, that all those goods be secured to you, and 
 that you are not molested in carrying them off; also, that whole 
 families shall go in the same vessel ; and make this remove, which 
 I am sensible must give you a great deal of trouble, as easy as his 
 Majesty's service will admit ; and hope that in whatever part of 
 the world you may fall, you may be faithful subjects, a peaceable 
 and happy people. 
 
 " I must also inform you, that it is his Majesty's pleasure that you 
 remain in security, under the inspection and direction of the troops 
 that I have the honor to command." " And he then declared them 
 the King's prisoners." 
 
 " The whole number of persons collected at Grand Pre finally 
 amounted to 483 men and 337 women, heads of families, and their 
 sons and daughters to 527 of the former, and 576 of the latter, 
 making in the whole 1,927 souls. Their stock was upwards of 
 5,000 horned cattle, 493 horses, and 12,887 sheep and swine.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. X. 561 
 
 " As some of these wretched inhabitants escaped to the woods, 
 all possible measures were adopted to force them back to captivity. 
 The country was laid waste to prevent their subsistence. In the 
 district of Minas alone, there were destroyed 255 houses, 276 
 barns, 155 out-houses, 11 mills, and 1 church; and the friends of 
 those who refused to come in were threatened, as the victims of 
 their obstinacy. In short, so operative were the terrors that sur- 
 rounded them, that of twenty-four young men who deserted from a 
 transport, twenty-two were glad to -return of themselves, the others 
 being shot by sentinels, and one of their friends, who was supposed 
 to have been accessary to their escape, having been carried on 
 shore to behold the destruction of his house and effects, which 
 were burned in his presence, as a punishment for his temerity, and 
 perfidious aid to his comrades. Being embarked by force of the 
 musquetry, they were dispersed, according to the original plan, 
 among the several British Colonies. One thousand arrived in 
 Massachusetts Bay, and became a public expense, owing in a 
 great degree to an unchangeable antipathy to their situation, 
 which prompted them to reject the usual beneficiary but humiliating 
 establishment of paupers for their children." 3 
 
 Of the thousand French Neutrals brought to Massachusetts, to 
 be distributed among its towns, we learn from Gage's History of 
 Rowley, that " Rowley had fourteen to provide for & .... that 
 Bradford had eleven as their proportion. Boxford had fifteen a 
 part of the time, but in March (1758) six of them were removed 
 to Middleton." 4 " The selectmen of the several towns were 
 authorized by law to bind them out to service. It is not known 
 that any of those in Rowley were bound out. The Province was 
 charged with the expense of their board. After the peace of 1763, 
 the town [Rowley] March 17, 1767, made a grant of 13 6s. 8d. to 
 aid them in returning to the place of their nativity." 4 
 
 From the following Memoranda in the Records of the Treasurer of 
 "Woburn of that day, it appears that a number of these unfortunate 
 people were placed in this town, under the care of different fam- 
 ilies : 
 
 1756 May 10. "Paid to Benjan. Wyman for provisions for 
 
 the French family now maintained by the Town . . 1.3.0." 
 " June 20. Paid to Dr. John Prince for his doctoring the 
 
 French in this town to this day 1.16.8." 
 
 Minot's History, Vol. I., pp. 224, 227. Gage's Rowley, p. 208.
 
 562 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. X. 
 
 1766 July 15. Paid to Mr. Thomas Reed for beef, pork, meal, 
 
 wood, and sundries for the French family in Woburn . 3.09.0." 
 " Deer. 29. Paid to Mr. Isaac Snow for provisions to 
 
 the French People in our town in full to this day . . 3.02.0." 
 1757 March 4. " There is a Note in the Hands of Josiah John- 
 son Esqr. of about twenty six Pounds from the Prov- 
 ince, to pay this Town for keeping the French people 
 taken from Menis and sent here." p. 122 
 " June 1. Paid to James Thompson for three loads of 
 
 wood he found for the French 0:10 :0." 
 
 " July 29. Paid to Dea. Timothy Winn for provisions for 
 
 the French people in our town 0:10:11." 
 
 " Aug. 17. Paid to Oliver Richardson for beans for ye. 
 
 French family . . 0:2:l." 
 
 1758. Feby. 23. "Paid to Dea. Timothy Winn for keeping 
 
 the French ye. fore part of ye. year. . . . . :10 :8." 
 " March 9. "Paid to Dea. Timothy Winn for service done 
 
 ye. Town respecting the French -A :0." 
 
 " May 23. "Paid to Benjn. Richardson for taking care of 
 
 the French 0:4:0:" 
 
 " Deer. 4. " Paid to Joseph Wright for time and trouble 
 
 spent about ye. French 0:4:0:" 
 
 " " " Paid to Benjn. Flagg for Clothing for the French 
 
 Nuters 1:4 :0." 
 
 1760 Jany. 13. "Paid to Mr. Benjn. Flagg in full of an Order 
 of sixteen shillings for keeping the French in the year 
 
 1758 0:16:0." 
 
 - " Oct. 13. "Paid to Mr. Benjn. Brooks in full for keeping 
 
 the French Family one year 28 :5 :7.1" 
 
 " " " Paid to Benjn. Brooks in part of an Order for 
 
 keeping the French family 0:19:8:3." 
 
 1761. Jany. 16. "Paid to Mr. Isaac Snow [for] a Coffin for 
 
 Abraham French [for Ab. a Frenchman? see March 30] :7 :4 :0." 
 " March 30. " Paid to Mr. Isaac Brooks for digging a 
 
 grave for the Frenchman, and keeping a woman stranger :8.0.0" 
 " March 30. " Paid to Dr. John Prince in full for doctoring 
 
 the French family in the years 1758 & 1759. . . . :9 :6 :0 
 
 " Aug. 29. Received of Mr. James Fowle, which he 
 received of ye Province Treasurer for keeping the 
 French in Woburn 5 :13 :4 :0." 
 
 " July 6. " Paid to Mr. Joshua Walker in full for going to 
 Wilmington to divide the french family [to carry part 
 of them there?] . . 0:4:0:0'' 
 
 " Oct. 4. " Paid to Mr. Joshua Harnden in full for moving 
 
 the French family from Wilmington to Charlestown :8 :0 :0." 
 
 "Paid to Mr. Joseph Harnden in part of an Order 
 
 for house rent for the French family in Wilmington :16 :0 :0."
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XL 563 
 
 1764. Oct. 12. " Paid Capt. Zach* Flagg in full for a part of a 
 
 load of wood he found for the French . . . . 0:2:0:0. 
 
 1764. Deer 29. " Paid John Lappidore in full for what the 
 Selectmen agreed to give him for maintaining the 
 French for one year 1 :12 :0 :0" 
 
 1766 Jany. 8. " Paid to John Labedore for him and his family 
 
 (Was not Lappidore himself one of the French?) . 1 :12 :0.0." 
 
 " August 28. "Paid to John Labedore 8 .... 1:12:0:0." 
 
 APPENDIX, No. XI. 
 
 BOUNTY FOR KILLING BLACKBIRDS AND SQUIRRELS IN 1741, ETC. 
 
 About 1740, the fields in Woburn appear to have been greatly 
 infested, in planting and harvest time, with blackbirds and squir- 
 rels. To get rid of these pests, the inhabitants in town meeting 
 March 30, 1741, passed the following vote : 
 
 " Voted, that the Town Treasurer is directed to pay unto the 
 Fathers and Masters of Children and Servants three pence per 
 head for Crow Black-birds, Jebirds [Jaybirds ?] and Mouse Squir- 
 rels that they their Children or Servants shall or may kill and 
 destroy within the said Town of Woburn from the twelfth day of 
 April next to the last day of June next, provided that the heads of 
 said birds and squirrels be brought into the Treasury by said 
 Fathers and Masters on the General Town meeting in May next, 
 or on the first Monday of July next ensuing, which are the times 
 appointed by the Town for the Treasurer to receive and pay for 
 the same : Always provided that the General Court does not 
 make an Act of Law upon that account." l 
 
 And now all the boys in "Woburn, stimulated by the promise of 
 a bounty to a work of destruction, which they are always ready 
 enough from mere wantonness to perform, entered with alacrity 
 into the warfare which they had now been encouraged to under- 
 take. Through a large portion of the years 1741, 1742 and 1743, 
 they were employed in this business : nor did they confine them- 
 selves to the times for their bloody work to which the vote of the 
 town restricted them, but readily engaged in it whenever the 
 
 * The last entry in the treasurer's book that I find, respecting the French. I have ob- 
 served no mention there of any money given them, to aid them to return to their own 
 country, aa was done in 1767 at Rowley. 
 
 Town Records, Vol. VII., p. 363.
 
 564 APPENDIX, NO. XI. 
 
 prospect of success invited them to stir in it. Nor did the Trea- 
 surer himself appear to feel limited in the bounty he paid them, 
 but increased it as he pleased, as though the amount of it were a 
 matter left to his own discretion to determine ; and hence we find 
 him giving four pence instead of three pence for every squirrel's 
 head that was brought to him, three pence for every old blackbird's 
 head, and a penny for the head of every young one. 
 
 The results of the crusade against these little mischievous crea- 
 tures, which the above vote of the town initiated, may well fill us 
 of the present day with surprise, now that their number is so vastly 
 diminished. Within a twelvemonth from April 28, 1741, the 
 treasurer paid bounty upon 5,200 squirrels' heads that were brought 
 to him, and upon 2,015 blackbirds' heads, young and old. 2 And 
 the expense incurred by the town for this purpose was reimbursed 
 from the State Treasury, as appears by the annexed Certificate of 
 the treasurer of Woburn : 
 
 " March y e . 13th. 1741-2. Received from the Country Treasurer, 
 of the bounty we paid for birds and squirrels last year, the sum of 
 one hundred and twenty seven Pound and five Shillings and three 
 Pence. 127 :5 :3." 3 
 
 Subjoined are a few specimens of the activity and diligence of 
 the boys in their work of destruction, as are recorded in the Trea- 
 surer's book of accounts : 
 
 " May ye. 4. 1741. Paid Mr. Zachariah Snow for 29 Black 
 
 Birds heads 0:7: 3." 
 
 " May ye. 25. 1741. Paid Amos Kendall for one hundred and 
 
 two Black birds heads and twenty eight Squirrels. . .1. 14. 10.'* 
 " June ye. 6. 1741 Paid Jedidiah Leathe for one hundred 
 
 and four Squirrels, and three old Black Birds, and twelve 
 
 young Black Birds Heads. 1 : 16 : 5." 
 
 " June ye. 8. 1741. Paid Joshua Jones for fifty eight Black 
 
 Birds and thirty Squirrels heads 1:4: 6." 
 
 " June ye. 16. 1741. Paid Jonathan Proctor for 75 old and 5 
 
 young Black Birds heads, and 44 Squirrels heads. . . 1. 13 : 10." 
 " August ye. 5. 1741. Paid John Tottingham for 94 Squirrels, 
 
 and 6 old and 4 young Blackbirds heads . . . . 1 : 13 : 2." 
 " August ye. 5. 1741. Paid Amos Kendall for 114 Squirrels', 
 
 and 15 old Blackbirds and 4 young ones heads . . . 2: 2: 1. 
 " December ye. 25. 1741. Paid Farrar [for] 73 Squirrels' 
 
 Heads . 1. 4. 4." 
 
 Treasurer's Book of Accounts, from 1739 to 1772, pp. 14-24, and p. 31. 
 Treasurer's Book, p. 32.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 565 
 
 February 1. 1741-2. " Paid Samii. Nevers for 33 old and 13 
 young black birds' and 58 Squirrels' heads. . . . 1. 8. 8" 
 
 " February 26. 1741-2. Paid Jacob Peirce for 318 Squirrels 
 and 4 old and one young blackbirds' heads . . . 5. 7. 1." 
 
 " Paid Joshua Kendall for 150 Squirrels 
 heads . . . ' . 2. 10. 0" 
 
 " February 27. 1741-2. Paid Jacob Richardson y*. 3d. for 
 189 squirrels and 12 old black birds and 7 young ones 
 [heads] 3. 6. 7." 
 
 In the Treasurer's Book, there are registered upon 7 folio pages, 173 
 entries of payments made by him for the heads of blackbirds and 
 squirrels killed between 1741 and 1742, and brought to him, and amounting 
 severally from four pence to upwards of five pounds.* Nor did this work 
 of destruction then cease. It was resumed in August 1 742 ; four pages 
 more of the Treasurer's Book are occupied with recording its results 5 ; 
 and November 30, 1743 there was paid out of the Province Treasury 
 103 : 9s. lOd. for what had been done in Woburn-in this way. 6 
 
 APPENDIX, No. XII. 
 
 LIST OP MEN, WHO SERVED FOB WOBURN IN THE WAR OF THE 
 REVOLUTION : 
 
 Comprehending : 
 
 (1.) Known Citizens of Woburn, and others, who on plausible 
 grounds are presumed to have been Inhabitants of the town when 
 the "War began, or soon after ; and all of whom, being drafted, 
 rendered personal service in it, or procured others who did it in 
 their stead.* 
 
 (2.) Strangers from a distance, and persons belonging to other 
 towns, who were hired from time to time by Woburn to fill up its 
 quota, or by private individuals to act for them as substitutes. 
 Soldiers of this latter class are distinguished by prefixing a (|) to 
 their names in the List ; and though originating elsewhere, yet 
 several of them, it is to be observed, made Woburn eventually 
 their permanent place of residence. 
 
 * Treasurer's Book, pp. 14-21. B Treasurer's Book, pp. 31, 38-41. 
 
 Treasurer's Book, p. 44. 
 49,
 
 566 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 
 
 Documents in the Archives of the Town or State, referred to in the 
 List as Authorities, or /Sources of Information. 
 
 I. Orders for the payment of individual Soldiers. 
 
 At the commencement of the Revolutionary War, there were in 
 Woburn three companies of militia commanded respectively by 
 Capts. Samuel Belknap, Jesse Wyman, and Joshua Walker of the 
 Precinct. Original Muster Rolls or Lists of these companies 
 are still preserved. They each give the names of the soldiers 
 belonging to it ; and annexed to their names, in appropriate col- 
 umns, is the valuation of the services respectively assigned them 
 during the first two years of the war, 1775, 1776. 
 
 When the terms of their enlistments had expired, at the end 
 of 1776, compensation was made them by Orders on the town 
 treasurer for the payment of the bounties which the town had 
 voted to give for each service performed by them respectively. 
 These Orders, which are (most of them) still preserved, and are 
 very numerous, generally bear date from March 20, 1777 ; they 
 have all been numbered ; the number of each of them is set in the 
 List here presented against the name of the person in favor of 
 whom it was drawn ; and they all (with scarcely an exception) are 
 receipted on the back by the persons who severally took from the 
 treasurer the amount of them, in their own proper hand. They do 
 not specify, however, on the face of them the particular services 
 for which payment is directed in them to be made, but only sig- 
 nify in general, that they were given for " Service in the present 
 War" ; or for " Service done in the present War before 1777 ," or 
 "January 1st, 1777." 
 
 To these Orders may properly be added selections from returns 
 made at stated times of drafts or enlistments for special services, 
 by Samuel Nevers, sworn clerk of the Precinct Company, under 
 Capt. Walker. 
 
 II. Town Reports and Orders (numbered on the Town Files of 
 Documents by V., VI., VII., etc. to XX.), respecting the payment 
 of whole companies of men (or of the several individuals compos- 
 ing them), which were sent out subsequently to 1776 on various 
 military expeditions, or " tours of duty ; " and which are distin- 
 guished on the following List by the names of their respective com- 
 manders, and by the times and places of their mission. 
 
 III. Names of the " Eight months' Men," in the Continental
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 567 
 
 army in 1775, obtained from the original Muster Rolls in Woburn, 
 or from the Register of the same in the State House, Boston. 
 
 IV. Names of the men who enlisted for Woburn, 1777, for three 
 years, or " during the War," in the Continental service, as exhib- 
 ited in the Town Document No. XIX., or in the State House 
 Records, or in both. 
 
 V. Names of the men belonging to Woburn, or serving for it, 
 in the 37th, afterwards the 26th Regiment in the United States 
 service, commanded by Col. Loammi Baldwin, of Woburn, col- 
 lected from his numerous manuscript papers ; which papers having 
 been deposited by his heirs in the Archives of the State, have there 
 been bound up together in a large folio volume, known as the 
 Baldwin Volume. 
 
 VI. Names of the men who constituted a reinforcement of the 
 United States troops required of Woburn to furnish for six mouths 
 in 1780 ; and which have been preserved in Orders for the payment 
 of their respective bounties, and other authentic papers belonging 
 to the town. 
 
 VII. Worcester Rolls, so called ; viz : one or more manuscript 
 volumes preserved in the State House, and containing soldiers' 
 names, etc., etc. 
 
 Abbreviations used in the following List : 
 
 (1.) " S." for " Service." (2.) " S. p. W." ; Service in the 
 present war ; that is, before 1777. (3.) " St. H. L." ; the State 
 House List of the persons or soldiers referred to. (4.) " C. A." ; 
 Continental Army. (5.) " Bn's Regt." ; the regiment commanded 
 by Col. Baldwin, of Woburn. (6.) " Bu. Vol." ; Volume of Bald- 
 win papers, correspondence, etc., etc. (7.) " Woods Co." ; The 
 company in the Baldwin Regiment, commanded by Capt. John 
 Wood, of Woburn Precinct, and consisting principally of Woburu 
 men. (8.) I., II., III., IV., to XIX., XX., inclusively, denote 
 Documents distinguished by one or other of those numbers in the 
 Town Files. (9.) No. of Order for payment preserved by the Trea- 
 surer, and signined by 1, 2, 30, 100, 400, etc., etc., etc.
 
 568 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 
 
 WOBURN MEN IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 
 1775-1783. 
 
 Abbot : William. C. A. Bn's. Regt. 
 
 Pettingell's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 fAdams : John. C. A. 1777, 3 years, 
 
 xix. 
 
 Alexander : Abra. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Alexander : Abram. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Alexander: Abram. Expedition to 
 
 Ticonderoga, 1 July 1776. 
 
 Nevers' Returns. 
 Alexander: Giles. S. p. W. March 
 
 28, 1777 : date of Order. 373. 
 
 Alexander: John. S. p. W. before 
 
 Jan. 1777. 140, 265. 
 
 Alexander: John, jun. C. A. 6 mos. 
 
 for Wob. 1780. 286, 310, 320. 
 
 357, 361, 431. 
 
 Alexander: Philip. C. A. 3 years, 
 
 1777-1779. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Alexander: William. At the lines 
 
 fifteen dayp, guarding prisoners of 
 
 Convention. 475. 
 
 Alexander : William. C. A. 6 mos. 
 
 1780. 224. 
 
 fAllen : Ezekiel. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 for Woburn. St. H. L. 
 
 Allen : Ezekiel. C. A. 8 mos. Bn's 
 
 Regt. Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 Andrews : Lt. Abm. C. A. Whitney's 
 
 Regt. for Wob. Wore. Rolls. 
 
 fAustin : David. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 
 xix. 
 
 fBachelor : Wm. C. A. 1777. 3 years 
 
 enlisted for. xix. 
 
 fBarbadoes: Isaac. C. A. 1777. 3 
 
 years. xix. 
 
 Baldwin: Cyrus. S. p. W. Order 
 
 dated March 20, 1777. 207. 
 
 Baldwin: James. S. p. W. March 
 
 20, 1777. 36. 
 
 Baldwin : Col. Loammi. S. p. W. be- 
 fore Jan. 1777. 260. 
 fBeard: Abel. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 232, 437. 
 Belknap: Josiah. Rhode Island. 
 
 Capt. Wyman, 1777. 360, 423, 453. 
 Belknap: Capt. Samuel. S. p. W. 
 
 Order dated March 20, 1777. 57. 
 
 Belknap: Capt. Samuel. C. A. 
 Brooks's Regt. Wore. Rolls. 
 
 Bennett : James. C. A. 3 years. 
 1777-79. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Bennett: James. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Bennett: John. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood's Co. 1776. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Bennett : John. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 241. 
 
 Bennett: Sergt. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Stephen: C. A. Bn's Regt. Wood's 
 Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Bennett : Thomas. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Bennett : Thomas. Capt. Wm. Green, 
 R. I. 3 mos. 1780. ix. 313. 
 
 fBiscoe : Sergt. George. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775, for Woburn. St. H. L. 
 
 Biscoe : Sergt.George. C. A. Baldwin's 
 Regt. Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Blackman: Reiner. C. A. for Wo- 
 burn. Wore. Rolls. 
 
 Blanchard : Dea. David. S. p. W. be- 
 fore Jan. 1777. 20. 
 
 Blanch. : David, jun. Lt. Jos. John- 
 son, Cambridge, 1777. v. viii, 64. 
 
 Blanch. : David, jun. Guarding pris- 
 oners of Convention, 1778. 309. 
 
 Blanchard: Benj. Bunker Hill, 5 
 weeks, 1779. 290. 
 
 Blanchard: Benj. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Blanchard: Josiah. C. A. 6 mos. 
 1780, for Woburn. 219,422. 
 
 Blogget : Amos. R. I. 6 mos. 1779, for 
 Woburn. 454. 
 
 Blogget : Dr. Samuel. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 10. 
 
 Blogget : Mr. Thomas. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 01. 
 
 Brewster : William. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 47. 
 
 Brooks: Jabez. C. A. 3 years 1777 
 enlisted for ; but died before end of 
 engagement. 222. 
 
 Brooks : John. Lt. Dix, near Cam- 
 bridge, 3 mos. 1778, guarding pris- 
 oners, vii. viii. 
 
 Where he died in the autumn of 1776. Rev. Mr. Marrett's List of Deaths in 1776.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 
 
 569 
 
 Brooks : Jonathan. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 147. 
 
 Brooks : Joseph. Cont. Army. 
 
 Wore. Rolls. 
 
 Brooks : Lt. Nathaniel. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 316. 
 
 Brooks : Ens. Timothy, jun. S. p. W. 
 before 1777. 5. 
 
 Brooks : Timothy, 3d. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 379. 
 
 Brooks : Lt. Zachariah. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 84. 
 
 Brown : Dan. Green. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 102. 
 
 Brown : Joseph. Lt. Jos. Johnson, 
 Cambridge, 1777. v. viii. 124, 257. 
 
 Brown : Josiah. S. p. W. before Jan. 
 1777. 189, 290. 
 
 Bruce : Mr. John. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 166. 
 
 Bruce : John, jun. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 41. 
 
 Bruce : Lewis. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 
 439,457. 
 
 Bruce: Thomas. S. P. W. before Jan. 
 1777. 27, 327, 384. 
 
 Bruce : Thomas, jun. S. p. W. before 
 Jan. 1777. 271. 
 
 Bucknam : Jacob. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 
 Burton: Lt. Isaac. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 254. 
 
 Burton : Lt. Isaac. Exped. to Ticon- 
 deroga, 5 mos. 1776. Nevers' List. 
 
 Caldwell: Jacob. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 99. 
 
 Caldwell : John. C. A. at the North : 
 a recruit for 1777. xi. 
 
 fCarrel: [Caryl?] John. C. A. 1777 
 for 3 years. xix. 
 
 Carter : Jonas. Lt. Jas. Johnson, at 
 Carab. 2 mos. 1777. v. viii. 
 
 Carter: Jonathan. Capt. Ford, at 
 Camb. 5 mos. 1777-8. vi. viii. 171. 
 
 Carter: Samuel. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 315. 
 
 Carter : Simon. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 44. 
 
 Carter: William. Capt. Foster, at 
 the Northward, against Burgoyne. 
 1777. 155. 
 
 Center: Bill. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 353. 
 
 Cheever : John. C. A. at the North, 
 a recruit for, 1777. xi. 
 
 fCheney : Samuel. C. A. 1777, for 3 
 years. xix. 
 
 Convers : Benjamin. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 145. 
 
 Convers : Josiah, jun. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 177. 
 
 Conrers : Josiah. Capt. Foster, at the 
 Northward, 1777, against Bur- 
 goyne. 274. 
 
 Convers : Robert. S. P. W. before 
 1777. 200. 
 
 fCornell : John. C. A. 1777, for 3 
 years. xix. 
 
 Cummings: David. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 93, 336. 
 
 Cummings : Ebenezer. Lt. Jos. John- 
 son, Cambridge, 2 mos. 1777. 
 
 v. viii. 
 
 Cutler: Nathaniel. S. p. W. before 
 Jan. 1777. 402. 
 
 Cutler : Nath. jun. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 355. 
 
 Cutler : Nath. Capt. Wyman, Bunker 
 Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 106. 
 
 Cutler: Samuel. Capt. Ford, Camb. 
 1777-78. vi. vii. 108, 382. 
 
 Cutter: John, jun. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 76. 
 
 Cutter: Seth, jun. Capt. Wyman, 
 Bunker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 406. 
 
 Dean: Jesse. 8 C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Dean: Jesse. C. A. Bn's Regt. Wood's 
 Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Dean: Lemuel. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 107. 
 
 Dean : Samuel. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 103. 
 
 Dean : Supply. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 159, 389. 
 
 Dean: Thomas. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Dean: Thomas. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Dean : Sergt. Thomas. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 206. 
 
 fDitson : Samuel. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Dix : Lt. Nathan. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 S. p. W. before 1777. 199. 
 
 Douglas : Barnard. Capt. Green, R. 
 I. 3 mos. 1780. ix. 72. 
 
 Douglas : John. C. A. 3 years, 1777-79. 
 St. H. L. 
 
 * Jesse Dean was in Woburn In 1775, and was taxed there in the province tax for that year. 
 In 1776, 1777, he was taxed in Woburn among the non-residents of Wilmington. But, eventu- 
 ally, he became a constant inhabitant of Woburn Precinct. 
 49*
 
 570 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 
 
 Douglas: Kobert. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 210. 
 
 Douglas: Robert. Capt. Foster, at 
 
 the Northward, 1777. 242. 
 
 Dodge: Andrew. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 125. 
 
 Dodge : Andrew. Capt. Foster, at the 
 
 Northward, 1777. 112. 
 
 fDow : Nathan. C. A. 1777, for 3 years ; 
 
 discharged. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Eames: Jacob. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 63. 
 
 Eames : Samuel. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 
 318, 456. 
 
 Eaton : Jonathan. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 62. 
 Eaton : Noah. S. p. "W. before 1777. 
 284. 
 Edgell: Capt. Benjamin. S. p. W. 
 
 before 1777. 37. 
 
 Edgell : Capt. Benjamin. R. I. 1778. 
 
 351. 
 
 fEdwards: John. C. A. 1777, for 3 
 
 years. xix. 
 
 Evans: Andrew. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 294, 328. 
 
 Evans: Andrew, jun. C. A. 6 mos. 
 
 1780. 247, 369. 
 
 Evans : Andrew, 3d. Lt. Dix, Cam- 
 bridge, 1778. vii. viii. 
 Evans : Jonas. S. p. W. before Jan. 
 
 1777. 296, 329. 
 
 Ev; ns : Silas. C. A. 1777, for 3 years. 
 
 St. H. L. xix. 
 
 fFairfleld : Elijah. C. A. for Woburn. 
 
 Wore. Rolls. 
 
 Farmer: Thomas. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 338. 
 
 Farrington: Matthew. C. A. Bn's 
 
 Regt. Wood's Co. 1775. Bu. Vol. 
 fFinch: Simeon. C. A. 1777, for 3 
 
 years for Woburn. xix. 
 
 Finch : 
 Fisk : Robert. C. A. Bn's Regt. Pet- 
 
 tingell's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Fisk : Robert. C. A. 1777, during the 
 
 War. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 fFitzgerald : John. C. A. 8 mos. 1775, 
 
 for Woburn. St. H. L. 
 
 fFlagg: Gershom. 3 C. A. 6 mos. 
 
 1780, for Wobum. 408. 
 
 Flagg : Hiram. Capt. Green, R. I. 3 
 
 mos. 1780. ix. 313, 352. 
 
 Flagg: John. Capt. Foster, at the 
 
 Northward, 1777. 297. 
 
 fForbes : John. C. A. 1777, 3 years, 
 
 for Woburn. xix. 
 
 fFoam : Abijah. C. A. 1777, 3 years, 
 
 for Woburn. xix. 
 
 Fowle: Benjamin. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 137, 314. 
 
 Fowle : James, jun. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 184, 196. 
 
 Fowle : James, 3d. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 270. 
 
 Fowle : James, 4th. C. A. 1777, for 
 
 3 years. xix. 
 
 Fowle: John [3d?]. Capt. Wyman, 
 
 Bunker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 
 
 Fowle : Josiah. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 
 31. 
 
 Fowle : Josiah, jun. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. -^ 28. 
 
 Fowle: Leonard. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 266. 
 
 Fowle Leonard, Capt. Foster, at the 
 
 Northward, 1777. 377. 
 
 Fowle : William. Capt. Green, R. I. 
 
 3 mos. 1780. ix. 252, 367. 
 
 Fox : Adj. William. Lt. Jos. John- 
 son, Cambridge, 1777. v. viii. 404. 
 Fuller: Silas. Capt. Foster, at the 
 
 Northward, 1777. 212. 
 
 fGardner : James. 4 C. A. 6 mos. 
 
 1780. 221, 302, 456. 
 
 Giddings : Joseph. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 98, 194. 
 
 Gleason: Benjamin. Capt. Wyman, 
 
 Bunker Hill, 1778. xvi. viii. 121. 
 Gleason: Thomas. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 33, 398, 445. 
 
 Gleason: Thomas. C. A. 3 years. 419. 
 
 Gloyd : Benjamin. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Gloyd: Benjamin. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 378. 
 
 Goodwin: Uriah. Continental Army. 
 
 Wore. Rolls. 
 
 fGreaton : Col. Robert. C. A. 1777, 
 
 during the War. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 fHadley: Benjamin. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Hadley : Benjamin. Capt. Green, R. 
 
 I. 3 mos. 1780. ix. 230, 272, 462. 
 
 } S. p. W. before 
 
 Hardeeort Ashpr 1777. 325. 
 
 Hardy: f Asher ' C. A. 1777, for 3 
 
 years. xix. 
 
 Hay: Dr. John. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 283. 
 
 8 Gershom Flagg is the name of a noted inhabitant of Woburn in former times. But the 
 person here referred to, though a descendant of his, lived and died in Wilmington. 
 
 4 James Gardner was not taxed in Woburn ; and is presumed to have been an inhabitant of 
 " Gardner Row," just within the bounds of " Charlestown End."
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 
 
 571 
 
 Heywood: Jonathan. Capt. Ford, 
 
 Cambridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 
 fHodge : Ebenezer. C. A. 1777, for 3 
 
 years, for Woburn. xix. St. H. L. 
 Holden : Jonathan. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 16. 
 
 fHopkins: Jesse. C. A. Bn's Reg. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Ingraham : Elijah. C. A. 1777, for 3 
 
 years, for Woburn. St. H. L. 
 
 Jaquith: Isaac. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 259. 
 
 Johnson : Abijah. C. A. 8 mos. 1776. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Johnson: Abijah. Capt. Edgell. R. 
 
 I. 6 weeks. 1778. 354. 
 
 Johnson: Azel. Capt. Foster at the 
 
 Northward, 1777. 113. 
 
 Johnson : Azel. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 
 251. 
 
 Johnson: Daniel. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 347. 
 
 Johnson: Francis. Capt. Foster at 
 
 the Northward, 1777. 132 
 
 Johnson : Ichabod. C. A. 8 mos. 
 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Johnson : Ichabod. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 Johnson: Ichabod. C. A. 6 mos. 
 
 1780. 244, 415. 
 
 Johnson : Isaac. Capt. Edgell, R. I. 
 
 6 weeks. 1778. 348. 
 
 Johnson : James. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 198, 300, 442. 
 
 Johnson: James. Lieut. Dix, Cam- 
 bridge, 1778. vii. viii. 
 Johnson : John. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1776. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Johnson : Jonathan. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 264, 267. 
 
 Johnson : Lt. Joseph. At Cambridge 
 
 2 mos. 1777. v. viii. 25. 
 
 Johnson : Jotham. S. p. W. before 
 
 Jan. 1777. 176, 278. 
 
 Johnson : Reuben. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 149. 
 
 Johnson: Samuel. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 324. 
 
 Johnson: Ensign Seth. S. p. W. 
 
 before 1777. 146. 
 
 Johnson : Shubael. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 158, 337. 
 
 Johnson: William, jun. S. p. W. 
 
 before 1777. 169. 
 
 Johnson : William. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 fJones: Sergt. John. C. A. 1777. 3 
 
 years. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Jones : Jonathan. Capt. Wyman. R. 
 
 I. 1777. 249. 
 
 Jones: Jonathan. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 Jones : Jonathan. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 331, 413. 
 Jones: Joshua. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 400. 
 Kendall: Benjamin. C. A. 8 mos. 
 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Kendall : Benjamin. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood's Co. 1775-76. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Kendall: Benjamin. C. A. 1777, for 
 3 years. St. H. L. 
 
 Kendall: Jonathan. Lt. Jos. John- 
 son, Camb. 1777. v. viii. 133. 
 
 Kendall: Joseph. Capt. Foster at 
 the Northward, 1777. 
 
 Kendall: Joseph. Capt. Dix, R. I. 
 
 1778. 463. 
 Kendall: Joshua. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 8. 
 
 Kendall: Nathan. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. ' 9, 388. 
 
 Kendall: Nathan. Capt. Wyraan, 
 
 Bunker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 
 
 Kendall: Obadiah. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 92. 
 
 Kendall : Obadiah. Lt. Jos. Johnson, 
 
 Cambridge, 1777. v. viii. 323. 
 
 Kendall: Oliver. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Woods' Co. 1776. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Kendall: Oliver. C. A. 1777 for 3 
 
 years. St. H. L. 
 
 fKillgore: Trueworthy. C. A. 1777. 
 
 3 years. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Kimball: John. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 101. 
 
 Kimball: John. Capt. Foster at 
 
 Northw. 1777. 151. 
 
 Kimball: Joseph. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 181. 
 
 Kimball: Lt. Reuben. Capt. Foster 
 
 at Northward, 1777. 114. 
 
 Kimball: Reuben. C. A. 1777. 3 
 
 years. xix. 
 
 fKnox: James. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Knox : James. Col. Greaton's Regt. 
 
 Knox's Artificers. Wore. Rolls. 
 Larrabee or Leatherby : Thomas. 
 
 Capt. Foster at Northw. 1777. 317. 
 Lawrence: Ebenezer. Capt. Ford, 
 
 Cambridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 115. 
 Lawrence: Jonathan [jun.]. Capt. 
 
 Foster at Northward, 1777. 61. 
 Lawrence : Joseph. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 2. 
 
 Leathe : Elijah. S. p. W. before Jan. 
 
 1777. 97, 248. 
 
 Leathe : Elijah, jun. Capt. Foster at 
 
 Northw. 1777. 122, 370.
 
 572 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 
 
 Leathe: James. Capt. Dix, R. I. 6 
 
 weeks, 1778. 375. 
 
 Lenox: Cornelius. [A Mulatto.] C. 
 
 A. 8 mos. 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Lenox : Cornelius. C. A. Bn's Ilegt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Lock : Benjamin. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 335, 434. 
 
 Lock : Ebenezer. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Lock: Ebenezer. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1775-76. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Lock : Ebenezer. C. A. 1777. 3 years 
 
 enlisted for. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Lock : Ebenezer, jun. C. A. Bn's 
 
 Regt. Wood's Co. 1775-6. Bn. Vol. 
 Lock : Jonathan. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 230. 
 
 Lock : Jonathan. Capt. Green, R. I. 
 
 3 mos. 1780. ix. 417,435. 
 
 Lock : Josiah. S. p. W. " since 1774." 
 
 458. 
 
 Lock: Thomas, Capt. C. A. Bn's 
 
 Regt. Wood's Co. 1775-76. Bn. Vol. 
 Lock : Thomas, jun. Capt. Foster at 
 
 Northward, 1777. 195. 
 
 Lock: Thomas, jun. Lt. Dix, near 
 
 Camb. 3 mos. 1778. vii. viii. 
 
 Lock: William. Expedition to Ti- 
 
 conderoga, July, 1776. 5 
 fMcDowell: William. C. A. 1777. 3 
 
 years. xix. 
 
 McGill: Robert. Capt. Foster at 
 
 Northward, 1777. 60, 120. 
 
 McLean : Uriah. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Mallet: Isaac. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 298. 
 Marion : Ebenezer. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 St. H. L. 
 Marion : Ebenezer. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Marion : Ebenezer. C. A. 1777 : enlisted 
 
 for 3 years, but died. St. H. L. 
 
 Marion : Isaac. S. p. W. before Jan. 
 
 1, 1777. 64, 344 
 
 Marion : Isaac. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 5. 
 Mason : Aaron. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 
 xix. St. H. L. 460. 
 Mason : Charles. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 
 [died]. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 fMerow: Prince, [a Mulatto serv- 
 ant.] C. A. 1777. 3 years. xix. 
 
 Miller : Job. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. for 
 
 Woburn. 220, 438. 
 
 Munroe : Andrew. 6 C. A. 1777. 3 
 
 years. St. H. L. 
 
 Munroe : Andrew. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 
 for Woburn. 234. 
 
 fNeal : Edward. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 
 [an Invalid.] St. H. L. 
 
 Nevers : Samuel, jun. Capt. Foster 
 
 at Northward, 1777. 105. 
 
 Newman: Ebenezer. C. A. 8 mos. 
 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Newman : Ebenezer. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's, Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Newman : Josiah. Lt. Jos. Johnson at 
 
 Cambridge, 1777. v. viii. 
 
 Newman: Josiah. Bunker Hill, 5 
 
 weeks from Jan. 25, 1779. 441. 
 
 Newman : Josiah. Capt. Green, R. I. 
 
 3 mos. 1780. ix. 416, 470. 
 
 Newman : Thomas. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 89. 
 
 Newman: Thomas. C. A. 1777. 3 
 
 years. xix. 
 
 JOrgan : f al. Morgan] Thomas. C. A. 
 
 1777. 3 years. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 fOsburn : James. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 
 xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Osburn: Fife Major. C. A. 1780. 6 
 
 mos. Col Greaton's Regt. 421, 474. 
 Parker : Edmund. Capt. Green, R. I. 
 
 3 mos. 1780. ix. 430. 
 
 Parker : Josiah. Capt. Wyman, Bun- 
 ker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 130. 
 Parker: Josiah. Lt. Jos. Johnson, 
 
 Cambridge, 1777. v. viii. 134. 
 
 Peirce: Benjamin. Continental Army. 
 
 Wore. Kolls. 
 
 Peirce : Joshua. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 255. 
 
 Peirce : Josiah. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 
 32. 
 
 Perry : John. C. A. Bn's Regt. Wood's 
 
 Co. 1776. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Perry : John. Capt. Edgell, R. I. 6 
 
 weeks. 1778. 468. 
 
 Perry : Jonathan. C. A. 6 mos. . 780. 
 
 Wore. Rolls. 
 
 Perry: Lt. Joseph. Lt. Dix, near 
 
 Cambridge Lines, 1778. vii. viii. 
 Perry : Lt. Joseph. Capt. Green, R. 
 
 I. 3 mos. 1780. ix. 49, 165. 
 
 Peters : Philip. S. p. W. before Jan. 
 
 1777. 51. 
 
 In Rev. Mr. Marrett's List of Deaths, 1776, William Lock is said to have died at Ticon- 
 deroga in the autumn of that year. 
 
 Andrew Monroe., a native of Lexington, but taxed as an inhabitant of Woburn in the State 
 tax for 1780, '81, '82.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 
 
 573 
 
 fPhipps : Elijah. Capt. Green, R. 1. 3 
 
 mos. 1780. ix. 414. 
 
 fPike : Ebenezer. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 for Woburn. St. H. L. 
 
 fPitts : Michael. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 for Woburn. St. H. L. 
 
 Pomp : Blackman. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Pomp : Blackman. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Pettingill's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Pomp : Blackman. Capt. Green, R. I. 
 
 3 mos. 1780. ix. 292, 319, 430. 
 
 Poole : Eleazar Flagg. S. p. W. 1776. 
 
 3, 192. 
 
 Pool : Eleazar F. jun. C. A. 6 mos. 
 
 1780. 214. 
 
 Porter: Dudley. S. p. W. before Jan. 
 
 777. 80, 346. 
 
 Porter : Lt. Jonathan. C. A. 3 years. 
 
 1777-9. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Porter: Josiah. Continental Army. 
 
 Wore. Rolls. 
 
 Porter: William. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 42. 
 
 Porter : William, jun. Capt. Wyman, 
 
 Bunker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 135. 
 Phillips : Thomas. Exped. to Ticon- 
 
 deroga 1776. S. Nevers' Return. 
 Rainger : Nehemiah. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 341. 
 
 fRand: Jack. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 
 xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Rand : Jack. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 461. 
 Randall: Josiah. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Reed : Amos. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 
 301. 
 
 Reed: Daniel. Capt. Foster at North- 
 ward, 1777. 383. 
 Reed: Ebenezer. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 40, 70. 
 
 Reed : Ezekiel. Continental Army. 
 
 Wore. Rolls. 
 
 Reed : George. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 394. 
 
 Reed: George, jun. 7 
 Reed: Isaac. Capt. Ford, Cambridge, 
 
 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 
 Reed: Israel. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Reed : Jacob. S. p. W. " before Jan. 
 
 1777." 35, 403. 
 
 Reed : James, jun. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Reed : James jun. Capt. Green, R. I. 
 
 3 mos. 1780. ix. 410, 465. 
 
 Reed : Lt. James. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 172. 
 Reed : Joel. C. A. Bn's Regt. Woods' 
 
 Co. 1776. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Reed: Joel. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Reed: John. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Reed: Jonas. Capt. Foster, at 
 
 Northward, 1777. 163. 
 
 Reed : Capt. Joshua. S. p. W. before 
 
 Jan. 1777. 17, 349. 
 
 Reed: Joshua [jun.?]. S. p. W. 
 
 before 1777. 90, 256. 
 
 Reed: Joshua, jun. C. A. 1777, 3 
 
 years. xix. 
 
 Reed: Joshua. C. A. Drummer. 
 
 Wore. Rolls. 
 
 Reed : Micah. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 
 342. 
 
 Reed: Micah. Capt. Foster at 
 
 Northward, 1777. 109. 
 
 Reed: Micah. Capt. Ford, Camb. 
 
 1777-78. vi. viii. 161. 
 
 Reed: Newhall. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 127, 197. 
 
 Reed: Newhall. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Reed : Reuben. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Reed : Dea. Samuel. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 45. 
 
 Reed: Swithin. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 50. 
 
 Reed: Thomas. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Reed: Ward. Capt. Green, R. I. 3 
 
 mos. 1780. ix. 436. 
 
 Richarson: Abel, jun. S. p. W. 
 
 before Jan. 1777. 46, 126, 128. 
 
 Richarson : Abijah. Lt. Jos. John- 
 son, Cambridge, 1777. v. viii. 
 Richarson : Alford. Capt. Wyman, 
 
 R. I. 1777. 433. 
 
 Richardson: Barnabas. Capt. Wy- 
 man, R. I. 2 mos. 1777. 330. 
 Richardson : Barnabas. Lt. Joseph 
 
 Johnson, Camb. 2 mos. 1777. v. 341. 
 Richardson : Bartholomew. S. p. W. 
 
 before 1777. 162. 
 
 Richardson: Earth, jun. S. p. W. 
 
 before 1777. 208. 
 
 i " June 26, 1776. Attended the funeral of George Reed, jun. who died of a fever, which was 
 occasioned by a surfeit or heat he got In Charlestown fight, the 17th Inst." Rev. Mr. Marrett'i 
 Interleaved Almanac for 1775.
 
 574 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 
 
 Kichardson: Charles. Capt. Green, 
 R. I. 3 raos. 1780. ix. 426, 455. 
 
 Richardson: Ebenezer. S. p. W. 
 before 1777. 261. 
 
 Richardson : Ebenezer, jun. S. p. W. 
 before 1777. 407. 
 
 Richardson: Edmund. S. p. "W. be- 
 fore 1777. 48. 
 
 Richardson : Edmund. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Richardson : Edward. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 238. 
 
 Richardson : Eleazer. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 285. 
 
 Richardson: Jacob. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Richardson: Jacob. 8 C. A. 6 mos. 
 1780. 215, 226, 227, 472. 
 
 Richardson : James. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Richardson : Lt. Jeduthun. S. p. W. 
 before 1777. 321. 
 
 Richardson : Lt. Jeduthun. Capt. Ford, 
 Camb. 1777-78. vi. viii. 104. 
 
 Richardson: Lt. Jeduthun. Fifer. 
 
 Capt.Green, R. I. 3 mos. 1780. ix. 
 
 425. 
 
 Richardson : Jesse. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 55, 278. 
 
 Richardson : Jesse, jun. Capt. Green, 
 R. I. 3 mos. 1780. ix. 427. 
 
 Richardson : Jesse, [son of Zechariah] 
 Guarding prisoners of Conven- 
 tion 15 days in July 1778. 73. 
 
 Richardson: Gideon. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Richardson: Gideon. C. A. 1777. 3 
 years. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Richardson: Ichabod. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Richardson : Lt. John. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 448. 
 
 Richardson : John, jun. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Richardson : Capt. Jonas. S. p. W. 
 in 1775. 
 
 Richardson : Jonas. C. A. 1777, dur- 
 ing the War. St. H. L. 
 
 Richardson : Jonathan. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 391. 
 
 Richardson : Jonathan. Capt. Ford, 
 Cambridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 172. 
 
 Richardson : Josiah. S. p. W. before 
 Jan. 1777. 157. 
 
 Richardson: Sergt. Luke. Captain 
 Green, R. I. 3 mos. 1780. 
 
 ix. 275, 362. 
 
 Richardson : Leonard. C. A. 1777, 3 
 years. xix. 
 
 Richardson : Matthew. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Richardson: Matthew. Capt. Ford, 
 Cambridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 
 Richardson : Nathan. S. p. "W. " be- 
 fore Jan. 1777." 17, 349. 
 
 Richardson : Partridge. Lt. Joseph 
 Johnson, Cambridge, 1777. v. viii. 
 
 Richardson: Paul. Lt. Dix, Cam- 
 bridge, 1778. vii. viii. x. xviii. 
 
 Richardson : Peter. Capt. Green, R. 
 I. 3 mos. 1780. ix. 424. 
 
 Richardson: Reuben, Ensign. S. p. 
 W. before 1777. 85. 
 
 Richardson : Samuel. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 24. 
 
 Richardson: Samuel. Capt. Foster, 
 at Northward, 1777. xi. 312. 
 
 Richardson: Silas. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 386. 
 
 Richardson: Silas, Sergt. Lt. Jos. 
 Johnson, Cambridge, 1777. 
 
 v. viii. 178, 179. 
 
 Richardson: Stephen. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 26. 
 
 Richardson: Stephen. C. A. 1777. 3 
 years. xix. Wore. Rolls. 
 
 Richardson : Stephen, Lieut. S. p. W. 
 before 1777. 185. 
 
 Richardson : Mr. Zachariah.S. "p. W. 
 before Jan. 1777." 12, 187. 
 
 Richardson : Zachariah, jun. S. p. W. 
 before 1777. 245. 
 
 Richardson : Zadok. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 29. 
 
 Richardson: Zadok. Capt. Ford, 
 Camb. 5 mos. 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 
 " The Bearer hereof, Jacob Richardson, a Soldier in the Seventh Massachusetts Regiment, 
 having served as a faithful good Soldier in the said Regiment, the Term of Six Months, being 
 the full Term for which he inlisted, is hereby discharged from the same. 
 
 " Given under my hand at West Point this Ninth Day of January, 1781. 
 
 Moses Knap, Maj' Comt. 
 
 " Agreeable to General Orders, the Commissaries are directed to issue Provisions sufficient 
 to carry the Bearer to Oborn in the Massachusetts Bay State. Moses Knap, Major Com 1 ." 
 
 Other discharges like the above are on the Town Files.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 
 
 575 
 
 Richardson : Zebulon. S. p. W. " be- 
 fore Jan. 1777." 175, 299. 
 
 Richardson : Zebulon. Guarding pris- 
 oners of Convention 15 days in Ju- 
 ly 1778. 381. 
 
 Robbins: Jonathan. S. p. TV. "be- 
 fore 1777." 420. 
 
 Robbius : Jonathan. Capt. Wyman, 
 Bunker Hill, 1778. viii. 246. 
 
 Ross: Alexander McLean. C. A. Bn's 
 Regt. Wood's Co. 1776. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Russell: Bill. Capt. Green, R. I. 3 
 mos. 1780. ix. 22, 430, 444. 
 
 Russell : Jesse, jun. Capt. Ford, Camb. 
 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 
 Russell : Samuel. C. A. 8 mos. 1775 ; 
 
 killed at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Scott : Mr. William. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 142. 
 
 Scottow: John. Capt. Wm. Green, 
 R. I. 1780. ix. 446, 471. 
 
 Scottow: John. Continental Army. 
 Wore. Rolls. 
 
 fSergeaut: Reuben. C. A. 1777, 3 
 years. xix. 
 
 Simonds : Caleb, jun. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Simonds : Caleb, jun. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Simonds : Caleb, jun. C. A. 6 mos. 
 1780. 
 
 Simouds : Calvin. S. p. W. " before 
 Jan. 1, 1777." 150, 277. 
 
 Simouds : Jesse. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 86. 
 
 Simonds : Jonathan. S. p W. before 
 1777. 139, 345. 
 
 Simonds : Jonathan. Capt. Ford, 
 Cambridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 
 Simonds: Luther. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 269. 
 
 Simonds : Silas. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 182. 
 
 Skelton : Daize. S. p. W. "before Jan. 
 1777." 278, 289, 363. 
 
 Skelton: Daize. Capt. Foster at 
 Northward, 1777. 174. 
 
 Skelton : Matthew. S. p. W. "before 
 Jan. 1, 1777." 281, 306. 
 
 Skelton : Thomas, jun. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 163. 
 
 Skelton : Thomas, jun. Lt. Dix, Cam- 
 bridge, 1778. vii. viii. 152. 
 
 Skinner : Abraham. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 350. 
 
 Skinner: Abraham. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 123. 
 
 Skinner : John. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 
 23. 
 Skinner: Joseph. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 237. 
 
 Smith : Abijah. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 
 358. 
 fSmith : Edward. C. A. 1777. 3 years 
 
 for Woburn. xix. 
 
 fSmith : James. C. A. 1777. 3 years 
 
 for Woburn. xix. 
 
 Smith: Jonathan. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 279. 
 
 Smith : Snow James. C. A. 3 years. 
 
 1777-79. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Smith : Jesse. S. p. W. 1776. 340. 
 
 Smith : Jonathan. C. A. 1777. 3years. 
 
 xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Sutton: Prince [a black?]. C. A. 8 
 
 mos. 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Sutton : Prince. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Sutton : Prince. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 
 xix. 
 
 Sutton : Prince. Capt. Green, R. I. 3 
 
 mos. 1780. ix. 365. 
 
 fSwett: Cicero, [a black or mulat- 
 to?] C. A. 1777. 3 years. St. H. L. 
 Symmes : Samuel. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 205. 
 
 Symmes : William. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 Symmes : William. Cont. Army. 
 
 Wore. Rolls. 
 Symmes : Zachariah. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 56. 
 
 Stratton : William. Exped. to Ticon- 
 
 deroga 9 1776. Nevers' List. 
 
 Tay : Aaron. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 
 303. 
 
 Tay : John. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 18. 
 
 Tay: John, jun. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 
 240. 
 
 Tay : William, sen. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 393,397. 
 
 Tay: William, jun. Lieut. Capt. 
 
 Foster at Northw. 1777. [" by his 
 
 servant."] 117. 
 
 Tay : William, 3d. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 77. 
 
 Tay: William, 3d. Capt. Wyman, 
 
 Bunker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 116. 
 Tay: Samuel. Capt. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 34,193. 
 Thompson: Abijah. Capt. Foster at 
 
 Northward, 1777. 250. 
 
 Thompson : Jabez. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 76. 
 
 Where he died in the autumn of that year. Rev. Mr. Marrett's List of Deaths in 1776.
 
 576 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 
 
 Thompson : Jonathan. [" Musician."] 
 C. A. 8 mos. 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Thompson: Jonathan. C. A. Bn's 
 Regt. Pettingell's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Thompson : Samuel, Esq. S p. W. 
 before Jan. 1777. 34, 193. 
 
 Tidd : Benjamin. Lt. Jos. Johnson, 
 Cambridge, 1777. v. via. 
 
 Tidd: Benjamin. Bunker Hill, 5 
 weeks from Jan. 25, 1778-9. 440. 
 
 Tidd : Jonathan, jun. Lt. Jos. John- 
 son, Cambridge, 1777. v. viii. 
 
 295. 
 
 Tidd: Lt. Jonathan. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Tidd: Lt. Jonathan. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Tidd : Samuel. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 343. 
 
 Tidd: Samuel. Lt. Jos. Johnson, 
 Cambridge, 1777. 118. 
 
 Tottingham : David. Capt. Green, 
 R. I. 1780. ix. 364. 
 
 Tottingham : Elisha. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 129. 
 
 Tottingham : Ephraim. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 96. 
 
 Tottingham : Jonathan. S. p. W. " be- 
 fore Jan. 1777." 334. 
 
 Trask : David. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Trask : David. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 
 218, 411. 
 
 Trask: John. S. p. W. "before Jan. 
 1777." 13, 100, 180. 
 
 Trask: John. C. A. 1777, 3 years. 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Trask : Jonathan. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Trask: Jonathan. C. A. 1777, 3 
 years. St. H. L. 
 
 Trask : Joseph. Lt. Jos. Johnson, 
 Cambridge, 1777. 119, 262. 
 
 Trask : Joseph. Capt. Wyman, Bun- 
 ker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 
 
 Trask : Nathaniel. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 fTufts: Ebenezer. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. for Woburn. St. H. L. 
 
 fTufts : Zachary. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 for Woburn. St. H.L. 
 
 Tweed : David. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 218,411. 
 
 Tweed : James. Exped. to Ticonde- 
 roga, 1776. Never's Returns. 
 
 Twiss: Edward, jun. S.p.W. before 
 1777. 190, 287. 
 
 Twiss: James. Cont. Army. 
 
 Wore. Rolls. 
 
 Twiss : Solomon. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Twiss : Stephen. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Twiss: Stephen. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Twiss : Stephen. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 St. H. L. 
 ) War in R. I. 
 
 Twiss: Stephen. I Enlisted for, 
 
 Twiss : Stephen, jun. f July 6, 1781. 
 
 J 469. 
 
 Twiss: Timothy. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 304, 395. 
 
 Twiss: Timothy. Capt. Wyman, 
 
 Bunker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 
 
 Tyler : Jeremiah. C. A. 1777. 3 years. 
 
 xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Tyler : Jeremiah. Capt. Green, R. I. 
 
 3 mos. 1780. ix. 366. 
 
 Tyler : Jonathan. Capt. Green, R. I. 
 
 3 mos. 1780. ix. 447, 459. 
 
 Tyler: Moses, jun. C. A. 1777. [3 
 
 years?] 332,466. 
 
 Tyler: Moses, jun. C. A. 6 mos. 
 
 "1780. 333. 
 
 Wade: Ebenezer. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 211. 
 
 Walker: Edward. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Pettingell's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Walker : James, Corp. C. A. 8 mos. 
 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Walker: James, Corp. C. A. Bu's 
 
 Regt. Wood's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 Walker : James, Corp. Bunker Hill, 
 
 5 weeks from Jan. 25, 1779. 443. 
 Walker : John. C. A. Bn's Regt, Pet- 
 
 tingell's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Walker: John. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 
 217. 
 
 Walker : Joshua, Capt. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 399. 
 Walker : Joshua, Capt. C. A. 1777, 3 
 
 years. xix. 
 
 Walker: Joshua, jun. 
 Walker: Joshua, jun. Lt. Jos. John- 
 son, Camb. 2 mos. 1777. v. viii. 
 Walker: Joshua, jun. Capt. Wy- 
 man, Bunker Hill, 1778. viii, 67. 
 Walker: Josiah. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 235. 
 
 Walker: Josiah [jun?]. Lt. Joseph 
 
 Johnson, Cambridge, 1777. v. viii. 
 
 15. 
 
 Walker : Timothy? C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Pettingell's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Watts : Nathaniel. S. P. W. before 
 
 1777.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XII. 
 
 577 
 
 Watts: Samuel. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 156. 
 
 fWhite : Luther. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 for Woburn. St. H. L. 
 
 fWillis : John. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. for 
 Woburn. St. H. L. 
 
 Wilson: Samuel [jun?]. C. A. 8 
 mos. 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Wilson: Samuel, [jun?]. C. A. Bn's 
 Regt. Pettingell's Co. 1775. 
 
 Bn. Vol. 
 
 Wilson: Timothy. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 186. 
 
 Wilson: Timothy. Capt. Foster at 
 Northward, 1777. 305. 
 
 Wilson : Timothy. Capt. Green, R. I. 
 3 mos. 1780. ix. 
 
 Winn : David. Capt. Edgell. R. I. 6 
 weeks. 1778. 231. 
 
 Winn : Increase. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 280. 
 
 Winn : Jacob. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Winn : Jacob. C. A. Bn's Regt. Pet- 
 tingell's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Winn : Jacob. Lt. Jos. Johnson, 
 Cambridge, 1777. v. viii. 164. 
 
 Winn : Joseph, Lt. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 204. 
 
 Winn : Joseph, Lt. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 53. 
 
 Winn : Jeremiah. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Winn : Jeremiah. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Pettingell's Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Winn : Samuel. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 94. 
 
 Winn : Samuel. Capt. Wyman, Bun- 
 ker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 263. 
 
 Winn : Dea. Timothy. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. H8. 
 
 Winn : Timothy, jun. Ensign : S. p. 
 W. before 1777. 78,371. 
 
 Winn : Timothy, 3d. Capt. Green, R. 
 I. 3 mos. 1780. ix. 376, 380. 
 
 Wood : Benjamin. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 St. H. L 
 
 Wood : Edward. C. A. 8 mos. 1775. 
 St. H. L. 
 
 Wood : Edward. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood s Co. 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Wood : Edward. Capt. Foster at the 
 Korthw. 1777. Ill, 385. 
 
 Wood: Edward. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 216. 
 
 Wood : Capt. John. S. p. W. before 
 Jan. 1, 1777. 191. 
 
 Wood : Capt. John. C. A. 1777, 3 
 years. xix. 
 
 Wood : Capt. John. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 1775. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Wood : Lt. Silvanns. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Wood: Lt. Silvanus. C. A. Bn's 
 
 Regt. Wood's Co. 1775, Lt. 1776. 
 
 Bn. Vol. 308. 
 
 Wood: Solomon. 19 S. p. W. before 
 1777. 141,188. 
 
 Wright : Jesse. Capt. Wyman, Bun- 
 ker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 
 
 Wright : Jonathan. S. p. W. " before 
 Jan. 1777." 356. 
 
 Wright: Jonathan. Capt. Wyman, 
 Banker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 
 
 Wright: Joseph. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 83. 
 Wright : Josiah. Capt. Wyman, Bun- 
 ker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 
 
 Wright: Philemon. Capt. Wyman, 
 R. I. 2 mos. 1777. 405. 
 
 Wright : Philemon. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood's Co. 1776. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Wright: Thomas, jun. Lt. Jos. John- 
 son, Caiub. 2 mos. 1777. v. viii. 
 131. 
 
 Wright : Thomas, jun. Guarding pris- 
 oners of Convention, 15 days. July 
 
 1778. 39. 
 Wright : Timothy. S. p. W. " before 
 
 January 1, 1777." 339. 
 
 Wyman : Abel. Capt. Jesse Wyman, 
 
 Bunker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 
 
 Wyman: David. Capt. Ford, Cam- 
 bridge, 1777-78. vi. viii. 
 Wyman: Elijah. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 
 Wyman: Eliphaz. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 372. 
 
 Wyman : Eliphaz. Capt. Foster at 
 
 Northward, 1777. 110. 
 
 Wyman : Ezra. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 
 293. 
 
 Wyman : Ezra, jun. Capt. Wyman, 
 
 Bunker Hill, 1778. viii. xvi. 
 
 Wyman: Francis. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 
 Wood's Co. 1776. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Wyman : Hezekiah. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 167. 
 
 Wyman : Lt. James. S. p. W. before 
 
 1777. 288. 
 
 Solomon Wood " died of the small pox in the Army at the Jerseys, March 16, 1777." Bev. 
 Mr. Marrett's List of Deaths. 
 
 50
 
 578 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 Wyman, James, jun. C. A. 1777, 3 
 years. xix. St. H. L. 
 
 Wyraan : James, jun. C. A. 1780. 6 
 mos. 233. 
 
 Wyman : Capt. Jesse. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 66. 
 
 Wyman : Capt. Jesse. S. in R. 1. 1777. 
 2 mos. 223. 
 
 Wyman : Capt. Jesse. S. at Bunker 
 Hill, 3 mos. 1778. viii. xvi. 
 
 Wyman : Jesse, jun. 11 
 
 Wyman: Jonas. 12 S. p.W. [deceased] 
 Order paid to Administrator. 38. 
 
 Wyman : Jonathan. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 95. 
 
 Wj'man : Joseph. C. A. 6 mos. 1780. 
 6, 429, 464. 
 
 Wyman : Joseph, [son of Sam. Esq.] 
 Bunker Hill, 5 weeks from Jan. 25, 
 1779. 225. 
 
 Wyman : Joshua. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 19, 21. 
 
 Wyman: Nathan. S. p. W. before 
 Jan. 1777. 136, 148. 
 
 Wyman : Nathan, jun. C. A. 8 mos. 
 1775. St. H. L. 
 
 Wyman: Nathan, jun. C. A. Bn's 
 Regt. PettingelFs Co. 1775. Bn-Vol. 
 
 Wyman : Nathan, jun. Lt. Jos. John- 
 son, Cambridge, 1777. v. viii. 
 
 Wyman: Nathan, jun. Capt. Green, 
 R. I. 3 mos. 1780. ix. 428. 
 
 Wyman : Nathaniel. Capt. Foster at 
 Northward, 1777. 183. 
 
 Wyman: Nathaniel, jun. S. p. W. 
 before 1777. 203. 
 
 Wymau : Paul. S. p. W. before 1777. 
 30. 
 
 Wyman : Samuel, Esq. S. p. W. be- 
 fore 1777. 326. 
 
 Wyman : Stephen. C. A. Bn's Regt. 
 Wood's Co. 1776. Bn. Vol. 
 
 Wyman : Thomas. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 11. 
 
 Wyman : Zebadiah. S. p. W. before 
 1777. 68. 
 
 fYew, [Yow?] Oliver. C. A. 1777, 
 Z the War. 
 
 during the 
 
 St. H. L. 
 
 The Compiler of the above List has spared no pains to make it as 
 correct and complete as possible. But he dares not flatter himself 
 that there are no deficiencies in it, no errors in its details. 
 
 By counting the individuals in the foregoing list, it will be found, 
 that there were 376 inhabitants of Woburn who enlisted in the War 
 of the Revolution, and 46 strangers who were hired by it for the same 
 service ; making a total of 422 who served for it in that contest with 
 Great Britain. 
 
 APPENDIX, No. XIII. 
 
 LISTS OF TOWN AND CHURCH OFFICERS, SCHOOL TEACHERS, &c. 
 
 SELECTMEN. 
 From 1644, when the first choice was made, to 1860. 
 
 Edward Johnson, 1644, 5, 6, 7, 9, 50, 
 
 51, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 
 Edward Convers, 1644, 5, 6, 7, 9, 50, 
 
 51, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 
 John Mousall, 1644, 5, 6, 7, 9, 50, 51, 
 
 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 
 
 William Learned, 1644, 5. 
 Ezekiel Richardson, 1644, 5, 6, 7. 
 Samuel Richardson, 1644, 5, 6, 9, 50, 
 
 51. 
 James Thompson, 1644, 6, 9, 50, 51, 
 
 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 
 
 " " 1775 Jnne 22. Attended the funeral of Jesse Wyman, aged 21, living in the Old Parish, 
 mortally wounded in the hattle at Charlestown." Rev. Mr. Marrett's Interleaved Almanac. 
 
 " Jonas Wyman died in the autumn of 1776, in the army at New York. Rev. Mr. Marrett's 
 List of Deaths in 1776.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 579 
 
 John Wright, 1645, 6, 7, 9, 50, 51, 2, 
 
 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 
 
 Miles Nutt, 1647, 9, 50, 52, 3, 4, 5, 6. 
 John Tidd, 1647. 
 
 No Record of choice for 1648. 
 Ralph Hill, 1651. 
 John Russell, 1652, 3, 4, 5, 6. 
 Only five Selectmen chosen for 1657. 
 Michael Bacon, 1659. 
 Francis Kendall, 1(559. 
 Edward Convers, 1660, 1, 2, 3. 
 John Mousall, 1660, 1, 2, 3, 4. 
 Thomas Peirce, 1660, 1, 2. 
 John Wright, 1660, 1, 2, 3, 4. 
 James Thompson, 1660, 1, 2, 7, 9. 
 Edward Johnson, 1661, 7, 9. 
 Thomas Fuller, 1663-4. 
 Francis Kendall, 1663, 5, 6, 7, 8. 
 Lieut. John Carter, 1664. ' 
 William Johnson, 1664. 
 Josiah Convers, 1664. 
 James Convers, 1664. 
 Michael Bacon, 1665, 6, 8. 
 Thomas Peirce, 1665, 6. 
 Bartholomew Peirson, 1665, 6. 
 Robert Peirce, 1665. 
 John Wyman, 1666, 7, 8. 
 John Seirs, 1667, 8. 
 John Mousall, jun., 1668. 
 Samuel Walker, 1668. 
 Henry Brooks, 1669. 
 Edward Winn, 1 669. 
 John Wright, 1670. 
 Francis Kendall, 1670, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 
 Michael Bacon, 1670. 
 Isaac Cole, 1670. 
 Joseph Wright, 1670. 
 Edward Johnson, 1671. 
 James Thompson, 1671. 
 Henry Brooks, 1671, 2. 
 John Mousall, jun., 1671. 
 Matthew Johnson, 1671, 2, 6, 7, 8. 
 John Carter, 1(572, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 
 Ensign James Convers, 1674, 5, 6 de- 
 clined for 1676, chosen 1677, 8, 9. 
 William Johnson, 1672, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 
 
 9 ; declined serving 1676. 
 Josiah Convers, 1672; declined; and 
 
 in his stead was chosen 
 Serg. James Convers, 1672. 
 John Wyman, 1673. 
 Joseph Wright, 1673. 
 Francis Wyman, 1674, 5. 
 Mr. Samuel Carter, 1679. 
 Samuel Walker, jun., 1679. 
 Lt. William Johnson, 1680, 82, 83, 4, 
 
 5, 6, 7, 8. 
 Ens. James Couvers, 1680, 82, 3, 4, 5, 
 
 6,8. 
 
 Serg. Matthew Johnson, 1680, 81, 2, 
 
 3, 4, 5, 6, 8. 
 
 John Wright, 1680, 81. 
 Francis Kendall, 1680, 82, 3, 7, 8. 
 Henry Baldwin, 1681. 
 Mr. Samuel Carter, 1681, 2, 3. 
 Samuel Blogget, 1681. 
 Serg. James Convers, 1684, 86. 
 Corp. Saml. Walker, 1684, 85, Sarg. 
 
 1686, 7. 
 
 Sarg. Thos. Fuller, 1685. 
 
 William Locke, 1687. 
 
 Increase Winn, 1687, 8. 
 
 N. B. Only 4 Selectmen chosen in 
 February, 1686-7. The same re- 
 chosen in March 7, 1686-7. 
 
 P. S. Wm. Johnson Selectman for 
 
 1687, beside the 4 recorded. 
 
 The choice by the people at the usual 
 time in Feb. annulled, and a new 
 choice ordered by Justices of the 
 Peace. 
 
 No Meeting for choice of town officers 
 in 1689. 
 
 Sarg. Samuel Walker, 1690. 
 
 Samuel Blogget, sen., 1690. 
 
 Lt. John Richardson, 1690. 
 
 John Wright, sen., 1690. 
 
 John Peirce, sen., 1690. 
 
 Capt. William Johnson, 1691. 
 
 Lt. James Convers, jun., 1691. 
 
 Ens. Saml. Walker, 1691. 
 
 Sarg. Matthew Johnson, 1691. 
 
 Saml. Blogget, sen., 1691, 93, 95, 6, 7. 
 
 Lieut. John Richardson, 1692. 
 
 Ens. Joseph Winn, sen., 1692, 93. 
 
 Joseph Wright, sen., 1692. 
 
 John Burbean, sen., 1692. 
 
 Lt. Joseph Peirce, 1692, 93, 95. 
 
 Joseph Richardson, sen., 1693, 4. 
 
 James Fowle, 1693, 4. 
 
 James Convers, jun., [Capt.] 1694. 
 
 Jonathan Wyman, 1694. 
 
 Joshua Sawyer, 1694. 
 
 Lt. Josiah Parker, 1695. 
 
 Jacob Wyman, 1695. 
 
 James Simonds, 1695. 
 
 William Locke, sen., 1696. 
 
 Lt. Matthew Johnson, 1696. 
 
 Sergt. Israel Walker, 1696. 
 
 Benjamin Simonds, 1696, 97. 
 
 Ens. John Peirce, 1697. 
 
 Lt. Josiah Convers, 1697. 8 ; chosen 
 1701, but did not accept. 
 
 Sergt. John Tidd, 1697, 1701, 1709. 
 
 Lt. Joseph Wright, 1698. 
 
 James Convers, jun., 1698, 99. 
 
 Corp. Benj. Simonds, 1698, 9. 
 
 Jacob Wyraan, 1698.
 
 580 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 Sergt. Eben. Johnson, 1699. 
 
 Sergt. Sam. Blogget, 1699. 
 
 Nath. Kichardson, sen., 1699. 
 
 Capt. Edw. Johnson, 1700, 01, 02, 03, 
 
 04, 07, 08. 
 Sergt. James Fowle, 1700, 01, (1702, 
 
 declined,) 08, 04, 05, 07, 08, 09. 
 Lieut. Joseph Peirce, 1700. 
 Lieut. John Carter, 1700, 1710. 
 Sergt. George Reed, 1700,1705, 06. 
 Thomas Peirce, 1701. 
 Jos. Richardson, sen., 1702. 
 Lt. Josiah Convers, 1702, 03, 04, 05, 
 
 06, Capt. 1707, 09. 
 James Simonds, 1702. 
 Samuel Blogget, sen., 1703. 
 Dea. Sam. Walker, 1703. 
 William Locke, jun., 1704. 
 Joshua Sawyer, jun., 1704, sen., 1707. 
 Major James Convers, 1705, 06. 
 Ens. John Peirce, 1705, 06, 08, 10. 
 Sergt. Saml. Wilson, 1706. 
 Corn. Benj. Simonds, 1707: Lieut. 
 
 1709, 1711. 
 
 Capt. Seth Wyman, 1707. 
 Saml. Walker, 1708, Dec. Ull, 12, 14, 
 
 15, 18. 
 
 Sergt. Eben. Johnson, 1709, 13, 16. 
 James Fowle, 1710, 11, 12, 13, 14; 
 . died March 19, 1714. 
 John Brooks, 1710. 
 Josiah Johnson, 1710. 
 Joshua Sawyer, 1711, 12. 
 Capt. Edw. Johnson, 1711, 12, 13, 14, 
 
 15; Dea. 1718. 
 
 Capt. Josiah Convers, 1712, 13, 15, 17. 
 Ens. Samuel Blogget, 1713. 
 Lt. Eleazar Flagg, 1714, 15; Capt. 
 
 1718, 19. 
 
 Qr. Mast. Jos. Richardson, 1714, 16. 
 John Fowle, 1714, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. 
 Jacob Wyman, 1716. 
 Sergt. Benj. Johnson, 1716. 
 Sergt. John Tidd, 1717. 
 Sergt. Benj. Peirce, 1717, 18. 
 Samuel Richardson, 1717. 
 Sergt. George Reed, 1719. 
 Capt. John Coggin, 1719. 
 Corn. Peirson Richardson, 1719. 
 Dea. Edward Johnson, 1720, 22, 23, 24. 
 John Fowle, 1720, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 
 
 27, 28, 29. 
 Samuel Richardson, 1720, 22, 23, 26, 
 
 27, 28. 
 
 Dea. George Reed, 1720, 22, 23, 29. 
 Dea. Saml. Walker, 1720, 27, 28. 
 James Peirce, sen., 1721, 24; Sergt. 
 
 25. 
 James Thompson, 1721. 
 
 Ens. Stephen Richardson, 1721. 
 Joseph Wright, 1721, 22, 24, 25, 27, 
 
 28, 29. 
 
 John Brooks, 1723. 
 Ens. Josiah Convers, 1724, 25. 
 Col. Eleazar Flegg, 1725, 26. 
 Josiah Johnson, 1726. 
 Dea. James Thompson, 1726. 
 Capt. Robert Convers, 1727. 
 Dea. James Thompson, 1728. 
 Ens. Samuel Blogget, 1729. 
 Jacob Wyman, 1729. 
 Josiah Johnson, 1730, 31, 32, 33, 34, 
 
 35, 36. 
 
 John Fowle, 1730, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 
 
 36, 37, 38. 
 
 Joseph Wright, 1730, 32. 
 
 Dea. George Reed, 1730, 31. 
 
 Saml. Richardson, 1730, 31, 32, 35, 36 
 
 Jacob Wyrnan, 1731. 
 
 Dea. William Locke, 1732. 
 
 Corp. James Simonds, 1733, 34, 35 
 
 36, Lieut. 1742, 49, 50. 
 Lieut. Joshua Thompson, 1733. 
 John Russell, 1734, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 
 
 40, 41, 42, 43, 45. 
 Jacob Richardson, 1734. 
 Jona. Poole, Esq. 1737, 38, 39, 40, 44. 
 Josiah Peirce, 1737, 38, 39, 40. 
 James Proctor, 1737, 38, 39, 40, 41, 
 
 Lieut. 44, 47, 48, Capt. 49. 
 Edward Walker, 1739, 40, 45. 
 Mr. Roland Cotton, 1741, 42, 43. 
 Capt. John Fowle, jun., 1741. 
 Dr. Jonathan Hey wood, 1741. 
 David Wyman, 1742, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 
 
 49, 50. 
 
 Benj. Richardson, 1742, 1744. 
 
 Josiah Johnson, 1743, 44, 46, 47, 48, 
 
 50, 51. 
 
 Ebenezer Convers, 1743. 
 
 William Tay, 1744, 46, 47, 48, 50, 51. 
 
 William Locke, 1745. 
 
 Nathan Wyman, 1745, 49. 
 
 Lt. Samuel Kendall, 1746, 47, 48. 
 
 Joshua Jones, 1746, 50. 
 
 Francis Johnson, 1749. 
 
 Lieut. Eben. Thompson, 1751. 
 
 Benjamin Johnson, 1751. 
 
 Capt. John Reed, 1751. 
 
 Ebenezer Thompson, 1752. 
 
 David Wyman, 1752. 
 
 John Reed, 1752. 
 
 Oliver Richardson, 1752, 53, 54, 55. 
 
 James Fowle, 1752, 53, 54, 55, 59, 60, 
 
 61, Esq. 62. 
 
 Ebenezer Convers, 1753. 
 Joshua Jones, 1753, 58, 59, 62, 63, 69, 
 
 70, 71, 72.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 581 
 
 Thomas Reed, 1753, 54, 55. 
 Samuel Reed, 1754, 55. 
 Samuel Wyman, jun. 1754, 55. 
 Josiah Johnson, 'Esq. 1756, 58, 66. 
 Lieut. William Tay, 1756, 59, 60, 61, 
 
 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 70, 71. 
 Deacon Timothy Winn, 1756, 57. 
 Mr. Isaac Snow, 1756, 58. 
 Mr. Ichabod Richardson, 1756. 
 Capt. Timothy Brooks, 1757. 
 Mr. Benja. Richardson, 1757, 64. 
 Mr. Joseph Wright, 1757. 
 Mr. Jonathan Fox, 1757, Capt. 1763, 
 
 64, 65, 67, 68, 69. 
 Mr. James Baldwin, 1758, 59. 
 Mr. Jacob Richardson, jun., 1758. 
 Mr. Nathan Richardson, 1759, 60, 61, 
 
 Dea. 62, 63. 
 Mr. Joshua Walker, 1760, 61, Lt. 1773, 
 
 74, 75, Capt. 1776, 77. 
 Mr. Samuel Tidd, 1760, 61. 
 Capt. Benj. Johnson, 1762, 64, 65, 66, 
 
 67, 68. 
 
 James Fowle, Esq., 1763, 65, 66, 67, 
 
 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75. 
 Mr. Ebenezer Convers, 1764. 
 Mr. Jacob Wright, 1765, 66. 
 
 Dea. Samuel Wyman, 1766, 68, 69, 70, 
 
 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 80. 
 Mr. James Wyman, 1767, 68, 69. 
 Mr. Oliver Richardson, 1770, 71, 72. 
 Lieut. William Tay, 1772, 73, 74, 75, 
 
 76, 77, 78, 79. 
 
 Dea. Timothy Winn, 1773, 74, 75. 
 Mr. Thomas Wright, 1776, 77. 
 Lt. Samuel Thompson, 1776, 77, Dea. 
 
 1778, 79. 
 
 Dea. David Blanchard, 1776, 77. 
 Capt. Benjamin Edgel, 1778, 79, 80, 
 
 82, 83. 
 Lt. Jeduthun Richardson, 1778, 79, 80, 
 
 82, 83, 84, 85. 
 
 Lt. Jonathan Tidd, 1778, 79. 
 Nathan Richardson, 1780. 
 Ens. Timothy Winn, 1780, 82, 83, 84, 
 
 88. 
 
 Col. Loammi Baldwin, 1781. 
 Paul Wyman, 1781. 
 Dea. Joseph Johnson, 1781, 89, 90. 
 Zebadiah Wyman, 1781, 82, 83, 84, 85, 
 
 88, 89, Dea. 1790, 91. 
 Ezra Wyman, 1781. 
 Lieut. Joseph Wiun, 1782, 83, 91, 92, 
 
 93. 
 Mr. Sam. Wyman, jun. 1784, 85, 87, 
 
 88, 89. 
 
 Mr. James Walker, 1784, 85, 87, 88. 
 Capt. John Wood, 1785, 87. 
 Major Samuel Tay, 1786. 
 
 60* 
 
 Mr. Josiah Johnson, 1786. 
 Capt. Reuben Kimball, 1786. 
 Mr. Benjamin Convers, 1786. 
 Lieut. James Reed, 1786, 89, 90, 91. 
 James Fowle, jun., 1787. 
 John Flagg, 1787, 88, 89, 90. 
 Daniel Reed, 1790, 91. 
 Isaac Marion, 1791, 92, 93. 
 Capt. Joseph Brown, 1792, 93. 
 Ensign John Walker, 1792, Col. 1793. 
 Mr. Josiah Parker, 1792, 93. 
 Abijah Thompson, 1794, 95, 96, 97, 98, 
 
 99. 1800. 
 
 Benjamin Simonds, 1794, 95, 96. 
 Edward Walker, 1794, 95, 96. 
 Daniel Wyman, 1794, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99.- 
 Abel Wyman, 1794, Lt. 95. 
 Jesse Dean, 1796, 97, 98. 
 Elijah Leathe, jun., 1797, 98, 99. 
 Samuel Walker, 1797, 98. 
 Nathan Simonds, 1799, 1800, 1803, 04. 
 Benjamin Wyman, 1799, 1800, 1801, 
 
 02, Major, 03, 04. 
 Bill Russell, 1800, 1801, 02, 1805, 06, 
 
 Col. 07. 
 
 Reuben Johnson, 1800. 
 Abijah Thompson, 1801, 02. 
 Jacob Pierce, 1802, 03, 04. 
 John Fowle, 1802, 03, Dea. 1805, 06. 
 Jacob Richardson, 1803, 04. 
 James Leathe, 1804. 
 Lt. Jonathan Tidd, 1805, 1806. 
 Capt. Nathan Harrington, 1805, 06, 
 
 07, 08, 09, 10. 
 Joseph W. Beers, 1805, 06, 07, 08, 09, 
 
 10, 11. 
 
 Luke Reed, 1807, 08, 09, 10, 11. 
 John Tidd, 1807. 
 
 Nathan Simonds, 1808, 09, 10, 11. 
 Col. Bill Russell, 1808, 09, 10, 11. 
 Capt. William Fox, 1811, 12, 13. 
 Benj. F. Baldwin, 1812, 13. 
 Jacob Richardson, 1812, 13. 
 John Wade, Esq. 1814, 15, 16, 17, 18, 
 
 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. 
 Josiah Parker, 1814, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. 
 Capt. Isaac Richardson, 1814, 15, 16, 
 
 17. 
 
 Jonathan Tidd, jun., 1818, 19, 20. 
 Dr. Sylvanus Plympton, 1819. 
 Marshall Fowle, 1820, 21, 22, 23, 24, 
 
 25, 26, 27. 
 
 Joseph Parker, 1821, 22. 
 Samuel Tidd, 1823, 24, 25. 
 Joseph Gardner, 1826, 27, 28, 29, 30. 
 Samuel T. Richardson, 1826. 
 Samuel Abbot, 1827, 28, 29, 30, 31. 
 Samuel I Richardson, 1828. 
 Stephen Nichols, 1829, 30, 31.
 
 582 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 Abijah Thompson, 1831, 32, 33. 
 
 John Tidd, 1832, 33. 
 
 Jason Richardson, 1832, 33. 
 
 John Wade, 1834, 35. 
 
 Stephen Nichols, 1834, 35, 36. 
 
 Charles Carter, 1834, 35, 38, 39. 
 
 John Eclgell, 1836. 
 
 Augustus Plympton, 1836, 38, 39. 
 
 John Cummings, 1837. 
 
 Loring Emerson, 1837, 42, 43. 
 
 Earth. Richardson, jun., 1837, 44. 
 
 Leonard Fowle, 1838, 39. 
 
 Albert Thompson, 1840, 41, 44. 
 
 Oliver Tay, 1840. 
 
 Samuel R. Duren, 1840. 
 
 Leonard Thompson, 1841, 42, 43. 
 
 Luke Tidd, 1841, 42, 43, 44. 
 
 Benjamin F. Thompson, 1845, 1846. 
 
 James Tweed, jun. 1845, 46, 47, 48, 
 
 49. 
 
 Gen. Abijah Thompson, 1845. 
 John Tidd, 1846, 47, 48, 49. 
 Cyrus Thompson, 1847, 48, 49, 50. 
 Nathan B. Johnson, 1850. 
 
 Bowen Buckman, 1850. 
 
 Saml. R. Duren, to fill a vacancy in 
 
 the board, 1850. 
 Stephen Nichols, jun., 1851, 52. 
 Horace Conn, 1851, 52, 53, 55. 
 Samuel R. Duren, 1851. 
 Horace Collamore, 1852, 53. 
 Alfred G. Carter, 1853. 
 Joshua E. Littlefield, 1854. 
 John Johnson, jun., 1854. 
 John Flanders, 1854, 55. 
 Moses F. Winn, 1855, 56. 
 Albert Thompson, 1856. 
 Elisha Burbank, 1856, 57, 58. 
 Horace Collamore, 1857. 
 John Cummings, jun., 1857. 
 Parker L. Convers, 1858. 
 F. K. Cragin, 1858. 
 Horace Conn, 1859. 
 William T. Grammer, 1859. 
 Joseph Kelly, 1859. 
 Ebenezer N. Blake, 1860. 
 Horace Conn, 1860. 
 Joseph Kelly, 1860. 
 
 COMMISSIONERS " TO END SMALL CAUSES." 
 
 Edward Johnson, 1649, 50, 1, 2, 3, 4, 
 
 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1660, 64. 
 Edward Convers, 16i9, 50, 51, 2, 3, 4, 
 
 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1660. 
 
 John Mousall, 1649, 50, 51, 2, 3, 4, 5, 
 
 6, 7, 8, 9, 1660, 64. 
 John Carter, 1664, 1674. 
 
 William Johnson, 1674. 
 James Convers, 1674. 
 
 COMMISSIONERS " OF THE RATE.' 
 
 John Wright, 1646. 
 
 Ensign John Carter, 1653. 
 
 John Tidd, " Commissioner for the 
 
 Country Rate," 1655. 
 John Wyman, " Commissioner for 
 
 the Country Rate," 1656. 
 John Carter, 1658. 
 William Johnson, 1659. 
 James Convers, 1660. 
 Edward Johnson, 1661. 
 Josiah Convers, 1662. 
 Edward Johnson, 1663. 
 Thomas Peirce. 1664. 
 Allen Convers, 1666. 
 James Convers, 1667. 
 John Carter, 1668. 
 William Johnson, 1669. 
 Thomas Peirce, 1670. 
 John Wright, 1671. 
 John Wyman, 1672. 
 Ensign James Convers, 1673. 
 
 Josiah Convers, 1674, 5, 6, 8. 
 
 James Convers, [jun?] 1677. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Carter, 1680. 
 
 Joseph Richardson, 1681. 
 
 Lt. John Wyman, 1682. 
 
 Capt. Saml. Walker, 1683. 
 
 Dea. Josiah Convers, 1684. 
 
 Sergt. James Convers, 1685. 
 
 Mr Samuel Carter, 1686. 
 
 Lt. James Convers, (jun.?) 1688. 
 
 Lt. Gershom Flagg, 1690. 
 
 Sargt. Matthew Johnson, Aug. 20, 
 1690. 
 
 Ensign Joseph Winn, 1691. 
 
 Saml. Blogget, sen., 1692. 
 
 Joseph Wright, sen., 1693. 
 
 James Fowle, " Comm." 1703, to aid 
 in making the Province Tax, ac- 
 cording to Act of Court, March 
 1703.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 583 
 
 RECORDERS OR TOWN CLERKS. 
 
 Edward Johnson, chosen in 1640. 
 William Johnson, chosen in 1672. 
 Lt. James Convers, jun., chosen in 
 
 1688. 
 
 Mr. Sam. Carter, chosen in 1690. 
 Capt. James Convers, iun., chosen in 
 
 1691. 
 Capt. James Convers, jun., chosen in 
 
 1693, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 1700. 
 Serg. James Fowle, chosen in 1701, 
 
 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10. 
 Serg. James Fowle, chosen in 1711, 12, 
 
 13, 14 : died March 19, 1714. 
 John Fowle, chosen in 1714, 15, 16, 17, 
 
 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. 
 John Fowle, chosen in 1726, 27, 28, 29, 
 
 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38. 
 John Eussell, chosen in 1739, 40, 41, 
 
 42, 43 : declined serving 1744. 
 John Fowle, 3d, chosen in 1744. 
 John Russell, chosen in 1745. 
 James Fowle, chosen in 1746, 7, 8, 9, 
 
 1750, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1760. 
 James Fowle, chosen in 1760, 1, 2, Esq. 
 
 1763, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1770. 
 
 James Fowle, chosen in 1771, 2, 3, 4, 
 
 5, 6, 7, 8, 1779. 
 
 James Fowle, jun., chosen in 1779, 
 Aug. 26, 1780, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 
 9, 1790. 
 
 Zebadiah Wyman, chosen in 1791, 
 1792. 
 
 Isaac Brooks, chosen in 1793. 
 
 Zebadiah Wyman, chosen in 1794, 5, 
 
 6, 7, 8, 9, 1800, 01, 02, 03, 04. 
 Zebadiah Wyman, chosen in 1805, 06, 
 
 07, 08, 09, 1810, 11, 12, 13. 
 Marshall Fowle, chosen in 1814, 15, 
 
 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. 
 Marshall Fowle, chosen in 1825, 26, 27, 
 
 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33. 
 
 Died suddenly June 14, 1833. 
 Oliver B. Coolidge, chosen in 1833, 34, 
 
 35, 36, 37, 38, 39. 
 Martin L. Convers, chosen in 1840, 41, 
 
 42, 43. 
 Nathan Wyman, chosen in 1844, 45, 46, 
 
 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54. 
 Nathan Wyman, chosen in 1855, 56, 57, 
 
 58, 59, 1860." 
 
 TREASURERS. 
 
 John Tidd, 1695 : no one chosen, 1696. 
 The Selectmen supplied the Treasu- 
 rer's place, 1697-1718. 
 Sergt. George Reed, 1719; Dea. 
 
 George Reed, 1720, 21, 22. 
 John Fowle, 1724, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 
 
 1730. 
 John Fowle, 1731, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 
 
 37, 39. 
 
 John Russell. 1738. 
 Mr Isaac Snow, 1740, 41, 42, 43, 44. 
 Mr. Eleazar Carter, 1745, 46, 47. 
 Mr. Benjamin Wyman, 1748, 49. 
 Mr. Benjamin Brooks, 1750, 51. 
 Mr. Benjamin Wyman, 1752, 53, 64, 
 
 65, 56, 57, 58. 
 
 Mr. Zebadiah Wyman, 1759, 1760, 61. 
 Eleazar Flagg Poole, 1762, 63, 64, 65, 
 
 66; Ensign, 1767. 
 Eleazar Flagg Poole, 1768, 69, 1770, 
 
 71, 72; Lieut. 1773. 
 Capt. Benjamin Wyman, 1774. 
 Dea. Samuel Wyman, 1775, 76. 
 Mr. Jonathan Lawrence, 1777, 78. 
 Mr. Zebadiah Wyraan, 1779, 80, 81, 
 
 82, 83, 84. 
 
 Lt. Joseph Winn, 1785, 86, 87. 
 
 Mr. Zebadiah Wyman, 1788,89; Dea. 
 
 1790, 91, 92. 
 Mr. Benjamin Wyman, 1793, 94; Lt. 
 
 95, 96, 97 ; Capt. 1798, 99. 
 Joseph Lawrence, 1800, 1801. 
 Zebadiah Wyman, 1802, 03, 04. 
 Dr. John Page, 1805. 
 Zebadiah Wyman, 1806, 07, 08, 09, 
 
 1810, 1811, 12,13. 
 John Wade, Esq., 1814, 15, 16, 17, 18, 
 
 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. 
 John Wade, Esq., 1824, 25. 
 John Fowle, 3d, 1826, 27, 28, 31. 
 Bowen Buckman, 1829, 30, 32. 
 John Edgell, 1831, 35, 86, 38, 39. 
 Joel F. Thayer, 1833, 34, 37. 
 Joshua V. Pierce, 1840, 41 ; resigned, 
 
 and removed from Town. 
 William Woodbury, 1841, 42, 43, 44, 
 
 45, 46. 
 Gawin R. Gage, 1847, 48, 49, 60, 51,62, 
 
 53, 54, 55, 66. 
 
 Gawin R. Gage, 1857, 1858, 59. 
 Gawin R. Gage, 1860.
 
 584 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 DEPUTIES TO GENERAL COURT. 
 
 Edward Johnson, 1646, 47, 9, 1650, 
 
 1, 2,3, 4, 5, 6, 8,9. 
 Edward Convers, 1660. 
 Edward Johnson, 1661, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9. 
 Mr. Humphrey Davie, ) 1P7ft 71 
 Capt. Edw. Johnson, ) lt)/u ' ' L ' 
 Mr. Humphrey Davie, ) of Boston, 
 Capt. Edw. Hutchinson, ) 1672, 73. 
 Mr. Humphrey Davie, ) ,g 7 . 
 William Johnson, 5 
 "Mr. Humphrey Davie was chosen 
 
 Deputy for the whole yeare 1675." 
 
 Mr. Humphrey Davie, ? De ? U J ieS e the 
 Lieut. Wm. Johnson, l ,g^x ' 
 
 Mr. Humphrey Davie, > .g 77 7 g 7 g 
 
 Lieut. Wm. Johnson, ) ' ' 
 
 Ensign James Convers, deputy in 
 Feb. Session, 1679-80. 
 
 Lieut. Wm. Johnson, > , ,> 80 
 
 Ensign James Convers, $ 
 
 Lieut. Wm. Johnson, 1681, 82, 83, 
 [chosen "Assistant" at May Ses- 
 sion, 1684. 
 
 Ens. James Convers, Nov. Session, 
 1683 : May Session, 1G84, 85, 86. 
 
 Sergt. Matt. Johnson, 1686. 
 
 Ens. James Convers, 1689. 
 
 Sargt. Matt. Johnson, 1689,90, 91, 92. 
 
 Ens. Saml. Walker, > Members 
 
 Sargt. John Peirce, 
 
 Lt. James Convers, 1691, 92. 
 
 Saml. Blogget, sen., 1693. 
 
 Dea. Samuel Walker, 1694. 
 
 James Convers, jun., 1695, 96,97,98, 
 
 99. 
 
 James Wright, 1696 : disallowed. 
 Capt. Edw. Johnson, 1700. 
 Major James Convers, 1701, 02,03, 04, 
 
 05, 06. 
 Ens. John Peirce, 1706, Aug. 13, in 
 
 room of Major Convers, deceased. 
 Ens. John Peirce, 1707, 08, 09, 12, 13, 
 
 14, 16, 17, 1718. 
 
 Joshua Sawyer, sen., 1710, 1711. 
 Capt. Josiah Convers, 1715. 
 Dea. Saml. Walker, 1719, 20, and for 
 
 Court, June 13, 1720. 
 Daniel Peirce, 1721, and for Court 
 
 23d Aug., 1721. 
 
 Daniel Peirce, 1722, 23, 24, 25, 26. 
 John Fowle, 1727, 28, 30, 31, 35. 
 Ens. Samuel Blogget, 1729. 
 Samuel Richardson, 1732, 33; voted 
 
 1734 to choose, but name not re- 
 corded. 
 
 Mr. Josiah Peirce, 1736. 
 
 M. Roland Cotton, 1737, 38,39,40, 41, 
 
 42, 43; Esq. 1744. 
 Mr. Edward Walker, 1745. 
 Dea. Josiah Peirce, 1746, 47, 48, 49. 
 
 Voted not to send, 1750. 
 Mr. Edward Walker, 1751, 52, 53, 54; 
 
 chosen for 1756, but declined. 
 Josiah Johnson, Esq., 1756, 57, 58, 
 
 1766. 
 Mr. James Fowle, 1759, 1760, 61: 
 
 Esq. 1762, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68. 
 Mr. Oliver Richardson, 1769, 70, 71, 
 
 72, [1773?]. 
 Dea. Saml. Wyman, 1773,? 74; do. 
 
 for Court at Salem, Oct. 5, 1774. 
 Dea. Saml. Wyman, for Provincial 
 
 Congress, Feb. 1775. 
 Josiah Johnson, Esq., 1775; May 31, 
 
 at Watertown. 
 Josiah Johnson, Esq., to Genl. Court 
 
 at Watertown, July 19, 1775. 
 Samuel Wyman, Esq., at Watertown, 
 
 1776; at Boston, 1777. 
 Col. Loammi Baldwin, 1778, 79, 1780. 
 Capt. Saml. Belknap, 1781, 1783. 
 Dea. Joseph Johnson, 1782. 
 Saml. Thompson, Esq. 1785, 86, 89, 
 
 90. 
 
 Dea. Timothy Winn, 1787, 1788, 1791. 
 Capt. Timothy Winn, 1790. 
 Samuel Thompson, Esq. 1792, 93. 
 Col. John Walker, 1794, 95, 96. 
 
 1797, Voted not to send. 
 Samuel Thompson, Esq. 1798. 
 
 1799, Voted not to send. 
 Hon. Loammi Baldwin, Esq. 1800, 01, 
 
 02, 03, 04. 
 
 Samuel Thompson, Esq. 1805, 06. 
 Col. Bill Russell, 1807, 1808. 
 Dr. Sylvanus Plympton, 1809. 
 Mr. Luke Reed, 1810, 11. 
 Dr. Sylvaims Plympton, ) 
 Major John Wade, $ 
 
 Major John Wade, ) 1s ,q 
 Lieut. Jona. Tidd, $ 181d - 
 Major John Wade, 1814, 15, 16, 17, 18, 
 
 19, 20, 21, 22. 
 
 Dr. Sylvanus Plympton, 1816. 
 John Wade, Esq., 1823, 26. 
 Marshall Fowle, 1823, 1824, 25. 
 John Wade, ) 1Q07 
 
 Joseph Gardner, $ 
 Marshall Fowle, & ) 1fioa 
 Joseph Gardner, $ i8 ' 
 Marshall Fowle, & > , Q00 
 John Wade, J 1829< 
 
 1812.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 585 
 
 Hon. Wm. C. Jarvis, 1830. 
 
 Marshall Fowle, ) 
 
 John Wade, > 1831. 
 
 Stephen Nichols, ) 
 
 Stephen Nichols, ) 
 
 Samuel Abbot, VNov. 14, 1831. 
 
 Joseph Gardner, > 
 
 Marshall Fowle, ) 
 
 Samuel Abbot, V 1832. 
 
 Joseph Gardner, ) 
 
 John Wade, ) 
 
 Stephen Nichols, \ 1833, 34. 
 
 Oliver B. Coolidge, ) 
 
 Oliver B. Coolidge, 1835. 
 
 John Convers, 1835. 
 
 William Tidd, 1835. 
 
 Stephen Eames, 1836. 
 
 Henry Flagg, 1836. 
 
 Leonard Thompson, 1836. 
 
 John Cummings, 1837. 
 
 Augustus Plympton, 1837. 
 
 Leonard Fowle, 1838. 
 
 William Flanders, 1838. 
 
 Calvin A. Wyman, 1838. 
 Henry Parker, 1839. 
 Thomas Poole, 1839. 
 Bowen Buckman, 1840. 
 Nathaniel A. Richardson, 1841, 42, 43. 
 1844, Nov. 24. Voted not 
 
 to send this year. 
 John C. Brackett, 1845. 
 No choice 1846, none 1847, no choice 
 
 1849. 
 
 Nov. 27, 1848. Voted not to send. 
 Nov. 11 & Nov. 25, 1850, no choice. 
 Timothy Winn, 1851. 
 Joseph Dow, 1852. 
 No choice, 1853. 
 Wm. T. Grammer, 1854. 
 Ebenezer N. Blake, 1855. 
 William T. Grammer, 1856. 
 Charles S. Convers, 1857. 
 Nathan Wyman, 1858. 
 Nathan Wyman, 1859. 
 Franklin Smith, i860.
 
 586 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 TEACHERS OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL, WOBURN, TILL 1771. 
 
 NAMES. 
 
 When engaged. 
 
 For how long. 
 
 Terms per annum, or 
 money paid. 
 
 Mr Samuel Carter ........ 
 
 1685 
 
 
 
 
 1686 
 1694 
 
 A year 
 A year 
 
 1.10 only paid, having 
 Nothing promised, appa- 
 
 Mr John Fox 
 
 1699 
 1700 
 
 do. 
 
 rently, and nothing pd. 
 o paid 
 
 
 1701 
 
 i _.__ 
 
 
 u . 
 
 1702 
 
 
 18 nor innnm 
 
 
 1704 
 
 No time set 
 
 * * 
 
 
 1704 
 
 
 
 Mr Gerehom Kawlins 3 
 
 1705 
 
 
 
 
 1705 
 
 
 
 Mr Samuel Mighlll* 
 
 1706 
 
 
 
 Mr John Tufta 6 
 
 1707 
 1708 
 
 10 months 
 
 20. 
 
 
 1708 
 
 
 7 10 paid 
 
 n 
 
 1709 
 
 
 
 Mr. Recompense Wadsworth 7 . * 
 
 1710 
 1710 
 1711, '12 
 
 3 months 
 6 months 
 13 months 
 
 7.16 paid. 
 12 and board 11 weeks. 
 
 
 1713 
 
 
 
 Mr. John Gardner 10 
 
 1714 
 1715, '16, '17 
 1718 '19 
 
 1 year 
 29 months 
 
 21.15 paid and board. 
 40 per an. 96.13.8 paid. 
 
 Mr (Nathiniel ') Cotton 12 * . * 
 
 1719 
 
 
 50 per an. for 3 mos. 
 21 16 3 paid 
 
 
 1720 
 
 
 
 Mr. John Hancock" 
 Mr Nathaniel Hancock 14 
 
 1720, '21, '22 
 1722 '23 
 
 
 49.6.8 paid. 
 51 1 4 paid 
 
 Mr. Josiah Convers 15 
 Mr. Ebenezer Flagg, jun. 18 . . . . 
 Mr Timothy Walker 17 
 
 1723, '24, '25 
 1725 
 1725 
 
 4 months 
 
 69.11.8 paid. 
 12.5 paid. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Jonnison 18 
 Mr Habijah Weld l9 
 
 1725 
 17-25-26 
 
 3 months 
 
 11 paid. 
 
 " Mr. (Nathaniel ?) Saltonstall *> . 
 Mr Isaic Richardson 21 . . . 
 
 1727 
 1727-28 
 
 3 months 
 
 12.10 paid. 
 12 10 paid 
 
 Mr Jabez Fox ** 
 
 1728 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 Mr. Bradstreet was of Andover, a grand- 
 son of Gov. Bradstreet ; H. C. 1698 ; came to 
 Woburn at the time ngreed on : stayed there 
 through March Court, to save the town from a 
 presentment by the grand jury ; but having no 
 scholars, he then withdrew, having expenses 
 paid, and receiving eighteen shillings as " a 
 gratuity." Town Kecords, IV., p. 255. 
 
 * Mr. Burr was graduated at H. C., 1697. 
 
 Mr. Rawlins was a graduate of H. C. 1705. 
 
 Mr. Rawson of H. C., 1703. 
 
 "Mr. Mighill, H. C., 1704; kept the school 
 only part of the time agreed on in 1707, and 
 received 6.00 in full. 
 
 Mr. Tufts was of H. C., 1708; and after- 
 wards ordained over Second Church in New- 
 bur y. 
 
 7 Mr. Wadsworth, born in Boston; of H. C., 
 1708. 
 
 Mr. Clark, of H. C., 1712; minister of Dan- 
 vers, 1717. 
 
 A son of Rev. Samuel Angier, of Reho- 
 both, and a grandson of Rev. Urian Oakcs, 
 President of Harvard College. 
 
 10 Mr. Gardner, of Charlestown End, H. C., 
 1715 ; minister of Stow, 1718. 
 " Graduate of H. C., 1715. 
 
 " " Mr. Cotton " (if Rev. Nathaniel) was of 
 H. C., 1717; and afterwards minister of Bris- 
 tol, R. I. 
 
 "Of H. C., 1719; minister of Braintree, 
 1726 ; father of Gov. Hancock. 
 
 " Rev. Nathaniel Hancock, H. C., 1721. 
 
 18 A native of Woburn, H. C., 1723 ; a son of 
 Capt. Josiah Convers, and a grandson of Dea- 
 con Josiah. 
 
 18 A native of Woburn, son of Ebenezer 
 Flagg. sen., H. C., 1725; minister of Chester, 
 N. H., 1736. 
 
 IT Mr. Walker, son of Dea. Samuel Walker, 
 2d, of Woburn, H. C., 1725; minister of Con- 
 cord, N. H., 1730. 
 
 18 Mr. Jennison was of H: C., 1720; after- 
 ward a preacher and settled minister. 
 
 19 Mr. Weld, H. C., 1723 ; ordained at Attle- 
 borough, Mass., 1727. 
 
 "Mr. (Nathaniel?) Saltonstall,'' of H. C., 
 1727. 
 
 11 Mr. Isaac Richardson, a native of Wo- 
 burn, of H. C., 1726. 
 
 28 Mr. Fox, son of Rev. John Fox, of H. C., 
 1727.
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 587 
 
 TEACHERS OF GRAMMAR SCHOOL, WOBURN, TILL 1771. 
 =-.- (Continued.') 
 
 NAMES. 
 
 When engaged. 
 
 For how long. 
 
 Terms per annum, or 
 money paid. 
 
 
 1729 '30 '31 
 
 31 months 
 
 131 paid 
 
 
 1732 
 
 
 12 10 paid 
 
 Mr. Jabez Richardson * 
 Mr. Thomas Balch 
 
 1732 
 1732 
 
 3 months 
 
 12.10 paid. 
 2 paid 
 
 Mr Ebenezer Wyman * 
 
 1732 
 
 
 
 
 1733 
 
 
 50 paid 
 
 Mr. James Fowle 27 
 
 1734 
 
 
 
 
 1735 
 
 
 38 10 paid 
 
 Mr. James Fowle" 
 Mr. Ebenezer Wyman * 
 
 1736 
 1736 
 
 6^ months 
 11 weeks 
 
 26.18.6 paid. 
 10 11 8 paid 
 
 
 1737 
 
 
 60 paid 
 
 
 1737 
 
 
 60 bills of credit 
 
 
 1738 
 
 12 mrvntha 
 
 70 paid 
 
 i< K 
 
 1739 
 
 
 70 paid* 
 
 it (i 
 
 1740 '41 '42 
 
 
 
 Cl 11 
 
 1743 '44 
 
 1Q ill 
 
 
 Mr. Isaac Richardson 
 
 1745 
 
 
 21 10 old tenor paid 
 
 
 1746 
 
 
 
 i< it 
 
 1747 
 
 o th 
 
 100* nlH t n r* ripr * 
 
 Mr Adam Richardson M . 
 
 1747 
 
 
 lf> , , ' . 
 
 
 1748, '49 
 
 
 
 Mr Jonathan Sewall * . . 
 
 1750 
 
 
 
 Mr. Ebenezer Thompson * . . . . 
 Mr Jabez Richardson 81 . . ! ! ! ! 
 
 1752 
 1753 
 1754 
 
 3 months 
 3 months 
 
 300, old tenor, per an. 
 10, law. mon., p. order. 
 
 
 1754 
 
 
 
 1C U 
 
 1755 
 
 1 th 
 
 
 Mr Jacob Eliot 32 . 
 
 1756 
 
 
 
 Mr Jabez Richardson 83 . . . . 
 
 1757 
 
 
 
 
 1759 
 
 * 
 
 4.19 9 paid 
 
 Mr John Fowle M . . . 
 
 1758 
 
 
 622 paid 
 
 
 1759 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 1760, '61 
 1762 
 
 
 
 Mr Jacob Coggin 85 
 
 1763, '64, '65 
 1766, '67, '68 
 1769 
 1770 '71 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 See 16. 
 
 Mr. Jabez Richardson, a graduate of H. C., 
 1730. 
 
 *o Mr. Balch, of H. C., 1733; first minister of 
 Second Parish, Dedham, 1736. 
 
 88 Mr. Wyman, son of Jacob Wyman, Wo- 
 burn; of H. C., 1731; and minister of Union, 
 Conn. 
 
 ** Mr. James Fowle, son of Capt. John 
 Fowle, of Woburn, graduate of H. C., 1731, 
 and Town Clerk of Woburn from 1746 to 1779, 
 inclusively. 
 
 zs Mr. Adam Richardson, a native of Wo- 
 burn, and graduate of H. C., 1730. 
 
 Mr. Jonathan Sewall, a graduate of H. C., 
 1748, and Attorney General at the commence- 
 ment of the revolutionary war. 
 
 o A native of Woburn, son of Ebenezer and 
 Hannah (Convers) Thompson, and graduated 
 atH.C.,1752. 
 
 See 24. A school teacher, apparently, by 
 profession. 
 
 n Jacob Eliot, a graduate of H. C., 1755. 
 
 83 See 24. Mr. Jabez Richardson was proba- . 
 hly a native, certainly an inhabitant, of Wo- 
 burn, in 1756. See Church Records, Vol. I., 
 page 3. 
 
 "Mr. John Fowle, or "Master Fowle" as 
 he was called many years, was a native of 
 Woburn, a son of John and Mary (Convers) 
 Fowle, and a graduate of H. C., 1747. 
 
 88 Mr. Jacob Coggin, a native of Woburn, 
 graduate of H. C., 1763, a schoolmaster by pro- 
 fession, and occasionally preached. 
 
 N. B. The pay per annum engaged to Mas- 
 ter Fowle, for teaching, is not stated in the 
 Records, except in 1759 and 1762. From the 
 sums paid by the Treasurer at divers times for 
 his services, he appears to have had a little 
 more, some year's, than 40 per annum. As 
 the town voted to raise 40 for schooling in 
 1771, 1772, (See Town Records, Vol. IX., pp. 
 128, 165,) it is inferred that that sum was the 
 annual pay of Mr. Coggin in those years.
 
 588 
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 n ordained, 
 installed. 
 
 liiiiiii 
 
 2SS83 
 
 S3 
 
 i tJ tin 1 
 
 " 
 
 rf a 
 
 3 S 
 
 5 5 
 
 Irti 
 
 . a a a - S" 
 
 : 3 ^ : I I < 
 
 1 a 1 g i 
 
 s 
 
 II 1 ! II II i 1 1 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 U H ^0 B B h h" ft 
 
 2 s s a s 
 
 1 illSi'iiill 
 
 - 
 
 i i 1 1 1 
 
 1 M ! jj.U 
 
 "2g 
 
 I! 
 
 
 
 S R . 
 s s 
 
 ii 
 ij 
 
 ?J 
 
 t 
 
 ij 
 
 n 
 
 - -5. 
 
 11 
 
 || 
 
 1! 
 
 l-> w 
 
 21 
 
 tton, first 
 July 15, 17 
 
 35 
 
 !f
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 589 
 
 DEACONS OF THE FIRST CHURCH, WOBURN. 
 
 NAMES. 
 
 Cho.en.or (t) 
 atyled beacon 
 in T. Records. 
 
 Resigned. 
 
 Died. 
 
 Age. 
 
 
 Probably in 
 
 
 1663 
 
 75 
 
 John Mousall .... , . . . . { 
 
 1642 
 
 
 1665 
 
 70 
 
 John Wright 
 
 t Nov. 10 1664 
 
 
 1688 
 
 
 John Russell 
 
 t Nov. 10, 1664 
 
 
 1676 
 
 
 Josiah Convers 
 
 1674 
 
 
 1690 
 
 7ft 
 
 Henrv Baldwin 
 
 1686 
 
 
 1698 
 
 
 Samuel Walker 2d 
 
 1692 
 
 
 
 1704 
 
 61 
 
 Joseph Wright 
 
 f!698 
 
 
 1724 
 
 8fi 
 
 William Locke 
 
 1700 
 
 
 1720 
 
 91 
 
 Samuel Walker, 3d 1 
 
 1709 
 
 '1735 
 
 1744 
 
 77 
 
 William Locke, jun 
 
 1709 
 
 
 1738 
 
 80 
 
 
 1 1720 
 
 
 1725 
 
 67 
 
 
 1719 
 
 1735 
 
 1756 
 
 96 
 
 
 1725 
 
 1733 
 
 1763 
 
 84 
 
 Josiah Wright 
 
 t 1736 
 
 
 1747 
 
 78 
 
 
 1736 
 
 
 1743 
 
 63 
 
 
 1742 
 
 
 
 1759 
 
 68 
 
 
 1745 
 
 
 1752 
 
 79 
 
 
 1745 
 
 
 1775 
 
 84 
 
 John Wriglit 
 
 1768 
 
 
 1763 
 
 55 
 
 John Leathe 3 
 
 1759 
 
 
 1775 
 
 80 
 
 Nathan Richardson 
 
 1761 
 
 
 1776 
 
 74 
 
 Samuel Wvman 
 
 1764 
 
 
 1787 
 
 70 
 
 Obadiah Kendall 
 
 1777 
 
 
 1811 
 
 86 
 
 
 1777 
 
 1812 
 
 1820 
 
 89 
 
 
 1789 
 
 
 1793 
 
 5ft 
 
 
 1789 
 
 
 1795 
 
 48 
 
 
 1796 
 
 1812 
 
 1815 
 
 78 
 
 Josiah Wright 
 
 1805 
 
 1825 
 
 1830 
 
 80 
 
 Ebenezer Lawrence 
 
 1812 
 
 1828 
 
 1842 
 
 84 
 
 
 1812 
 
 
 1836 
 
 68 
 
 Calvin Richardson 
 
 1825 
 
 1849 
 
 1866 
 
 89 
 
 
 1828 
 
 1837 
 
 1862 
 
 76 
 
 
 1828 
 
 
 1837 
 
 60 
 
 Nathan B. Johnson 
 
 1828 
 
 1840 
 
 
 
 Luther Fames 
 
 1828 
 
 1836 
 
 1857 
 
 55 
 
 
 1836 
 
 1840 
 
 1863 
 
 64 
 
 
 1836 
 
 
 
 
 Marshal Wvman 
 
 1838 
 
 1840 
 
 
 
 
 1838 
 
 1849 
 
 
 
 Ezekiel Johnson 
 
 1841 
 
 
 1866 
 
 84 
 
 
 1841 
 
 1842 
 
 
 
 
 1841 
 
 
 
 
 Jonas Hale 
 
 1843 
 
 
 1858 
 
 77 
 
 Abner Rice 
 
 1853 
 
 1852 
 
 
 
 
 1849 
 
 
 1862 
 
 78 
 
 Willard J Pearsons 
 
 1862 
 
 ... .... 
 
 
 
 John R Kimball . . . 
 
 1858 
 
 
 
 
 Eckley Stearns 
 
 1863 
 
 1867 
 
 
 
 Nathan H. Richardson 
 
 1863 
 
 1867 
 
 
 
 Gawin R. Gage 
 
 1863 
 
 
 
 
 Ephraim Cutter 
 
 1864 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i Samuel Walker and George Reed, jun., being chosen deacons, 1735, of the Church of the 
 Second Precinct, where they lived, they transferred to it their relation to the First Church. 
 
 * James Thompson became deacon of the Church of Wilmington, where he lived, after the In- 
 corporation of the town, 1730. 
 
 John Leathe was deacon of the Third Church, Woburn, till the reunion of the Firt and 
 Third, in 1759. 
 
 51
 
 APPENDIX, NO. XIII. 
 
 COLLEGE GRADUATES WHO WERE NATIVES OF "WOBURN. 
 
 Baldwin, Loammi, Esq. ; H. U. 1800. 
 
 Bennett, Rev. Joseph L. 
 
 Burbeen, Mr. Joseph; H. U. 1731. 
 
 Burbeen, Paul; H. U. 1743. 
 
 Carter, Mr. Samuel; H. U. 1660. 
 
 Checkering, Rev. John White, D. D. 
 
 Coggin, Mr. Jacob ; H. U. 1763. 
 
 Coggin, Rev. Jacob ; H. U. 1803. 
 
 Convers, Josiah ; H. U. .1723. 
 
 Convers, Joshua P. Esq. ; B. U. 
 
 Convers, Sherman; Y. C. 1813. 
 
 Cutter, Ephraim ; Y. C. 1852. M. D. 
 H. U. 1856. M. M. S. S. 
 
 Fox, Hon. Jabez ; H. U. 1727. 
 
 Flagg, Rev. Ebenezer ; H. U. 1725. 
 
 Flagg, John; H. U. 1761. 
 
 Fowle, James, Esq. ; H. U. 1731. 
 
 Fowle, John, Master ; H. U. 1747. 
 
 Hayward, Jonathan ; H. U. 1756. He 
 was son of Dr. Jona.Hayward, (or 
 "Hey wood,") who died in Wo- 
 burn, Aug. 13, 1749, aged " 45," 
 [Gravestone]. This son of his 
 died in Woburn a pauper, May 19, 
 1812, set 73. 
 
 Kendall, Rev. Samuel; H. U. 1731. 
 
 Lawrence, Rev. Nathaniel ; H. U. 
 1787. 
 
 Lock, Samuel; H. U. 1755. He was 
 son of Samuel and Rebekah (Rich- 
 ardson) Lock of Woburn ; born Nov. 
 23, 1731 ; settled in the Ministry at 
 Sherborn; was made President of 
 H. U. 1770, resigned 1773, and died 
 at Sherborn, 1778, 
 
 Plympton, Sylvanus, M. D. H. U. 
 1818. 
 
 Plympton, Augustus, M. D. at H. U. 
 1824. 
 
 Plympton, Henry Sylvanus, M. D. ; at 
 H. U. I860. 
 
 Reed, William; H. U. 1811. 
 
 Richardson, Adam ; H. U. 1730. 
 
 Richardson, Isaac ; H. U. 1726. 
 
 Richardson, Jabez ; H. U. 1730. 
 
 Richardson, Gideon; H. U. 1749. 
 
 Richardson, Luther, Esq. ; H. U. 1799. 
 
 Richardson, Wyman, Esq.; H. U. 
 1804. 
 
 Richardson, John ; H. U. 1813. 
 
 Thompson, Ebenezer; H. U. 1752. 
 
 Thompson, Jonathan ; H. TJ. 1803. 
 
 Thompson, Rev. Leander ; was sent as 
 Missionary to Syria by A. B. F. M., 
 in and since his return from 
 there has been settled in the minis- 
 try at West Amesbury, Mass. 
 
 Wade, John ; Amherst College, 1830. 
 LL. B. 1834, at H. U. 
 
 Walker, Rev. James, D. D. ; H. U. 
 1814. President of the University 
 from 1853 to 1860. 
 
 Winn, Timothy; H. U. 1795. 
 
 Winn, Abel Theodore ; H. U. 1859. 
 
 Wyman, John; H. U. 1721. 
 
 Wyman, Rev. Ebenezer; H. U. 1731. 
 
 Wyman, Rufus ; H. U. 1799, M. D. 
 
 Add to the above Col. Loammi Bald- 
 win, who rec'd 1785 from H. U. the 
 Honorary degree of M. A
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Earliest Inhabitants of Woburn and their Families, 
 
 COMPREHENDING : 
 
 I. SUBSCRIBERS AT CHARLESTOWN, DECEMBER 1, 1640, TO THE 
 TOWN ORDERS INTENDED FOR WOBURN. 
 
 II. MEN TAXED IN THE FIRST FOUB TAXES IN WOBURN UPON 
 RECORD, 
 
 VIZ: 
 
 1. THE KATE FOR THE COUNTRY, 8 SEPTEMBER, 1645. 
 
 2. THE TOWN KATE, 22 DECEMBER, 1646. 
 
 3. THE COUNTRY KATE, 26 AUGUST, 1666. 
 
 4. THE KATE FOR THE " NEW MEETING HOUSE," 1672, 
 
 AND FINAIJLT, 
 
 IEL THE MEN WHO WERE DEEMED, IN 1668, TO HAVE EXCLUSIVE 
 RIGHT IN THE COMMON LANDS OP WOBURN.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 BACON. 7. Michael, son of Michael Bacon, of Dedham, 1640, who is 
 said to have come from Ireland, bringing with him wife and four children ; 
 viz : Michael, Daniel, John and Sarah. These children are named in their 
 father's will, 14 Apr. 1648. His wife, their mother, died 1647. [Savage's 
 Genealogical Diet.] 
 
 Michael, eldest son of Michael of Dedham, was of Charlestown, 1640, 
 where he subscribed, 18 Dec. 1640, " Town Orders" for the then projected 
 town of Woburn. He became, shortly after, one of its original inhabitants ; 
 and had born to him there two daughters, viz : Elizabeth, born 4 Jan. 1642 : 
 and Sarah, b. 24 Aug. 1644. His wife Mary dying 26 Aug. 1655, he md. Mary 
 Richardson, 26 Oct. 1655 ; and after her death 19 May, 1670, he took to him 
 a third wife, Mary Noyes, 28 Nov. 1670. He died 4 July, 1688. 
 
 BACON. 77. Michael, jun., only son of the preceding, born probably at 
 Charlestown, before his father settled in Woburn, md. Sarah Richardson, 
 22 March, 1660,a by whom he had three daughters, Mary, Sarah and 
 Abigail ; and also a son Michael, whom he recognizes in a deed, dated 4 
 Oct. 1696, as his "loving son, Michael Bacon, jun., of Billerica, shoe- 
 maker." (a) [Wob. Records of Births, Marriages, etc. (a) MSS. of Mr. 
 John A. Boutelle, Wob.] 
 
 BACON. Daniel, son of Michael of Dedham, born in Ireland, and another 
 of the original settlers of Woburn. He md. Mary Reed of Bridgewater, by 
 whom he had six sons, Thomas, John, Isaac, Jacob, Daniel and John; and 
 two daughters, Rachel, andLydia. About 1669, he removed to Cambridge 
 Village, now Newton ; and died 7 Sept. 1691. [Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 BAKER. John, was of Charlestown, 1636.& His name appears in 
 the Country Rate assessed in Woburu, 26 Aug. 1666. He md. Susanna 
 Martin, 28 May, 1654. By her, he had (1) John, born 25 March, 1654. (2) 
 Mary, b. 22 Feb. 1655-6 (3) Joseph, b. 15 June, 1657, and died soon after. 
 (4) Joseph, b. 1 Feb. 1659-60. (5) Susanna, b. 15 March, 1662, and died 
 soon. (6) Susanna, b. 12 April, 1663; md. to John Cutler, 1682. (7) a son 
 b. 8 March, 1664, and died within a week. (8) Samuel, b. 21 April, 1665. 
 (9) Benjamin, b. 24 May, 1667. (10) James, b. 10 June, 1670. (11) Jona- 
 than, b. 2 Apr. 1674. (12) William, b. 18 Aug. 1679. 
 
 John Baker died 6 Nov. 1695. " Old Goody Baker died Dec. 3, 1714." 
 [Woburn Rec. Woburn Records of Births, Deaths, etc. a Frothing- 
 ham's Charlestown, p. 85.] 
 
 Memoranda of Saml. Thompson, Esq.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 593 
 
 BALDWIN. 1, Henry, said to be from Devonshire, England ; a sub- 
 scriber in Charlestown to the "Town Orders" for Woburn, in 1640, and 
 after that, a distinguished citizen of the latter town, and freeman of the 
 Colony, 1652. His place of residence was at "New Bridge," or North 
 Woburn, where some of his descendants in each succeeding generation 
 have had their abode, and been large proprietors of land. He was of the 
 Board of Selectmen for Woburn, 1681 ; and a deacon of the Church from 
 1686 to his death. He md. 1 Nov. 1649, Phebe, eldest daughter of Ezekiel 
 Richardson, born probably on che other side of the Atlantic. By her, he 
 had eleven children : (1) Susanna, born 30 Aug. 1650, and died soon. (2) 
 Susanna, b. 25 July, 1652. (3) Phebe, b. 7 Sept. 1654, md. to Samuel 
 Richardson, 7 Nov. 1676, and died 20 Oct. 1679. (4) John, b. 28 Oct. 1656. 
 (5) Daniel, 15 March, 1659; md. to Hannah, probably daughter of Joseph 
 Richardson, 6 Jan. 1684-5. (6) Timothy, b. 27 May, 1661. (7) Mary, b. 
 19 July, 1663, and died soon. (8) Henry, b. 15 Nov. 1664. (9) Abigail, 
 b. 20 Aug. 1667; md. to John Reed, 1705? (10) Ruth, b. 31 July, 1670. 
 (11) Benjamin, b. 20 Jan. 1672-3. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., Savage's 
 Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 Dea. Henry Baldwin died 14 Feb. 1697-8. Widow Phebe Baldwin died 
 13 Sept. 1716. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 BALDWIN. //. Henry Baldwin, jun., md. Abigail Fisk, 4 May, 1692; 
 and had 8 children. (1) Henry, b. 12 Jan. 1692-3. (2) David, b. 9 Apl. 
 1696. (3) Isaac, b. 20 Feb. 1699-1700. (4) Abigail, b. 13 Feb. 1701-2; 
 died 4 Sept. 1704. (5) James, b. 11 July, 1705; died 12 June, 1709. (6) 
 Abigail, b. 19 Nov. 1707. (7) James, b. 19 Oct. 1710. (8) Samuel, b. 31 
 Aug. 1717. 
 
 //. Henry Baldwin died 7 July, 1739. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc.] 
 
 Isaac, son of// Henry Baldwin, md. Mary Flegg, (Flagg) both of Woburn, 
 24 March, 1726. Their children were : (1) Luke, b. 23 Dec. 1728. (2) 
 Jeduthan, b. 13 Jan. 1731-2. (3) Nahum, b. 3 May, 1734. (4) Isaac, b. 
 12 Dec. 1738. 
 
 BALDWIN. James, son of // Henry Baldwin, md. Ruth Richardson, 
 29 May, 1739, and had 4 children. (1) Cyrus, b. 5 Nov. 1740. (2) Reuel, 
 b. 9 May, 1742 ; died 21 Feb. 1745-6. (3) Loammi, [Col. Baldwin : S -e 
 Chapt. XII.,] b. 10 Jan. 1744-5. (4) Reuel, b. 30 June, 1747. 
 
 James Baldwin died 28 June, 1791, t. 81. His wife, Ruth, died 13 May, 
 1791, aged 78 years.* 
 
 BLOGGET. Samuel, son of Thomas, who came in the "Increase" from 
 London, 1635, at the age of 30 years, with his wife Susanna, aged 37 years, 
 and two sons, Daniel and Samuel. He (Thomas Bloggett) was a glover by 
 occupation ; settled at Cambridge, where he had a daughter Susanna born 
 to him in June 1637 ; and a son Thomas, who died 7 Aug. 1639. In his 
 will, made 10 Aug. 1641, and proved 8 July following, he provides for his 
 wife and three children, viz : Daniel, Samuel and Susanna. After his de- 
 cease, his widow Susanna was md. to James Thompson, sen., of Woburn, 
 15 Feb. 1643-4 ; and his daughter Susanna md. Jonathan Thompson, son of 
 James Thompson, sen., and Elizabeth, his first wife, 28 Nov. 1655. 
 51*
 
 594 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 BLOGGET. 7. Samuel Blogget was born in England ; brought by his 
 parents to this country when li year old; came to Woburn early to reside; 
 md. Ruth Iggleden [" Eggledeu " County Records] of Boston, 13 Dec. 1655 ; 
 had (1) Ruth, born 28 Dec. 1656. (2) Samuel, b. 10 Dec. 1658. (3) Thomas, 
 
 b. 26 Feb. 1661 ; md. Rebecca Tidd, 11 Nov. 1685. (4) Susanna, b md. 
 
 to James Simonds, 29 Dec. 1685. (5) Sarah, b. 17 Feb. 1668. (6, 7) 
 Martha and Mary, twins, b. 15 Sept. 1673. Martha md. to Joseph Winn, 
 1696. 
 
 /. Samuel Blogget died 3 July, 1687 : Ms widow Ruth died 14 Oct. 1703. 
 
 BLOGGET. //. Samuel Blogget, son of / Samuel, married Huldah, 
 daughter of William Simonds, 30 Apr. 1683 ; and had (1) Samuel, born 21 
 Dec. 1683; (2) Daniel, b. 24 March, 1685. (3) William, b. 11 Jan. 1686-7. 
 (4) Huldah, b. 9 Feb. 1688-9; md. to Ebenezer Reed. (5) Caleb, b. 11 Nov. 
 1691. (6) Joshua, b. 26 Feb. 1693-4. (7) Josiah, b. 27 March, 1696. (8) 
 John, b. 19 Apr. 1699. (9) Benjamin, b. 4 March, 1701. (10) Nathan, b. 15 
 March, 1704. The following records of his and of his wife's death are from 
 the manuscripts of the Simonds family : " Ensign Samuel Blogget de- 
 ceased November fifth 1743." " Widow Huldah Blogget deceased March 
 the fourteenth 1745-6." N. B. //. Samuel Blogget represented Woburn 
 in the General Court, 1693. [See Woburn Town Records. Records of 
 Births, etc. Savage's Geneal. Dictionary.] 
 
 " BRITTEN," [" BRITTON," OR " BRITTAINE."] James, came not 
 improbably in the "Increase" from London, 1635, aged 27, " if the custom 
 record of the embarkation of James Bitton lost a single letter, which is 
 not improbable." He subscribed the Town Orders for Woburn, in 1640, at 
 Charlestown ; came to Woburn to dwell soon after ; was taxed there, 1645, 
 in the first tax upon Record ; and died 3 May, 1655. His widow, Jane, 
 md. Isaac Cole, 1 Feb. 1658-9. 
 
 [Savage Geneal. Diet. : Town Rec. of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 BROOKS. Henry, of Woburn, may have been the same as Henry 
 Brooks of Concord, made freeman 14 March, 1639 . He is noticed in the 
 Town Records as an inhabitant of Woburn, and a proprietor of land there, 
 near Horn Pond, 10 Jan. 1652 t>. He was one of the Selectmen, 1669. His 
 wife, Susanna, dying 15 Sept. 1681, he married Annis Jaquith, [a sister of 
 Abraham Jaquith?] 12 July, 1682; and died 12 April, 1683. In his Will, 
 dated 18 July, 1682, he names wife Annis, and children John, Timothy, who 
 was of Billerica, Isaac, and Sarah, wife of John Mousall, who were then 
 livings. 
 
 BROOKS. John Brooks married Eunice, dr. of Dea. John Mousall, 
 1 Nov. 1649. Their children were : (1) John, b. 23 Nov. 1650, died in 
 1653. (2) Sarah, b. 21 Nov. 1652; md. to Ephraim Buck. (3) Eunice, b. 
 10 Oct. 1655. (4) Joanna, b. 22 March, 1659; md. to David Roberts, 
 1678. (5) John, b. 1 March, 1664. (6) Ebenezer, b. 9 Dec. 1666. (7) 
 Deborah, b. 20 March, 1669. (8) Jabez, b. 17 July, 1673. Eunice Brooks 
 dying 1 Jan. 1684, John Brooks md. Mary Richardson, [widow of 
 
 Savage's Gkneal. Dictionary. b T. B., vol. I., p. 17.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 595 
 
 Theophilus?] 25 Feb. 1683-4. By Inventory of Will, he died 29 Sept. 
 1691. His widow died 28 Aug. 1704. * 
 
 Timothy Brooks md. Mary, dr. of John Russell, sen., 2 Dec. 1659. 
 Their children were: (1) Timothy, born 10 Nov. 1660, and died 
 soon. (2) Timothy, b. 9 Oct. 1661. (3) John, b. 16 Oct. 1662. e 
 (4) Mary, born .... and died 2 July, 1670, at Billerica, *> to which town, 
 subsequently to her birth, her parents had removed. Other daughters 
 
 they had born to them at Billerica, one of whom married Mason of 
 
 Swansea. 
 
 Mary, wife of Timothy Brooks, died at Billerica, 15 Sept. 1680. 
 
 BROOKS. Isaac Brooks married Miriam Daniels, 10 Jan. 1665-6. Their 
 children were : (1), Sarah, born 14 May, 1667; died soon. (2) Miriam, b. 
 29 May, 1668 ; died young. (3) Isaac, b. 13 Aug. 1669. (4) Henry, b. 4 
 Oct. 1671. (5) Miriam, b. 16 Dec. 1673. Isaac Brooks died 8 Sept. 1686. 
 Descendants from the above three sons oi Henry Brooks have been nu- 
 merous. [Wob. Rec. of Births etc., etc.] 
 
 BRUSH or BRUCE. George Brush (whose descendants have long since 
 spelt their name Bruce) is said to have been a Scotchman. He married 
 Elizabeth, daughter of William Clark, 28 Dec. 1659 ; and had by her : (1) 
 William, b. 21 Nov. 1660, and died Jan. following. (2) William,, b. 20 
 Oct. 1661, and died 3 Nov. 1661. (3) Elizabeth, b. 26 Jan. 1663. (4) 
 Mary, b. 15 June', 1665 ; married to Walter Cranston, 4 June, 1683. (5) 
 William, b. 28 April, 1667. (6) John, b. 18 June, 1670. (7) Elizabeth, b. 
 24 Aug. 1672. (8) George, b. 18 Jan. 1674, and died the same day. (9) 
 Joseph, b. 11 Jan. 1674-5, and died 28 Feb. 1675-6. (10) Joseph, b. 29 
 Dec. 1676. (11) Samuel, b. 28 March, 1680. (12) Margery, b. 24 April, 
 1684; md. to Isaac Walker, 1705. (13) Lydia, b. 10 April, 1687. George 
 Brush died 18 Aug. 1692. " Elizabeth Bruce, widow of George Bruce," 
 died 13 Aug. 1700. [Savage's Genl. Diet. Town Recs. of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 " BERBEANE " or BURBEEN. John came, it is said, from Scotland; 
 was a tailor by occupation; and married Sarah Gould, 16 April, 1660. 
 Their children were : (1) Mary, born 2 July, 1661 ; died 20 July, 1733 ? (2) 
 John, b. 9 Aug. 1663. c (3) James, born 15 May, 1668. "Old John 
 Burbeen died 8 Jan. 1713-14, aged about 86 years [Gravestone]. Sarah, 
 his wife, died 14 May, 1670." [Wob. Records of Births, etc : Gravestone.] 
 
 BURBEEN. /. James, son of John Burbeen, married Mary . Their 
 
 children were : (1, 2) Mary and Sarah, twins, born 6 March, 1694 : Sarah 
 died 17 March, 1694. (3) James, b. 21 Aug. 1696. (4) John, b. 12 March, 
 1699 ; died 25 Aug., 1700. (5) Sarah, b. 17 June, 1701 ; married Rev. Tim- 
 othy Walker, of Concord, N. H.d (6) Ruth, b. 28 March, 1708; md. to Mr. 
 Jonathan Hey wood, 1735. (7) Joseph, b. 3 March, 1712. 
 
 Mary, wife of James Burbeen, died 14 Oct. 1724 : " Mr. James Ber- 
 beane " died 4 September, 1729. 
 
 Rec. of Births, etc., etc. b Rec. of Births at Billerica. 
 
 c John Burbeen slain by the Indians near Dunstable, with B. Carter, and D. Baldwin, 6 
 Sept. 1724. Fox's Hist., p. 108. 
 d Bunion's Hist. Concord.
 
 596 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 BITRBEEN. II. James, son of James and Mary Burbeen, md. Mary 
 Richardson, 5 Sept. 1721. Their children were : (1) James, son of Mary 
 (Richardson) Burbeen, born 11 July, 1722. (2) Paul, b. 6 Apl. 1724. (3) 
 John, b. 9 Feb. 1725-6. (4) Mary, b. 6 July, 1729. (5) Sarah, b. 7 March, 
 1733. 
 
 BURBEEN. Mr. Joseph, son of /James and Mary Burbeen, was grad- 
 uated at Harvard College, 1731 ; occasionally preached, but was never set- 
 tled in the Ministry; by his wife Esther had : (1) Esther, born 29 May, 
 1738 ; md. to Jesse Wyman, 1760. (2) Bridget, b. 17 July, 1742. (3) Su- 
 sanna, b. 11 Apr. 1746; md. to Hon. Timothy Walker, Judge, Concord, N. 
 H.a Mrs. Esther Burbeen died about 30 March, 1776. b Mr. Joseph 
 Burbeen died 1794. c 
 
 BURBEEN. Paul, son of II James and Mary Burbeen, was graduated 
 atH. C. 1743: died 1795. c [Wob. Records of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 BUCK. Ephraim, son of Roger Buck of Cambridge, who came to this 
 country in the "Increase," 1635, aged 18 years, settled at Cambridge, and had 
 born there, by his wife Susanna, the above Ephraim, with five other chil- 
 dren. His wife Susanna dying Sept. 10, 1685, he removed to Woburu, and 
 there died Nov. 10, 1693. 
 
 BUCK. His son, Ephraim Buck, was born at Cambridge, July 26, 1646 ; 
 removed to Woburn, and was taxed there in the Meeting House Rate, 1672 : 
 married at Woburn, Sarah, daughter of John Brooks, Jan. 1, 1670-1, and 
 had by her: (1) Sarah, b. Jan. 11, 1673. (2) Ephraim, b. July 13, 1676. (3) 
 John, b. 1678-9, and died within a month after. (4) John again, b. Feb. 7, 
 1679-80. (5) Samuel, b. Nov. 13, 1682. (6) Eunice, b. July 7, 1685. (7) 
 Ebenezer, b. May 20, 16?9. (8) Mary, b. Oct. 28, 1691. Ephraim Buck 
 
 died Jan 1720-21. His descendants now living reside principally in 
 
 Wilmington. [Woburn Records of Births, Marriages, etc. Savage's 
 Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 BUTTER (OR BUTTERS). I. William was an inhabitant of Woburn, 
 1666, where he was taxed in the Country Rate, 26 Aug. of that year. He 
 appears to have died 13 Nov., 1692. " Widow Butter died at Watertown, 
 
 1701." //. William Butter or Butters, his son, by his wife 
 
 Rebekah, had (1) William, born 18 Sept. 1689 ; died soon. (2) William, 
 
 b. 24 May, 1691; died 1711. (3) Rebekah, b. 10 Oct. 1693; died . 
 
 (4) Lydia, b. 11 June, 1695 ; md. to Ebenezer Carter, 1719. (5) Rebekah, 
 b. 30 Aug. 1698 ; md. to William Hamblett, 1720. (6) Samuel, b. 21 June, 
 1703. (7) Mary, b. 28 July, 1705 ; md. to Samuel Johnson, Feb. 1725. 
 (8) John, b. 22 Oct. 1708. (9) .... daughter of William and Rebekah 
 Butter, died 1711. (10) William, b. 8 April, 1713. 
 
 Samuel, son of II. William Butter, married Sarah Jaquith, 25 Jan. 1726. 
 Their children were : (1) Sarah, b. 4 Nov. 1726. (2) Samuel, born 3 
 Nov. 1728. 
 
 The families of this name resided principally in those quarters of 
 Woburn now known as Wilmington and Burlington. They were formerly 
 
 Bouton's Hist. Concord. c Coll. Catalogue, 
 
 b Memoranda of Samuel Thompson, Esq.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 597 
 
 considerably numerous ; and many descendants still remain in both towns. 
 
 BUTTERFIELD. Benjamin, a subscriber at Charlestown to the Town 
 Orders for Woburn, 1640; an inhabitant of Woburn shortly after; was 
 taxed there in 1645 ; and by his wife, Ann, had several children born there ; 
 as (1) Nathaniel, b. 14 Feb. 1642-3. (2) Samuel, b. 17 May, 1647. (3) 
 Joseph, b. 15 Aug. 1649. In 1654, he removed to Chelmsford, where his 
 wife, Ann, died 19 May, 1660; and he md. a second time, 3 June, 1663, 
 Hannah, wid. of Thomas Whittemore of Maiden. [Wob. Rec., Savage's 
 Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 CARTER. Rev. Thomas. See Chap. IV. 
 
 CARTER. Mr. Samuel, eldest son of Rev. Thomas [see Chap. IV.] mar- 
 ried Eunice, daughter of John Brooks, 1672 ; by whom he had : (1) Mary,, 
 born 24 July, 1673. (2) Samuel, b. 27 Aug. 1675 ; died 10 Sept. 1676. (3) 
 Samuel, b. 7 Jan. 1677-8. (4) John, b. 14 March, 1680. (5) Thomas, b. 3 
 Apr. 1682. (6) Nathaniel, b. 7 Apr. 1685. (7) Eunice, b. 29 March 1687. 
 (8) Abigail, b. May 1689. (9) Abigail, again, b. 30 May, 1690. He died 
 1693. His widow married John Kendall, for his 3d wife, subsequently to 
 1701. [Woburn Records of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 CARTER. Timothy, third son of Rev. Thomas Carter, [See Chap. IV.] 
 married, 3 May, 1680, Anna Fiske, daughter of David Fiske, of Cambridge 
 Farms, i. e. Lexington; and by her had: (1) David, b. 17 Oct. 1681, died 22 
 May, 1736. (2) Timothy, born 12 July, 1683, and died the same year. (3) 
 Anna, b. 17 July, 1684. (4) Timothy, b. 17 Oct. 1686. (5) Theophilus, b. 
 20 Oct. 1688. (6) Thomas, b. 14 Aug. 1690. (7) Abigail, b. 18 March, 1692. 
 (8) Sarah, b. 24 Nov. 1694. (9) Elizabeth, b. 27 Aug. 1696 ; died 26 June, 
 1709. (10) Benjamin, b. 22 March, 1699 ; died soon. (11) Mary, b. 23 June, 
 1700; md. to Jasher Wyman 1721. (12) Martha, b. 22 July, 1702; md. to 
 John Bruce 1721 ? (13) Benjamin again, b. 8 Nov. 1704. 
 
 Anna, wife of Timothy Carter, died 27 Jan. 1715-16. He died 8 July, 
 1727. [Town Records of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 CARTER. Thomas, youngest son of Rev. Thomas Carter, married 1682, , 
 Margaret or Margery Whitmore, daughter of Francis Whitmore, of Cam- 
 bridge. Their children were: (1) Mary, born 5 Oct. 1683; md. to Joshua 
 Sawyer, jun., of Charlestown, 22 May, 1706. (2) Thomas, b. 13 June, 1686. 
 (3) Eleazar, b. 20 Apr. 1689. (4) Daniel, b. 10 Aug. 1691. (5) Ebenezer, 
 b. 24 Sept. 1695. (6) Ezra, b. 22 June, 1701. 
 
 " Margery, wife of Thomas Carter, died 5 Oct. 1734." 
 
 Descendants of Rev. Thomas Carter, bearing his name, were formerly 
 very numerous, particularly in Wilmington, and in "Carter Row," so called, 
 Burlington. And though, in the towns just mentioned, their number is 
 now considerably diminished, they have not yet become extinct. By the 
 following account of the family of the minister's grandson, Ebenezer, son 
 of Thomas, and of the family of his great-great-grandson, William, son of 
 Ebenezer, many, probably, in Wilmington and Burlington will be reminded 
 of individuals of his posterity of whom they have heard, and of some 
 whom they have seen and known. 
 
 Ebenezer Carter and Lydia " Butter," both of Woburn, married 15 Apr.
 
 598 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 1719. Children were : (1) Ebenezer, born 25 May, 1720. (2, 3) Lydia & 
 Abigail, twins, b. 4 Jan. 1721-2. (4) Ezra, b. 2 May, 1723. (5) William, 
 b. 28 Apr. 1725. (6) Nathan, b. 2 Jan. 1727-8. 
 
 William Carter of Woburn entered his intentions of marriage with 
 Abigail "Butter" of Wilmington, 18 Jan. 1754. Children were: (1) 
 William, b. 11 Sept. 1754. (2) Benjamin, born 2 May, 1756. (3) Jonas, 
 b. 17 April, 1758. (4) David, b. 20 May, 1761. (5) Jonathan, b. 2 Nov. 
 1763. (6) Joshua, b. 22 Sept. 1765. [Wob. Records of Births, etc.] 
 
 CARTER. /. John Carter, usually distinguished in Woburn Town 
 Book, as " Captain John," or "the Captain," was an early inhabitant of 
 Woburn, having been a subscriber to the "Town Orders "in 1640. By 
 his wife, Elizabeth, he had children as follows : (1) Elizabeth, b. 8 Aug. 
 1643, and died 20 Dec. 1653, or as the County Records have, 23 Feb. 1654. 
 (2) Mary, born 8 March, 1646. (3) Abigail, b. 21 Apr. 1648. (4) Han- 
 nah, b. 19 Jan. 1650-51; md. to James Convers, jun. (5) John, b. 6 Feb. 
 1652-3. Elizabeth, wife of Capt. John Carter, died 7 May, 1691, [aged 78 
 years, Gravestone.] Capt. John Carter and Elizabeth Groce were md. 
 .... 1691. He died 14 Sept. 1692." 
 
 CARTER. //. John Carter and Ruth Burnham md. 20 June, 1678. 
 Their children were : (1) Elizabeth, born 18 Sept. 1680 ; md. to Ebe- 
 nezer Flagg, 1700. (2) Ruth, b. 18 Oct. 1681 ; md. to Josiah Wright, 
 1700. (3) Mary, b. 17 July, 1683. (4) John, b. 8 Aug. 1685; died 21 
 May, 1705. (5) Thomas, b. 3 July, 1687. (6) Abigail, b. 30 March, 1689; 
 md. to Ralph Kendall, 1707? (7) Phebe, b. 11 June, 1691. (8) Joseph, b. 
 16 Feb. 1692-3. (9) Samuel, b. 31 Oct. 1694. (10) Esther, b. 21 Aug. 
 1696. (11) Josiah, b. 3 Aug. 1698. (12) Jabez, b. 17 Sept., 1700. (13, 14) 
 Nathaniel and Benjamin, twins, b. 4 March, 1702. Benjamin, slain by the 
 Indians near Dunstable, N. H., 5 Sept. 1724. (a) 
 
 Ruth, wife of Lieut. John Carter, died 11 Jan. 1723-4, (aged 55 years : 
 Gravestone.) 
 
 Lieut. John Carter died 13 April, 1727, [aged 75 years : Gravestone.] 
 Descendants in the male line of Capt. John Carter, once a numerous 
 race, living in Woburn and Burlington, seem now to be almost extinct in 
 both these towns. One of the 7th generation, William, a grandson of the 
 late Mr. Jonathan Carter, yet lives in Burlington ; and there may be one or 
 more living in Woburn ; but if any remain there, it is apprehended they 
 must be very few. [Wob. Records of Births, etc. (a) Fox's Dunstable, 
 p. 108.] 
 
 CARTER. Joseph Carter, sen., was of Newbury, 1636; removed to 
 Woburn, as Mr. Savage conjectures, (a) before 1659 ; was taxed there in 
 the Country Rate, 26 Aug. 1666; lived with his son Joseph, jun., in Wy- 
 man's Lane (so called), Woburn, on the old Billerica Road; and died in 
 Charlestown, 30 Dec. 1676. (b) 
 Joseph Carter, jun., of Woburn, son of the preceding, currier, married 
 
 Bethiah and had (1) Bethiah, b. 8 June, 1671; md. to Roland Jones, 
 
 1695. (2) Susanna, b. 24 Feb. 1672-3. (3) Joseph, b. 28 Nov. 1674. (4) 
 John, b. 26 Feb. 1676-7. (5) Abigail, b. 1 Feb. 1678-9. (6) Henry, b. 4
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 599 
 
 Oct. 1683. (7) Faith, b. 28 Apr. 1688. (c) Joseph Carter, jtra., of Wo- 
 burn, currier, was deceased 29 May, 1706, leaving Bethiah, his widow, (c) 
 [(a) Geneal. Diet, (b) Charlestown Records, (c) Wyman Papers, No. 66, 
 Wob. Records.] 
 
 CHALKLEY. Robert Chalkley was of Woburn, 1645, where he was 
 taxed in the Country Rate, 8 Sept. of that year ; but as his name is not on 
 the List for the town rate assessed 22 Dec. 1646, he had doubtless before 
 that time returned to Charlestown. He was made freeman 1647, and died 
 in Charlestown, 2 Sept. 1672. By his Will, made 27 Aug. preceding, he gave 
 all his estate to his wife Elizabeth, who died at Charlestown, 13 Oct. 1678. 
 
 [Woburn Rec. Colony Rec. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 CHAMBERLAIN. Thomas Chamberlain, freeman, 29 May, 1644 ; taxed 
 in Woburn, in the Country Rate, 8 Sept. 1645. By wife, Mary, he had 
 borne to him : (1) Thomas, born elsewhere, possibly in England. (2) Sam- 
 uel, born in Woburn, 7 Oct. 1645. (3) Mary, b. 30 Jan. 1649. He then 
 removed to Chelmsford. [Col. Rec., Woburn Rec., Savage's Geneal. 
 Diet.] 
 
 CLARK. William, a weaver by occupation, was of Watertown, 1631 ; 
 made freeman, 1639 ; removed to Woburn not far from 1654, reference 
 being made there by the Selectmen, 27 May, 1654, to a grant of land made 
 to him by the town. He was taxed in Woburn in the Country Rate 26 
 Aug. 1666. By his wife, Margery, who accompanied him from England, he 
 had borne to him in Watertown : 
 
 (1) Mary, born Dec. 10, 1640 ; md. 27 Dec. 1655 to William Locke, of 
 Woburn. 
 
 (2) Elizabeth, b. 26 Nov. 1642 ; md. 1659 to George Brush [Bruce] of 
 Woburn. 
 
 (3) Hannah, b. 13 Feb. 1646; md. 1667 to William Frissell, of Concord, 
 who died 1684. 
 
 (4) Lydia, married and left a widow with two daughters. 
 
 William Clark died 15 March, 1682, aged 87 ; and his widow died 11 Oct. 
 1694, aged 95. 
 
 [Bond's Watertown, p. 159, Savage's Geneal. Diet., Mass. Colony Rec., 
 Woburn Town Rec. Vol. I.] 
 
 CLEAVELAND. I. Moses Cleaveland (or Cleveland, as the name is 
 now more usually spelled, in conformity, it is understood, to the mode of 
 spelling it in England,) came to this country (says family tradition) with 
 his master, a joiner, from Ipswich, in the county of Suffolk. He early took 
 up his permanent abode in Woburn, as appears by the Town Records, which, 
 under date of 3 Feb. 1648-9, mention a committee appointed to lay out the 
 portion of land which had been promised him. He married Ann, daughter 
 of Edward Winn (born in England) 26 Sept. 1648 ; and had by her the fol- 
 lowing children, viz : (1) Moses, born 1 Sept. 1651. (2) Hannah, b. 4 Aug. 
 1653; married to Thomas Henshaw (pronounced at that day Hincher) 
 1677. (3) Aaron, b. 10 Jan. 1654-5. (4) Samuel, b. 9 June, 1657. (5) 
 Miriam, b. 10 July, 1659 ; md. a Fosdick, or rather Foskett,* of Charles- 
 
 Savage, in Geneal. Diet.
 
 600 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 town. (6) Joanna, b. 19 Sept. 1661, died 2 July, 1667. (7) Edward, b. 20 
 May, 1663. (8) Josiah, b. 26 Feb. 1666-7. (9) Isaac, b. 11 May, 1669. (10) 
 Joanna, b. 5 Apr. 1670; md. a Keyes, of Chelrasford. (11) Enoch, b. 1 
 Aug. 1671. Moses Cleaveland, sen., died 9 Jan. 1701-2. No record of his 
 wife's death has been observed. 
 
 //. Moses Cleaveland married Ruth Norton, 4 Oct. 1676 , and had by 
 her: (1) "Annah" [Anna, or Hannah?] b. 7 Nov. 1677. (2) Joseph, b. 
 31 March, 1686. 
 
 /. Aaron Cleaveland md. Dorcas Wilson, 26 Sept. 1675. Their children 
 were: (1) Dorcas, b. 29 Oct. 1676; md. John Knight, 12 March, 1699." (2) 
 Hannah, b. 18 Dec. 1678, died 13 June, 1679. (3) Aaron, b. 9 July, 1680. 
 (4) Hannah, b. 2 June, 1687; md. a Beard.* (5) Moses, b. 24 Feb. 
 1689-90. (6) Sarah, b. 5 March, 1692; md. to Job Richardson, 1718? (7) 
 Miriam, b. 9 July, 1694. (8) Isabel, b. 6 April, 1697; died 7 Dec. 1714. 
 (9) Benjamin, b. 16 May, 1701. (10) Ann, daughter of Aaron and 
 Dorcas, b b 
 
 Dorcas, wife of Aaron Cleaveland, died 29 Nov. 1714. Soon after her 
 
 death, he md. a second wife, Prudence, b; and died 14 Sept. 1716, 
 
 aged, according to Gravestone, 62 years. 
 
 CLEAVELAND. 77. Aaron, son of Aaron and Dorcas Cleaveland, a 
 
 carpenter by trade, md. Abigail, and resided in Woburn till after 
 
 the birth of his second child. He then removed ; and took up his resi- 
 dence, first, apparently, in Medford, then in Cambridge, after that, in 
 Medford again; and subsequently in Charlestown. He was admitted 7 
 Oct. 1711, into the Church at Cambridge; and his mother, Dorcas, dying 
 in his house there, in 1714, and .his eldest son in 1716, they were both 
 buried in Cambridge Graveyard. [See epitaphs on mother and son in Har- 
 ris's Collection.] In 1720, his Church relationship was transferred from 
 Cambridge to Medford church. But, even after that, he had one child at 
 least, baptized in the church at Cambridge. He continued to reside in 
 Medford or Charlestown, till 1738, when he removed with his family to 
 East Haddam, Ct., where he bore the title of" Captain" and traded largely 
 in laud. Whether he remained there or not till his decease has not been 
 ascertained. 
 
 His children by his wife Abigail having been born in different places, 
 their births are not all recorded in one place. These were (1) Aaron, 
 born at Woburu, 20 Oct. 1702, died at Cambridge, and was buried there in 
 1716. (2), Samuel, b. at Woburn, 17 May, 1704. In Vol. XLIII. p. 517, 
 Registry of Deeds [for Suffolk?], under date of 23 May, 1743, is a deed 
 from " Samuel Cleaveland," of Boston, mariner, in which he calls Aaron 
 Cleaveland his father. (3) Abigail, "daughter of Aaron & Abigail 
 Cleavelaud," born at Medford, 10 May, 1706. [Medford Town Records.] 
 (4) John, "son of Aaron & Abigail Cleaveland," was baptized 7 Oct. 
 1711, in the First church of Cambridge, the same day his father was taken 
 
 Cambridge Records. * Rev. O. A. Taylor, from papers In Probate Office. 
 
 Kemoved from Woburn, 1722. Compare Woburn Records, Vol. V. P. 138, 143, 155.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 601 
 
 into that church. (5) Josiah, son of Aaron Cleaveland & Abigail his 
 wife, was baptized in infancy, at Cambridge, 1 Nov. 1713. [Cambridge 
 Ch. Records.] He md. 1 Jan. 1735 [1735-G?], Joanna Porter, daughter of 
 Rev. Aaron Porter, of Medford ; owned the Halfway Covenant in 1736 ; 
 and had a son born to him 12 Dec. 1736, whom he called Aaron. This 
 Josiah Cleaveland removed to Haddam, Ct., about the same time his father 
 did. In a paper in the Registry of Deeds, dated 28 Nov. 1738, he styles 
 himself " Josiah Cleaveland, now of Millenton, in East Haddam, in the 
 Colony of Connecticut and County of Hartford, late of Charlestown, in 
 the County of Middlesex, Mass., Housewright," etc., etc. As late as 10 
 Feb. 1748-9, he had removed to Boston. (6) Aaron, born at Cambridge, 
 29 Oct. 1715, [Cambridge Town Records.] Of him, see more below. (7) 
 John, son of Aaron and Abigail Cleaveland, was baptized in infancy, 18 
 July, 1717. (8) " Moses, son of Aaron and Abigail Cleaveland, was bap- 
 tized, being an infant, 19 July, 1719." (9) " 7 Jan. 1724, was baptized 
 in infancy of Aaron & Abigail Cleaveland his wife." [Cam- 
 bridge Ch. Records.] The child then baptized, whose name was not 
 recorded, may have been his daughter Mary, who married Elisha Clark, of 
 Haddam, 17 Sept. 1741; and had four children by him, viz: (1) " Wate- 
 rius," [Waters, or Waterhouse?], b. 30 June, 1742. (2) Elisha, b. 23 Apr. 
 1744. (3) William, b. 19 Aug. 1746. (4) Mary, b. 4 Apr. 1749. 
 
 Samuel, 3d son, 4th child of Moses and Ann Cleaveland, first settlers of 
 the name in Woburn, married, 17 May, 1680, Jane, daughter of Solomon 
 Keyes of Chelmsford, and this, his first wife dying 4 Nov. 1681, he md. for 
 his 2d wife, 23 May, 1682, Persis, dr. of Richard Hildreth of the same town. 
 He resided there several years, and had several children born to him.a 
 About 1693, he seems to have gone back to Woburn, where, 26 June, 1693, 
 his dr. Elizabeth was born ;b and very soon after, he removed with his 
 family to Canterbury, Connecticut, and there had other children. He died 
 probably 1736. 
 
 Josiah, brother of the above Samuel Cleaveland, served in the Indian 
 War: was of Chelmsford, 1691; and there, by his wife, Mary, he had sev- 
 eral children born to him, as also afterwards at Canterbury, Ct., to which 
 he removed.* According to Mr. Savage, he died 26 April, 1709.* 
 
 In 1699, Samuel and Josiah Cleaveland, sons of Moses and Ann, were 
 inhabitants of Plainfleld, Ct., on the West Side of Quinabaug River, now 
 Canterbury. Between 1699 and 1703, they were joined by their brother 
 Isaac; [and doubtless, too, by their brother Edward.] In 1716, there 
 were only 63 taxable inhabitants in all Canterbury, and of these 63 nine 
 were Cleavelands ; viz : (1) Samuel, whose property was estimated at 
 84: 00. (2) Samuel, jun., [son of Samuel?] at 48: 06. (3) Joseph 
 [son of Samuel?] at 40 : 00. (4) Edward, sen., [brother of Samuel and 
 Josiah ?] at 35 : 00. (5) Edward, jun., [son of Edward, sen., ?] at 24 : 00. 
 (6) Widow Cleaveland [supposed to be Isaac's widow] at 100 : 00. (7) 
 
 Savage's Geneal. Diet. * Woburn Records of Birthu, etc. 
 
 52
 
 602 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 Josiah, [son of Josiah, then deceased?] at 44: 00. (8) Joseph, jun.,? 
 [who?] at 36:10. (9) Moses [son of Samuel, born, according to Mr. 
 Savage, in 1C95] estimated at 22 : 00. These nine made one-seventh of 
 all the inhabitants of the town, and owned one-eighth of all the taxable 
 property.* 
 
 Enoch, youngest son of Moses and Ann Cleaveland, was a tailor by 
 trade ; lived successively at Sudbury, Framingham, and Concord, at which 
 last-mentioned town he died, 1729, leaving a widow and three children. 
 His widow, Elizabeth, died before 5 April, 1731 ; and his eldest son, Jona- 
 than, of Acton, a tailor by occupation, administered on his father's estate. 
 [Letter of Rev. Oliver A. Taylor, Manchester, Mass.] 
 
 Many have been the descendants of " Moyses Cleaveland," who came 
 to New England, the humble apprentice of a joiner, in 1635, aud estab- 
 lished himself in Woburn about 1648, that have done worthily in their 
 day ; have been distinguished not ouly by their position in society, but by 
 their weight of character and influence, and by the usefulness of their lives. 
 And although a place cannot be claimed for them here, as inhabitants of 
 Woburn ; yet it will be gratifying, it is presumed, to the present people 
 of the town, to see some notice taken of them in this work, as descend- 
 ants of one of the early settlers of the place. f 
 
 1. Rev. Aaron Cleveland, great grandson of Moses and Ann, and son of 
 Aaron and Abigail Cleveland, successively inhabitants of Woburn, Med- 
 ford, Cambridge, Medford again, and Charlestown, and finally of East 
 Haddam, Ct. was born 29 October, 1715. As this record of his birth is 
 from Cambridge Town Records, and as the record of his baptism the next 
 day, 30 Oct. 1715, is from the Records of the Church of Cambridge, it 
 may be confidently presumed that Cambridge was the place of his birth ; 
 though it has been said by some that he was born in Medford. He entered 
 Harvard College at sixteen years of age ; was graduated, 1735 ; was set- 
 tled over the church and people of Haddam, Ct., in July 1739; married, 4. 
 Aug. 1739, Susannah, daughter of Rev. Aaron Porter, of Medford, born 
 1 March, 1716, and sister of Joanna Porter, born 22 March, 1719, whom 
 his brother, Josiah Cleveland, had married, 1 Jan. 1735 [1735-6?]. Rev. 
 Mr. Cleveland was dismissed from Haddam, 1746; installed over the South 
 Church in Maiden, about June 1747, and dismissed about Oct. 1750. We 
 next hear of him at Halifax, Nova Scotia, whence he sailed for England ; 
 received Orders in the Church of England at London, 1755, and was com- 
 missioned, 1 July, 1757, by the Society for Propagating the Gospel in For- 
 eign Parts, to take charge of the Episcopal Church in Newcastle, Dela- 
 ware, in compliance with the request of that people. On his way to Bos- 
 ton, to make arrangements for conveying his family to Newcastle, he 
 stopped at the house of Dr. Franklin, in Philadelphia ; was there taken 
 sick, and died 11 Aug. 1757. His remains were interred in Christ's Church, 
 Philadelphia. His widow died at Salem, 1788. The Pennsylvania Gazette 
 of 18 August, 1757 contained an obituary notice, in which was a warm 
 eulogium upon him, written by the editor, Dr. Franklin. 
 
 Letter of Silvester Judd, Esq., Northampton. 

 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 603 
 
 2. Rev. Aaron Cleveland of Norwich, son of the preceding, was born 
 at Haddam, Ct. 3 Feb. 1744. His father dying when he was only thirteen 
 years of age, the plan for giving him an education at college was defeated ; 
 and he was put by his friends in Connecticut to learn the hatter's trade, 
 and followed that business many years. In 1779, he was a member of the 
 Legislature of Connecticut; was ordained soon after to the Congrega- 
 tional ministry ; and continued to perform his clerical functions in various 
 places till his death. He was for some time resident in Norwich, Weath- 
 ersfleld, and West Hartford ; but never had a settlement in any congrega- 
 tion. He performed missionary services in Hartford County and vicinity, 
 and preached frequently as a supply in almost all its towns ; and long 
 afterwards was spoken of with profound respect by those who had heard 
 him. And his wit, too, and agreeableness in company, became proverbial. 
 He published in 1775, a " Poem against Slavery ; " and two sermons 
 against War, preached just after the news of the battle of Waterloo, 1815. 
 In the "Poets of Connecticut," were published in 1844, two poems of his 
 " which show what he might have been with better advantages." He died 
 of dysentery in New Haven, 21 Sept. 1815, at the house of a relative, 
 Mrs. Porter; and lies buried in New Haven. [Allen's Biography; Letters 
 of Professor C. D. Cleveland, 1846; and of Rev. A. Cleveland Coxe, 
 1847.] 
 
 N. B. The mother of Rev. Mr. Coxe, just referred to, was Abiah Hyde, 
 daughter of Rev. A. Cleveland, of Norwich, by his second wif, a Clement, 
 of Norwich.* The father of Professor C. D. Cleveland is the venerable 
 Rev. Charles Cleveland of Boston, son of Rev. Mr. Cleveland of Norwich, 
 who, people of Woburn will remember, was present there on a late memo- 
 rable occasion, 22d February, 1867 ; and who, though upwards of 95 years 
 of age, still paces the streets of Boston in his pious and benevolent labors. 
 
 3. Rev. John Cleveland of Chebacco. He was a great-grandson of 
 ' Moses and Ann of Woburn, a grandson of Samuel and Persis Cleveland of 
 
 Chelmsford and Canterbury, Ct., and a son of Josiah Cleveland of Canter- 
 bury, and of Abigail (Paine) Cleveland, his wife. He was born at Canter- 
 bury, 22 April, 1722 ; was graduated at Yale College, 1745 ; and settled over 
 Chebacco Parish in Ipswich, now the town of Essex, 1747. He married 
 for his first wife Mary Dodge (Choate?) daughter of Parker Dodge, by 
 whom he had 4 sons and 3 daughters. And she dying in 1768, he next md. 
 widow Mary Neal Forster, of Manchester, with whom his connection, as 
 also that with his first wife, was eminently happy. 
 
 In the French war, 1758, he went as Chaplain, and at the commencement 
 of the Revolutionary struggle he served as a Chaplain at Cambridge ; and 
 with him at that time were two of his brothers and all four of his sons. 
 In 1763, he was rejoiced to witness a powerful revival among his people. 
 In his preaching, he was not confined to written sermons. It was said ol 
 him by Rev. Dr. Emmons that "he was a pattern of piety, and an orna- 
 ment to the Christian and clerical profession." His faithful labors were 
 
 'Letter of Rev. A. Cleveland Core, 1847.
 
 604 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 crowned with great success ; at one period in about six months, one hun- 
 dred persons were added to his church. He died in peace and hope, 22 
 April, 1799, on his seventy-seventh birth-day. 
 
 4. Rev. Ebenezer Cleveland, brother of the preceding, was born in 
 Canterbury, 1725; received a degree at Yale College, 1748; married Abi- 
 gail Stevens of Canterbury, 1746 ; commenced preaching at Sandy Bay, 
 Gloucester (now Rockport), in 1751 or 1752, and was ordained their first 
 minister, 1755. During much of his time in the Revolutionary War, he 
 was absent from his people, as a chaplain in the army. In 1780, he left 
 the army, and removed to Coos, N. H., on some land he had received, and 
 also as superintendent of the Dartmouth College lands. While he resided 
 here, his daughter Mary was married to Professor John Smith, of Dart- 
 mouth College ; and he spent seven or eight years, preaching as he could, 
 part of the time in a barn. Subsequently, he was for a year or two 
 employed as an evangelist in Maine. Returning from Maine, he was set- 
 tled in the ministry at Amesbury, where he remained four or five years. 
 He then went back to Rockport, and there spent the remainder of his days. 
 Rev. Dr. Allen observes of him, " His lot was cast in hard places, and in 
 hard times ; and he had a large family and domestic causes of uneasiness, 
 so that his life was that of a worthy man struggling with adversity." He 
 died 4 July, 1805, in the 79th year of his age, in the hope of immortal 
 glory. His wife deceased 25th Dec. 1804, set. 77. A monument has been 
 erected to their memory in Rockport, upon which appropriate epitaphs 
 have been inscribed to them both. [Allen's Biog. Diet., Letter from Rev. 
 O. A. Taylor, 23d April, 1846.] 
 
 5. Rev. John Cleveland, eldest son of Rev. John Cleveland, of Chebacco, 
 was born in 1750, and was fitted for College, but prevented by ill health 
 from entering. At the commencement of the Revolution, he enlisted in 
 the army, obtained a lieutenant's commission, and continued in the ser- 
 vice during the war. Having had from his youth a strong inclination for 
 the Christian ministry, his wishes in this respect were at length gratified. 
 He was called to the pastoral office in Stoneham, 1785 ; and being dis- 
 missed from there in 1794, he was re-rettled in 1798, over the North Parish 
 in Wrentham, where, after a faithful and exemplary discharge of ministe- 
 rial duty, he died, 1818, aged 68. [Allen's Biography.] 
 
 6. Parker Cleveland, M. D., son of Rev. John Cleveland, of Chebacco, 
 born 1751, settled as a physician in Byfield at the age of 19 ; and during the 
 first year of the war of the Revolution was the surgeon of a regiment.. He 
 was skilful as a physician ; often represented Rowley (to which Byfleld 
 belonged) in the Legislature ; and was eminently pious, devout, and benev- 
 olent, as a Christian. He married, for his first wife, E. Jackman, in 1772, 
 by whom he had Parker Cleveland, a graduate 1799, and subsequently a 
 tutor of Harvard College, and an eminent professor of natural philosophy, 
 chemistry, etc., etc., for many years in Bowdoin College. For his second 
 wife, he md. Abigail Cleveland of Canterbury, Ct., by whom he had Rev. 
 John P. Cleveland, D. D., successively of Salem, Cincinnati, Providence, 
 Northampton, Mass., and Lowell.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 605 
 
 Dr. Parker Cleveland died in Feb. 1826, aged 74. [Letter of Rev. O. A. 
 Taylor. Allen's Biog. Diet.] 
 
 7. Nehemiah Cleveland, youngest son of Rev. John Cleveland, of Che- 
 bacco, was born 17GO. He accompanied his father, at the age of 16, dur- 
 ing the siege of Boston, and enlisted in the army for about a year. Hav- 
 ing studied medicine with his brother, and with Dr. Manning, of Ipswich, 
 he entered on the practice in Topsfleld, 1783. He was also much employed 
 in his day in various honorable public offices. For his first wife, he md. 
 Lucy, daughter of Dr. Manning, of Ipswich, who died 1791, leaving no 
 children. By his second wife, Experience Lord, daughter of Dr. Elisha 
 Lord, of Poinfret, Ct., he had nine children ; (1) Nehemiah, who died soon. 
 (2) Experience, who died young, (3) Nehemiah, of Brooklyn, N. Y., late 
 preceptor of Dummer Academy, Byfleld, born 1796. (4) William, b. 1798, 
 now [1846] in Topsfleld. (5) Lucy, born 1800, died 1838. (6) Mary, born 
 1802, wife of Rev. Oliver Alden Taylor, of Manchester, Mass. (7, 8) twins, 
 born 1804. of whom one died; the other, John, the present John Cleveland, 
 Esq., of New York city. (9) Rev. Elisha Lord Cleveland, of New Haven, 
 born in 1806. 
 
 Dr. Nehemiah Cleveland died 26 Feb. 1837, aged 76, sustained by the 
 consolations of the religion which he had professed and adorned. His 
 widow, Experience, died at the house of her son-in-law, in Manchester, 
 Rev. Mr. Taylor, (who has himself since deceased) 21 Jan. 1845, in the 
 81st year of her age. [Allen's Biog. Diet. Letter of Rev. Mr. Taylor, 23 
 Apl. 1846.] 
 
 COLE. Isaac, son of Isaac, of Charlestown, who came to this country 
 1635, with wife Joanna and two children, in the Hercules, from Sandwich, 
 County of Kent, England.* This son of his was born in 1637, at Charles- 
 town, came to Woburn to reside, and had granted him by the town, 25 
 April, 1662, a lot of land in the centre, 50 poles, bounded by the high way 
 [High Street] on the east, and by the high way to the burying place on 
 the north.b He married Jane, widow of James Britten, or Britton, 1 Feb. 
 1659, but had no children. He was one of those eight members of 
 Woburn church who were presented by the grand jury in Oct. 1671, for 
 refusing to commune with the church on the ground of certain alleged 
 scruples of conscience, and whose case was commended by the court to 
 the consideration of a council of neighboring churches, to assemble March, 
 1672, before the court should come to a final decision. [See Chapt. V.] 
 What the result of the council was, and what the decision of the court, is 
 not known. 
 
 Isaac Cole died 10 June, 1674 : his widow, Jane, died 10 March, 1687. 
 
 CONVERS. Edward, Deacon. See Chapt. II. 
 
 CONVERS. James, Ensign. See Chapt. V. 
 
 CONVERS. Josiah, Deacon, eldest son of Dea. Edward Convers ; born 
 in England; came with his father to New England in 1630; abode awhile at 
 Charlestown, and came with his father to Woburn to dwell, about 1641. He 
 
 Savage's Geneal. Diet. b Town Rec. Vol. I., p. 51. Rec. of Deaths. 
 
 52*
 
 606 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 married, 26 March 1651, Esther Champney, daughter of Richard Champney, 
 of Cambridge, a ruling elder of the church there, in 1658.* By his wife 
 Esther, Dea. Convers had a son Josiah, born 15 March, 1660, who married, 
 8 Oct. 1685, Ruth Marshall, and had children by her. In after times, this 
 son of his was much employed in town business, was familiarly known by 
 the title of " Captain Josiah," and died 15 July, 1717, aged 58.b 
 
 Deacon Josiah Convers was a deacon of the Church of Woburn in 1674, 
 and died 3 Feb. 1689-90, aged 72 years.b .[Woburn Records of Births, 
 Marriages and Deaths; Savage's Geneal. Diet. Cambridge Ch. Records, 
 b Gravestone.] 
 
 CONVERS. Samuel, Son of Dea. Edward Convers, born in Charles- 
 town; baptized in the church there 12 March, 1637-8," settled at Woburn; 
 made freeman 1666 ; married Judith, daughter of Rev. Thomas Carter, 8 
 June, (14 Oct.?) 1660; by whom he had a son Samuel, born 4 Apl. 1662. 
 [Wob. Rec., Savage's Geneal. Diet.,* Charlestown, Ch. Records.] 
 
 CONVERS. Allen Convers, called by Dea. Edward in his Will a " kins- 
 man," and made an overseer thereof. He is supposed on his arrival in 
 this country to have gone first to Salem ; and is said by Felt to have had 
 land granted him there in 1639. He was in Woburn as early as 1642 ; was 
 taxed there in the Country Rate of 1645 ; and was made freeman in 1644. 
 He was appointed Commissioner of the Rate in Woburn, 1666 ; and taught 
 school there in 1676. By his wife, Sarah, he had borne to him 11 Oct. 
 1642, a son Zechariah ; and after him several other children. He died 
 
 19 Apl. 1679. His wife died only three days after him, (it is supposed) of 
 the small-pox, which was then spread in the town, and among its victims 
 there is numbered "Goodwife Conuars." a [Savage; Town Records. 
 Town Rec., Vol. II., inverted, p. 163.] 
 
 CONVERS. James, jun., Major. See Chapt. V. and Woburn Records 
 of Marriages and Deaths . 
 
 Two of his sons, Robert and Josiah, were men of distinction and influ- 
 ence in their day. Robert, born 29 Dec. 1677, married Mary Sawyer, 19 
 Dec. 1698, and bv her had twelve children; but his male posterity in 
 Woburn, it is believed, are now extinct. "Capt. Robert Conuarse" died 
 
 20 July, 1736. 
 
 Josiah, his son, born 12 Sept. 1684, md. Hannah, daughter of Joshua 
 Sawyer of Woburn, 30 Dec. 1706 ; and by her, and by Dorothy, a second 
 wife, he had 8 children. 
 
 Josiah, son of Josiah and Hannah Convers, born 2 March, 1710, md. 
 Sarah Evans, of Reading, about 1732, had 4 children, and died 17 June, 
 1748. 
 
 Josiah, son of Josiah and Sarah Convers, born 27 Jan. 1733, [1733-4?] 
 md. Hephzibah Brooks, 28 March, 1758, and had issue as follows : (1) 
 Josiah, born 14 March, 1759. (2) John, b. 3 March, 1761. (3) Jesse, 
 born 9 Feb. 1765. (4) Joshua, born 20 Jan. 1767. (5) Luther, born 26 
 Jan. 1777, died 11 March, 1861. 
 
 Of the sons of Josiah and Hephzibah Convers, two were instances of 
 very remarkable longevity. Jesse died in 1864, when he lacked but a few
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 607 
 
 months of being 100 years old. Joshua completed his century of exist- 
 ence 20th Jan. 1867 ; and there were highly interesting services performed 
 in his presence (and in which he himself took part) in celebration of the 
 event, 22d Feb. 1867, in Lyceum Hall, Woburn. 
 
 " CRAGGIN," or CRAGIN. John, was taxed in the Country Rate, made 
 26 Aug. 1666 ; and is numbered 3 April, 1668, with those who had right in 
 the common lands of Woburn . He married Sarah Dawes, 4 Nov. 1661 ; 
 and by her had 8 children ; two of whom, twins, Rachel and Leah, were 
 born 14 March, 1680, and both died 4 days after. He died 27 Oct. 1708; 
 his widow, Sarah, died 23 Dec. 1725. 
 
 " CRAGGIN, or CRAGIN. John Craggio, jun., his son, entered his 
 intentions of marriage with Deborah Skelton, 13 April, 1700: and to them 
 were born twins, John and Anna, 25 March, 1701 ; and, secondly, Benjamin, 
 born 27 Nov. 1702. John Craggin, jun., died 26 Jan. 1703-4. [Woburn 
 Records of Births, &c. Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 43, 44.] 
 
 CUTLER. John was probably one of three brothers, Robert, James 
 and John, who are supposed to have emigrated from Hingham, Norfolk 
 County, England ; and to be the ancestors, one or other of them, of all, 
 or most of their name in New England. James, dwelt first at Watertown, 
 then at "Cambridge North Farms," now Lexington; Robert, was of 
 Charlestown, a deacon of the church there, and ancestor of that distin- 
 guished scholar and divine, Rev. Dr. Timothy Cutler, President of Yale 
 College, 1719; and afterwards, becoming an Episcopalian, Rector of 
 Christ's Church, Boston, where he died, 17 Aug. 1765, set. 82. 
 
 John Cutler was in Woburn 1646, being taxed there for the first time in 
 December of that year. He married in Woburn, 3 Sept. 1650, Olive 
 Thompson, born probably in England, a daughter of James Thompson, 
 one of the original settlers of Woburn, and a member of the first Board 
 of Selectmen, chosen in 1644. His first wife dying, he married a second, 
 the widow of Mr. John Lewis, of Lynn, who also had deceased in 1666. 
 In the mean while, becoming providentially deranged, he was, by order of 
 the County Court, 3 April, 1666, put under the guardianship of the Select- 
 men for the disposal of him and his property for his own benefit and that 
 of his children. In a suit at law, in 1678, against his trustees, judgment 
 was obtained in favor of the town, in satisfaction of the expense the town 
 had been at for his maintenance the twelve years previous. But the 
 Selectmen agreed to give up by deed to his son John, a large portion of 
 the lands which had once belonged to his father, for a very moderate con- 
 sideration ; he promising not to sell, except to his sisters to live on, or to 
 the town ; in which latter case, he was to receive back from the town as 
 much as he had paid for them. [Wob. Records.] 
 
 /. John Cutler died of the small-pox in 1678-9. The dates of the death 
 of his two wives are not known. His children, who were probably all by 
 his first wife, were : (1) Mary, born 7 Aug. 1651 ; died 3 May, 1655. (2) 
 Susanna, b. 22 March, 1653-4. (3) John. (4) Mary (or "Marah,") b. 5 
 May, 1663 ; married to Matthew Smith of Woburn as his second wife, 
 20 June,. 1684. [Woburn Town Rec. ; Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc.]
 
 608 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 II. John Cutler, only son of John & Olive (Thompson) Cutler, was 
 
 born about 1G56 ; married for his first wife Anna , who died 24 July, 
 
 1681, having borne him a daughter, Susanna, who seems likewise to have 
 died young. For his second wife, he married Susanna, daughter of John 
 and Susanna (Martin) Baker, in 1682, by whom he had : (1) John, born 15 
 Jan. 1682-3, and died the 2d day from his birth. (2) John, born 7 Dec. 
 1684, and died the same day. (3) John, born 4 Jan. 1685-6 ; married, 
 first, Lydia Burnap, who died 27 Apr. 1743 ; secondly, Rachel Poodney of 
 Wilmington, 24 Nov. 1743. He lived, much respected, within the limits of 
 Woburn Precinct ; died 10 Jan. 1767, aged 81, and lies buried (as does 
 also his widow Rachel, who died 22 Aug. 1784, in her 84th year) in the 
 Precinct, or Burlington burying ground. By neither of his two wives, 
 does this III. Mr. John Cutler appear to have had children. (4) Susanna, 
 born 8 Nov. 1687. Susanna, the second wife of //. John Cutler, being 
 dead, he married, 14 Oct. 1692, for his third wife, Elizabeth Reed, daughter 
 of the first Deacon George Reed of Woburn, and Elizabeth (Jennings, 
 or Jennison) Reed, his wife, born 29 July, 1653 ; by whom he had children 
 as follows : (1) Hannah, or Anna, born 5 July, 1694, and died, a single 
 woman, apparently, 6 Feb. 1737-8. (2) Rebekah, born 8 Aug. 1697. (3) 
 Nathaniel, born 23 May, 1700. (4) Sarah, born 22 Apr. 1702. 
 
 II. John Cutler died 25 Nov. 1709: Elizabeth, his widow, died 9 Jan. 
 1709-10. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 CUTLER. ///. Nathaniel, only son of II. John Cutler and Elizabeth 
 his wife, married Abigail Bruce of Woburn, 21 March, 1723. Their 
 children were : (1) Nathaniel, born 26 May, 1724. (2) John, b. 21 July, 
 1726. (3) Sarah, b. 26 May, 1729. (4) Abigail, b. 6 Sept. 1731. (5) Eliza- 
 beth, b. 30 Nov. 1735. (6) William, born 7 Feb. 1737-8; married Mary 
 Trask, 17 Apl. 1760. (7) Mary, born 26 Feb. 1739-40; married to 
 Shubael Johnson, 1760. (8) Silas, born 30 May, 1743; married Ruth John- 
 son, 31 Oct. 1765; removed to Templeton, Mass., and there died. (9) 
 Ruth, born 9 Jan. 1745, (1745-6?) "Lieut. Nathaniel Cutler," in his 49th 
 year; died 25 Aug. 1748. Gravestone in Precinct Bur. Ground. 
 
 Of the posterity of John Cutler, the first settler of the name in Woburn 
 about 1646, four entire generations have passed away from this stage of 
 existence; one or two individuals of the fifth generation still linger 
 behind, and from the numerous ranks of the sixth and seventh generations, 
 a considerable number upon reckoning are found missing ; but a goodly 
 remnant is left, resident in Burlington, Chicopee, and various other 
 places in New England, and in the West. 
 
 DAVIS. Nicholas came in "the Planter" early in 1635, aged 40, with 
 his wife Sarah, 48, and his " cossen" (cousin), meaning, probably his 
 nephew, William Locke, aged 6, and others, his servants.* His wife Sarah 
 dying 24 May, 1643, he married, 12 July following, Elizabeth, widow of 
 Joseph Isaacs, of Cambridge. He was active in promoting the settlement 
 of Woburn, the Town Orders for which he subscribed at Charlestown in 
 
 Savage's Geneal. Diet.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 609 
 
 Dec. 1640; was taxed there in the first "Country Kate," levied 8 Sept. 
 1645 ; and also in the first Town Rate, assessed 22 Dec. 1646. But his 
 name is not found in any subsequent tax list in Woburn. He probably 
 removed to York, and was there in 1652. "His will of 27 April, 1667, 
 proved 12 March, 1670," refers not to any son, but presents the names of 
 many remote relations. 
 
 DEAN or "DAINE." William, "married at Billerica, 1 Sept. 1670, 
 Martha Bateman, of Concord," by whom he had : (1) Martha, born 17 Aug. 
 1671. (2) William, born 5 July, 1673. (3) Samuel, born 26 July, 1675. (4) 
 John, b. 25 June, 1677. (5) Sarah, b. 1687, died 6 March, 1688. His name 
 appears for the first time on any recorded Tax List for Woburn, in the 
 new Meeting Rate, 1672. [Town Rec. Vol. I, pp. 38, 39.] His death is not 
 on record. Martha Dean [wife or daughter?] died 1711. 
 
 [Woburn Rec. of Births ; Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 In a list of soldiers stationed [about 1695 ?] at Fort Mary, Saco Falls, 
 where John Hill was Captain, are recorded "William Dean, Woburn," and 
 " Samuel Dean, Woburn." These were doubtless the sons by those names 
 of William and Martha Dean, above mentioned. There is evidence to 
 make it probable that one of these two brothers was taken prisoner and 
 carried otf. One or both of them probably settled in that region.* 
 
 John, son of William and Martha Dean, had by his wife Mary : (1) John, 
 born 10 Jan. 1704-5. (2) William, born 7 May, 1706. (3) Edward, born 14 
 Sept. 1707. (4) Ebenezer, born 28 Jan. 1708-9 ; embarked at Boston about 
 1739, and was never heard of afterwards. By his wife Mary, he had a son 
 Ebenezer, and a daughter. The son, born 7 Oct. 1733, was a shoemaker, 
 removed to Maine, and died at Lincolnville, 1810, aet. 77; had 15 children, 
 a numerous posterity in Maine and at the West. (5) Thomas, born 23 
 Nov. 1712. (6) Molly, born 16 Apl. 1715, died 20 July, 1739. (7) Samuel, 
 born 24 Feb. 1716-7. 
 
 Mr. John Dean died February 1751. All his sons had families of chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Edward, son of John and Mary Dean, married for his first wife Patience, 
 daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Wyman, 1 May, 1740; and she dying, 15 
 June, 1741, he entered his Intentions of Marriage with " Sarah Robie" of 
 Billerica, 14 Ap. 1753; by whom he had (1) Jesse, that well known citizen 
 of Burlington, born 17 Feb. 1754 : and (2) Sarah, born 3 June, 1756, wife of 
 Major John Radford. 
 
 EAMES. Robert, was of Charlestown (1651) b ; but removing to Wo- 
 burn, he was taxed there, 1666, and had right in the common lauds of 
 Woburn allowed him in 1668. c By his wife Elizabeth, he had born to 
 him in Woburn, (1) Samuel, 7 Apr. 1653, and died 14 Apr. same jear. 
 (2) John, born ..'... and died 18 Jan. 1654. (3) Elizabeth, born 4 
 June, 1659. (4) Mary, 11 June, 1661; married to Abraham Cozzens, 1684. 
 (5) Priscilla, 2 May, 1663. (6) Samuel, 2 Sept. 1664. (7) Abigail, 22 
 Sept. 1666. (8) John, 9 May, 1668. d 
 
 Letter of John Dean, Esq., Boston. 
 
 b Savage's Geneal. Diet.. Wob. Town Records. d Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc.
 
 610 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 Elizabeth, wife of Eobert Eames, died 22 March, 1710. Robert Eames 
 died 30 July, 1712. a But Mr. Savage remarks in Geneal. Diet, of this 
 Robert Eames, " I suppose he removed to Chelmsford, in the part called 
 Dracut, and died, 25 Apr. 1671. His will, made 3 days before, names 
 " brother John and cousin Richard, son of sister Dorothy Newman, of Farn- 
 ham, in Co. Surrey; and adds no more to our knowledge." 
 
 EAMES. Samuel, married Mary , by whom he had : (1) Samuel, born 
 
 8 Sept. 1C92. (2) Lydia, b. 28 Oct. 1692 [1694?]; m. to Ebenezer Buck, 
 1713. (3) Daniel, b. 10 Jan. 1696 (1696-7?) (4) Jacob, b. 11 July, 1699, 
 "Jacob, son of Samuell Eames, died of the small pox," Jan. 1721 (1721-2?) 
 (5) Hephzibah, b. 7 March, 1702. (6) Joshua, b. 8 May, 1705. (7) Caleb, 
 b. 17 March, 1708. (8) Elizabeth, b. 26 March, 1711. (9) Robert, b. 6 
 Oct. 1712; died the same day. (10) Abigail, b. 11 Apr. 1714. (11) Jona- 
 than, b. 18 Aug. 1716. N. B. Samuel and Mary Eames appear, by deed 
 of land in Woburn to Daniel Fisk, 14 Oct. 1740, to belong at that date, to 
 Wilmington, set off from Woburn 1730. [Rec. of Births, etc ] 
 
 EAMES. Samuel, son of Samuel and Mary Eames, married Judith 
 Simonds, both of Woburn, 2 July, 1717. To them were born : (1) 
 Judith, 22 March, 1718; md. to Zach. Symmes, 1741. (2) Samuel, 13 Feb. 
 1719 (1719-20) ; died 13 April, 1727. (3) Jacob, 10 Aug. 1723. (4) Sam- 
 uel, 28 June, 1727. "Deacon Eames' son Samuel died 12 Dec. 1756." (5) 
 Rebekah, a daughter, died 21 Apr. 1728. (6) Huldah, b. 4 March, 1733, 
 m. to Elijah Wyman, 1765. Dea. Samuel Eames died 20 Jan. 1775, [aged 
 84. Gravestone : 83d year.] Judith, wife of Dea. Samuel Eames, died 
 10 Jan. 1766, [aged 71 : Gravestone.] 
 
 Daniel, son of Samuel and Mary Eames, md. Abigail Nourse of 
 Reading, 8 March, 1720. Had a son Daniel born at Reading, 30 March, 
 1721. (2) Mary, b. 12 Apr. 1723. (3) John, b. at Woburn, 19 Apr. 1727. 
 
 (4) Jonathan, b. at Wilmington, 9 Nov. 1730; graduated at Harvard Col- 
 lege, 1752; minister of Newtown, N. H. (5) Jacob, b. 12 June, 1732, at 
 Wilmington. (6) Samuel, b. at Wilmington, 24 Jan. 1734-5. Afterwards, 
 Capt. Daniel Eames removed to Haverhill, and md. for a second wife, Mary 
 Chadwick, of Bradford, 9 Aug. 1748 ; and for a third wife, Priscilla Kim- 
 ball, widow, 2 Feb. 1756. b 
 
 EAMES. Caleb, son of Samuel and Mary Eames, md. Sarah, daughter of 
 John and Sarah Simonds, both of Woburn, 5 Apr. 1732. Their children 
 were : (1) Caleb, born 7 Nov. 1732. (2) Jonas, b. 15 March, 1734 ; died 10 
 Feb. 1736-7. (3) Caleb, b. 26 Dec. 1737. (4) Jonas, b. 2 Feb. 1742-3. 
 
 (5) John, b. 25 Oct. 1746; md. Abigail, daughter of Samuel Thompson, Esq.c 
 EAMES. Jacob, son of Dea. Samuel and Judith Eames, entered his 
 
 Intentions of Marriage with Rachel, daughter of Nathan and Huldah 
 Wyman. both of Woburn, 15 March, 1748. Their children were : (1) Rachel, 
 bora 5 Nov. 1749. (2) Jacob, b. 6 June, 1751. (3) Nathan, b. 11 April, 1753; 
 died 21 July, 1773, set. 21 ; Gr. St. (4) Ruth, born 28 May, 1758. [Rec. 
 of Births, etc.] 
 N.B. Of late years, the name of Eames is written and spelled by some Ames. 
 
 Wob. Town Records. b Mr. John A. Boutelle, Woburn. 
 
 c Wob. Reo. of Births, etc. Mem. of Saml. Thompson, Esq.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 611 
 
 FARLEY. George, an early inhabitant of Woburn, his name being on 
 the List of the Country Tax assessed there 8 Sept. 1645, the first on rec- 
 ord. He there married Christian Births, 9 April, 1641 ; by whom he had : 
 (1) James, born 23 Nov. 1643; died 10 Dec. following. (2) Caleb, born 1 
 Apr. 1645. (3) Mary, born 27 Feb. 1646-7. Not long after, he removed 
 to Billerica, where he had : (1) Samuel, born the " last weeke" in Sept. 
 1654. (2) Mehetabel, born the " last weeke" in Apr. 1656, " and departed 
 this life" 1 Feb. 1672-3. On the 19th of Nov. 1656, George Farley, "of 
 Billerica," sold his house and land, 20 acres, in Woburn, to Richard Snow.o 
 
 " George Farley, sen., departed this life" 27 Dec. 1693. "Christian Far- 
 ley, widdow of Georg Farley," died 27 March, 1702. b 
 
 N. B. The name Farley is sometimes spelt Farlow, and Farlo. See 
 Savage's Geneal. Diet. 
 
 FARRAR. John, was admitted an inhabitant of Woburn, at Town 
 Meeting (February 1655-6?), to choose town officers for 1656. d He is pre- 
 sumed to have been a brother of Jacob Farrar, of Lancaster, who appears, 
 from the following record in Woburn Town Book, to have died at Woburn : 
 " Jacob Ffarer, sen., died 14 August, 1677." His widow, Ann, was married 
 to John " Seirs," of Woburn, as his second wife, 2 Nov. 1680.e To John 
 Farrar were born : (1) Mary, 10 Apr. 1656. (2) Jacob, 22 Oct. 1657 ; died 
 of the small-pox June 1679.a (3) Isaac, 16 Dec. 1659, and died in a fort- 
 night after. (4) Joanna, 9 Apr. 1661 ; married to Robert Dayle, 1680. (5) 
 Mercy, 1 April, 1663. (6) Hannah, 22 Jan. 1667-8; married to John 
 Wyman, wheelwright, 14 Dec. 1685. (7) Isaac, 1 July, 1671. 
 
 John Farrar died 11 July, 1690. His wife's name, and the date of her 
 death are not known. 
 
 FARRAR. Isaac Farrar, his son, had by his wife Mary : (1) Mary, bora 
 6 Dec. 1699. (2) Isaac, b. 2 Apr. 1702. (3) John, b. 7 Jan. 1703-4. (4) 
 Jacob, b. 11 June, 1705. (5) Anne, b. 13 Aug. 1707. (6) Jonathan, b. 28 
 Apr. 1709. (7) Joanna, b. 17 March, 1711. " . . . . daughter of Isaac 
 Farrar, died ye March 1713." 
 
 Isaac Farrar's name not occurring on the Woburn Province Tax Lists 
 for 1714, 1715, he is supposed to have previously removed from the town. 
 
 FLAGG. Gershom, was born at Watertown, 16 April, 1641, the eldest 
 son of Thomas and Mary of Watertown, where the name was originally 
 spelled Flegg. t He came to Woburn about 1668, where he married Han- 
 nah Lepingwell, 15 April, 1668, a daughter of Michael "Lepingwell." He 
 was a tanner by trade ; and in 1673 had his dwelling-house, and tanning 
 establishments, with about an acre of land attached, in High Street, near 
 the site of the first meeting-house, having Rev. Mr. Carter's house on the 
 West, the Old Burying Place on the East, and the Training Field on the 
 
 Woburn Records of Births, etc. b Billerica Records. c Wyman Papers, 
 d Town Records, Vol. I., p. 23. e Rec. of Births, etc., etc. 
 
 f Dr. Henry Bond's Letters; also Bond's Watertown.
 
 612 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 South. His children were : (1) Gershom, born 10 March, 1669. (2) 
 Eleazer, b. 1 Aug. 1670. (3) John, b. 25 May, 1673. (4) Hauuah, b. 12 
 March, 1675; married to Israel Walker, 1696? (5) Thomas, b. 22 June, 
 1677 ; died the next day. (6) Ebeuezer, b. 21 Dec. 1678. (7) Abigail, b. 
 8. Jan. 1681-2; md. to David "Cuttler," 12 Dec. 1700; 2dly, to Stephen 
 Wright, 12 Apr. 1704. (8) Mary, b. 2 Feb. 1682-3. (9) Thomas, b. 19 
 Apl. 1685. (10) Benoui, b. 19 Aug. 1687 ; and died the same day. 
 
 Lieut. Gershom Flagg was killed, with Wiswall his captain and others, 
 by the Indians at Wheelwright's Pond, in the town of Lee, N. H., 6 July, 
 1690. b His widow was married, Dec. 10, 1696, to Ensign Israel Walker. c 
 Descendants from Gershom Flagg have been numerous and respectable, 
 both in Woburn and in Wilmington. Col. Eleazer Flagg, (or, Fleyy, as he 
 preferred to write his name,) agentleman of note and influence in Woburn 
 in the early part of the last century, was his second son. Rev. Ebenezer 
 Flagg, a graduate of Harvard College 1725, was a grandson, by his son 
 Ebenezer. He was born 18 Oct. 1704; ordained at Chester, N. H., in 
 1736; "and died there, 14 Nov. 1796, aged 92. Dr. John Flagg of Lynn was 
 son of llev. Ebenezer. 
 
 FOSTER. Hopestill ; was in Woburn 1672, where his name is on the 
 Tax List for building the new meeting-house that year.a He md. Eliza- 
 beth, widow of the second Thomas Whittemore, 15 Oct. 1670,e by whom 
 he had : (1) Thomas, b. 17 Apr. 1672 ; died 1st May following. (2) Abi- 
 gail, b. 12 March, 1673; md. to Timothy "Farlovv" [Farley] of Billerica. 
 (3) John, b. 14 Feb. 1676-7. (4) Mercy, b. 26 Feb. 1677-8. Time of 
 Mr. Foster's decease is not on record in Woburn. [Wob. Rec. of Births, 
 etc.] 
 
 FOWLE. I. James was taxed in Woburn 1666 ; and is registered as 
 one of those who had right in the common lands of the town in 1668. t He 
 was a cordwaiuer by trade ; and had liberty granted him by the town, 26 
 Feb. 1678, "to take in a little piece of land [to set a shop on, not improba- 
 bly] behind the Bell Hill," provided it should be laid out by the Select- 
 men.b Bell Hill was probably the elevation West of the old Fowle 
 Tavern stand, near the centre of the town; and appears to have been 
 so called because the bell that called the people to public worship in the 
 first meeting-house was hung on its top. . 
 
 James Fowle is supposed to have been a son of George, of Concord. By 
 his wife Abigail, he had : (1) James, born 4 March, 1667. (2) Abigail, 
 b. 15 Oct. 1669 ; md. to Jonathan Wyman 1689. (3) John, b. 12 March, 
 1671. (4) Samuel, b. 17 Sept. 1674. (5) Jacob, b. 3 Apl. 1677. (6) 
 Elizabeth, b. 28 Sept. 1681 ; md. to Timothy Walker 1699. (7) Hannah, 
 b. 23 Jan. 16"83-4 ; md. 1705 to Samuel Trumbull, of Charlestown. (8) 
 Mary, b. 18 July, 1687. 
 
 a Woburn Records, Vol. I., inverted, p. 21. 
 
 b Belknap's N. H., one vol., p. 134. 
 
 c Savage's Qeneal. Dict.s Wob. Records of Marriages. 
 
 d Town Records, Vol. I., pp. 38, 39, 40. 
 
 e Savage's Geneal Diet. f Town Records. 

 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 613 
 
 "Lt. James ffoull" died 17 Dec. 1690, [aged 49 years. Gravestone.] 
 His widow, Abigail, married to Ensign Samuel Walker, 18 Apr. 1692, as 
 his second wife. a 
 
 FOWLE. //. James Fowle, son of Lieut. James, married Maiy, (daugh- 
 ter of Joseph Richardson), 2 Oct. 1688. Their children were : (1) Mary, 
 born 18 June, 1689 ; m. to James Simonds, 1714. (2) James, b. 20 July, 
 1691 ; died 11 Oct. 1706. (3) Abigail, b. 22 Aug. 1693. (4) John, b. 11 Nov. 
 1695. (5) Hannah, b. 13 Sept. 1697. (6) Elizabeth, b. 9 Aug. 1699. (7) 
 Euth, b. 16 Apr. 1701 ; d. 3 March, 1713, [aged 11 years. Gravestone.] (8) 
 Sarah, b. 29 July, 1703 : m. to James Richardson, 1728? (9) Samuel, b. 10 
 June, 1705. (10) Esther, b. 29 May, 1707 ; md. to Nathan Simonds, 2 Nov. 
 1726. (11) Martha, b. 12 March, 1709; md. to Rev. Supply Clap, of Wo- 
 burn Precinct, 1737. (12) Catharine, b. 20 Sept. 1711 ; md. to Josiah Whit- 
 temore, of Charlestown, 1730. - Capt. James Fowle d. 19 March, 1714, 
 [aged 47 years & 14 days. Gravestone.] His widow was afterwards md. 
 to //. Samuel Walker, deacon, first of Woburn Church, and then, in 1735, 
 of the Precinct Church, now Burlington. She died his widow, at Charles- 
 town, [23 Oct. 1748, aged 80. Gravestone.] 
 
 FOWLE. /. John, son of Lieut. James and Abigail Fowle, married 
 Elizabeth Prescott, of Concord, 1 July, 1696. Their children were : (1) 
 Elizabeth, b. 19 Sept. 1698; died 4 March, 1699. (2) John, b. 7 Jan. 1699- 
 
 1700. (3) Elizabeth, b. 16 Dec. 1701. (4) Dorothy, b. 9 Aug. 1703; died 28 
 May, 1704. (5) Dorothy, b. 14 March, 1705; d. 14 Sept. 1732. (6) Rebec- 
 ca, b. 21 Nov. 1706 ; m. to Phineas Richardson, 1728? (7) Abigail, b. 15 
 Dec. 1707. (8) Hannah, b. 30 Aug. and d. 3 Oct. 1710 [1709?] (9) James, 
 b. 16 July, 1710. (10) Jonathan, b. 29 Aug. 1712; d. 21 Nov. 1714. (11) 
 Mary, b. 14 Dec. 1713; md. to Alexander Cochran of Boston, 1736? (12) 
 Hannah, b. 10 Aug. 1715. (13) Ruth, b. 9 Feb. 1716-17; d. 18 Feb. 1720-21. 
 (14) Lucy, b. 28 July, 1720 ; md. to Henry Gardner. (15) Ruth, b. 10 Apr. 
 1722. Capt. John Fowle d. 13 June, 1744. His widow, Elizabeth Fowle, 
 died 14 May, 1753. 
 
 FOWLE. 7. Jacob, son of Lieut. James Fowle, md. Mary Brough- 
 ton, [granddaughter of first Rev. John Rayner of Dover, N. H.,] 3 Nov. 
 
 1701. Their children were: (1) Jacob, born 12 June, 1703, died soon. 
 (2) Mary, b. 28 Nov. 1704. (3) Jacob, b. 24 Feb. 1706-7. (4) Abigail, b. 
 6 March, 1709. (5) Dorothy, b. 5 Feb. 1710-11. (6) Timothy, b. 28 Aug. 
 1713; died 5 July, 1741. (7) Elizabeth, b. 3 Feb. 1715-16. (8) Judith, b. 14 , 
 Jan. 1718-19. (9) Ruth, b. 2 July, 1721. 
 
 FOWLE. II. John, son of Capt. James and Mary Fowle, married 
 Mary Convers, both of Woburn, 25 Dec. 1718. Their children were: 
 (1) James, b. 13 June, 1720. (2) John [Master Fowle], b. IFeb. 1726-7; 
 died 15 Oct. 1786, a3t. 61. (3) Josiah, b. 14 July, 1731. (4) Mary, b. 12 
 May, 1734 ; md. to Joshua Wyman, jun., 1760. (5) Leonard, b. 8 Jan. 
 1737-8. 
 
 Major John Fowle died 28 Sept. 1775. [Memorandum of Samuel 
 Thompson, Esq.] 
 
 * Rec. of Births, Marriages, etc., etc. 
 53
 
 614 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 The Fowles of Woburn have always been a highly distinguished family : 
 and the office of Town Clerk, they seemed for many years to hold by pre- 
 scription. Capt. James Fowle was chosen Clei k in 1701, and was annually 
 re-chosen till 1714, when he died in office. His brother, Capt. John Fowle, 
 was immediately appointed his successor, and served the town in that 
 capacity twenty-five years. In 1744, Cornet John Fowle, apparently Capt. 
 John's son, was chosen Clerk; but his death, in 1745, prevented his being 
 re-chosen. From 1746, James Fowle, Esq., was chosen Clerk every year, 
 without interruption, for 34 years; and died in office, 1779. His son, James 
 Fowle, jun., immediately succeeded him in his labors for 11 years more. 
 And in 1814, Marshall Fowle, Esq., son of James Fowle, jun., was chosen 
 Clerk, and was uniformly re-chosen for 19 years more, when he died in 
 office, in 1833. So that during the 132 years which elapsed between the 
 election of Capt. James Fowle, in 1701, and the death of Marshall Fowle, 
 Esq., in 1833, Woburn had a Fowle for its Clerk 103 years, or more than 
 three-fourths of the time. 
 
 FULLEE. Thomas: a subscriber to the Town Orders for Woburu 
 drawn up at Charlestown in Dec. 1640 ; was a smith by trade ; and had 
 meadow granted him in Woburn at Eagg Rock, 1648 ; and also 4 poles 
 square of swamp "next his shop," Dec. 28th. He bore the title of 
 "Sargeant" in 1656, and of Lieutenant in 1685. He was a Selectman in 
 1663, 1664, and again in 1685 ; and a petitioner with others to the General 
 Court, 1664, for an additional grant of land to the town. 
 
 He married, 13 June, 1643, Elizabeth Tidd, by whom he had : (1) 
 Thomas, born 30 April, 1644. (2) Elizabeth, b. 12 Sept. 1645 (3) Ruth, 
 b. 17 May, 1648. (4) Deborah, b. 12 May, 1650; nid. to Isaac Richardson. 
 (5) John, b. 1 March, 1653. (6) Jacob, b. 14 May, 1655. (7) Joseph, b. 
 8 Aug. 1658. (8) Benjamin, b. 15 Apr. 1660. (9) Samuel, b. 9 May, 1662. 
 
 His wife Elizabeth dying, he appears to have left Woburn for Salem 
 Village (Danvers) about t !664 ; whence (leaving his sons, it is likely, to 
 spread into Wills Hill, or Middletou,) he returned to Woburu in 1684; 
 married Sarah, widow of Lieut. John Wyman, and daughter of Miles Nutt, 
 25 Aug. 1684 : and she dying, 24 May, 1688, he seems to have again removed 
 
 from Woburn to Danvers, married Hannah , and to have died abroad. 
 
 After his death, his widow came to Woburn, to reside with her married 
 daughters, wives of James Proctor, Aaron Cleveland, John Wilson, etc., 
 ^tc., whom the Selectmen compelled to give bonds for her maintenance, 21 
 June, 1697. [Town Records, Vol. III., p. 97; also, Records of Births, 
 Marriages, etc., etc., and letter of Henry H. Fuller, Esq., Boston.] 
 
 GARDNER. Richard, came, says family tradition, from the County of 
 Surry, England; settled first within the bounds of Woburn, having his 
 house nearly opposite to the mansion of the late Luke Reed, Esq., in Wo- 
 burn West End, about 40 rods from the road, where remains of the cellar 
 and well were still discernible in 1857 ; but between 1661 and 1667, he 
 removed into " Charlestowu End," to the spot where the two maiden ladies, 
 
 Capt. Joseph Gardner, of Woburn, now deceased.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 615 
 
 Miss Patience Gardner and her sister, had their habitation. And hence 
 the births of hi* last four children are not recorded in Woburn Records, 
 but must be lo >ked for in those of Charlestown. He married Anna Blanch- 
 ard. of Acton. (Savage says of Charlestown, widow of Thomas, of Mystic, 
 or Maiden si.le,) 18 Oct. 1651, by whom he had: (1) John, born 14 Aug. 
 1632. (2) Anna, b. 17 Jan. 1654-5; died before her father. (3) Benjamin, 
 b. 26 Dec. 1G56; died also before his father. (4) Henry, b. 12 Feb. 1657-8. 
 (5) Esther, b. 15 Oct. 1659 ; md. William, eldest son of Major William Jolm- 
 son and Either his wife; and died 17 Dec. 1706, set. 48. (6) Ruth, b. 1 
 Apr. 1GG1, and md. to John Gypson [Gibson?]. (7) Hannah, born md. 
 
 Cotlduigtoa. (8) Abigail, born md. to James Thompson. (9) Rebecca, 
 born . m. Samuel Whittemore, of Cambridge, 13 (?) Feb. 1686. (10) 
 Mehctabel, born md. [John] Connett. Richard Gardner died 29 May 
 
 (al. March 4), 1698, aged about 79 years. Gravestone. 
 
 7. Henry Gardner married, first, Elizabeth , by whom he had: 
 
 (1) John, born 22 July, 1695. (2) Henry, b. 2 Aug. 1698. (3) Samuel, b. 
 10 Sept. 1700; died unmarried, 3 March [al. 3 Dec.], 1723. (4) Elizabeth, 
 
 b. 25 Dec. 1702; md. , Sawyer. (5) Mary, b. 28 May, 1705; " Do. 
 
 of Cluu lestown," md. to Zechariah Flagg, of Woburn, 2 Jan. 1733. After 
 the de.ifch of his first wife, Elizabeth, who died 3 June, [1703, aged 43, 
 Gravestone.] Henry Gardner md. Hannah Prescott, who survived him. 
 He died 20 Feb. 1713-14, set. 57, while his son John was in college. 
 
 GAUDNER. 77. John, son of Henry and Elizabeth Gardner, was 
 graduated at Harvard College, 1715 ; ordained at Stow, in 1718 ; and died, 
 the minister of that town, 10 Jan. 1775, set. 80. He was the father of 
 Hon. Henry Gardner, treasurer of Massachusetts in the time of the Revo- 
 lution ; and of Rev. Francis Gardner, minister of Leominster. [Wob. 
 Rec. of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 GRAVES. Mr. Thomas : See Chapt. II. 
 
 GLAZIER. John was in Woburn, 1663 ; was taxed here in 1666 ; and, 
 to encourage him to remain in the town, fourteen inhabitants, at a general 
 meeting, 8th August, 1672, agreed to give him an acre of land each, one 
 gave two acres, and eight gave half an acre each, twenty acres in all, to 
 be deducted from their several proportions of the common lands about to 
 be divided, and to be laid out at the Wyman Bridge, some on each side of 
 the brook, By his wife, Elizabeth, (daughter of John George, of Charles- 
 town ;b) John Glazier had: (1) John, born, , 1663. (2) Zechariah^ 
 
 b. 20 Apr. 1666. (3) Elizabeth, b. 4 Aug. 1668. (4) John, b. 15 Dec. 1669. 
 (5) Ruth, b. 30 May, 1671. (6) Samuel, b. 5 July, 1672. (7) George, b. 3 
 June, 1676. c 
 
 GREEN. 7. William was of Charlestown, 1640, and a subscriber that 
 year to "Town Orders" for Woburn, and among its earliest inhabitants. 
 He was made freeman 1644. By his wife Hannah, he had: (1) Mary, 
 born 20 Jan. 1644. (2) Hannah, born 7 Feb. 1646-7 ; married to Joseph 
 
 Town Records, Vol. I., p. 40. BaTage's Genel. Diet. "County Records. See also 
 Wob. Records of Births, etc., etc.
 
 616 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 Richardson. (3) John, b. 11 Oct. 1649. (4) William, b. 22 Oct. 1651. 
 William Green, sen., died 7 Jan. 1653-4. By him, or by one of his sons, 
 was probably owned the lot in the centre of Burlington known as the 
 Green Lot ; and the ruins of the house once attached to it are still to be 
 seen. 
 
 John Green, a brother probably of the above William, taxed with him 
 at Woburu in 1645 ; but was not taxed there in 1646, and seems to have 
 soon left the town. 
 
 GREEN. John, son of the above William Green, married, 3 July, 1671, 
 Sarah, daughter of John Bateman, of Boston ; by whom he had : Sarah, born 
 6 June, 1672. (2) Samuel, b. 29 Jan. 1673-4. (3) John, b. 6 Jan. 1676-7. (4) 
 Hannah, b. 4 March, 1679. He was taxed in a Town Rate, 22 Dec. 1679 ; 
 and in 1680 he was numbered among those who were appointed by the 
 Selectmen, 5 July, to be under the inspection of Sergeant Matthew John- 
 son, as tythingman a . But in a tax made for the minister for 1687 his 
 name does not occur ; whence it is concluded, that at the last mentioned 
 date he was dead, or removed from the town. 
 
 GREEN. //. William Green, jun., son of William Green, sen., had, by 
 his wife Mary, William, born 9 Aug. 1675. His first wife dying, 3 June, 
 1676, he married for his second wife Hannah, daughter of Francis Kendall, 
 by whom he had : (1) Francis, b. 30 Nov. 1678. (2) Ebenezer, b. 18 
 July, 1680. (3) Mehetabel, b. 30 June, 1682; died 27 March, 1698. (4) 
 Hannah, b. 7 Oct. 1684. (5) Mary, b. 1 Nov. 1686. (6) Samuel, b. 18th 
 July, 1689. (7) Jacob, b. 14 Oct. 1691. (8) Joseph, b. 14 Apr. 1694. (9) 
 
 Abigail, b 1699. William Green, jun., died 1 Dec. 1717. [Woburn 
 
 Rec. of Births, etc., Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 HALL. Thomas : (or Hale, in County Records) taxed in the Meeting- 
 
 House rate, 1672 a. By his wife , he had: (1) Elizabeth, born 14 
 
 Dec. 1674; died a fortnight after. (2) Abigail, b. 20 Aug. and died 30 
 Oct. 1681. 
 
 HENSHAW. 7. Thomas : His name occurs in the List for the Meet- 
 ing-house Rate, 1672 ; but not in the Tax List for 1666, nor among those 
 who had right in the common lands of Woburn, 1668. c He was married 
 24 Sept. 1677, to Hannah, daughter of Moses Cleaveland. Their children 
 were : (1) Elizabeth, born 30 July, 1678; md. to John "Manser," Charles- 
 town, 3 June, 1701. (2) Thomas, b. 17 Nov. 1680. (3) Hannah, b. 21 
 May, 1683. (4) William, b. 25 Nov. 1685. (5) Samuel, b. 13 March, 1688. 
 (6) Ebeuezer.b. 1 March, 1691; died a pauper, 28 Feb. 1756. (7) Josiah, 
 b. 1 March, 1695. 
 
 Thomas "Hensher"died 16 Jan. 1699, [1699-1700.] 
 
 HENSHAW. 77. Thomas "Hincher," son of the preceding, and Mary 
 Brooks, married 26 May, 1712. By her he had : (1) Thomas, bora 1 
 Sept. 1713. (2) William, b. 21 Dec. 1715. (3) Isaac, b. 22 Aug. 1719. 
 
 a T. R., Vol. H., p. 153-4. b T. R. Vol. I., pp. 38, 39, 40. 
 
 c Woburn Records, Vol. I., pp. 38, 39, 40.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 617 
 
 "Mr. Isaac Hincher died Jan. 3, 1756." (4) Joshua, b. 1 Oct. 1751. (5) 
 Mary, b. 7 Feb. 1723, (1723-4). (6) Oliver, b. 14 March, 1726. 
 
 Thomas Hincher died 11 Sept. 1726. [N. B. The name Henshaw but 
 seldom occurs in Woburn Records : it is there almost invariably spelt 
 "Henshow," "Hensher," or "Hincher."] 
 
 HILL. Ralph : was originally of Plymouth, where he married Margaret 
 Toothaker, probably a widow, .1638. Removing to Woburn, he was 
 taxed there as an inhabitant, 1645, 1646 : and there had a son born to him, 
 viz: Jonathan, 20 Apl. 1646. He was made freeman, 1647; was Select- 
 man of Woburn, 1651 ; but in 1653, he removed to Billerica, and became 
 one of its earliest settlers ; and in 1659 he sold his house and land in 
 Woburn to Richard Snow. He died at Billerica, 29 Apl. 1663. His widow 
 died there 22 Nov. 1683, aged "about 88." In his Will, 10 Nov. 1662, he 
 names his son Nathaniel, (born probably at Plymouth) Jonathan, Ralph, 
 Martha, Rebecca, his widow Margaret, his son-in-law, Roger Toothaker, 
 etc., etc., etc. [Savage's Geneal. Diet., Woburn Records, Billerica 
 Records, Wyman Papers, No. 53.] 
 
 HOLLAND. Christopher was one of the earliest settlers of Woburn, 
 being taxed there in the "Rate for the Country," levied 8 Sept. 1645. But 
 he soon removed, being of Boston, in 1652. [Wob. Town Records, Vol. 
 I., p. 8, Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 Nothing more is found of him in Woburn. 
 
 IVONS. Edward was taxed as an inhabitant of Woburn, in 1666 a; had 
 once a grant of land made to him in the centre of the town, near the 
 Training Field b; and at the general distribution of land and timber among 
 the proprietors, in 1668, he had a share assigned him in the "4th Eighth." 
 But becoming deranged, and rendered poor thereby, and incapable of tak- 
 ing care of himself, the Selectmen took him under their protection, and 
 provided for his comfort, d He died about 1683, and was buried at the 
 town's expense. e 
 
 JOHNSON. Capt. Edsvard: See Chapter II. Major William: See 
 Chapt. V. 
 
 JOHNSON. Matthew, son of Capt Edward, and brother of Major 
 William: born in England: came from Charlestown to Woburn to 
 reside; was taxed there in Country Rate of 26 Aug. 1666; and had a 
 share in the common lands of Woburn assigned him, 1668, in the " 8th 
 Eighth." e He m. Hannah, daughter of Peter Palfrey, 12 Nov. 1656; and, 
 she dying, 1 Aug. 1662, he took for his second wife, 23 Oct. 1662, Rebekah, 
 daughter of John Wiswall, of Dorchester, then. of Boston, and ruling 
 elder of First Church there. By her he had: (1) Rebekah, b. 1 March, 
 1665 ; m. to Samuel Wyman, 1692. (2) Matthew, b. 18 March, 1667. (3) 
 Hannah, b. 23 Apr. 1669. (4) Samuel, b. 28 April, 1672. (5) Ruth, b. 1 
 
 a T. R., Vol. I., pp. 43, 44. b T. R., Vol. I., p. 31. c T. R., Vol. I., p. 46. d T. R., Vol. 
 I., p. 113; Vol. II., p. 150; Vol. III., pp. 3, 36. His name is spelt by Mr. Savage, in hi* 
 Geneal. Diet., Ines. 
 
 e T. R.,Vol. I. p. 47. 
 
 63*
 
 618 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 Jan. 1674-5; m. to John Reed, 2d, 1697? (6) Sarah, b. 14 April, 1677; md. 
 to Daniel Eeed, 1699. (7) Henry, b. 7 Apr. 1683. 
 
 Lieut. Matthew Johnson was a carpenter by trade ; and was employed in 
 building the house erected by the town for Rev. Jabez Fox, in 1680. He 
 represented Woburn in the General Court, 1689, 1690, '91 and 92' ; and died 
 19 July, 1696, aged 62 [Gravestone.] His widow, Rebekah, died 25 Dec. 
 1709. [Wob. Rec., Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 JOHNSON. John, brother of Matthew, was a miller, and proprietor of 
 a saw-mill in Woburn ; married Bethiah Reed, daughter of William and 
 Mabel Reed, 28 Apr. 1657; had: (1) John, born 24 Jan. 1657-8. (2) Be- 
 
 thiah, b. 20 Jan. 1659-60 ; m. to , Wolcott, Cambridge. (3) William 
 
 b. 29 Sept. 1662; removed to Plainfleld (Canterbury), Ct. (4) Obadiah, b 
 15 June, 1664 ; removed to Canterbury, Ct. 1690. (5) Samuel, b. 29 Oct.' 
 1670. (6) Nathaniel, b. 15 May, 1673. 
 
 John Johnson, becoming sick, enfeebled and poor in his latter years, he 
 and his wife Bethiah were taken by their sons, William and Obadiah, in 
 1712, to Canterbury, Ct., and there maintained by them during life at the 
 charge of Woburn.b Mrs. Bethiah Johnson died about 1717.c Her hus- 
 band survived till 1720.c [Woburn Rec. of Births, etc. Savage's Geneal 
 Diet.] 
 
 JEFTS. Henry, a subscriber to the " Town Orders" for Woburn in 
 1640 ; taxed in the Country Rate of Sept. 1645 ; had grants of land made 
 to him in Woburn. He married " Anna Stowars" (Ann Stowers) 13 Sept. 
 1647 ; and she dying, he md. for his 2d wife, Hannah Births, 21 May, 1649 ; 
 by whom he had John, born 11 May, 1651. In 1653, he had become an 
 inhabitant of Billerica, where a daughter Hannah died in "the first weeke" 
 of May, 1653. His children, born afterwards, were : (1) Hannah, b. 4 Feb. 
 1654-5. (2) Joanna, b. 24 May, 1656. (3) Henry, b. 21 March, 1658-9, 
 Hannah, his wife, dying 15 Sept. 1662, he md. for his 3d wife, 3 Oct. 1666, 
 Mary Bird, widow ; and after her decease, 1 April, 1679, he married a 4th 
 wife, Mary Baker, of Concord, widow, 5 May, 1681. 
 
 " Henry Jefts, sen., departed this life, aged about 94 years, 24 May, 
 1700." [Billerica Rec., Woburn Rec., Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 JAQUITH. /. Abraham, son of Abraham Jaquith, of Charlestown, and 
 of Ann, his wife, a daughter of James Jordan, of Dedham. He was born 
 19 Dec. 1644 ; took up his residence in Woburn (viz : that part of it which 
 is now Wilmington) ; was taxed there 1666; md. Mary Adford, 13 March, 
 1671 ; had : (1) Abraham, born 17 Feb. 1672-3. (2) Elizabeth, b. 19 May, 
 1675. (3)Sarah, b. 21 Sept. 1677. 
 
 JAQUITH. //. Abraham, son of the preceding, married Sarah Jones 
 26 Dec. 1700. To them were born ; (1) Abraham, 30 Dec. 1701. (2) Sarah, 
 8 March, 1703; md. to Samuel Butter, Jan. 29, 1726-7? (3) John, 7 Oct. 
 1704. (4) Mary, 1 Sept. 1706. (5) Elizabeth, 5 June, 1708. (6) Adford, 
 15 Apl. 1710. (7) Abigail, 10 June, 1712. (8) Ebenezer, 3 June, 1714. (9) 
 
 Letter from Rev. K. E. Johnson, New Carlisle, Clark Co., Ohio, Sept. 1852, a descendant 
 from Obadiah Johnson. Town Records, Vol. V., p. 220. "Town Rec., Vol. VI., pp. 44, 133.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 619 
 
 Benjamin, b. 27 June, 1716. (10, 11) William and Lydia, twins, b. 1 May, 
 1718 : both died the same month. (12) Hannah, 19 July, 1719. (13) Ruth, 
 10 April, and died 30th Apl. 1722. (14) Susanna, 23 June, and died 5 July, 
 1723. (15) Seth, 5 June, and died 16 July, 1724. 
 
 [Woburn Records of Births, etc., etc. ; Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 Kendall is a family name of local derivation, borrowed from Kent-dale, 
 that is, a dale in the County of Kent, England ; or, as may be thought by 
 some, from Kendal, a noted town in Westmoreland County, on the borders 
 of the river Ken. From one or the other of these sources, the Kendal's or 
 Kendall's in England probably derived their origin and their name. 
 
 KENDALL. Francis, born in England, is supposed to have been the 
 common ancestor of all of his name in New England. He was in Charles- 
 town, 1640, where he subscribed the "Town Orders" for Woburn in 
 December of that year; and was taxed among the earliest inhabitants of 
 Woburn, 1645. The record of his marriage there reads thus : "Ffrances 
 Kendall, alias Miles, and Mary Tedd, [Tidd] maryed 24th. of 10 mo. [24 
 Dec.] 1644 ;" which lends support to a family tradition, communicated 
 many years ago by Rev. Dr. Kendall, of Weston, that in order to conceal 
 from his parents his intentions to emigrate to this country, he embarked 
 in England under a feigned name. His children by his wife Mary were : 
 (1) John, born 2 July, 1646. (2) Thomas, b. 10 Jan. 1648-9. (3) Mary, 
 b. 20 Jan. 1650-1 ; married to Israel Reed about 1669. (4) Elizabeth, b. 
 15 Jan. 1652-3 ; md. to James Peirce. (5) Hannah, b. 26 Jan. 1654-5 ; 
 md. to William Green, jun., as his second wife. (6) Rebekah, b. 2 
 March, 1657; md. to Joshua Eaton; deceased in 1706. (7) Samuel, b. 8 
 March, 1659. (8) Jacob, b. 25 Jan. 1660-1. (9) Abigail, b. 6 Apr. 1666 ; 
 md. to William "Read," 24 May, 1686. 
 
 Mary, his wife, died in 1705. "Francis Kendall, sen., died .... 1708," 
 when, according to a testimony given by him in Court, 1700, he must have 
 been 88 years old. He was a gentleman of great respectability and influ- 
 ence in the place of his residence. He served the town, at different times, 
 18 years on the Board of Selectmen ; and was often appointed on import- 
 ant committees, especially on one for distributing the common lands of the 
 town, 1604 ; a and on another, respecting the erection of the second meet- 
 ing-house, 1672 . 
 
 In his Will, dated 9 May, 1706, when he was "stricken in years," (he 
 writes), "and expecting daily his change," he styles himself a miller; and 
 gives one-half of his mill, with a proportionate interest in the streams, 
 dams and utensils thereto belonging, to his son John ; one-quarter to 
 Thomas, and one-quarter to Samuel. This mill has ever since been in the 
 possession of his posterity. Its present owner and occupant, Mr. Joseph 
 R. Kendall, a descendant from Thomas, second son of Francis, is of the 
 6th generation from its original proprietor. [Kendall Family Papers.] 
 
 Francis Kendall remembers likewise in his Will the eight children of 
 his brother Thomas, (one of the first settlers of Reading, and a deacon of 
 
 T. R., Vol. I., pp. 24, 36.
 
 620 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 the church there) who were living, when he, his said brother died. It 
 seems that this brother of Francis Kendall, of Woburn, Deacon Thomas 
 Kendall, of Reading, and Rebecca, his wife, had had ten daughters, but no 
 son that lived. But these daughters, in order to preserve their maiden 
 name, Kendall, among their posterity, directed, each of them, when mar- 
 ried, that her first born son should have the given name, Kendall, prefixed 
 to his surname ; as Kendall Peirson, Kendall Boutwell, Kendall Eaton, 
 Kendall Briant, etc., etc., etc., which gave occasion to the following lines 
 respecting these daughters in a Poem written by Lillie Eaton, Esq., of 
 South Reading, and published with Flint's Historical Address upon the 
 200th Anniversary of the founding of Reading. In mentioning the vener- 
 able matron, their mother, he observes : 
 
 "She had ten daughters ; and each one, 
 When married, christened her first son 
 Kendall ; and thus we may infer 
 Why 'tis these names so oft occur." 
 
 Flint's Address, p. 64. 
 
 The children of John, Thomas, Samuel, and Jacob Kendall, the four sons 
 of Francis the first, were as follows : 
 
 John, eldest son of Francis Kendall, married, 29 Jan. 1668, Hannah, 
 daughter of Thomas Bartlett. Their children were : (1) Mary, born 1 
 Sept. 1671. (2) Lydia, b. 23 Apr. 1674. (3) Francis, b. 4 Dec. 1678 ; died 
 soon. His first wife, Hannah, dying, John Kendall md. Elizabeth Comey, 
 29 March, 1681, and had by her: (1) Francis, b. 11 Apr. 1682. (2) John, 
 b. 7 Oct. 1684; died young. (3) David, b. 14 Nov. 1686. (4) Elizabeth, b. 
 23 Feb. 1688-9 ; md. to Amos Knight, 1720 ? (5) Jonathan, b. 28 Nov. 1690. 
 (6) Rebekah, b. 22 March, 1693. (7) Nathaniel, b. 27 Feb. 1694-5. (8) 
 John, 2d, b. 8 July, 1699. Elizabeth, wife of John Kendall, died in Decem- 
 ber 1701. After her death, he married, for his 3d wife, Eunice, widow of 
 Mr. Samuel Carter, and daughter of John Brooks. She was living in 1706. 
 [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 Thomas, second son of Francis Kendall, married Ruth ,1673. Their 
 
 children were : (I) Ruth, b. 17 Feb. 1674-5 ; married to John Walker, jun., 
 son of first Dea. Samuel Walker. (2) Thomas, b. 19 May, 1677. (3) Mary, 
 b. 27 Feb. 1680; md. to Joseph Whittmore, 1698-9. (4) Samuel, b. 29 Oct. 
 1682. (5) Ralph, b. 4 May, 1685. (6) Eleazer, b. 16 Nov. 1687. (7, 8) 
 Jabez and Jane, twins, b. 10 Sept. 1692. Jane md. to Joseph Russell, 1712. 
 (9) a still-born son, born 16 Dec. 1695. Ruth, wife of Thomas Kendall, 
 died 18th of the same month and year. Thomas Kendall md. for his 2d 
 wife Abigail Broughton, March 30, 1696, who died 31 Dec. 1716. He died 
 himself, 25 May, 1730. 
 
 Samuel, third son of Francis Kendall, married 13 Nov. 1683, Rebekah, 
 daughter of Isaac Mixer. Their children were : (1) Samuel, born 13 Aug. 
 1684. (2) Isaac, b. 13 Sept. 1686. (3) Joshua* b. 14 March, 1G89. (4) 
 Rebekah, b. 6 July, 1691; died 25 Nov. 1691. Rebekah, wife of Samuel 
 Kendall, dying 25 Oct. 1691, he married, for his second wife, Mary, daugh-
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 621 
 
 ter of William Locke, 30 March, 1692. By her he had : (1) Mary, b. 3 Feb. 
 1692-3 ; who died U Aug. 1727. (2) Rebekah, b. 26 Jan. 1694-5 ; wife of 
 Samuel Russell. (3) Abigail, b. 31 March, 1697; md. to William Nichols, 
 of Reading, 1719-20. (4) Ebenezer, b. 16 May, 1700. (5) Ruth, b. 23 Apr. 
 
 1703 ; md. to Bancroft. (6) Tabitha, b. 22 Jan. 1706-7 ; md. to Nathan 
 
 Richardson, 1729, and died 25 Nov. 1739. Samuel Kendall finally removed, 
 we are told, to Lancaster.* He probably remained in Woburn till the sum- 
 mer of 1742, being taxed there in a Parish tax assessed Jan. 28, 1741-2, 
 but not in one assessed in February, 1742-3. b His Will, written 6 Dec. 
 1742, when he was " advanced in years," is subscribed with his own hand, 
 "Samuel Kendal."c But it is said not to have been proved till 1749. 
 [Woburn Records of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 Jacob, youngest son of Francis Kendall, married Persis " Heywood," or 
 " Hayward," 2 Jan. 1683-4. Their children were : (1) Persis, born 24 Aug. 
 1685. (2) Jacob, b. 12 Jan. 1686-7. (3) Joseph, b. 7 Dec. 1688. (4) Jona- 
 than, b. 2 Nov. and died 11 Nov. 1690. (5) Daniel, b. 23. Oct. 1691. Persis, 
 wife of Jacob Kendall, died 19 Oct. 1694, and he married for his second wife 
 Alice Temple, 10 Jan. 1694-5. By her he had : (1) Ebenezer, b. 9 Nov. 
 1695; died young. (2) John, b. 19 Jan. 1696-7; died 17 Oct. 1697. (3) 
 Sarah, b. 18 July, 1698. (4) Esther, b. 20 Nov. 1699. (5) Hezekiah, b. 26 
 May, 1701. (6) Nathan, b. 12 Dec. 1702. (7) Susanna, b. 27 Oct. 1704. (8) 
 Phebe, b. 19 Dec. 1706. (9) David, b. 28 Sept. 1708. (9) Ebenezer, again, 
 b. 5 Apr. 1710. (10) Alice, b. 31 Jan. 1711-12. (11) Abraham, b. 26 Apr. 
 1712. [This, or the preceding record, or both, obviously erroneous.] (12) 
 Jacob, again, b. 22 Apr. 1714; died 1 June, 1714. (13) Persis, again, b. 23 
 Aug. 1715. 
 
 [Woburn Records of Births, etc., etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 Descendants of these four brothers, who made Woburn their place of 
 permanent residence, were formerly very numerous. Individuals of the 
 name and connection still remain in the town, but have much dwindled of 
 late in respect to numbers. But multitudes of Kendalls have gone forth 
 from Woburn, to replenish other towns of the Commonwealth. Tewks- 
 bury and Sherborn, in Middlesex County, and Athol, Lancaster, Leomin- 
 ster, and Sterling, in Worcester County, have all been more or less indebted 
 to Woburn for her many sons and daughters, Kendalls by name or birth, 
 whom she has contributed to help settle those towns, or when settled 
 already, to increase their number of inhabitants.* And no family of Ken- 
 dalls in Woburn has done more to swell the tide of emigration towards 
 the towns above mentioned than that of Samuel Kendall, grandson of 
 Francis, and son of Thomas and Ruth Kendall, born in Woburn, 29 Octo- 
 ber, 1682. He was a carpenter by trade ; and formerly known far and wide 
 beyond his native place as Lieutenant Kendall, from having received a 
 Lieutenant's commission from Governor Belcher, 5 Oct. 1732.e He was 
 a very active, enterprising, public spirited man, often employed in town 
 
 Savage's Geneal. Diet. > Rec. of First Parish, Woburn. Will, among Kendall Papert. 
 Mr. Calvin Kendall of Athol, sou of Mr. Jesse of that town, 1846. Kendall Papers;
 
 622 
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 business, and much engaged in promoting both the civil and the religious 
 prosperity of Woburn. He was an original proprietor of North Town, or 
 Townsend, and as such, became involved in a controversy with the heirs 
 of Major Hathorne, of Salem, who claimed a portion of the lands in that 
 town, under a prior grant from the General Court.* He was also a princi- 
 ple settler of Paguaige, or Athol ; in the settlement of which he and sev- 
 eral of his sons suffered much from floods, and from the depredations of 
 Indians during the French wars between 1744 and 1760.a By his wife 
 Elizabeth, Lieut. Kendall had fifteen children, as follows : 
 
 1. Samuel, born 30 June, 1708. Minister of New Salem. 
 
 2. James, " 28 April, 1710. Lived and died in Sterling, once a part of 
 
 Lancaster. 
 
 3. Josiah, " 1 September, 1712. Lived and died in Sterling. 
 
 4. Ezekiel, " 14 March, 1715. An inhabitant of Sterling; lived and died 
 
 there. 
 6. Timothy, " 23 March, 1717. Lived and died at Leominster. 
 
 6. Elizabeth," 3 September, 1719. Wife of John Brooks, of Sterling, then 
 
 Lancaster. 
 
 7. Jonas, " 10 March, 1721. Leominster. 
 
 8. Sarah, " 16 April, 1723. Wife of John Kendall of Leominster, a son 
 
 of //. Francis, born 11 April, 1682, a 
 grandson of /. John, and great grandson 
 of 7. Francis Kendall. 
 
 9. Susanna, " 5 July, 1724. Lived single. 
 
 10. Obadiah," at Woburn, 3 September, 1725. Occupant of the paternal 
 
 mill: deacon of the 
 church of Woburn. 
 
 11. Jesse, " 15 May, 1727. Lived at Athol, a husbandman and miller; 
 
 one of the first settlers of Athol : married 
 Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew and Mary 
 Evans, of Woburn, about 1751, and had 
 by her twelve children. 
 
 12. Seth, " 4 January, 1728-9. Lived at Athol. 
 
 13. Abigail, " 27 February, 1730-1. Wife of Jacob Peirce, of Woburn. 
 
 14. Ephraim," 9 November, 1732. Died 16 February, 1732-3. 
 
 15. Jerusha, " 13 February, 1734-5. Wife of Reuben Richardson, jun., of 
 
 Woburn.b 
 
 Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Samuel Kendall, died 10 January, 1741-2. He ap- 
 pears then to have married -a second wife. The following probably is a 
 record of his Intentions of Marriage : " Samuel Kendall entered his Inten- 
 tions of Marriage with Mehitabel Asmore [Hosmer?] of Concord, July 6, 
 1751." b 
 
 "Lt. Kendall's wife died" 24 August, 1755. "Lieut. Samuel Kendall" 
 died 13 December, 1764. 
 
 Among the descendants of the Kendalls who went from Woburn and set- 
 
 Kendall Papers. 
 
 b Woburn Records of Births, etc., etc.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 623 
 
 tied in other places were several gentlemen of distinction and great 
 respectability of character, of whom it seems proper here to give a passing 
 notice. 
 
 1. Rev. Samuel Kendall (or Kendal, as he preferred to spell his name), 
 D. D., son of Elisha Kendall, of Sherborn, who was the 12th son of II. 
 Thomas and Sarah (Cheever) Kendall of Woburn and Sherborn, a grand- 
 son of /. Thomas and Ruth Kendall, of Woburn, and a great grandson of 
 Francis Kendall, the first settler of the name. He was born at Sherborne, 
 11 July, 1753; graduated at Harvard College, 1782; ordained at Weston, 5 
 Nov. 1783; and died there, 16 Feb. 1815, set. 62. Elisha Kendall, his father, 
 who spent his latter days with him at Weston, outlived him, dying 1824, 
 aged 99. [Rev. Dr. Kendall's Century Sermon, pp. 44, 45 : Allen's Biog. 
 Diet.] 
 
 2. Rev. Samuel Kendall, eldest son of Lieut. Samuel, was born at Wo- 
 burn, 30 June, 1708 ; graduated at Harvard College, 1731 ; ordained at New 
 Salem, Franklin County, Mass, at the gathering of the church there, 15 
 Dec. 1742; dismissed, 1776; and died, 31 Jan. 1792, aged 84. [Woburn 
 Records of Births, etc. Allen's Biog. Diet.] 
 
 3. Rev. James Kendall, D. D., of Plymouth. He was the youngest son 
 of Major James Kendall, of Sterling, Wore. County, Mass., whose father, 
 James Kendall, was the second son of Lieut. Samuel Kendall, of Woburn ; 
 married Sarah Richardson of Woburn, 21 July, 1735, and removed to 
 Sterling (then Lancaster) to reside. Rev. James, his grandson, was born 
 at Sterling, 3 Nov. 1769 ; grd. at H. C., 1796 ; ordained at Plymouth, 1 
 Jan. 1800 ; and died there, 17 March, 1859, aged 89 years, 4 months, 14 
 days ; and in the 60th year of his ministry. [Mr. Calvin Kendall of Athol, 
 Funeral Sermon of, etc.] 
 
 4. Hon. Jonas Kendall. He was son of Jonas, 6th son of Lieut. 
 Samuel Kendall, of Woburn, and an early settler in Leominster. He was 
 born at Leominster, his father's residence, 27 Oct. 1757; was largely 
 engaged, it is believed, in the manufacturing business at Leominster ; was 
 sometime member of the Senate of Massachusetts ; and at death was 
 nearly 80 years of age. [Mr. Calvin Kendall of Athol : Letter of Hon. 
 Joseph G. Kendall, his son, etc., etc.] 
 
 5. Hon. Joseph Gowing Kendall, son of the preceding, was a native of 
 Leominster; a graduate, 1810, and subsequently a tutor of Harvard Col- 
 lege; was a lawyer by profession; a Clerk of the Courts, resident at 
 Worcester; and once represented that district in the Congress of the 
 United States. He died in 1847. [Letter from him, 1846 : College Cata- 
 logue, etc., etc.] 
 
 6. Rev. David Kendall was a son of Jesse Kendall, of Athol, who was 
 the 8th son of Lieut. Samuel Kendall of Woburn. He was grd. at H. C., 
 1794 ; was minister of Hubbardston from 1802 to 1809. He then removed 
 to Augusta, Oueida County, N. Y., where he continued in the pastoral 
 office till his death, 19 Feb. 1853, at the age of 85. [Mr. Calvin Kendall of 
 Athol : Allen's Biog. Diet.] 
 
 KNIGHT. /. Joseph, sen., was originally of Watertown. He sold his
 
 624 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 house there, Dec. 10, 1649 ; and soon after, with his wife, Hannah, removed 
 to Woburn. a He was made freeman 1G52, was taxed in Woburn, 1666 ; 
 and was numbered among those who had right in the common lands of 
 Woburn, 1GG8. At Woburn, he had born to him, by his wife, Hannah : (1) 
 Sarah, born 8 March, 1651. (2) Samuel, b. 8 Sept. 1652, and died, 26 
 Dec. 1G53. (3) Hannah, b. 25 March, 1654. (4) John, b. 16 Jan. 16G5-6. 
 (5) Elizabeth, b. 7 Apr. 1658. (6) Mary, b. 6 June, 1660; died, 10 Apr. 
 1661. (7) Dinah, b. 4 July, 1661 ; md. to John Morse, of Watertown, 1686. 
 (8) Samuel, again, b. 18 March, 1663. (9) Mary, b. 12 Dec. 1672 ; died, 
 1 March, 1673. (10) Joseph, b. 12 Dec. 1673. (11) Edward, b. 31 Aug. 
 1677. (12) Isaac, b. 24 Feb. 1679-80; died, 4 March, 1679-80. (13) James, 
 b. 22 Apr. 1681, and died the next day. 
 
 Joseph Knight [" Sen." County Records] died 13 Aug. 1687." " Hannah, 
 relict of Joseph Knight, sen., died 13 Jan. 1694-5." 
 
 //. " Joseph Knight, jun." Among those made freemen at the Court in 
 May, 1675, and "re-admitted to freedome, 21 Feb. 1675-6," is found '-Jo- 
 seph Knight, Wob." b He was taxed in the rate for the second Meeting- 
 house in Woburn, 1672 ; married Martha Lilley, 4 Apr. 1699 ; and in his 
 will, 16 Jan. 1733, names wife Martha and six daughters. 
 
 /. John Knight was taxed in Woburn, 1666; married there, 2 March, 
 1681, "Abigail, daughter of John and Sarah Craggen; " and had by her: 
 (1) Abigail, born 27 Dec. 1681. (2) John, b. 31 Jan. 1683-4 ; died 21 June, 
 1685. (3) John, b. 3 March, 1686. (4) Benjamin, b. 20 March, 1688; 
 died Sept. 1697. (5) Samuel, b. 27 Sept. 1690. (6) Mercy, b. 3 Feb. 1G92-3. 
 (7) Ebenezer, b. 20 Aug. 1695. (8) Rebekah, b. 14 May, 1698. (9) Benja- 
 min, b. 20 Oct. 1700. (10) Joseph, b. 9 Nov. and died 19 Dec. 1702. (11) 
 Amaziah, b. 14 Dec. 1703. Abigail, wife of John Knight, died 17 June, 
 1707. "John Knight, sen." died 9 Nov. 1735. [Woburn Records.] 
 
 //. John, his son, born 3 March, 1686, is probably the John Knight who 
 sold his homestead, 3 Feb. 1735-6, in Woburn Precinct, to Rev. Mr. Sup- 
 ply Clap ; vacated the house 19 May, 1736 ; and seems to have removed 
 from the town, as no further mention of him has been observed. [Wo- 
 burn Records. Rev. Mr. Clap's papers, etc.] 
 
 Michael Knight had right in common lands of Woburn assigned him, 
 1668 ; was admitted freeman, 1G54 ; married Mary Bullard, 20 Oct. 1657 ; 
 and had : (1) Mary, born 14 Oct. 1658 ; md. to George Polly, jun., 1677. (2) 
 Jonathan, b. 23 March, 1662. (3) Joseph,c b. 10 Jan. 1664-6. (4) Lydia, 
 b. 29 Sept. 1674. [Woburn Rec. Colony Rec.] 
 
 LEARNED. William, born in England ; admitted freeman of the Colo- 
 ny, 1634 ; received with Goodeth, his wife, into the present First Church, 
 Charlestown, 6 Dec. 1632; subscribed at Charlestown the "Town Or- 
 ders " for Woburn, 1640 ; was one of the first seven members of the 
 
 Bond's Watertown, pp. 328, 816. Col. Records. "Woburn Town Records, and Records 
 of Marriages, etc., etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet. 
 
 fc Col. Rec. "Wob. Rec. Rec. of Births, etc., in Wob. Savage's Geneal. Diet, 
 o " Joshua" according to Savage, b. 20 Jan. 1664-5.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 627 
 
 Hannah Mead, daughter of David Mead, by whom he had : (1) Samuel, b. 
 24 Aug.1702. (2) Josiah, b. 15 March, 1705. (3) Joshua, b. 21 Aug. 1709. 
 (4) Nathan, b. 20 March, 1713. (5) Hannah, born 11 April, 1716, md. to 
 Asa Richardson, 1739. 
 
 Ebenezer Locke, sen. died 24 Dec. 1723: Hannah, his widow, died 24 July, 
 1739. [Woburn Rec. of Births, etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 LOCKE. //. Samuel Locke, eldest son of Ebenezer and Hannah Locke, 
 md. Rebecca Richardson, both of Woburn, 2 March, 1730. Their eldest 
 son, Samuel Locke, born 23 Nov. 1731, graduated at Harvard College, 1755; 
 early called to be President of that Institution in 1770 ; " was a fine scholar, 
 but by untoward circumstances required to resign his office," in 1773; re- 
 turned to Sherborn, where he had been previously settled in the ministry, 
 and died there, of apoplexy, 15 Jan. 1778. [Woburn Records of Births, etc. 
 Savage's General Diet.] 
 
 MOUSALL. Deacon John Mousall : See Chapt. II. 
 
 //. John Mousall, his son, married Sarah Brooks, 13 May, 1650 : died 2 
 April, 1698. [Woburn Reeds, of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 NEVERS. Richard Nevers (or Neverds, as his name is often written) is 
 first mentioned as an inhabitant of Woburn in the Country Rate of 26 
 Aug. 1666. a By his wife Martha, he had three children : (1) Samuel, born 
 16 Dec. 1689. (2) Mary, b. 9 July, 1694. (3) Martha, b. 20 July, 1698. 
 
 Richard " Neverds " died the .... Nov. 1709. " The widow Neuards " 
 died 15 March, 1720. 
 
 NEVERS. /. Samuel Nevers, his son, had by his wife Deborah : (1) 
 Samuel, born 20 June, 1715. (2) William, b. 16 Aug. 1716. (3) Hannah, b. 
 4 Feb. 1717-18 : md. to David Evans, of Reading, 1740. (4) Richard, b. 29 
 Dec. 1719. (5) Joshua, b. 13 June, 1721. (6) Deborah, b. 27 April, 1723. 
 (7) Mary, b. 24 Oct. 1728. 
 
 NEVERS. //. Samuel Nevers, jun., son of Samuel, married Susanna 
 Williams, 2 August, 1739. To them was born " Samuel Williams," son of 
 Samuel and Susanna Nevers, born 2 Nov. 1741, died 22 Jan. 1741-2. 
 
 NEVERS. ///. Samuel Nevers, whom II. Mr. Samuel Nevers adopted for 
 his own, shortly after the death of his son, Samuel Williams, was originally 
 named Thomas Marshall, son of William Marshall, a seafaring man of Scotch 
 descent, and was born March 2, 1741-2. When taken into the family of 
 Mr. Nevers, he grew up under his care, and went into the French War in 
 1758, and was present at the death of Gen. Wolf before Quebec. He was 
 twice married ; and died May 24, 1826, leaving a very numerous family of 
 children. 
 
 NUTT. Myles was made freeman, 1637 ; was a proprietor of Watertown 
 1636-7, and in 1642. In Woburn, he was taxed in the first town rate on 
 record, levied 22 Dec. 1646 ; and order also was given about the same time 
 for enlarging his house lot. He was Selectman in Woburn, in 1647, and 
 during seven of the nine years immediately succeeding. In 1G44, Novem- 
 ber 5th, his daughter Sarah, whom he had brought with him from England, 
 
 Town Bee. Vol. I., pp. 43, 44.
 
 628 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 was married to Lieut. John Wyman ; and after Mr. Wyman's death, May 
 1684, she was md. to Thomas Fuller 25 Aug. of the same year. Mr. Nutt 
 died at Maiden, 2 July, 1671, aged about 73 years. [Bond's Watertown : 
 Woburn Town Records, Vol. I., p. 97. Kecords of Marriages, etc., etc., in 
 Woburn.] 
 
 PARKER. Abraham ; early settled in Woburn, being taxed there 8 Sept. 
 1645, the first tax for the Country on record. He married, 18 Nov. 1644, 
 Rose Whitlock, by whom he had : (1) Hannah [Anna, County Records,] 
 born 29 Oct. 1645. (2) John, b. 30 Oct. 1647. (3) Abraham, b. 8 March, 
 1650, died 20, 1651. (4) Abraham, again, b. Aug. 1652. About this time, he 
 removed to Chelrasford, where he had other children born to him. He was 
 made freeman 1645 ; and died 12 Aug. 1685. His widow died 13 Nov. 1691. 
 [Woburn Records : Savage's Geneal. Diet. ; Col. Records.] 
 
 PARKER. James : freeman 1644 ; a subscriber at Charlestown to the 
 "Town Orders" for Woburn, 1640; and taxed in Woburn, 1645 and 1646. 
 He married, 23 May, 1643, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Long of Charles- 
 town. By her he had : (1) Elizabeth, born 12 March, 1645. (2) Ann, b. 
 6 Jan. 1646-7. (3) John, b. 18 Jan. 1648-9. (4) Sarah, b. 29 Aug. 1650; 
 died 15 Oct. 1651. (5) Joseph, b. 1651. (6) James, b. 15 Apr. 1652, and 
 killed by the Indians, 27 July, 1694. About 1652, he removed from 
 Woburn to Chelmsford, where he had other children born to him ; and 
 from Chelmsford to Groton. He died, 1701, in his 84th year. [Woburn 
 Town Rec. and Records of Births, etc. Savage's Geneal. Reg.] 
 
 PEIRCE. John was taxed in Woburn, in the rate for the country in 
 1645, and in the town rate, 1646. His children recorded in Woburn are : 
 (1) John, born 23 Nov. 1644. (2) Joseph, b. 12 Sept. 1646. (3) Thomas, 
 b. 3 May, 1649. [Records of Births, etc., etc., in Wob. Town Records. 
 N. B. This name is spelt Peirce with great uniformity in Wob. Rec., till a 
 recent date.] 
 
 PEIRCE. /. John, son probably of the John preceding, married, 1 July, 
 1663, Deborah, daughter of Ensign James Convers ; had : (1) Deborah, 
 born 30 Oct. 1666. (2) John, born 26 Jan. 1670-1. (3) Thomas, b. 23 
 Dec. 1672. (4) James, b. 6 Aug. 1674; died when 11 years old. (5) 
 Daniel, b. 7 Oct. 1676. (6) James, again, b. 8 Oct. 1686. (7) Joseph, b. 
 24 Aug. 1688. (8) Josiah, b. June, 1691. John Peirce represented 
 Woburn in General Court, 1706 ; chosen 13 Aug. to succeed Major James 
 Convers, deceased; and 9 years afterward, between 1707 and 1718, 
 inclusively. [Wob. Records of Births, etc., etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 Thomas Peirce, not improbably son of Thomas "Peerce," admitted into 
 Charlestowu Church 21 Feb. 1634-5. He, (the son,) was born in Eng- 
 land; was in Woburn as early as 1643; was taxed there, 1645; is often 
 styled in the Records there, "Sargent Thomas Peirce; was Selectman of 
 Woburn, 1660, and repeatedly afterwards ; of the committee for dividing 
 the common lands in Woburn among "the right proprietors," chosen 28 
 March, 1667 ; and also of the General Court's committee appointed for the 
 
 Charlestowu Ch. Records.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 629 
 
 same purpose in 1668. By his wife, Elizabeth, there were born to him in 
 Woburn : (1) John, born 7 March, 1643. (2) Thomas, b. 21 Jan. 1644-5. 
 (3) Elizabeth, b. 25 Dec. 1646. (4) Joseph, b. 22 Sept. 1648 ; died 27 Feb. 
 1648-9. (5) Joseph, again, b. 13 Aug. 1149. (6) Stephen, b. 16 July, 1651. 
 [Of Chelrasford, a tailor, 1678X] (7) Samuel, b. 20 Feb. 1653-4 ; died 27 
 Feb. 1655-6. (8) Samuel, b. 7 Apr. 1656. (9) William, b. 7 March, 1657. 
 
 (10) James, b. 7 May, 1659. "Old Mr James Peirce died 20 Jan. 1741-2." 
 
 (11) Abigail, b. 20 Nov. 1660; md. to George Reed, 1684-5. 
 
 "Thomas Peirce, sen." died 6 Nov. 1683. "Widow Elizabeth Peirce 
 died the 5th of March, 1688." 
 
 PEIRCE. Robert, not improbably a son of John and Elizabeth Peirce, 
 of Water-town; freeman 1642; removed to Woburn about 1650, where he 
 was taxed in the Country Rate for 1666, and was numbered among those 
 who were entitled to an interest in the common lands of the town in 1668. 
 By his wife, Mary, he had born in Woburn: (1) Judith, 30 Sept. 1651; 
 died 30 May, 1689. (2) Mary, b. 21 Jan. 1653-4; md. to John Walker, (a 
 brother of Samuel, jun., and Israel Walker,) 14 Oct. 1672. (3) Nathaniel, 
 b. 4 Dec. 1655 ; md. Hannah Convers, 27 Dec. 1677. (4) Elizabeth, b. 6 
 March, 1658 ; md. to Samuel Wilson, 1681-2. (5) Jonathan, b. 2 Feb. 1662-3. 
 (6) Joseph, b. 1 May, 1672. 
 
 Mary, wife of Robert Peirce, died 18 March, 1701. " Old Robert Peirce" 
 died 10 Sept. 1706. 
 
 [Bond's Watertown; Col. Records; Woburn Town Rec. ; Woburn Rec. 
 of Births, Marriages, etc., etc.] 
 
 PIERSON. Bartholomew, was of Watertown 1640 ; admitted freeman 
 1648 : bought of Isaac Learned his house and land in Woburn, 2 Apr. 1652 ; 
 moved there the next year ; was taxed there in the Rate for the Country, 
 assessed 26 Aug. 1666 ; and was Selectman 1665 and 1666. By his wife, 
 Ursula, he had born to him in Watertown : (1) Bartholomew, b. Sept. 1640 ; 
 died next month. (2) Bartholomew, again, 26 Feb. 1641-2; died, in 
 Woburn, 23 Feb. 1661-2. (3) Martha, b. 17 Sept. 1643. (4) Jonathan, b. 12 
 Aug. 1648. (5) Joseph, b. 8 Nov. 1650. After he removed to Woburn, he 
 had born to him a daughter, viz : Sarah, b. 7 May, 1653. Another daugh- 
 ter probably of his, though her birth is not found on record, viz : Mary 
 Pierson, was married in Cambridge to John Richardson, of Woburn, 28 
 Oct. 1673 ; and they had a son called by the well known name of Pierson 
 Richardson. 
 
 Bartholomew Pierson died 12 March, 1687. His w'dow, Ursula, died 28 
 May, 1694. The name Pierson is variously spelt Pearson, Persune, and 
 Person. 
 
 [Bond's Watertown, pp. 406, 910; Colony Records; Savage's Geneal. 
 Diet. ; Woburn Town Rec. and Rec. of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 POLLY. George, a carpenter by trade ; land ordered to be laid out to 
 him in Woburn Feb. 3, 1648-9 ; chosen a Surveyor of Fences 1665 ; was 
 taxed in the Rate for the Country 1666 ; and his right to share in the com- 
 
 Wyman Papers, No. 13. Woburn Town Records, Records of Births, etc., etc. 
 64*
 
 630 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 mon lands of the town was acknowledged 1668. Married in Woburn Eliz- 
 abeth Winn, daughter, probably, of Edward Winn, 21 May, 1G49, by whom 
 he had : (1) John, born 16 Dec. 1650. (2) Joseph, b. 25 Dec. 1652. (3) 
 George, b. 4 Jan. 1655-6. (4) Elizabeth, b. 14 Apr. 1657 ; md. to John Brown, 
 1682. (5) Samuel, b. 24 Jan. 1660-1, and died the next month. (6) Han- 
 nah, b. 6 Apr. 1662, and died the same day. (7) Hannah, again, born 28 
 June, 1663 ; md. to J. Baker, jun., 1682. 
 
 George Polly died, 22 Dec. 1683. Elizabeth "Polle, widow," died 2 
 May, 1695. 
 
 POLLY. /. George Polly, jun., md. Mary Knight, 24 Oct. 1677; was a 
 carpenter, like his father ; had a family of ten children ; and being pressed, 
 1692, into the public service, his family was helped by the town. [Town 
 Records, and Rec. of Births, etc.] 
 
 POST. Richard, an early inhabitant of Woburn, being taxed there on 
 the list for the Country Rate, 1645 ; and had grant of meadow made to 
 him in 1648. He married Susanna Sutton, 27 Feb. 1649-50. For his second 
 wife, he md. Mary Tyler, 18 Nov. 1662; and by her had: (1) Mary, b. 29 
 Sept. 1664. (2) Susanna, b. 13 Sept. 1666. (3) John, b. 14 Apr. 1669. 
 He was taxed in the Rate for the Second Meeting-house, erected in 1672; 
 but as his name is not mentioned in the tax lists for the town, 1679, 1680, 
 it is presumed that he had then moved away. His house, according to a 
 reliable tradition, stood a little north of the road leading from Mr. Caleb 
 Richardson's, to the East School-house in Burlington, where it meets the 
 ancient road from Woburn to Billerica, which passed west from the pres- 
 ent great road and of Mr. Samuel Walker's house. There, remains of Mr. 
 Post's house and his well are still to be seen. [Woburn Town Records ; 
 Records of Births, etc.] 
 
 REED. George Reed was son of William and Mabel Reed, who em- 
 barked from England in the " Defence," 4 July, 1656, for New England, 
 bringing with them three of their children, viz : George, aged 6 years, 
 Ralph, aged 5 years, and " Justice " or Justus, 18 months old. a They took 
 up their abode in Woburn, upon laud sold Mr. Reed by Nicholas Davis. 
 Their dwelling-house stood in a pasture, called the Baldwin Pasture, on 
 the road from Kendall's mill to the Messrs. Duren. The pasture is now 
 owned by them ; and remains of Mr. Reed's cellar and well are still to be 
 seen there, b But, ere many years, William Reed and his wife Mabel 
 returned to England. He died at Newcastle, upon Tyne, a3t. 09 ; and not 
 having appointed executors in his will, letters of administration were 
 granted by Oliver Cromwell, the Protector, 31 Oct. 1656, to his widow, 
 Mabel, who speedily returned with her four youngest children to New 
 England; married Henry Summers, sen., of Woburn, 21 Nov. 1660; and, 
 outliving him, died at the house of her son George, 5 [15?] June, 1690, 
 aged 85 years, c [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc.] 
 
 Hon. James Savage. b Letter of Jacob "W. Reed, Esq., of Georgetown, Sept. 1856. 
 
 c Rev. Lucius R. Paige.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 631 
 
 . REED. William and Mabel Reed appear to have had 9 children, viz: 
 George, Ralph, and " Justice " or Justus, who came with them to New 
 England in 1635; "Michaell"and Israel, Abigail, Bethiah, Sarah and 
 Rebekah. 
 
 Of "Justice," or Justus, nothing is known, after he came to this 
 country. Of "Michaell," nothing is known, except that his father speaks 
 of him in his Will, as married in New England. Abigail was married, 2 
 Oct. 1650, to Francis Wyman; but the date of her death is not on record. 
 Bethiah was md. to John Johnson, 28 Apl. 1657; and was living, 1712, with 
 her husband at their son Obadiah's, in Canterbury, Ct., where she died 
 about 1717. Sarah was md. to Samuel Walker, jun., (afterwards Dea. 
 Walker,) 10 Sept. 1662, and died 1 Nov. 1681. Eebekah was md. to Ensign 
 Joseph Winn about 1664: "Widow Rebekah Winn died the . . . 1734." 
 
 REED. /. George Reed, sen., was born in England; came to this 
 country with his parents in 1635, when he was six years of age : settled 
 at Woburn, where orders were given a Committee, 9 Nov. 1653, to lay out 
 to him 6 acres of land, in consideration of a house lot which had been 
 previously granted him, but which he had surrendered again to the town, b 
 He was made freeman 1684; married, 4 Oct. 1652, Elizabeth Jennison [not 
 "Ginnings," as the Records give the name], daughter of Robert Jennison, 
 ofWatertown; to whom were -born : (1) Elizabeth, 29 July, 1653 ; md. 15 
 Dec. 1675, to Daniel Fiske. (2, 3) twins, sons, died 14 Nov. 1654, but a 
 few hours old. (4) Samuel, b. 29 Apr. 1656. (5) Abigail, b. 27 June, 
 1658 ; md. to Nathl. Richardson, 1694. (6) George, b. 14 Sept. 1660. (7) 
 William, b. 22 Sept. 1662. (8) Sarah, b. 12 Feb. 1664-5. Elizabeth, first 
 wife of George Reed, dying 26 Feb. 1664-5, he md. 9th of Nov. 1665, Han- 
 nah Rockwell, of Charlesto\vn,c by whom he had: (1) Hannah, b. 18 Feb. 
 1669-70. (2) John, b. 18 March, 1672. (3) Mary, b. 15 June, 1674; md. 
 to Matthevy Johnson, jun. (4) Timothy, b. 20 Oct. 1678. (5) Thomas, b. 
 15 July, 1682. 
 
 George Reed, sen., died 21 Feb. 1705-6, 8et. 67. His second wife sur- 
 vived him. 
 
 REED. //. George Reed, jun., was born in Woburn, 14 Sept. 1660; 
 married Abigail Peirce, daughter of Thomas, 18 Feb. 1684-5, by whom 
 he had : (1) Abigail, b. 6 Feb. 1685-6. (2) Ebenezer, b. 6 March, 1690, 
 (1691, County Records.) (3) George, b. 2 Aug. 1697 ; died 6 Oct. 1697. 
 (4) Elizabeth, b. 14 June, 1700; md. 23 May, 1720, to Christopher Paige 
 of Billerica, now Bedford ; ancestor of Rev. Lucius Reed Paige, formerly 
 of Cambridgeport. 
 
 II. George Reed was a deacon in First Church, Woburn, from 1719 
 till 1735, when, at the gathering of the Church in the Precinct, now Bur- 
 lington, he was chosen one of its first two deacons. His first wife, 
 Abigail, dying 9 Sept. 1719, he married, for his second wife, Sybil Rice of 
 Sudbury, probably widow of Isaac, 24 May, 1721. He died at the very. 
 
 a Mr. John A. Boutelle. b Town Rcc., Vol. I , pp. 18, 19. 
 
 e Ui-v. Lucius It. Paige. Rec. of Births, etc. Savage's Genual. Diet.
 
 632 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 advanced age of 95 years and 4 months, 20 Jan. 1756. [Woburn Rec., 
 Rev. Mr. Paige, Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 REED. Ralph, son of William and Mabel Reed, was brought by them in 
 1635 to this country from England, when a child of 5 years of age. He 
 settled in Woburn, where a grant of land was made to him by the town in 
 1654, a and where he was taxed in 1666. He married Mary, daughter of 
 Anthony Peirce, of Watertown, by whom he had : (1) William, born 1658. 
 (2) John, b. 1660. (3) Joseph. (4) Daniel. (5) Timothy, b. 14 Feb. 
 1664-5. (6) David. (7) Jonathan, b A memorable fatal accident hap- 
 pened to William, the eldest son of Ralph,~which is stated in the Records 
 of Deaths as follows : c " William Read dyed by a shott November y e 7th, 
 1688 : his brother Timothy at unawares in the Woods shot him in stedd 
 of a dear." 
 
 Mary, wife of Ralph Read, died 15 Feb. 1701. Ralph Reed dyed 4 Jan. 
 1711-12. 
 
 REED. Israel, son of William and Mabel Reed, was brought with his 
 sisters from England to this country by his mother, after the decease of 
 his father ; and when about 17 years of age was put under the guardian- 
 ship of his brother George, till he should be 21 years old.d He was taxed 
 in the rate for building the new meeting-house in 1672 ; followed, appar- 
 ently, the business of a butcher; had land granted him " near the burying 
 place," to set a barn on, 1683-4, and had liberty given him by the town, 
 22 Feb. 1685-6, to erect a slaughter house near his house by the Rocke, at 
 the discretion of the Selectmen.? He married, about 1669, Mary, daughter 
 of Francis Kendall ; by whom he had : (1) Mary, born 15 Oct. 1670 ; md. to 
 Matthew Johnson, jun. (2) Sarah, b. 29 Aug. 1673. (3) a daughter, b. 2 
 Jan. 1678-9. (4) Elizabeth, b. 22 Dec. 1681 ; ind. to Richard Snow, Jan. 
 1706-7. (5) Ruth, b. 6 Jan. 1683-4. (6) Israel, b. 17 March, 1687. (7) 
 Jemima, b. 23 July, 1689. (8) Patience, b. 3 Dec. 1697 ; md. to Jeremiah 
 Whittemore, of Charlestown, 15 March, 1722. 
 
 " Israel Reed died 29 June, 1711." " The widow Mary Reed died ye 17th 
 of January, 1721" [1721-22]. 
 
 It was to Israel Reed, jun., son of the above Israel Reed, to whom the 
 grant to Woburn of 2000 acres was sold in 1734, by the town's committee. 
 
 RICHARDSON. Ezekiel Richardson, apparently the eldest of the three 
 brothers of this name engaged in the settlement of Woburn, was born in 
 England ; came with his wife, Susanna, to Charlestown, probably in the 
 fleet with Winthrop, in 1630. Both joined the church which was gathered 
 there in 1630, and which afterwards became the First Church in Boston ; 
 and both were dismissed from it, 11 Oct. 1632, with others, in order to form 
 the present First Church in Charlestown, which was gathered in Novem- 
 ber following. He was Representative of Charlestown in General Court, 
 1635 ; Selectman, in 1640 ; and one of the seven Commissioners appointed 
 
 Town Records. b Savage's Geneal. Diet. Wob. Rec. of Births, Deaths, etc. 
 Rev. Lucius R. Paige. Rec. of Town, Vol. I., p. 124. 'T. R., Vol. III., p. 93 ; Rec. of 
 Births, etc., etc.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 633 
 
 that year by the church of Charlestown to effect the settlement of Woburn. 
 Of the church of Woburn, he was one of the original members. By his 
 wife, Susanna, he had : (1) Phebe, baptized in Boston, 3 June, 1632, and 
 married, 1 Nov. 1649, to Henry Baldwin. (2) Theophilus. (3) Josiah. (4) 
 John, who died at Woburn, 7 Jan. 1642-3. (5) Jonathan; died young. 
 (6) James. (7) Ruth, born at Woburn, 23 Aug. and died 7 Sept. 1643. 
 Ezekiel Richardson died 21 Oct. 1647. 
 
 RICHARDSON. 7. Theophilus, eldest son of Ezekiel and Susanna 
 Richardson, was baptized in the church of Charlestown, 22 Dec. 1633 ; 
 married, 2 May, 1654, Mary Chauipney, daughter of John and Joanna 
 Champuey, of Cambridge ; b by whom he had : (1) Ezekiel, born 28 Oct. 
 1655. (2) Mary, b. 15 Jan. 1657-8. (3) Sarah, b. 23 Apr. 1660. (4) Abi- 
 gail, b. 21 Oct. 1662. (5) Hannah, b. 6 Apr. 1665; md. to Daniel Baldwin, 
 1684-5. (6) John, b. 16 Jan. 1667-8 ; died 29 Oct. 1749, set. 81 years. 
 [Gravestone.] (7) Esther, b. 25 June, 1670. (8) Ruth,b. 31 Aug. 1673; 
 md. to William Russell, of Salem Village [Danvers], 20 Jan. 1703-4. 
 
 Theophilus Richardson died 28 Dec. 1674. His widow, Mary, probably 
 married John Brooks, sen., 30 Jan. 1683-4. 
 
 RICHARDSON. 77. Ezekiel Richardson, son of Theophilus, and grand- 
 son of first Ezekiel, married, 27 July, 1687, Elizabeth Swan, of Cambridge; 
 by whom he had : (1) Theophilus, born 4 July, 1688 ; died, 3 Aug. 1688. 
 
 (2) Elizabeth, b. 20 Oct. 1689 [1690, County Records.] (3) Theophilus, b. 
 7 Jan. 1691-2. (4) Ezekiel, b. 22 Apr. 1694. (5) Abigail, b. 15 Jan. 1696-7. 
 
 (6) Aaron, b. 16 Dec. 1701. 
 
 Ezekiel Richardson died 13 March, 1734. 
 
 RICHARDSON. 77. John Richardson, son of 7. Theophilus, and brother 
 
 of 77. Ezekiel, married Deborah , by whom he had : (1) Mary, born 
 
 10 Aug. 1689. (2) John, b. 29 Dec. 1692. (3) Deborah, b. 8 March, 1695 ; 
 md. to John Kendall, 1718. (4) Sarah, b. 12 March, 1698 ; died 20 Feb. 
 1703-4. (5) Josiah, b. 14 Feb. 1700-1. (6) Nathan, b. 24 Jan. 1701-2. 
 
 (7) Eunice, b. 3 Jan. 1703-4. Deborah, wife of John Richardson, died 12 
 Feb. 1703-4. [Record of Births, etc., in Woburn.] 
 
 RICHARDSON. Samuel Richardson, brother of the first Ezekiel, was 
 born in England; was admitted into the church of Charlestown 18 Feb. 
 1637-8 ; and at dismission from that, he became one of the original mem- 
 bers of the church in Woburn, gathered in August 1642. By his wife 
 Joanna he had : (1) Mary, baptized in the church at Charlestown 25 Feb. 
 1637-8, and married probably to Thomas Mousall of Charlestown. (2) 
 John, born at Charlestown, and baptized in the church there 12 Nov. 1639. 
 
 (3) Hannah, b. at Woburn 8 March, and died there 8 April, 1642. (4) Jo- 
 seph, b. 27 July, 1643. (5) Samuel, b. 22 May, 1646. [April, Gravestone.] (6) 
 Stephen, b. 15 Aug. 1649. (7) Thomas, b.31 Dec. 1651, died 27 Sept. 1657. 
 Also a daughter Elizabeth, mentioned about 1666 in her mother's Will. 
 Samuel Richardson died 23 March, 1658 ; His widow Joanna died in 1666. 
 
 Charlestown Church Records. Savage's Qeneal. Diet. "Wob. Town Records. b Cam- 
 bridge Ch. Itec.
 
 634 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 [Charlestown Ch. Records : Savage's Geneal. Diet. Woburn Town Rec. of 
 Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 RICHARDSON. John, eldest son of Samuel Richardson, married Eliza- 
 beth Bacon, daughter of Michael, of Woburn, 22 Oct. 1658 ; and had by 
 her : (1) John, b. 24 Jan. 1660-1. (2) Joseph, b. 3 Jan. 1666-7. His wife 
 Elizabeth dying, he md. 28 Oct. 1673, Mary Pierson, daughter of Bartholo- 
 mew Pierson, by whom he had: (1) Pierson Richardson, b. 29 Sept. 1674. 
 (2) Jacob, b. 15 Feb. 1675-6. (3) William, b. 29 June, and died 1 Aug. 
 
 1678. His 2d wife being dead, John Richardson " sen.," and Margaret Wil- 
 ling md. 25 June, 1689 ; and had : (1) Willing, a son, b. 5 Oct. 1692 : died 
 14 March, 1704. (2) Job, b. 30 Apr. 1696. 
 
 Lieut. John Richardson died 1 Jan. 1696-7, aged 58 years [Gravestone] 
 " Widow Margaret Richardson died 28 Oct. 1726." [Rec. of Births, etc., 
 etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 RICHARDSON. Joseph, second son of first Samuel Richardson, married 
 Hannah Green, 5 Nov. 1666; by whom he had: (1) Hannah, born 22 Oct. 
 1667. (2) Mary, b. 22 March, 1669 ; md. to James Fowle 1688. (3) Eliza- 
 beth, b. 28 June, 1670; md. to John Coggin, 1692. (4) Joseph, b. 19 May, 
 1672. (5) Stephen, b. 7 Feb. 1673-4. [Afterwards known as Dea. Stephen, 
 who died Feb. 1752, aged 79. Gravestone.] 
 
 Joseph Richardson, " sen.," was admitted freeman 1672 ; and died 5 March 
 1718. " The widow Hannah Richardson died 20 May, 1721. [Wob. Rec. 
 of Births, etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 RICHARDSON. //. Samuel, 3d son of first Samuel Richardson, and 
 brother of John and Joseph above, had by his wife Martha, 5 Nov. 1670 : 
 (1, 2) Samuel and Thomas, twins, of whom Thomas was slain by the In- 
 dians, 10 April, 1676. (3) Elizabeth, born about 1672. (4) Martha, b. 20 
 Dec. 1673 : Martha, the mother of this child, died the day of its birth. 
 Samuel Richardson md. Hannah Kingsley, 30 Sept. 1674. This 2d wife 
 Hannah, and an infant, Hannah, slain by the Indians, 10 Apr. 1676. He 
 then md. Phebe, daughter of Henry Baldwin, 7 Nov. 1676, by whom he had : 
 Zechariah, b. 21 Nov. 1677. Phebe Richardson, his 3d wife dying 20 Oct. 
 
 1679, he md. for his 4th wife, 8 Sept. 1680, Sarah Hayward ; by whom he 
 had: (1) Thomas, born 18 Aug. and died 9 Sept. 1681. (2) Sarah, b. 20 
 Aug. 1682. (3) Thomas, again, b. 25 Sept. 1684. (4) Ebeneger, b. 15 March, 
 1687. (5) .... son of Samuel and Sarah Richardson, b. 17 Aug. 1689, and 
 died the same day. (6) Hannah, b. 11 Aug. 1690. (7) Eleazer, b. 10 Feb. 
 1692-3. (8) Jonathan, b. 16 July, 1696. (9) David, b. 14 Apr. 1700. Sam- 
 uel Richardson died 29 Apr. 1712 [aged 66 years. Gravestone.] The widow 
 Sarah Richardson died 14 Oct. 1717 [aged 62 years. Gravestone.] Wob. 
 Records of Births, etc., etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 RICHARDSON. /. Stephen Richardson, 4th son of first Samuel, and bro- 
 ther of the above John & Joseph, married, 2 Jan. 1674-5, Abigail Wyman, 
 a daughter, probably, of Francis Wyman ; by whom he had : (1) Stephen, 
 born 20 Feb. 1675-6. (2) Francis, b. 19 and died 27 Jan. 1677-8. (3) Wil- 
 liam, b. 14 Dec. 1678. (4) Francis, again, b. 15 Jan. 1680-1. (5) Timothy, 
 b. 6 Dec. 1682 ; died 18 Jan. 1682-3. (6) Abigail, b. 14 Nov. 1683. (7)
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 635 
 
 Prudence, b. 17 Jan. 1685-6. (8) Timothy, again, b. 24 Jan. 1687-8. (9) 
 Seth, b. 16 Jan. 1689-90. (10) Daniel, b. 16 Oct. 1681. (11) Mary, b. 3 
 May, 1696. (12) Rebekah, b. 10 Jane, 1698 ; died 6 Dec. 1711. (13) Solo- 
 mon, b. 27 March, 1702. (14) Henry, b. 1704. 
 
 Stephen Richardson, sen., died 22 March, 1718 ["ab*. 67 years old:" 
 Gravestone]. Widow Abigail Richardson died 17 Sept. 1720 [aged 60 
 years : Gravestone], 
 
 [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 Thomas Richardson, born in England ; doubtless came to this country 
 with his brothers Ezekiel and Samuel above named, in 1630 ; was admitted 
 into the church of Charlestown 18 Feb. 1638 ; and by his wife Mary had : 
 Mary, who was baptized there 17 Nov. 1638 ; and (2) Sarah, baptized at 
 Charlestown, 22 Nov. 1640." His other children by his wife Mary were 
 born in Woburn, and were : (1) Isaac, b. 24 May, 1643. (2) Thomas, b. 4 
 Oct. 1645. (3) Ruth, b. 14 Apr. 1647. (4) Phebe, b. 24 Jan. 1648-9. (5) 
 Nathaniel, b. 2 Jan. 1650-1. Thomas Richardson died 28 Aug. 1651. 
 
 [Savage's Geneal. Diet. Wob. Rec. of Births, etc.] 
 
 RICHARDSON. /. Isaac Richardson, son of Thomas and Mary, mar- 
 ried Deborah, daughter of Thomas Fuller, 19 June, 1667, and had by her: 
 (1) Jonathan, born 12 Dec. 1669. (2) Deborah, 6. 22 Jan. 1671-2. (3, 4) 
 Joseph and Benjamin, twins, b. 25 June [al. January], 1674. (5) Mercy 
 IMary, County Records], b. 27 Oct. 1676; died 13 May, 1678. (6) David, 
 b. 4 Feb. 1678-9. (7) Phebe, b. 14 Feb. 1680-1 ; married to Joseph Rice, 
 Reading, 20 May, 1703? (8) Mary, b. 14 July, 1683. (9) Elizabeth, b. 8 
 Nov. 1685. (10) Edward [Samuel?], b. 2 Feb. 1687-8. Isaac Richardson 
 died 2 Apr. 1689. [Savage's Geneal. Diet. Woburn Records of Births, 
 etc., etc.] 
 
 RICHARDSON. /. Thomas, son of first Thomas Richardson, and 
 brother of Isaac, born 4 October, 1645, settled in Billerica, and died there, 
 25 Feb. 1721, [1721-2?]; leaving numerous descendants. [Farmer's 
 Geneal. Register.] 
 
 RICHARDSON. /. Nathaniel, son of first Thomas Richardson, and 
 brother of Isaac, had by his wife Mary : (1) Nathaniel, born, 27 Aug. 
 1673. (2) James, b. 26 Feb. 1675-6. "Capt. James Richardson died 24 
 March, 1721-2, (aged 46 years & 23 days." G. S.) (3) Mary, b. 10 March, 
 1679; md. to Thomas Wyman, 1696; and to Josiah Winn, 1733. (4) 
 
 Joshua, b. 3 June, 1681. (5) Martha, b. , 1683. (6) John, b. 25 Jan. 
 
 1684-5. (7) Thomas, b. 15 Apr. 1687. (8) Hannah, b. May, 1689. 
 
 (9) Samuel, b. 24 Sept. 1691. (10) Phineas, b. ye. of February, 
 
 1693-4. (11) Phebe, b. 4 March, 1696; md. to David Wyman, 1716. (12) 
 Amos, son of Nathl. and Mary Richardson, b. ] Aug. 1698. (13) Benjamin, 
 son of Nathl. and Mary Richardson, b. 27 Aug. 1700; died 5 Sept. 1700. 
 
 Nathaniel Richardson, sen., died 4 Dec. 1714. Mary Richardson, widow 
 of Nathaniel Richardson, died 22 Dec. 1719. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., 
 etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 The Richardsons have always been the most numerous family in 
 Woburn. On the Province Tax List for both Parishes, in 1769, of 330
 
 636 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 resident males taxed, there were 42 Richardsons, '27 Wymans, 16 Reeds, 
 and 24 Johnsons, making 101' persons of those four names ; a number 
 which, within a trifle, is equal to one-third of all the males then taxed. 
 See T. R., Vol. IX., pp. 83-91. 
 
 Again, in 1760, the Province and County Tax (assessed in Woburn 
 together) amounted to 641 17s. 6d. Iqr. 
 In the assessment of this Tax, there were : 
 
 On the East List, 160 resident persons assessed. 
 On the West List, 166 " " " 
 
 Making 326 " " " in all. 
 
 T. R., Vol. VIII., pp. 295-302. 
 
 Of the resident persons taxed, there were of 
 
 Johnsons on the East List, 3 : on the West List, 18=21 
 
 Reeds on the East List, 3 : " " West List, 14=17 
 
 Richardsons on the East List, 42: " " West List, 2=44 
 
 Wymans on the East List, 14 : " " West, 14=28 
 
 62 48=110 
 
 equal to more than one-third of all the resident persons in town, that were 
 taxed that year. 
 
 And of the 326 residents taxed that year in Woburn, 44, or nearly 2-15ths 
 of the whole number, were Richardsons. 
 
 RUSSELL. John, sen. See Chap. V. Concerning his family, however, 
 it may here be added, that his first wife, Elizabeth, he doubtless married in 
 England. She dying at Woburn, 16 Dec. 1644, he married for his second 
 wife Elizabeth Baker, 13 May, 1645. She died his widow, 17 Jan. 1689-90. 
 His daughter Mary md. Timothy Brooks, 21 Dec. 1659. [Wob. Rec. of 
 Births, etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 RUSSELL. //. John Russell, jun., son of John Russell, sen. See 
 Chapt. V. 
 
 He married Sarah 'Champney, of Cambridge, 31 Oct. 1661. Their chil- 
 dren were : (1) John, born 1 Aug. 1662. (2) Joseph, b. 15 Jan. 1663-4. 
 (3) Samuel, b. 3 Feb. 1667-8 ; died 1 Dec. 1668. (4) Sarah, b. 10 Feb. 
 1670-1. (5) Elizabeth,}*. 19 Feb. 1672-3. [" Widow Elizabeth Peirce dyed 
 June y e . 5th, 1743, in the 71st. year of her age. Her maiden name, Eliza 
 Russell." Rec. of Deaths, etc.] (6) Jonathan, b. 6 Aug. 1675 ; died June 
 20, 1708, ["aged 32 years & 10 mos." Gravestone.] (7) Thomas, b. 5 Jan. 
 1677-8. Sarah Russell, widow, died y. 25th of Apr. 1696. 
 
 RUSSELL. III. John, son of John Russell, jun., married Elizabeth Pal- 
 mer, 21 Dec. 1682 ; by whom he had : (1) John, born 20 Sept. 1683. (2) 
 Joseph, b. 3 Oct. 1685. (3) Stephen, b. 25 Aug. 1687. (4) Elizabeth, b. 21 
 June, 1690. (5) Samuel, b. 16 July, 1692. (6) Sarah, b. 15 Oct. 1694. (7) 
 John, [name mistaken by Town Clerk] born 19 Aug. and died 12 Sept. 1697. 
 (8) Ruth, b. 16 Jan. 1698-9; married to Sam. Eaton, 20 March, 1722. (9) 
 Jonathan, b. 7 Nov. 1700. (10) Mary, b. 2 March, 1703 ; died 27 Nov. 1709. 
 (11) Thomas, b. 26 June, 1705. John Russell died 26th July, 1717.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 637 
 
 "Widow Elizabeth Russell," named in Province Tax, 1723, but not in 1724. 
 She died about 1723. [Wob. Records of Births, etc., etc. Savage's Geneal. 
 Diet.] 
 
 RUSSELL. IV. John Russell, son of III. John, and grandson of John 
 Russell, jun., md. Joanna Winu, 27 Nov. 1711. Their children were : (1) 
 Mary,b. 3 Oct. 1712; md. to Thomas Richardson, 1735; and died 11 Jan. 
 1741-2. (2) Elizabeth, b. 18 Dec. 1714. (3) Anne, b. 10 Feb. 1715-6 ; md. 
 to John Coolidge, 1739. (4) John, b. 16 July, 1717. (5) Abigail, b. 22 
 Sept. 1719. (6) Edward, b. 7 April, 1722. (7) James, b. 22 Feb. 1723-4. 
 (8) Daniel, b. 5 Apr. 1726. 
 
 Mr. Russell was Town Clerk, 1739, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 1745 ; and also 
 chosen Clerk of First Parish at first Parish Meeting, 3 March, 1731-2, and 
 constantly re-chosen every year till March 1741-2 : but the date of his death, 
 and that of his wife are not found in the Records. [T. Records, and 
 Records of Births, etc.] 
 
 SEIRS. John Seirs (as the name is spelled in Woburn Records) was in 
 Charlestown in 1639 ; subscribed there the "Town Orders" for Woburn, 
 Dec. 1640; was admitted into the church at Charlestown, 28 March, 1641; 
 made freeman the same year ; was among the first who settled in Woburn ; 
 taxed there in 1645 ; and chosen Selectman, 1667, 1669. His first wife, 
 Susanna, dying 29 Aug. 1677, he married Esther Mason, 20 Nov. 1677 ; and 
 quickly after the decease of this, his second wife, 14 Aug. 1680, he married 
 Ann Farrar, widow of the first Jacob Farrar, 2 Nov. 1680. He died, 
 leaving no children, 5 Oct. 1697. [Woburn Records. Charlestown Ch. 
 Records. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 SHELDON. John Sheldon was taxed in Woburn, in the rate for the 
 second Meeting-House, 1672 ; which shows he was then an inhabitant of 
 Woburn. He had previously, viz : 1 Feb. 165S-9, married, at Billerica, 
 Mary Thompson, widow of Simon Thompson, of Woburn, who deceased 
 in May, 1658. By her he had a son, John, born 24 April, 1660, who at his 
 death, 27 Aug. 1724, was a deacon in the church of Billerica. John 
 Sheldon, sen., died 24 May, 1690, aged about 63 years. [Woburn and 
 Billerica Records.] 
 
 SIMONDS. William Simonds, sen., settled in Woburn about 1644, near 
 a place still known by the name of Dry Brook. He married, 18 Jan. 
 1643-4, Judith Hayward, widow of James Hayward, who had married her, 
 when Judith Phippen, a fellow passenger, and a fellow servant, on board 
 the "Planter," from London, 1635. By her, Simonds had : (1) Sarah, 
 born 28 July, 1644. (2) Judith, b. 3 March, 1646. (3) Mary, b. 9 Dec. 
 1647. (4) Caleb, b. 16 Aug. 1649. (5) William, b. 15 Apr. 1651. (6) 
 Joseph, b. 18 Oct. 1652. (7) Benjamin, b. 18 March, 1654. (8) Tabitha, 
 b. 20 July; died 20 Aug. 1655. (9) Joshua, b. ; died 16 July, 1657. 
 
 (10) James, b. 1 Nov. 1658 ; married to Susanna Blogget, 29 Dec. 1685. 
 
 (11) Bethiah, b. "9: 3 mo," 9 May, [3:9 mo: 3 Nov.?] 1659; md. to 
 John Walker, sen., 13 August, 1696. (12) Huldah, b. 20 Nov. 1660; md. 
 to Samuel Blogget, jun., 1683. 
 
 William Simonds, sen., died 7 June, 1672 : Judith Simonds, widow, died 
 55
 
 638 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 3 Jan. 1689-90. [Woburn Records of Births, Marriages, etc., etc.; 
 Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 SIMONDS. Caleb, eldest son of William and Judith Simonds, married 
 Sarah Bacon, 25 Sept. 1677. To them were born : (1) Samuel, b. 30 June, 
 1678; died a pauper in 1757? [See Treasurer's Book, 29 July, 1757.] (2) 
 James, b. 15 Jan. 1683-4. (3) Sarah, b. 11 Nov. died 16 Nov. 1687. Caleb 
 Simonds died 4 Nov. 1712. "Widow Sarah Simonds died 11 Apr. 1627." 
 [Woburn Records of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 SIMONDS. /. James, son of the above Caleb and Sarah Simonds, had, 
 by his wife Lydia : (1) James, born 22 April, 1714. (2) Caleb, b. 27 May, 
 1716. (3) Sarah, b. 2 March, 1718; died 25 Feb. 1745-6. (4) Lydia, b. 25 
 June, 1720; m. to Samuel Chamberlain 1744? (5) Abigail, b. 30 July, 
 1722 ; wife of James Thompson, of Wilmington, and mother of Mrs. John 
 Flagg. (6) Susanna, b. 11 Sept. 1724. James Simonds died 28 Dec. 1733. 
 Widow Lydia Simonds died 29 June, 1744. [Woburn Records of Births, 
 etc., etc.] 
 
 SIMONDS. //. James Simonds, eldest son of James and Lydia, and 
 once the owner, it is believed, of the "Jemmy Pasture," so called, in Bur- 
 lington, now the property of Mr. Caleb Richardson, married Ann Convers, 
 about Aug. 1745. To them were born : (1) Anne, 30 July, 1746 ; md. to 
 Ebenezer Whitney, 1767. (2) Jude, b. 9 Jan. 1748-9. (3) Esther, b. 2 
 March, 1750. (4) Hazael [Asahel], b. 28 Dec. 1752. (5) Ebemzer, b. 4 
 March, 1755. (6) Keziah, b. 28 Jan. 1758. [Wob. Records of Births, 
 etc.] 
 
 SIMONDS. //. Caleb Simonds, second son of the above James and 
 Lydia, married Lydia Robinson, of Lexington, 1751. Their children were : 
 (1) Jonathan, born 1 Jan. 1752 ; a farmer, and a deacon of the church in 
 Burlington ; died 27 May, 1827, set. 76. (2) Caleb, a farmer, born 17 Feb. 
 1755 ; died 15 June, 1819, set. 65. (3) James, b. 5 Dec. 1758. (4) Lydia, b. 
 28 Jan. 1761 ; md. to Amos Reed, butcher, of New Salem, 7 Oct. 1781 ; died 
 at Salem, July or Aug. 1850, aet. 89. 
 
 Widow Lydia Simonds died 29 Jan. 1778, aged about 60. [Wob. Records 
 of Births, etc. Rev. Mr. Marrett's Record of Deaths.] 
 
 SIMONDS. William Simonds, second son of William and Judith 
 Simonds, it is presumed, removed from Woburn early, the records giving 
 no information concerning him that has been observed, except the date 
 of his birth, as presented above. 
 
 SIMONDS. Joseph Simonds, third son of William and Judith, was a 
 carpenter. In 1679, he gave by deed to his brother James certain lands 
 he owned in Woburn, on the road to Concord, with a new unfinished house 
 thereon, barn, and land about it ; and James gave to him in return, lands 
 he owned in Cambridge Farms or Lexington, upon which Joseph Simonds 
 soon settled, and became the father of the numerous families of his name, 
 which in successive generations have been inhabitants of Lexington. 
 [Original deed of Joseph Simonds.] 
 
 SIMONDS. /. Benjamin, fourth son of William and Judith Simonds, 
 had by his wife Rebekah : (1) William, born 14 Feb. 1678-9; married
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 639 
 
 Elizabeth , and lived in Billerica. (2) Benjamin, b. 14 Jan. 1680-81. 
 
 (3) Joseph, b. 1 March, 1683. (4) John, b. 22 March, 1685. (5) Bebekah, 
 b. 6 June, 1687. (6) Daniel, b. 21 Feb. 1689-90. (7) Jacob, b. 26 May, 
 1692. (8) Judith, b. 5 Oct. 1695; married to Samuel Eames, 1717. (9) 
 Huldah, b. 25 Oct. 1700; md. to Nathan Wyman, 1723. 
 
 Rebekah, wife of Benjamin Simonds, died April, 1713. Lieut. 
 
 Benjamin Simonds died 21 Sept. 1726. 
 
 SIMONDS. //. Benjamin, jun., son of Benjamin and Rebekah Simonds, 
 married Abigail, daughter of Josiah Wood, 7 Aug. 1723. Their children 
 were : (1) Benjamin, born 1 June, 1724. (2) Abigail, b. 6 Nov. 1725 ; md. 
 to Samuel Wood, 22 Oct. 1747. (3) Buth, b. 14 May, 1727 ; md. to Zebedee 
 Simonds, 30 May, 1749. Abigail, wife of Benjamin Simonds, died 1 Nov. 
 1739, aged 48 years. Mr. Benjamin Simonds, sen., died 13 Jan. 1748-9, 
 " aged sixty-nine years wanting one day." [Manuscripts of Simonds' fam- 
 ily. Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 SIMONDS. ///. Benjamin, son of Benjamin and Abigail Simonds, was 
 married to Susannah Simonds, daughter of ///. James and Mary, and son 
 of //. James and Susanna, 29 March, 1748. Their children were : (1) Su- 
 sannah, born 11 Feb. 1749-50. (2) Benjamin, b. 30 Dec. 1751; died 24 
 Dec. 1753. (3) Benjamin, b. 20 May, 1754. (4) Zebedee, b. 23 Feb. 1756. 
 
 (5) Nathan, b. 23 Oct. 1757. (6) Abigail, b. 31 May, 1759. (7) William, 
 b. 6 March, 1761. (8) Mary, b. 5 Sept. 1762. (9) Martha, b. 5 Aug. 1764. 
 (10) Lucy, b. 6 Apr. 1766. (11) Katharine, b. 16 Aug. 1769. Mr. Benja- 
 min Simonds deceased 10 Dec. 1783, aged 59 years. Susanna Simonds, 
 bis widow, died 15 Nov. 1816, in her 91st year. Concerning their children, 
 it may be added, that Zebedee died 2 July, 1778; William died 9 Apr. 1776; 
 Mary died 18 June, 1776; Lucy died 15 Dec. 1792; and Katharine died 23 
 Aug. 1769. Susanna was married, 4 Dec. 1781, by Rev. Samuel Parker, 
 of Boston, to Ebenezer Page, who died 10 June, 1784, when he was 47 
 years of age. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc. Manuscripts of Simonds' 
 family.] 
 
 SIMONDS. /. James, fifth son that lived to maturity of William and 
 Judith Simonds, married Susanna, daughter of Samuel and Ruth Blogget, 
 29 Dec. 1685. Their children were : (1) James, born 1 Nov. 1686. (2) 
 Susanna,b. 2 May, 1689. (3) Abigail, b. 17 Jan. 1691-2. (4) Sarah, b. 13 
 Dec. 1694: md, to Samuel Wilson, 1719? (5) Nathan, b. 12 June, 1697. 
 
 (6) Buth, b. 12 Dec. 1699 ; md. to John Fowle, 3d, 1723. 
 
 Susanna, wife of James Simonds, died 9 Feb. 1714-5. James Simonds, 
 sen., died 15 Sept. 1717. [Wob. Rec. Births, etc.] 
 
 SIMONDS. //. James Simonds, son of /. James and Susanna, married 
 Mary, daughter of James and Mary Fowle, 17 June, 1714. Their children 
 were: (1) Mary, born 27 Dec. 1715; md. to John Lawrence, 1736. (2) 
 James,\y. 10 March, 1717; md. Anna Lawrence, 12 May, 1740. (3) Joshua, b. 
 17 Oct. 1718. (4) Caleb, b. 27 Aug. 1720. (5) Zebedee, b. 4 Sept. 1723. (6) 
 
 Billerlca Roc. of Births, etc., etc. Woburn Bee. of Births, etc. Deed* of the Simonda' 
 family.
 
 640 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 Susanna, b. 20 June, 1725 : md. to Benjamin Simonds, jun., 1748. (7) Na- 
 than, b. 26 June, 1728. (8) Euth, b. 10 Oct. 1730. Count Rumford's 
 mother. (9) Abigail, b. 9 June, 1733; md. to Daniel Reed, jun., about 
 1754. Mary, wife of Lieut. James Simonds, died 9 March, 1762, " in her 
 seventy-fourth year." [Gravestone.] Should be seventy-third year. Lieut. 
 James Simonds died 30 July, 1775, in his 89th year. 
 
 [Precinct Ch. Rec. of Marriages, and Wob. Rec. of Births. Simonds' 
 Manuscripts.] 
 
 SIMONDS. ///. Caleb Simonds, son of Lieut. James and Mary Simonds, 
 married Susanna Convers, daughter of Capt. Robert and Mary Convers, 26 
 March, 1746; and had : (1) Jesse, b. 13 Oct. 1747; lived in Billerica. (2) 
 Luther, b. 2 Oct. 1749 : killed by the rolling of a log upon him at mill, 2 
 April, 1792. (3) Calvin, b. 16 Oct. 1752 ; died at Burlington, 30 July, 1840, 
 set. 88. (4) Achsah, b. 12 March, 1755. (5) Gideon, b. 24 June, 1757; died at 
 Burlington, suddenly, 12 June, 1835, jet. 78. (6) Sarah, b. 22 May, 1759. 
 (7) Ruth, b. 13 Apr. 1763. 
 Mrs. Susanna Simonds, first wife of Mr. Caleb Simonds being dead, he 
 
 married for his second wife, 6 Dec. 1774, Mrs. Munroe, widow of 
 
 Andrew Munroe, of Lexington. She was instantly killed by a horse, which 
 ran over her, while standing by her own door, 3 Sept. 1783, aged 58. Mr. 
 Caleb Simonds died of old age, 4 Jan. 1811, in his 91st year. [Woburn Rec. 
 of Births, etc. Lexington Ch. Rec. Rev. Mr. Marrett's Records of Deaths, 
 etc.] 
 
 The Simonds family were formerly very numerous in Woburn and Bur- 
 lington, and had spread much in Billerica, Bedford, and Lexington : and 
 living representatives of it are yet to be found in most if not all of these 
 towns. 
 
 SMITH. Matthew, supposed to be a son of Matthew Smith, cord- 
 wainer, who came from Sandwich, Kent County, England, 1637. with 
 wife Jane and four children, to Charlestown, and was that year admitted 
 an inhabitant.* Matthew, jun., was in Woburn, 1658 ; was taxed there in 
 1666, and is numbered among those who had right in the common lands of 
 the town in 1668. There were born to him in Woburn: (1) Elizabeth, 
 born 15 Sept. 1658. (2) Matthew, 2 Sept. 1659. (3) John, b. 19 Jan. 
 1661 ; died 18 Oct. 1663. (4) Samuel, b. 29 April, 1662. (5) Samuel, b. 
 26 July, 1663. (6) Hannah, b. 21 Oct. 1664. (7) John, again, b. 28 
 March, 1667. 
 
 //. Matthew, son of the above? married Mary Cutler, 20 June, 1684. 
 [Savage's Geneal. Diet. Wob. Records.] 
 
 SNOW. Richard Snow was the earliest inhabitant of Woburn bearing 
 his name. He was taxed there in the Rate for the Country, assessed 8 
 Sept. 1645, which was the first tax in Woburn upon record. In 1647-8, 
 land was granted him by the town. He bought, 19 Nov. 1656, a house and 
 20 acres of land of George Farley, one of the original inhabitants of 
 Woburn, then recently removed to Billerica; and in the general distribu- 
 
 Frothingham'B Charlestown, p. 88.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 641 
 
 tion of common lands and timber, made in 1668, he had a due proportion 
 assigned him in the "fifth Eighth." He seems to have been an industrious, 
 thriving husbandman, and to have maintained a respectable rank in 
 society; but not being ambitious of honor and distinction, he never 
 attained to any considerable office either in the church or town. He died 
 9 Nov. 1711. Beside John and James Snow, sons apparently his, born 
 before he came to Woburn to reside, he had born to him afterwards : (1) 
 Daniel, b. 4 Feb. 1644-5 ; died 18 July, 1646. (2) Samuel, b. 28 May, 
 1647. (3) Zechariah, b. 29 March, 1649 ; was wounded in the Swamp or 
 Narraganset Fight with the Indians, 19 Dec. 1675,* and died 14 April, 1711. 
 His (Zechariah's) homestead in Wyman Lane was sold after his death, 
 July llth, 1711, to Benj. Wyman, tanner. b 
 
 /. John Snow, referred to above, as being probably a son of Richard 
 Snow, born before his father took up his residence in Woburn, had : (1) 
 John, b. 13 May, 1668. (2) Zerubbabel, b. 14 May, 1672. (3) Timothy, b. 
 16 Feb. 1674-5. (4) Hannah, b. 6 June, 1677. (5) Mary, b. 4 Aug. 1680. 
 
 (6) Ebenezer, b. 6 Oct. 1682; died 11 Feb. 1703-4. (7) Nathaniel, b. 17 
 Nov. 1684. John Snow died 25 Nov. 1706. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 /. Zerubbabel Snow, son of John, married Jemima Cutler, Sept. 22, 
 1697. Their children were : (1) Zerubbabel, b. 19 July, 1698. (2) Josiah, 
 b. 24 Jan. 1699-1700. (3) Jabez, b. 12 March, 1701 ; died 9 Dec. 1715. (4) 
 Jemima, b. 19 Aug. 1702 ; md. to Abraham Josselyn, of Marlborough, 1728. 
 (5) Ebenezer, b. 26 Apl. 1744. (6) John, b. 30 March, 1706. (7) William, 
 b. 25 Jan. 1707-8? (8) Abigail, b. 29 March, 1711. (9) Jabez, again, b. 16 
 March, 1716. /. Zerubbabel Snow died 20 Nov. 1733. 
 
 U. Zerubbabel Snow, his son, married Elizabeth Wyman, Aug. 11, 1721; 
 had by her 8 children, and died Sept. 1747. His widow, Elizabeth, died 
 May, 1776. c [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc.] 
 
 /. Timothy, son of /. John Snow, md. Lydia Peirce, 16 Jan. 1705-6. 
 Their children were : (1) Timothy, b. 19 Feb. 1706-7, and died Sept. 20, 
 1775, set. 69. d (2) Isaac, b. 26 Feb. 1708-9. (3) Lydia, b. 20 Feb. 1710-11 ; 
 md. to Jabez Thompson, 1735? (4) Jacob, b. 5 Sept. 1714. (5) Mary, b. 13 
 Apl. 1717. (6) Zachary, b. 15 Aug. 1719; died Sept. 21, 1754, aged 36. d 
 
 (7) Abraham, b. 28 Dec. 1721; died at Charlestown, March 9, 1772. e Mr. 
 Timothy Snow died 4 March, 1747-8, aged 74 years, f His widow died Apl. 
 27, 1764, set. 81. f [Rec. of Births, etc.] 
 
 Isaac, son of Timothy Snow, md. Esther Convers, July 8, 1732; and she 
 dying, May 30, 1737, he md. for his second wife, Phebe Richardson, 18 Apl. 
 1738. Their children were : (1) Phebe, b. 5 Jan. 1738-9 ; md. to Daniel 
 Thompson, 1760. (2) Bridget, b. 17 July, 1742; md. to Hiram Thompson, 
 1767. (3) Anne, b. 19 March, 1744; md. to Ebenezer Reed, June 23, 1777. 
 (4) Mary, b. 26 Apl. 1747; died Dec. 8, 1753. Mr. Isaac Snow died March 
 31, 1776, set. 67. e [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc.] 
 
 Hist. Chap. IV. b Wyman Papers, No. 62. c Mem. of 8. Thompson, Esq. 
 
 d Gravestone. Mem. of Sainl. Thompson, Esq. f Gravestone, 
 
 g Gravestone. 
 
 55*
 
 642 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 7. Samuel, son of Richard Snow, had by his wife Sarah : (1) Samuel, b. 
 8 Feb. 1669-70. (2) Sarah, b. 28 May, 1672. (3) Daniel, b. 9 July, 1674. 
 (4) Abigail, b. 4 April, 1677. (5) Richard, b. 10 Dec. 1683. (6) Hannah, 
 b. 8 June, 1 686. Sarah, wife of Samuel Snow, dying, probably in child- 
 bed, 15 June, 1686, one week after her daughter Hannah's birth, he mar- 
 ried, 9 August, of the same year, Sarah Parker, of "New Cambridge," or 
 Newton. By her he had: (1) Deborah, b. Oct. 1687; died 30 Dec. 1687. 
 (2) Joanna, b. 10 Feb. 1688-9. (3) Ebenezer, b. 7 Oct. 1691. 
 
 Sarah, wife of Samuel Snow, died 28 Jan. 1694-5. " Samuel Snow, sen.," 
 died 28 Nov. 1717. [Records of Births, etc., etc., in Wob.] 
 
 SNOW". //. Samuel Snow, son of /. Samuel, and grandson of Richard, 
 the first settler in Woburn by the. name of Snow, and often distinguished 
 in after years by the title of Lieut. Samuel Snow, had born to him by his 
 wife Abigail: (1) Samuel, born 24 Aug. 1692. (2) Abigail, b. 18 Nov. 
 1694. (3) Sarah, b. 14 Sept. 1697. (4) Ruth, b. 8 May, 1700. (5) Rebe- 
 kah,b. 11 Feb. 1702-3. (6) Elizabeth, b. 29 Dec. 1705. (7) Benjamin, b. 29 
 Aug. 1708. (8) Joseph, b. 18 May, 1713. 
 
 SNOW. 777. Samuel, son of Lieut. Samuel Snow, born 24 Aug. 1692, 
 married, 10 June, 1718, Sarah Lock, of Lexington ; and by her had : (1) 
 Samuel, born 7 Dec. 1719. (2) Oliver, b. 28 Aug. 1721. (3) Sarah, b. 24 
 Jan. 1723-4. 
 
 In 1724, Lieut. Samuel Snow and his son Samuel Snow, jun., bought, 
 each of them, a tract of land in Ashford, Ct., and immediately removed 
 their residence thither from Woburn. At Ashford, Lieut. Snow became one 
 of the principal men ; was generally Moderator at their town meetings, a 
 Selectman, Town Treasurer, etc., for many years. He died 19 Dec. 1743. 
 His widow Abigail died 12 Jan. 1747. b 
 
 .His son also, Samuel Snow, jun., became a prominent character in Ash- 
 ford, and held there some of the more important town offices several 
 years. His daughter Sarah, born in Woburn, died at Ashford, 17 May, 
 1726. By his wife Sarah, he had after his removal to Ashford : (1) Sarah, 
 b. 29 April, 1726. (2) Stephen, b. 5 July, 1730. (3) Sylvanus, b. 17 March, 
 1732. (4) Elizabeth, b. 11 July, 1734; died 1 Apr. 1737. (5) Timothy, b. 20 
 Sept. 1737 ; died 9 Apr. 1749. (6) Elizabeth, b. 28 Sept. 1739. Mr. Samuel 
 Snow, jun., died 24 Dec. 1756, set. 65. Sarah, his widow, died 16 Nov. 
 1790, set. 95. [Wob. Town Records. Wob. Records of Births, etc.] 
 
 SUMMERS. Henry " Summers," [Somers ?] sen., is recorded as chosen, 
 23 Feb. 1663-4, as a Surveyor for Woburn ; was taxed there in the Rate 
 for the Country, 26 Aug. 1666 ; and is numbered with those who had right 
 in the common lands of the town, 1668. c He married, 21 Nov. 1660, Mabel 
 Reed, widow of William and mother of George Reed. She died, the widow 
 of Summers, 15 June, 1690. 
 
 a County Records. 
 
 b Letter of Rev. Frederick P. Tracy, Williamsburg, Mass., 1845, descended from Lt. Snow, 
 of Ashford. 
 
 c Town Records, Vol. I. pp. 43, 44.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 643 
 
 SUMMEKS. Henry Summers, jun., son of the preceding, was taxed in 
 Woburn, 1666 and 1672; and was allowed by the Selectmen "to keepe 
 ordinary for the Towne of Wobourn from the first of May, 1682, he forth- 
 with getting a license."* He died 6 March, 1724. [Wob. Rec. of Births, 
 etc.] 
 
 SUTTON. Lambert was first of Charlestown, where he was admitted 
 into the church, 4 Apr. 1641 ; became soon after an inhabitant of Woburn, 
 and was taxed there in the Rate for the Country, 8 Sept. 1645, and chosen 
 a Surveyor, 1646. He was made freeman 1644, and died in Woburn, 27 
 Nov. 1649. [Charlestown Ch. Records : Colony Rec. Wob. Records of 
 Births, etc.] 
 
 THOMPSON. James Thompson: born in England, probably in 1593; 
 came with his wife to New England ; was in Charlestown, 1632 ; and was 
 admitted with her into the church of Charlestown in the autumn of 1633. 
 He was made freeman 1634; subscribed at Charlestown, Dec. 1640, "Town 
 Orders" for Woburn; and coming to Woburn to reside, he was chosen one 
 of the first Board of Selectmen, 1644. His wife, Elizabeth, dying 13 Nov. 
 1643, he married for his second wife Susanna Blogget, widow of Thomas 
 Blogget, of Cambridge, 15 Feb. 1643-4. This his second wife died 10 Feb. 
 1660-1 : James Thompson himself died in 1682. By his first wife, Elizabeth, 
 he had three sons, all probably born in England, viz : Simon, the eldest, 
 James, jun., who died in Woburn, 24 Jan. 1646-7 ; and Jonathan. [Savage's 
 Geneal. Diet. Charlestown Ch. Rec. Col. Rec. Wob. Town Rec. and 
 Records of Births, etc.] 
 
 Simon Thompson, the eldest son of the first James Thompson, married 
 
 19 Dec. 1643, Mary, daughter of Deacon Edward Convers ; by whom he 
 had : (1) John, born 4 Apr. and died 12 Apr. 1645. (2) Sarah, b. 20 Feb. 
 1646-7. (3) James, b. 20 March, 1649. (4) Mary, b. 25 Jan. 1651-2 ; died 
 2 Feb. 1661-2. (5) Ann, b. 30 July, 1655. (6) Rebecca, b. May 1658. He 
 was made freeman, 1648 ; and became a purchaser of Chelmsford ; but his 
 plans were cut short by death, which arrested him when in early life, May 
 1658. In his will, made that month, he makes provision for his children ; 
 names his father and his wife, and her father and her two brothers, James 
 and Josiah Convers. His widow married John Sheldon, of Woburn and 
 Billerica. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet. Colo- 
 ny Records. Billerica Records of Births, Marriages, etc., etc.] 
 
 /. Jonathan Thompson, youngest son of first James and Elizabeth 
 Thompson, married, 28 Nov. 1655, Susanna, daughter of Thomas and Su- 
 sanna Blodgett, of Cambridge, and born there in June 1637. By her, he 
 had issue, as follows : (1) Susanna, born 4 July, 1661. (2) Jonathan, b. 
 28 Sept. 1663. (3) James, b. 1666 ; died soon. (4) James, again, b. 27 June, 
 1667. (5) Sarah, b. 1 June, 1670. (6) Simon, b. 15 June, 1673. (7) Eben- 
 ezer, b. 18 Aug. 1676; died 19 Feb. 1697-8. Jonathan Thompson died 
 
 20 Oct. 1691. Susanna, his widow, died 6 Feb. 1697-8? 
 THOMPSON. 11. Jonathan Thompson, jun., son of 7. Jonathan and 
 
 Susanna Thompson, born 28 Sept. 1663, married Frances Whittemore ; by 
 
 Towu Records, Vol. I., p. 118.
 
 644 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 whom he had : (1) Jonathan, born 9 Feb. 1689-90. (2) Hannah, b. 28 Jan. 
 1691-2. (3) Joseph, b. 20 Oct. 1694. (4) James, b. 14 Dec. 1696 ; was 
 living in Brimfield, 1758. (6) Susanna, b. 6 July, 1699 ; md. to Benjamin 
 Mead, 1722? (6) Ebenezer, b. 30 March, 1701. (7) Mary, b. 18 Aug. 
 1703. (8) Samuel, b. 8 Sept. 1705. (9) Patience, b. 25 Oct. 1713 ; md. to 
 Timothy Lamson, of Concord, 1734? 
 
 Ebenezer, son of //. Jonathan and Frances Thompson, born 30 March, 
 1701; married Hannah Convers, 27 Sept. 1728; and had: (1) Benjamin, 
 born 27 Nov. 1729. (2) Ebenezer, b. 15 Sept. 1731. (3) Hannah, b. 21 
 Sept. 1734. (4) Hiram, b. 17 May, 1743. 
 
 /. Benjamin, son of Ebenezer and Hannah Thompson, born 27 Nov. 
 1729, entered his Intentions of Marriage with Ruth Simonds, both of Wo- 
 burn, 30 May, 1752. Being married shortly after, he had by her the next 
 year: 
 
 //. Benjamin Thompson, born 26 March, 1753, who in after years gained 
 a world wide reputation under the titles of Sir Benjamin Thompson, and 
 Count Rumford. For account of him, see Chap. XII. 
 
 Benjamin Thompson, father of Count Rumford, died 7 Nov. 1755, in his 
 26th year. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc.] 
 
 /. Samuel Thompson, 5th son, 8th child, of //. Jonathan and Frances 
 Thompson, born 8 Sept. 1705, married Ruth Wright, daughter of Josiah 
 and Ruth Wright, 31 Dec. 1730. To them were born: (\}Samuel, 30 Oct. 
 1731. (2) Daniel, 9 March, 1734. (3) Ruth, 9 March, 1737; md. to Noah 
 Wyman, 1755. (4) Abijah, 11 April, 1739. (5) Mary, 24 May, 1741. (6) 
 Phebe, 5 Feb. 1743-4. (7) Lois, b. 12 Aug. 1746. (8) Jonathan, b. 10 Sept. 
 1748. 
 
 Samuel Thompson died 13 May, 1748, in his 43d year. His widow, Ruth 
 Thompson, died in Oct. 1775, aged 69 years. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc. 
 Diary of Samuel Thompson, Esq.] 
 
 //. Samuel, eldest son of /. Samuel and Ruth Thompson, born 30 Oct. 
 1731, was a gentleman of note and influence in his day. In 1758, he went 
 in an expedition against the French to Lake George. Of this expedition, 
 he has left a minute and interesting account in manuscript ; and when he 
 returned from it at the close of the year, he had been advanced to be a 
 lieutenant in the military service. See Appendix No. IX. For a long suc- 
 cession of years afterwards, he was much employed as a Justice of the 
 Peace, and as a Deacon of the Church, in the civil and ecclesiastical affairs 
 of the town. He was chosen Selectman in 1776, 77, 78, 1779 ; he repre- 
 sented Woburn in the General Court in the years 1785, 86, 89, 92, 93, 98, 
 1805, 1806 ; and there were but few committees upon important town busi- 
 ness, upon which, for many years, he was not appointed to serve. This 
 highly respected citizen was thrice married. His first wife was Abigail 
 Tidd, whom he married 15 May, 1753, and by her he had: (1) Samuel, 
 born 7 April, 1754, and died at New York, a lieutenant in the military ser- 
 vice of his country, of a putrid fever, 12 Aug. 1776, in his 23d year. (2) 
 Abigail, b. 29 Dec. 1755; married to John Eames. (3) Mary, b. 13 Jan. 
 1758 ; died 6 Apr. 1759. (4) Jonathan, b. 26 Apr. 1760, father of the pres-
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 645 
 
 ent Cyrus Thompson, Esq. (5) Arphaxad, b. 7 March, 1763; died 15 Dec. 
 1771. (6) Leonard, b. 1 Dec. 1764, the father of the present Col. Leonard 
 Thompson. 
 
 Abigail, first wife to Samuel Thompson, Esq., dying 21 Sept. [2 Sept.?] 
 1768, aged 35 years, he next married Lydia Jones, of Concord, 26 Feb. 
 1770, by whom was born to him Lydia, 31 Jan. 1771. 
 
 Lydia, his second wife, dying 19 Oct. 1788, aged 54 years, he married for 
 his third wife, Esther Wyman, 22 Oct. 1789. 
 
 Samuel Thompson, Esq., died Aug. 17, 1820. His wife Esther died 
 before him, Aug. 5, 1818. His brother, Abijah Thompson, sheriff, father 
 of Dea. Charles Thompson, died Jan. 16, 1811. Major Abijah Thompson, 
 the sheriff's son, and father of General Abijah Thompson, died Oct. 27, 
 1820. [Woburn Town Records. Rec. of Births, etc., etc. Thompson's 
 Diary, or Memoranda of Interesting Occurrences.] 
 
 TIDD. John Tidd (or as the name was otherwise once spelled, Tead, 
 or Teed, or Ted) embarked, 12 May, 1637, at Yarmouth, England, aged 19, 
 as servant of Samuel Greenfield, of Norwich; was of Charlestown that 
 year; subscribed there in December 1640 " Town Orders " for Woburn; 
 was taxed at Woburn in the Country Rate, 8 Sept. 1645 ; and chosen a 
 Surveyor of Fences there in 1646. His wife Margaret died 1651. He 
 died 24 April, 1657. By his Will, made 15 days before, it appears that he 
 had a second wife, Alice; daughters, Mary and Elizabeth and a son of his 
 own name. * His daughter Mary was doubtless the wife of Francis Ken- 
 dall, md. 24 Dec. 1644 ; and Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas Fuller, md. 13 
 June, 1643. 
 
 TIDD. //. John Tidd, jun., son of John, sen., and Margaret Tidd, born 
 in England ; married, 14 April, 1650, Rebekah Wood. By her he had issue : 
 (1) Hannah, born 21 Sept. 1652. (2) John, b. 26 Feb. 1654-5. (3) Mary, 
 b. 13 Nov. 1656. (4) Samuel, b. 16 Jan. 1658-9. (5) Joseph, b. 18 Jan. 
 1660-1; died 1 Feb. 1660-1. (6) Joseph, again, b. 20 Jan. 1661-2. (7) 
 
 Rebekah, b md. to Thomas Blogget, 11 Nov. 1685. The death 
 
 of John Tidd, lun., and that of his wife Rebekah, are not found on Record. 
 [Woburn Records of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 TIDD. ///. John Tidd, son of John Tidd, jun., and Rebekah Tidd, b. 26 
 Feb. 1654-5; married Elizabeth Fifleld, 12 June, 1678; and had by her: (1) 
 Elizabeth, born 19 Sept. 1679. (2) John, b. 2 Nov. 1681. (3) Joseph, b. 8 
 March, 1684. (4) " Rebekah, daughter of John and Elizabeth " Tedd," b. 
 4: Aug. 1687. (6) Mary, b. 25 Apr. 1690. (6) Ebenezer, b. 81 Aug. 1693. 
 
 " Elizabeth, wife of Sergt. John Tidd, died 6 Oct. 1732." " Old Mr. John 
 Tidd died 3 Aug. 1743." [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc.] 
 
 TOTTINGHAM. Henry Tottingham, (or Tollman, as formerly often 
 written and pronounced in Woburn) was born in England ; was of Charles- 
 town in 1640, when and where he subscribed the " Town Orders " for Wo- 
 burn. He removed shortly after to Woburn; was taxed there in 1645, 1646, 
 1666 ; and had a right assigned him, 1668, in the common lands of the town. 
 
 Savage's Geneal. Diet. Wob. Town Records. Records of Births, etc., etc.
 
 646 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 By his wife, Anna, he had: (1) Nehemiah, born 23 Aug. 1646; died 28 
 March, 1714. (2) Eltah, [" Elijah," County Records] b. 28 Feb. 1651-2. 
 Anna, wife of Henry Tottingham, died 23 Feb. 1653-4. 
 
 Henry Tottingham and Alice Alger, [" Allice Eager," County Rec.] mar- 
 ried 13 July, 1654. 
 
 [Wob. Town Records: Rec. of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 TOTTINGHAM. 7. Eliah Tottingham, son of Henry and Anna, had by 
 his wife Mary: (1) Anna, b. 24 Sept. 1685. (2) Mary, daughter of "Eliah 
 and Mary Tottingham," born 18 Apr. 1688 ; married to Thomas Lane, 1721 ? 
 (3) Sarah, b. 13 July, 1690; md. to Nath. Cutler, of Reading, 1715. (4) 
 Henry, b. 29 Aug. 1692. (5) Elisha, b. 22 July, 1696. (6) Elizabeth, b. 8 
 Feb. 1698-9. (7) Alice, b. 10 June, 1701. (8) " Arminell," a daughter of 
 Eliah and Mary, b. 30 July, 1707. 
 
 Eliah " Tottman," died 27 Nov. 1717. 
 
 TOTTINGHAM. II. Elisha, or Eliah Tottingham, son of 7. Eliah and 
 Mary, born 22 July, 1696, had by his wife Rebecca : (1) " Rebekah," b. 4 
 Aug. 1710; died 28 Apr. 1733. (2) Elisha, son of Eliah and Rebekah Tot- 
 tingham, born 18 Oct. 1713. (3) Elizabeth, b. 4 May, 1722. (4) John, b. 9 
 Aug. 1724. (5) Phebe, b. 30 June, 1728. (6) Abigail, daughter of Eliah 
 and Rebekah Tottingham, b. 30 Dec. 1737. 
 
 Eliah Tottingham died 29 March, 1743. 
 
 TQTTINGHAM. 777. Elisha, son of 77. Eliah and Rebekah Tottingham, 
 born 18 Oct. 1713; md. Sarah Lawrence, of Woburn, 27 May, 1736, and 
 had issue : (1) Elisha, b. 8. Feb. 1736-7. (2) Sarah, b. 21 Nov. 1738 ; md. 
 to John Williams, of New Marlborough, 1765. (3) Nathaniel, b. 10 June, 
 1740. (4) Ephraim, b. 9 Apr. 1743. (B) Moses, b. 22 July, 1746. (6) 
 Jonathan, b. 17 Dec. 1748. (7) James, b. 14 July, 1751. (8) Rebekah, b. 
 15 Nov. 1753. (9) Abigail, b. 15 July, 1755. (10) David, b. 24 Sept. 1758. 
 
 TOTTINGHAM. 77. Henry " Tottman," son of 7. Eliah and Mary Tot- 
 tingham, married Eunice Wyman, both of Woburn, 7 Sept. 1721. Their 
 children were : (1) Mary, born 6 March, 1724. (2) Alice, b. 6 May, 1727. 
 Henry "Tottman" died 5 Apr. 1728. 
 
 TRERICE. Nicholas Trerice, or Trarice, was in 1634, 1635, a noted 
 master of the ship Planter, in which he had brought many persons from 
 London to New England. In 1636, he was admitted to be an inhabitant of 
 Charlestown.a Here, by his wife Rebekah, he had a son John, who was 
 baptized in the church of Charlestown 3 June, 1639. In Dec. 1640, he 
 subscribed the "Town Orders" for Woburn : removed his residence to Wo- 
 burn soon after; and here had a son, Samuel, born 7 May, 1643. He was 
 taxed in Woburn, 1645, in the rate for the country, but not in the town rate 
 for 1646 ; whence it is concluded, that, previously to 1646, he had removed 
 back to Charlestown ; and there his daughter Rebekah was married, in 1655, 
 to Thomas Jenner; and his widow, Rebekah, in 1665, to Thomas Lynde. 
 [Savage's Geneal. Diet. Woburn Town Records. Rec. of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 WALKER. Samuel Walker, sen. See Chap. V. 
 
 Frothingbam's Cbarleutown, p. 86.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 647 
 
 His children (the given name of his wife is unknown) were Samuel, 
 jun., Israel, and probably, John, sen., of Woburn; Hannah, wife of James, 
 son of Simon Thompson, of Woburn ; and (in the opinion of John Farm- 
 er, Esq.) Joseph Walker, of Billerica. Isaac Walker, too, of Woburn, 
 according to the following record of his birth, was also a son of his. 
 " Isaac, son of Samuel Walker, sen., born y* 1st of 9th mo. [November] 
 1677." But it is not improbable, that sen. was inadvertently written here 
 for jun. This Isaac Walker married Margery Bruce, of Woburn, 20 Feb. 
 1704-5 ; and he, and his sons by her, Isaac, jun., Ezekiel and Timothy, 
 were sometime of Pennacook, now Concord, N. H. See Bouton's History 
 of Concord. 
 
 WALKER. Samuel Walker, jun., otherwise known as Ensign Walker, 
 and Deacon Walker. See Chap. V. To the notice there given of Samuel 
 Walker, jun., it may be added, that he married, 10 Srpt. 1662 [23 Oct. 
 County Records], Sarah Reed, daughter of William and Mabel Reed, and 
 sister of George Reed. Their children were : (1) Edward, born 12 Oct. 
 1663 : killed with others by the Indians at Lamprey River, N. H., 6 July, 
 1690. a (2) Jb/in,jun., b. 2 July, 1665. (3) Samuel, b. 25 Jan. 1667-8. 
 (4) Sarah, b. 6 March, 1670; married to Capt. Edward Johnson, 
 grandson of first Capt. Edward, founder of Woburn, and son of Major 
 William, 1686-7. (5) Timothy, b. 16 June, 1672 ; died 19 June, 1706, leav- 
 ing a wife and 3 children. (6) Isaac, ft. 1 Nov. 1677? See above Samuel 
 Walker, 1st. (7) Ezekiel, b. 5 March, 1679. Lived in Boston? Sarah, 
 wife of Samuel Walker, jun., died 1 Nov. 1681. 
 
 "Ensign Samuell Walker & Abigail Foull" married 18 April, 1692. 
 
 " Deacon Sam 11 Walker" died 18 Jan. 1703-4 (aged 61 years. Grave- 
 stone.) [Records of Births, etc.] 
 
 Israel Walker, son of Samuel, sen., and brother of Samuel Walker, jun., 
 was taxed, as being an inhabitant of Woburn, in the Rate for the Second 
 Meeting-house, 1672. By his wife Susanna, he had born to him: (1) 
 Israel, b. 29 Sept. 1672 ; died 1 Nov. 1683. (2) Susanna, b. 1 March, 1674 ; 
 md. to Ebenezer Lock, 1697? (3) Phebe, b. 11 March, 1676. (4) Henry, b. 
 1 Feb. 1678-9. (5) Hannah, b. 26 Apr. 1681 ; died 8 May, 1681. (6) Eliza- 
 beth,^. , died 21 Jan. 1681-2. (7) Nathaniel, b. 15 Apr. 1682. (8) 
 
 Israel, again, b. 26 July, 1684. (9) Hannah, again, b. 24 Sept. 1686; md. 
 to Isaac Kendall, Oct. 1706. (10) Abigail, b. 26 Sept. 1688. (11) Edward, 
 b. 6 Nov. 1690. Susanna, wife of Israel Walker, died 7 March, 1694. 
 " Ens. Israel Walker and Hannah fflagg" married 10 Dec. 1696. 
 
 Ensign Israel Walker died 20 April, 1719. " Widow Hannah Walker " 
 died 29 March, 1724. 
 
 John Walker, sen., supposed above to be a son of Samuel Walker, sen., 
 and a brother of Israel Walker, is found taxed in the Rate for the Second 
 Meeting-house in Woburn, 1672. ' He married Mary, daughter of Robert 
 Peirce, 14 Oct. 1672, and by her had: (1) Benjamin, born 25 Jan. 1673-4; 
 died 17 Nov. 1675. (2) Mary, b. 27 Dec. 1675 ; died 24 Jan. 1675-6. (3) 
 
 Belknap'g Hist.
 
 648 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 John, b. 27 Dec. 1677. " Mary, wife of John Walker, sen.," died 8 Nov. 
 1695. 
 
 John Walker and Bethiah Siraonds, [daughter of William Simonds] 
 married 13 Aug. 1696; to whom were born : (1) Bethiah, daughter of John 
 and Bethiah Walker, b. 4 Nov. 1697. (2) Benjamin, b. 7 July, 1699. John 
 Walker, sen., died 3 Jan. 1723-4. 
 
 I. Benjamin Walker and Grace Tay, both of Woburn, md. 24 Dec. 1724. 
 To them were born : (1) Mary, born 4 Oct. 1725. (2) Elizabeth, b. 17 
 March, 1728. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc. Town Records.] 
 
 WATERS. Joseph Waters was taxed, as an inhabitant of Woburn, in 
 the rate for the Second Meeting-house, 1672, and served in Philip's War, 
 1675-6. a Nothing is found concerning his family connections. Not 
 improbably he was a relative, perhaps a brother, of Samuel Waters, an 
 inhabitant of Woburn in 1675 ; to whom and his wife Mary were born 12 
 children between 1675 and 1696. She died 11 Dec. 1721, and he died 2 May, 
 1728. [Wob. Rec.] 
 
 WHITTEMORE. Thomas Whittemore was taxed in the Rate for the 
 Country, assessed in Woburn 26 Aug. 1666, and is reckoned among those 
 who were entitled to a share of the common lands of the town in 1668 ; b 
 but not being taxed in the Rate for the new Meeting-house in 1672, he 
 appears to have previously removed to some other place ; or, more proba- 
 bly, as Mr. Savage c thinks, to have died in March 1670, for " 5 of April 
 that year his wife Elizabeth had administered. " He married, 9 Nov. 1666, 
 Elizabeth Peirce, daughter of Thomas Peirce, b. 25 Dec. 1646? and by her 
 had : Joseph, born 14 Aug. 1667. 
 
 WILSON. /. John Wilson, sen., first appears upon the tax lists in Wo- 
 burn, in the Rate for the Country, assessed 26 Aug. 1666 ; and is numbered 
 among those who had right in the common lauds of the town in 16G8.d 
 
 He appears by his wife to have had two children born to him 
 
 before he came to Woburn, viz : John, jun., and Dorcas ; md. to Aaron 
 Cleaveland, 26 Sept. 1675. In Woburn he had : (1) Samuel, b. 29 Dec. 
 1658. (2) Abigail, b. 8 Aug. 1666. (3) Elizabeth, b. 6 Aug. 1668. (4) 
 Benjamin, b. 15 Oct. 1670. (5) Hannah, b. 31 May, 1672; md. to Jonathan 
 Peirce, 1689. 
 
 /. John Wilson, sen., died 2 July, 1687. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc.] 
 
 WILSON. //. John Wilson, jun., had born to him by his wife : 
 
 (1) John, b. 3 Jan. 1672-3. (2) Hannah, d. of " John Wilson, jun.," b. 28 
 Dec. 1674; died 5 May, 1676. (3) Hannah, again, b. 11 March, 1677. (4) 
 Susanna, b. 11 March, 1679. [Rec. of Births, etc., in Wob.] 
 
 /. Samuel Wilson, son of John Wilson, sen., above named, married 
 Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Peirce, 24 Feb. 1681-2. Their chil- 
 dren were : (1) Elizabeth, b. 28 Jan. 1682-3. (2) Mary, b. 10 Apr. 1685. 
 (3) Samuel, b. 2 Feb. and died 7 Feb. 1687-8. (4) Hannah, b. 24 Dec. 
 
 List by Thos. B. Wyman, Esq. b Rec. of Wob., Vol. I., pp. 38, < 
 
 c Savage's Geneal. Diet. d Town Rec., Vol. I., pp. 43, 44.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 649 
 
 1688. (5) Rebekah, b. 5 March, 1693; died 29 Nov. 1694. (6) Samuel, 
 again, b. 21 Nov. 1695. (7) Rebekah, b. 5 July, 1698. Sargeant Samuel 
 Wilson died 21 Nov. 1729. [Wob. Rec. of Births, Marriages, etc., etc.] 
 
 WILSON. //. Samuel Wilson, son of 7. Samuel and Elizabeth Wilson, 
 born 21 Nov. 1695 ; md. Sarah Simonds, daughter of/. James and Susanna 
 Simonds, "both of Woburn," 29 Oct. 1719. To them were born: (1) 
 Samuel, b. 22 July, 1720; died 21 June, 1750, aged 29 years and 11 months.* 
 (2) Sarah, b. 13 July, 1722 ; married to Jonathan Johnson, 1748. (3) Su- 
 sanna, b. 28 March, 1725 ; md. a Haywood or Howard, that removed to 
 Maine. (4) Ruth, b. 26 March, 1729 ; md. to Jona. Proctor about 1748. (5) 
 Rebekah, b. 15 March, 1732; died 31 Oct. 1734. b (6) Rebekah, again, b. 
 27 July, 1734; md. to Azel Johnson, 1757. Mr. Samuel Wilson died Oct. 
 11, 1750, aged 55 years.* After his decease, Dea. Edw. Johnson md. Sarah 
 Wilson, his widow, 19 Feb. 1755 ; that is, he md. the mother of his son 
 Jonathan's wife. [Rec. of Births in Woburn.] 
 
 WINN. Edward Winn was of Woburn, 1641 ; made freeman, 1643 ; and 
 taxed in Woburn, in the rate for the country, 8 Sept. 1645. By his wife 
 Joanna, he had, 5 Dec. 1641, a son Increase, which was the first born child 
 recorded in Woburn ; but probably his son Joseph, and his daughters Ann 
 and Elizabeth, had their birth in England before. Joanna, wife of Edward 
 Winn, dying 8 March, 1649, he married a second wife, Sarah Beal, 10 Aug. 
 1649. And she also dying, 15 March, 1680, he took yet a third wife, Ann, or 
 Hannah, widow of Nicholas Wood, who survived him, apparently, till 1686. 
 He died 5 Sept. 1682. In his Will, made 6 May of that year, he names his 
 son Increase, his son Joseph's daughter Sarah, the three youngest children 
 of his daughter Ann, wife of Moses Cleaveland ; and the three youngest of 
 his daughter Elizabeth, wife of George Polly. His widow likewise made 
 her Will, 9 Sept. 1685, which being proved, 1 Nov. 1686, is an indication 
 that she was then deceased. [Wob. Records of Births, etc. Savage's 
 Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 /. Increase Winn, son of Edward and Joanna, married Hannah Saw- 
 tell, 13 July, 1665. Their children were: (1) Hannah, born 11 Apr. 1666; 
 md. to Samuel Baker. (2) Edward, b. 15 June, 1668. (3) Mary, b. 1 May, 
 1670; md. to Nathl. Wyman, 1692. (4) Abigail, b. 8 Jan. 1677-8. (5) Re- 
 bekah, b. 5 Nov. 1679. (6) Jacob, b. 4 Oct. 1681. (7) Joanna, b. 24 June, 
 1683. (8) Increase, b. 9 Feb. 1684-5 ; died 1 July, 1713, [aged 28 years 
 and 4 months. Gravestone.] 
 
 " Sargent Increase Winn " died 14 Dec. 1690. Widow Hannah Winn 
 died 18 Feb. 1722-3. 
 
 WINN. //. Jacob, son of Increase and Hannah Winn, married Pru- 
 dence Wyman, 28 June, 1704; and by her had: (1) Prudence, born 28 July, 
 1705. (2) Elizabeth, b. 29 Sept. 1707. (3) Hannah, b. 1 March, 1711. (4) 
 Increase, b. 24 Jan. 1716-17. (5) Joshua, b. 14 Apr. 1719. (6) Abigail, b. 
 25 Jan. 1722-3. Prudence, w. of Jacob Winn dying, he md. for his second 
 wife, Phebe Palfray, 14 July, 1737. 
 
 a Gravestone. 
 
 b The first person burled in Wob. Precinct (Burlington) Burying-Ground. 
 56
 
 650 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 WINN. IIL Increase Winn, son of Jacob and Prudence Winn, mar- 
 ried Elizabeth Knight, 5 Oct. 1742. Their children were : (1) David, , 
 
 md. Hannah Twiss, 11 June, 1765. (2) Elizabeth, born 9 Dec. 1745; md. to 
 Timothy Twiss, 12 July, 1768. (3) " Annah " or Hannah, b. 81 Oct. 1747. 
 
 (4) Jacob, b. 16 July, 1751 ; md. Molly Twiss, and removed to Hollis, N. H. 
 
 (5) Molly, b. Jan. 1753. 
 
 WINN. IIL Joshua Winn, son of Jacob and Prudence Winn, married 
 Mary Center, about Oct. 1645 ; and had by her : (1) Joshua, born 17 May, 
 1747. (2) Jeremiah, b. 29 Apr. 1749. (3) Molly, b. 5 Apr. 1761. (4) James, 
 b. 7 Apr. 1753. (5) Jonathan, b. 18 Oct. 1755. 
 
 WINN. Joseph Winn, son of Edward and Joanna, among the first set- 
 tlers of Woburn, was born in England ; married Rebekah, daughter of 
 William and Mabel Reed, and sister of first George Reed of Woburn, about 
 1664. Their children were : (1) Eebekah, born 25 May, 1665 ; and died 6 
 Apr. 1679. (2) Sarah, b. 9 Nov. 1666; md. to Ebenezer Johnson. (3) 
 
 Joanna, b. ; md. to Edward Knight, 13 July, 1699. (4) Abigail, b. 
 
 18 June, 1670; died 25 June, 1670. (5) Joseph,}). 15 May, 1671. (6) Jo- 
 siah, b. 15 March, 1674. (7, 8) Bebekah and Hannah, twins, b. 14 Feb. 
 1678-9. Rebekah m. to Timothy Spaulding of Chelmsford, 5 March, 1700. 
 
 No mention of Hannah in his Will.* (9) Timothy, b. ; died 22 
 
 March, 1678. (10) Anne, b. 1 Nov. 1684; died 13 Sept. 1686. (il) Timo- 
 thy, b. 27 Feb. 1686-7. 
 "Ensign Joseph Winn" died 22 Feb. 1714-15. Widow Rebekah Winn 
 
 died , 1734. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., etc.] 
 
 WINN. /. Timothy Winn, son of Joseph and Rebekah Winn, married 
 Elizabeth Brooks. Their children were: 
 II. Timothy, born about July 1712. 
 
 Elizabeth, born 1 Sept. 1719 ; md. to Nehemiah Wyman, 7 Dec. 1742. 
 Elizabeth, wife of Timothy Winn, died 14 May, 1724 [aged about 34 : 
 Gravestone], 
 
 Timothy Winn and Jane Belknap, both of Woburn, married 18 Feb. 
 1729-30. To them were born : (1) Buth, 6 Aug. 1732. (2) Joseph, b. 3 
 July, 1734. (3) Jerusha, Aug. 4, 1740. /. Timothy Winn died 5 Jan. 1752 
 [aged 65 : Gravestone]. 
 
 Widow Jane Winn died of small-pox May 1775.t> [Rec. of Births in 
 Woburn.] 
 
 WINN. II. Timothy Winn, better known as Dea. Timothy Winn, was 
 a gentleman of note and of much influence in his day. He was the son of 
 I. Timothy and Elizabeth (Brooks) Winn, and was born in Woburn about 
 July 1712. His place of residence falling within the bounds of Woburn 
 Precinct, he joined the Precinct Church, May 4, 1740; and was chosen a 
 deacon of that church Dec. 26, 1752 ; an office which he held during life. 
 He was a man noted for his industry, economy, and success in amassing 
 wealth. He was chosen one of the Selectmen of the town in 1756, '57 ; and 
 
 Mr. Boutelle, from inspection of the Will. * Mem. of Samuel Thompson, Esq.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 651 
 
 again in 1773, '74, 75. He represented Woburn in the General Court 1787, 
 '88, and 1791. And in December 1787, he and James Fowle, jun., were 
 chosen delegates for Woburn to the convention which met in Boston Jan. 
 9, 1788, respecting the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. 
 In all the early attempts to set off Woburn Precinct as a separate town, 
 he was opposed, it is said, to the measure. But he favored, it is under- 
 stood, the last attempt, which proved successful. But he did not live long 
 to enjoy the success of it. He died March 3, 1800, aged 87 years and 8 
 months, a few days more than a year after the act of Court incorporating 
 the Second Precinct as a town, by the name of Burlington. By his wife 
 Mary (Bowers) Winn, Dea. Winn had two children that lived to mature 
 age, viz : Timothy, born Dec. 20, 1740; and Mary, born June 21, 1743, and 
 married, Jan. 2, 1777, to Col. John Waldron, of Dover, N. H. Dea. Winn's 
 son Timothy, distinguished in Woburn Records as Timothy Winn, jun., and 
 Ensign Timothy Winn, was a gentleman highly respected and esteemed. 
 He married Sarah Reed of Woburn, Jan. 23, 1766; and she dying, in Janu- 
 ary of the following year, he married for his second wife Mary Bridge, 
 daughter of Rev. Ebenezer Bridge, of Chelmsford. By her he had, among 
 other children, the late CoL William Winn, of Burlington and Woburn, 
 who was the father of the present William Winn, Esq., of Burlington, and 
 Messrs. Jonathan Bowers Winn and Timothy Winn, of Woburn, gentle- 
 men well known in all this vicinity. 
 
 IL Joseph Winn, son of /. Timothy and Jane Winn, and half brother of 
 Dea. Timothy Winn, was a respected and influential citizen in his day. In 
 the war of the Revolution, he served his country in the military line, and 
 acquired the title of Lieutenant Winn ; and at the first Town Meeting in 
 Burlington, after the act incorporating it as a town, he was chosen chair- 
 man of the Board of Selectmen and of the Overseers of the Poor. He 
 died Apr. 30, 1817, aged 82 years and 9 months. The late Abel Winn, Esq., 
 of Burlington, was a son of his. 
 WRIGHT. John Wright. See Chap. V. 
 Joseph Wright. See Chap. V. add : 
 
 By his wife Elizabeth, he had issue as follows : (1) Elizabeth, born 2 
 July, 1664; married Eleazar Bateman, 2 Nov. 1686. (2) Joseph, b. 14 
 March, 1667; md. Elizabeth Bateman, 7 July, 1692. (3) Sarah, b. 25 Feb. 
 1669-70. (4) John, b. 2 Oct. 1672. (5) Joanna, b. 18 April, 1675; died 17 
 Feb. 1690-91. (6) James, b. 10 March, 1677. (7) Timothy, b. 3 Apr. 1679. 
 (8) Stephen, b. 22 Jan. 1680-81. (9) Jacob, b. 22 June, 1683. (10) Ruth, 
 b. 10 Oct. 1685. (11) Benjamin, b. 14 March, 1688. Elizabeth, wife of 
 Dea. Joseph Wright, died 28 June, 1713. Deacon Joseph Wright, died 31 
 March, 1724. 
 
 WYMAN. /. John Wyman, a subscriber at Charlestown to Town Or- 
 ders for Woburn, Dec. 1640, was taxed at Woburn in tax for the Country, 
 8 Sept. 1645 ; married 5 Nov. 1644, Sarah Nutt, whom her father, Myles 
 Nutt, had brought with him from England. The children of John and 
 Sarah Wyman were : (1) Samuel, born 20 Sept. and died 27 Sept. 1646. 
 (2) John, b. 28 March, 1648. (3) Sarah, b. 15 Apr. 1650; md. 15 Dec. 1669, 
 to Joseph Walker, of Billerica; died 26 Jan. 1729. (4) Solomon, b. 26 Feb.
 
 652 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 1651-2 ; died 22 Sept. 1725. (5) David, b. 7 Apr. 1654. (6) Elizabeth, b. 
 18 Jan. 1655-6; died 21 Nov. 1658. (7) Bathsheba, b. 6 Oct. 1658; rad. Na- 
 thaniel Tay, of Billerica, 30 May, 1677 ; died 9 July, 1730. (8) Jonathan, 
 
 b. 13 July, 1661. (9) Seth, b. 3 Aug. 1663. (10) Jacob, b. , the 
 
 youngest son of Lieut. Wyman. 
 
 Lieut. John Wyman died 9 May, 1684. His widow, Sarah, married after 
 his death, Thomas Fuller, 25 Aug. 1684. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc.] 
 
 WYMAN. //. John Wyman, jun., married Mary, daughter of Eev. 
 Thomas Carter, about 1671. Their children were : (1) John, b. 23 Apr. 
 1672. (2) Mary, b. 25 June, 1674; md. to Thomas Peirce, jun., son of 
 Sergt. Thomas, 27 Feb. 1693. John Wyman, jun., being one of Capt. Pren- 
 tice's troop, was slain by the Indians in the Narraganset Fight, 19 Dec. 
 1675. His widow, Mary, was married 31 Oct. 1676, to Nath. Batchelder, 
 of Hampton. [Wob. Rec. Births, etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 WYMAN. David, son of 7. John and Sarah Wyman, was a tanner; mar- 
 ried 27 Apr. 1675, in Charlestown, Isabel Farmer, daughter of John Farm- 
 er, of Concord, by whom he had two children, viz : (1) David, b. 29 May, 
 died 15 June, 1676. (2) Isabel, b. 5 July, 1677; md. 1700, in Maiden, to 
 John Green, of that town, and died 9 Aug. 1765, " in her 88th year." [Grave- 
 stone.] 
 
 David Wyman died of the small-pox in Woburn, 1678 ; and his widow 
 married in Concord, James Blood, 19 Nov. 1679. [Wob. Rec. of Births, 
 etc., etc. Manuscript Genealogy of Thomas B. Wyman, Esq. Savage's 
 Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 WYMAN. Jonathan Wyman, son of 7. John and Sarah Wyman, md. 
 Abigail Fowle, daughter of Lieut. James Fowle, 29 July, 1(589, who died 3 
 Jan. 1689-90. For his second wife, he md. Hannah, a daughter of Peter 
 Fowle, 31 July, 1690. Their children were : Q) Abigail, b. 1 June, 1691 ; 
 md. to Sam. Buck, and died 2 Dec. 1720. (2) Hannah, b. Nov. 1694 ; md. 
 1 June, 1717, to Israel Reed. (3) Mary, b. 26 Jan. 1696-7; md. prior to 
 1718 to Jeremiah Center. (4) Elizabeth, b. 15 Feb. 1700-1; md. 11 Aug. 
 1721, to Zerubbabel Snow. (5) Jonathan, b. 13 Sept. 1704. (6) Sarah, b. 
 
 18 Aug. 1706; md. to Nathan Brooks; and died 21 Feb. 1747. (7) 
 
 Zachary, b. 19 July, 1709 : a soldier in French War, 1748. 
 
 Cornet Jonathan Wyman died 15 Dec. 1736. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc., 
 etc. Wyman's MSS. Genealogy. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 WYMAN. Seth Wyman, son of 7. John and Sarah Wyman, md. Esther 
 Johnson, daughter of Major Wm. Johnson, 17 Dec. 1685 : by whom he had : 
 (1) Seth, b. 13 Sept. 1686 ; killed at Lovewell Fight, 1725. (2) "Hesther," 
 b. 25 Oct. 1688. (3) Sarah, b. 17 Jan. 1690-1 ; md. to Caleb Blogget. (4) 
 Jonathan, b. 5 Nov. 1693 ; died 19 Jan. 1693-4. (5) Susana, b. 30 June, 
 1695. (6) Abigail, b. 6 Feb. 1698-9 ; md. 19 Jan. 1725, to Timothy Brooks ; 
 and died 16 March, 1780. (7) Love, b. 14 Feb. 1701-2; md. to Josiah 
 Wyman ? Lieut. Seth Wyman died 26 Oct. 1715. His widow, Esther, died 
 31 March, 1742. 
 
 [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet. Wyman MSS. 
 Genealogy.]
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 653 
 
 WYMAN. Jacob Wyraan, youngest son of /. John and Sarah Wyman, 
 a tanner; freeman, 1690; md. 23 Nov. 1687, Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel 
 Richardson; and had: (1) Jacob, b. 11 Sept. 1688. (2) Samuel,b. 7 Feb. 
 1689-90. (3) Elizabeth, b. 7 Jan. 1691-2; md. to Josiah Waters; and died 
 prior to 1742. (4) David, b. 14 Apr. 1693. (5) Martha, b. 13 Oct. 1695 ; 
 md. to Major Joseph Richardson. (6) Mary, b. 8 July, 1698 ; died prior to 
 1742. (7) John, b. 11 Dec. 1700; died 9 July, 1721, a graduate of Harvard 
 College the same year. (8) Solomon, b. 24 Apr. 1703 ; died aged 22 years. (9) 
 Patience, b. 13 Apr. 1705. (10) Ebenezer, b. 5 May, 1707 ; H. C. 1731 ; minister of 
 Union, Ct. ; md. at Woburn, Mrs. Mary Wright, 22 May, 1739 ; died Feb. 9, 
 1746. (11) Isaiah, b. 28 Feb. 1708-9; died 9 Feb. 1746-7. (12) Peter, b. 
 27 Sept. 1711; md. Abigail Russell, about 1744, in Boston? (13) Daniel, 
 b. 27 May, 1715; a saddler in East Sudbury, now Wayland; md. first, Re- 
 becca , who died 10 Feb. 1744; 2dly, Dorothy Jennison, or Johnson, 
 
 who died 30 Sept. 1806. Daniel Wyman died 29 Dec. 1766; had 8 children 
 by his two wives. 
 
 Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Jacob Wyman, died 21 Nov. 1739. Mr. Jacob 
 Wyman md. Mrs. Elizabeth Coggin, 4 Feb. 1739-40. Mr. Jacob Wy- 
 man died 31 March, 1742. Widow Elizabeth Wyman died 2 May, 1752. 
 [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet. Wyman MSS. Gene- 
 alogy.] 
 
 Francis Wyman married 30 Jan. 1644-5, Judith Peirce, of Woburn, born 
 at Norwich, England, daughter of John ; died without issue. For his 2d 
 wife, he md. Abigail Reed, daughter of William and Mabel, and sister of 
 first George Reed, 2 Oct. 1650. Their children were : (1) Judith, born 29 
 Sept. and died 22 Dec. 1652. (2) Francis, born about 1654 ; died during 
 Indian War, 26 Apr. 1676, about 22 years old. (3) William, b. about 1656. 
 (4) Abigail, b. about 1659 ; married to Stephen Richardson, 2 Jan. 1675-6 ; 
 died 17 Sept. 1720, aged 60. Gravestone. (5) Timothy, b. 15 Sept. 1661 ; 
 died 1709. (6) Joseph, b. 9 Nov. 1663, lived a tailor, unmarried, and died 
 24 July, 1714. (7) Nathaniel, b. 25 Nov. 1665. (8) Samuel, b. 29 Nov. 1667. 
 (9) Thomas, b. 1 April, 1671. (10) Benjamin, b. 25 Aug. 1674. (11) 
 Stephen,* b. 2 June, 1676 ; died 19 Aug. 1676. (12) Judith, b. 15 Jan. 1678-9 ; 
 md. to Nath. Bacon, of Billerica ; living in 1714. Francis Wyman, sen., 
 died 30 Nov. 1699, aged, per stone, about 82. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc. 
 Savage's Geneal. Diet. 
 
 WYMAN. ///. William, son of Francis and Abigail Wyman, married 
 
 Prudence . Their children were : (1) William, born 18 Jan. and died 20 
 
 Jan. 1682-3. (2) Prudence, b. 26 Dec. 1683 ; md. to Jacob Winn. (3) Wil- 
 liam, b. 15 Jan. 1685-6. (4) Thomas, b. 23 Aug. 1687 ; lived, in his latter 
 days, and died in Pelhara, N. H. (5) Elizabeth, b. 5 July, 1689, died 25 
 June, 1690. (6) Francis, b. 10 July, 1691. (7) Joshua, b. 3 Jan. 1692-3 : a 
 blacksmith: innholder, 1722; m. (1) Mary Pollard, (2) Mary Green, in Wo- 
 burn, 14 July, 1747. (8) Edward, b. 10 Jan. 1695-6. (9) Elizabeth, b. 16 Feb. 
 1697-8. (10) Deliverance, b. 28 Feb. 1700-1 ; md. to Ezekiel Gowing, jun., 
 
 Wyman's MSS Genealogy. 
 56*
 
 654 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 of Lynn, 1732. (11) James, b. 16 March, 1702; taxed in Woburn, 1723. 
 William Wyman died 1705. [Woburn Rec. of Births, etc. Savage's 
 Geiieal. Diet. Wyman's MS. Genealogy.] 
 
 WYMAN. F. Timothy Wyman, son of Francis and Abigail Wyman, mar- 
 ried Hannah ; by whom he had : (1) Hannah, born 7 July, 1688. (2) 
 
 Timothy, b. 5 April, 1691. (3) Solomon, b. 24 Oct. 1693; md. in Medford, 9 
 June, 1725, Mary Peirce, daughter of John Peirce of Woburn; which 
 Mary, when afterwards a widow, md. Benjamin Johnson, 14 Feb. 1765. Sol- 
 omon's Will dated 2 Jan. 1760. (4) Joseph, b. 1 Nov. 1695. (5) Eunice, b. 
 24 Feb. 1697-8 ; md. to Henry Tottingham, 1721 ; died prior to 1748. (6) 
 Anne, b. 26 March, 1700: of Andover, and died unmarried 1774. (7) 
 Judith, b. 16 June, 1702 ; md. to John Wright III. 1725, of Ashford, Ct. ; 
 living 1748. (8) Eli, b. 11 March, 1704; died 22 Aug. 1728. (9) Ebenezer, 
 b. 21 March, 1706 : of Townsend, Mass. ; md. in Woburn, 24 Feb. 1736, 
 Rebekah Johnson, daughter of Dea. Edward Johnson ; and, secondly, in 
 Billerica, 2 April, 1745, to Dorcas Wilson. Living in 1764. (10) Hesther, 
 
 b. . (11) Elizabeth, . (12) Prudence, b. 8 March, 1709; md. to 
 
 Thomas Phelps. Living 1748, 1772. 
 
 Timothy Wyinan died 1709. 
 
 [Wob. Rec. of Births. Genealogy of the Wymaus in Manuscript, by 
 Thos. B. Wyinan, Esq. Savage's Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 WYMAN. VII. Nathaniel Wyman, son of Francis and Abigail, married 
 Mary, daughter of Increase Winn, 28 June, 1692. Their children were : (1) 
 Nathaniel, b. 23 May, 1693 ; died 13 Dec. 1715. (2) Mary, b. 28 May, 1694; 
 died insane, 1728. (3) Abigail, b. 5 Oct. 1695 ; md. to Benjamin Gowen. 
 (4) Ruth, b. 17 Apr. 1697; md. to Thomas Gould, Charlestown, 1721. (5) 
 Hannah, b. 28 Apr. 1699 ; md. to //. Timothy Wyman. (6) Elizabeth, b. 
 11 Nov. 1700; md. 12 March, 1723, to John "Geary," of Charlestown. 
 [Stoneham?] (7) Phebe, b. 11 June, 1702; md. prior to 1729 to Thomas 
 " Geary," [Gerry] Stoneham. (8) Rebekah, b. 14 April, 1704 ; md. 7 March, 
 1723, to Thomas Holden. (9) Johanah, [Joanna?] b. 25 July, 1705 ; md. to 
 Jonathan Holden, 1731; died 11 Nov. 1786. (10) Increase, b. 1 March, 
 1707. (11) Sarah, b. 21 Aug. 1710; md. 6 July, 1732, to Ezekiel Walker; 
 died prior to 1756. (12) Keziah, b 5. Apr. 1713; md. to John Reed, 1735; 
 died 14 Jan. 1756. 
 
 Nathaniel Wyman died 8 Dec. 1717. His widow, Mary Wyman, md. to 
 John Locke, of Woburn, 30 Nov. 1720. [Wob. Records of Births, etc. 
 Savage's Geneal. Diet. Wymau's MSS. Genealogy.] 
 
 WYMAN. VIII. Samuel Wyman, son of Francis and Abigail; md. 
 
 Rebekah, daughter of Mathew Johnson, 1692. Their children were : 
 
 (1) Rebekah, born 11 Nov. 1693; married at Watertown to Thomas Rich- 
 ardson, of Woburn, 29 Sept. 1713; died 11 April, 1771. (2) Abigail, b. 5 
 Feb. 1694-5 ; md. prior to 1726 to Jonas Richardson. (3) Hannah, b. 10 
 Dec. 1696 ; md. 10 May, 1725, to Samuel Parker. (4) Sarah, b. 2 Feb. 
 1698-9 ; md. probably 31 Aug. 1726, to John Coggin. (5) Samuel, b. 18 
 March, 1700. (6) Oliver, b. 5. Sept. 1701 ; a soldier of Leominsterin 1758, 
 '59, and died 1759. (7) Lydia, b. 1 Jan. 1702-3; md. 24 July, 1729, at Read- 
 ing, to Oliver Richardson, of Woburn. (8) Patience, b. 11 Jan. 1705-6;
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 655 
 
 md. to Edward Dean. (9) Matthew, b. 3 Aug. 1707 : of Lancaster, a laborer; 
 married 8 March, 1738-9, to Abigail Willard, by whom he left issue. He 
 served in Willard's Comp., Nova Scotia, 1755. (10) Esther, b. 25 Feb. 
 1709-10. Samuel Wyman died 17 May, 1725. His widow, Rebekah, living 
 1735. [Records of Births, etc. Wyman's MSS. Genealogy. Savage's 
 Geneal. Diet.] 
 
 WYMAN. /. Thomas, sen., son of Francis and Abigail Wyman, md. 
 Mary Richardson, a daughter of Nathaniel, 5 May, 1696. Their children 
 were : (1) Thomas, born 12 May, 1697. (2) Josiah, b. 18 March, 1700. 
 (3) Phineas, b. 1701 ; living, insane, 1747. (4) Timothy, b. 1 March, 1702. 
 (5) Benjamin, b. 12 June, 1704. (6) John, b. 6 July, 1706; died 26 March, 
 1729; a housewright, taxed from 1725 to 1728. (7) Mary, b. 10 March, 
 1708; md. 13 June, 1726, to Nath. Clark, Watertown. (8) Aaron, b. 6 Dec. 
 1709. (9) Eleazer, b. 13 Apr. 1712 ; died 16 July, 1747. (10) Nathaniel, b. 
 
 18 May, 1716. (11) Elizabeth, b. 19 Dec. 1718; md. to Blogget; issue 
 
 by whom, and Elizabeth Wyman. 
 
 Thomas Wyman, sen., served in Sir Charles Hobby's troop at Annapolis, 
 10 Oct. 1710, to 10 Oct. 1711. He died 4 Sept. 1731. His widow Mary md. 
 Josiah Winn, 17 Aug. 1733, and died 7 June, 1743. 
 
 Benjamin, son of Francis and Abigail Wyman, was a "maltster; " and 
 married 20 Jau. 1702-3, Elizabeth Hancock, of Cambridge. Their children 
 were : (1) Elizabeth, born 1 May, 1705; md. 11 June, 1724, to Jacob Rich- 
 ardson. (2) Benjamin, b. 13 Dec. (al. Nov.) 1706. (3) Lucy, b. 17 Apr. 
 1708 ; died 25 Oct. 1730 : wife of Richard Davenport, of Shrewsbury. (4) 
 Zebadiah, b. 26 June, 1709. (5) Eunice, b. 16 Nov. 1710; md. to Robert 
 Peirce, 1736; died 15 Apr. or May, 1774 or 1775. (6) Jerusha, b. 23 July, 
 1712; md. to Edw. Richardson, 1730; died 10 Apr. 1784. (7) Tabitha, b. 7 
 Apr. 1714; md. to Josiah Kendall, 1736; died 24 Apr. 1800. (8) Abijah, b. 
 20 Sept. 1715. (9) Katharine, b. 6 May, 1717; md. 28 Feb. 1732-3? to Wil- 
 liam Tufts, of Medford; died, per stone, 20 Feb. 1749. .(10) Nathaniel, b. 
 26 Jan. 1718-19. (11) Abigail, b. 26 Aug. 1720; m. 8 Apr. 1740, to Jacob 
 Snow; died 31 Oct. 1771. (12) Martha, b. 7 May, 1722 ; md. 6 Sept. 1739, to 
 Samuel Dean. (13) Noah, b. 30 July, 1724; died 10 Dec. 1726. (14) Jonas, 
 b. 26 July, 1725 ; a blacksmith ; died at Louisburg, 20 Jan. 1746. (15) 
 Reuben, b. 9 Nov. 1726. Benjamin Wyman died 19 Dec. 1735. His widow 
 m. 22 Aug. [al. Sept.] 1739, to Jonathan Bacon of Bedford; and died 
 March 2, 1749, set. 63. [Wob. Rec. of Births, etc. Savage's Geneal. Diet. 
 Wyman MSS. Genealogy.] 
 
 Messrs. John and Francis Wyman were brothers, and original settlers 
 of the town of Woburu. By occupation, they were both tanners; and 
 had their dwellings and their tanning establishments near the late Dea. 
 Benjamin Wyman's, in the Wyman Lane. They were also joint proprie- 
 tors of extensive tracts of land in other parts of the town. About 1669, 
 the) r united in the purchase of the " Coitraore Grant," so called, in Wo- 
 burn, containing 500 acres, for which they paid 25 or 30 sterling each, 
 to Mr. Joseph Rock, executor of the will of Martha (Coitmore) Coggaii, 
 who had been the widow of Capt. Coitmore, the grantee. This grant was
 
 656 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 
 
 laid out in the northwest part of Woburn, now Burlington ; and upon it 
 numerous descendants of both brothers were living a century ago, though 
 now not a person by the name of Wyman is an inhabitant of that portion 
 of the town. They also owned a large farm, with houses thereon, adjoin- 
 ing the Coitmore grant, situate in the west part of Woburn, and extending 
 within the bounds of Billerica, upon which, by order of Court, they 
 were taxed equally for some years, both in Billerica and in Woburn. 
 
 The descendants of these two brothers by the name of Wyman have 
 been a multitude. In a genealogy of their families, prepared with great 
 industry and untiring research by Thomas Bellows Wyman, Esq., of 
 Charlestown, a descendant from John Wyman of the 6th generation, there 
 were numbered, Nov. 6th, 1844, of the posterity of John Wyman, in the 
 male line, 5 children, 31 grandchildren, 54 great-grandciiildren, 91 of the 
 4th generation, 106 of the 5th, 147 of the 6th, and 8 of the 7th, 442 in all ; 
 and of the posterity, in the male line, of Francis Wyman, 9 children, 71 
 grand children, 152 great-grandchildren, 213 of the 4th generation, 188 of 
 the 5th, 41 of the 6th, 674 in all; making a total, in 1844, of 1116 descend- 
 ants, from the males, in each generation, from the two patriarchs, John 
 and Francis Wyman. 
 
 Of the posterity of these two noted primitive settlers in Woburn, num- 
 bers may be referred to who were prominent men in their day ; persons 
 distinguished not only by their official relations, but by their ability and 
 care to fulfil them with usefulness to society. Of this description, among 
 the descendants of John Wyman, was Dea. Samuel Wyman, the revolution- 
 ary patriot, repeatedly chosen in those trying times to represent Woburn 
 in the General Court, and in the Provincial Congress assembled at Water- 
 town. And among the descendants of Francis Wyman answering to the 
 above character, may be reckoned Capt. Benjamin Wyman, the faithful 
 treasurer of the town from 1752 to 1758 inclusively, seven years in unin- 
 terrupted succession : Dea. Zebadiah Wyman, his successor in that impor- 
 tant office, and at a very trying period, ten years out of the thirteen which 
 elapsed from 1780 to 1792 inclusively : the late Dea. Benjamin Wyman, the 
 judicious and upright magistrate, as well as exemplary officer of the First 
 Church in this town; and Dr. Rufus Wyman, a native of Woburn, "the 
 beloved physician," while at Chelmsford, the skilful, successful Superin- 
 tendent of the McLean Asylum for the Insane at Somerville, honored in 
 life, and lamented at his death. 
 
 WYMAN. John Wyman, 2d, distinguished as Sergeant John Wyman, 
 and supposed by some to have been a near relative, perhaps a nephew, of 
 John and Francis Wyman, had land granted him in Woburn, 25 Feb. 1679.* 
 
 He was, a wheelwright by occupation, and married Hannah, daughter of 
 John Farrar, of Woburn, 14 Dec. 1685. Their children were : (1) John, 
 born 16 Nov. 1686. He settled in Wilmington, and died prior to 6 Jan. 
 1748. (2) Thomas, b. 25 March, 1689, and died insane prior to 1749. a 
 (3) Jasher, b. 6 Jan. 1691-2. (4) Nathan, b. 8 Jan. 1695-6. (5) Hannah, b. 
 
 a Woburn Records of Births, etc. Wyman's Manuscript Genealogy.
 
 GENEALOGICAL NOTICES. 657 
 
 8 Aug. 1703. (6) Anne, b. 10 Apr. 1705 ; md. 5 May, 1739, to Samuel Bath- 
 rick, of Portsmouth, N. H. (7) Rachel, b. 24 Oct. 1707. 
 
 Sergt. John Wyman died 19 April, 1728. 
 
 WYMAN. 7. Nathan, son of Sergt. John Wyman and Hannah, married 
 Huldah Simonds, daughter of Benjamin and Rebekah, both of Woburn, 
 29 Jan. 1723. Their children were : (1) Nathan, born 28 June, 1723. (2) 
 Rachel, b. 31 July, 1724; md. to Jacob Eames, in 1748. (3) Elijah, b. 22 
 Feb. 1727-8. 
 
 Nathan Wyman, wheelwright, died 4 Feb. 1773. Huldah, his wife, died 
 28 May, 1768, set. 68, per stone, a 
 
 WYMAN. II. Nathan Wyman, jun., son of Nathan and Huldah, md. 
 Rebekah Russell, daughter of Saml. and Rebekah, of Woburn, 11 June, 
 1749, and had issue : (1) Nathan, born 21 May, 1754. (2) Rebekah, b. 7 
 Aug. 1757; died 15 Sept. 1759. (3) Zadok, b. 20 [10?] Aug. 1760. (4) 
 Rebekah, b. 7 Aug. 1762. (5) John, b. 26 Feb. 1765. 
 
 Rebekah, widow of Nathan, died 9 Oct. 1811, aged 85. 
 
 WYMAN. III. Nathan Wyman, son of Nathan and Rebekah, m. 21 Nov. 
 1778, Mary Convers, daughter of Samuel and Mary, who had a son, Nathan, 
 born 11 Sept. 1783. 
 
 m. Nathan Wyman died 30 April, 1821 ; his wife Mary died 3 Sept. 1817, 
 set. 51. 
 
 IV. Nathan Wyman, son of Nathan and Mary, md. Esther Wilder, 
 and at his decease left two sons, viz : (1) Herbert, born May 7, 1818 ; 
 md. Lydia Kimball, and lives respected at North Woburn. (2) V. Nathan, 
 born 16 Feb. 1821 ; chosen Town Clerk of Woburn 1844, and by constant 
 re-election still (1867) continues in that office. 
 
 "Woburn Records of Births, etc. Wyman's Manuscript Genealogy.
 
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