USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Billerica > Celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Billerica, Massachusetts, May 29th, 1855 > Part 1
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M. G.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01095 3997
CELEBRATION
OF THE
200th. Two Hundredth Anniversary
OF THE
INCORPORATION OF BILLERICA, MASSACHUSETTS,
MAY 29th, 1855:
INCLUDING THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE,
ADDRESS, POEM,
AND OTHER EXERCISES OF THE OCCASION.
WITH AN APPENDIX.
They who never look back to their ancestors will never look forward to posterity. Burke.
NE L.
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO LOWELL : S. J. VARNEY, (27 CENTRAL STREET,) PRINTER. 1855.
127595
1779123
BILLERICA
CENTENNIAL
CELEBRATION.
1855.
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1:
F . Billerica, Mass.
84409 .1 Celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Billerica, Massachusetts, May 29th, 1855 ; including the proceedings of the committee, address, poem, and other exercises of the occasion. With an appendix. Lowell, S. J. Varney, 1855. 152 pp. 8°.
SHELF CARON 0074-8487
1-11233-M 1
17585
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
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ACTION OF THE TOWN.
In the warrant calling a meeting of the inhabitants of the town, dated February 23, 1853, the following article was inserted :- " On petition of Amos Spalding and others, to see if the town will take any order rel- ative to the celebration of the two hundredth anniver- sary of its incorporation, or act thereon as the town may think proper.".
At a meeting of the inhabitants, held March 7, 1853, it was " Voted, that a committee of one from each School District be chosen to take the sub- ject into consideration, and report at some future meeting." Messrs. Gardner Parker, Amos Spalding, Jeremiah Crosby, Thomas Talbot, Jonathan Hill, James R. Faulkner, Samuel Brown, Francis Carter, Hutchinson Rogers, and John Allen were chosen.
At the November meeting, of the same year, the committee submitted the following report, viz. :- " They believe the subject committed to them one of no ordinary interest to the inhabitants of the town. When we reflect upon the hardships and privations which our forefathers suffered when they fled from tyranny and oppression in their native land to this, then wilderness, that they might enjoy civil and re- ligious liberty; when we consider their sufferings
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from sickness and famine, and from their savage foes, how they toiled and struggled, and persevered until they overcame all obstacles, and laid the foundation of this mighty Empire, which now stretches across this great Continent, we feel proud to claim that we are descendants of such noble men. The settlement of a new Town two hundred years ago was attended with dangers and toils, of which we, at this day, can have but a faint conception. Surrounded by savages and wild beasts, the settlers were compelled to sub- due the forest and till the ground with their muskets · by their sides. Liable to be shot down in the field by the skulking Indian, often attacked in their dwellings by night and slain in their beds, they lived a life of constant toil and danger, under which nothing but their trust in Divine Providence could sustain them. Feeling a deep sense of our obligations to our pious ancestors for the rich legacy they have left us, it be- becomes us to commemorate their deeds, and transmit the recollection of them to our posterity. The Com- mittee therefore recommend that the town do cele- brate, by appropriate ceremonies, the two hundredth anniversary of its incorporation : that a committee of twenty-five be chosen to make the necessary arrange- ments for the same, and that the sum of five hundred dollars be appropriated to defray such expenses as may be necessary to carry the same into effect."
The report was accepted and adopted, and the fol- lowing Committee appointed : Gardner Parker, John Baldwin, Amos Spalding, Daniel Floyd, Jeremiah Crosby, Wm. H. Odiorne, Daniel Wilson, Thomas Talbot, James R. Faulkner, Calvin Rogers, John
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Allen, Thomas B. Edmands, Aaron H. Patten, Sam- uel Brown, Wm. S. Gleason, Francis Carter, Benja- min L. Judkins, Charles H. Hill, Caleb S. Brown, Edward Spalding, J. G. D. Stearns, Josiah Rogers, Anthony Jones, Joseph A. Burt, Jonas Merriam.
Voted, That the Town Clerk, John Baldwin, Jr., be added to the Committee.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE.
December 17, 1853 .- The Committee of arrange- ments, appointed by the Town of Billerica to adopt measures for the Celebration of the Second Centen- nial Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town, met in the Town Hall. Gardner Parker was chosen Chairman, Rev. J. G. D. Stearns Secretary, and Dea. Jeremiah Crosby Corresponding Secretary.
A vote was passed inviting REV. JOSEPH RICHARD- SON of Hingham, one of the sons of Billerica, to give the Centennial Address.
Chose Samuel Brown, Rev. J. G. D. Stearns, and Dea. Amos Spalding a Committee to procure a Poem.
Chose a Committee on organization, consisting of Thomas Talbot, Dea. James R. Faulkner, Col. John
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Baldwin, Benjamin L. Judkins, and Dea. Edward Spalding, to report at some future meeting. Ad- journed.
July 12, 1854 .- The Committee met in the Town Hall at 4 o'clock, P. M. The Committee on organi- zation presented the following plan, which was accept- ed and adopted :-
" Your Committee, who were chosen to consider and report some plan of organization, would, recom- mend the appointment of three Secretaries ; one Trea- surer ; one President, and ten Vice Presidents; one Chief Marshal, and two Assistants; four Chaplains ; three Toast Masters ; a Finance Committee of five, who shall have the oversight of all the money matters, and shall regulate and control all expenditures and keep a record of the same; a Committee of five on Sentiments; a Committee of six on Tent, Dinner, &c .; a Committee of five on Military and Music; a Com- mittee of five on the Exercises of the Day, and on In- vitations and Reception of Strangers ; and the Chair- men of the several Committees a Committee to act upon all matters not assigned to any of the above Committees. Each Committee shall be authorized to fill any vacancy which may happen from time to time within their board."
Chose a Committee of nine, viz :- Thomas Talbot, Dea. James R. Faulkner, Col. John Baldwin, Benja- min L. Judkins, Dea. Edward Spalding, Gardner Parker, Rev. J. G. D. Stearns, Wm. S. Gleason, and Samuel Brown, to nominate the several Committees and Officers contemplated in the report of the Com- mittee on organization. Adjourned.
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September 6 .- Met in the Town Hall at 6 o'clock, P. M. The Committee on nominations presented the following list of names to fill the several Offices and Committees, which was accepted and confirmed :-
COL. JOHN BALDWIN, PRESIDENT. Vice Presidents.
CAPT. SAMUEL FOSTER,
CALVIN ROGERS,
DEA. AMOS SPALDING, WILLIAM GRAY,
DEA. JEREMIAH CROSBY,
FRANCIS CARTER, .
DANIEL WILSON,
DEA. EDWARD SPALDING,
DEA. JOHN C. HOBBS,
JOHN ALLEN.
Secretaries.
REV. J. G. D. STEARNS, DEA. JEREMIAHI CROSBY, JOHN BALDWIN, JR.
DEA. JAMES R. FAULKNER, Treasurer.
DEA. JAMES R. FAULKNER, Chief Marshal. Assistant Marshals.
GARDNER PARKER, JOSEPH A. BURT.
Chaplains.
THE CLERGYMEN OFFICIATING FOR THE FOUR OLDEST SOCIETIES AT TILE TIME OF THE CELEBRATION. Toast Masters.
THOMAS TALBOT, WILLIAM H. ODIORNE, JOHN BALDWIN, JR.,
Finance Committee.
DEA. JAMES R. FAULKNER, DEA. EDWARD SPALDING,
COL. JOHN BALDWIN, BENJAMIN L. JUDKINS, THOMAS TALBOT. Committee on Sentiments.
DEA. AMOS SPALDING, JOHN BALDWIN, JR.,
JOSEPH A. BURT, CHARLES II. HILL,
GARDNER PARKER.
£
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Committee on Tent, Dinner, &c.
GARDNER PARKER,
JONAS MERRIAM,
JOHN BALDWIN, JR.,
DANIEL FLOYD,
SAMUEL BROWN, JOSIAH ROGERS.
Committee on Military and Music.
JOSEPH A. BURT, DEA. AARON H. PATTEN,
ANTHONY JONES, WILLIAM S. GLEASON,
CALEB S. BROWN.
Committee on Exercises of the Day, and Invitations, and Recep-
tion of Guests.
REV. J. G. D. STEARNS, DEA. THOMAS B. EDMONDS,
COL. JOHN BALDWIN, THOMAS TALBOT,
WILLIAM H. ODIORNE.
March 28, 1855 .- Voted, That the Common Schools and the Howe School be invited, under the direction of the School Committee and the Teachers of the Howe School, to join in the procession.
April 23 .- The Committee on Military and Music reported that the Watson Light Guard, of Lowell, have offered their services as escort. The report was accepted and a vote passed accepting the services of the escort.
May 21 .- Voted to request the Selectmen to ap- point a special police to preserve order on the day of the Celebration ; also to print the following notice sent in by the Selectmen :-
NOTICE. All persons are hereby cautioned against violating the law, by selling intoxicating liquors, or by gambling, at the time of the Centennial Celebra- tion, as the law will be strictly enforced.
THOMAS J. JENKINS, Selectmen of AMASA HOLDEN, Billerica.
BENJAMIN H. HEALD,
BILLERICA, May 22d, 1855.
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May 28 .- Met at the Town Hall at 2 o'clock, P. M. Voted, That the President of the Day and the Chief Marshal make such arrangements as they may see best for seating the ladies and the invited guests.
Numerous meetings of the Committee were held from time to time, but more minute details it is not thought needful to record.
The Committee on the Poem invited DANIEL PAR- KER, M. D., a native of the town, and a resident, to deliver the Poem.
The following note of invitation to take part in the exercises of the day, was sent to the native graduates and some other natives of the town, and also to some gentlemen from abroad :-
BILLERICA, April 20th, 1855.
Dear Sir :- The inhabitants of the town of Billerica propose to celebrate the Second Centennial Anniver- sary of the incorporation of the town, on Tuesday, the 29th day of May next, by appropriate festivities. The Committee tender a special invitation to the sons of Billerica who are graduates of Colleges, and to some other gentlemen of distinction, to be present and par- ticipate in the exercises of the occasion. We there- fore express the hope that you will favor us with your personal attendance.
The following general invitation was also publish- ed in various newspapers :-
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION IN BILLERICA. The in- habitants of Billerica are preparing to celebrate the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the incorporation of the town, on Tuesday, the 29th of May next, by ap- propriate exercises and festivities. The sons and
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daughters of Billerica, and all other persons who feel an interest in the occasion, are invited to attend.
THE CELEBRATION.
The Jubilee of the 29th of May, 1855, will be memorable in the annals of Billerica. The heavens smiled serenely on the occasion, and the warm greet- ings of the sons and daughters of Billerica, as they met in this great family gathering, and the manifest de- light with which they commemorated the freedom day of their native town, evinced the strength of those lo- cal attachments which bind us to the place of our birth.
The morning of the day was ushered in with the ringing of the bell and the booming of cannon. At North Billerica a Cavalcade of young men was form- ed at an early hour, which, with the schools of the village, escorted by the Cornet Band and the Watson Light Guard, of Lowell, proceeded to the centre of the town. Meanwhile the people came pouring in from the vicinity, and all seemed animated with the spirit of the occasion. At 9 o'clock, A. M., a proces- sion was formed at the Town Hall, under the direc- tion of the Chief Marshal, JAMES R. FAULKNER, and his Aids, in the following order :-
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CAVALCADE. MUSIC - Cornet Band. ESCORT - Watson Light Guard. President of the Day and Orator. Poet and Chaplains. Committee of Arrangements and Invited Guests. Citizens of Billerica and other towns. Howe School and District Schools.
The whole procession made a very fine appearance. After marching around the village, the dwellings of which were beautifully decorated for the occasion by Col. Beals, of Boston, they entered Yale's Mammoth Tent on the Common at 10} o'clock, A. M. The Schools, with banners inscribed with appropriate mot- toes, badges, and other decorations, formed an inter- esting feature of the procession. Much credit is due to the teachers and Prudential Committee who gave their attention to the care of the children, especially in connection with the repast which was provided for them at the Howe School Hall. Under the excellent regulations which were made, the whole day passed off in admirable order and good spirit. The exercises in the tent were listened to by an intelligent and ap. preciating audience, while the speakers worthily por- trayed the virtues, the deeds, and renown of our fore- fathers, and depicted in glowing colors the scenes of the early history of this ancient town.
After the procession entered and were seated in the tent, the audience were called to order by COL. JOHN BALDWIN, the President of the Day, who addressed them briefly as follows :-- " Ladies and gentlemen, af- ter bidding you all a hearty welcome, on this interest- ing occasion, I would ask your attention to the exer cises of the day."
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The speakers were then called upon and introduced to the audience in the following order :-
READING OF SELECTIONS FROM THE SCRIPTURES, by REV. HOMER SEARS, of Billerica.
PRAYER by REV. J. G. D. STEARNS, of Billerica.
The following original Hymn, composed for the occasion by MIss E. A. FOSTER, one of the daughters of Billerica, was read by Rev. Homer Sears, and sung by the assembly in the tune of St. Martin's :-
HYMN.
Two hundred years ago, my friends, Upon our native hill,
There beat strong hearts with pulses true ; Those pulses now are still,
Those pulses now are still, my friends, But they beat not in vain :
They throbbed for Freedom's sacred cause, That cause they did maintain.
In peril, and through mazes dark, They trod their onward way ; We bless them ! yes, we honor them ! With grateful hearts to-day.
They've made our Present glorious, They've made our Future fair ; Their Goodness and their Faith we feel Have made us what we are.
We'll ne'er forget their toilsome strife, Though they have passed away ; Their lives of earnest, active thought, Which died not with the day.
We'll linger on their memories, And speed the work begun ; Our hearts shall beat for Liberty, For Truth and Good to come.
ADDRESS
BY THE HON. JOSEPH RICHARDSON.
Sons and Daughters, Descendants and Successors of the first and early Inhabitants of Billerica :-
For the high privilege and the honor of addressing you on this occasion, I return you my sincere thanks. To meet and rejoice together in the prosperous close of this second centennial, and to greet the first morn- ing of the third, is a pleasure worthy of our most de- vout acknowledgement to the Author of all good. Sincerely I regret my inability to make the occasion as entertaining and instructive as I desire. Sacred be the day to interesting memories of the past, suitable to be fondly cherished, -that we may add new strength and beauty to the relations, which He who made us, we trust, has intended to be as enduring as our exis- tence.
Not to boast of ancestors renowned for desolating conquest and ignoble dominion do we now meet. We come to pay our united homage to God, and to the memory of the founders of glorious institutions of re- ligion, of learning and of freedom, whose happy results have no parallel in the history of the world. Around
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and on this grand elevation where we are assembled, you will pardon me for saying, to me there has seem- ed to shine a brighter, a broader, more beautiful light than on other places.
Here lived those men and women of better than noble birth, who took high counsel together, and con- certed wise plans of life, and cherished hopes that God has signally prospered. The fertility of much of the soil, the beauty and grandeur of the surrounding prospect, bear witness of their intelligence, sound judgment, and good taste. Had they located their centre nearer the junction of the Concord and Merri- mack rivers, they would have been more exposed to the hostility of Indian tribes. Indulging no unbecom- ing vanity, I think we may find those few families who first broke the wilderness here as having merited the high praise of a grateful posterity, however hum- ble and unpromising at their commencement. " Right ends and means make wisdom-produce grand results, achieve all true glory."
Only a brief sketch of its institutions, and of some events of general interest to the town since its settle- ment, can I attempt to give. The day will not be long enough for all we should be glad to say, and hear, and do. Our hearts must have emotions too deep and full for utterance. The homesteads of our fathers, the birth-places of many of us, the play-mates and play-grounds of our childhood ; the roads, and hills, and vallies, and streams, throng around us to be remembered,-for some tribute of our affection. Sto- ries of the past, once familiar, are echoing in our ear. The ring of the bell that called us to the house of
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prayer, and the tolling that summoned us to the house of mourning continue to thrill upon the heart like voices from the spirit world. Those of us who, by the events of life, have been scattered abroad owe you our hearty thanks for inviting us to share with you in the tender and sweet associations of a place so dear, a day so sacred. " It is good for us to be here," together to look above the transient, the unsatisfying. It is a pleasure, a high privilege to be remembered, that, not as was Athens by power of Minerva ; not as was Rome by hordes of robbers and outlaws, but by high mind- ed exemplary Christian men and women was this town settled.
This town was first settled chiefly, as believed, by English inhabitants from the town of Billerica, in the county of Essex in England, and from an adjacent town .* The first European inhabitants called it Shawshin, probably after the river Shawshin, as nam- ed by the natives. As appears from the records of the Massachusetts colony, the Shawshin territory was a precinct of Cambridge, bounded by Chelmsford, Andover, Woburn and Concord.
Singularly it appears in the record that the mea- sures of the General Court must have had no small influence to prevent settlers from coming to Shawshin. In 1642 their Committee reported the Shawshin ter- ritory " sufficient in quantity only for a village, but for quality, in their apprehension, no way fit, the up- land being very barren, and very little meadow there- about, nor any good timber almost fit for any use !" What were the views and motives of a Legislative
* Farmer's History of Billerica.
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Committee in making such a report, is not easy to de- termine. Legislative Committees may have been as poor judges of land as they sometimes have proved to be of other matters. Speculators in land may have had influence to induce the Court to give the tract away as worthless. Taking an area of fifty miles ex- tent, the city of Boston being the centre, for fertile upland, extensive meadows and beauty of location, it may be challenged that no town excels this same town of Billerica. Those interested in other new land may have wished to keep Shawshin out of the market.
The proximity of this place to the Indians about the mouth of Concord river, may at that time have influenced the Court's Committee to make a report unfavorable to it for settlement. This is the most charitable supposition that occurs to me. Whatever the Committee may have thought, they would not have publicly confessed fear of Indians, for that would have invited their savage assaults, which some years afterwards the people so severely suffered, when "Col. Joseph Lynde, a chief man of Charlestown, with three hundred men in arms, horse and foot," ranged the woods about Andover, Chelmsford and Billerica, and waded the swamps, unable to find the stealthy foe.
The town of Cambridge, particularly some of the officers of the College, had grants of land in Shawshin from the General Court, and a sort of supervision of the territory. The few families in Shawshin for a number of years certainly needed protection and aid from their neighbors. But the interests, both of Shawshin and Cambridge, soon led them to terms of separation. The terms of separation from Cambridge
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were agreed upon between commissioners in behalf of that town and petitioners in behalf of Shawshin, and were confirmed by the General Court on the 29th day of May, 1655. The record of the Court stands thus :
" These propposicions are accepted of and consent- ed unto by us the present inhabitants of Shawshin ; and wee doe humbly crave this honored Court to con- firme and record the same.
" Your humble servants,
Ralph Hill, sen.,
James Parker,
William French,
Jonathan Danforth,
Jno. Sterne,
Henry Jeftes,
WVm. Pattin,
Wm. Chamberlyn,
George Farley,
Jno. Parker,
Ralph Hill, jun.,
Robt. Parker.
Jno. Croe,
" Theire request was granted by the Court."*
The commissioners for the town of Cambridge said, in the proposed terms of separation,-" We do make these following propositions and conclusions therein, as to us might seem most meet and equal with refer- ence to the compliance of the above named, our be- loved brethren and neighbors, the inhabitants of Shawshin, and the approbation of the General Court. for the full conclusion thereof."
By an act of the General Court passed the 23d of May preceding, the inhabitants of Shawshin were au- thorized to take the name of Billerica. The towns of Bedford, Tewksbury and Carlisle formerly, either in part or wholly, were included within the limits of Billerica.
* See Records of the Colony, Vol. 4, part I, p. 240.
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On the same day of the incorporation of this town, the General Court passed the act, " that Edward Spalden, Wm. Fletcher and others, inhabitants of a new plantation, that the number of inhabitants, ac- cording to the time prefixed in the Court's grant were settled at their request, and the Court doth grant the name thereof to be called Chelmsford."* Chelmsford included formerly what is now mainly the young and beautiful city of Lowell.
In 1659, the General Court ordered that. "there being several towns within this jurisdiction who are not only remote from any magistrate, but also desti- tute of any person empowered to solemnize marriage, the want whereof is an occasion of much trouble, and sometimes disappointment, which to prevent, it is or- dered, that Lieutenant French for Billerica and Chelmsford, shall be and hereby is appointed and em- powered to join in marriage within those towns or limits, such persons as shall desire the same, being au- thorized by law."t Like authority was given, at the same time, to sundry military gentlemen in other towns to solemnize marriages. Capt. Joshua Hubbard was "appointed and empowered to join persons in marriage in Hingham." We are not informed what in those days, was the form of the marriage ceremony, or whether those appointed to the office were requir- ed to appear in military costume and equipments .- Almost all appointed to the office were military men. Officers were appointed to join persons in marriage for towns where were ordained ministers. Why was that ? The statute of George the Second gives
* Rec. Mass., Vol. IV, part 1, p. 237.
+ Rec. Mass., Vol. IV, part I, p. 383.
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the answer, that " to solemnize marriage in any other place, besides a church, or public (Episcopal) chapel, wherein banns have usually been published, except by license from the archbishop of Canterbury,-and to solemnize marriage, in such church or chapel, with- out due publication of banns, or license from proper authority, do both of them not only render the mar- riage void, but subject the person solemnizing it to fel- ony, punished by transportation for fourteen years."*
One of the conditions of the incorporation of this town was, "that it be settled with twenty families, at least within three years, and that the ordinances of God may be settled and encouraged, in the said place of Billerica." From the names given in the grant, it is inferred that, at its date, there were not more than twelve families within the limits of the town. Thus, at the first moment of corporate existence, the little band pledged themselves to maintain the ordinances of God. Being recognized and established here, as lords of the soil, we may casily imagine, was an event religiously and joyously celebrated. With the mind's eye can we not see them assembled, near this very spot, to accept the grant, surrounded as they were by hostile elements, and with anxious forebodings of the future, unlike this scene of their descendants to-day, happy now and in joyous anticipations. Before the three years, limited by their grant, had expired, "nine- teen persons agreed with the Rev. Samuel Whiting, to settle him with them in the gospel ministry;" to give him and his heirs what was called a ten acre privilege, equal to one hundred and thirteen acres of
* Blackstone, Vol. 4, p. 166.
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upland, and twelve acres of meadow, and a house com- fortably finished with the accommodations belonging to it, if he should continue with them during his life ; also a salary of forty pounds sterling for the first two years, fifty pounds sterling for the third, and sixty pounds for the fourth ; and they engaged to better his maintenance afterwards, as the Lord should better their estates. Taking into view the circumstances of the people and the age, the provision for their minis- ter was highly liberal. As men of wise forecast they were aware that the success of their enterprise must absolutely depend on their being well instructed in good principles and social duties. To live in an un- broken wilderness, thronged with roving barbarians, they feared less than to live without the knowledge of God. About four years after the settlement of their minister they erected their first meeting-house, which they covered with thatch instead of shingles. The first church in Billerica was organized on the 27th of April, 1663. Such was the progress of the infant town during the first eight years. It has been said that corporations have no souls. The author of the reproach could not have been acquainted with this and some other corporations of New England. What vig- ilance this town manifested, in its infancy, in the reg- ulation that required " all persons unknown to them, desirous of becoming inhabitants, to bring a certificate from the place whence they came, exhibiting such tes- timony as should be satisfactory to the town, that up- on their admission as inhabitants, they should sub- scribe their names to all orders of the town, and bear their proportion of all public charges in church, town
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