USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102
When Smith was on his retreat from Concord and was severely pressed in passing the woody defiles in Lincoln, Captain Parker, who had col- lected his company, met him ; and, taking a posi- tion in the open field to avenge the outrage of the morning, poured a full volley into his flying ranks; and from that time hung upon his flank, giving him great annoyance. As Smithi approached the line of Lexington, liis retreat was little less than a rabble rout. To save himself from disgrace, he threw a detachment of his men upon a rocky bluff which almost overhung the road near the old Viles Tavern, to hold his pursuers in check till he could arrest. the flight of his men on what is known as Fiske Hill. Taking advantage of the woods and a narrow defile, he brought the front of his fugitives to a stand, and attempted to form a line, where he could, temporarily at least, hold the provincials in check. But before his line was fully formed, his rear, stationed on the bluff, was driven in upon his half- formed column, creating great confusion. In the mean time a considerable number of the provincials, avoiding the troops on the bluff, had passed throughi the woods, and secreted themselves behind a lot of split rails near the road where Smith was attempt- ing to form his men ; and when his rear was driven in, and the Americans were gathering around him and picking off his men, the Americans, from their hiding-place behind the rails, poured a well-directed enfilading fire into his ranks, creating perfect con- fusion and dismay. Here Smith was severely wounded, and Pitcairn was also wounded and thrown from his horse, which, in his sudden flight,
25
LEXINGTON.
bounded from the road and with all his trappings became an easy prey to the pursuers. The horse and the accoutrements were sent to Concord, where they were sold at auction. Captain Nathan Bar- rett purchased the holsters and pistols marked with Pitcairn's name, and offered them to General Washington, who declined them. They were after- wards presented to General Putnam, who carried them through the remainder of his active service in the war. They were long in the possession of his family, but have recently been presented to Lexington by Mrs. Elizabeth Putnam of Cam- bridge, N. Y.
Another incident occurred at Fiske Hill worthy
--
of note. The gallantry of the Acton mncn ou that day is proverbial. They were the first to attack at Concord, and among the last to give over the pursuit. James Heywood, one of her brave sons, a young man of twenty-two years, being one of the foremost in pressing upon the enemy, at the east- erly foot of Fiske Hill came in contact with a British soldier, who had stopped to slake his thirst at a well. The Briton presented his musket and said defiantly, " You are a dead man !" " And so are you !" retorted young Heywood. Both fired and both fell, the Briton dead, and Heywood mor- tally wounded.
After the affair at Fiske Hill where Smith was
-p
Munroe's Tavern.
wounded, he made no further attempt to check his pursuers, but gave himself up to inglorious flight. By their own confession, " they were driven like sheep " through Lexington village, where in the morning they had shown such a prond step and brazen front; and when they met their reinforce- ment, their own historian, who was present, says, " they threw themselves upon the ground with their tongues running out of their mouths like dogs after a chase." The long-expected reinforce-
ment met Smith's fugitive troops about two o'clock on the plain about three fourths of a mile below Lexington Common. It consisted of eleven liun- dred men, and two pieces of artillery, under the command of Lord Percy. This gave Smith an opportunity to halt, and give his weary troops a short time to rest and seek refreshment ; which they improved by entering into the houses on the plain, and demanding food, which was readily given them. But after they had obtained all the house
26
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
afforded, they wantonly commenced a system of pillage and plunder, and in several cases set fire to the house they had plundered. The officers with Percy resorted to Munroe's tavern just be- low. The occupants of the house left the place in affright, leaving only John Raymond, an aged man, who was at the time one of the family. The intruders ordered him to supply them with all the good things the house afforded, which he readily did. But after they had imbibed too freely, they be- came noisy and so alarmed Raymond that he sought to escape from the house; but was brutally fired upon and killed in his attempt to flee from danger.
While the troops were resting here, the field- pieces were put in requisition ; and wherever any gathering of Americans was discovered, they were saluted by a cannon-ball. One gun posted on a mound then existing where the present high-school house now stands threw several shots into the vil- lage, one of which entered the meeting-house, passed out of the pulpit window, and lodged in the north- ern part of the Common. Thie large reinforcement with their artillery kept the provincials at bay while they remained at Lexington. In the mean time General Heath came over from Watertown, and took the command of the provincials, and in a manner directed their movements during the remainder of the day; General Warren accom- panied him. After resting here about an hour and a quarter, Percy, as commanding officer, com- menced his retreat. The surrounding hills for the first two or three miles protected his flanks, and his cannon guarded his rear. The provincial troops kept up their pursuit, and when he arrived at Arlington, he was met by the military which had gathered from the towns below, who readily escorted him, to his great annoyance aud mortification, to Charlestown.
We have seen that the capture of Hancock and Adams, who were known to be at Clarke's, was probably one of the objects of the expedition. When Revere and the Lexington men who had been taken prisoners by the British officers were liberated, Hancock and Adams were apprised of their danger, and they left Mr. Clarke's house. Be- ing desirous of witnessing whatever might occur, they repaired to the rising ground in front of Mr. Clarke's, then covered with a thick growth of wood, where they could overlook the Common, and feel themselves secure. They remained there till the British left for Concord. It was here that the patriotic Adams, foreseeing the result of the
British oppression, when he heard the report of their fatal volley, exclaimed, " What a glorious morning for America is this !" Far-seeing patriot, thy vision has been realized with exultation ! After the British left for Concord, Hancock and Adams were conducted first to Burlington and then to Chelmsford.
Lexington's patriotic zeal did not expire with the 19th of April. During the siege of Boston she furnished men, wood, and other supplics for the army. On the 6th of May, Captain Parker with a detail of forty-five men repaired to the headquarters of the army at Cambridge, and re- mained several days guarding the lines. And on the memorable 17th of June of that year, the gal- lant Parker with sixty-one of his company reported for duty at Cambridge; but they were deprived of the honor of participating in the struggle on Bunker Hill, by being kept at Cambridge, from an apprehension that the British might cross the river and attack the Americans while so many of our troops were engaged at Charlestown. Lexing- ton also furnished her quota in the different cam- paigus at New York, Ticonderoga, White Plains, the Jerseys, Bennington, Providence, and other places, on the shortest notice; and in the Conti- mental army of the Revolution she had over one hundred men who enlisted for three years or during the war. And more recently, in the late Rebellion, she furnished, including re-enlistments, two hun- dred and forty-four men, which was something more than her quota. She also sustained her sol- diers liberally, expending $27,000 in the late war. Nearly $2,000 of this sum was furnished by the ladies, who provided clothing and hospital supplies for the gallant men who were exposing their lives for their country.
But Lexington has a civil, as well as a military, history. Her population, for reasons already stated, has not advanced rapidly, but her growth has been gradual and healthy, her population at this time being 2,510. But by industry her wealth has in- creased more rapidly than her population. Within the last twenty years her valuation has arisen from $1,815,799 to $2,979,711, a gain of sixty-four per cent in twenty years. Lexington has not been behind her sister towns in providing for the edu- cation of her children. As soon as she was clothed with corporate powers, she erected a school-house in the centre of the town, and provided for what was known at that day as "a moving school," which was kept alternately in different parts of the
27
LEXINGTON.
town. After the close of the Revolution, in 1795, | three years, when the devouring element reduced three new school-houses were erected, and $333 the edifice to ashes, and so broke up this flourish- ing and successful school, to the regret of the peo- ple. Lexington cannot boast of her learned or distinguished men. Since the days of Hancock and Clarke she has had her full share of men of respectable standing for ability, but none of world- wide fame. The only exception to this is Theodore Parker, who was born in Lexington, and whose eccentric, sceptical tendencies have given him a strong hold upon those whose speculations run in the same channel. A marble bust of him may be seen in our library. were appropriated to sustain the schools. Though this sum may appear insignificant, when we reflect upon the low rate of wages at that day, and the fact that the fuel was given, and the board of the teacher was gratuitous, we see that this sum would sustain a school much longer at that day than at this. The sum here mentioned has been increased from time to time. In 1819 the town appropriated $900, in 1830 $1,000, in 1837 $1,400, in 1850 $2,400, in 1860 $3,400, in 1870 $6,000, in 1875, $10,000; amounting to $21.72 to each scholar in town between the ages of five and fif- Like most other towns, Lexington has about the usual variety of religious societies : one Unitarian, one Calvinistic, one Baptist, one Union, - com- posed of Unitarians and Universalists, - and one Roman Catholic. All have good houses of wor- ship; the two first named have houses tastefully finished ; and all are supplied with faithful minis- ters, and are in a good condition. teen ; and making Lexington stand tenth in a list of three hundred and thirty-eight cities and towns in the state; and sixth in the county of fifty cities and towns, - a distinction highly cred- itable to Lexington. She has now seven good school-houses, in two of which we have graded schools. Lexington also supports a high school, and has paid her teacher more than almost any town in the state of the same number of scholars.
·
The subject of education and the organization of the school system being a subject of deep interest, in 1820 Lexington appointed a committee to con- sider and report upon the whole subject. This committee, at a subsequent meeting, submitted a full and able report, and to their honor it may be said, that not only the town accepted their report with great unanimity, but that seven years after, when the subject had been agitated and discussed by the legislature, they enacted a general school law, embracing substantially every provision which had been reported by the Lexington committee seven years before. In 1821, an academy. was es- tablished in Lexington, which was well sustained a few years, and at length the building was occu- pied by the first normal school established in New England, if not in the country. This school was well sustained, and met public approbation, but was in a few years removed to Newton on mere local considerations. The proprietor of the " Lex- ington House," a large and popular hotel, became embarrassed, and after the property passed out of his hands, it was purchased by Dr. Dio Lewis, who opened what he denominated a movement school, in which physical development received a large share of attention. This school was confined to females, and was patronized by young ladies from all parts of the free states. The school was well sustained and conducted, and continued about
Our churches, school-houses, and the dwellings generally are well painted, and are in a state of good repair ; and in these respects Lexington will compare favorably with the neighboring towns. We have one building which is worthy a special notice, "The Massachusetts House," which is open for public entertainment. It is the identical building erected at Philadelphia for the visitors from this commonwealth at the great centennial exhibition in 1876. The building was purchased, taken down, and brought to Lexington, and liere set up and put in good order. It is a building of a peculiar structure, and makes a singular but pleasant appearance. It is situated in the centre of the town, near the town-hall. Its history and the manner in which it is conducted commend the house to public patronage.
The town-hall in Lexington is an edifice highly creditable to the town. It is a brick building, ninety-five feet by fifty-eight, and is thirty-eight feet in height above the basement, with a double Louvre roof. The building furnishes a large audience hall, with suitable anterooms, apartments for the town officers, a memorial hall, and a library hall. The memorial hall is an octagon, with suit- able corridors, containing four niches, filled with four marble life-size statues : two of soldiers, one a minute-man of 1775, and the other a Union soldier of 1861. The other two niches are filled with the statues of Samuel Adams, the organizer of the American Revolution, and of John Hancock,
28
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
P
1775
RUSSELL- RICHARDSON.5€
the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. These statues are the work of distinguished Ameri- can artists. The hall also contains tablets with the names of the martyrs of both wars, and a Con- federate gun captured in the late Rebellion. The entrance to this hall has the following appropriate inscription : -
LEXINGTON CONSECRATES THIS HIALL AND ITS EMBLEMS TO THE MEMORY OF THE
FOUNDERS AND SUSTAINERS OF OUR FREE INSTITUTIONS.
The library hall is a large, commodious room, appropriately fitted up for the purpose. The library was established in 1868, and now contains six thousand two hundred volumes, besides maps and charts, and is constantly increasing. As its resources furnish about $ 550 annually, and public institutions and individuals are liberal in their donations, we trust the library will soon be worthy of the historic town of Lexington. The library hall also contains many interesting relics of the
29
LEXINGTON.
1861
Revolution, such as swords, guns, powder-horns, etc. Among the relics the most interesting are the identical pistols carried by Major Pitcairn on the memorable 19th of April, 1775. One of these pistols broke the peaceful relation between the colonies and the mother country, being the first gun of the Revolution. For these valuable relics we are indebted to the patriotism of Mrs. Putnam, wife of the grandson of the old patriot, General Israel Putnam, the hero of two wars. The walls
are adorned with portraits and engravings. Like most towns, Lexington has a considerable corporate debt. Her town-hall, though built on very fa- vorable terms, cost at least $ 43,800, and her cen- tennial celebration some $10,000 more. These items, with her war debt, etc., had amounted in 1876 to $ 64,000. But with a true spirit of econ- omy the town has reduced the debt to $51,800, and has a surplus of at least $6,000, which might have been held as a sinking-fund to pay the notes as they
30
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
SAM'L. ADAMS
become due. The assessors estimate the corporate property of the town, without including the library, the cemeteries, statues, etc., at $91,200; so that no alarm arises from the indebtedness of the town. Her rate of taxation last year was $12 on $1,000, and will probably not exceed $10 in future.
Lexington, as we have already seen, is well sup- plied with railroad, post-office, and telegraph ac- commodation. She has two daily expresses, an organized fire department, a gas company which
supplies an excellent article, and, - a doubtful ap- pendage to the institutions of a small country town, -a weekly newspaper, edited by a non-resi- dent and printed out of town. She has her roads in good repair, her streets kept clean by day and well liglited by night.
The people of Lexington have always felt that they were placed by Providence in a peculiar situation. To be acknowledged throughout the country as the birthplace of American liberty ---
LEXINGTON.
31
Polly plurise to sich
JOHN HANCOCK
the spot where the first organized resistance was made to the king's troops, where the first blood was shed and the first martyrs fell, - had given to Lexington a historic character which impressed upon them a sacred regard for the free institutions of the country. Not only the twenty-two muni- cipalities which have taken our name, but the peo- ple in every section of the broad domain, virtually ask us to be true to our ancient fame.
the day to which we have so often referred, Lex- ington felt called upon to open her doors, and invite the friends of freedom from every part of the country to meet on her consecrated soil, that we might join our hands and our voices in gratitude to the mem- ory of the patriots who achieved and have sus- tained our glorious independence; and to renew our vows to make our republic an example to the world. Our invitations were sent to the presi-
On the approach of the centennial anniversary, | dent and suite, to the governors of all the states,
32
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
Battle Monument.
offieers of the army and navy, members of con- gress, judges of the courts, members of our state government, and gentlemen of distinction of every profession in all seetions of the country. Nor were our invitations confined to this country. They were sent across the Atlantic, and brought eordial responses from our ministers abroad and from two distinguished members of the British parliament.
We saw that we were destined to lead off in a series of eentennial celebrations, which, though confined to this country, would exert an influence abroad ; and we resolved that we would set an ex- ample that should be followed in harmony with the general design of these commemorative rejoicings ;
and, without waiting for others, we, as our fathers did of old, acted on our own judgment. And knowing that we had a country to harmonize, we extended our invitations to . those who had been estranged from us, to show them that we, like the father in the parable, would " meet a great way off " all those who had come to themselves, and were willing to return to the parental mansion. We intended that all our proceedings should be strictly national, and calculated to remove mistrust and restore harmony between the different sections of the country. Our speakers were selected with reference to this design, and the tone and spirit of their speeches were of a highly patriotic and con-
33
LEXINGTON.
ciliatory character ; and while we have heard with pleasure the tone of later celebrations, and the voice of the press, we can congratulate ourselves that the fraternal, forgiving manifestation here dis- played was touching the key-note which has proved acceptable to all the lovers of national harmony.
The attendance at onr celebration vastly exceeded our expectations. The President and his cabinet, and distinguished guests from every section of the country, honored ns with their presence; and legions -for they were many - flocked to our town, and so blocked our streets that they were for a great part of the day impassable for carriages. It was esti- mated by the best judges that there were in the town that day at least a hundred thousand people. The day was unusually cold for the season, - the thermometer ranging from 24 to 28° above zero. Such numbers disappointed most of our guests and greatly mortified us at the time, because we could not accommodate them as we desired. But on further reflection we, and we believe the intelli- gent portion of our guests who were incommoded, rejoiced rather than otherwise that the crowd was so great. Though this was rejoicing in tribulation, this gathering by thousands showed that the spirit of 1775 was not extinct. And it became mani- fest to all that the story of the 19th of April, and the results and associations connected therewith, had produced such a grand swell of patriotism, such a feeling of gratitude to our Revolutionary fathers, such a deep sense of the worth of our institutions, as would insure the perpetuity of the Republic.
We have endeavored to show the interest taken by the citizens of Lexington in the events connected with the opening scene of the American Revolution; and to claim the honors justly due to her for the part which occurred in our town. But we do not rely upon the locality of the occurrences. It is not the soil that imparts glory to the transactions of the day. If the honor was territorial, then Acton and Danvers, whose gallant citizens performed so conspicuous a part on that day, would be robbed of the honor so justly their dne. No; the honor is due to the deeds and to the brave men who per- formed them, and not to the town in which they happened to occur. There need be no jealousy be- tween any of the towns through which the British passed, or which participated in the affairs of that day ; the glory is sufficient for each locality and. for every actor on the occasion, and cannot right- fully be monopolized by any one town.
We are satisfied with the share of honor awarded
to us by the public ; and we cannot better close our remarks than by showing the appreciation at the close of the eighteenth century of the fame of Lexington by the state legislature, which made an appropriation for the first monument in honor of the first effort by the first martyrs of Liberty.
The following is the language of the appropria- tion : " For the purpose of erecting in said town a Monument of Stone, on which shall be engraved the names of the eight men, inhabitants of Lexing- ton, who were slain on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, by a party of British troops; together with such other inscription as, in the judgment of the Selectmen and the approbation of the Governor and Council, shall be calculated to preserve to pos- terity a record of the first effort made by the people of America for the establishment of their freedom and independence."
The inscription upon the monument was furnished by the patriotic Mr. Clarke, and met the approba- tion of the governor and council. It is so replete with devotion to the cause of America and the love of freedom and the rights of mankind, and so true to history and the spirit of the day, that we will give it entire : --
"SACRED TO LIBERTY AND THE RIGHTS OF MANKIND !!! THE FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE OF AMERICA, SEALED AND DEFENDED WITH THE BLOOD OF HER SONS.
This Monument is erected By the inhabitants of Lexington, Under the patronage and at the expense of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, To the memory of their fellow Citizens, Ensign Robert Munroe, and Messrs. Jonas Parker, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, Jun., Isaac Muzzy, Caleb Harrington, and John Brown, Of Lexington, and Asahel Porter of Woburn, Who fell on the Field the First Victims to the Sword of British Tyranny and oppression, On the Morning of the ever memorable Nineteenth of April An. Dom. 1775. The Die was cast ! ! ! The Blood of these Martyrs In the canse of God and their country Was the Cement of the Union of these States, then Colonies, and gave the Spring to the Spirit, Firmness, And Resolution of their Fellow Citizens. They rose as one Man to revenge their Brethren's Blood, and at the point of the sword to assert and Defend their native Rights. They nobly dared to be free ! ! The contest was long, bloody, and affecting, Righteous Heaven approved the solemn appeal, Victory erowned their arms; and The Peace, Liberty, and Independence of the United States of America was their Glorious Reward."
34
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
LINCOLN.
BY WILLIAM F. WHEELER.
HE town of Lincoln is a collec- tion of hills in the heart of Middlesex County. Its centre is abont thirteen and one half miles west-northwest from the state house, and its territory is bounded north by Bedford, east- erly by Lexington and Wal- tham, southerly by Weston and Wayland, and northwesterly by Concord. Its greatest length is upwards of five, and its greatest breadth about three and one half, miles, and it embraces about eight thousand five hundred acres. The hill on which the meeting- house stands is four hundred and seventy feet above high-water mark at Boston, and though there are other hills of greater altitude, it is believed to be the highest land in the county whereon men have built themselves habitations. From the sum- mit of this hill, in fine weather, the prospect ex- tends from the seminary buildings in Andover to the churches in Hopkinton, and from Bunker Hill Monument to the New Hampshire hills.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.