History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 44

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat
Number of Pages: 650

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 44

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Thomas Rice (died 1873) was a native of New- ton Lower Falls, where he spent his whole life. He was an eminent paper manufacturer, and one of the leading men of the town both before and during the Civil War. He was selectman twenty- eight years, and chairman of the board ten years, state senator, representative, and member of the governor's council. During the war he was spe- cially active as a citizen and patriot, never weary of service done for the country, the town, or its soldiers and their families.

Roger Sherman (died 1793), one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was born in the east part of Newton, near the residence of the late Rev. Dr. Freeman, on Waverley Avenue.

Judge Edmund Trowbridge (died 1793) was a graduate of Harvard College, and one of the most learned lawyers of Massachusetts. He was a mem- ber of the council, attorney-general of the province, and chief justice of Massachusetts. He stood justly pre-eminent on the bench and at the bar, and exer-

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

cised a salutary influence on the younger members of the profession. Many of the most distinguished lawyers of the state enjoyed his instruction. His office and salary came from the crown, and he thus not only became unpopular, but also lost the glorious opportunity of becoming one of the noblest of the sons of liberty.

Colonel Joseph Ward (died 1812) was great-great- grandson of William Ward, who came from Eng- land in 1639. He was a teacher until the battles of Lexington and Concord, and a frequent con- tributor of articles to the newspapers. He was intimate with the patriots of the Revolution, and co-operated with them in bringing about the great results of the struggle. He served at the battles of Concord and Bunker Hill, and rode over Charles- town Neck through a cross-fire of the enemy's float- ing batteries, to execute an order from General Ward, at which time a broadside was fired at him from a British man-of-war. In 1777 he was ap- pointed commissary-general of musters with the rank of colonel. In the fall of 1778 he was taken prisoner in New Jersey, and confined for a year in Flatbush, Long Island. In Jannary, 1780, he was honored with a complimentary letter from Wash- ington for his zeal and faithfulness. He was a representative from Newton to the General Court in 1796. He built the house on Waverley Avenue now owned and occupied by the heirs of the late Charles Brackett.

Colonel Ephraim Williams (died 1755), eldest son of Colonel Ephraim Williams, had distinguished military talents, and commanded the line of Massa- chusetts forts on the west side of the Connecticut River in the war with the French and Indians, and fell in battle near Williamstown, September 8,

1755. Williams College is the fruit of a donation left by him in his will. He was never married.

Deacon John Woodward, born February 4, 1724, was captain, selectman seven years, and representa- tive two years, 1783 and 1784. He was modera- tor of the town-meeting in 1776, which passed the unanimous vote, approving the act of Congress de- claring the colonies free and independent, and pledging the lives and fortunes of the citizens to sustain the government in the struggle for com- plete freedom. He was in the battle of Coneord, and loaned £100 to the town to pay the soldiers. He died May 11, 1801, aged seventy-seven. .

Deacon Elijah F. Woodward (died 1846) was prominent in church and town affairs. He was deacon of the First Church thirty-one years, repre- sentative four years, and town clerk and treasurer twenty years.

We are forbidden by the necessary limitations of this history to extend these notices of citizens of Newton who have been distinguished in church and state, and whose names are worthy of honora- ble mention. A richer catalogne of men who have been benefactors of their race, and whose influence, reaching abroad in every direction, has been felt throughout the world, could not easily be recorded. And if to the lionored dead we were permitted to add the names of many noble men among the living, to whom Newton has been a cradle or a home, such as ex-Governor Claflin and ex-Governor Alex- ander H. Rice, - both of whom attained the high- est office in the gift of the commonwealth, and have been, or now are, members of Congress, - it would be manifest to the world that this ancient town had shown itself worthy of its founders, its fame, and its history.

Holky

MI1.

PUBLIC LIBRARY

NORTH READING.

259

NORTH READING.

BY HIRAM BARRUS AND CARROLL D. WRIGHT.

ORTH READING as a distinct municipality is of recent date, although it began to be settled about 1680. The first refer- ence to the territory appears in 1651, in the grant to the in- habitants of Reading by the court, as an addition to their former bounds, " a certayne tract of land, about two miles content," lying between Mr. Bellingham's farm (in Andover) and the great river (Ipswich). In 1661 Reading ordered that John Smith, Jonathan Poole, John Browne, Jr., and William Cowdrey lay out the two-mile grant beyond the river.

The chief points of interest in the early history of the town, which do not require repeating, are included in that of Reading, of which it contin- ued to form an important part till its incorpora- tion in 1853. It was formerly known as the Second, or North Parish, and was incorporated as such in 1713, and a church in connection with it was organized soon after, which was the second church in Reading.

The first meeting-house, built upon the Common in 1717, was used for a church till the building of another in 1752. The third, which is now stand- ing near the spot occupied by its predecessors, was built in 1829. This house was relinquished to the Universalists, who had become a majority of the parish, in 1836. The lower part of the house was afterwards fitted up for a town-hall, while the upper room, during portions of each year, continnes to be used for meetings of the Universalist Society.

The Orthodox portion of the society, after the surrender of the house, erected a new one, in which they have since continued to worship.

The following is a list of pastors of the Second, or North Parish : Rev. Daniel Putnam, ordained 1720, died 1759; Rev. Eliab Stone, ordained 1761, died 1822; Rev. Cyrus Pierce, coll., or- dained 1819, dismissed 1827; Rev. J. W. East- man, installed 1828, dismissed 1832 or 1833;

Rev. J. D. Lewis, ordained 1834, dismissed 1836 ; Rev. John Orcutt, ordained 1837, dismissed 1842 ; Rev. E. W. Allen, ordained 1843, dismissed 1852; Rev. T. N. Jones, ordained 1853, died 1869; Rev. J. W. Kingsbury, ordained 1872, dismissed 1877; Rev. F. H. Foster, ordained 1877.

The more prominent clergymen who have offi- ciated as pastors in the Universalist Society, for terms of varying length, have been Rev. Mr. Marston, Rev. Mr. Griswold, Rev. Horace Morse, Rev. G. B. Emerson, and Rev. Earl Guilford.

The Baptist Society, in the North Parish, was formed in March, 1817. The church was organized in April, 1817, with twenty-four members. Their first house of worship was built in 1828, and burnt in 1860. The pastors have been : Rev. J. M. Driver, settled October, 1828, dismissed 1829; Rev. George Matthews, settled January, 1830, dismissed 1834; Rev. William Heath, settled June, 1836, dismissed 1841; Rev. J. Holbrook, settled July, 1841, dismissed 1842; Rev. J. N. Sykes, settled August, 1842, dismissed 1843; Rev. Benjamin Knight, settled April, 1845, dis- missed 1846 ; Rev. F. E. Cleaves, settled May, 1847, dismissed 1851; Rev. A. C. Bronson, set- tled June, 1851, dismissed 1854; Rev. E. W. Pray, settled February, 1855, dismissed 1857 ; Rev. Horace Eaton, settled April, 1862, dismissed 1863; Rev. W. K. Davy, settled 1863, dismissed 1868; Rev. A. W. Ashley, settled April, 1868, dismissed 1870; Rev. Charles F. Myers, settled June, 1872, dismissed 1873; Rev. William L. Brown, settled December, 1877, dismissed 1879.

The town was prompt in action on matters per- taining to the war of 1861. At a town-meeting held May 4, $1,000 were appropriated for relief of the families of the soldiers, and $500 for the soldiers. An appropriation not to exceed $1,200 was voted, April 26, 1862, for families of volun- teers, and $200 for sick and wounded soldiers and for transportation and burial of those fallen in battle. July 25, the selectmen were instructed to enlist twenty-one men to fill the quota under the

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

pending call, and to pay each volunteer a bounty of $100. It was also voted to pay the same bounty to each volunteer belonging to the town who had already enlisted. August 14, it was voted to pay a bounty of $ 150 to fill the next quota, and $4,500 were appropriated for that ob- ject. An appropriation of $ 500 was made No- vember 16, 1863, for the benefit of discharged, invalid, and disabled soldiers and their families. March 26, 1864, it was voted to raise $ 1,600 to pay bounties to volunteers. The treasurer was authorized to borrow $2,500 to pay volunteers for future calls. It was voted, August 22, to pay a bounty of $125 " for each man of the present call." Meetings were held in January and March, 1865, in which votes were passed to continue re- cruiting and the payment of bounties.

The town furnished one hundred and thirty- one men for the war, a surplus of seven above all requirements. The town expended for war pur- poses, exclusive of state aid, $15,315. State aid raised for the families of the soldiers amounted to $11,828.37.

Flint Memorial Hall is a fine building, erected and donated to the town by Mrs. Charles F. Flint. It cost nearly $20,000, and contains a public library of fifteen hundred volumes, towards which Mrs. Flint contributed $1,000. She has also given $3,000 as a permanent fund, the income of which is to be devoted to the support of the library. The hall was dedicated with appropriate services October 21, 1875. An address was de- livered on the occasion by Hon. George B. Loring. On each side of the hiall are slabs containing the names of the soldiers and sailors who died in the Civil War.

Among the men of note who were natives of the town was Rev. James Flint, D. D., born in 1779. He graduated at Harvard College in 1802, was pastor in East Bridgewater from 1806 to 1821. In the latter year he removed to Salem, where he was installed pastor of the East Society. He died in 1855. He was a man of varied and extensive culture. Ile won distinction as a scholar, preach- er, poet, and critic.

Rev. Timothy Flint, born 1780, graduated at Harvard College in 1800, and was pastor in Lunen- burg, from 1802 to 1814. " He was well known in America and on the other side of the Atlantic as the author of various works, that have given him a

rank among the most distinguished writers of the country." He died in 1840.

It is worthy of mention that a daughter of General Stark, the hero of the battle of Benning- ton, resided here for about twenty years, and died June 18, 1870, at the age of eighty-eight years. She married Samuel Dickey, of Manchester, New Hampshire, and was the mother of eleven children. Her youngest daughter, Mrs. Charlotte Stark Campbell, the youngest grandchild of the general, with whom Mrs. Dickey spent the last twenty years of her life, is still a resident here. She confirmns the statement that the name of her grandmother was not " Molly," but Elizabeth. She thinks it quite probable, however, that the general used the expression, "Molly Stark," as claimed in the tra- dition. It was one of the pet names he often applied to her. In later years he more frequently called her " Deborah."

The town statistics for the year 1878-79 give, as the total valuation, $444,518 ; total tax assessed, $7,792.06; rate of tax per $1,000, $16.40 ; number of houses, 203 ; number of acres of land assessed, 7,564; number of horses, 148; cows, 249; town debt, $19,445; number of polls, 251.

The census for 1875 gives the whole number of manufacturing establishments in the town as twen- ty-two ; number of persons employed, one hundred and seventeen; capital invested, $42,225; value of manufactures, $ 145,071. Number of per- sons employed in agriculture, one hundred and twenty-five; value of agricultural productions, $78,000. The population of the town in that year was nine hundred and seventy-nine.

The people of the town have always taken special interest in educational matters. A private acad- emy, through the influence of Colonel Daniel Flint, was opened about 1825, and flourished for several years. A high school was established by the town in 1868, which, notwithstanding the limited popu- lation, is still maintained.

The number of schools in town is six ; the whole number of pupils attending the schools in 1878 was one hundred and sixty-four; total amount expended for support of schools for that year, $ 2,124.62. This sum represents very nearly the amount annually devoted to the support of schools.

261

PEPPERELL.

BY LORENZO P. BLOOD.

ETTLEMENTS in the part of Groton west of Nashua River were commenced as early as 1720. In 1742, the number of families having increased to forty-two, a petition from them to be set off as a distinct pre- cinct was granted by the Great and General Court. Groton West Parish included all the territory bounded southerly by the road as then travelled from Fitch's Bridge to Townsend, west- erly by Townsend, northerly by Dunstable West Precinct and Old Town, and easterly by the Nashua River. As a parish, it was empowered to act for itself in matters of a parochial nature, but in all other respects it still remained a part of Groton.

At the first legal meeting of the parish, January 17, 1743, all 'the requisite officers were chosen, and ten pounds lawful money were voted to defray necessary charges. At a subsequent meeting, Feb- ruary 16, Samuel Wright was appointed a com- mittee to provide preaching till the last day of April next ensuing ; and it was voted " to build a meeting-house at the most convenient place near Jo. Blood's fordway." During the two years or more before the house was built, public worship was held in the house of Enosh Lawrence, at the East Village, and in the house of Nehemiah Ho- bart, near where Elijah A. Butterfield now lives.

So much dissatisfaction was manifested in re- gard to the location of the meeting-house, that before the expiration of the year a parish meeting was called, the vote reconsidered, and another passed, " to locate the meeting-house three fourths of a mile northeast of the centre of the town, or at the next convenient place." The result was a fierce contention, which at one time threatened the disruption of the parish. As a final resort, an appeal was made to the General Court, which ap- pointed a committee to adjust the matter. The parish also chose a committee "to show the

Court's Committee the inhabitants of the place." So promptly was the business attended to and set- tled, that the parish voted, February 19, 1745, " to set the Meeting-House on the Place that the General Court perfixed," which is the spot still occupied by the meeting-house of the First Parish.

The house - forty-two feet long, thirty feet wide, and twenty feet to the eaves- was soon after raised, and finished sufficiently to be occu- pied in the early part of the year 1745; although it was not completed for several years, as appears from the following recorded votes : -

March, 1745, " to build the Pulpit and ye Body seats below ; - to seal the Meeting House as high as the girts all Round."

March, 1746, " that Windows be cut where needed, Provided that they who cut them, Main- tain them at their own Cost, so that they be no Parish Charge."

March, 1749, " to finish the building the seats in ye Gallery, and to seal ye Meeting House from the Gallery floor up to the beams." Also, "to Glaze the Public Meeting House, and to provide boards to Lay Loose on ye floor overhead."

The house at the best could have been but little better than a barn ; and it must have required no little exercise of fortitude and resignation to sit through the lengthy services in an unfinished and unwarmed house, especially in mid-winter. But our hardy ancestors had not attained to the mod- ern ideas of church luxury nor of parish debt.

In the settlement of a minister they appear to have proceeded in a more united and prayerful way. March 13, 1744, the parish voted " to keep the last day of March instant a day of fast- ing and prayer to Almighty God for direction in the important affair of settling a minister." - It seems rather unfortunate that in this vote the location of the meeting-house was not also in- cluded.

A church was gathered on the 29th of Janu- ary, 1747, consisting of fifteen male members and about the same number of females, most of whom

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

had withdrawn from the church at Groton, for the purpose of forming this. On the 25th of Febru- ary following, Rev. Joseph Emerson of Malden was ordained and settled in the gospel ministry over the church and parish. He received a settle- ment of forty acres of land within half a mile of the meeting-house, and £120 ; also a yearly salary of thirty-five cords of firewood cut and delivered at his door, and £62 10s., to be increased £12 10s. when the parish should contain one hundred ratable families ; the number of families at that time being seventy-two. This salary was regu- lated according to the price of provisions from year to year; but the plan occasioned consider- able difficulty, and after a few years was by mu- tual consent of pastor and parish abandoned, Mr. Emerson receiving annually £73 68. 8d., reckon- ing silver at six shillings per dollar, and at six shillings and eiglitpence per ounce.

Municipal and Political. - On the 12th of April, 1753, Groton West Parish became a dis- trict by act of the General Court, and was named Pepperell in honor of Sir William Pepperell, the hero of the memorable capture of Louisburg in 1745. Mr. Emerson had been a chaplain in that expedition, and probably suggested the name of his old commander as the name of the new dis- trict. Sir William acknowledged the compliment by the customary present of a bell, which, how- ever, was never received by those for whom it was intended. It was cast in England, bearing the in- scription of the donor's name, and the couplet,

" I to the church the living call, And to the grave I summon all."

It was shipped to Boston, and stored there. One tradition is, that it was destroyed by the British soldiers during their occupancy of Boston. An- other story is, that the people of Pepperell, being so earnestly engaged in the great struggle for in- dependence, neglected to send for the bell until it had been sold to pay the expenses of storage, etc. As Sir William Pepperell died in 1759, neither of these reasons is very satisfactory. Still another version is, that a committee of three, afterwards changed to one, was chosen by the town, to go to Boston and get the bell ; that he went, sold the bell, and, having put the proceeds into his pocket, returned and reported the bell non inventus. But no record of any such committee, or of any action of the district in reference to this bell, can be found in the town records.

Mr. Emerson's previous experience and his mar-

tial proclivities led him to take an active interest in military matters. To his influence and encourage- ment, undoubtedly, was dne much of that military and patriotic spirit which characterized the inhabi- tants of Pepperell, and which furnished so many brave officers and soldiers from among her citizens.

Indian hostilities had nearly ceased before Pep- perell became a separate parish, although for several years after Mr. Emerson's settlement the men car- ried their guns with them to meeting. As inhabi- tants of Groton, they had had their full share of Indian warfare. Many were the thrilling tales of the red man's attack and the white man's bravery ; of Indian cunning and of Chamberlain's circum- spection, told by the granddames of a generation ago, as received from their grandmothers, whose husbands, fathers, and brothers were the heroes of the story.

In 1758 a company for the French War was en- listed under the command of Captain Thomas Law- rence. Previous to their departure to join the army, Mr. Emerson preached a sermon to the com- pany, congratulating the men for the cheerfulness and becoming seriousness with which they had en- gaged in this affair. Thus lie encouraged them: " Boldly, then, advance into the heart of your ene- my's country. Fear them not; let it never be said of a New England soldier, - let it never be said of a Pepperell soldier, - that he was afraid to face his enemies, or that he turned his back on them, and cowardly deserted the cause of his country." The brave and stalwart captain was obedient to the in- junction of his minister. While ont with a rang- ing party of about twenty, he was surprised by the Indians, and, with the exception of a few who fled at the first fire, the whole party were killed while fighting desperately ; not one was taken alive.

Trained in such a school, and inspired by so zeal- ous an apostle of liberty, the people of Pepperell were all prepared to enter with ardor into the contention between parliament and provinces, which led to open hostilities and war. They were among thie first to notice and protest against the arbitrary acts of the British Ministry, and among the first to sus- tain that protest by active and forcible measures.

District meetings were called, which were fully attended, and at which resolutions were unani- monsly passed, instructing their representatives in the legislature " by no means to join in any meas- ures for countenancing or assisting in the execu- tion of the said Stamp Act"; to exert themselves " in the Great and General Assembly to the ntmost

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PEPPERELL.

for the regaining of such privileges as have been wrested from us, and establishing those we do en- joy "; and to be ever watchful that they " be not induced by any means to consent to any vote or votes in the Great and General Assembly that may have a tendency to weaken our constitutional rights and privileges." Resolutions of sympathy, .en- couragement, and co-operation, " at the risk of life and treasure," were sent to the Committee of Cor- respondence in Boston ; and a Committee of Safety - was chosen to act with the committees in other towns. In January, 1766, Mr. Emerson preached a thanksgiving sermon on the repeal of the Stamp Act, and this sermon was printed for general circu- lation. A company of minute-men was enlisted, which, with companies in Hollis, New Hampshire, Groton, and other neighboring towns, was included in a regiment, of which William Prescott was ap- pointed colonel, and Henry Woods major. The Pepperell company was commanded by Captain John Nutting.

William Prescott was born in Groton Centre, February 20, 1726, but before he was of age had removed to the West Parish, and taken a farm in the tract called Groton Gore. He had been a lieutenant of provincial troops in 1755, and on his return from the expedition to Nova Scotia had been promoted to a captaincy.

About nine o'clock on the morning of April 19, 1775, a messenger from Concord arrived in Pep- perell with tidings of the fight at Lexington, and the advance of the redcoats towards Concord. Colonel Prescott immediately gave orders to the companies in Pepperell and in Hollis to march to Groton, and join the other companies there. So well prepared were the Pepperell minute-men, and so ready for such an emergency, that they arrived at the Groton rendezvous, .five miles distant, before the company there was ready to march ; and after a halt of a few minutes they marched on without waiting for the other companies.

Abel Parker- afterwards Judge of Probate for Cheshire County, New Hampshire, and father of the late Chief Justice Joel Parker - was plough- ing on his farm two or three miles distant ; but as soon as he heard the alarm, leaving his oxen un- yoked, he seized his gun in one hand and his best coat in the other, started on a run, and did not stop until he overtook his comrades, about three miles below Groton.

Another of Captain Nutting's company, Edmund Bancroft, afterwards captain, had just started for

Maine when the messenger arrived at his father's house. His father ran out into the field, and mounting a large rock called to his son, who re- turned to the house, changed his clothes, took his gun, and started towards Concord.

Colonel Prescott, with his regiment, hastened on to Concord; but, being unable to overtake the British on their retreat, proceeded to Cambridge, and made that place his headquarters.

The women of those towns were not a whit in- ferior to the men in patriotism and courage. After the departure of the minute-men, the women in the vicinity of the bridge over Nashua River (now the covered bridge) collected, dressed in their absent husbands' clothes, and armed with such weapons as they could find. Having chosen Mrs. David Wright commander, they patrolled the road, determined that no enemy to freedom should pass that bridge ; and to good purpose, for soon they had the satisfaction of arresting Captain Leonard Whiting, of Hollis, a noted tory, and the bearer of despatches from Canada to Boston. He was searched, and the treasonable correspondence which was found in his boots was sent to the Committee of Safety, while he was detained as prisoner.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 44

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905 Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat Number of Pages: 650

Author: Drake, Samuel Adams, 1833-1905
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Boston : Estes and Lauriat
Number of Pages: 650