USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 47
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
Stephen, son of Samuel Dix, was drowned in the Great Pond in 1705, at the age of thirteen years. Samuel was son of Ralph, who came to Reading from Ipswich in 1662. The late General John A. Dix of New York has stated that " Anthony Dix, who came to Plymouth in the second vessel that reached there after the landing of the Pilgrims, was the common ancestor of Ralph Dix and myself."
In 1706 five of a party of Indians who had at- taeked Dunstable came to the dwelling of Jolin Harnden, in the northwesterly part of Reading, now ineluded in Wilmington. They entered the house at night, through the roof, in the absence of the father, and killed Mrs. Harnden and three of eight children, and carried the others away; but the captives were recovered.
The inhabitants on the north side of Ipswich River, now North Reading, in 1709 asked advice of the town " where to sett their meeting-house." The town voted that the school be kept in the Wood End one quarter of the time this year.
In the expeditions sent against the French and Indians in Canada and Nova Scotia, in this and the following years, forty-six soldiers went from Reading.
Rev. Richard Brown, graduate of Harvard Col- lege in 1697, was ordained pastor of the church in Reading in 1712, and, like his predecessor, died
275
READING.
after a pastorate of twenty years. The church, in January, 1720-21, had a membership of two hun- dred and thirty-six persons, belonging in the ter- ritory now embraced in the towns of Melrose, Stoneham, Wilmington, North Reading, Lynn- field, Reading, and Wakefield. Three churches, Lynnfield, North Reading, and Stoneham, were formed during the pastorate of Mr. Brown, which reduced the number in his church to one hundred and eighty-four. The North Precinct was set off as a distinct parish in 1713. Its first meeting was held November 27, Sergeant George Flint serving as moderator, and John Harnden as clerk. The town voted, in 1714, to give them £30; " one half when they finish their meeting-house, and the other half when they build a ministerial house." The town voted this year " to procure a new Bell, not to cost over £50."
John Browne, captain, selectman, justice of the peace, and representative, " witty, yet wise, grave, good, among the best," as his tombstone says, died in 1717, aged eighty-three.
Rev. Daniel Putnamn, from Danvers, a graduate of Harvard College in 1717, was ordained pastor of the second church in Reading (North Reading) in 1720, which then had thirty-nine members. Six families were here in 1680; eight other fami- lies in 1684 ; five more before 1687 ; eight more before 1690. There were fifty-three tax-payers in this precinct in 1720.
In 1723 the town voted to petition the General Court concerning a free course for the fish to come to Reading.
The church records in the North Precinct men- tion "a terrible earthquake October 29, 1727, which lasted at times three months." In 1728 the town voted to accept their proportion of the bills of credit issned by the General Court.
The town voted, in 1729, to try to get rid of mending Mystic Bridge in future. The town met at Landlord Wesson's, to hear the Indian deed of the township read. The north part of Malden, now Greenwood, of ten families, was annexed to Reading.
The meeting-house, in 1730, was " seated " by a committee under instruction that "real estate and age are the two first and chiefest rules to go by in seating the meeting-house."
The town refused, by a vote of fifty to forty-five to set off Wood End to be a parish by themselves, bnt allowed them £17 a year for support of preaching among themselves during the winter. The North
Precinct, desiring that a part of Reading, Lynn, and Andover be set off to them to help support the gospel, a committee was chosen to go to the General Court to defend the parish from any " breaking in " from the North Precinct or else- where.
The expenses of the town for 1730 amounted to £77, of which £ 36 were paid for schooling. The receipts were £99, leaving to "ye town's credit" £ 22.
Rev. Richard Brown died in October, 1732. In the bill of funeral expenses Andrew Tyler, of Boston, is credited with six gold rings, £10 18s. Mrs. Martha Brown for wine furnished, £5; " Rhom" (Rum), 18s., etc. Rev. Mr. Hobby was ordained pastor of the First Church in 1733, with £ 200 as a settlement gift, an annual salary of £120, and thirty cords of wood, with the use of the parsonage. One item in the bill of expenses for the ordination is " 1 bbl. of wine," costing £13 8s.
In 1736-37 the throat distemper was preva- lent, and thirty children in this town died of it in the course of six mouths. John Swain lost his wife and six children by the disease in the course of two months.
In 1737 Ensign Nathaniel Parker died, and was the first person buried in the present cemetery in Reading. Important action was taken by the town in laying out highways, etc., throughout the town.
In 1741 Rev. George Whitefield preached on Reading, now Wakefield, Common. A vote de- scribing and defining common lands was passed, requiring them to remain unfenced. Action re- specting the burying-grounds in Wood End and in the First Parish was also taken. The town for- nished its quota of men for the expedition to Nova Scotia in 1745, and for the war that was waged for several years after against the French and Indians. It appears that nearly two hundred men of this town were in service in those years.1
The French Neutrals, who were removed by order of government from Nova Scotia in 1755, were distributed among the American colonies. About two hundred families were allotted to this state. One family, consisting of Battes Tibbedo (Baptiste Thibodeaux ?), his wife, and eight chil- dren, was sent to Reading. The town provided for them and the colony paid their expenses. In 1 Lists of soldiers in these wars are given in Eaton's History of Reading.
276
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
1760 John (Baptiste ?) Tibbedo and Margaret his wife, with six children, John, Moses, Joseph, Paul, Mary, and Elizabeth, and one grandchild, were removed from town.
In the same year another French family, Francis Meers, or Mears, with his wife and nine children, were sent here from Boston, but soon after three of them were sent to Stoneham, one to Malden; the remainder, including the father, were left in Read- ing. In 1763 the town appropriated £ 2 to Fran- cis Mears, " a Frenchman," provided he, with his family, move to Salem. He probably went away, but for ten years received assistance from Reading, mostly in wood, as appears from the records. There is no positive evidence of the fact, but it is suggested that the Mears families in this vicinity may be descendants of this Francis Meers.
Rev. Daniel Putnam, pastor of the Second Church (North Precinct), died in 1759, after a pastorate of about thirty-nine years. There were added to his church, during his ministry, one hundred and ninety-four persons ; he baptized four hundred and ninety-one persons, and joined one hundred and eleven couples in marriage.
Rev. Eliab Stone, in 1761, was ordained pastor as the successor of Mr. Putnam. This year, by payment of £ 14, Reading was relieved of all fur- ther expense in " repairing and supporting the Mystic Bridge in Medford."
The first store in the present town, and perhaps in the three parishes, was probably opened by James Bancroft in 1761. He gave notice of lav- ing " sundry sorts of West India and other goods," which he proposed to sell " as reasonably as they are sold in Medford, Charlestown, and Boston." The people for many years did their principal trad- ing in Salem. During the winter season they drew their produce on hand-sleds, going in parties to market, and bringing back such goods as they needed.
Rev. Mr. Hobby, pastor of the First Church, died in 1765, after a settlement of thirty-two years. He was reputed a man of learning, picty, and abil- ity as a speaker and writer. In 1750 and 1751 he was called to sit in the councils in Northamp- ton, at the request of Jonathan Edwards, who wished to have two churches from abroad to coun- terbalance, in some measure, the prejudices of the churches invited in that vicinity. Deacon Samuel Bancroft - grandfather of the historian, Hon. George Bancroft - was one of the delegates.
The people of this town seem to have taken a
constant and active interest in public affairs. A town-meeting, hield October, 1765, instructed their representative in the General Court to join in every proper measure for a repeal of the Stamp Act, and "to oppose the execution of it, until the remon- strances, petitions, and cries of these distressed colonies shall reach the ears of our sovereign." While professing the greatest loyalty to the king, and to the parliament as the " the most respectable body of men on earth," they insist on maintaining " our rights as freeborn Englishmen."
The First Parish, in 1768, erected a new house of worship, near the old one. The residents of Wood End demurred, and made an effort for sepa- ration, which was not successful, although it was recommended by a committee of the General Conrt. The effort was renewed in the next year, and the Court ordered the division, and incor- porated the Third Parish, it being substantially the same territory that is now included in the town of Reading. The new parish took many of the best men and families from the First Parish. The first meeting was held August 9, 1769. John Temple was moderator; Samuel Bancroft, clerk ; John Temple, treasurer; John Temple, Samuel Ban- croft, and Captain Nathan Parker, assessors. Money was raised for completing the meeting- house, which stood on the south side of the Com- mon. It was subsequently removed, and is now known as the Union Hall school-building.
Rev. Caleb Prentiss, a graduate of Harvard Col- lege in 1765, became pastor of the First Parish.
Eighty-eight members of the First Church, in answer to their petition, were dismissed Febru- ary 8, 1770, " in order to their being incorporated into a distinct church by themselves." This body established what is now known as the " Old South " Church in Reading.
Rev. Thomas Haven, the first minister, ordained November 7, 1770, was a graduate of Harvard College in 1765. He died May 7, 1782, aged thirty-eight years. He was the son of Rev. Elias Haven, of Franklin, Massachusetts.
The number of voters in the First Parish (Wake- field), in 1771, was eighty ; in the Second Parish (North Reading), sixty-six; in the Third (Read- ing), sixty-three. Ten persons were chosen " quir- isters" in the First Parish, " to tune the Psalm."
Live alewives were put into Martin's Pond by an authorized committee of the North Parish.
The troubles with the mother country now attract the public attention, and in January, 1773, at a
277
READING.
public meeting held in response to a letter from the town of Boston, the town chose Benjamin Brown, Samuel Bancroft, Esq., Lieutenant John Walton, Captain Thomas Flint, Deacon Amos Upton, Captain David Green, Mr. John Temple, Mr. William Sawyer, Mr. Andrew Beard, a com- mittee to consider and report upon the public griev- ances recited in the letter. The report instructs Deacon Daniel Putman, the representative from Reading, " to exert himself " that the salaries of the judges be raised " adequate to their station and service," so as to render them "as independent on prince and people as possible." Other griev- ances " publicly known " are referred to, and the representative is instructed " to use his utmost en- deavor in every constitutional way to procure a redress of our grievances, and a restoration of that happy harmony which lately subsisted between Great Britain and her colonies." They caution him against consenting " to measures which may in the least preclude us or our posterity from as- serting our just rights as men and British subjects."
In June, 1774, it was voted that we " maintain our Charter Rights in every constitutional way." Also, a committee of nine was chosen to inquire into present exigencies, and report at a future meeting. The report is signed by Benjamin Brown, chairman. It refers to the unjust taxation, the un- availing remonstrances, the increasing distresses, the action previously taken to maintain their rights, the uncertainty that clouded the future, and to the fear of taking any action that might counteract measures that the proposed Congress of Commis- sioners from all the colonies might fix upon to relieve the present distress. The closing paragraph is worthy of repetition: "We also think it the duty of every one to refrain from the luxuries and superfluities of life, and to the utmost of our power to encourage our own manufactures, humbling our- selves before Almighty God, and earnestly suppli- cating him for deliverance; for how much soever we judge these things unrighteous, as coming from the hands of meu, we must allow they are just, as sent from God." John Temple and Benjamin Brown were sent as deputies to the Provincial Con- gress, and an appropriation was made for support of the commissioners. The town, subsequently to the action of the congress, voted to adopt the senti- ments of the congress as their own, and strictly to adhere to them. A committee was chosen to carry their vote into effect. Early in 1775 it was voted to pay minute-men for three hours' attendance on
parade, twice a week, for three months. May 24, 1775, the town met in the West Parish meeting- house (now Union Hall School-house), and voted to choose a committee of correspondence. Cap- tain Jolin Walton, Lieutenant Benjamin Flint, and Sergeant Jonas Parker, were chosen. It was voted in July following to add six more to the committee, and Benjamin Brown, Thomas Sim- onds, James Flint, Abraham Sheldon, Jacob Emer- son, and John Emerson were chosen.
A company of volunteers was early formed here, which was drilled by Dr. John Brooks, who be- came its captain, and was afterwards major, general, and finally governor of the state. . Before the commencement of hostilities he frequently visited Boston, and observed the manner in which the Brit- ish troops were drilled. He instructed his com- pany of minute-men here in the lessons he thus learned, till they became proficient in military tactics. 1
On the 18th April, 1775, Captain Brooks was in Boston, and learned of the probable movements of the British. He returned to Reading, and while professedly visiting his patients, during the evening, in different parts of the town, summoned his inen to be ready to march at once. They gathered in the latter part of the night at Weston's Corner, in Wood End, and under command of Lieutenant James Bancroft, marched via Bedford to Concord. Rev. Edmund Foster, then a young man, a private in the Reading company, in an account of these events, wrote : " A little before we came to Mer- riam's Hill we discovered the enemy's flank guard of about eighty or one hundred men, who, on the retreat from Concord, kept the height of land, the main body being in the road. The British troops and the Americans at that time were equally dis- tant from Merriam's Corner. About twenty rods short of that place the Americans made a halt. The British marched down the hill with very slow but steady step, without music, or a word being spoken that could be heard. Silence reigned on both sides. As soon as the British had gained the main road, and passed a small bridge near the
1 This company was drilled in the evening in the large kitchen of the parsonage, now the residence of Mr. George Gronard. It was said that the marks made by the guns of the men in the ceil- ing were visible till recently covered by repairs. When General Lafayette stopped on his way through this town in 1825, and was waited upon by some of the citizens and old soldiers, Rev. Mr. Sanborn, in a brief speech, claimed that the first company of minute-men formed in the colonies was this under the command . of Dr. Brooks.
278
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
corner, they faced about suddenly and fired a volley of musketry upon us. They overshot, and no one to my knowledge was injured by the fire. The fire was immediately returned by the Americans, and two British soldiers fell dead at a little dis- tance from each other in the road near the brook. The battle now began, and was carried on with little or no military discipline or order on the part of the Americans during the remainder of the day. Each sought his own place and opportunity to attack and annoy the enemy from behind trees, rocks, and fences, as seemed most convenient." Some of the citizens of Reading shouldered their arms, and went alone to the scene of action and did good service. The " trainband " of the First Parish were ordered by express to Lexington. The alarm-guns were fired at about eight o'clock in the morning, and brought the " alarm list " together. Rev. Mr. Prentiss shouldered his musket and marched with them, faithfully doing his duty in hastening the retreat of the British back to Boston.
Some if not all the company of minute-men were soon after stationed at Cambridge. On the day of the battle of Bunker Hill, it is said that they were on guard at headquarters. When General Washington took command under the shade of the Cambridge elm, July 3, the Reading men where there on duty.
There were received, April 26, probably from Salem, and deposited in Reading meeting-house and school-house, one hundred and fifty-one bar- rels of pork, sixty-three barrels of flour, six barrels of beef, and sixteen bushels of rye ; but it appears that these supplies were immediately removed to Watertown by order of the commissary general. June 17, the selectmen were ordered to send forth- with all the powder in the town stock to Water- town, except one pound per man, and June 18, they were " desired to provide provision sufficient for the militia of your town, now at Cambridge, and send it forward soon as may be."
The battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, compelled the flight of many persons to the neighboring towns. Numbers came to Reading and remained here. Mr. Dana Parker, of this town, has an eight- day clock, still keeping good time, that was with other things thrown into a cart and brought from Charlestown on that memorable occasion.
In response to the Committee of Supplies at Wa- tertown, Benjamin Brown, chairman of the select- men, and John Walton, chairman of the town com- mittee of correspondence, June 22, say : "We trust
we are as ready to assist in defence of our country as any town in the province ; but the great flow of the inhabitants of Boston, Charlestown, Medford, Malden, Salem, and Marblehead, daily flocking into this town, must, we think, be a sufficient excuse for not sending provisions. As for blankets, we have been obliged to find near a hundred for men en- listed out of this town, and they were collected from house to house, there not being new ones to be bought."
In November an urgent call was made on the town for wood for the soldiers. In reply, it was stated : "We have exerted our utmost that they may be supplied ; but there being about one hundred men from this town in the army, we are under great difficulty for hewers of wood ; if you will send up the captain of the company from this town, with a party of men, to cut wood, we make no doubt our teams will be immediately employed, and continue until they carry a hundred cords or more." De- cember 4, it was voted that the First Parish carry fourteen cords of wood, the Second Parish twelve and a half cords, the Third Parish twelve cords, per week, to the army on Winter Hill. Subse- quently the town is urged, by order of the General Court, in consequence " of the distress of the army for wood, to supply not only such quantity as has been set to them, but as much more as they possi- bly can."
Nine persons were chosen by the town to carry wood to the army. Hay was also sent, in answer to a requirement of the court. The quartermaster allowed £5 per ton for it, and the town voted to pay what it cost more than that.
A census of the state taken in 1776 shows Read- ing to have been the second town in the county in population. In May the town voted unanimously to adhere to the determination of Congress relative to independence, and stand by it to the last, witlı their lives and their fortunes.
Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell and seven other Highland officers were sent prisoners to the West Parish, with some women and chil- dren. They were quartered near the post-office in Reading (the present town), in the house formerly belonging to Colonel Nathan Parker, and more recently to Mr. James Davis. They occupied their time to such an extent in practice with musical in- struments, as to be a source of much annoyance to the citizens. The British officers petitioned the council for support for their servants, but it was not granted.
279
READING.
The selectmen petitioned the court for assistance in supporting about sixty needy persons from Bos- ton and Charlestown, called " Donation People."
In August, 1777, the selectmen certify that the number of men borne on the training-band and alarm-list is three hundred and forty-eight, and they request of the honorable board of war the town's proportion of fire-arms, gunlocks, lead, and flints. The town also votes £12 for purchase of lead and flints. Calls are made for men to be in readiness to march " without delay," and " on the shortest notice," indicating the frequent emergen- cies of the times. The town further showed its loyalty to the patriot cause by voting that the town treasurer should receive none but continental bills.
In town-meeting, September 22, 1777, Captain John Goodwin was added to the committee of cor- respondence, inspection, and safety ; and Mr. Jona- than Flint was chosen " tory prosecutor."
Many of the Reading soldiers were in the battle of Saratoga, which resulted in the capture of Bur- goyne and his army. Joshua Eaton was killed there October 7. Colonel Brooks saw him fall, and exclaimed to Captain James Bancroft, " Our brave Sergeant Eaton is gone." Eaton lived on the Ivory Murray farm, near the Esquire Pres- cott place in Reading.
The town voted in 1778 to raise £ 246 12s. to defray the expense of purchase and delivery of clothing at Concord, required for the army by the General Court.
Burgoyne's men were quartered in Cambridge and vicinity. Some of the Reading soldiers were in service during the winter of 1778, at Winter Hill, in charge of the prisoners. It is said that nearly fifty of the prisoners were quartered in Reading, in the house near the depot, formerly the residence of Esquire Sweetser. In repairing the house a few years since, a metallic spoon, of pecul- iar shape, was found, stamped with the British lion and other devices, indicating that it belonged to the British prisoners. It is said the prisoners, for their daily exercisc, were required to march under guard around the Great Pond.
In 1779 pestilence was added to war, the small- pox prevailing so extensively that the town took measures to prevent its spreading. Inoculation was forbidden. The town chose a committee against monopoly, and another against forestalling. Active efforts were made to regulate prices, which were becoming exorbitant. The town voted to accept the measures recommended by a convention
held at Concord, "for lowering the prices of the articles of life," and a committee was chosen for "regulating internal prices." It was voted, a few months later, to choose a committee to carry mat- ters into speedy execution. The committee was also required to affix prices to those articles not regulated by the convention. The meeting was adjourned to a future day, when the committee re- ported. It appearing that people in general were breaking over the " regulating bill," it was thought proper not to appoint another meeting.
In the following year the town was required to furnish twenty-three militia soldiers for three months, twenty-three continental soldiers for six months, and twenty-three for three years, or during the war; and it is recorded that the town always filled its quota. In October and December requisi- tions were made upon the town for 36,000 pounds of beef for the army, and the town voted to raise £56,000, Old Tenor, for purchase thereof. In July following it was voted to raise £250 in silver to purchase 9,866 pounds of beef for the army ; and also voted that their treasurer receive £1 of new emission for £40 of old emission, or £1 in specie for £75 of old emission. In 1782 the town voted to empower the treasurer to sell new emission bills at the rate of three dollars for one in hard money. At a later date a committee was chosen for taking up "inimical Fellows." No important votes pertaining to the war appear on record after this date.
On the 19th of May, 1780, occurred what is called the Dark Day. Captain Joseph Bancroft recorded : "On this day there was an uncommon darkness from 10 to 2 o'clock, and the evening after not to be forgot by me, I trust, while I live."
In 1782 occurred the death of Rev. Thomas Haven, first pastor of the church in the West Parish, in the twelfth year of his ministry; "a most sorrowful event to the people of his charge." The parishi bought back the parsonage estate they had sold to him. Troubles also culminated in the First Parish in an attempt to dismiss Rev. Mr. Prentiss. The chief objection against him was re- specting his Arminian sentiments ; but the parisli " voted to dismiss the whole," and the pastor re- mained.
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.