USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 61
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Ecclesiastical Affairs. - As many of the early settlers were from Concord, we presume that Rev. Mr. Bulkley of that place preached to them occa- sionally. But the first allusion on the records to ministerial matters was in June, 1683, when a rate of five pounds was made to pay Mr. Greene, who had preached previous to that date. He proba- bly remained but a few months. June 5, 1685, a rate was made to pay Mr. Parris "for his pains amongst us." This was Rev. Samuel Parris, subse- quently so noted in connection with the Salem witch- craft delusion. His stay was short. James Minot (H. C. 1675), of Concord; preached . about one year, commencing in the autumn of 1685. At a
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meeting, November 15, 1686, Mr. William Wood- rop was invited to settle, and he accepted the call the same day. His salary was to be £40 a year, " one halfe money, ye other half in corne and graine." Immediately measures were taken to build a par- sonage. But the following spring Mr. Woodrop asked to be released from his engagement, " he having intelligence from his wiffe, as he saith, yt shee can not come to him, concluded his call was to goe to her," in England. He left the country soon after. The last of May, 1687, a committee was sent to induce Mr. Minot of Concord to re- turn, and assume the ministerial duties .. They were not successful. About the 1st of August, 1687, a Mr. Overton supplied the pulpit, and probably received a call, as in the fall of that year measures were taken to build him a house, to be finished " by ye first of Aprill, 1688." He, how- ever, took his departure in the spring. In the. early part of 1689 Mr. John Winborn commenced preaching, and was soon called to the pastoral office, which he accepted previous to August 19, 1689, when an agreement was entered into be- tween him and the town, relative to his settlement. His salary was fixed at £40 per year, " ten pounds in money, ten pounds as money, & twenty in pay." He was to have the use of the minister's house and lot, and if he remained their pastor for five years from that date, the house and land were to be freely given him, but if he died within five years, his widow was to have the "Liberty of one end of the house for two years." It does not appear that he was ever ordained or installed. After a residence of about six years, difficulties arose that led to his retirement from the pulpit. At a town- meeting, June 24, 1695, "ye people being gener- ally dissattisfied with some matt" of great offence at home, besides ye noises & scandall abroad . . . .. desired to have faire Treaty with Mr. Winborn . .. . but hee refused to attend ye sd meeting though sent to & aquainted therof." What was the cause of the trouble, we know not. Mr. Win- born, having remained the full five years as the minister of the town, claimed the parsonage and lands. A lawsuit ensued, in which the town was probably beaten, and appears to have subsequently bought the house and lot of Mr. Winborn's son.
In January, 1695- 96 an attempt was made to settle Mr. John Woodward (H. C. 1693), of Ded- ham, but it failed. Mr. Joseph Mors (H. C. 1695), also of Dedham, soon after took the supply of the pulpit, and January 18, 1696-97 was called to
the pastoral charge. He declined it, but contin- ued to preach. At the end of six months the call was unanimously renewed, and again declined. Application was then made in the autumn of 1697 to Rev. Samuel Parris, a former preacher, and recently dismissed from Salem Village, to take up once more the ministerial work with them. It is supposed he would not come for the salary of- fered. The General Court was asked for help, and ten pounds were granted. This induced Mr. Par- ris to remain. Yet after the expiration of a year's service the town were unable to agree with him relative to his further continuance, and he retired. Another call was then extended to Joseph Mors, March 27, 1699, but without avail. A new can- didate soon entered the arena. On the 24th of July, 1699, Rev. Jolın Eveleth (H. C. 1689), pre- viously settled at Manchester, was unanimously called. The town voted him " forty pounds Sal- lery pr Anna," and if he should settle, and " Cary on ye worke of ye ministry & Live & Dye with ym," then he was to have the " ministry house & all ye Land & meadow aloted for ye ministry." It was subsequently voted to get him thirty cords of firewood yearly, and to help clear up and fence his lands. In May, 1700, a long agreement rela- tive to his settlement was signed by thirty-two of the inhabitants and Mr. Eveleth, from which it appears that he had then accepted the call. He- was not, however, installed until abont the 1st of December, 1702; the exact date is unknown. The church was probably gathered at the time of the installation. Thus the town, after years of trial, secured a permanent pastor, and all things appear to have been prosperous until 1717, when some trouble arose, say the records, " in referance to Mr. Eveleth's miscarriage of late amongst us," which led to the calling of two councils, and the dismissal of the minister near the close of that year. Tradition says that Mr. Eveleth's " miscar- riage" was intemperance. He afterwards taught school in town, and in 1719, " upon ye manifesta- tion of his Repentance, was Restored to Church fellowship & Communion." He subsequently preached in Maine, and finally became an Episco- palian, and died in or near Kittery, August 1, 1734, at the age of sixty-five. He married, De- cember 2, 1692, Mary Bowman, and had Joseph and Francis, and probably other children. His wife died December 2, 1747, at about the age of seventy-five.
In the spring of 1718 Mr. John Gardner (II. C. 1715), who was the Stow schoolmaster the
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previous year, appeared as a candidate, and was called to the pastoral office June 17 of that year. He was offered a salary of £70, to be gradually raised to £80, with £100 in money or lands as a settlement. He accepted the invitation about the Ist of August, and was ordained November 26, 1718. The church at that time consisted of fifteen males and about as many females. After a faitlı- ful, and in the main peaceful pastorate of over fifty- six years, he died January 10, 1775, in the eightieth year of his age. For some time previous to his death he was quite feeble, and preached but little. He was probably a strict Calvinist, and " was strenuously opposed to the Whitfieldian move- ment "; and is represented to have been very stern in his demeanor, so that the children lived in eon- stant fear of him, but was "of good intellectual abilities, and sound in his principles of religion." During his ministry 209 persons were admitted to the church, and 1,346 were baptized. He married Mary Baxter (daughter of Rev. Joseph B.), of Medfield, April 14, 1720, and they had five sons and four daughters. She died December 30, 1784, in her eighty-fourth year. The question of an assistant was mooted during the last three years of Mr. Gardner's pastorate, and November 29, 1773, the church invited Mr. John Marrett (H. C. 1763), who had supplied the pulpit much of the time for two years, to become "Colege Pastur," but the town refused to concur.
Mr. Jonathan Newell (H. C. 1770) came as a candidate in March, 1774, and received a eall " by a very great majority," on the 20th of June follow- ing. His salary was placed at £ 53 6s. 8d. during the lifetime of Mr. Gardner ; and thereafter it was to be £80. He accepted the proposals in September. It was voted that his ordination be "as private as possible," and six pounds were granted to enter- tain the ordaining conncil. He was inducted into office October 11, 1774, and the venerable Mr. Gardner gave the charge to his young colleague. The ministry of Mr. Newell was harmonious and prosperous. The only serious difficulty that oc- eurred during his pastorate was caused by dogs. In 1796 a committee was chosen by the town " to kill all the Dogs that come into the meetinghouse on the Sabbath Day, if they can't keep them of without." On the 1st of December, 1828, Mr. Newell asked the town to provide a preacher in his stead, and he would then relinquish " all further support from them as a minister." His proposi- tion was accepted on the 22d of that month, and
the town voted to "hold in lasting remembranee and veneration the Rev. Mr. Newell . . .. for the deep interest he has ever manifested in their wel- fare collectively and individually." He lived less than two years after this, dying October 4, 1830, being not quite eighty-one years of age, and lack- ing just one week of fifty-six years from his ordi- nation. . During his ministry 140 persons were admitted to the ehureh, about 1,100 were baptized, and 337 couples were married. He was more liberal, theologieally, than Mr. Gardner, but lie continued to exchange with both wings of the Con- gregationalists till the close of his ministry. Ile was a man of great prudence, kindness, and benevo- lenee, - was simple, unobtrusive, and grave in de- portment, yet without austerity. He was a large, vigorous man, and of great physical strength, fond of a joke, and a lover of children. He was a good farmer, and of quite a scientific mind, having in- vented, among other things, a nail-eutting maeline, which with some modifieations is still in use. He married first, Sarah Fisk, of Watertown, a beautiful young woman, November 24, 1774; she died Sep- tember 14, 1776. His second wife, married Oeto- ber 11, 1781, just seven years after his ordination, was Lney Rogers (daughter of Rev. Daniel R.), of Littleton. She died June 26, 1846, at the age of ninety. They had five sons. Mr. Newell preached a eentennial sermon May 16, 1783, which was printed, and also a sermon at the elose of fifty years from his ordination, which was published.
Mr. John L. Sibley (H. C. 1825) commenced preaching as a candidate January 17, 1829. The town asked him to settle, February 16, and offered him $600 salary, with twelve eords of wood yearly, and $500 as a settlement. He accepted the invi- tation, and was ordained the 14th of May following. At his request he was dismissed from the pastoral office March 29, 1833. He was of the liberal school of theology. During his pastorate, June 6, 1830, the first Sunday school in the town was or- ganized, with Jacob Caldwell as superintendent. Mr. Sibley was for many years afterwards the libra- rian of Harvard College. Up to the elose of his ministry all the ecclesiastical affairs had been man- aged by the town, but in the latter part of 1833 the members of the religious society of which he had been the pastor organized as the First Parish, and the town eeased its supervision. At this time the theological sentiment of the town was mueh di- vided, and no minister was settled for several years, though the pulpit was supplied most of the time.
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Rev. William H. Kinsley was installed Decem- ber 25, 1839, and closed his labors the last of March, 1846. He died at Mendon, September 7, 1851. Rev. Reuben Bates (H. C. 1829) was in- stalled June 18, 1846, and on account of feeble health resigned September 24, 1859. He died De- cember 1, 1862. Rev. George F. Clark received a call January 20, 1862, was installed April 23, of that year, and resigned in April, 1867. The subsequent pastors have been Rev. F. W. Webber, Rev. John F. Locke, and Rev. David P. Muzzey.
The first meeting-house was probably erected in 1685, but not finished for two or three years. It had four windows of three lights each, two double doors, and was " filled between ye wall timbrs & studs from ye cills to ye goule peices with clay." A new house of worship, "40 foot long and 32 wide, and 20 foot between joynts," was built in 1713, and occupied about the 1st of May, 1714. After two or three years of controversy another house (probably raised August 27, 1753) was erected. It was 50 x 40 feet, and twenty- three feet high. The pew-ground was sold, Jan- . uary 27, 1755, for £91 148. 10d., and it was soon after occupied for religious services. The fourth house, after a five-years contest, was built in 1827 by a committee who were given the old house, and were to pay the surplus of expenses, should there be any arising from the sale of the pews, into the town treasury. This house, dedicated October 1, 1827, was burned November 9, 1847. The pres- ent house of worship was erected in 1848, and dedicated August 30 of that year.
Universalists. - About 1830 a Universalist society was formed, and lived some twenty years, but never had a settled minister.
Orthodox. - The Evangelical Church was or- ganized May 11, 1839, consisting of six males and fifteen females. They were a branch of the Hill- side Church, in the westerly part of Bolton. Rev. E. Porter Dyer was ordained pastor, September 25, 1839. A chapel was soon erected, and was dedi- cated July 8, 1840. Mr. Dyer was dismissed January 29, 1846, and Theodore Cook was or- dained pastor, June 9, 1847. In 1850 seven prominent members withdrew to form a church at Assabet Village (now Maynard). The place of worship was transferred, April 1, 1851, to Union Ilall, in Rock Bottom Village. Rev. Mr. Cook was dismissed May 2, 1853. Public wor- ship was suspended about that time, and the so- ciety became extinct.
Methodists. - The Methodist Church in Rock Bottom is an offshoot from the old Methodist so- ciety of Marlborough. About the 1st of January, 1853, the Old Brick Church in Marlborough hav- ing been burned, the society commenced worship- ping in a hall at Rock Bottom. A portion of the members from Marlborough soon withdrew. The corner-stone of a meeting-house was laid July 4, 1853, and the building was dedicated the following December, Rev. L. D. Barrows preaching the ser- mon. Rev. T. B. Treadwell had charge of the society in 1853 and 1854. The subsequent pas- tors have been Rev. Mr. Pool, Rev. William Pente- cost, Rev. W. T. Lacount, Rev. J. W. Lewis, Rev. A. Gould, Rev. J. W. Hambleton, Rev. Augustus Caldwell, Rev. B. Judd, Rev. N. A. Soule, Rev. J. L. Laske, Rev. N. Bemis, and Rev. G. Bent.
Educational. - The first reference to schools was January 11, 1715- 16, when John Whitman was chosen schoolnaster for one quarter. The town frequently chose the teacher, though some- times it was done through a committee. The wages at first were about thirty shillings per month. The schools were kept in private houses in the different parts of the town. The vote to build the first school-house was in January, 1731-32, and three were ordered to be erected in August, 1733; yet it appears that there was but one house in 1734, and only two in 1742. A " school-dame " was employed for six months in 1750, and £40, Old Tenor, was raised to pay her. It was voted in 1752 not to have a grammar school, and a year or two later the town was in- dicted for this neglect. It was voted, March 14, 1763, to build a school-house eighteen feet square, near the meeting-house, and that all families living within a mile and a half should send their children there ; the others to decide where their school should be kept. Three other houses were voted for in 1766, but probably did not go up immediately. In 1789 the town was divided into four districts. For some years previous and subsequent to 1810 three school committee were chosen by the town in each district. In 1811 there were seven districts, and seven per- sons, with Rev. Mr. Newell, were chosen to visit the schools at the opening and close of the terms. From 1819 to 1826 a committee of three was usually chosen. Since then, with one or two ex- ceptions, a superintending committee has annually been chosen. For many years the town chose a prudential committee for each district, but in 1842, and until 1868, when the district system was
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abolished by the town, the several districts were allowed to choose their own prudential committee.
October 13, 1823, twenty-seven citizens of the town formed an association for the establishment of an academy. A building, erected for that pur- pose, was dedicated May 31, 1824, Rev. Mr. Newell, the resident clergyman, giving the address ; and the school was immediately opened under the care of John M. Cheney. The institution was very prosperous during its early history, having students from six or eight different states, and from Canada. It was discontinued after about twenty years.
The town, April 19, 1852, made an appropria- tion for a high school to be kept a portion of the year; and in like manner it was sustained for a few years. In the spring of 1871 Colonel Elijah Hale proposed to give the town $5,000 as a per- manent fund, the interest thereof to be used towards the support of a high school, provided that the town would appropriate an equal amount. Two other persons offered to contribute $1,100 addi- tional. The town accepted the donations May 24, 1871, and chose seven trustees to take charge of the fund. It also set apart the old academy building and grounds for the use of the Hale High School, which was opened about the Ist of Sep- tember following.
Eighteen or twenty natives or residents of the town have graduated from college.
Military Affairs. - Of necessity the early set- tlers had a quasi military organization. All were prepared to defend themselves from the prowling savages. Regular military companies were formed as soon as possible. Sometimes, when met for drill, and especially when about to depart on some hostile expedition, religions exercises were held. The town records are almost totally silent relative to early military operations. From 1755 to 1760, during the French and Indian War, soldiers from Stow were in the army at Crown Point, Fort Wil- liam Henry, Nova Scotia, and doubtless at other places. For many years succeeding 1693 towns were required to keep a stock of powder and ammunition, and other military stores, for any un- looked-for emergency. These materials of war were sometimes deposited in the loft of the meet- ing-house, and afterwards a special building was erected for them. The Stamp Act of 1765 roused the people, and October 21, 1766, a town com- mittee prepared instructions to their representative to the General Court, giving reasons why taxes or duties should not be levied upon them, and urged
the greatest vigilance to prevent all unconstitutional draughts upon the public treasury. The town, March 7, 1768, declared in favor of economy and industry, against the importation of all "foreign superfluities," and agreed to " do any thing proper towards supplying the paper mills, at Milton, with materials for carrying on said manufactures." January 25, 1773, they approved of what the Bostonians did November 20, 1772, relative to the state of affairs, and chose a committee to con- sider what more should be done. The committee reported the importance of preserving their civil and religious privileges, expressed their concern at the action of parliament, and noticed with uneasi- ness tlie unreasonable extension of the power of the vice-admiralty courts, etc. Further measures were taken, in 1774, to protect their "rights as British subjects, men, and Christians." The town decided in January, 1775, to "do what they can, in accordance with the constitution, to carry into execution the agreements of the Continental Con- gress, and the several resolves of the Provincial Congress relating thereto." They also requested tlie constable to pay the taxes to Henry Gardner, recently appointed province treasurer, and not to Harrison Gray, the old treasurer. The opening act of the Revolution, at Lexington and Concord, soon followed. Anticipating the raid of British troops, a large quantity of military stores and some cannon were sent from Concord to Stow and concealed near the residence of Henry Gardner. Some of the citizens were in the fight at Concord, and Daniel Conant was wounded. The " two mili- tary companies, under Captains Hapgood and Whit- comb, marched for Concord at noon, passed the North Bridge, and arrived at Cambridge at sunset." During the war the town was active in furnishing the men and means needed for its successful prose- cution. They purchased hay and beef for the army, provided fire-arms for those unable to pro- vide for themselves, supplied the soldiers with clothing, and ordered the selectmen to provide for their families when needy. In the course of the contest thirty-five men were furnished for three years' service, and some three hundred more for different periods, varying from one to eight months, who went to Cambridge, New York, Canada, Nan- tucket, Dorchester, Providence, Stillwater, Fishkill, etc., at an expense to the town of £4,880. Some prisoners were brought to town in 1779, and the town asked the honorable council what should be done with them; and in September voted that
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
" the Dutelmen, the Britons, and the Seotehmen, should be sworn." None of the soldiers from town were killed in battle, in the French and Indian or Revolutionary War, but some died of disease.
Only a few items have been gleaned relative to the war of 1812-14. There was voted in May, 1812, to each volunteer two dollars down, and three dollars when called into serviee; and with what the government paid to make his wages ten dollars a month. 'In September following it was agreed to make the monthly pay of the three soldiers drafted twenty dollars. In this war it is believed none of the town's soldiers were killed in battle.
. During the Rebellion of 1861-65 the town contributed to the Union army one hundred and forty-three men, whose term of service varied from one hundred days to three years. Several of the soldiers gave their lives on the battle-field. Be- sides the large bounty paid the men, the Ladies' Aid Society contributed to the sanitary eommis- sion and to some of the town's soldiers more than $1,000 in necessaries and money.
In 1730 the town opposed the taking of a por- tion of its territory to form the town of Harvard, giving to the General Court these reasons : That the great part of the land was unimprovable ; that it would take away one seventh of the population ; that they were so poor as to be hardly able to support their minister, and could not bear the country charges without the others. But their plea was unavailing. The incorporation of Har- vard in 1732 left a little strip of land west of the Nashua River belonging to the old town, which for many years was called Stow Leg; but in 1764 it was annexed to and forms a part of Shirley. Be- tween 1773 and 1780 the town four times opposed the incorporation of a part of her territory into the distriet of Boxborough. No particular opposition was made to the taking of a small slice in 1866 to help form the town of Hudson, or to the larger por- tion taken in 1871 to form the town of Maynard.
The town voted, July 1, 1776, in favor of a government independent of Great Britain. Jan- uary 23, 1778, a committee reported in favor of a confederation of the states " as soon as convenient." May 25, 1778, they voted against the form of state government. The next year they voted again to do nothing about such a measure. But May 29, 1780, the several articles of the state constitution were accepted by a vote of from thirty-nine to fifty-five yeas ; nays not given.
The town is principally agricultural. Besides
other farm products, 194,000 gallons of milk, worth $18,250, about four tons of butter, worth nearly $2,000, and some $8,000 worth of apples are annually produced.
At Roek Bottom, about 1813, the manufacture of cotton goods was commenced in a small way by Silas Jewell. Some years later the works were purchased by Messrs. Cranston and Hale, and woollen goods have since been produeed. The mill is now operated by Hon. B. W. Gleason and Sons, employing seventy-five hands, using 400,000 pounds of wool, and making nearly two hundred thousand dollars' worth of all-wool flannels yearly.
One of the most noted residents of the town was Mr. John Greene, who was of great ability, and in high favor with Oliver Cromwell during the Pro- tectorate, being a captain of the dock-yard at Dept- ford, and clerk of the Exchequer. Upon the death of Cromwell he came to New England, and finally, with his sister and her husband, settled in Stow, where he died and lies buried.
Probably the most distinguished native of the town was Hon. Henry Gardner (H. C. 1750), son of Rev. John Gardner, born November 14, 1731. He represented Stow, in the General Court, most of the time from 1757 to 1775, and was a member of the Provincial Congress that met at Salem, Octo- ber 7, 1774, and was chosen treasurer of the province by that body on the 28th of the same month, which position he held until the adoption of the state constitution in 1780, when he was elected the first treasurer of the commonwealth, and continued in that office during his lifetime. He was also a member of the Provincial Congress that met at Cambridge, February 1, 1775, and at Watertown, May 31, the same year. He was chosen eouneillor May 30, 1776, and was re-elected until the new constitution rendered him ineligible. He was a justiee of the peace throughout the state for some years, and one of the judges of the Court of Com- mon Pleas, for Middlesex County, and one of the original members of the American Academy of Arts and Seienees. In announeing his death, the papers of that day spoke of him as " a courageous, uni- form, industrious patriot, and a discreet, humane, and upright judge." He removed from Stow a few years previous to his death, which took place October 7, 1782, in the fifty-first year of his age. He married, September 21, 1778, Hannah Clapp, of Dorchester, and was the grandfather of ex-Gov- ernor Henry J. Gardner.
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