USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 65
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The first intimation of the impending revolution- ary struggle appears to be the votes passed Sep- tember 21, 1774 : " Voted to buy more powder for town stock . . to buy two barrels of powder in addition to the town stock," . .. . and "to leave it to the Committee to provide bullets and flints as they shall think proper." Septem- ber 27, 1774, it was voted " to choose a Delegate for the Provincial Meeting to be holden at Concord on the Second Tuesday of Oct. next," and Mr. Jonathan Brown was the delegate chosen " for the said Provincial Meeting." The same delegate was chosen on January 23, 1775, " for the Provincial Congress Meeting at Cambridge on the 1st day of Feby. next ensuing."
A little over six weeks before the opening of the conflict, Marchi 6, 1775, the following important votes were passed. We copy them as they stand on the town records : -
"Toted, To raise minute men."
" Voted, To give the minute men 5s. a peace for every half day in a week that they train til further order."
" Voted, To allow Jonathan Brown 48. 8d. per day going a delegate to the Congress."
Of these minute-men Captain John Trull was commander. He resided in the northern part of the town, near the banks of the Merrimack River, on the farm where some of his descendants still dwell. On the morning of the memorable 19th of April he was awakened by the clatter of horses' hoofs approaching his house from the road which leads to the centre of the town. The rider was either one of the few who had left Charlestown the previous night, or might have been started upon his course by Revere himself. Immediately his voice was heard shouting, "Captain Trull ! the
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British are on their way to Concord, and I have alarmed all the towns from Charlestown to here." One of the children, who were sleeping in a trundle- bed in the room with their parents, - a boy about eight years old, -said it was abont two in the morn- ing. This boy, in his manhood, often told the story to his son, Deacon Nathaniel Trull, who furnishes these reminiscences. Immediately on receiving the aların from the horseman, who at once disappeared, the captain sprang from his bed and seized the gun which hung over it. To open the window and discharge the gun was the work of but a moment. Almost instantly a response in the same manner was received from Captain Varnum, across the river in Dracut. Soon the whole region was alarmed, and was echoing and re-echoing with the discharge of fire-arms. This was the preconcerted signal by which the country was to be aroused.
Long before the numerous reports had ceased, and while this section was arousing, Captain Trull was on his horse, hurrying to the centre of Tewksbury, where the arsenal was located. On his arrival he found his company of minute-men drawn up in order, and awaiting only the word of their commander to mareh to the defence of Concord or to face the common foe. The messenger who had awakened Captain Trull had aroused the sleeping village on his way to the captain's house, the limit apparently of his ride, on account of the river. Tewksbury once alarmed, her minute-inen broke into the arse- nal, obtained their arms, and placed themselves in readiness to march on the appearance of their leader. He was not long in coming, and soon the little band was on its way toward Concord and Lexington. Con- cord is some fifteen miles from Tewksbury. Charles- town, by way of Coneord, is at least thirty-five miles from this town. Yet our men appear to have fol- lowed the retreating British, and to have assisted in turning their retreat into a terrible flight. A grand- son of Captain Trull still relates how, in his earlier years, when on his way from Salem to Tewksbury, to spend Thanksgiving, he was often hailed by the aged and enfeebled Eliphalet Manning, one of the survivors of that memorable march, who would thus address him : " I fought with your grand- father from Concord to Charlestown." The Tewks- bury men are believed to have begun their part in that opening of the conflict at Merriam's Corner, where it is stated that the Billerica men and several small parties met the British and the pursuing Americans. Captain Trull frequently related how the regulars " ran well " under some
1
galling fire from the minute-men closely following their rear. He had hard work to restrain the eagerness of his excited and valiant men as they were picking off the red-eoats from behind the sheltering trees. The men were so engaged in their deadly work that they would frequently expose their elbows, which were almost sure to be piereed by a British bullet. Henee the need of their leader's frequent warning, " Stand trim, men, or the raseals will shoot your elbows off ! "
Tewksbury did her part not only from Concord to Charlestown, but from the beginning to the close of the glorious struggle. The scanty records, at times amounting to little more than a bare catalogue of accounts, are full of votes to raise troops for the Continental army, - to furnish them with clothing, arms, and ammunition, and to recompense them for past serviees at Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, Cambridge, New York, Ticonderoga, and the vari- ons high places of the field. When it was deemed necessary, delegates were sent to the Provincial Congress, the committee of safety was formed, and committees having various patriotic duties were raised. Page after page is found whose every brief entry is of money paid to or for the Continen- tal soldiers. Their families are duly cared for. This brief history of the town might be indefinitely ex- tended by copying the long list of votes which record the patriotic action of Tewksbury during this trying period.
The name of Captain John Trull is a frequent one in the records of this period. The son, for whose services a recompense was voted, was one of the town's quota called for by the Provincial Con- gress. He died of disease at New York while in the service of his country. The circumstances of his enlistment and the manner in which that quota was filled, according to tradition, are very interest- ing to illustrate some of the customs of those stir- ring days.
Captain Trull was aeenstomed to drill and pa- rade his company of minute-men on one of the fields of his farm, - a field situated on the cross-road which now eonneets the Lawrence and the Lowell main roads. The company numbered some sixty men. When the call for troops came, the captain determined to see if the town's quota could not be raised by volunteers at one of these parades. Five men were required. He decided to make them a speech. They stood in their ranks, in the elevated field already mentioned, which commands a beauti-
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ful view of Lowell with its surrounding villages, and of some of the hills of New Hampshire, which lose themselves in the distance. According to the uni- versal custom of those days, a vessel full of stimu- lating mixture stood before the men, at their free disposal. Their officer had taken care to have it well replenished, and doubtless hoped it would as- sist his manly eloquence in kindling their patriot- ism, or "nationality," as those times designated that generous virtue. "Now," said the captain, " if any one is thirsty, let him step forward and drink. Refreshment is provided free to all." They needed no urging to accept the liberal offer. He then reminded them of their duty to the com- mon cause, of the honor it would be to the com- pany and to the town if the requisite quota could be filled without resort to a draft. Yet he would have no one act hastily, but with all due considera- tion. After other words of shrewd wisdom, re- minding them of the loftiness of the great cause which was calling them to its defence and support, Captain Trull said, " Now let each man weigh the matter and his duty. The music playing will march around the company, and if any man wishes to volunteer, let him fall in behind it." The rudc band of that time struck up an inspiriting air, and began to parade around the little company of pa- triots. Before it had taken many steps a man stepped from the ranks and fell in behind it. Then another, and another, until before the band was more than half round the ranks the quota was full. It is inspiring and pathetic to see that little assembly thus raising their volunteers to defend the fair country lying around them in its beauty, and the great principles so deeply engraved in their hearts.
One of these volunteers was the son already mentioned. The father, much affected at this effect of his patriotic efforts, said to his first-born, " You must decide the matter; I shall not say a word to keep you or to urge you." The boy went, and, as we have seen, returned no more to the home for whose defence he went forth so willingly and nobly.
But our forefathers suffered not only the troubles of war, already indicated, but what is usually an ac- companiment, a disarrangement of the finances of the country. So great was the depreciation of the currency, that it took, according to our town rec- ords, seventy-five dollars of paper money to pay for one silver dollar.
To give an idea of the value of the Continental
currency about this time, read these early rec- ords :
" An order was passed by the town, March ye 8, 1780, in favor of 'Thomas Kidder, Esq., it being for ten pound of Salt Pork which he let Davison's wife have at five dollars pr pound £15:0:0.'
" July ye 24, 1780. An order to the Revd Mr. Sampson Spaulding to receive of Mr. Isaac Kit- tredge, constable, and of Mr. David Bayley, con- stable, the full of his Sallary for the present year £2666:13:4.
" August ye 21, 1780. An order to Jesse Bald- win for one ponnd of Sugar for Susanna Richard- son, £1: 4:0.
" August ye 22, 1780. An order to Wm Fiske, for one horse which he let the town have for the Continental service £ 750: 0:0.
" October ye 26, 1780. An order to Thomas Chandler for shoeing two horses for the Continen- tal Service £360: 0:0.
" December ye 27, 1780. An order to Paul Thorndike for twelve hundred weight of Beef to supply the army which he let the town have £1628:0:0. [This would be at the rate of nearly seven dollars per pound.]
" January ye 4th 1781. An order to Thomas Hutchins for a pair of Shoes for the Widow Hoagg £36:0:0."
At several of the town-meetings held in the year 1781 there were orders adopted to pay the soldiers' bonntics in " hard silver dollars," and in one or two instances about that time committees were chosen by the town " to hire hard money to pay off the soldiers with."
Towards the close of the Revolutionary War, when the currency was greatly inflated, the town substituted for Continental currency and hard sil- ver dollars, in many instances, Indian corn cur- rency, and gave the soldiers notes called " corn notes."
In October, 1781, at a town-meeting held on the 22d of that month, the town voted to " give the soldiers 4 shillings [unquestionably in hard dollars] per bushel for corn that are entitled to corn."
In December, 1781, the 4th day, the town "Voted, That the assessors give the constables or- ders to strain upon the inhabitance and others for the money that dont pay in the corn in twenty days from the time the constables revise the lists."
The first record we find of an election for gov-
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
ernor was of the date of " September ye 4th, 1780. Votes for John Hancock Esq. for Governor, 26; votes for James Bowdoin Esq. for Governor, 5."
Such are a few of the many entries in the town records. Could we clothe these dry bones of mere accounts with the flesh and blood of the cir- cumstances and details belonging to them, we should find that Tewksbury had her thrilling and pathetic incidents as well as her sister towns into whose records more of the historian's spirit has been breathed. Alas! little more is left us than the monotonous but necessary catalogue of votes taken and bills paid. Yet how suggestive many of them are! how pathetic some like those which record payments made to the widows of townsmen fallen in the fight, or to men disabled by disease or wounds! A little imagination, assisted by the fuller accounts of the general history of those eventful days, can easily kindle these dry and musty records into a glowing flame, which lights up this old town during the Revolutionary period with all the lurid glow of war, - a war not waged for conquest, but for liberty, human rights, and mankind.
In the last war with England the town still maintained the patriotic spirit so prominent in the conflict for independence. Although only the fol- lowing extracts are found relating to this war (1812-1815), they are sufficient to show that Tewksbury bore her part in sustaining the govern- incnt : -
" July 6, 1812, Voted, That if the soldiers are called on to march that are enlisted for the Govern- ment's service in this town that the town will make up their pay to them so that with what government gives them they shall receive thirteen dollars per month. .
" Voted, To raise the sum of five hundred dol- lars for the purpose of carrying on the War declared by Government.
" Sept. 13, 1814, Voted, To raise the sum of Five hundred dollars for the payment of soldiers and purchasing equipments for town stock.
" Toted, To make up the soldiers that have been or may be called out for the defence of the country fifteen dollars per month the present season.
" Voted, To have twenty guns bought for the use of the town."
No mention is made of the Mexican War in the records ; it is presumable, therefore, that none of the inhabitants of the town were participants.
In the Civil War which so recently desolated our country Tewksbury maintained her reputation
for patriotism by rallying with the entire North when it sprang to the defence of the Union, - just as almost a century previous we find in the town records votes to raise and pay troops, the levying of assessments to defray the extraordinary expenses of war, and all the unusual events which betray the presence of a great conflict. Costly sacrifices in the lives of fellow-townsmen were paid as the price of liberty, and to preserve the government so heroically founded in the days of the fathers. The town did what it could; and thus, although no names celebrated in martial story are hers, she contributed her portion to achieve the peace which it is fondly hoped will be perpetual.
In educational matters, nothing in the history of the town calls for particular mention. The town is too small and sparsely populated to warrant it in sustaining a high school. There are seven dis- trict schools in which it is intended to furnish instruction which shall enable pupils to enter the higher schools and seminaries of adjoining towns and cities. The records show that, like all New England towns in their early history, Tewksbury furnished schooling for its children during only a part of the year, and like them boarded her teachers out, as was customary in those primitive days.
Almost immediately after the incorporation of the town in 1734 efforts were made for the estab- lishment and maintenance of religious worship. Although there is no distinct statement to that effect, it is to be inferred that preaching services were regularly held at some private liouse previous to the erection of the meeting-house.
March 29, 1736, a little more than a year after incorporation, it was " Voted, That the Meeting House shall stand upon ye Land of Nathaniel Rich- ardson."
The original covenant of the church was signed by thirty-four males.
We have been unable to find evidence of the church or churches to which these persons pre- viously belonged, but presume that they and the females who constituted the original membership came from the old church in Billerica; which is now the Unitarian Church there. Possibly some came from the Old South Church in Andover.
The meeting-house, thus erected, stood upon the Common, in front of the present house. It was rudely constructed, covered only with boards and shingles. No clapboards, no steeple, and no paint. The interior, after the style of those days, had gal- leries upon the three sides.
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About this time a vote was taken to give the singers a part of the front gallery. Whether the singers were accompanied by an orchestra, as was the case at a subsequent period, we are unable to state.
There are various notices of the erection of pews by different individuals. These pews were about five feet square, made in a row around the walls, both on the lower floor and in the galleries. The central part of the lower floor was occupied by pews in a similar manner. The pulpit was perched aloft, the floor of it being seven or eight feet above the floor of the meeting-house. It was shut in upon all sides, a door opening to admit the minister. Above him was suspended the huge sounding-board, caus- ing much anxiety to the young children present lest it should fall upon the minister's head. Dur- ing the entire period of eighty-eight years which this edifice existed there were no means of heating it except by foot-stoves which each family carried for its own use.
After organizing a church and building a meet- ing-house, the 'next step was to secure a pastor. The first pastor, Rev. Sampson (or Samson) Spauld- ing, a native of Chelmsford, and a graduate of Har- vard College in 1732, was unanimously chosen by the people of Tewksbury, on the 17th of January, 1737, and ordained on the 23d of November, of the same year. On the 7th of February, 1737, at a general town-meeting, the following vote was passed : " To give Mr. Sampson Spaulding of Chelmsford, whom they had made choice on for their minister, yearly for his salary, one hundred and twenty pounds, according to the valuation of grain as it gos now here among us; Indian corn at six shillings the bushell, Rie at eight shillings the bushell, and Wheat at ten shillings the bushell. Voted to give to Mr. Sampson Spaulding whom the town had made choice on for their minister, even for his settlement among them, Three Hun- dred pounds, and to pay the same at three pay- ments, namely, one hundred a year till the whole sum be paid."
Tradition says of Mr. Spaulding, that when far advanced in years he was possessed of a venerable form and commanding stature, wearing a white wig and carrying a long staff, and that with a weak and tremulous voice he spoke unto his people the words of eternal truth.
The ministry of the Rev. Mr. Spaulding contin- ned for nearly sixty years. It was characterized by a general freedom from parish broils; from
ecclesiastical strife. Peace and harmony prevailed. His influence was mild, genial, and Christian. His character was gentle, judicious, faithful, con- sistent, and exemplary. He died (after suffering from paralysis for nearly five years) at the advanced age of eighty-six, December 15, 1796.
In 1773 it was decided to " choose some person or persons for to set the psalm on Sabbath days and other times in time of public worship."
The second pastor was Rev. Titus Theodore Bar- ton, a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1790. He was ordained as colleague with Rev. Mr. Spaulding, October 11, 1792, and dismissed May 19, 1803. He was a man of sterling character, strong physi- cally and mentally, an avowed enemy of the half- way covenant. Sometimes rash and indiscreet, he was always bold in defence of the truth as he un- derstood and believed. In reference to his ordi- nation the following record exists : " August 23d 1792, Voted to choose a Committee to provide a place and make entertainment for the Council that shall come to ordain Mr. Titus Theodore Barton."
The ministry of Mr. Barton was short compared with that of Mr. Spaulding, being only eleven years. After his dismissal the church was without a pastor for more than three years.
The third pastor was Rev. Jacob Coggin, a na- tive of Woburn, and a graduate of Harvard Col- lege in 1803. He was ordained October 22, 1806, and died December 12, 1854. He was mild and pacific in spirit, always seeking to pour oil upon the troubled waters, wherever found, in church or town.
· About the year 1818 some of the people began to feel the necessity of a new church-building, and to inaugurate plans to this end. The subject was agitated at the town-meetings for four or five years. Several matters had to be adjusted ; among other things, the exact location. The one finally selected was that where the present building now stands. Arrangements were perfected, and the new house was commenced in 1823. It was com- pleted, and dedicated July 6, 1824.
The meeting-house, as then constructed, con- tained galleries on three sides, instead of one, as at present. There were box-pews against the walls ; the others were nearer the form of those now in use.
From the incorporation of the town in 1734 down to 1841 the support of the ministry and all the church expenses were borne by the town. At
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
that time (1841) a change was made. The First Congregational Society was formed, and the prop- erty transferred from the town to the society, or parish. A short time previous to this stoves were first introduced into the meeting-house, and brought great comfort to the worshippers.
In 1842 Rev. Mr. Coggin became so enfeebled in health as to give up the chief part of the minis- terial and pastoral work to a colleague.
The fourth pastor, Rev. Moses Kimball, a grad- uate of Dartmouth College in 1826, was installed February 24, 1847, and dismissed May 15, 1849.
About this time several families living in the northwest part of the town withdrew, and joined the High Street Church in Lowell.
The Rev. Samuel Lawson supplied the pulpit at different times before and after the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Kimball, -about five years in all.
The fifth pastor was Rev. Richard Tolman, a native of Dorchester, a graduate of Amherst Col- lege in 1839 and of Andover Theological Seminary in 1844. He was installed as colleague with Rev. Mr. Coggin August 25, 1852, and after a ministry of nearly eighteen years was dismissed July 11, 1870. He is characterized as a ripe scholar and an able and instructive preacher.
Thorough improvements. and radical alterations were made in the church edifice in 1860, and in 1872 the addition of a hall and vestry-rooms to the rear of it were made at a cost of about $6,000.
The fifth pastor is the present incumbent, Rev. Samuel Franklin French, a native of Candia, New Hampshire, a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1860, and of Andover Theological Seminary in 1864. He was installed over the church Novem- ber 1, 1871.
The Sabbath school connected with this church and society was established about sixty years ago. Students of Phillips Academy, Andover, and some people boarding in town assisted in its early work. It has proved a valuable auxiliary to the church.
The Sabba-day, or Sabbath day, or noon houses, which existed before the introduction of stoves in the meeting-house, were a kind of church refec- tory. Several of them were connected with this church, and were located at short distances from the meeting-house. They were owned by par- ishioners living at a distance from the house of worship, a number of families associating, and spending together the intermission between the forenoon and afternoon services. They kept fuel near the premises of cach to make good fires in the
cold seasons, and brought with them their lunch- baskets containing their noon repasts; and so in a social and quite enjoyable way spent their time, relating to each other the incidents of the week, and discussing the merits of the sermon.
The old mansion built by the Rev. Sampson Spaulding in 1738, and located in the centre of the town, still stands, and is in excellent condition. Although nearly a century and a half old, it shows no marks of decay. It is a commodious structure, double in width, two stories, with hipped roof. The present occupant and owner is Benjamin F. Spaulding, Esq., a grandson of the old minister, and, what is quite remarkable, these three genera- tions have been the only occupants of the old house. The original, Rev. Sampson Spaulding, was born in 1711, his son John was born in 1756, and his grandson, Benjamin F., in 1811. The old minister was the occupant until his death in 1796, his son John until his death in 1843, and his grandson, Benjamin F., until the present time. The site of the old house is a pleasant one, in the northeasterly part of the centre village, and only a few rods, in a southeasterly direction, from the depot of the Lowell and Lawrence Railroad.
In the year 1842 a portion of the people in the north part of the town withdrew from the old . church, and finally formned the Baptist Church. This church was organized in 1843. For several months before the organization religious services were held in the town-hall. Most of the original members were residents in the north part of the town, and quite a large share of them had been attendants at the Congregational Church, under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Coggin. In the year 1842, under the great revival in Lowell, a number of the leading families of the north part of Tewks- bury were included in the work, and united with the First Baptist Church in Lowell. Before that time, also living in the north part of the town, were a few other families, members too of the First Church in Lowell, and these, with scattered Bap- tist families elsewhere in Tewksbury and the west part of Andover, made up a little church of sixty- eight members. About the same date with the organization of the church, September, 1843, the Baptist meeting-house was completed and dedi- cated. The first pastor of this newly formed church and society was Rev. J. M. Graves. He has been succeeded by Rev. D. Burroughs, Rev. L. Tandy, Rev. John E. Wood, Rev. Clifton Fletcher, Rev. A. De F. Palmer, Rev. E. E.
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