USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 94
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
elled, and arranged with apparatus suitable to the pursuit of studies in natural science, and was made an adjunct of the Boston School of Technology.
The Town Library was organized in 1856. Efforts to create a public opinion in favor of such an institution had been made by several citizens since 1850. In 1854 Hon. J. B. Winn offered to give $ 300 to found a library, provided the town would raise as much more. The proposal was ac- cepted, and with subsequent subscriptions by many citizens a sufficient amount was furnished to open a library of 1,700 volumes, which event took place in August, 1856. In 1865 the volumes numbered 3,298, and the yearly circulation was 12,266. From that time the library grew more rapidly. The appropriations for its support were increased, and when the tax on dogs was laid, the money from that source was added to its income. By the will of Charles B. Winn, son of the Hon. J. B. Winn, who died in 1875, there was devised to the town $140,000 for library purposes. The town was also made one of the residuary legatees, which added to the donation more than $ 60,000, making the gift upwards of $ 200,000. This munificent bequest was accepted by the town, and placed in the hands of three trustees to carry out the gener- ous wishes of Mr. Winn. These gentlemen, John Johnson, Edward D. Hayden, and Parker L. Con- verse, proceeded to purchase a site and erect a building, in conformity with the wishes of the donor. The situation selected for the library building was the family estate which had been occupied by Hon. J. B. Winn for twenty-five years. An adjoining lot was also purchased, to give ample room for the contemplated structure. Several architects contributed designs for the new building, from among which that offered by Gambrill and Richardson was chosen. Work was immediately commenced (1877), and the building completed in the winter of 1878-79. The design is a composition from medieval architecture, and is as exquisite as it is unique, as well in its general outlines as in its details. The material of the build- ing is a mixture of Longmeadow and Ohio stone, the former predominating. The dimensions of the ground-floor are 70 x 165 feet. The west wing is the book-room of the library. Its length is 68 feet, and breadth 30 feet. It is divided into twenty-four spacious alcoves, of which twelve are on the main floor and twelve form a balcony above them. These are reached by flights of steps from either side. The centre of the building is occupied by the read-
536
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
ing-room, a spacious apartment 22 × 60 feet, and finished in a rich and tasteful manner. Adjoining this is the art-gallery, or picture-room, which is entered immediately from the vestibule. The east- erly portion of the building is octagonal in form, with a conical roof. It is intended for a museum, or depository of specimens in natural history, and other objects of local or historic interest. The building was opened to the public May 1. On the shelves of the alcoves and in the reading-room are placed and classified nearly 17,000 volumes ; a portion of these were bought from the Winn fund. On the walls of the picture-gallery are hung fifty- five oil-paintings of varying size and quality (which were also the gift of Mr. Winn), but all of them at- tractive in subject and of more than average merit.
.Division of the Town. - The original territory of Woburn, as has before been stated, comprised not only its present limits, but the towns of Burlington and Winchester, and a large portion of Wilmington. During the first fifty or sixty years of its exist- ence the population was largely centred about the meeting-house, which was located on the bluff or hill east of the present Common, or public square. In 1700 the number of persons taxed by the prov- ince was 187, but in 1725 the number had in- creased to 305, showing a gain of more than one third in twenty-five years. This increase was quite largely in the northerly direction, and new centres were formed, which received the names of Shaw- shine and Goshen. The latter place had become of so much importance, and its distance from the centre so inconvenient for many purposes, that in 1724 the town was petitioned either to remove the meeting-house farther to the north or allow that section to be set off as a new town. The petition was decidedly refused. But the people of Goshen were in earnest, and one or two rebuffs could not silence them. They continued their petitions for several years before their end was attained. The repeated denials of the town led them to seek a separation by authority of the General Court. The prayer of the first petition was to be made into a precinct only. This was rejected by the court in 1729. It was renewed, however, shortly after, with the request that Goshen be made into a sepa- rate town. The burden of the petition was "the difficulties they are under by reason of their re- moteness from the place of public worship." While the court was considering the petition in behalf of Goshen, the people of Shawshine were making similar efforts to secure a separation or be
mnade into a legal precinct. At the first hearing the petition of Shawshine was joined to that of Goshen. A court committee was appointed to meet . the agents of the town, which took place in the summer of 1730. The committee reported in favor of granting the petitions of both Goshen and Shawshine; the first to be created into an inde- pendent township by the name of Wilmington, and the latter to be made a precinct, or second parish.
In thus dividing the town the court's commit- tee say " they are of opinion that the charge of supporting a minister in the First Parish at Woburn will still be a very easy matter to the inhabitants of that parish." The truth is, how- ever, that this extended clipping of the town was a great disadvantage to its prosperity for many years. The number of taxable persons was reduced from three hundred and twelve to one hundred and cighty-seven. Such a reduction of taxable force could not fail to make the support of preaching in the old parish a severe burden. The ministers were settled for life, their salaries fixed on a scale commensurate with the taxable resources of the parish, and there was no escape from the respon- sibility of the situation. Increased taxation for the remaining members was the only alternative. Rev. Mr. Fox was now declining in health. As- sistant preachers had been employed to relieve him; but, his infirmities increasing, it was consid- ered necessary to supply him with a permanent colleague. The candidate for the position was Mr. Edward Jackson, of Newton, a graduate of Har- vard College in 1719. He preached for some time on probation, and was ordained as colleague August 1, 1729. But Mr. Fox was never recon- ciled to the choice. Mr. Jackson was to receive £250 settlement and £120 salary per year in bills of credit, " as the money now is." The ordina- tion was accompanied with a most sumptuous en- tertainment, of which the principal report left is a bill of Jonathan Poole for supplying it. Of what neighboring ministers or others the council and officiating ministers consisted no record is pre- served ; but that the visiting pastors and their retinue were numerous, and that the citizens of the town very generally partook of the ordi- nation repast, may be fairly inferred when it is stated that said Poole provided for four hundred and thirty-three dinners and one hundred and seventy-eight breakfasts and suppers, which, with horse-keeping, cider, wine, brandy, rum, sugar, and pipes, amounted to £83 9s. 6d. From this
EHC-18OSTON BU
PUBLIC LIBRARY
537
WOBURN.
free expenditure of money for a single day's re- ligious celebration no one would draw the conclu- sion that money was scarce, or that the parish and town taxes were hard to meet. It should be re- membered, however, that in those days holidays were not in every month in the calendar, and that in these religious gatherings (few and far between) were found the best opportunities for displaying the natural love of the people for excitement and feast- ing : for, while the elders were attending divine service and its gastronomic perorations, the youth were engaged in the " manly exercise " of square- ball, quoits, and fisticuffs to so noisy a degree that the " outsiders " gave tone and character to the day.
The dissensions between Mr. Fox and his col- league increased with time, and it is reported they did not recognize each other when in the same pul- pit. The division between the pastors naturally led to parties among the people. Mr. Jackson, being the younger man, gathered the larger number to his standard. Difficulties now arose respecting their salaries. Mr. Fox, being the unpopular invalid, was indifferently provided for. He received noth- ing in 1731-32. Besides, his £80 salary, voted to him on settlement, was now worth no more than £40, owing to the depreciation of the currency. Mr. Fox at length took legal measures to secure his rights. He sued the town, not only for the sal- ary unpaid, but for the difference between the cur- rencies at the time of his settlement in 1702 and the depreciated value of 1732. Judgment was finally obtained in his favor. It was at this time that the divorce took place between the parish and the town. Heretofore every action in relation to the settlement and support of the minister had devolved upon the town equally with the church or parish. This relation was now dissolved, and parish and municipal affairs were conducted on a separate basis. The salary problems connected with the First Parish were not, however, wholly solved. For several years they continued to exert their troublesome and depressing influences. At length the feuds and alienations led to the establish- ment of a third parish in 1746. Mr. Fox and his friends first moved for a separation, and asked to be set off as a distinct society, and relieved from paying taxes for the support of Mr. Jackson. The petition was denied, but a vote was passed " to build a new meeting-house." This, it was believed, would effectually check the desire for a division ; but the friends of Mr. Fox were not to be thus silenced. They applied to the General Court for redress.
That body reported favorably upon their petition, and gave permission for a new precinct, or third parish, to be formed. The seceders numbered about two fifths of the whole parish. Rev. Mr. Fox being too old and feeble to take charge of the new church, the Rev. Josiah Cotton was called to be the pastor, and was installed July 15, 1747. The Third Parish never had a meeting-house of its own, but used for its place of worship a large room in a then unfinished building on Main Street, not far from opposite the present high-school house. The First Parish did not forget its vote to build a new meeting-house, but appointed a committee to present plans and estimates. A division of opin- ion was at once revealed as to its site. Many were in favor of placing the new house on the level ground west of Meeting-house Hill, where the one then in use was situated, and that site was finally selected. It was a part of the present Com- mon, near the soldiers' monument. The raising of the meeting-house (the third built since the set- tlement of the town) took place in December, 1748. To support the impulses which led to the under- taking, twenty gallons of rum, twenty-five pounds of sugar, and two barrels of cider were provided by the parish. The house was completed in 1752, but never dedicated.
Two years after this Rev. Mr. Jackson, the pas- tor, died, at the age of fifty-five, and in the twenty- sixth year of his ministry. His senior, Rev. Mr. Fox, was still living at an advanced age, but blind, and entirely incapacitated for labor. The pastor- ate of Mr. Jackson, however earnest and sincere might have been his efforts, was only partially suc -. cessful. The disaffection between himself and his colleagne must have produced great personal dis- comfort, and the long struggle with the parish for the maintenance of his rights was no doubt the cause of much uneasiness and vexation. With the friends who sustained him he was popular, and highly esteemed as a graceful pulpit orator and as a man of good culture and capacity.
A successor to Rev. Mr. Jackson was soon found in the person of Mr. Josiah Sherman. He was ordained in 1756. Just at this time the death of Rev. John Fox took place. He was ordained in 1703, and consequently had been at the head of the parish fifty-three years. His supporters being now without a leader, and Rev. Mr. Sherman hav- ing many attractive qualities both in the pulpit and out, an effort was made to recall the Third Parish back to a union with the First. An agreement
538
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
was soon come to, and Rev. Mr. Cotton, the minis- ter of the Third Parish, asked a dismission, which was readily granted, and thus the two bodies were again merged in one, which has continued in- tact ever since. The new meeting-house was now too small for the large accession of numbers, and its enlargement was at once undertaken. Twenty new pews were added, which, with the purchase of a "new bell for the tower," caused a general good feeling among the people, and peace and prosperity for a time prevailed.
The next great public event with which Woburn became associated - as did all New England -was the old French War. This war, which was so costly in men and money to the colonists, began in 1755. The contest was confined for the most part to the Canadian borders and to Nova Scotia, but it absorbed a large number of the able-bodied men of New England. It also increased the taxa- tion to a burdensome degree. The taxes of Wo- burn were raised from £139 9s. 5d. in 1755 to £ 518 9s. 9d. in 1763, the year in which peace was declared. The number of men sent from Woburn to the front in course of the struggle was not far from one hundred and fifty, the population at that time being estimated at about 1,500. In the first year alone fifty-four men were enlisted and attached to the expeditions against Nova Sco- tia and Crown Point. The war developed no military leader from Woburn. Lieutenant Thomp- son was the most prominent of its soldiers. He left a journal of the campaign in which he was engaged, which is an interesting memorial of the period.
Rev. Mr. Sherman had not been many years over the parish before new troubles arose, similar to those which had been a source of vexation in previous pastorates. Their foundation was the money question. Mr. Sherman was not apparently a close financier, and became embarrassed in many ways. His salary was too small, as he believed, though he made no public complaint for several years. Iu 1774 he asked for " proper relief." The parish debated the matter for a year without doing anything, when, in June, 1775, he asked to be dismissed from his pastoral relations. This was granted in March of the same year, at the close of many altercations and stormy discussions. Mr. Sherman was undoubtedly one of the ablest minis- ters that had occupied the pulpit of the First Par- ish. He was a brother of Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and had the reputation of being an unusually fervid and elo-
quent preacher. After leaving Woburn he settled in Connecticut, and died at Woodbridge, in that state, in November, 1789.
Woburn is now brought to the advent of the American Revolution. She had done noble ser- vice in the many and exhausting wars with the Indians, and had been ardent and loyal in the con- test that gave to England the supremacy in Canada and along the lakes and rivers of the West. She was now to show her love of liberty to be a supe- rior motive to her devotion to king and crown. The excitement caused by the aggressive inove- ments of the British government was as fully shared by the people of Woburn as those of the neighbor- ing towns. They instructed their representative to the General Court to allow no damages to Governor Hutchinson for his loss in the Stamp Act, and sent delegates to the convention in Boston in 1768 to consider the state of public affairs. The most decided movement in favor of the stand taken by the people of New England against the arbitrary enactments of parliament was made in 1773, when a town-meeting was held, and a series of vigorous resolutions were passed. While these resolutions still maintained the authority of the crown, and expressed the prevailing loyalty to the king, they asserted in the most positive manner their rights under the British Constitution, and specified in strong language the grievances of which they had so much reason to complain. At the same meet- ing a committee of correspondence was chosen to maintain communication with Boston and other towns in the colony. A powder-house was built, and stored with such ammunition as could be pro- cured. A delegate, Samuel Wyman, was chosen to the Provincial Congress in January, 1775, and the province tax of that year was paid to the agent of the congress instead of the regularly constituted treasurer. A large committee was also appointed to enforce the decrees of the Continental Congress with regard to the use of imported articles. Two days before the opening of the struggle (April 17, 1775) a company of fifty minute-men was raised, to be organized and disciplined for whatever service the Provincial or Continental Congress might require. This rally of fighting men was none too soon. On the morning of the 19th the alarm reached the town, which was started from the tower of the old North Church, and accomplished by the midnight ride of Paul Revere. A large number of men caught up their arms, and hastened to Lexington to meet the invaders. Mr. Sylvanus Wood was in
539
IVOBURN.
season to be enrolled in Captain Parker's company on Lexington Common, and stood with it to receive the charge of the British column, and with others, in return,
" Fired the shot heard round the world."
Mr. Wood always claimed that later in the day he captured a straggler of the enemy and had the lionor of taking the first prisoner of war. This claim was recognized by Congress in 1824, and a pension granted for the act. Of the minute-men from Woburn who followed and harassed the British troops two men were killed, Asahel Porter and Daniel Thompson, both of whom were young men of enterprise and reputation. The evening before the march to Lexington, John Hancock and Samuel Adams had left Concord for a place of greater safety. They came to Woburn Precinct (now Burlington), early the next morning, and took shelter in the house of Madam Jones. While din- ner was preparing a new alarm was given, and the distinguished guests were hurried off to a retired residence in Bedford, with the loss of the dinner of fresh salmon which good Mrs. Jones was preparing for them. The war for independence, or for the constitutional rights of the colonists, being now begun, Woburn engaged in it with all the zeal and patriotism that inspired New England in that day of trial. Her soldiers flocked to the places of rendezvous, and were employed in guarding the lines at Cambridge, Boston, and Roxbury. No doubt, many of them were present at the battle of Bunker Hill. During the years 1775 and 1776 one hun- dred and eighty of the citizens were engaged in the service in the neighborhood of Boston, or were sent to New York, New Jersey, Canada, or Ticon- deroga. In 1775 the number of persons subject to the provincial tax was but 311. The proportion of those who served in some military capacity must consequently have been very large. The first con- siderable sum of money raised for the war was in December, 1776, when £1,500 was voted to pay existing bills and such charges as might arise in enlisting men " for the defence of the American colonies." The amount voted for such purpose during the war was nearly £50,000 in currency, DI' £5,283 in coin, - which was a large sum for the times, and drew upon the resources of the town with a heavy hand. But money and men were not the only things wanted. There were no stores of grain, meat, and other commissary requirements, to be found in the markets of that day. Hence Woburn was assessed for beef and clothing to a
large amount. The first item exceeded $8,000; and the shirts, blankets, and shoes swelled that sum fully one half more. The whole amount of taxes - town, province, and continental - assessed between 1775 and 1783 exceeded £28,000, lawful money, or more than $90,000. This was drawn from a population of 1,500 or 1,600 persons. The same ratio of tax to-day would produce more than a half-million dollars. The evils of depreciation became so desperate that an attempt was made to remedy them by public action. A convention was held at Concord in 1779 for this purpose. The delegate from Woburn was Samuel Thompson. This convention established prices for the leading articles used in the community. The list included in its necessities of life " flip or toddy " at 12 s. per bowl, and New England rum at 10s. per mug. The people of Woburn accepted the prices voted by the convention, and appointed a committee to see that there was no violation of its behests. Experience, however, soon proved that the natural laws of currency and trade were too strong to be defied or changed by resolutions and conventions. The attempt at regulation was soon given up. The first enlistments for the war were made by draft from the three military companies then existing in the town. At a later period men were " hired into the war" by bounties, and at last by a resort to classes, each class being responsible for its man or number of men. The whole number of men who were for a longer or shorter period engaged in the war was three hundred and seventy-six, which number does not include forty-six other persons who were enlisted by the town from other localities. This shows that the number of enlisted men during the seven years of the war was greater than the actual male population liable to military duty in any one year during that time. In the midst of the trying events of the war the state of Massachu- setts had formed a new constitution, embracing features more in conformity with its position as a leader in the movement for independence and re- form. In 1778 the legislature sent the new instru- ment for the approval of the town, but it was unanimously rejected. The great objection to it appears to have been that it was framed by the legislature, and not by a convention of delegates elected for the purpose.
In 1779 a convention was held at Cambridge, and a new constitution was adopted. This was presented to the people of Woburn in 1780, and accepted, though not unanimously. The property
540 -
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
qualification for votes was disapproved, and a resolution passed excluding ordained ministers and attorneys-at-law from membership to the legisla- ture. A few years later, when the Federal Consti- tution was before the people of Massachusetts for consideration, the delegates to the state convention from Woburn were Timothy Winn and James Fowle, Jr. Deacon Winn opposed the adoption of the Constitution without amendments. The speech prepared in defence of his views was lost to the convention in consequence of his absence at the time certain amendments were under debate, though subsequently printed in the Boston Independent Chronicle. It is well known that the Constitution was adopted only by a small majority in the con- vention of about 350 delegates.
Soon after the war there was considerable public excitement on the question of what should be done with the tories and refugees who had played a hostile part against the Revolution. At a town- meeting held in May, 1783, very severe resolu- tions were passed against all such persons, and an act prohibiting their return to the town or state urged upon the legislature. It was said, " Our Canaan will enjoy no rest while the Philistines are suffered to dwell among us." These bitter feel- ings survived for many years. But many, who had continued their allegiance to the British crown during the war, at its close accepted the situation, and became earnest and patriotic citizens of the new republic.
The only person from Woburn who held any considerable position in the Continental Army was Colonel Loammi Baldwin. He enlisted as a pri- vate In April, 1775, but was soon advanced to superior positions, and in August following was appointed colonel of the 38th regiment. He was stationed about Boston until the beginning of 1776, when his regiment was ordered to New York, where he remained until its evacuation by Washington in September. With him he crossed the Delaware December 8, and recrossed Decem- ber 25, and participated in the gallant fight at Trenton. Colonel Baldwin had many qualifica- tions as a military leader ; but, his health failing a few months later, he was honorably discharged from the army, and never again returned to it. His long and useful life was spent in Woburn, and he was in many respects the most able and trusted of all her public men. He was the first high sheriff of Middlesex County after the organi- zation of the new government, an office which he
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.