History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 95

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

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filled with great acceptance for many years. He was elected several times as a delegate to the Gen- eral Court, and exercised through his life a large and healthy influence in public affairs. To him is the community indebted if not for originating, cer- tainly for making known and propagating, the cele- brated Baldwin apple. He was one of the principal projectors as well as one of the most active superin- tendents of the construction of the Middlesex Canal. This much noted and valuable water-course from the Merrimack to the Charles was a principal feature in Woburn for about forty years, and added much to its business facilities and prosperity. It was wholly superseded by the building of the Lowell Railroad, and the site of it through the town is no longer easily traced.

At the close of the Revolutionary War Woburn was left in an impoverished state. Besides the constant drain upon its purse, annually paid out, it had borrowed $4,000 to $5,000, for which it was still in debt. The depression caused by this state of things led the town into the declaration of unpatriotic sentiments when the Shays Rebellion took place, in 1786- 87. Being called upon to raise a force to aid in its suppression, it voted " not to give any encouragement to the expedi- tion," and similar votes were passed respecting the payment of those persons who enlisted for that purpose. Still, a strong protest was at the time entered against those votes, and they were afterward reconsidered. They could never have been sanctioned at all but for the great evils that followed the war, and the excitement growing out of them.

The next important epoch in the annals of Wo- burn was the separation from it of the precinct of Shawslune, or the Second Parish. It has already been stated that this parishi was formed in 1730, at the time Goshen was made a distinct town by the name of Wilmington. Attempts were made by the people, in 1733- 34, in 1774, and in 1782, to form a separate township, but were unsuccess- ful. In 1797 the subject was again renewed. A petition was presented to the General Court asking for the division. A town committee was chosen to oppose it, but the project was actively pushed by the Second. Parish before the legislature, and in spite of the formidable opposition and the appar- ently small reason for the division, the court de- cided to grant the petition, and the Second Parish hecame a distinct township under the name of Burlington. This took place February 28, 1799.

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WOBURN.

The dismemberment caused a heavy loss to the old town in population and wealth. By the first United States census, 1790, Woburn contained 1,727 inhabitants ; at the second census, in 1800, it had only 1,228. The territorial loss was 7,418 acres, and of the taxable property more than one fourth. For the next ten years the growth of Woburn was scarcely perceptible in any respect, and in population there was a decrease of nine, the census of 1810 giving but 1,219 persons. During this period there was little or no manufacturing business in the town. The community was made up almost exclusively of agriculturists, the only exceptions being the tanner, the blacksmith, the miller, the shoemaker, and trader, who supplied the people with the necessities belonging to their respective vocations. The establishment of a tan- nery on a more extensive scale did not take place until the next decade, of which more will be said in noticing the manufacturing interests of the town.

For twenty-five years, including and following the Revolution, the schools were continued in a rather desultory manner. The war disorganized every other interest to a greater or less extent, to which the education of children was no exception. In 1790 a new feeling was aroused on the subject, which in 1792 assumed definite form, and a com- mittee was appointed to revise the school system, and establish one more comprehensive and uniform. The report of this committee, of which Loammi Baldwin was chairman, was a carefully written and dignified document, in which the needs and methods of education were clearly set forth. The town was divided into convenient districts for local schools, while the grammar school was to be retained near the centre of each parish. Within the next three years £600 were raised for school-houses, each of the new districts having one built for its use. Under this new system, and the stimulus derived from it, the schools of the town were greatly im- proved, and no important change took place for more than fifty years.

After the dismissal of Mr. Sherman as pastor of the first church, in 1775, there was no one settled in his place for nearly ten years. In December, 1784, Mr. Samuel Sargent was invited to the parish. The call was accepted, and Mr. Sargent was ordained in March, 1785. But he was scarcely warm in his pulpit before dissension and opposition began to manifest themselves, and these continued through the entire period of his ministry, about fourteen years. His original settlement money had

not been paid in 1790, and the parish was sued for the amount. It had no defence, and was de- faulted. The parish was also sued about this time by the Baptist Society at West Cambridge for the taxes of those persons who had withdrawn from it. This suit was successful after a protracted litiga- tion. Several years more of contention in the parish followed, when, in 1798, an agreement was made to call a mutual council to dispose of the quarrel if possible. The council unanimously recommended the dissolution of the relations be- tween pastor and people, which took place in April, 1799. Rev. Mr. Sargent removed from Woburn to Chester, Vermont, where he preached on agree- ment from time to time, but was never again a set- tled pastor. His death took place at Chester in 1818, at the age of sixty-three. From the dismis- sal of Mr. Sargent to the settlement of his successor there was an interval of four years. In Decem- ber, 1803, Mr. Joseph Chickering was invited by both church and parish to become their pastor, which was accepted. The terms of settlement agreed upon were $800 to be paid within a year, and an annual salary of $650 and fifteen cords of wood. The ordination took place in March, 1804. For several years the ministry of Rev. Mr. Chicker- ing was marked with unusual success. The people were united, and the accessions to the church were large. In 1820 he asked for a dismissal, which was approved by council. Mr. Chickering was graduated at Harvard College in 1799. From Woburn he removed to Phillipston, Massachusetts, where he preached until 1835, when he retired from the ministry on account of infirm health, and died in that town in 1844. In 1808, during the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Chickering, the third meeting- house, which was built in 1752, on the easterly side of the Common, was burnt to the ground. Before the fire the question of repairing the house or build- ing a new one had been discussed in the parish. The decision had now been made. Two days after the fire a town-mecting was held, and it was voted to rebuild the meeting-house at once. The site selected was on the northerly side of the Common, and nearly identical with that now occupied by the First Unitarian Church. It was dedicated June 28, 1809. The pews were appraised, and the choice sold by auction. The proceeds of the sale amounted to more than $3,000 over the cost of the building. This sum was funded for the support of the minis- try of the society, and remained thus invested until 1861, when the amount was merged in the con- -

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

struction fund of the present meeting-house. Mr. | 1866. The meeting-house on the north side of the Joseph Bennett became the next pastor of the soci- ety, and his ordination took place January 1, 1822. Rev. Mr. Bennett proved to be an active, energetic minister. The accessions to the church were larger than under any previous pastorate.

In 1832 the Lowell Railroad was built, which ran through the sonth and east portions of the town. A village sprung up not far from the spot where the first house was built. In 1840 the people of this village, called South Woburn, formed a church and society, and asked to be set off. A new meeting-house was built, and in December of that year the house was dedicated, and the new church and society was formed. A few months previous to the organization of the South Woburn church, the fourth meeting-house, built in 1809, was found to be in such bad condition as to re- quire extension and repairs or entire reconstruction. The latter course was determined on, and the fifth meeting-house was erected on the same site. The dedication took place December 31, 1840. Mr. Bennett continucd as pastor of the society until 1847, when, during a period of mental depression to which he was subject, he took his own life. This unexpected event caused much sorrow and excitement, as he was held in high esteem by the people to whom he ministered, as well as by the congregational body to which he was attached. In the spring of 1848 the parish made choice of Mr. Jonathan Edwards as its pastor. He contin- ued his connection with the society for eight years, giving entire satisfaction to his people and render- ing many important services to the educational and social interests of the town. He was dismissed at his own request in 1856. In August of the same year Rev. Daniel March was called to the pul- pit of the parish, and installed in October. The many gifts of Rev. Mr. March as a speaker, writer, and educator made him one of the most popular and useful pastors the society had ever enjoycd. He re- signed in 1862, much to the regret of the citizens of the town at large as well as his own people.

The successor of Rev. Mr. March was Rev. J. C. Bodwell, D. D., who was installed as pastor in October, 1862. Dr. Bodwell was a preacher of unusual power. His sermons were models of con- struction and sustained force, clothed in language and rhetoric of the purest types. Receiving an invitation to become the head of a theological in- stitute at Hartford, Connecticut, he asked and received a dismission from the pastorate in August,

Common, built in 1840, was so far outgrown in 1860 by the increase of the society, that an en- largement or a new building became necessary. As the land for enlargement could not be easily obtained, it was voted to erect a new house of very much larger dimensions, and on the opposite side of the Common. The building was completed, and dedicated in October, 1861. The church is one of the largest and best-appointed houses of worship in the country. Its total cost was about $62,000. The audience-room is capable of seating fifteen hundred persons, and is beautiful both in form and decoration. After the resignation of Rev. Mr. Bodwell an invitation to the pastorate was ex- tended to Rev. S. E. Dennen, who accepted, and was installed in 1868. Mr. Dennen was noted for his pulpit services, his sermons having those logical and compact qualities which are always attractive to the thinking part of every congregation. Mr. Dennen resigned in 1872. Rev. H. S. Kelsey was installed in his place. Occupying the pulpit three years, he retired from the position, and the pastorate was again offered to Rev. Daniel March, who had so acceptably ministered to the congre- gation some fifteen years before. Rev. Mr. March still retains his connection with the parish. In 1846 the people of North Woburn felt the need of a church and society in that locality. At first the Sunday services were held in the school-house, under charge of Rev. Samuel Sewall. The society increasing, a meeting-house was built in 1849, and a church formed, consisting mostly of persons who transferred their membership from the First Par- ish. Rev. Samuel Sewall continued as pastor till 1852, when he resigned. His successor was Rev. George T. Dole, who remained three years. Rev. Swift Byington and Rev. M. G. Whecler followed. The present pastor, Rev. W. C. Anderson, was settled in 1873.

Baptist Society. - It has been previously stated that several leading- men of the First Parish had become converts to the Baptist faith about 1670. The two Russells, John and John, Jr., maintained their connection with that sect to the end of life, and were prominent in their efforts to spread its doctrines. Of the others, who for a time sympa- thized with them, it is not known that any of them continued to support the obnoxious tenets, as they soon returned to their connection with the First Parish. For more than a century there was little or no indication of the prevalence of Baptist senti-

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WOBURN.

ments among the people, although one or two fami- lies had associated themselves with the Baptists of West Cambridge (now Arlington), where, in 1781, a society liad been organized. The difficulties in the First Parish respecting Rev. Mr. Sargent led many persons to withdraw from it. Most of these attached themselves to the West Cambridge church, which was under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. Green. Their numbers increasing, Mr. Green was invited to preach a part of the time in Woburn. These persons were regularly taxed for the support of the First Parish. This was resisted, and a suit was brought to recover taxes already paid. The suit was gained, and the money refunded. Not long after Rev. Mr. Green divided his time between the two societies, giving one half to each. Mr. Green left this vicinity in 1793, when the society was successfully established. In its early history the pastorates of the society were short. Over it were settled Elder Snow, Elder Peak, Rev. Elias Smith, Elder Nelson, Elder Stone, Elder Wydown, Rev. T. Waterman, Rev. H. Marshall, Rev. G. Phip- pen, Rev. A. Judson, Rev. J. N. Seaman, Rev. S. Mallory, Rev. B. C. Wade, Rev. T B. Ripley, Rev. N. Hooper, Rev. S. B. Randall, Rev. J. C. Stock- bridge, Rev. J. Ricker, Rev. B. F. Bronson, Rev. J. S. Kennard, Rev. H. C. Townley, Rev. William Young. The present minister (1879), Rev. E. C. Mills, has occupied the place for about four years. The first meetings of the society were held in private houses. A meeting-house was built in 1794, which was situated on the Main Street, near where the pres- ent Episcopal Chapel is located. The growth of the society requiring more room, a new house was built in 1827. The same house continues in use by the society, although it has undergone two considera- ble changes and embellishments since that period. The last of these (including a partial removal of the building) added greatly to the beauty of the structure and to the convenience of the society in its manifold religious and social life.

Unitarian Society. - The first Unitarian Society in Woburn was preceded by two organizations of Universalists. The first of these was begun in 1828. The society built a meeting-house on the southwest side of the Common. Rev. O. A. Skin- ner was the first pastor. Three others succeeded him, when preaching was suspended, and the house was sold to the town for use as a town-hall. In 1841 a new society was formed, which built, in 1845, a new meeting-house on Main Street, and occu- pied it, with Rev. W. B. Randolph as pastor, until

1847, when it passed into the hands of the Unita- rian Society, which for the last two or three years had been forming, and holding meetings in the town- hall. Rev. Henry F. Edes was installed as pastor in 1848. Resigning in 1850, the society was with- out a settled minister till 1853, when Rev. J. M. Marsters was installed. Ill health obliging him to retire in 1856, Rev. R. P. Stebbins, D. D., was set- tled as his successor in 1857. He resigned after a successful ministry of nearly seven years. Rev. Eli Fay succeeded him in 1864. In that year it was decided to purchase the meeting-house which had been vacated two years before by the First Congre- gational Parish, and remodel it. This was cffected in the course of the year, and the present fine church edifice was the result. The improvement to the public square by removing the house thirty feet from the street, and presenting to it the hand- some façade of the new building, was one of the most signal and satisfactory that has occurred in its history. Rev. Mr. Fay terminated his pastorate in 1868, on account of impaired health. Rev. W. S. Barnes was called to the parish in 1869. He resigned in April, 1879. His ministry was the most active and successful, as well as the longest, with which the society has been favored. Rev. George H. Young is now pastor, having been in- stalled in October, 1879.

Methodist Society .- No special efforts were made to found a Methodist church in Woburn until 1850. An organization was effected in 1851, and preach- ers have been regularly assigned to the church from that period. Its growth has been rapid, and its congregation is now one of the largest in the town. The first meeting-house was a small building of very slight cost. In 1864 the society purchased of the Unitarian Parish the meeting-house which it had recently vacated, and made several important changes in the interior. This house was com- pletely destroyed by fire in 1872. A new and commodious edifice was erected on the same site, in the basement story of which are the Woburn post- office and two stores occupied for trade. The soci- ety is an energetic and flourishing one, and has a wide influence in its sphere of activity.

Episcopal Church. - Adherents of the Church of England first appeared in Woburn in the Sec- ond Parish (Shawshine), about 1750. Some twelve or fifteen persons withdrew from it at that time, and adopted in their religious worship the English liturgy, which was read to them by one of their number in a private house. Occasionally a rector

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.

from Cambridge or Boston was present. The soci- ety gained but slowly in numbers, and at the break- ing out of the Revolution was quite overborne by the feeling against English ecclesiasticism, which was considered as a part of the system of royalty. Several persons, however, continued their sympathy with the church, but were too few in number to sustain an organization. In 1865 a successful at- tempt was made to revive the Episcopal service. Meetings of those interested were at first held in Lyceum Hall. Increasing numbers led to the building of a small church, or chapel, in 1867. Since that time the growth of the parish has been steady, and, with the band of earnest workers it contains, it seems likely to gain a permanent posi- tion among the religious societies of the town. It has had several rectors, among whom have been Rev. J. W. Porter, Rev. S. U. Shearman, and Rev. J. Frank Winckley, who is the present incumbent.

Roman Catholic Church. - There were many members of the Romish communion in town some time before an attempt was made to gather them in charge of one of the priestly fathers of the church. In 1847 the accessions had become suffi- cient to establish regular meetings, which were held in the town-liall. This continued to be the place of worship until 1852, when a plain but com- modious church edifice was built. The society rapidly increased from year to year, and in 1865 the house had become much too small for the ac- commodation of the large congregation. In the following year the present stately church was pro- jected, and, through the untiring efforts of Father Quealy and a few leading members of the society, was completed and dedicated in 1869. The build- ing is conveniently located on the corner of Main and Summer streets, and is one of the finest struc- tures in town. Father Quealy still continues to be the presiding priest of the parish, but has been ably sustained by assistants, noteworthy among whom was Father McClure, who left a few months ago as a mission worker in Essex County. His present aids are Fathers Murphy and McDonald.

Woburn in the Civil War. - In the great upris- ing which followed the attack on Fort Sumter, Woburn was as prompt to exhibit her spirit and patriotism as any town in the State. She bore her part in the long struggle which followed with well- sustained zeal, and contributed her full share in men and money to bring about its successful issue. On the evening of April 18, 1861, a public meet- ing was held in Lyceum Hall, which was large in

numbers and enthusiastic in its expression of resist- ance to rebellion and loyalty to the Union. Ad- journed meetings were held on the 20th and 21st of the same month, where the same spirit prevailed as at the first. As the result of these meetings, more than one hundred men offered themselves for their country's service, and nearly $8,000 were pledged by individuals, in sums from $ 1 to $ 500, to aid in their outfit and to furnish assist- ance to their families in their absence. These events took place while as yet no systematic meas- ures had been taken for enlistments either by the state or national governments.

The Middleser Journal and The Woburn Budget, both local papers, spoke wise and brave words for the cause. Their editorials were vigorous and patriotic, and did much to concentrate popular feel- ing upon the duties of the hour. The Woburn Phalanx, an old military organization of much re- pute, was revived, and its ranks recruited to the maximum number. Securing a new and full equip- ment, it marched to Boston, under Captain Timothy Winn, and offered itself to the governor foriminediate service. Several causes led to adelay of its acceptance as a body, whereupon many of its members lastened . to join other organizations ; and it was not until the next year that the Phalanx, under new enlistments, went to the front in its proper place in the 5th regiment. In its municipal capacity the town acted with decision and liberality. At a meeting held on the 6th of May, after stating the desire of the town to do its duty to the country in that perilous hour, it was voted to pay to single men en- listed from Woburn $12, to married men without children $16, and to married men with children $ 20 per month, in addition to the pay received from the United States government, and the treas- urer was authorized to borrow $ 5,000 for military purposes. On April 14, 1862, the town treasurer was authorized to borrow all the money required to pay state aid to the families of soldiers. Septem- . ber 2 of the same year $ 17,000 were appropriated for the payment of a bounty of $ 100 to each person, to the number of one hundred and seventy, who should enlist for nine months and be mustered to the credit of the town. March 9, 1863, $500 were appropriated to aid the women of Woburn in purchasing material to be made into garments for the soldiers in service. November 3, 1863, the subjoined paper was read and agreed to: " If the town of Woburn agrees to pay the fifty-two men now called for to make up its quota $ 300 each,

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WOBURN.

we the undersigned agree to place in the hands of the selectmen the sum of $ 15,000 for that purpose until the same can be legally paid by the town. Eli Jones, J. B. Winn, Charles Tidd, Bowen Buckman, Joseph Kelley, M. F. Winn, S. O. Pollard, L. Thompson, W. T. Grammer, Horaee Conn, M. C. Bean, A. E. Thompson, Cyrus Cum- mings, E. N. Blake, John Johnson."

April 4, 1864, the town treasurer was again authorized to borrow the sum of $15,000, "and more if necessary," to pay to the families of sol- diers in the service of the country. $8,000 were also voted to refund money. voluntarily paid by citizens to persons enlisting to fill the quotas of the town for the two previous years, provided the sum should not exceed $125 to each reeruit. In August of the same year it was voted to pay to each volunteer for three years' service one hundred and twenty-five dollars in gold, if such payment should be found to be legal. At the April meet- ing (1865) the sum of $15,000 was again appro- priated in aid of the families and dependants of men engaged in the war, and $500 to purchase material to be made into useful garments by the patriotie women of the town for the soldiers at the front. In the following month (May) $23,500 were appropriated to reimburse citizens for money contributed to fill the quota of the town for 1864. The whole amount of money expended by the town on account of the war, exelusive of state aid, was $89,066.68. The amount raised and expended for state aid to soldiers' families, and reimbursed by the commonwealth, was $51,456.22.

After the dispersion of the members of the Plia- lanx into various regiments in the spring of 1861, enlistments went on in Woburn, and in July more than one hundred men were in the field at various points. When the 22d regiment was formed, under the colonelship of Henry Wilson, in the summer of that year, a company was organized under the name of the Woburn Union Guard. Before its ranks were completed it was filled up from other towns, and ordered to the field with its regiment. The number of Woburn men in its ranks was forty-seven, including its offieers, - Captain Samuel I. Thompson, First Lieutenant John P. Crane, and Second Lieutenant William R. Bennett. In 1862 two full companies were sent into the field, besides enlistments into several others. The first of these companies was called the National Rangers, and was attached to the 39th regiment as Company K. Its officers were :

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II, Part 95

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

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