History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 179

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I > Part 179

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The next vote was " to raise oue hundred and fifty dollars for shooling." 3

In Rev. Mr. Marrett's diary of 1800 we find the fol- lowing account of the service held in commemoration of the death of Washington :

" Feb. 22. The Day appointed by Congress to be observed in respect to the Memory of Gen'l Wash-

ington, deceased. We had an Exercise at yº meet'g- house and procession to the meet'g-house."

In 1810 the population of Burlington by the United States census was 471, a decrease from the number in 1800; but in 1820 it was 508, and in 1850 it had increased to 545.

Those who are now familiar with the town must not think that the marked difference we see to-day between rural Burlington and the city of Woburn ex sted between the old and new towns at the begin- ning of the century. Then the inhabitants of both places were largely engaged in agricultural pursuits. Many farmers of substantial means lived in Burling- ton, and it was no small loss to the mother town to be deprived of their tax money. Burlington was on the stage-route from Boston to Concord, N. H. The coming and departure of the stage-coaches brought a certain stir of life into the village several times each day and furnished the most convenient means of communication with the outside world known at that time.

During later years the Marion Tavern, still stand- ing, in the centre of the town, became noted as the " Half-way House" between Boston and Lowell. Here the horses were changed and the passengers sometimes took dinner.

When the Lowell Railroad was built, in 1835, its course was turned aside from the direct route to the north, and Burlington was stranded by the tide of progress. The stages ceased to run ; even the mail was at last carried on the cars ; and a quiet-uubroken by the merry horn or the cracking of the whip- settled over the little village. The opening of the railroad marked the close of one important era of the history of Burlington.

In the dark days of the Civil War, 1861-65, the citi- zens of Burlington gave abundant evidence of their patriotism. Meetings were held from time to time, money was appropriated, a recruiting committee was employed to canvass the town, and the recruits were drilled under competent instructors. The town fur- nished eighty-two men for the war-a number ex- ceeding, by four, all demands of the Government. The amount of money appropriated and expended by the town for the war, not including State aid, was $10,651. This was a large sum for a town, whose valuation, in 1860, was only $328,461, with a popula- lation of 606. The women of Burlington also did a large amount of work for the soldiers, knitting, sew- ing, preparing lint and bandages for the wounded, and in other ways ministering to the needs of the de- fenders of their country.

The name of Ward Brooks Frothingham, son of the late Dr. Nathaniel L. Frothingham, and a nephew 01 Hon. Edward Everett, heads the list of soldiers from Burlington. In a personal communication, he gives an account of his experience in the army, which we record here :

" 1 first enlistod, September 6, 1861, as a corporal in Con Aly t,

1 Town Records, yol. i. p. 3.

2 Town Recorda, vol. i. p. 6.

3 Town Records, vol. i. p. 6.

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BURLINGTON.

'Everett Guard,' 22d Massachusetts Infantry Volunteers. I was wounded through the left shoulder by a minio-ball, at the battle of Gaines' Mills, June 27, 1862, was taken prisoner and confined in Libby Prison. I was paroled and discharged July 30, 1862. I re-enlisted as a second lieutenant, in the 59th Massachusetts Iefantry Volunteers (Fourth Veterans), April 23, 1864. I was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of the Wiklerness, May 6, 1864. At the battle of Spottsylvaain Court-House, May 12, 1864, I was shot through the hat, and, on June 17th of the same year, in an assault on the enemy's works, my canteen was shot away. I was wounded in the right leg at the battle of Pegram's Farm, September 30, 1864. In the attack on Fort Steadman, March 25, 1865, I was captured, and, after giving up my sword, marched to Richmond and Libby Prison. I was paroled for exchango April 2, 1SG5, and, returning home, was 'mustered out ' May 15, 1865, my services being no longer required.

" I served in the Army of the Potomac, and all the engagements in which I participated were in Virginia. Nine years after the war I was most agreeably surprised by having my sword and belt returned to me, by the rebel captaia to whom I surrendered. He says in a letter to me, which I still have with me, 'I trust the sword will never be drawa agaia except ia defeaco of our common country.'" 1

When the centennial anniversary of the Battle of Lexington was celebrated by that town, April 19, 1875, an invitation was sent to the citizens of Burling- ton to join in the exercises of the day. At a town- meeting, held March 25, 1875, it was voted to accept this invitation and to raise a sum of money to defray the expenses of the day. It was also voted to form a company of cavalry to join in the procession. This company consisted of forty-six citizens of the town and four honorary members. The officers of the company were Captain, William E. Carter ; first lieu- tenant, George L. Tebbetts; second lieutenant, James Graham ; quartermaster, George W. Austin ; orderly sergeant, Nathan H. Marion. They were dressed in neat uniforms, and presented a fine appearance. They carried a handsome flag and a banner bear- ing two views of the "Retreat of Hancock and Adams, April 19, 1775," now the residence of Samuel Sewall, Esq., of Burlington. The cavalry es- corted two carriages occupied by the honorary mem- bers and four aged citizens of the town. On their way to Lexington the company stopped to pay their respects to the "Retreat of Hancock and Adams," which was appropriately decorated for the occasion, and also to give a salutation to one of the descend- ants of Paul Revere, who was, at that time, an inmate of the dwelling. The 19th of April, 1875, was a day long to be remembered in Burlington.

The citizens of Burlington have always been pub- lic-spirited and liberal, according to their means. This is shown by the neat appearance of their public buildings. The Town Hall, built in 1844, was en- larged and greatly improved in 1879. Beside a com - modious hall for town-meetings, lectures and social entertainments, the building now contains a conven- ient room for the selectmen, and a room for the post- office and town library on the lower floor, and above a well-fitted dining-hall. 1

There are five school-houses in town, all in , good condition. Four schools are kept throughout the

year, and one additional during the winter months. This year, 1890, the town, for the first time, employs a superintendent of schools, in conjunction with sev- eral adjoining towns.

The public library of Burlington was established in 1858. It now contains 2058 volumes. The circu- lation, 1889-90, was 1000 volumes. The library is free to all inhabitants of the town over twelve years of age.

The late David Simonds, a wealthy resident of Boston, who was born in Burlington, recently left by will a fund of $1000 for the town library. The library- room is adorned by a portrait of the late Col. Leon- ard Thompson, of Woburn, presented by his son, Leonard Thompson, Esq. Colonel Thompson was born in this town. He was a wise and public-spirited man, who achieved a high reputation for benevolence and justice to his fellow-men. In his will he left a generous gift to the Sunday-school library of Burling- ton. Previous to the establishment of the town library in Burlington a social library was formed. The proprietors met Aug. 30, 1816. The number of proprietors was twenty-two. Shares were sold for two dollars each, the holders being subject to an annual assessment of twenty-five cents, with fines for neglect in returning books. The records of this library are very interesting. The library was com- menced with less than ninety volumes, but in- creased to two hundred and fifty. These books were well selected and the list of them, still extant, shows that the popular taste of those days was certainly not inferior to that of our own times. This library, for lack of interest, and perhaps other causes, was given up, in 1842, and the books divided among the share- holders. Rev. Samuel Sewall was the librarian.

In 1880 a new almshouse was built, on the town farm in Burlington to replace the old house, which was destroyed by fire in the fall of 1879. There have been few inmates in the almshouse during late years, but these seem contented and happy. Kind and Christian treatment has been the rule of the institu- tion.

In the Introduction a description of the ancient burial-ground of Burlington was given. In 1851 land was purchased and a new cemetery laid out, on the Bedford road. This cemetery was dedicated with ap- propriate exercises and an address by Rev. Samuel Sewall, June 25, 1851. Of late years considerable attention has been paid to the care and adornment of the cemetery. Every year a committee is elected by the town to keep the ground in order, and a sum of money appropriated for their use. Many proprietors of lots also take great pains in their improvement and adornment.

The town of Burlington is noted for the beauty of its natural scenery.

The surface is uneven and diversified by conspicu- ous hills, which command fine views of the surround- ing country. From Bennett Hill, in the centre of

1 Communication of Mr. Ward Brooks Frotbinghamn.

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

the town, can be seen, on a clear day, Mt. Wachusett, Mt. Monadnock and other mountains of New Hamp- shire.

The view of the village from this hill at sunset in summer-the church tower rising above the slate stones of the burying-ground, the houses nestling among the trees, and the green fields and orchards- is one hardly to be surpassed among our New Eng- land villages.

A clear and beautiful stream of water, a branch of the Shawshine River, called Vire Brook, waters the meadows in the south part of the town.

Sources of the Ipswich River have been traced to the east part of Burlington. Situated on elevated land, the town is noted for the healthfulness of its lo- cation. Very few epidemics have prevailed here, al- though a letter of Rev. John Marrett to his kinsman, Rev. Isaiah Dunster, of Harwich, dated May 25, 1790, seems to hint that our modern influenza was known in that early time. In this letter, he says :

"We have not had ye Measles tho yy hve been all round us. It has been sickly & a time of mortality in many places this spring. with us in general healthy. The Distemper called ye Influenza has pre- vailed .- I have been confined with it about 10 days. But now well, as we all are."1

His diary for that season recorded his own illness and shows an unusual number of visits to the sick.

A newspaper clipping from the Middlesex Observer, March 8, 1823, carefully preserved by Rev. Samuel Sewall, gives some interesting facts regarding the healthfulness of Burlington at that time. This clip- ping gives an abstract of the deaths that occurred in twenty towns in the county during the year 1822, with the population of each town, according to the census of 1820.

In point of healthfulness Burlington ranked sec- ond, there being one death to every 127 inhabitants. In Hopkinton, which ranked first, there was one death to every 184 inhabitants. The population of Burlington at that time was 508; the number of deaths for the year only four. A note says :

"This is an unusually small number. In 1821 the deaths were fourteen. The average number for the past nine years has been eight. The whole number since April 13, 1814, to December 31, 1822, is seventy- one. Nineteen of them were over seventy, nine over eighty, and two over ninety years of age."

Burlington is almost entirely an agricultural town. The soil is generally fertile, and, under skillful culti- vation, produces good crops of grain, vegetables and fruit. There are many successful farmers in town who are daily demonstrating that farming may be a profitable employment. Some of them raise vegeta- bles of all kinds, early and late, which are sent to the Boston market, and others are engaged in raising milk, principally for use in Woburn. Mr. John Winn,

in the east part of the town, keeps a herd of fifty or sixty cows, and supplies many people in Woburn with milk.

Mr. Samuel Walker has become gnite celebrated in this vicinity as a raiser of small fruits. He has a number of acres planted with raspberry and black- berry vines and sends large quantities of the berries to the Boston market every year.

Mr. Henry A. Coffin is engaged extensively in the poultry business and is the inventor of a successful incubator. There is one saw and grist-mill in town, owned by Mr. Edward Reed, and situated on Vine Brook. On the same stream there is also an establish- ment for block-printing.

There are two shoe stock manufactories in the centre of the town. One of these, owned by Mr. George L. Tebbetts, has a steam boiler of twenty-two horse-power, and employs, on an average, seventeen - people. A goodly amount of business is done there.

The other, owned by Mr. W. E. Carter, has a boiler of eighteen horse-power and employs about the same number of hands.

There are two grocery-stores in Burlington-one in the centre, owned by Tebbetts & Getchell, and the other in the west village, owned by J. C. Haven. The people do much of their trading in Woburn and Boston.

The most extensive business in town is undoubtedly the ham business, owned and managed by Mr. Thomas I. Reed, who cares the celebrated "Reed hams," at his establishment in Burlington, and sells them in Boston and in many towns in the county. This business was begun, in a small way, fifty years ago, by Mr. Reed's father, the late Isaiah Reed, Jr., who commenced by buying a few hogs and selling pork and sausages. Some people in Woburn, who knew that Mr. Reed had an excellent recipe for curing hams, employed him to cure theirs and gradually the business grew, until, in 1872, he was curing four or five thousand in the season. In 1868 he began to buy hams for sale, and, that year, sold one hundred. In 1872 Mr. T. I. Reed, who had then begun to work with his father, bought and sold four hundred and fifty hams. This, he thought, was a very good year's work. In 1874 Mr. T. I. Reed took the business, after the death of his father. The business since then has constantly increased and the territory has grown more extended. In the season of 1889- 90, from October 1st, to the middle of June, about eight thousand hams were cured for others, and forty thousand were bought and sold by Mr. Reed himself. In this business he employed a large number of men and horses. He has two ham buildings, one story and a half high, with cellars, one measuring twenty by fifty-five feet, and the other seventeen by fifty-one feet, and two smoke-houses, each measuring twelve by twenty-four fcet. Mr. Reed has also a large fadr., which he cultivates profitably.

The finest residence in Burlington is now ow wwi

1 " llonry Dunster und his Descendants," by Samuel Dunster, p. 91.

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BURLINGTON.

with the large farm adjoining, by Mr. Samuel W. Rodman. The mansion-house was built by Rev. Na- thaniel L. Frothingham, D.D., minister of the First Church in Boston, and a noted poet and translator. Dr. Frothingham had his summer home in this town for several years, and Hon. Edward Everett, a rela- tive of Mrs. Frothingham, spent at least one season here. During his residence in Burlington, Dr. Froth- ingham selected a family burial-place in the new cemetery, and there he was buried.

The Burlington Agricultural Society was organized in the fall of 1889, and held their first annual field- day and fair October 3, 1889. Large numbers of people attended, many coming from adjoining towns. There was a fine collection of needlework, vegetables and historical articles to be seen in the Town-Hall, and also a good exhibition of stock and poultry on the grounds. This society is prospering, and making active preparations for its fair to be held next autumn.

Like other country towns where few changes oc- cur, Burlington is rich in landmarks of the past. Probably the oldest house in town is the one owned by Mr. Joshua Reed, in the north part of the town. Its exact age is not known, but it is said to be cer- tainly two hundred years old. It was once used as a garrison-house.

In the history of Woburn an account is given of events connected with the historic honse which was the refuge of Hancock and Adams and the fair Dorothy Quincy on the 19th of April, 1775. This story is one of the best of authenticated traditions. It was related to Rev. Samuel Sewall, who records it in his "History of Woburn," by two of the wit- nesses of the occasion-by Madam Jones, who was living when he came to preach in Burlington, and by the veritable Dorothy Quincy, afterward Madam Hancock, and, by a second marriage, Madam Scott, who was a relative of the Sewalls, and is still re- membered by Samuel Sewall, Esq., of Burlington.

A very large chestnut tree near this house is sup- posed to be one which remained from the original forest, since no record exists of its planting, as is the case with the other trees around the house; it measures four feet in diameter.

The house of Captain James Reed, where the first Revolutionary prisoners were confined, is still owned by his descendants. The house owned by Deacon Samuel Reed, where the library and public records of Harvard College were kept in those perilous times, is still standing, although not in the posses- sion of the family.

The Middlesex Turnpike, once a famous highway, passed through a part of Burlington. There were no gates in this town. The "Turnpike" is now one of the public roads.

The territory embraced by the town of Burlington was once the home of many Indians. Numerous relics, as stone tomahawks and arrow-heads, are still

found by the farmers as they overturn the fields with their plows.

Probably the most distinguished individual born in Burlington, or in Woburn Precinct, was the late Rev. James Walker, D.D., president of Harvard University for several years. He was the son of General John and Lucy (Johnson) Walker, and born August 16, 1794. His father was a famons and influential man of his times. His mother was descended from Cap- tain Edward Johnson, one of the noted founders of Woburn.

There has been one native of Burlington whose life was extended to the long duration of one hundred years. Mrs. Betsey Taylor, who died March 25, 1865, aged one hundred years and five months, was born in this town and spent her life bere. She remembered the 19th of April, 1775, and once told the Rev. Samuel Sewall that, while it was yet dark on that eventful morning, a messenger was sent from Captain Joshna Walker, commander of the military men of the pre- cinct, to her father, Jonathan Proctor, drummer of the company, to beat an alarm as soon as possible, as the " red-coats" were on the march towards Lex- ington. As she advanced in years she asked Rev. Mr. Sewall to promise that the one hundredth anni- versary of her birth should be publicly celebrated, as she felt that she should live to that "great age," as she called it. This he readily promised, and the cele- bration was held at her home, as she was then unable to leave the honse-October 31, 1864, Mr. Sewall made an address and conducted appropriate religious exercises.

In concluding the civil history of the town, we are led to inquire what manner of men were these who laid its foundations and "builded better than they knew ?"

We have already spoken of their trne Puritan prin- ciples and zeal for the worship of God, which led them to surmount all difficulties and endure "all manner of contradiction " that they might be incor- porated as a parish, and have a place for public wor- ship convenient to their homes. The cost of the meeting-house-$943.17-was a considerable sum of money for those days, and the addition to the taxes of individuals, each one being taxed according to his estate, was not a small bnrden. Certain votes and proceedings at the early meetings of the town show us that money was not plentiful, even as late as 1800. Propositions which incurred expense were often promptly voted down.

In reading these records, we must remember that our forefathers acted not from parsimony only, but from what appeared to them, in the light of their times, to be true economy and thrift.

The attitude of the people on the reforms of the day is important. Very few slaves were owned in Woburn Precinct. The most noted of these was Cuff, the servant of Madam Jones, mentioned in the Introduc- tion. The class distinctions of his day were such,

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

however, that he was obliged to sit in the gallery of the meeting-house, but, as he had the care of his young mistress, the granddaughter of Madam Jones, he took her to sit with him.

It is a remarkable fact that, although liquors were extensively used in olden times, at all occasions, joy- ful and sorrowful, even at ordinations and church- raisings, there is no record that any money was ex- pended for them by this parish or church.

The ordination of one of the ministers, at least, was celebrated by a ball, and it is related that the people once partly paid for the painting of the meet- ing-house in a similar way. The people gave strict attention to the observance of the Sabbath, which began at sunset Saturday night, and continued twenty-four hours. Travelers were not allowed to tra- vel through the parish. A story is told of those days which shows that "one touch of nature makes us all akin." It is said that a certain drover came from the north and stopped over Saturday night at a tavern in this place. The tithingmen went to forbid his moving the herd on the Sabbath, but being received with great affability, they were entrapped into examining the herd, and the sight of one particularly fine animal tempted one of the tithingmen to ask its price, where- upon thedrover called out to his men, "Let down the bars. If it's right to buy cattle on the Lord's day, it's right to drive them."

Whether this story is true or not, these traditions teach us that our forefathers were not entirely differ- ent from the people of to-day. They had their joys and sorrows, their virtues and frailties, their human affections and passions. Let us preserve all the records that remain of their family and social life, as well as the more public memorials of the transactions of the church and town.

CHAPTER LII.

BURLINGTON-(Continued).

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

OUR fathers, where are they ? The worthy of old, Whose praise and whose honor with joy we have told ? With strength and with patience they labored and prayed, They trusted God's mercy, though often delayed, And still on the Mighty their courage was stayed.

The walls that they builded are firm as the hill, We meet where they met, but their voices are still. From altars of earth, they ascended on high, To worship our God in the courts of the sky ; Their fame and their labor the ages defy.

Wo stand in their places, our footsteps may tread The path that they followed, by righteousness led. We pray for their spirit, our work to perform, While, faithful to duty, in shining and storm, We gather the harvest of holy reform.

-Hyun for the 150th Anniversary of the Church in Burlington by M. E. S. C.

The history of Burlington, especially in early times, is vitally connected with that of the church. The

distance from the meeting-house in Woburn and the strong determination of the inhabitants of ancient Shawshin, or "Shushan," as this part of Woburn was then called, to attend public worship, led to the for- mation of the Second Parish in 1730, and shortly afterward, to the building of the meeting-house and organization of the church. There has been but one church in Burlington, and never any strenuous attempt to form another, although a few families have always attended the churches of their choice in adjoining towns. This church is Congregational Trinitarian. It has always been liberal in spirit and doctrine, and very few theological controversies stain its records.

This church was organized October 29, 1735, Old Style, or November 8, 1735, according to our present mode of reckoning. Ten male members, including the pastor, subscribed to the church covenant. The following list of these members is given for conven- ience in reference :1

Simon Thompson, John Spear, James Thompson, Joseph Pierce, Edward Johnson, William Bruce, Supply Clap (the first minister), George Reed, Eben- ezer Johnson, Samuel Walker.

The history of this church and parish from 1730 to the incorporation of the town in 1799, has been in- cluded in the " Ecclesiastical History of Woburn."

A note in the first book of church records, in the handwriting of Rev. John Marrett, states that from November 23, 1735, to December 28, 1800, 943 people were baptized.2 In the same book, Rev. Samuel Sewall, his successor, records that the whole number baptized by Mr. Marrett, from December 25, 1774, to his death, in 1813, was 358.3

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. I, Part 179

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1034