History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 195

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 195

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September 6, 1812, the town chose a committee " to receive the donations given to the town by the widow Anna Page and Mr. William Page, deceased, and to take care of and apply the use of the same, agreeable to the wills of the donors." By these wills and that of Samuel Hartwell, probated in 1822, "The Page and Hartwell Fund " was created. The following is the preamble and clause relating to the town in the will of Anna Page. The others are similar in expres- sion and provision :

" In the name of God, Amen.

" I, Anna Page, widow and relict of Thomas Page, late of Bedford, In the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Yeo- man, deceased. . . . I humbly cominit and commend my sonl to God my Creator, In and through Jesus Christ my Redeemer, whose righteous- Les and grace are all my hope for pardon and eternal salvation. My Body I recommend to a christian burial at the discretion of my Execn- tor in the blessed hope of a joyful resurrection at the last day. . ..

"Taking into consideration the vast importance and necessity of sup- porting the Gospel ministry, it is my will that after my Executor shall have paid all the foregoing leagacys-all debts, bills of cost and charge of every kind .- all the remainder of my estate of any kind and wherever found, be appropriated to that use, and accordingly I do here- by give and bequeath said remainder to the town of Bedford as a fund to aid in the support of the Gospel ministry, to be disposed of in the manner following. That is to say : The capital of the fund shall be put and always kept on interest, upon good security-with sufficient sureties for the same. One-sixth part of the income arising therefrom shall be annually added to the principal as an increasing fund forever-the other five-sixth parts of the annual income to be appropriated annually in aid of the support of the Gospel ministry in the present standing order or congregational order forever, and no part of said fund shall ever be ap- propriated in aid or support of any other than the present standing congregational order forever, and no partof the said fund shall ever be ap- propriated in aid of any suit at law or any contention whatever, aud my will further is, that three persons, all belonging to the church, shall be annually chosen by the town as a committee to take care of the said fund, and that a Book shall be kept by the town clerk, for the time being in which shall be fairly entered this clause in my will and also the capital of the fund and the annual income thereof together with the . annual appropriations and expenditures of said income, to be kept open for the perusal of all persons thereiu concerned forever-but my will further is, that whenever the income of the said fund shall be more than sufficient for the support of the Gospel ministry in Bedford, the re- mainder of the income of said fund shall be appropriated to support the Poor, Teaching Sacred Music, and the support of Schools or Public buildings, and my will further is, the said sum, whatever it may be found to be, shall be paid by my Executor to the committee to be chosen for the above purpose, in two years after my decease, and a true report of the said fund, with the annual appropriation and expenditure thereof, shall be annually made to the town by the Committee having the care of the same forever, which report shall be recorded by the town clerk in the Book which is kept by him for that purpose forever.

"Dated, signed and sealed, February twenty-third, 1810. "ANNA PAGE."

The town being residuary legatee received from the estate of Anna Page $663.93. The Samuel Hartwell legacy was $300, and that from William Page was $500. For some years the trustees of these funds were chosen in town-meeting and the record-book was kept by the town clerk, but for the last half-cen- tury the First Parish has appointed the custodians and the Unitarian Church received the income. The "Page & Hartwell Fund " (now 1889) amounts to $2691.78. The church received by the will of Anna Page a solid silver flagon, costing $140, and by vote of the church a second flagon was procured at the same cost. A silver cup was donated by Mrs. Hannah Merriam. By other donations and purchases the church was now furnished with an elegant solid silver communion service in place of the pewter dishes thius far used. Rev. Samuel Stearns was kindly renem- bered by this trio of public benefactors. The irreg- ularity of the windows in the meeting-house is sug- gested by votes like the following : September 3, 1804, voted, " To allow Mr. Jeremiah Fitch to put a window in his pew in the northwest corner of the meeting- house in any part thereof." May 19, 1783, voted, " To allow Timothy Jones the liberty to put in aglass window in the meeting-house on the back side of his pew at his own cost." With the exceptions of such ad- ditions the people were contented in the old house of worship, but the great " September gale" of 1815 de- vastated the noble forests, and hundreds of stately pines lay prostrate. The people seized upon this as

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

an opportunity for procuring lumber at a reasonable rate, and the town voted to build a new meeting- house. The last service in the old house was in July, 1816, and in the following week the frame was stripped and demolished-such timbers as could be utilized were selected for the new house.

The frame was prepared and put together on the ground and pulled into place a side at a time, by the assembled multitude, who had gathered on the morn- ing of July 8th, and at the appearance of the sun were ready for the order "Bear it up." On the 17th of the same month the people assembled for a service of Thanksgiving on the floor of the new house. When the house was completed, the town chose a committee-

" To appraise the pews hy assessing the whole expense of building said house, including extra hills, etc. (levelling the common and hanging the bellexcepted), on the same according to rank and situation of said pews. . . It was further voted ' that no town-meetings nor trainings or choos- ing militia officers shall ever he held or done in the meeting-house, and no other town husiness shall he done in said house, except hy permission of the selectmen for the time heing, and that this vote shall he annexed to the article for the sale of the pews.' 'No person shall hang his hat on any post or on the wall of the house, or on any other machine about the railing of the pews on the lower floor, in the hody of sd meeting- house, nor on the front of the gallories, nor on the walls in the gal- leries.' "

The house was dedicated July 8, 1817. Rev. Sam- uel Stearns, the pastor, preached the sermon, which was, later, published in pamphlet form. This was the first dedication service held in the town, it being con- trary to the New England spirit and custom when the first house of worship was completed.

James Wright, Jr., was appointed to the responsi- ble position of "sexton." His duties were carefully defined, not the least of which was "to carry into the house the basin of water for the ordinance of baptism, when requested."

The bell, imported from London by Jeremiah Fitch for the towu, was first rung on the morning of July 8, 1817. Mr. Fitch contributed the clock to the town, which is ornamented with a gold-mounted eagle aud balls, and still marks off the hours in the meeting-house; but the bell, being rudely handled in a seeming display of patriotism, was rendered useless and sold in 1863, by the First Parish, and has not been replaced. The cost of the meeting- house was $6623. The pews sold for a sum suffi- cieut to liquidate the debt, and left a balance of $487, which was assigned for a ministerial fund, by a vote of the town. The "Page Fund " was of use in providing an annual singing-school, and in 1818 Leander Hosmcr was employed by the towu "To perform sacred music for said town for ten dollars pr. year, on a Bass Viol, and furnish himself with a viol."

In July, 1818, a Sabbath-School was organized, which proved to be one of the first Church-schools in the country, the history of which, prepared by the author of this sketch, was published by the Trini- tarian Sabbath-school, in connection with the celebra- tion of its seventieth anniversary in 1888.

CHAPTER LXIX.

BEDFORD-(Continued).

ECCLESIASTICAL.

Separation Between Church and Town-Trinitarian-Congregational Society Organized-Their House of Worship-Work of Unitarian Church and First Parish-Death of Rev. Samuel Stearns-Stearns' Descendants -- Church of Christ.

PROSPERITY followed the erection of the meeting- house, and peace and harmony prevailed until the autumn of 1831, when a difference in opinion, which had for years existed between the Trinitarian and Unitarian Congregationalists of New England, reached that point herc, where the relation between the pastor and people was most severely tried. The love of the pastor of this town for his people, and their strong attachment for the one who had given the best of his life in their service, the regard of many for his feelings in his declining years, together with the unswerving fidelity of the pastor to the prin- ciples that he had proclaimed when ordained for the Gospel ministry in this town thirty-five years before, may be assigned as some of the reasons for the severity with which the storm beat upon the community. The church was rent asunder, and the remainder of the ecclesiastical history of the town, as regards the Protestant faith, will be viewed in two separate chan- nels, viz .: The First Parish with the Unitarian Church and The Trinitarian Congregational Society with the Church of Christ. The First Parish, and church connected with it, held the meeting-house, all of the funds and communion service, while the Trinitarian Congregational Society and associated church began their work with empty hands. June 4, 1833, the two resident male members of the church who remained with the First Parish met and chose as trustees William Page and Charles Spaulding, and adopted a new covenant, and accessions were made to their numbers. After the stated supply of Rev. Mr. Davis and Rev. Robert Walcott, Rev. Joshua Chand- ler, a graduate of Harvard College, was settled over the church and society. He was succeeded by Rev. George W. Woodward. In May, 1846, he removed to Galena, Illinois, and a series of stated supplies fol- lowed-the last of whom was Rev. Jouas Whitman, pastor at Lexington, who continued in charge until his death, in 1848. Services were then discontinued and the house of worship closcd, until it was remod- cled in 1849.

In April of that year Rev. William Cushing ac- cepted a call to act as stated supply. Mr. Cushing took a great interest in education, conducting a pri- vate school in connection with his pastoral work; his successor was Rev. George W. Webster, who was in- stalled as pastor in August, 1860. Extreme pcculi- aritics, tending to mental disease, impaired his nsc- fulness, and after a year and a half, during which the

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BEDFORD.

church and society relaxed in vitality, he left the charge and entered the Union army from this town. The house of worship was closed for a period of twelve years. It was reopened in the autumu of 1869. and Rev. Grindall Reynolds took charge of the parish in connection with his pastorate at Concord. His call to the position of secretary of the Unitarian Association necessitated a change. Revs. Milstead and Russell acted as stated supply until 1884, when Rev. George Piper assumed the pastoral care of the society in connection with that at Carlisle. During his pastorate the meeting-house has been thoroughly remodeled, the church revived, and the ordinances regularly observed. In addition to the iucome of the "Page and Hartwell Fund " the society is aided by the Unitarian Association.

The Trinitarian Congregational Society immedi- ately erected a house of worship on land given by Mr. Jeremiah Fitch, of Boston, a native of Bedford. The building-lot was directly opposite the Stearns man- sion, and was given in consideration of the regard of the donor for his neighbor, teacher, pastor and friend.

The relation between Rev. Mr. Stearns and the town was dissolved by a mutual ecclesiastical council, and he accepted a call from the Church of Christ and Trinitarian Congregational Society of the town, in their united capacity. Services were regularly held in the dwelling-house of Rev. Mr. Stearns until the society completed a meeting-house. Mrs. Hannah Reed presented the church with a suitable commun- ion service. Many of the citizens, who had but fif- teen years before, 1818, paid large sums for their pews in the town's meeting-house, had now freely given a tithing of their possessions for the erection of another house of worship, and, free from debt, the church and society resumed the work of proclaiming the gospel in the Evangelical faith. Rev. Mr. Stearns died in December, 1834, and the fourth and most notable pastorate was brought to a close.

The body of Rev. Mr. Stearns was interred in the family vault in the old burial-ground, and there re- mained until the death of his widow, Madam Abigail Stearns, in 1858, when they were both deposited in cemented vaults on the western slope of Shawshine Cemetery.

Of thirteen children born to Rev. Samuel Stearns and Abigail French, eleven reached maturity. No other Bedford family has exerted so great an influence in the world of letters. They all received the highest advan- tages for education that the schools afforded. The five sons were all educated at Phillips Academy, Andover, and at Harvard College, and the four who became clergymen attended Andover Theological Seminary. Of thirty one grandchildren twenty-three are living. Almost all have received a liberal education. Of the grandsons, two are professional men and one an artist of rare ability ; five granddaughters became teachers, four married professional men ; a number are au- thors of books or writers for leading periodicals. The

descendants in the third and fourth generations are numerous and prominent in the world.

The young man who, in the flush of youth, dedi- cated himself to the higher interests of the people of Bedford, had become old in their service and been gathered with the fathers. More than five hundred people of the towu died and the entire membership of his church had been gathered during his ministry. There were admitted to the church one hundred and forty-three members while worshiping in the new meeting-house, before the separation.

Rev. Jonathan Leavitt succeeded Rev. Mr. Stearns, aud has been followed by Rev. S. Hopkins Emery ; Rev. Orcn Sikes, who died in office Decem- ber 15, 1852; Rev. Henry J. Patrick, now of West Newton; Rev. W. J. Batt, now moral instructor at the Massachusetts Reformatory ; Rev. George Lewis ; Rev. Edward Chase; Rev. Otis D. Crawford; Rev. George E. Lovejoy, now of Franklin, Mass .; Rev. Howard A. Hanaford, now of Winchester, N. H., and Rev. Edwin Smith, who took the charge August 1, 1886.

The church has a present membership of one hun- dred and eighty. That element in our nature which lcads us to value things in proportion to their cost was plainly evident in the careful manner with which the people of this town who formed the Trinitarian Congregational Society guarded its interests, and that healthy activity that is generally found among societies that depend entirely upon their own efforts for support has been manifest through the half-cen- tury of its existence. No ministerial fund has been established. Small legacies bequeathed to the church have been applied to the promotion of the work and memorials of the donors added to the ornaments of the house of worship. In 1886 the house was repaired, enlarged and refurnished to suit the demands of the times, about $7000 being expended.

Adherents of the Romish Church have gradually settled in town, constituting a very respectable class in society, among whom may be found some of the most thriving farmers. Becoming weary of a journey of five miles to attend worship (as were the first set- tlers of the town), they erected a chapel in 1885, which is well furnished and adapted to their use ; they main- tain religious services in connection with the church at Lexington, Rev. P. J. Kavanaugh being the priest in charge.

CHAPTER LXX.

BEDFORD-(Continued).

SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES.

ONE of the highest of the municipal functions is education. This was incumbent upon the founders of Bedford by the act of incorporation : "Provided that the said town of Bedford do, within the space of three

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

years from the publication of this act, ercct, build and finish a suitable house of worship, and procure and settle a learned orthodox minister of good conversa- tion, and make provision for his comfortable and hon- ourable support, and likewise provide a school to in- struct their youth in writing and reading," Many of the founders of this town knew the worth of education through the want of it. Their parents had enjoyed literary advantages in the mother country, but in secking religious liberty they had lost secular advan- tage, and in their struggle to establish homes in the wilderness had often failed to instruct their children in the rudiments of education. The children of the scattered settlers were by far the greater sufferers ; sit- uated four or five miles from the village, they could not attend the few weeks of school that were furnished, and doubtless some of the originators of this town never attended a school of any kind. Until 1733 the church was the only school, and during several suc- ceeding years the principal means of education. The minister was the instructor, and he was well supported. In January, 1732-33 the town raised five pounds, equal to about three dollars (according to Shattuck), for pub- lic school that year. This must have been an act of the new town to comply with the incorporation act- " space of three years"-and have been a provision for the winter only, as appears from the following record : "Of the School Reat that was made by the assessors in 1733, there was committed to Mr. Jacob Kendall, constable, to collect £5 10s. 7d., and to Mr. Richard Wheeler £5 168. 2d.," making a tax of £11 6s. 9d., which, according to the same authority, was equal to about seven dollars in the currency of that time. In December, 1733, it was voted "to settle a moving school and hire a master, for which purpose an ap- propriation of ten pounds was made.

For several years one school only was kept and moved about as justice and convenience demanded. The teachers were generally selected from the people of the town, but in one of the early winters, Rev. Ebenezer Hancock, of Lexington, taught the school and boarded with his sister, wife of Rev. Nicholas Bowcs. The town bought a dwelling-house of Benja- min Kidder in 1741, for £12, old tenor, and arranged it for a school-house. In 1742 the school moved into the four quarters of the town, and £10 was expended for the teacher's salary, he "boarding round." In the following year the centre school was opened and £30 granted for its support. Previous to this but little attention was paid to giving instruction in any branch beyond those required by the ordinance of 1647, viz. : writing and reading. In 1744 a part of the appropri- ation was allowed for schools in the " quarters " to be taught by "school dames." In the succeeding four- teen years a school was kept at the Centre a few weeks in the winter and during the remainder of the year a " moving-school " was taught by a lady. Text-books were few and rule and thic rod was applied without stint. One may judge of the monetary value of pro-

fessional services by the records of 1754-55, when Rev. Nicholas Bowes, the first minister of the town, dismissed in August 1754, taught the school in the following winter, five months for £9 68. 8d., and boarded himself. In 1758 a "writing-school" was kept four months in the village and a " woman's teaclı- ing-school" six months in the quarters of the town, although it was years in advance of the legal require- ments. The interest in education was not abated during the Revolution, yet in two instances the teachers' services were gratuitous. Intelligent women gathered the children of the neighborhood in their . dwellings and were rewarded by a vote of the town after the war ceased.

The people in the " quarters " were obliged to fur- nish house and fire-wood without public charge in order to have a school. The district bounds were not arbitrary as yet, and the most ambitious children would follow the school from one quarter to another, which was allowed if they furnished a share of the fire-wood. The consequent attainments and useful- ness of some families is evident in succeeding years.

In 1780, when Captain John Moore was chosen the first representative to the " Great and General Court," the town voted to have three months "writing-school" and six weeks " women's school " in each quarter of the town. The term "writing-school " was to desig- nate this department of education from the merely fundamental instruction of the "women's school." In the former "cyphering " was taught as well as writing, and also the principles of language and "decent behaviour." The "sums " were "set " by the teacher and the work done on unruled coarse paper and carefully saved as trophies of victory sel- dom won by the gentler sex. In teaching writing, the instructor was required to prepare the copies, give advice in the formation of letters and also respond to the oft-repeated calls " Please sir, mend my pen?" In March, 1790, there was a partial awakening to the demands of systematic education. The school-tax was assessed as a distinct rate, aud the town voted that "such school masters as the law required " should be employed four months in the year, and four months writing-school should be kept at the centre, "and when the master had a very full school he should attend principally to those that write aud cypher."

In 1789 the Legislature provided for districting the towns, and Bedford undertook the task, which proved to be a difficult one. For sixty years the only accommo- dations for schools in the " quarters " were in private houses; but in 1792 a long and trying experience resulted in a vote to raise £100 with which to build a school-house iu each quarter and made provision for a school to be taught in each. In 1793 the pride of the residents at the "centre" asserted itself in a vote " not to have any woman's school." The annual appropriation at the close of the century had reached the sum of $300. The closing years of the eightecutlı

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BEDFORD.

century mark a very important epoch in the interests of education in Bedford. Rev. Samuel Stearns came, as the fourth minister to the town. He was an emi- nent scholar, young and energetic, and possessed of rare qualities for leadership, which he judiciously used. For more than thirty years every progressive step in education bears the impress of his cultured mind and careful hand. The limited advantages for education were not urged upon girls, and when one of the sex manifested a desire to push beyond the fundamental principles she was subject to ridicule. The evil, not confined to this town, received early cor- rection here. In 1797 Rev. Mr. Stearns inaugurated a female seminary, which was one of the very early insti- tutions of the kind in New England. Young ladies from this and neigboring towns were instructed by him in the higher branches, many of whom were fitted for teachers and made most commendable rec- ords in the profession. The vote of 1790 "To employ only such masters as the law requires," cut off many ignorant aspirants for the office, but it did not reach the question of methods, and Rev. Mr. Stearns soon began to exert an influence in that direction. Rev. William F. Stearns, D.D., of Amlierst College, records the following method for teaching the alphabet in the opening years of the present century, as practiced upon himself : " The master pointed with his pen-knife to the first three letters and said : 'That's A, that's B, that's C; now take your seat and I will call you by and by, and if you can't tell them I will cut your ears right off with this knife.'" This was doubtless an extreme case, but the reform movement of the nine- teenth century was well advanced before the youth were exempt from the caprices of teachers. In 1798 the town appropriated twenty dollars for a singing- school.

In 1804 the first system of by-laws for the govern- ment of the schools was adopted and put in force. Ignorance of teachers was guarded against. The win- ter school was regularly opened and closed with prayer. The Bible was read in all of the schools as often as once a day. The Assembly's Shorter Cate- chism was taught weekly, and every member under the age of fifteen years was obliged to carefully attend to such instruction. It was expected of all male teachers " that they frequently and carefully impress upon the minds of the youth the principles of virtue and piety, as connected with their responsibility and usefulness in life, and also highly essential to the support and well- being of our free Republican form of government, as required by law." For more than thirty years the Assembly's Shorter Catechism was one of the required text-books. Another text-book was Morse's Geogra- phy, the first book on the science published in Amer- ica. In the scarcity of text-books the "School Fathers " required it to be used by the "first class" as a "reader." In 1806 a school-house was built at the centre, in place of the old building that had been remodeled for school purposes seventy-three years

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 195

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1226

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226