History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 207

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 207

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The town records sliow conclusively that with the opening of the year 1775 the approaching crisis was felt to be near at hand and was prepared for.

Had we any full and accurate history of the events

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

of that year, we should be astonished at the activity and careful preparation.

There were at least two companies in the course of that year oflicered by Littleton men, and made up, in a large majority, of privates from this town, a few be- ing from the adjoining towns.

We may imagine them with the early spring, which was a month in advance of the usual season, holding frequent drills and musters, and the town must then have been aglow with military spirit and enthusiasm, which has never been equaled since.

The 19th of April came, and in the early morning a messenger on horseback rode into town with the news that the regulars were on the march to Concord.

The horseman then hurried over Beaver Brook bridge, near Mr. Frost's house, and proceeded to warn other towns.

The Littleton men mustered, ammunition to the amount of fourteen pounds of powder and thirty-eight pounds of bullets was dealt out of the common stock, and the whole squad, including many unenlisted vol- unteers, proceeded to Concord, and thence to Cam- bridge.

The following is the muster-roll of Lieutenant Aquila Jewett's company who marched that day :

Aquila Jewett, lieutenant ; John Porter, Matthew Brooks, sergeants ; Daniel Whitcomb, corporal.

Privates, Samuel Lawrence, Jonathan Lawrence, Charles White, Ben- jamin Warren, Joseph Robbins, Samuel Hartwell, Silas Whitcomb, Elisba Robbins, Joseph Worster, Peter Fox, Job Dodge, Joseph Jewett, Joseph Russell, Thomas Lawrence, Nathan Cbase, Willard Merriam, Benjamin Moore, Maxi Jewett, Nathaniel Proctor, Moses Sanderson, Joseph Raymond, Ebenezer Phillips, Israel Hinds, Simeon Proctor, Samuel Tenuey (4th), John Dix, William Tenney, Eleazer Lawrence, Thomas Russell, Benjamin Hoar, Benjamin Hartwell, John Green, John Whiting, Jr., Stephen Tuttle, Thomas Stearns, Sampson Warren, Daniel Tuttle, Peter Reed. Oliver Hartwell, Thomas Wood, Benjamin Worster, John Tuttle.

A few of the men dropped out at Concord, but the most of them are put down as having marched twenty- six miles and having served nineteen days.

Jonathan Warren and Nathaniel Whitcomb also received ammunition, and so were probably either in another company or went as unenlisted volunteers.

Among the rolls of the army at Cambridge made up to August 1, 1775, is another company, mostly com- posed of Littleton men, which was probably organ- ized after the Concord fight. The list is as follows :

Captain, Samuel Gilbert ; Lieutenants, Joseph Gilbert, Joseph Baker, Jr. ; Sergeants, Daniel Kimball, Jacob Porter, Thomas Treadwell, Epbraim Proctor ; Corporals, Ezra Baker, Jonatban Cowdrey.

Privates, Josepb Baker, Cornelius Bachelor, Benjamin Cox, Lemuel Dole, James Dutton, Benjamin Durant, Jobn Dinsmore, Benjamin Dole, William Farr, Samuel Hunt, Joseph Heywood, Moses Holden, Isaac Law- rence, Peter Cummings Gilbert, Elijah Proctor, Jonathan Phelps, Samuel Phillips, Paul Rohhins, Jobn Robbins, Isaac Russell, Nathaniel Russell, Oliver Sawyer, James Whittemore, Peter Wbitcomb, Isaac Wbitcomb,-

with others from Lancaster, Dunstable and other towns.

This company of Captain Gilbert's was also in Colo- nel Prescott's regiment, and took part in the battle of Bunker Hill, in which were killed Peter Whitcomb,

Benjamin Dole, John Lawrence, James Whittemore and Isaac Whitcomb.

In addition to those whose names have been given, the following served for Littleton in the continental army, at various times, during the war :

Amos Atherton, Paul Brown, Peter Baker, Timothy Baker, William Burke, Jolin Cavender, Joseph Carter, Henry Durant, Jason Dunster, Jesse Dutton, David Baker, John Brown, Lucius Blanchard, Scipio Chase, Hildreth Dutton, Joseph Dole, Jo lin Dodge, John Dix, Jonathan Fletcher, John Foster, Solomon Foster, Jonathan Langlee Fisher, James Holden, John Hartwell, Captain Aaron Jewett, William Johnson, William Johnson, Jr., Jobn Kilburn, Abel Lawrence, Reuben Leighton, Joseph Lewis, Jonathan Longley, Joseph Longley, Scipio Negro, Thomas Nutting, Peter Oliver, Charles Phipps, Timothy Proctor, Samuel Pool, Abel Proctor, Amos Parling, Jr., Zachary Robbins, Jonathan Russell John Russell, Jr., Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Reed, Samuel Reed, Samuel Reed, Jr., Artemas Reed, Nathaniel Reed, William Smith, Samuel Stearns, Levi Shepherd, Robert Sever, Amos Shed, William Ten- ney, Jeremiah Temple, Jonathan Tuttle, John Wood (3d), Sergeant Peter Wheeler, Peter Wright, Stephen Wright, Jacob Warren, Samuel White, William Whiting, Jonathan Wetherbee, Second Lieutenant Epbraim Whitcomb, Paul Whitcomb.

These names have been collected by the writer from the Revolutionary rolls in the State archives, and from town records and vouchers. The number is surprisingly large. That 150 men, or nearly seventy- five per cent. of the male population, of military age, should have taken part in the war, speaks volumes for the patriotism of the town, and, as well, shows the desperate character of the struggle. The male popu- lation of sixteen years of age, and over, was only 209 on January 1, 1777.

The smoke from the burning of Charlestown was distinctly seen in Littleton, and caused great alarm.

In May the town had voted to purchase a stock of fire-arms with bayonets, the number to be left to the discretion of the selectmen, who were that year Major Jonathan Reed, Jonathan Patch, Samuel Gil- bert, William Henry Prentice and Aaron Jewett. Notice that three out of the five afterwards served as officers in the continental army.

At a town-meeting held June 17, 1776, at which William Henry Prentice was moderator, the follow- ing vote, in accordance with the recommendation of the General Court, was passed after some debate and motions to adjourn, which were not carried :

"If the Hon' Congress should, for the Safety of ths Colonies, Declare them Independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Inhabitants of Littleton engage to support them in the nieasure,"

On October 14th following, the town voted its con- sent to the plan proposed by a resolve of the House of Representatives that the Council and House should propose a State Constitution to be submitted to the people.

In March, 1777, the town voted a bounty of £18 in addition to the State bounty, for every three years' soldier who should make one for its quota, and also voted " to take up the matter at large from the 19th of April, 1775, and Chuse a Committee to apprise each Campaign and make an Everage according to their poles and Rateable Estates, as other Taxes are Levied, and that each man shall have credite for what he has donc."

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As the war progressed and more men were called for, it became difficult to procure them, and no won- der, when we consider the great number who went from this small town, and at one meeting it was im- possible to choose a committee who would serve to hire men.

The fluctuations of continental inoney were ex- tremely embarrassing, and a large number of bounties were paid in rye and other produce, which was pre- ferred to paper money. As high as £2550 in paper money was paid for a single bounty.

On December 21, 1780, the town voted "100 hard dollars or other specie equivalent & 1 Pr. good shirts, shoes & stockings, to be delivered yearly in October, so long as they serve, to all soldiers who enlist accord- ingly."

By summing up the various appropriations for the payment of soldiers and purchase of supplies, as re- corded on the town records, I find they amount to the enormous sum of £126,172 16s. 10d., or its equiva- Jent in produce.

It must be remembered, however, that this was not all hard money, but much of it was continental paper currency. While on the other hand it is probable that this sum does not include a great deal of money which was paid out on account of the war, but did not appear under specific appropriations.

Captain Aaron Jewett was a delegate from Little- ton to the Constitutional Convention of 1779. This gentleman, after serving in the war, became a Shaker, and was one of the founders of the Harvard Shakers.

Rev. Mr. Rogers, being quite advanced in years, asked a dismission in January, 1776. Not desiring to have him sever his connection with them, the church voted not to dismiss him, whereupon Mr. Rogers pro- posed that he continue his relations to the church as minister, but relinquish his salary in future and be released from obligation to perform ministerial ser- vices.

This proposition was accepted, and the town began to look for a colleague, and it is noticeable that at this time the initiative in ecclesiastical matters was taken by the church meeting, which first took action, and after- wards the town voted on concurrence. After calling two ministers as colleagues, first Mr. Wheaton, then Mr. John Bullard, who do not appear to have accepted, and then waiting for some time, finally in October, 1780, Mr. Edmund Foster was called, and accepted, at a salary of £80 a year, based on the value of certain articles of consumption, such as corn, pork, beef, &c., as recorded, and a settlement of £200.

Mr. Foster was ordained at Littleton January 17, 1781, and succeeded to the ministry on the death of Mr. Rogers, in November, 1782.

Mr. Foster was born in North Reading, Massachu- setts, April 18, 1752, and was left an orphan when seven years old; he worked his way through Yale College, and afterwards studied for the ministry. Both Harvard and Yale conferred honorary degrees

upon him. While a divinity student he shouldered his musket and went to face the cnemy at Concord and Lexington.

He represented his district both in the Senate and House, after the War of 1812 (in which three of his sons held commissions) ; on one occasion he preached the Election sermon, and was a delegate to the Con- stitutional Convention of 1820. He died March 28, 1826, in the forty-sixth year of his ministry.

Mr. Foster assumed his duties as colleague to Mr. Rogers under very adverse circumstances; he was called against the opposition of a minority, who re- corded a protest signed by forty-six persons. The town was impoverished by the cost of the war, and in 1782-83 by severe drouth, and was in the midst of the hardest times ever seen in this country.

It was found difficult to raise his salary, and he was obliged on one occasion to bring suit before he got it. The town settled and paid costs.

The hard times, as is always the case, made discon- tent, the church was badly out of repair, so much so that it had to be propped up, and furthermore a movement was started a few years before Mr. Foster came to set off the south part of the town for the pur- pose of forming a new parish, which resulted in the formation of first the district and finally the town of Boxborough.

The first reference to this matter appears in the town records under date of November 4, 1778, when the town chose a committee consisting of Deacon Josiah Hartwell, Jonathan Reed, Esq. and Mr. Dan- iel Rogers, Jr., to wait on the General Court and show reason why the south part of the town should not be set off as petitioned for. The same committee was chosen for the same purpose in the following February, and in July there was an article in the town warrant to see if the town would "vote off" that part of the town to form a new parish, with parts of Stow and Harvard. The town voted against it.

In October, 1780, a vote was passed to take the names of those who wished to be set off, and it is re- corded that Bennet Wood, Phis Wetherbee, Israel Wetherbee, Abel Fletcher, Ephraim Whitcomb, Ed- ward Brown and Boston Draper appeared.

In February, 1781, the town again chose a com- mittee to oppose the petition to the General Court. This attempt to form a new town or parish was a failure, as had been the previous one, but in March, 1782, Silas Taylor and sixty-nine others petitioned the General Court again, stating that they were at a great distance from the meeting-houses in the towns to which they belong, to remedy which they had built a house for public worship in a convenient place and procured preaching much of the time for several years previous, but had not been excused from paying for the support of preaching in some of the towns to which they belonged, and praying to be incorporated into a town, district or parish. The petition was re- ferred to the second session, in September, when the

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

committee to which it had been referred reported that the petitioners who belonged to the towns of Stow and Harvard should be incorporated into a dis- trict with such of the inhabitants of Littleton as were included in the petition, and should, within the space of twelve months, signify that they desired to belong to the said district and no other.

Littleton people had evidently been caught nap- ping, but as soon as they learned of the report of the committee they sent to the General Court two remon- strances, one signed by the selectmen and the other by Samuel Lawrence, Elias Taylor, Thomas Wood, Daniel Whitcomb, Jonathan Patch, Nathaniel Cob- leigh, John Wood, Solomon Foster and . Jededialı Taylor, living within the bounds of the proposed dis- trict. It was, however, too late, and a bill was passed February 25, 1783, which, after stating the bounda- ries, said : " And all the Polls and Estates that are included within the said boundaries shall belong to said District, except those of such of the inhabitants of that part set off from Littleton as shall not, within the term of twelve months from the passing of this Act, return their names unto the office of the Secre- tary of this Commonwealth, signifying their desire to become inhabitants of the said District." The result of this was, that while a number returned their names as desiring to join the new district, yet others, to the number of thirteen or more, did not, but preferred to remain in Littleton.

In June, 1793, Boxborough, which had become a town, petitioned the General Court to establish an obvious and uncontrovertible boundary between that town and Littleton, against which the thirteen citi- zens of Littleton who had the right to join Boxbor- ough, but had not done so, remonstrated, stating that they believed the object of the petition was " more to divide tbem from the town of Littleton than to ascer- tain more certain boundaries." Thereupon the Leg- islature passed the act of February 20, 1794, which gave the owners of such farms lying on the Boxbor- ough side of the straight line which was originally proposed as the boundary, and who had not joined Boxborough in accordance with the act of 1783, the right to apply to Boxborough to have their polls and estates belong to that town, and the same was to be accomplished upon the vote of Boxborough and proper notice to the town of Littleton. This right was to go with the ownership of the land. In the course of time all the farms in question had been transferred to Boxborough save two, owned in 1868 by Henry T. Taylor and Wm. H. Hartwell. At that time Boxborough petitioned the Legislature to have those farms set off to her, but was unsuccessful. Another attempt was made before the Legislature of the present year, 1890. It was met by opposition on the part of the owners of the two farms, now Dcacon Henry T. Taylor and Mrs. Olive Hall, and the town of Littleton, wlio remoustrated and filed a counter- petition, asking for a new line between the two towns,

which leaves the greater part of the two farms and the buildings on the Littleton side, as well as a small place, formerly in Boxboroughi, lying between them on Liberty Square, and owned by - Wild, thus doing away with the previous provisions allowing a transfer to Boxborough. The Littleton petition was granted and a bill passed in accordance with it. The Taylor farm is the same which was owned, in 1783, by Dea- con Elias Taylor, the ancestor of Deacon Henry T. Taylor, having remained in the family from that time. The Hall farm was then owned by Samuel Lawrence, and was the same where the Lawrence Tavern was kept, the sign to which bore the legend " Pay To-Day & Trust To-morrow," with the picture of an officer with a drawn sword, below which was the word "Entertainment" and date 1768.

As has been stated, the meeting-house was out of repair at the time Mr. Foster came to Littleton, and for several years the question of building a new one or repairing the old one was agitated, and many votes on the subject were passed and afterwards reconsid- ered. Finally, on December 31, 1792, the decisive vote passed to build anew on the same spot, and the town proceeded to erect its third meeting-house, " 40x55 feet, with a steeple and porches." It was com- pleted in the summer of 1794, and was a very impos- ing structure and really fine for its period. A new bell was procured in 1808.

The meeting-house appears never to have been heated except hy religious fervor or a town-meeting discussion until 1818, when, in January, the town voted to have two stoves, provided they were given by subscription. They must have been popular, for in October, 1820, it was thought best to vote "that the town considers that the stove pews are appropriated to elderly people."

The history of the way in which paupers have been cared for in this town is rather interesting. The first pauper on record was the widow, Thanks Dill, concerning whom there appears to have been a ques- tion between this town and Concord as to where she belonged. The poor woman was carried back and forth from one town to the other and finally died in Littleton in 1733, whereupon the town expended nine shillings for rum for her funeral and a further sum for gloves used on the same occasion. It was a common thing to carry paupers to other towns to get rid of them, and to warn out of town persons who were likely to become a charge against the town.

In 1787 paupers were put out by vendue, among tliem several illegitimate children. In 1798 the town voted to hire a house for the town's poor. The town farm was purchased in 1825.

Any one walking up Everett E. Kimball's lane to the top of Long Pond Hill will see the remains of a road which formerly ran where the lane is over the highest part of the hill to the Haley place. The records show that this road, from William Henry P'ren- tice's to Edward Baker's, as it was described, was ox-

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changed, in 1789, for the present road to Newtown, turning off by the present residence of William H. Tenney, and that the road was turned a little to one side so as not to obstruct Dea. Oliver Hoar's " out seller," thus showing the antiquity of Mr. Tenney's side-hill cellar.

In 1801 the town voted to buy a piece of land of Mr. Rogers and others in front of the meeting-house to enlarge the road and Common. The line, as then located, ran very close to where the rear wall of the town-hall now stands, and a strip was added to give space hehind the building when it was erected in 1886.

The town records make no allusion to the War of 1812, but from other sources the names of three Lit- tleton men who served have been obtained as follows : Sampson Warren, who returned from the war sick and died at home, Micajah Rice and Reuben Durant. No doubt others from this town also served in that war.

December 4, 1815, Rev. Mr. Foster preached a cen- tury sermon on the history of the town. It was an able and interesting discourse and the writer is in- debted to it for much information. From it we learn that the post-office at that time was on the "great road," probably at the " long store," now the dwell- ing-house of Charles F. Watts. The town voted to print three hundred copies of Mr. Foster's sermon to distribute to every family and sell the rest for the benefit of Mr. Foster.

Up to 1822 there had been but one church, the town church, and as we have seen, church business was done in town-meeting by the town acting in its ca- pacity as a parish.

On March 14, 1822, the Baptist Society was organ- ized with twelve members. It had been intended to organize on the 7th, but the town voted to refuse them the use of the church for that purpose on that date. Rev. Benjamin Willard had preached for the Baptists previous to their organization at various times from 1820 and until 1823. There was also preaching in the interest of other denominations about this time.

In April, 1821, the town voted leave to Aaron Tut- tle and others to have preaching in the West School- house on Sundays.

These inroads on his flock were naturally distaste- ful to Mr. Foster and he took vigorous measures to ·oppose them. On several occasions he attended the meetings and addressed the audience in refutation of the doctrines there promulgated, and once he took possession of the meeting with the announcement that he was the minister of the town, and proceeded to conduct the services and then dismissed the audi- ence, so that they had no opportunity to hear the speakers who were present to address them.

In the church Mr. Foster had ruling elders appoint- ed to assist him in bringing back to communion those who absented themselves to hear the "itinerant and disorderly preachers." A few were brought back, but

many joined the Baptist Society and all received in- dividually a vote of public censure.

The Baptists built their first meeting-house in 1822, on the corner of the road leading to the north part of the town, where now stands the house of the late John P. Tuttle. It was built of brick, and was dedicated July 9, 1823. Rev. Amasa Sanderson was ordained their minister at the same time and continued his pastorate until March 23, 1831.

The succeeding Baptist ministers have been : Rev. Silas Kenney, 1831-34 ; Rev. O. Ayer, 1837-43 ; Rev. T. H. Lunt, April, 1844, to March, 1845 ; Rev. Aaron Haynes, April, 1845-47; Rev. B. H. Clift, June, 1847, to February, 1848; Rev. George Matthews, May, 1848-52; Rev. F. E. Cleaves, June, 1852, to October, 1857; Rev. D. F. Lampson, July, 1858, to April, 1861 ; Rev. C. M. Willard, August, 1861, to Novem- ber, 1867; Rev. C. L. Frost, August, 1868, to June, 1869; Rev. J. F. Morton, September, 1869, to Sep- tember, 1872; Rev. B. N. Sperry, January, 1873, to May, 1875; Rev. William Read, July, 1875, to May, 1878; Rev. Paul Gallaher, November, 1878, to No- vember, 1880; Rev. W. H. Evans, December, 1880, to July, 1883; Rev. R. G. Johnson, December, 1883, to August, 1888; Rev. William J. Cloues, September, 1888.

The brick meeting-house was burned, probably by an incendiary August 5, 1840, and the present wooden one built at the Old Common and dedicated in June, 1841. Within a few years it has been raised and a ve-try built in the basement.

After the death of Mr. Foster the town voted, Octo- ber 29, 1827, to call Rev. William H. White to settle as minister. He was born in Lancaster, Mass., in 1798, and lived on a farm in Westminster until he was twenty-one years old, when he fitted for college under the tuition of Rev. Dr. Stearns, of Lincoln.

Mr. White graduated at Brown University in 1824, and at Cambridge Divinity School in 1827. He re- ceived a call to preach in Kingston, Mass., but pre- ferred Littleton, where he was ordained January 2, 1828.

It is said that it had long been his ambition to set- tle in this town and to win the daughter of his pre- decessor, Sarah Bass Foster, to whom he was married a year after his ordination.

He was an earnest, active and able man, and the church and town still feels and will feel the benefit of his ministry for years to come, if not for all time.

He was the founder of the Littleton Lyceum, of which an account more in detail will be given later, aud of the first Sunday-school in this town. He died July 25, 1853, in the twenty-sixth year of his minis- try. He was succeeded by Rev. Frederick R. Newell, September, 1854, to November, 1856; Rev. Eugene De Normandie, February, 1857, to July, 1863; Rev. Albert B. Vorse, June, 1864, to June, 1869; Rev. David P. Muzzey, October, 1869, to April, 1871; Rev. Timothy H. Eddowes, Jauuary, 1872, to December,

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACIIUSETTS.

1872; Rev. Samuel R. Priest, January, 1873, to Au- gust, 1874; Rev. J. Wingate Winkley, March, 1876, to July, 1882; Rev. William I. Nichols, October, 1884, to November, 1889; Rev. E. J. Prescott, July, 1890.

In 1841 the society took down their old church and built the present one on the same spot, the fourth building of the First Congregational Society. In 1882 a vestry, with dining-room and kitchen below, were added to the rear of the church.

Within a few years of each other were formed three other religious societies in this town, of which only one has survived; they were the Universalist, the Unionist and the Orthodox Congregational.

The Universalists held meetings in the Centre School-house and in Chamberlain's Hall from 1830 until December, 1846, when they bought at auction the meeting-house the Unionists had built a few years previous, a short distance east of the present Union school- house, on the road between the Centre and Old Common. The meeting-house was burned probably by an incendiary in 1847, after which the society dispersed.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 207

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