History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 82

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 82

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The first appearance of a successor to Mr. Tompson is in 1715, when Mr. Shattuck is paid £8 13s., and the town voted, that he "shall keep the school an- other half-year." In 1716 Mr. Isaac Branch was em- ployed, receiving £10 for two quarters and £22 for the year 1717. The germ of the system of school districts then appears : "The Town Impowered the selectmen to order & appoint in what parts of the town the school shall be kept & how long at a place." In November, 1718, the town votes "to hire our pres- ent schoolmaster for another quarter, Provided he move to the several Quarters of the town ; " also, "to give but four shillings p. week for the schoolmaster's board for the future." This master was John Gra- ham, and he boarded ;with Mr. Ruggles. December 29, 1718, it was voted, that "for about five months the school should be moved to accommodate the out- scirts of the Town, and the Rest of the year to be kept in the middle of the town;" and a committee of five was to order the places where it should be kept. It was also voted "to give Mr. Grimes, our present schoolmaster, forty pounds for one year, Pro- vided that he board himself and keep a moving school." In March the selectmen gave leave to John Hartwell's wife "to keep a school to Instruct chil- dren to Read." Mr. Joseph Houston was master for three or four years from 1719, and was succeeded by Benjamin Ruggles, the pastor's brother. Then for a short time the master was Jonathan Fry, of An- dover, the ill-fated young chaplain of Lovewell's ex- pedition. The next year the town paid Mr. William Smith for services, and also Nicholas Bowes, the future pastor of Bedford. Then comes Mr. Isaac Abbott, who was master for six years, who was also employed to copy the early volume of records of "Births, Marriages, and Deaths," in a new book. Benjamin Bowers follows, 1736-39; Jonathan Sted- man, 1739; Joseph Manning, 1740; Robert Cutler, 1741-45, who found his wife here, and became pastor in Epping, New Hampshire; and John Chandler, in 1746, who was thus introduced to his future pastorate here. Joseph Bean succeeded, and then came Jona- than Kidder, in 1753, who served the town for a gen- eration, and whose fame lingers still among the tra- ditions of our older people.

The sections of the town where schools were kept were at first and long called squadrons; and a divi-

346

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

sion of the school money to the squadrons began to be made about 1760, with attending questions and jeal- ousy as to the division. A school-house is mentioned in 1766, but had perhaps been built carlier, as the town in 1725 voted grants of land to the squadrons for school-houses, to be located by the selectmen. In 1742 a committee reported that the school be kept six months in the centre of the town, two in the east squadron (one of which should be east of the river), two on the west side, and one in the south squadron.

But the squadron school-houses were still wanting, and, 1791, September 12th, a committee on the location of such houses made a report which was adopted. Wards which chose not to build might draw the interest of the sum allowed the said ward, to hire places to keep their school ; but the latter privilege was not to extend beyond two years; and the com- mittee was to settle disputes as to locations not yet decided on. When the district system of schools dis- placed the earlier squadrons is not clear ; but for two generations districts had charge of their own schools, locating and supporting as they pleased. Within a few years the town has reassumed the entire charge, seeking more harmonious and efficient management.

The employment of school " dames" is mentioned as early as 1680, and in March, 1718, John Hartwell's wife had leave "to keep a school to Instruct children to Read; ""but it is not clear to what extent females were thns employed, and it is only within a few years that most of the schools have passed into their hands. Before the Revolution, only English text-books were to be had, which were sometimes reprinted, but al- ways costly and ill-adapted to use in this country. After that, improvement, sure if not rapid, was made, and has contributed much to the usefulness of the schools.

It was a notable day in the history of Billerica when Mr. Pemberton, who had been for eight years the first principal of Phillips Academy, at Andover, came from that position to Billerica, and in 1794 es- tablished a school, which is properly known as the Pemberton Academy. He was one of the notable teachers of his time, and counted such men as James Madison and Aaron Burr among his pupils. Here he conducted a school fourteen years, which was highly successful, numbering at times sixty pupils, many of whom graduated at Harvard College and became em- inent. At first a training-school for boys, its scope was enlarged and girls were received; and Deacon Samuel Whiting assisted in the instruction.

After an interval of some years a private school was established by Mr. Bernard Whitman and his sister Bathsheba, their brother being the colleague pastor of the church. It was kept in a hall of the old hotel. But, in 1820, the Billerica Academy was established, and Mr. and Miss Whitman assumed the charge of it. The school was good and useful, but it lacked the pecuniary foundation needful for permanence, and its carecr closed in 1836. From that time, until 1852,

the only opportunity for higher instruction in the town was a private school, taught for some years by Reverend Mr. Stearns, in the vestry of the Congrega- tional Church, of which he was the pastor.

Dr. Howe, near 1850, set about a more substantial foundation; and the results of his benevolent plans remain, and must long endure, in the Howe School. The design had occupied his thoughts before his deatlı, in 1857, and the lot was selected and purchased by himself. By his will, a board of trustees, to be incorporated, received the bulk of his estate, and were charged with the duty of carrying his plans into exe- cution. The building was erected in 1852, and dedi- cated with an address by Mr. Whitman, who remained until 1875, the diligent and faithful secretary of the trustees.

The school was opened at once under the charge of Mr. William C. Grant. He was succeeded, in 1855, by Mr. Stephen Gilman, and, in 1864, by Mr. Francis Gorman. The present principal, Mr. Samuel Tucker, assumed his charge in 1868. Tuition was free at the beginning, but in recent years the income of the fund, somewhat more than $20,000, has not been sufficient alone for the support of the school, and a small tuition fee has been charged.

Early in 1879 Professor M. C. Mitchell removed his Boys' School from Elgartown to Billerica. For eight years he occupied the fine building on the corner of Main and Andover Streets, which was burned in January, 1888. A large stone building was promptly built on the Bedford road, and the school continues prosperous.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

BILLERICA (Continued).

RELIGIOUS HISTORY.

THE dismission of Mr. Chandler left the church for the first time without a pastor; and the devout fathers set apart a day of fasting and prayer, 1760, October 2d, "to supplicate the throne of grace for divine direction in the choice of a minister." A town- meeting was held, 1762, November 18th, and this is the record : " The church of Christ in this town hav- ing at their meeting on the 25 Day of August, 1760, Voted to give up their Right and Priviledge of Choos- ing a Gospei minister by themselves, and to act in conjunction with the Town in this Important affair ; and the Church and Town Having mett together up- on this occasion, ... and the meeting being opened by a prayer to god for his Gracious Influence, guidance, & Direction, The question was put whether we would proceed at this Time To the Choice of a Gen- tleman to settle with us in the work of the Gospel ministry, and it was voted in the affirmative. Then

347

BILLERICA.

the members of the Church & the Inhabitants of the Town were desired by the Moderator to Bring in their votes conjunctly, in order to the choosing such a min- ister, which being done and the votes examined, it appeared that Mr. Henry Cumings was chosen by all the votes. Then the town voted to the said Mr. Henry Cumings, as an Incouragement to settle with us, for his settlement Two Hundred Pounds Law- full money, one Hundred to be paid" at the time of his ordination, and the remainder a year later. His salary was to be eighty pounds, paid annually, and he was to have the use of the "Parsonage pasture." The question of acting on "the article of wood " passed "in the negative," and ministers have since been permitted to furnish their own wood. In paying Dr. Cumings the promised "settlement," the town . appropriated £73 17s. 11d., which had been received from the State for the care of the French neutrals. The ordination took place, 1763, January 26th.

Henry Cumings was born in the part of Dunstable which soon became Hollis, New Hampshire, 1739, September 16th. He graduated from Harvard Col- lege 1760 and studied theology with his pastor, Rev. Daniel Emerson, who was a man of character and spiritual force, and a powerful preacher; and many young men went from Hollis under his influence to take high positions in the pulpit and at the bar. He had been in ardent sympathy with the Great Awak- ening and the labors of Edwards and Whitefield, and Mr. Cumings brought the tonic of this training to his ministry in Billerica. He brought also a fine physi- cal manhood, a culture and a piety, which gave him good equipment for his office; and for almost two generations he led his people a good example of the old-time pastor, holding their respect and love with a rare force to the end. He was a diligent student, wrought out his sermons with great care, and preached them with effect. Then he was a man of the people. He had known in his own early experience what poverty and trial were, and was prepared to sympathize with the trials through which the people were passing. The testimony is abundant how heart- ily he shared in the patriotic discussions and action which bore fruit in the independence of the States and establishment of the Union. He was a leader in the patriot councils, and the action of the town was often shaped by him. His election as a delegate to the Convention which framed the Constitution of Massachusetts, in 1780, was only the proper and nat- ural recognition of his standing among his townsmen. He was often called on councils, far and near, and to preach on public occasions, in a way to show that his merits were appreciated beyond the bounds of his rural parish. But if he was ever called, in the mod- ern fashion, to leave his chosen field, the temptation did not move him, and he was content to live and to die among che people who gave him in youth unani- mously their confidence and love, and continued it to the end.

A new and more commodious meeting-house was found necessary and was erected in 1797. It stood near, but a little southeast of, the place to which it has been moved, and then faced the north. By some accident the first steeple fell, and the builder received $500 compensation from the town. The cost of this house was provided for by sale of the pews, the sum received being $8504.50.

The church continued united and prosperous dur- ing the long pastorate of Dr. Cumings. A just esti- mate of his theological attitude, in relation to the ques- tions on which the separation among the churches, about the time of his death, took place, is not easy to reach. A characteristic tendency of his preaching is to limit his statements of the doctrines of the trinity, of sin, of redemption and retribution to the language of the Scriptures, seldom interpreting them in phrase- ology of his own. His sympathies were with the Arminian, rather than with the high-Calvinistic opin- ions of his time; but when his colleague was or- dained, in 1814, it was understood by the council that he held evangelical opinions. On the other hand, it is to be remembered that the church, with substan- tial unanimity, accepted the views of the "liberal" party, under the lead of Mr. Whitman, and that Dr. Cumings' influence, negative if not positive, must have contributed to this result. He is named with Unitarian ministers in the histories of the period ; and whether any injustice is done to him in this classification is a question on which opinions will differ.

In February, 1813, Dr. Cumings preached his Half- Century Sermon. On account of his age and infirm- ity, he requested a colleague, and the church at once took measures which resulted in the ordination of Mr. Nathaniel Whitman, on the fifty-first anniver- sary of the day when Dr. Cumings had been himself ordained, 1814, January 26th. The life of Dr. Cum- ings was spared for almost ten years longer, and his pastorate extended to nearly sixty-one years, his death occurring 1823, September 6th.

To the last Dr. Cumings held the respect and love of the people, and, when the end came, he was buried by the town with reverent affection, the third and the last pastor to whom the town has rendered this service.

Mr. Whitman brought high character, scholarship and piety to his new position. He was two years an usher at Phillips Academy, Excter, and there began the study of theology with Dr. Buckminster, of Ports- mouth, completing his course at Cambridge. He was received with great cordiality and considerate kind- ness by his venerable colleague, and a warm friend- ship grew up between them. His ordination was at- tended by a multitude of people, and the hospitality of the town was full and generous. Mr. Whitman was a good preacher and active pastor. He estab- lished a Bible Society and a Peace Society, as well as the first Sunday-school in town, and he used his in- fluence effectively in improving the common schools.

348

IHISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

His pastorate, however, fell upon a period of agitation and disruption among the churches, when influences which had been gathering force, some of thein for a hundred years, came to a head ; and it is scarcely any fault of this worthy man that they culminated in his day and disturbed the peace of his ministry. The discussions which preceded and attended the separa- tion of the Unitarian Churches were not the only and scarcely the most serious of the influences which threatened the peace of the local pastors. The prac- tical union of Church and State, which had been naturally inherited from England, and illustrated in all our previous history, as the constable gathered the pastor's salary, was out of place in the free air of America. With independeuce the demand for a change grew stronger and stronger; but it involved considerations so serious and was so startling to good but conservative men, that the resistance was long, and many pastors were unsettled in the process. The age of Dr. Cumings and the honor in which he was held delayed its coming in Billerica, and the town collected the salary of Mr. Whitman until 1834. In that year the usual article in the warrant was "passed" by the town and was not again inserted. The parish was then called to meet, and raised somewhat less than the salary, $700, which Mr. Whitman had re- ceived. He remained a year longer, and, in 1835, resigned and removed to Wilton, New Hampshire.

It may be doubted whether the doctrinal discus- sions and ecclesiastical separations had as much to do with terminating Mr. Whitman's pastorate ; but they form a vital part of the history of that period. Here, too, Dr. Cumings' position, while he lived, held the restless spirit somewhat in check which broke forth so soon after his death. Theological questions were de- bated with great feeling and often with bitterness. Good men sometimes forgot the possible honesty of those who held opinions differing from their own and the charity to which they were entitled, and neighbors were at times estranged. The friends of the old order could not appreciate the force of the convictions which sought change, and those who were striving for change were not always considerate of the feelings or the reasons of those who wished to perpetuate the order of things they had inherited, and which had worked so satisfactorily for almost two centuries. The efforts to establish another church in the town were met by a protest, which Mr. Whitman embodied in a fast-day sermon, which was printed, and must win respect and sympathy for its author even from those who are not fully persuaded by its argument. He was contending with the inevitable ; and, had he now the opportunity, he would not probably desire to replace the ecclesiastical order, which was giving way around him, to his discomfort and alarm.

Mr. Whitman was dismissed March 30, 1835, and was succeeded by Rev. William E. Abbot, who was ordained February 8, 1837, and dismissed February 10, 1839. Mr. Abbot was graduated at Bowdoin Col-

lege, 1830, and at Harvard Theological School in 1833. The next pastor was Rev. Theodore Haskell Dorr, a graduate of Harvard College in 1835, and Theological School in 1838. He was ordained May 28, 1839, and dismissed May 28, 1843. Succeeding ministers have with one exception received no for- mal installation. Their names and dates of service are as follows: James Thurston, November 15, 1844, to May 15, 1850; Samuel Pettes, June 16, 1850, to May 14, 1855 ; Nathaniel O. Chaffin, June 17, 1855, to May 10, 1857; Norwood Damon, 1857 to 1860; Livingston Stone, 1861 to 1862; James Gallaway, installed January 28, 1863, dismissed in 1865; Chris- topher Coffin Hussey, October 1, 1866, who is still in charge.

In 1844 the meeting-house was moved, and turned half around to face the east; but it was allowed to retain its primitive structure and graceful spire, which form a landmark visible from afar. The longer min- istry of Mr. Hussey has witnessed improvement in several directions. In 1879 a fund of $10,000 was contributed by several members of the society, the interest of which only can be used to support preach- ing. The conditions of the gift are that the minister's salary be kept at a specified rate, and that the preach- ing be distinctively Unitarian. In 1881 a house was bought for a parsonage, and so fully repaired as to make it substantially a new, as well as pleasant and convenient, home for the minister.

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH was the earliest sep- arate organization, after the First Church had for one hundred and sixty-five years existed alone in the town. There were Baptists here at an early day, William Hamlet at least and probably George Far- ley ; and a letter from Hamlet relating to the early troubles is published by Backus, the Baptist histor- ian. But the number did not increase until after the Revolution, when the tendency to resist payment of "minister's rates" had influence in increasing the number of Baptists. Not long after the death of Dr. Cumings they had become numerous and strong enough for organization. Meetings were first held in the school-house near the Fordway, in the spring of 1828. A church was organized, 1828, September 30th. It consisted of twenty members, of whom thirteen were dismissed from the South Chelmsford Church.

The list of its ministers is as follows, omitting students and others who served for shorter periods :

Otis Wing, March, 1829, to March, 1830. Jedediah W. Sargent, ordained January 14, 1835, to January, 1837. Jonathan E. Forbush, March, 1837, to August, 1838.

Warren Cooper, October, 1838, to October, 1839.

George W. Randall, ordained February 18, 1841, to May, 1842.

Benjamin Knight, May, 1842, to April, 1849 ; and February, 1857, to January, 1860.

Benjamin Putnam, June, 1845 ; died December 21, 1850, aged 62. Zenas P. Wilde, April, 1851, to April, 1853.

Homer Sears, January, 1854, to January, 1856.

Thomas C. Russell, August, 1860, to March, 1863. John D. Sweet, ordained October 21, 1863, to March, 1868.

Clifton Fletcher, February, 1869, to July, 1875.

William I1. Fish, ordained December 30, 1875, to June, 1877.

349

BILLERICA.

Robert M. Neil (alias O'Neil or McNeil), October, 1877, to July, 1878. " Dismissed from the fellowship of the church and ministry." Edward T. Lyford, May, 1879 to $3.

L. B. Lawton, 1884-1887.

E. O. Taylor, 1887-80.

The first meeting-house stood on the east side of Concord River, very near the middle bridge. The frame was raised, 1830, November 30th, and the house was dedicated, 1831, September 14th. In the spring of 1844 it was removed to its present location in the village, on Bedford Street. A bell was procured in 1872, and in 1877 it received an addition of a conven- ient chapel.

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH was organized, 1829, April 30th, a society having been formed Jan- uary 17th. This was a more direct result of the theo- logical controversy, and of the ecclesiastical separa- tions, which were still agitating the Massachusetts churches; and the presence of Dr. Lyman Beecher, as moderator of the council which organized the church, was a significant expression of the general in- terest in this and similar movements. The unity and strength of the First Church was, however, less affected by the separation, in Billerica, than in many towns. The number of its members who did not sympathize with, or yield to, the Unitarian position of the church was small. Two women, Huldah Blake and Martha Bowers, entered a protest, 1820, October 8th. They affirm their belief in the true and proper deity of Jesus Christ, in the atonement, in the entire deprav- ity of unregenerate men, and their need of supernat- ural grace to fit them for the happiness of heaven ; and generally in the doctrines of the Westminster Confession and Catechism. With these views they believed their pastor and many of their brethren in the church did not agree; and they therefore asked the favor of a regular dismission. This the church, affirming the right and duty of each individual to be guided by his own conscience, granted. No other dismissions for this reason are recorded, and not more than four or five members of the First Church ever joined the new Congregational Church, which began with twenty-five members. The meeting-house, on Andover Street, 60×40 feet, was raised October 28th, and dedicated, 1830, January 13th. It was exten- sively repaired in 1885. The record of its ministers has been as follows :

John Starkweather, ordained April 22, 1830 ; dismissed Aug. 2, 1831. Isaac Jones, acting pastor Jnly, 1832 ; April, 1834.

Joseph Haven, installed June 8, 1836 ; dismissed September 27, 1840. Benjamin Ela, ordained April 29, 1841 ; dismissed May, 1842.

Jesse G. D. Stearns, ordained May 20, 1843 ; dismissed May 8, 1867. John P. Cleveland, D.D., acting pastor 1867-70.

Erarts B. Kent, acting pastor 1870-71.

Jobn M. Lord, acting pastor 18,1-72.

Henry A. Hazen, installed May 21, 1874 ; dismissed May 4, 1879.

John Haskell, acting pastor May, 1879, to October, 1881.

Charles C. Torrey, acting pastor November, 1881, to 1882. Frederick A Wilson, ordained October 26, 1882; installed September C., 1885 ; diemissed Jnne 25, 1889.

Angustns H. Fnller, acting pastor 1889.

The long and faithful pastorate of Mr. Stearns de-

serves especial recognition. A scholar of exceptional diligence and culture, modest and devout, and active in every good word and work, he commended himself to the citizens of the town as well as to his own charge.

A UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY was formed January 10, 1842, and a meeting-house erected the same year. It stood on the north side of West Street, where the school-house now stands. In 1868 it was sold to the Roman Catholics and removed to North Billerica, where it is stili in use by that society. The minis- ters of this church were Rev. Varnum Lincoln, or- dained September 8, 1843; Rev. L. P. Landers, of West Cambridge, 1845-47; Rev. George Proctor, 1847-53, and again, 1855-63; Rev. P. Hersey, 1853- 55 ; and Rev. R. M. Byram.

A ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIETY was organized and purchased the Universalist meeting-house in 1868, removing it to North Billerica. It has prospered and the number of its communicants is large. The priests who have been in charge came from Lowell, and no record of their names or dates of service has been furnished.

The youngest church in the town is the Baptist Church at North Billerica, which was organized May 14, 1869, receiving twenty-two members from the Centre Church. Its pleasant meeting-house was a gift from the Hon. Thomas Talbot ; built in 1870, and dedicated January 19, 1871. Its pastors have been William M. Ross, June 2, 1869 ; Nathaniel L. Colby, ordained July 2, 1872 ; and William A. Farren, or- dained September 24, 1879-1887; J. B. Robinson, 1887.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

BILLERICA-(Continued).

MISCELLANEOUS.

THE early roads were often called paths, and the name describes them. Carts could pass over the better roads, but many were passable only on horseback or on foot. Wagons were unknown. The earliest chaise was owned in town not much, if any, before 1800, and marked the aristocracy of the few who could afford such luxury.1 The first great improvement in the means of transportation was the Middlesex Canal. This first important canal in America passed through Billerica, and its path is still to be seen at many points. The company was incorporated in June, 1793, to connect the Merrimack with the Mystic and Charles Rivers, and save the trade of New Hampshire to Boston. The preliminary surveys consumed more than a year, and ground was first broken at Billerica

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 82

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