USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Bedford > History of the town of Bedford, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, from its earliest settlement to the year of Our Lord 1891 > Part 3
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The estate held by the heirs of Cyrus Page was purchased by Nathaniel Page in 1687. The present owners are of the eighth generation. The original dwelling is still standing. Mrs. Sarah Sampson owns and occupies the estate that came into the family possession about 1733, she is of the fourth generation of the family of Zachariah Fitch.
Lands on the Concord side of Bedford are still held by descendants of William Hartwell, who was among the pioneers of Concord, and the homestead was held in the family name and occupied by Hart- wells continuously for two hundred years. The present house was erected in 1758.
The homestead of Benjamin Fitch has been held in the family and name since 1730, and the "corne. mill" of King Philip's War, on the Shawshine River, is still identified by modern buildings, but has passed from the family possession. Job B. Lane owns and occupies a portion of the Winthrop Farm that was purchased by Job Lane in 1664 and divided by his heirs in 1697.
"Stone Croft Farm," owned by Miss Caroline M. Fitch, came to the family by purchase in 1766. The dwelling was built about 1700. The mill site, on Vine Brook, near Shawshine River, was occupied by John Wilson as early as 1663.
The site of the first meeting-house is very nearly identified by the second, which is now standing.
CHAPTER III.
ECCLESIASTICAL.
Relation of First Church and Town-Frismission of Rev. Nicholas Bowes- First Bell-Ministry of Rev. Nathaniel Sherman and Rev. Joseph Penni- man.
THE ecclesiastical and municipal relations of the town are so thoroughly interwoven for the first cen- tury of her history that it is difficult to separate them : but as it is our purpose to briefly sketch the town's history, topically rather than in chronological order, we shall aim to treat of the social and political rela- tions separate from spiritual and religious, now that we have combined the two sufficiently to show the steps of organization. By the early Provincial laws every tract of territory, when becoming a town, by the same act became a parish; hence the town of Bedford for little more than a century was the parish. They provided for the support of the Gospel at the
same meeting in which they made provision for building and repairing highways.
In our effort to separate the relations we shall class all that pertained to the house or service of worship as ecclesiastical.
The first three pastorates of the town were cut short for obvious reasons. Rev. Nicholas Bowes, the first pastor, was graduated at Harvard College in 1725, and ordained July 15, 1730, and was dismissed Au- gust 22, 1754, after a ministry of twenty-four years. Mr. Bowes came to the new town of Bedford under many flattering circumstances. He married Miss Lucy (Lucie) Hancock, the young and accomplished daughter of Rev. John Hancock, of Lexington. Soon after locating in Bedford, Mr. Bowes built a residence on the land deeded him by the town as a part of his settlement fee. It is now standing, and is a stately mansion, reminding one of the superior dignity at- tached to the pastoral office of that day. Eight chil- dren were born to Rev. Nicholas and Lucy Bowes while in this town. William, the oldest, born De- cember 3, 1734, was baptized four days later by his grandfather, Rev. John Hancock. They all lived to maturity with the exception of Thomas, who died at the age of two years, eleven months. Of the pastoral acts of Mr. Bowes but little is known. The church and town grew and flourished ; 161 were admitted to the church, and there were 303 baptisms. The rite was administered to ail who owned the covenant and their children. Confessions were publicly made, but not carried to so great an extreme as in many New England churches. Intemperance and theft were frequently confessed. Mr. Bowes, together with nine other ministers in the vicinity of Cambridge, refused to admit Rev. George Whitefield to their pulpits in 1745, because of his denunciation of Harvard College and many New England clergymen. Through some indiscreet acts the pastor's usefulness was brought to a close, and satisfactory confession being made, he was dismissed, and it was voted-" That he be owned and treated as a brother in good standing and char- ity." He could not have lost his influence in the town, as he was employed to teach the school in the following winter. In 1755 he was cbaplain in the Northern Army, at Fort Edward, and died at Brookfield on his return home. But little more is known of his family, save that his daughter Lucy went to live with her maternal grandmother, the widow of Rev. John Hancock, and there made the acquaintance of her grandfather's successor, Rev. Jonas Clark, of Lexington, and became his wife. The estate was sold to John Reed, and still remains in the family. It was near the close of the first pas- torate before the town purchased a bell. In April, 1753, " Voted, to buy a bell not exceeding six hun- dred nor less than five hundred pound weight." They also "voted to build a house of sufficient beight to hang the mouth of the bell sixteen feet from the ground." The " Bell-house " was some rods from the
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meeting-house. The bell was ready for use at the time of the dismission of the first minister, and in the treasurer's accounts of that year, Deacon Israel Put- nam is charged with an order "for lamb for the council and hemp for the bell-rope, 5 shillings." The meeting-house was the shrine of these early settlers, doubly precious because of their great sacrifice to erect it, and because of the great distance formerly traveled to reach the house of God. On April 5, 1731, they voted "that it should be swept six times a year," and Deacon Israel Putnam performed the service for ten shillings a year. In 1743 the pay was increased to £1 15s., "Old Tenor," and John Mansfield hired to sweep it twelve times a year and " attend to opening and shutting the doors." In 1733 the young men were refused the " hind seat in the gallery," and the pew next to the pulpit stairs was made " a ministerial pew."
The town and church concurred in extending a call to Rev. Nathaniel Sherman, and he was ordained February 18, 1756, " having preached twenty-six Sab- beths, one Fast and one Thanksgiving" during his candidacy. He was given, as a settlement fee, £113 6s. 8d., and an annual salary of £53 6s. Sd., and twenty cords of wood annually, " after he shall come to need it for his own firing."
Mr. Sherman was brother of Roger Sherman, the distinguished patriot of Connecticut, and endowed with both talent and culture. As a young, unmar- ried man he entered the work of the gospel ministry in this place. He married Lydia Merriam, March 1, 1759. She was the daughter of Deacon Nathanial Merriam, of this town. They had three children born here, one of whom, Thaddeus, died August 22, 1765. Mr. Sherman was a man of feeble healthı, and labored under difficulties. Notwithstanding the oft- repeated breaks in his labors, his pastorate was re- garded as very successful-forty-six were admitted to church and sixty-seven were baptized by him. It was during the ministry of Rev. Mr. Sherman that Hugh Maxwell, of Bedford, consecrated himself to the service of Christ and became the "Christian Patriot," whose biography, published in 1830, is a most inspiring work.
A controversy arose in the churches of New Eng- land, about the time of the settlement of Mr. Sher- man, concerning the " half-way covenant," by which persons were admitted to the privilege of baptism without admission to the communion. November 6, 1765, the Bedford church voted " that there should be but one church covenant." Faith in Christ, repent- ance for sin, holiness and a belief in the Assembly's Catechism were required of all candidates.
Some of the changes were unpopular ; the affections of the people were alienated from the pastor, and the relations entered upon for life were brought to a close. Upon the request of the pastor an ecclesiastical council was called and gave advice in the matter, in which the town concurred. The record of the
church is : '" Upon the request of the Rev. Nathaniel Sherman, the church then dismissed him as a brother of the church and recommended him to the Church of Christ in Mount Carmel, New Haven." He was in- stalled there and preached many years. He died at East Windsor, July 18, 1797, aged seventy-three years.
The dismission of Rev. Mr. Sherman cansed not only the severing of pastoral and social relations, but family ties were sundered, and the town had no settled minister for a period of three years, during which time the church agreed upon the terms of communion as follows : " This church will have but one covenant and therefore require the same qualifi- cations in all ; yet if any person can desire to enter into covenant and receive baptism for himself or children, and yet fears to approach the Lord's table at present, he shall be received, he promising (though he come not immediately to the Lord's table) that he will submit to the watch and discipline of the church."
Rev. Joseph Penniman was the third minister of the town, ordained May 22, 1771. He received a set- tlement fee of 133 and an annual salary of £66 13s. 4d., and fire wood.
In planning for the service of ordination the town voted " that the day should be religiously observed throughout the town in accordance with the solemnity of the occasion ;" determined as much as in them lay to prevent "all Levity, Prophainness, music, Danc- ing and frolicking and other disorders on sd Day." A committee of five was chosen " to open the meeting- house and to keep the seats below the deacons' seat and town's pew for the church and council." A new pastorate was an occasion for advanced steps: 1773 "Voted to bring in Doct. Watt's versions for the present, and to have Messrs. Jeremiah Fitch and James Wright sett in the fore seat in the front gallery as they are appointed to begin the Psalm or tune." The fluctuation in the currency of the country made it necessary for the town to grant relief to their pastor, and in 1780 the town voted "to grant Rev. Mr. Penniman one hundred bushels of grane, fifty of Rye and fifty of Indian Corn." The people mani- fested their gratitude for a successful termination of the Revolutionary struggle by repairing their meeting- house. It was then clap-boarded and covered with a coating of " Bedford Yellow," a sort of mineral paint found in the town. The old beli and bell-house were also repaired. Like the people of the town, they had seen hard service during the war.
The bell had sounded the alarm on April 19, 1775; rung for liberty when the Colonies declared their inde- pendence ; pealed forth its notes of rejoicing over the surrender at Yorktown, and by its cracked tongue and faltering notes, most fittingly suggested the suffer- ings of the people during the war, in its final attempt to swell the volume of thanksgiving, following the treaty of September 3, 1783. The pastorate of Rev. Mr. Penniman covered the years of struggle for free-
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dom from the mother country, and was successful in many respects. Forty-one were added to the church and one hundred and eighty-three baptisms are re- corded during his ministry.
Some of the public acts of Mr. Penniman gave evi- dence of extreme eccentricity, which increased by repetition nntil the church took the following action July 12, 1793 :
"The church met at Deacon James Wright's and held a conference with each other respecting the un- christianlike behaviour of their Pastor, Mr. Joseph Penniman, the last Lord's day, it heing communion day, and every member of said church being grieved thereat."
The conference resulted at length in the dismission of Mr. Penniman October 29, 1793. In the light of the present, it would be declared that strong drink caused the trouble. Rev. Joseph Penniman was born in Braintree, and graduated at Harvard College in 1765 ; after his dismission he removed from Bedford to Harvard, where he died. He was possessed of re- spectable talents. Social customs of his time aggra- vated natural eccentricities and led to extreme pecu- liarities of expression, particularly in public prayer. At the funeral service of his townsman, Captain Jon- athan Wilson, who was killed at Concord, April 19, 1775, he is said to have uttered the following : " We pray thee, O Lord, to send the British Soldiers where they will do some good, for Thou knowest that we have no use for them about here." When visiting the school of the town he is said to have used the fol- lowing expression in prayer : " We pray thee, O Lord, that these children may be well trained at home, for if they are not, they will act like Sarpints when they are abroad." The act that led the church to close the doors of the meeting-house against the pastor brought the town into public reproach. While the people were seriously considering the circum- stances a rougish fellow placarded the doors of the meeting-house with the following brief summary of affairs :
" A wicked priest, a crooked people, A cracked hell without a steeple."
The bill for entertaining the Council at the dis- mission of Mr. Penniman amounted to £33 0s. 4d. 2f. There were born to Rev. Mr. Penniman and Hannah Jackson, his wife, while in Bedford, four children, two of whom died here and were buried in the old cemetery. The epitaphs now seen upon the crum- bling headstones are most suggestive of the peculiar- ities of the father. They are quoted in this con- nection :
"December 22, 1790, HIANNAT, daughter of Rev. Joseph Penniman and Hannah, his wife, aged 18 yrs., 4 mos., 11 days.
" Ah I now, no notice do yon give Where you are and how you live 1 What I are you then hound hy solemn fate, To keep the secret of your state ? The alarming voice you will hear, When Christ, the Judge, shall appear.
Hannah ! from the dark lonely vault, Certainly soon and suddenly you'll come, When Jesus shall claim the treasure from the tomb."
" Angust 21, 1778, MOLLY, aged 3 yrs., G mo., 3 days.
" Ah l dear Polly, must your tender parents mourn, Their heavy loss, and bathe with tears your urn, Since now no more to us you must return."
CHAPTER IV.
ECCLESIASTICAL.
The Clergy of New England-Rev. Samuel Stearns-Page and Hartwell Fund -- Will of Anna Page-New Meeting-house-Singing-School-Sub- bath-School.
THE clergy of New England, in its early years, constituted what may be styled an educated aristoc- racy and to a large degree circumscribed their order by intermarriage. The common people were so bur- dened in their struggles with the Indians and with foreign nations, together with their efforts to subdue the wilderness and maintain their families, that but little time was left them for self-culture. Their edu- cation was limited and they relied upon the clergy for much of their moral and religious sentiment. The fourth minister was Rev. Samuel Stearns and the last called by the town in its parochial capacity. He was ordained April 27, 1796. Mr. Stearns was a grand type of the New England clergy. He was the son of a minister, and his paternal and maternal an- cestry were of the clerical profession. He had inher- ited a truly pious spirit and was possessed of a firm and decided nature. He was a graduate of Harvard College and studied theology with Rev. Jonathan French, of Andover, whose eldest daughter (Abigail) he married, May 7, 1797, "a lady of rare fortitude, energy, intelligence and practical wisdom, as well as piety." For nearly thirty-seven years Rev. Samuel Stearns was the teacher, leader and undonbted friend of this entire people, and no one person ever did more in this town to mould the character of the ris- ing generation and lead the passing generation "into green pastures and beside the still waters of eternal peace." During this ministry so many reforms were introduced and grand changes made in both secular and religious affairs that they cannot be hastily passed by. In preparing for the ordination of the fourth minister the town voted to take down the cracked and useless bell, " sell the bell-house at public vendue, level the ground on the south side of the meeting- house and prop up the galleries." Interested people flocked from the neighboring towns; families of two or three, mounted on the back of one horse, were seen galloping in from different quarters and the meeting-house was filled long before the hour ap- pointed for the service. The Common was covered with booths in which the venders of food and various
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wares carried on a lively business. Rev. Jonathan French, of Andover, preached the sermon. His text was Isaiah x1. 1-5. The new pastor bought the estate occupied by his immediate predecessor in office and settled in the midst of his people. The large mansion-house which he occupied during his life and the surrounding acres are still in the possession of the family. Mr. Stearns received from the town as a " settlement " eight hundred and fifty dollars and an annual salary of three hundred and thirty-three and one-third dollars and twenty cords of fire-wood. Through a depreciation in currency the salary was changed at different times until it reached five hun- dred dollars per annum. Mr. Stearns also had a loan from the town of one thousand dollars, without inter- est, from 1801 till his death. The new minister's regard for order and system began to make an im- pression at once, as the church and town records plainly show. The custom of public confession of certain sins was abandoned and cases of discipline were conducted with the best of judgment. There was one case that kept the church and town in a state of disturbance for years and involved many import- ant questions and resulted in cold-blooded murder. The light of the present has a mitigating effect on the case, for had the present scientific and humane treat- ment of incipient insanity been in practice the sad act might have been averted. Mr. Stearns was pos- sessed of a fine musical talent, having a rich tenor voice, which contributed to awaken an interest for music in the town, particularly in sacred music. In May, 1798, the town voted " that the four pews in the front gallery are assigned to the use of the singers." A tuning-pipe keyed on A was then in use and held as a valuable piece of the town's property. November 1798, the town appropriated twenty dollars for sing- ing-school. In 1815 the town's viol was placed in the hands of Deacon James Wright, " for the purpose of assisting in taking lead in sacred music." Mr. Stearns never voted in town affairs, but was conducted to the place of meeting by the selectmen and began proceedings with prayer, after which he retired.
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 :
" Io 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. . . . 1 humbly commit and commend my sonl to God my Creator, in and through Jesus Christ my Redeemer, whose righteous- Dess and grace are all my hope for pardon and eternal salvation. My Body I recommend to a christian burial at the discretion of my Execu- tor in the blessed bope 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 sball 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 fonnd, be appropriated to that use, and accordingly I do here- by give and bequeath said remainder to tho town of Bedford as a fund to aid in the support of the Gospel ministry, to be disposed of in the mander following. That is to say : The capital of the fund shall be put aod always kept ou interest, upon good security-with sufficient sureties for the same. One-sixth part of the income atising 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 tho 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 part of the said fund shall ever bo ap- propriated in aid of any suit at law or any contention whatever, and 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 clanse in my will and also the capital of the fund and the annual income thereof together with the andnal appropriations and expenditures of said income, to be kept open for the perusal of all persons therein conceroed 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 saine 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 thus far used. Rev. Samuel Stearns was kindly remem- 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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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 pows by assessing the whole expense of building said house, including extra bills, 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 militla officers shall ever be held or done in the meeting house, and no other town business shall be done in said house, except by permission of the selectmen for the time being, 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 abont the railing of the pews on the lower floor, in the body of sd meeting- house, nor on the front of the galleries, nor on the walls in the gal- leries.'"
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