USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868, Volume I > Part 7
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
Nearly akin to these instructions were those given by the inhabitants of Lexington to their committee, chosen October 6, 1714, to seat their new house. Ensign Joseph Bowman, Deacon John Merriam, Captain William Reed, William Munroe, and Thomas Mead were chosen for the purpose,1 and were instructed to take the following elements into the account: -
"1: it was votted that thay shall haue respect to age
"2: that thay shall haue respect to reall and Parsonall Estat so far as referd to the new mettinghouse
"3: to bare respect but to one head In a ffamilly : -
" and allso thay are to place the chilldren whare thay may be Inspected."
As a difference of opinion might arise in relation to the rela- tive "dignity" of the respective seats, some committees, to remove all doubt, graded the dignity of the different seats as first, second, etc. It may also be important to state that some towns imposed a fine upon any one who should occupy any other seat than the one assigned him. We may think our fathers rather fastidious on this subject, and a little jealous of their "dignity"; but it ought to be remembered that in those days the seats were all common property, and as it was de- sirable to have families sit together, and to have a permanent seat to which they might repair whenever they came to meet- ing, there was a convenience, at least, in having some regula- tion or assignment of the seats.
The people at that day were alive to every interest of the town, and showed themselves ready to make every effort and bear all reasonable burdens for the well-being of the commu- nity. At a meeting of the inhabitants of Lexington, May 17, 1725, it was
"Voted yt £150 be made into a Rate & delivered to ye Constable, to be paid into ye treasury for ye defraying of sd Town charges for ye year Ensuing ... voted yt ye Town charges & ye ministers Salary be made into one Rate & payd into ye treasury; Sd Salary being £90 to be payd out of ye treasury in equal halves, as, & at ye times heretofore paid; for ye future."
In 1725, Rev. Mr. Hancock represented to the town that his salary was not sufficient to support himself and family. This probably arose, in some degree at least, from the depreciation
1 See plan of this second meeting-house, Proc. Lex. Hist. Soc., Vol. I, p. 16. Ed.
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of the currency, which at that period had fallen about fifty per cent. The town, seeing the justice of his claim, voted him twenty pounds as a gratuity.
Our fathers were peculiarly watchful of the morals of the community, and were ready, at all times, not only to do good, but to prevent evil, in their corporate capacity. When men were found idle and dissipated, they were ready to take them in hand, and as far as practicable to reform them, or at least to prevent the spread of the evil. An entry in the selectmen's records, March 29, 1731, shows the manner in which such affairs were treated at that period: -
"Wheras there is Complaint made to the selectmen against Chris: Mason ju: that he is very disorderly and threetens his par- ents and liues idley & neglects to prouid for his famely; but the rather distroy what they haue by seling houseld Stuff & his cloes and spending the money for drink: wherefor the selectmen haue appointed mr. Samll Winshipp one of the selectmen to Take Care to proceed with him as the law directs."
I have already spoken of the difficult task of "seating the meeting-house" to the satisfaction of the people. Changes of families, and of the house itself, seem to have rendered it necessary that this work should be performed periodically. In 1731, the delicate task of "seating the meeting-house" was again performed by a committee, and seats were assigned to one hundred and six heads of families.
Having repaired and reseated the meeting-house, and made provision, from time to time, for the support of the Rev. Mr. Hancock, according to his wants, the people were disposed to relieve him of a portion of the burdens of his office by employ- ing a co-laborer. Accordingly, at a meeting held November 2, 1733, they gave a call to Mr. Ebenezer Hancock, a son of their reverend pastor, a young man highly esteemed among them, to settle as a colleague with his father, on the following con- ditions: -
" (1) three hundred pound for settlement to be paid to mr Ebenezer Hancock as soon as his father is deseased and if he desease before that time his heirs shall not Call for it (2) to giue mr Hancock and his son Eben two hundred pound a year for two year he Keeping the School as this last year now runing the hundred pound a year to begin as soone as he Enters into the work of the minestry But the School to Begin for the two years next may (3)
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
quiting the minesteral land the Town to find him with wood (4) two hundred pound a year without the School to mr Hancock & his son during mr Hancock life and one hundred & thirty pound a year after his desease while he Continues their minester (5) the vote to call him to office: put to vote whether the Inhabitants of the Town will chuse mr Eben- Hancock and giue him a Call to the pasteral office in this Town upon the aforementioned Conditions & Con- siderations: which vote was Brought in by papers & it passed in the afirmatiue by a very great majority."
This call was accepted by Mr. Hancock, with a modifica- tion, which the town readily agreed to, that in case he should die before his father, the three hundred pounds settlement should be paid to his wife and children, if he should have any. The preliminaries being settled, the ordination took place, January 2, 1734.
Towns and parishes were so united, and their duties in many respects so similar, that it is difficult to draw the line between the civil and ecclesiastical history of the place. I have confined to the latter such events as related to the relig- ious condition of the church, and the relations between them and their pastor; - leaving what was performed in town meetings in the department of civil history.
Many of the officers of the town and of the parish at that day exercised powers and performed duties unknown and unacknowledged at this. The tythingman, and the office, which are now extinct, were then regarded as of the first moment. Instances almost without number could be cited in which some of the leading men of the town were elected to that office. In many respects the tythingman was regarded with more honor, and his office with more sanctity, than that of selectman - an office then held in much higher repute than at present. When we consider that they were a species of general police officer, being conservators of the peace, and also that they had the general care of children and youth on the Lord's Day, and especially at or near the house of wor- ship, it is no wonder that the most sober and discreet men were generally selected for that office. A few extracts from the records will show the importance in which that office was held.
"At a meeting held 22 May 1738
"voted to repair ye meetinghouse:
"voted that ye two hind seats in ye Lower gallery ffront and side;
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are apointed for ye Boys: to sitt on saboth days; all under sixteen years old: and a Tithing man to sitt near them, Each saboth to take there turns: and if any aboue sixteen years are disorderly they shall be ordered into sd seats.
"Voted that a Tithingman should be desired to attend on sabath day noons; to keep ye Boys in order in ye Meetinghouse."
All the duties of tythingmen were regarded as important, and hence they entered upon the discharge of their official functions with more than ordinary formality. We accord- ingly find the act of qualifying a tythingman recorded with almost royal pomp and ceremony.
"Joshua Simonds and Daniel Brown personally appeared before ye worshipfull Justice Bowman, May ye 12th, 1735, and made oath to ye office of tythingman for ye year ensuing."
Towns, like larger communities, sometimes become prof- ligate in their expenditures. This tends to arouse the feelings of the people, and they are then inclined to run to the other extreme. Sometimes a rivalry between candidates for office will induce them to bid up on each other, in which case the people at first will generally select the man who will serve at the lowest price. But in a short time, they learn that cheap- ening the office naturally fills it with cheap officers, and then they fall back upon the former price. It seems by the records of Lexington that there was rivalry between the Bowmans in the south part of the town, and the Reeds in the north. In fact, the county road leading from Cambridge to Concord, and passing through the centre of the town, divided it into two nearly equal divisions. The records are full of this dis- tinction of "North Side" and "South Side." A constable, for instance, was chosen one for the "North Side" and one for the "South Side." The valuations and the tax-bills were made out for these sides respectively. All this would naturally tend to divide the people into geographical parties. The rivalry between two leading and influential families, the one situated in one division of the town, and the other in the other, would, moreover, increase this feeling.
Consequently we find the Bowmans and the Reeds pitted against each other in most of the important elections. And this division was so equal that one would prevail one year, and the other the next. Bowman and Reed, and Reed and Bowman, appear on the records almost in regular succession. This division between the different sections of the town -
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
the Bowmans against the Reeds - the House of York against the House of Lancaster - would naturally lead to some management, if not between the rival candidates, at least between their friends. Third parties in such cases will occa- sionally step in, and take the prize from both the contending parties. Something of this kind, if I have not misappre- hended the spirit of the records, occurred in some instances in the town of Lexington. The offices contested seem to have been those of Moderator, First Selectman, and Representa- tive, especially the last. Probably the contest for Repre- sentative gave rise to the following vote, passed at the May meeting, 1739: -
"voted that ye person who shall be Chosen to Represent ye town at ye Great and Generall Court shall Imediately Ingage to serue ye town as a Representative at ye aboue said Court for Six Shillings a day which person then Chosen namly mr Joseph ffassit accepted ye Choice upon ye aboue sd vote."
This serving as a Representative at a reduced price ap- pears to have given Mr. Fassett a peculiar popularity ; for the next year he was chosen Moderator, First Selectman, and Representative; and thus, for a short period, he threw Joseph Bowman, Esq., and Captain William Reed into the shade. But popularity founded on such a basis proved in this case, as it generally does, of short duration; for after three years he was dropped, and then Captain Reed was elected several years in succession to represent the town.
A Representative in those days must have been an officer of more dignity than at present, if we are to judge by the man- ner in which it was heralded by our fathers. The article in the warrant for 1739 for the choice of Representative reads as follows: -
"To elect and depute one or more persons being freholders & Residents in sd town to serve for & Represent them at or in A great & Generall Court or Asembly Apointed to be Convened and held & kept for His Magisty's sarvice at ye Court House in Bostown."
In 1740, the people of Lexington were called to mourn the loss of their junior pastor, when he had just completed the sixth year of his ministry. As there was a general feeling of satisfaction when he was called to share with his venerable father the labors of his profession and the affections of his people, so there was a unanimous feeling of regret that the
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father was so soon deprived of the aid and support of his affectionate son, and the parish of their devoted minister.
In 1729, a small portion of the territory of Lexington had been set off to form the town of Bedford, and in 1744, sundry inhabitants of Concord, Weston, and the westerly part of Lexington petitioned the General Court to be erected into a precinct; but the town chose Joseph Bowman, Esq., Captain William Reed, and Deacon John Stone to oppose the prayer of the petition, which they did effectually at that time.
On the 6th of December, 1752, the people of Lexington were deprived of their beloved and venerable pastor, Rev. John Hancock, who had with great ability and faithfulness ministered to them for more than fifty-three years. As we shall speak of the character of Rev. Mr. Hancock more par- ticularly under the head of the ecclesiastical history of the town, we will simply say here that his services were justly appreciated by his people, who sincerely deplored his sudden death. They had long witnessed his growing infirmities, or perhaps, more properly, his increasing years, and had taken the precaution for several years to choose a committee to supply the pulpit in case of the inability of Mr. Hancock to discharge his wonted duties. But that committee had no occasion to look abroad for a supply; for their venerated pastor was able to perform every duty of his sacred office to the very day of his death. The people had also manifested their attachment to him, and their regard for his welfare, by adding to his salary, from year to year, at least sufficiently to make up for the depreciation of the currency; and when he was called hence by a sudden dispensation of Providence, they manifested their respect for his memory and sympathy for his family by convening the town and adopting the fol- lowing votes: -
"at a meeting of the freeholders & other inhabitants regularly assembled on December 7: 1752: then maid Choyce of Deacon Brown modderator
"1 Voted two hundred Pounds old Tenor for a Desent burial of our Revernd & Beloved Pastor mr John Hancock
"2 Daniel Tidd mr Benjamin Smith Leut Ebenezer Fisk for a Committee to gow down to Provide things their for sd funarel: - "3 Voted that sd Committee should give md hancock & her children the offer of ye Town Grant for ye funarel if they see Cause to Taking with it: & they Provide for sd funarel:
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
"4 Voted to Choose a Committee to Provide at md hancocks house & assest there at ye funaral (Viz) mr Jos: Bridge: mr Jos Tidd: mr Thadd: Bowman mr John Hoar: mr Jos: Loring: also Voted that the abovesd Committee should Render an acount to ye Town how they have Layed out ye above sd Grant: also Voted that mr Samll Bridge should Provide 500 bricks in order to brick sd grave."
The committee appointed to provide for the funeral of Mr. Hancock presented a bill to the town of £219, which was readily allowed. I will state one item of their bill, as it casts light upon the manners and customs of that period: -
"Granted an order to Pay mr. Jacob Hurd of Boston £4.01.01 it being in full for six Rings: for ye bearers of our Revnd & beloved Pastor mr. John Hancock."
After the death of Mr. Hancock, the town chose a commit- tee, consisting of Deacon Joseph Brown, Deacon John Stone, William Reed, Esq., Captain Benjamin Reed, and Mr. Isaac Bowman, to provide for the pulpit till others should be chosen; and they instructed said committee "to make dil- egente Inquire after a Gentleman Suitable to Settell."
After hearing Mr. Stearns, Mr. Barnes, and Mr. Putnam a few Sabbaths each, the town voted, April 8, 1754, "to keep a day of fasting and prayer on the 25th of the above said Aprill in Preparation for said Choice."
The church and society, in June, 1754, invited Mr. Aaron Putnam, who, in consequence of the want of unanimity in the call, declined the invitation.
After receiving the negative answer from Mr. Putnam, Mr. Willard, Mr. Minot, and Mr. Clarke were employed a few Sabbaths each; when, on the 19th day of May, 1755, the inhab- itants were called together to see if they would concur with the church in giving Mr. Jonas Clarke an invitation to become their minister. The result is thus stated in the record: -
"ye Congregation concurd so far as thay brought in: 51: yeas but there was: 16: Nays: then ye Town voted 133 .. 06 .. 8: Settlement for Mr: Clerk in case he Settle with us as our Pastor: ye one half of sd Sum to be paid Six months after his Ordination: Likewise Voted: 80: pounds to be his yearly Sallery for to Sapport him in ye work of ye minestry in this town: also Voted ye sd. mr Clerk in Case he takes up & is Settled as our Pastor Shall forever as Such Quit all manner of Claim title or Interest in or unto aney part of ye Minesteral Land in this Town:"
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After some further negotiation in relation to granting him a number of cords of wood, in addition to the eighty pounds offered as his annual salary, the church and congregation agreed to vote together on the question of giving him a call, and on counting the yeas and nays it was found that seventy had voted in the affirmative and only three in the negative. The town also voted to furnish Mr. Clarke twenty cords of wood annually, in addition to his salary.
The preliminaries being thus settled, the 5th of November, 1755, was agreed upon for the ordination, and the churches in Cambridge, Newton, Medford, Sherburn, Watertown, Lincoln, Weston, and Waltham were invited to assist in the ordination. To use the language of Mr. Clarke himself, -
"The Elders and Messengers of most of said churches appearing in the morning, and having chosen the Rev. Mr. John Cotton, Moderator, they proceeded, earnestly imploring the divine Blessing, unto Ordination. The Rev. Mr. Lawrence beginning the solemnity with prayer; the Rev. Mr. Appleton preached, the Rev. Mr. Cotton gave the Charge, and the Rev. Mr. Cook the Right Hand of Fellow- ship."
Thus was the town of Lexington, after being destitute of a settled minister nearly three years, blessed with a pastor, whose subsequent labors and character showed that he was a pastor, indeed, guiding his people safely both in temporal and spiritual things, during his life, and leaving a name which will be fondly cherished by every patriot and every Christian. The name and services of Rev. Jonas Clarke are so inter- woven with the history of Lexington that we shall have occa- sion frequently to allude to him hereafter.
In 1734, John Flint and others residing in the southeasterly part of Concord, in the southwesterly part of Lexington, and in the part of Weston adjoining, petitioned the General Court to be set off from these towns respectively, and be incorpo- rated as a town or precinct. This was successfully resisted at the time; but the petition was renewed the following year. Lexington chose a committee consisting of Mr. Justice Bow- man, Captain Bowman, and John Mason, to oppose the prayer of the petitioners. In their remonstrance, dated Sep- tember 10, 1735, they allege that many within the territory were opposed to the petition, that some who had signed the petition were "very unqualified persons," that most of the
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
petitioners from Lexington constantly attended church there, that they had voted to settle Rev. Ebenezer Hancock, and ought to remain and help pay him, that the roads were being improved, and that they were well accommodated as they were. The remonstrants prevailed again, as they had the preceding year.
But in 1744, a similar petition found favor with the Court, and a precinct was created, granting, however, the privilege to several persons within the territory to be exempt from its operation if they should so elect. In 1753, Chambers Russell, Esq., and others within the territory were chosen a committee to petition the Legislature to be incorporated as a town. Captain William Reed and Deacon Stone appeared for the town of Lexington to oppose the petition, but without suc- cess. On the 19th of April, 1754, the town was incorporated by the name of Lincoln.1 The name was given by Chambers Russell, Esq., after Lincolnshire, England, the residence of his ancestors.
The creation of this town reduced the territory and pop- ulation of Lexington, and so impeded its growth. I find on the public records no accurate description of the line or the amount of territory taken from Lexington. But Josiah Parker, one of the assessors of Lexington for that year, and who, from his long experience in that office, was well qualified to judge, and whose intimate acquaintance with the premises and the whole subject enabled him to know the facts, has left under his own hand the following important document in the archives of the State: -
LEXINGTON, May 27, 1754.
The following is an account of that part of the town of Lexington, which has lately been taken from us, and now makes a part of a new township known by the name of Lincoln: -
The whole number of acres in Lexington was
11,000
Out of which is taken ..
974
The number of polls was.
Out of which is taken .. 215
14
The valuation of said town was.
£6,000
Out of which is taken .. £372 4s.
Lexington's province tax in 1753 was.
£55 10s.
Of which those taken paid ..
£3 5s. 6d.
What is taken off of Lexington is computed to be about one-six-
1 See History of the Town of Lincoln. Ed.
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teenth part of said town; as to the number of acres it is about one- eleventh part.
JOSIAH PARKER, Assessor.
In 1756, there was a warm controversy relative to a choice of Representative. The selectmen were arraigned before the General Court, charged with improper conduct in managing the town meeting. The selectmen vindicated their course, and the whole affair ended in calling another meeting and electing a Representative.
There are many little incidents occurring in a community, and many things which find their way upon public records of but little moment in themselves, which nevertheless show the spirit of the times, the feelings of the people, and the motives by which individuals and bodies of men are actuated. Of this character are the following.
At a meeting of the freeholders, May 7, 1756, -
"Benja Reed Esq" Paid to Mr Jonas Stone Town Treasurer ye Sume of 6=4=0 it being ye wages he Re'd for ye time that he Did not actually attend the General Court ye Last Year."
At a meeting of the selectmen, June 28, 1755, -
"also ye Selectmen appointed Mr Cornelius Meads to See that Brute Creatures that Dye of any Distemper Buried according to a Law of ye Province."
At a meeting of the inhabitants of Lexington, held March 7, 1757, the following note was handed to the Moderator: -
"To the Inhabitants of ye Town of Lexington Gentlemen, ye Publick Expences in General, and those of this Town in Particular, being at Present not Small .; If you will accept of ye Sum of Six Pounds thirteen Shillings & four pence, of my Salary, for this pres- ent year, you will Greatly oblige Gent™ Your Sincere Frind & hearty well wisher Jonas Clark."
At a town meeting held May 16, 1757, -
"Voted that whosoever Shall be Chosen to Represent ye Town at ye Great & General Court this Year. Shall Return into ye Town Treasurer all ye mony that Shall be made up in ye General Courts List for ye Representative above thre Shillings a Day for attending at ye said great and General Court & Except ye Person Chosen Doth Promise to Return sd Mony as afor said the Town to proseed to ye Choice of an other."
.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
This vote was repeated several years in succession, and such was the patriotism of the age that men enough were found willing to serve their country at that reduced rate.
About the time of the settlement of Mr. Clarke, the town appointed a committee to repair their meeting-house; and as one improvement naturally leads to another, they were im- pressed with the idea that their bell was not sufficiently large to bring in a congregation commensurate with the capacity of the house. This feeling prevailing, at a town meeting held June 15, 1761, -
"Mr Isaac Stone of said Town Came into Said Meeting & Gave ye town a Bell to be for the Towns Use forever, which Bell was there & weighted four hundred and sixty three pounds, for which ye Moderator in ye Name of ye Town Returned him thanks
"then voted to hang ye Bell on ye top of ye Hill upon ye North side of Liet Jonas Munroes house. Voted to take ye timber of off ye Ministerial Land for sd Building."
It appears that the town took a deep interest in this liberal gift of Mr. Stone, and resolved to use it in a manner calcu- lated to fill the eye, and please the ear, as far as practicable; for at an adjournment of the meeting six days after, they
"voted to Case ye belfree with white pine Boards: Also voted to Cover ye Roofe with Pitch Pine & Shingle it: voted to Leave it to ye Com'tee to Lett out ye belfree by ye Great or by ye Day as they think best."
The following year the committee rendered their account for building this "Bell free," which amounted to £21 12s. 10}d.
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