USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > History of the town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement to 1868, with a genealogical register of Lexington families > Part 3
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75
They lived under what may be denominated the Monarchy of Religion. Their familiarity with the Jewish Scriptures, in which the Almighty is presented in the stern character of a Ruler or a Judge, more frequently than in the milder character of a Father, naturally inclined them to dwell upon the sterner
27
TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN.
attributes of the Deity, and draw moral instruction from divine sovereignty rather than from divine compassion, and to elevate the attribute of justice at the expense of that of mercy. But they have the apology that if they erred in this respect, they erred with the age in which they lived, and reflected in a milder form the severe features of religion, as it was then understood. We may smile at their austerities, and censure their intolerance, but if we had lived in that age of the world, we should, undoubtedly, have imbibed their spirit. They were strict, and rigid, and, if you please, superstitious ; but these defects of character were only the vigorous growth of that abiding faith and trust in the providence of God, which was requisite to fit them for the great and glorious enterprise in which they had embarked. And while we cannot justify their persecution of the Baptists and Quakers, and other dissenting sects which arose among them, there are circumstances which go to extenuate these faults. They came to the country that they might enjoy their religion in peace. For this object they had encountered trials and dangers ; to this end they had labored and toiled, and submitted to every privation. And after they had, by great personal sacrifices, established religious institutions according to their own notions of right, and hoped to enjoy, unmolested, the free and full advantages of unity of faith, and simplicity and order in worship, they found their quiet molested by what they regarded as intruders and disturbers of the peace. It was not on account of their religious tenets alone, that the Puritans banished them from their jurisdiction. These sects manifested their contempt for civil authority, and a portion of them opposed even defensive war, which the Puritans deemed essential to their very existence, situated as they were among hostile Indian tribes. This led our fathers to believe that the safety of the State would be endan- gered by the presence of these men, who were active in their efforts to disseminate their views. These facts, though they do not justify, certainly go far to extenuate the course of the Puritans ; and while our sympathy for the persecuted naturally leads us to espouse their cause, we should not shut our eyes to the provocations which were frequently offered to the severe treatment they received.
28
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
Viewed impartially, there is much in the Puritan character to admire. Their unwavering trust in Divine Providence, their self- sacrificing spirit, their inflexible integrity, their devotion to civil and religious freedom, founded on broad principles, and regulated by law, their desire to educate the rising generation, so that they might become good citizens and exemplary Christians, their zeal in the great enterprise in which they were engaged, their readiness to endure privations and to face dangers, and their persevering fortitude under all circumstances - these, and qualities such as these, must commend them to the respect and admiration of mankind. Men more genial in their manners or pliant in their character, more yielding in their dispositions or easy in their virtue, with a faith less firm, or a will less persistent, may be more agreeable and popular in fashionable circles, and their society may be more eagerly sought in ordinary times, but in days of painful anxiety and peril, we instinct- ively seek counsel of men of confirmed faith and inflexible principles, and flee for support and protection to men of persist- ent purpose and unconquerable will. So our stern Puritan ancestors belong to the very class of men on which the commu- nity will always lean in an emergency.
The Puritans were raised up by Providence to accomplish a great work, and to mark an important era in the world's progress ; and the stern qualities which they possessed, were the necessary qualifications to fit them for the task assigned them. Had they been a mild and timorous race, gentle and yielding in their manners, wavering in their faith, and compromising in their principles ; or had they been a mere band of adventurers, seek- ing their fortunes, or a few lords with a set of serfs in their train, they could never have accomplished the herculean task of subduing the hostile savage tribes, clearing up dense forests, and covering the country with prosperous towns and thriving villages. And what is more important to us and to the country, they could never have built up those civil, literary and religious institutions, which have been the pride of this country and the admiration of the civilized world.
To the Puritans we are indebted for most of the blessings we enjoy. The impress of their principles is seen and felt in every thing around us. The moral and religious tone of the New
29
TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN.
England people, their sense of justice and love of order, and their devotion to liberty and the rights of men, are but the reflex of ancestral virtues. We are hardly aware of the numerous ways in which Puritan principles have affected our characters, and shaped our destiny as a people. Their modes of faith, their habits of industry, their reverence for law and order, the equality between man and man, - all these have had their influence upon us, and have tended to make us the energetic and persevering, the thrifty and prosperous people we are. Many of our institutions have grown as of necessity from their religious notions. Their love of public worship induced them to settle near each other, so that they could conveniently assemble together and enjoy church privileges. This enabled them to erect meeting houses and support schools, which could not have been done if the population had been sparse. This, also, gave rise to that system of town organization, which is one of the distinctive features of the Puritan settlements, and which has done more to improve and elevate the people than any other political institution. By assembling together in town meetings, where all freemen met on a level, and where every subject, whether secular or religious, was freely discussed, the whole people were made acquainted with each other, learned the policy of the community, and the mode of transacting public business. Here they provided for the support of public worship, for the maintenance of their schools, for the laying out of their highways, supporting their poor, and regulating their internal police. Here, too, were discussed those great principles of civil and political rights which have made us an independent and pros- perous nation.
If we were to compare the Puritan Colonies with those settled by a different class of people, we should see at once the effects of Puritan principles. The Colonists who settled in Virginia possessed many natural advantages over the Colonists who settled in Massachusetts. Their climate was more mild and genial, and their soil more productive than ours. Their facilities for commerce and manufactures and agriculture were incom- parably greater than those presented to the Massachusetts Colony. And yet the Puritan Colony has been more prosperous than that at Jamestown. In wealth, in learning, in social order,
30
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
in every thing which goes to make a people truly great, the Colonies settled by the Puritans are decidedly in advance of any others.
Compare the first settlers of Virginia with those of Massa- chusetts, and the future destiny of the two Colonies will be foreshadowed. The first settlers in Virginia were mostly mere adventurers, who came to the country to retrieve a ruined fortune and return ; those in Massachusetts were sober, prudent men, who came here to remain. The former came without families, and so enjoyed none of the chastening endearments of home ; the latter brought their wives and children with them, which sanctified their humble dwellings. The one class were, to a great extent, men of idle habits, desperate fortunes, and dissolute characters, too proud to labor, but insolent in demanding their full share of the products of others' toil ; while the other class were men of moderate means, but of sober, industrious habits, ready to perform their share of labor, endure their proportion of hardships, and to subsist upon the fruits of their own industry. The Jamestown Colony did not profess any particular regard for religion ; while the Colony of Massachusetts made it their bond of union -their solace and support. The former were separated in interest and feeling ; the latter were united as a band of brothers. The settlement in Virginia commenced with a distinc- tion of castes -master and servant, lord and serf, the bond and the free, were early recognized as permanent classes ; but among the Puritans of Massachusetts such distinctions were ignored. This difference has given marked characteristics to the two States. Hence, in the one, we hear the vain boasts of having descended from one of the privileged class - one of the " first families ; " while in the other, all are willing to be recognized as descendants from the humble and hardy Puritan stock.
The relation of master and slave has not only exerted an unfavorable influence upon the morals of the Colony, by making the master haughty and tyrannical, and the slave cringing and servile ; but has exerted a baneful influence upon its institu- tions. Large plantations and a scattered population grow almost necessarily out of that relation, and thus the support of churches and schools is to a great extent rendered impracticable ; and the same cause deprives them of the town organization, which has
31
TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN.
done so much to improve the character and increase the prosperity of New England.
The difference in the two Colonies, growing, in a great measure, out of their religious faith, may be seen in the state of education in each. Massachusetts early established her glorious system of free schools, while Virginia has not, to this day, provided for the education of her whole population. In every thing relating to moral improvement, Massachusetts has been immeasurably in advance of her more southern rival. As early as 1647, Massachusetts, by express statute, required her towns to support schools, while in Virginia, Berkeley, her Governor, as late as 1671, sixty-four years after their first settlement, thanked God that there were neither schools nor printing presses in the Colony, and hoped there would be none for a century to come.
Massachusetts, in 1638, established her University, which was ninety years earlier than any similar institution was created in Virginia. It is also worthy of notice that the first printing press in our own State was set up in 1638, being ninety years earlier than any press in Virginia. The first five issues from the press at Cambridge are so suggestive, that I cannot refrain from naming them in the order of their appearance : The Freeman's Oath, An Almanac, A Psalm Book, A Catechism, A Body of their Laws, entitled a " Body of Liberties." Here we have a portraiture of our Puritan Fathers - a kind of pictorial repre- sentation of their thoughts and feelings - their manners and customs. Their Bibles, which they brought with them from England, were, of course, first read; then the Freeman's oath must be taken ; then the Almanac consulted to learn the signs of the times ; then they were prepared to join in Psalms of Praise, and to teach their children the Catechism; and, after that, they were prepared to study their Body of Liberties, and when they learned their rights, they were ready to assert them in any presence, and to defend them at any hazard whoever might be the aggressor.
We have dwelt longer upon this subject than might at first view appear necessary in a Town History ; but, as our Towns are constituent parts of the State, and the source from which the State itself must derive its history, it seemed important to inquire into the character of the men who first settled our town-
32
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
ships, and whose acts we are to record, and also to ascertain the general causes which led to our system of town organization. As in courts of justice the character of an act is determined somewhat by the reputation of the actor, so in history in order to judge accurately of the character of a transaction, we should know the parties to enable us to ascertain the motives which led to the transaction. And besides, as institutions are but the embodiment of thoughts and principles, we can understand the nature of our institutions better by becoming conversant with the men who established them - their character, feelings and princi- ples being a sort of cotemporaneous construction of their true meaning. Besides, gratitude to their memory will fully justify us, who are enjoying the fruit of their labor, in passing their many virtues in review. And it is presumed that no one now upon the stage, whose lineage can be traced to the Puritans or Pilgrims, will blush to own such an ancestry.
The early history of the Town of LEXINGTON is included in that of Cambridge, of which it was originally a part. Until its incorporation as a town, in 1713, it was known by the name of Cambridge North Precinct, or more generally by the popular designation of " Cambridge Farms." In like manner Cambridge itself was originally included in, or more properly known by the name of " the Newe Towne," or Newton. It appears to have been the original intention of the General Court to make " the Newe Towne " the Capital of the Colony, and measures were adopted to encourage settlements there ; but, some misunder- standing arising with the Governor, and the Newe Towne being, as was alleged, too far from the sea, the Court were induced to select Boston as the seat of Government. It would seem, from the imperfect records of that day, that the territory now included in Charlestown, Somerville, Medford, Winchester, Woburn, and Burlington on the one hand, and Watertown, a portion of Belmont, Waltham, and Weston on the other, was granted before the Newe Towne was created; so that her exten- sion was limited on two sides, at least, and by Boston and Roxbury on the third - her territory lying between the towns above mentioned. But, though the Newe Towne contained a large territory, and the nearest settlements were Boston,
33
TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN.
Charlestown, Roxbury, and Watertown, like most settlers in a new country, the inhabitants appear to have had a great thirst for land, and they soon began to complain that their limits were too circumscribed. Several disputes arose between them and their neighboring settlements, about their boundaries, and between them and the General Court respecting their limits. It was maintained by Rev. Mr. Hooker in behalf of himself and his flock, then resident in the Newe Towne, that they were actually suffering for the want of room ; that it was impolitic to have settlements as near each other as Charlestown, Newe Towne and Watertown ; and that, unless their borders were extended, they should be compelled to leave the place, that they might enjoy ample territory and so be able to grow and thrive as a Christian church.
As early as 1634, only three years after the first settlement of the place, they alleged that " the number of inhabitants had become disproportionate to the township." They complained that " they were straitened for want of land, especially meadow, and desired leave of the Council to look out either for enlarge- ment or removal." Their territory, probably, extended at that time nearly to the easterly line of the present town of Lexington. In the meantime the General Court adopted every reasonable means to satisfy their wants. At their session, held on the 25th of September, the General Court adopted the following orders : " It is ordered, with the consent of Watertown, that the meadow on this syde Watertown weire, contayning about thirty acres, be the same more or less, and now vsed by the inhabitants of Newe Towne, shall belong to said inhabitants of Newe Towne to injoy to them and their heirs forever."
" Also it is ordered, that the ground aboute Muddy Ryver [now Brookline] belonging to Boston, vsed by the inhabitants thereof, shall hereafter belonge to Newe Towne ; the wood and timber thereof, growinge or to be growinge to be reserved to the inhab- itants of Boston ; provided, and it is the meaning of this Court, that if Mr. Hooker, and the congregation now settled here, shall remove hence, that then the aforesaid meadow grounds shall return to Watertown, and the grounds at Muddy Ryver to Boston."
But, notwithstanding these grants, and the further enlarge- ment of the boundaries of Newe Towne, so as to "extend eight
5
34
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
myles into the country, from their Meeting House,"1 in 1636, about one hundred of the inhabitants of Cambridge, consisting of the principal part of Rev. Mr. Hooker's church and congre- gation, which came there in 1632, removed " through a hideous and trackless wilderness to Connecticut, and commenced a settle- ment at Hartford."2 This Colony consisted of men, women, and children, including Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone, their pastor and teacher ; and, being entirely unacquainted with the way, and having no guide but a compass, they passed over hills and through swamps, and thus rendered their journey through the wilderness more protracted, tedious, and trying to them than it otherwise would have been. They drove their cattle, to the num- ber of about one hundred and sixty, with them, and subsisted mainly upon the milk of their flock. They had on their journey, at least, no reason to complain of " being straitened for the want of land, especially meadow." Their journey was long and trying. Mrs. Hooker, the wife of the pastor, was so feeble that she had to be carried upon a litter ; and having but few comforts, and being compelled to make the ground their bed, and the sky their covering, they must have suffered severely. But their strong religious feeling, mingled, perhaps, with a little worldly enter- prise ; their desire to build up a flourishing church, and, at the same time to possess themselves of a large tract of land, sustained and supported them.
The removal of so many persons from Newe Towne was a matter of deep regret not only to the people of the place, but to the Colony. The General Court took every reasonable step to retain them ; but being unable to satisfy the desires of these adventurous people, they at last gave their consent for their removal, on condition that they should consider themselves within the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Colony, and hold them- selves subject to her laws.3
1This eight-mile line ran across the present town of Lexington, from a point on the Burlington line, near the Gibbs place, through the meadow back of the Old Cemetery, and near the Town Pound to Lincoln line, near the residence of T. H. Rhodes.
2 Holmes's History of Cambridge : Massachusetts Colony Records : Winthrop's Journal.
3 Winthrop's Journal : Trumbull's History of Connecticut : Mass. Colony Records.
35
TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN.
But, though Mr. Hooker and his flock had departed, and the boundary of the town had been enlarged, those who remained still regarded their limits as too circumscribed, and manifested a desire to emigrate. The thirst for landed possessions so peculiar to the first settlers in every country, appears to have infected our pious ancestors. They were enduring the hardships incident to a new settlement, and undoubtedly looked with anxiety to a time when they might, in some degree, rest from their severe toil, and have the consolation that when they should be called home, they could leave their children in a condition more favorable than that in which they commenced life. But, that the small settlement at Newe Towne was not particularly pressed for room, will appear from the fact that the township at that time included what is now Newton, Brighton, a part of Brookline, West Cambridge, one half of Lexington, and a portion of Belmont - a territory sufficiently large, one would suppose, to contain and support a few hundred inhabitants.
In 1636, the General Court contemplated the erection of a public school at Newton, and appropriated four hundred pounds for that purpose ; this laid the foundation of the University. In 1638, Rev. John Harvard, of Charlestown, endowed this school with about eight hundred pounds. Thus endowed, the school was exalted to a college, and assumed the name of its principal benefactor ; and the General Court, in compliment to the college, and in memory of the place where many of their fathers received their education, passed, in 1638, the following order : "That Newe Towne shall henceforward be called Cambridge." 1
To heal the dissatisfaction which existed among the people, and to prevent any further emigration from the place, the General Court had taken measures to extinguish the Indian title within the boundaries of Cambridge, and had instituted inquiries concerning other unappropriated territory, with a view of annex-
1 The present village of Cambridge appears to have been designed as a forti- fied camp rather than a town. It contained only about one thousand acres, and was to have been inclosed by a ditch and stockade. In 1632, the Court ordered "that £60 be levied out of the several plantations toward the making of a pallysadoe aboute the Newe Towne." The fosse which was then dug about the place, says Dr. Holmes, in his history of Cambridge, is, in some places, visible to this day.
36
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON
ing it to New Towne. In 1636, a committee was appointed to view the Shawshine country, and report whether it be fit for a plantation. In 1641, the Court passed the following order : " Shawshine is granted to Cambridge, provided they make it a village, to have ten families there settled within three years ; otherwise the Court to dispose of it."
The Shawshine country being rather vague in its extent, and the character of the country being but little known, a committee was appointed to examine the premises, and report to the Court. As their report, made in 1642, casts some light upon this subject, and fixes in some degree the territorial limits of Cambridge in that quarter, we will give it entire :
" Wee, whose names are underwritten, being appointed to viewe Shawshine, and to take notice of what fitness it was of, for a village, and according to our apprehensions make return to the Court, we therefore manifest thus much : that for quantity, it is sufficient, but for quality in our apprehensions, no way fit, the upland being very barren, and very little meadow there abouts, nor any good timber almost fit for any use. We went, after we came to Shawshine house, by estimation, some 14 or 16 miles at the least by compass ; from Shawshine house wee began to go downe the ryver 4 or 5 miles near east, then wee left that point, and went neere upon north, came to the Concord Ryver, a little below the falls, about one mile or near ; then wee went up the ryver some 5 miles, untill wee came to a place called the Two Brethren ; and from thence it is about two miles and a half to Shawshine, and the most part of all the good land is given out already ; more land there is at the north side of the house, between the side of Concord line and the head of Cambridge line, but littell meadow, and the upland of little worth; and this is that wee can say herein.
SIMON WILLARD, EDWARD CONVERS."
This Report, being rather unfavorable as to the character of the country, the Court enlarged their grant to Cambridge, and gave them further time to effect a settlement. The grant was in these words : " All the land lying upon the Shawshine River, and between that and Concord River, and between that and the
37
TO ITS INCORPORATION AS A TOWN.
Merrimack River, not formerly granted by this Court, are granted to Cambridge, so as they erect a village there within 5 years, and so as it shall not extend to prejudice Charlestowne village, or the village of Cochitawist, nor farmes formerly granted to the now Governor of 1,200 acres, and to Thomas Dudley, Esq., 1,500 acres, and 3,000 acres to Mrs. Winthrop ; and Mr. Flint, and Mr. Stephen Winthrop are to set out their heade line toward Concord."
This liberal grant was made in 1642, but no permanent settle- ment being made, the church in 1644 was about to remove to Muttakeese (now Yarmouth ?) where a settlement had recently been commenced. To counteract this movement, the General Court, in 1644, passed the following order: "Shawshine is granted to Cambridge without any condition of making a village . there ; and the land between them and Concord is granted them, all save what is formerly granted to the military Company, provided the church present continue at Cambridge." 1
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.