USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Woburn > Proceedings 1892 at the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Woburn, Massachusetts > Part 9
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[THIRD ORDER.] That all manner of persons shall fence their cattle of all sorts either by fence or keeper, only it is required all garden plots and orchards shall be well enclosed, either by pale or otherwise.
[FOURTH ORDER.]' That no manner of person shall entertain inmate, either married or other, for longer time than three days, without the consent of four of the selectmen; every person offending in this particular shall pay to the use of the town for every day they offend herein sixpence.
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[FIFTH ORDER.] That no person shall fell or cut any young oak like to be good timber under eight inches square, upon forfeiture of five shillings for every such offence.
The most striking points of these orders are their simplicity and their constant reference to the autonomy of the town. Here is a new organization detached from an older and incorporated body. It separates itself wholly and immediately into an inde- pendent existence, making its own laws and establishing its authority solely by the consent of the governed. It was the most absolute democracy that the world has ever seen. There is not the slightest whisper of any reserved power to be lodged in the parent town. No royal decree, no parliamentary sanction, is asked for or recognized. They sought, in the elevated language of the preface, " the free fruition of such liberties and privileges as humanity, civility and Christianity calls for, as due to every man with his place and proportion, without impeachment and infringing, which hath ever been and ever will be the tranquility and stability of Christian commonwealths."
The Commonwealth, the Christian Commonwealth, was their constant aim and endeavor, a place where every man might enjoy his own rights without interfering with those of his neigh- bor. With the Bible for his code of law, and the minister for his counsellor, the public magistrate was no longer the instrument of external tyrannical power, but became the head of the family, the arbiter of differences of opinion, and he was governed by principles which both plaintiff and defendant recognized and approved of. It is entirely in keeping with the spirit of the times to find it written down officially that three days after the adoption of the above orders this little band met at the house of John Mousall, and " considering the weightiness of the work and the weakness of the persons, this day was set apart for humble seeking of God by prayer and fasting for help in a work of so great consequence."
In February, 1641, active work on the new settlement began. On the 8th, the committee searched for two days to discover a suitable place for the village, and the majority " thought meet it should be laid out in the eastern end of the land granted to the town." On the roth a bridge was laid over the Aberjona River,
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against Edward Converse's house, and near what is now known as Whitney's Mill. The scene is then abruptly changed to Charlestown, where on the 12th a meeting is held at Samuel Richardson's to consult in regard to a minister for the infant church. In the morning of the 13th, the entire company came together at Ezekiel Richardson's and "appointed to meet at the new laid out town the next third day following." Every detail seems favorable for the new venture, when suddenly we read that " on the afternoon of the same day, they had a meeting before Mr. Nowell, Mr. Symmes, and others, who gave them no small discouragement." This comes like a thunder clap from a clear sky. Why should Nowell and Symmes, who were two of the three patrons of the undertaking, give them discouragement? No reason is assigned ; simply the statement is made that when this new settlement needed all its enthusiasm to sustain the members through the hard labor of breaking ground, when it might reasonably look to its patrons for cheer and support, then those persons, who were influential citizens of the parent town, gave it no small discouragement. He who reads between the lines of the records must come to the conclusion that the patrons were influenced to their opposition by others who disliked the location chosen by the church committee. The records state that the location in the east end of the town was "thought meet by the greatest number," inferring that there was a minority who preferred some other place. The Charlestown committee of thirteen, headed by Capt. Sedgwick, had previously chosen a location which had been partially accepted but afterwards abandoned for another one deemed better by the majority. The minority probably preferred the Sedgwick site. Mr. Nowell and Mr. Symmes threw the weight of their official authority on the side of the minority, and gave discouragement not to the enter- prise itself but to the site selected. The question why they should do so is easily answered. Capt. Edward Johnson and a number of others, according to the Waterfield allotments, owned land in the western part of the town, and would suffer consider- able inconvenience and loss if the village were located in the extreme east. Johnson was a near neighbor of Sedgwick in Charlestown, eulogizes him in the "Wonder-Working Provi- dence," and refers to him in the Woburn records as the "Noble
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Capt. Sedgwick." It is very possible and even probable that the minority made use of Johnson's acquaintance with Sedgwick, and through him secured the opposition of Nowell and Symmes. That this was the ground of opposition, and that these were the means used, is further evidenced by the entry in the records under Feb. 29 : -
" Mr. Nowell, Capt. Sedgwick, Lieut. Sprague and some others, by Charles- town appointed, advised to remove the house lots and place for the meeting house to the place where they now stand."
When we remember that these records were written up after the removal, we see how potent was the advice of the above committee, and we understand more fully the Homeric strain in which Johnson sings : -
"To view my land place, compiled body rear,
Nowell, Symmes, Sedgwick, these my patrons were."
Soon after this these three patrons pass off the stage and their names are found no more on the pages of the town history. The dignified magistrate and the titled gentleman had played their parts. The one by his official position influenced the selection of a site ; the other gave to the new town the name of his birth- place. With the latter we have no quarrel. Woburn is a name that we all cherish and respect. It has come down to us with an honorable record behind it, and we trust that our children will receive it unsullied from our hands. I am convinced, how- ever, that the former, by his interference with the will of the people, has done our city an inestimable injury.
Stop for a moment and consider what would have been our condition had the judgment of the majority been sustained. Woburn Centre would have been at Montvale, in the valley of the Aberjona, where meadow land was rich and plentiful. The new community must subsist largely by cultivating the soil, and here were the best and most suitable circumstances. Means of com- munication with the towns below was important, and the river valley furnished a ready outlet. When the country to the north was developed, the valley would become the natural thoroughfare, as was subsequently shown by the location of the railroad. Had it not been for interference we should see to-day the space from the Merrimac Chemical property to the Glue Works dotted with
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the smoking chimneys of our industries and resonant with the clatter of our machinery.
Acres of tan would line the tracks of the main road between Boston and the great north, and proclaim to every passer-by the accumulating wealth and tireless industry of Woburn. Business would have been where business belonged, in the valley, on the natural highway of intercourse between man and man. The increase of manufacturing would crowd the householder out of the lowland and compel him to climb the hillside, where each step would add new beauties and yield ever-increasing delight as the landscape unfolded beneath. Business in the broad, eastern valley ; on the hills, and over their crest toward the setting sun, the quiet homestead, with that full sense of rest and security for which the worker so often longs. To-day the best class of resi- dences would occupy the land which we are devoting directly to business, or have abandoned because of its proximity to business. With our beautiful wooded hills standing over against each other like the seats of a vast amphitheatre, with our lake backed by the stately mountain " bearded with moss and in garments green," and our rugged sentinel rock standing above us like a grim keeper looking out far and wide upon the unbroken circle of the horizon; with these and other attractions of natural scenery, Woburn could offer to the intending citizen a home unmatched by any other city in our Commonwealth. We could have united the wealth, the energy, the push of a business community with the quiet retirement and seclusion of a residential city. In the location which was finally chosen, the settlers have ever found themselves fighting against nature, destroying her grateful shade to make room for their farms, torturing her picturesque hills into mathematical streets, or hollowing out their sides to build their stores, coaxing refractory railroads and canals with infinite pains into places never intended for such. The opposition of Mr. Nowell, the magistrate, had a power which he himself little realized. Put forth to move the cradle of an infant hamlet, it has perhaps changed the history of three towns.
Hardly had the new site been occupied before the commis- sioners began to look about them for a minister, and the records of the next six months are almost exclusively devoted to their endeavors in this direction. At length they secured the services
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of Mr. Thomas Carter, who came to them several times for spe- cial services, and was finally prevailed upon to cast in his lot with Woburn.
A house was built for his accommodation, and suitable land was set apart for his use. A church was gathered on Aug. 14, 1642, although the pastor was not ordained until Nov. 22 of the same year. It may seem to some that these are matters which should more properly be omitted from an occasion of this char- acter, and left to the consideration of the church itself. They are undoubtedly of especial interest to that body, but they are also so considerable an element in the social problem of the times that the historian is forced to give them more than a pass- ing mention. It was plainly stated by one of the seven founders of Woburn that "it was as unnatural for a right New England man to live without an able ministry, as for a smith to work his iron without a fire." With such sentiments as these in their minds, their actions must to a considerable extent be governed by them, and to understand their situation we must consider the probable influence of the spiritual as well as the physical forces.
Abandoned by those who had promised to be their patrons, confronted by unexpected obstacles, and without the aid of wealth, it was the church committee that persevered in the original endeavor and established a municipality. Under these circumstances it was not strange that the church should assume large proportions in their eyes, and that her authority should be well-nigh supreme. It was not unnatural that a subscription to her doctrines should be of paramount importance, and that the officers of the town from selectman to pound-keeper should be chosen with reference to their religious standing, or that she should claim the right to pass upon the character and conduct of all who desired to reside within her borders. Times have changed ; and with the changes have passed away the circum- stances which permitted, almost necessitated, this exclusive authority ; but in the rigid and underlying moral sentiment of Massachusetts, which is a greater safeguard against the encroach- ments of evil and a stronger defence against lawlessness than courts of justice or rows of bayonets, we find, to-day, the results of this spiritual domination. It behooves us not to sneer at the
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THE
PURITAN KITCHEN
FLOAT - " PURITAN KITCHEN."
October 6.]
narrow bigotry of our ancestors, for the stern, uncompromising fidelity of the old New England conscience has left behind it an influence which makes our lives safer, our homes more secure, and our community a more desirable one to dwell in.
With its church established and minister chosen, the new settlement needed only a name and the official sanction of the civil government to enter upon its dignities and responsibilities. This sanction was given on Sept. 27, 1642, or, according to the present style of reckoning, Oct. 7, 1642. The action of the civil authority was a matter of such slight moment that it is not even mentioned in the Woburn records, which are filled with refer- ences to ecclesiastical events, giving the texts of sermons and synopses of their arguments. The name, Woburn, was probably chosen in honor of Capt. Robert Sedgwick, who was born in Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, as it was common in those days to name a new town not after the individual whom it was desired to compliment but after his former abode.
Down to this point, the day from which we date our existence as a corporation, it has seemed necessary to trace the course of events somewhat minutely and adhere as closely as possible to the wording of the ancient record where it could be followed.
To-day we close our quarter millennial. To-morrow will be our two hundred and fiftieth birthday, and it is fitting that as our thoughts go back to the day that we celebrate, they should go back to the details that make up the picture. Some of the finer touches of color are gone beyond recall, yet many remain. The strong, broad tones, the outline of light and shade are still visi- ble to him who shall shut out the blinding glare of to-day, and accustom his eyes to the more sombre hues of the past. Still, it is neither desirable nor possible, in the time allotted to these ex- ercises, to continue this method of tracing the course of events through the two and a half centuries since elapsed. Much must be omitted by design, some possibly by accident, and if the selection is not such as each listener would prefer, or if topics are omitted which he might wish to have included, I shall crave his indulgence and ask each for himself to supply the defi- ciencies. In the few minutes that remain let us, without attempt at consecutive historical narration, consider the personality of
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our predecessors as revealed by their words and their works that have come down to us.
Hand down the ancient volume, brush the dust from its vel- lum, and read. As leaf after leaf is turned there is built up before our eyes a new historical conception - the dignity of the indi- vidual. A conception so commonplace to us that we forget it ha's not always existed. On European soil the citizen was a cipher, with none so low as to do him reverence. The king by right divine, the noble by inherited prerogative, ruled the com- mon people with a rod of iron, and bound upon them burdens which they themselves scorned to touch with the little finger. Out from this network of tyrannical power, this conspiracy against mankind, came these bold and restless spirits. The reaction was intense. Landing upon the unbroken shores of New England, untrammelled by laws or law-makers, they asserted a liberty that would have been license but for the restraining influence of their stern religious creed. The individual assumed a prominence in his own eyes and those of the community that placed him on a level with kings, and paved the way for the declaration a little more than a century later, "that all men were created equal ; that they were endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that to secure these rights governments were instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
While Woburn's early settlers made few proclamations of their rights, they acted practically upon the same ideas that their children subsequently embodied in the Declaration of Independ- ence and defended with their lives. We are told that in the distribution of their land they did it without any "respect of persons," and that "they refused not men for their poverty." Character was the measure of worth, and personal rights were not dependent upon the rank of the individual.
We cannot but admire the superb egotism with which Edward Converse and Isaac Cole declined to publish the king's missive, as was their manifest duty, because, forsooth, they disagreed with certain sentiments contained in it.
The law courts played an important part in the development of this individualism. It was every man's right and privilege to claim the protection of the law, and the hall of justice became a sort of debating ground where were argued out differences of
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opinion. If two persons disagreed about any matter concerning land or money they promptly went to law, not apparently with feelings of bitterness, but for the pure pleasure of a contest. In reading over the proceedings of the courts one is strongly reminded of the sparring of two boxers who give and take each other's buffets with imperturbable good nature. In this way the people of this and sister municipalities taught themselves to be- close and logical reasoners, so that when the time of fierce trial came they were able to set forth their opinions and their demands; for their "inalienable rights " in language so forcible and argu- ments so convincing that the world has not yet ceased to wonder at and admire them.
The rights which they claimed as individuals they further claimed for the town. During the arbitrary administration of Sir Edmund Andros, the right to hold a town meeting for election of officers was denied unless the said meeting was called by war- rant of the county or the governor's council. Our stiff-necked ancestors, resenting this abridgment of their rights, calmly ignored Sir Edmund, called their meetings and elected their offi- cers in the time-honored way. Although they were finally com- pelled to hold a second meeting to comply with the new law, they simply ratified their former choice and outwitted the gover- nor by holding two meetings in a year where he had declared they should hold but one. The next year they repeated their stubborn conduct and brought down upon their devoted heads an order of the governor and council. Again the third year they called their own meeting in their own way, but before there could be any interference the people had deposed the haughty ruler, re-established the General Court, and Woburn held her town meetings at her own sweet will without let or hindrance.
Thus they went on from year to year, never failing to protest against any infringement of personal or municipal rights. They waged sharp legal warfare over the text of a letter, the repairing of a bridge, or three pennyworth of land - matters in themselves insignificant but involving principles which needed to be estab- lished. To-day we are enjoying the results of these hard fought battles, and our code of law and judicial system are the direct outgrowth of these efforts of our ancestors. They laid the foun- dations of that self government which has preserved order and
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safety in the midst of the friction incident to popular institutions, and made it possible for their descendants to maintain a govern- ment of the people. The social, legal, and political equality, which has been our most precious inheritance, is the natural and logical consequence of the intense individualism of the past.
In spite of their individualism they were strong in political unity and devotion to the Commonwealth. The early history of New England had its dark hours when ruin and disaster stared the colonists full in the face. Starvation sat by their firesides and watched with grudging eye the preparation of the scanty meal ; the Indian, more cruel than death, poured down upon them his hostile host in a war of extermination ; and, finally, their brethren beyond the sea sought to rob them of the freedom which they had so hardly earned. These difficulties and dangers, this pres- sure from without, served only to solidify the colonies and bind them into a closer relationship. Individual differences passed out of sight and they made common cause against the common foe.
The loss and suffering in the Indian wars were not confined to the towns which were pillaged and burnt, but the victory was finally won by the combined forces and contributions of the Com- monwealth. Philip's war began in June, 1675, and in the year previous Woburn's share of the county tax had been about one hundred and fifty dollars. Within the fourteen months from the commencement of hostilities until the death of Philip the expendi- tures were enormous and taxes rose to an appalling figure. With- out entering into details it is sufficient to say that the General Court called upon Woburn for about twenty times the usual amount, which they raised and paid over without a murmur or a protest. When we consider the rugged independence of these men and their blunt refusal to obey official mandates that did not meet their approval, we can easily see how pressing was the necessity and how devotedly they supported their own Common- wealth. One hundred years later they rose in arms against a trivial tax of a few cents on tea, and chased the collector from their doors ; but whether they paid or refused to pay, it was the same spirit that animated them. Debts of their own contracting they would pay with scrupulous exactness ; other burdens no man, be he king or councillor, might lay upon them.
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Capart of the First British Prisdost # ITIS.
FLOAT -"CAPTURE OF BRITISH SOLDIER, 1775."
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In 1775, Boston was the mouthpiece, and her soul-inspiring utterances had an important influence upon the result, but it was the silent countrymen of towns like Concord and Lexington and Woburn, who, with bared arm and set teeth, stood behind the bold words and made them good before the world. Individual- ism did not hinder or diminish their patriotism.
The original Woburn was a farming community, making within her borders only such articles as she needed for home consump- tion ; to-day she is a manufacturing city, sending her products to the ends of the earth. This evolution is interesting to us and must not be passed over without a word. The original town orders were signed by thirty-two names, and it is probable that the whole number of inhabitants, men, women, and children, did not exceed one hundred and fifty. Three years afterward, in 1645, there appear in a county rate forty-five names of taxpayers, which would indicate a total number of less than two hundred. One hundred and fifty-five years later, in 1800, the population was 1,228. In other words, it had taken one hundred and fifty years to gain a thousand people, an average of about seven per year. At the beginning of this century there were in town one hundred and fifty-six houses, two or three stores, and two curry- ing shops. The showing might have been more favorable for the old town had she not met with a serious loss. Two of her daughters, as daughters sometimes will, had changed their names, one to Wilmington, one to Burlington, and moved away from home, taking with them a considerable portion of their mother's possessions. The bereaved parent loudly bewailed this deser- tion, but soon became reconciled to the new order of things, and ended, as the old folks often do, by being secretly pleased with the new households and their prosperity.
In 1803, the Middlesex Canal was opened, and the additional facilities thus afforded for transportation increased the prosperity of Woburn and brought more trade to her borders. In 1844, the branch railroad was finished and added still another means of growth. Meanwhile the foundations of the leather business had been slowly and thoroughly laid, and when transportation was furnished the industry grew with surprising rapidity. From 1850 to 1860 was Woburn's money-making period. In spite of the loss of another daughter and more territory, her factories built
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up, her population increased, and her wealth rolled on with a constantly increasing volume. During the next decade came the war period with its tremendous destruction of life and property. The demand for leather was greatly increased, prices rose, and, in 1870, Woburn found herself suddenly trans- formed into a manufacturing town with eight thousand five hun- dred people within her borders. Farming was incidental now and tanning was the principal industry.
This change brought with it a modification in the character of the town. The slow, cautious bargaining of the farmer gave way to the energetic methods of the business man. The manufac- turer who saw the busy workmen that thronged his large estab- lishment, where every moment ran itself in golden sands, realized that prompt action was as necessary as sound judgment. These ideas gradually infused themselves throughout the growing com- munity and entered into its government. Taxes were higher because there was more money to pay with; schools were improved because the people demanded more education ; stores increased because the larger population had more varied wants. In a word, Woburn, rising up, shook off her agricultural garments and took her place among men,
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