USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > Tercentenary history of Newton, 1630-1930 > Part 5
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The church joined the Warren Association of Baptist churches and called as its first minister Reverend Caleb Blood, a neighbor in Weston. The company was small and unable to pay much of a salary, but it contracted with its minister for sixty pounds a year. At first the congregation
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met for worship at the house of Noah Wiswall near the pond, on the spot later occupied by the homestead of Luther Paul. Wiswall gave land for a meetinghouse on the shore of the pond, where a barn-like structure was erected thirty-five feet square. It was expected that the building would cost one thousand dollars, but for a time the pulpit and seats were mere boards, and it was fourteen years before it was finished properly. In 1795 a vote of the church provided for the purchase of a stove to warm the meetinghouse, an act which anticipated that of the Congregationalists in the following year. In 1788 the minister resigned because he could not live on his salary.
The Baptist church was affected seriously by the con- version of Elhanan Winchester and other leading members to the Universalist faith. Winchester's father was a deacon of the church and nine of the family were members, but nearly all of them were excluded from membership. Among the fifteen persons excluded from the church were the first two clerks. It took twenty years to recover from this defection. Elhanan Winchester, who was only thirty years old, became one of the leaders of the Universalist movement, which was regarded by the orthodox as entirely mistaken in its principle of the universal restoration to a blessed eternity of those who have failed to qualify during their earthly lives.
During the long period of peaceful development dur- ing the eighteenth century Newton enjoyed immunity from war scares, and escaped the attacks of French and Indians which from time to time fell upon the frontier settlements. But some of her sons did not escape un- scathed. Young men from Newton as elsewhere were attracted to the frontier for adventure or for profit, and sometimes had brushes with the Indians. The year 1690 was marked by raids at scattered points, including Port- land, Maine. A relief expedition was sent out under com-
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mand of Capt. Noah Wiswall, the son of Elder Thomas Wiswall. Striking the trail of the enemy, Wiswall's com- pany of infantry engaged with the Indians at Wheel- wright's Pond, but Captain Wiswall and seventeen others were killed and the attack was repulsed. More than forty years later the Massachusetts Legislature granted lands near Mount Wachusett to the heirs of those who that day fell on the field of battle. Two Newton men were killed by the Indians at Groton in 1706, and the Legislature paid for the loss of their guns, though not of their lives. In the French and Indian War a number of Newton men were engaged. Two of the Jackson family were colonial officers, and Col. Ephraim Williams, founder of Williams College, was killed near Lake George, when in command of a colo- nial regiment in 1755.
Several young men from Newton went to Bethel, Maine, to live on the frontier. In the spring of 1779 they cleared the land, tapped the maple trees for syrup, and planted crops. For a time the Indians near by were friendly, but in the summer of 1781 several Indians from Canada took the prisoners captive. It was only after months of hardship and suffering that they were released and returned to Newton. One can readily imagine the zest with which the small boys of the community drank in the realistic tales of adventure that the returned captives could tell.
In early colonial days a training field with annual manœuvres was deemed indispensable for every town. Early in the eighteenth century a Common bordering the Dedham Road, Newton Centre, was in the possession of the town, but no record of its origin remains. Tradi- tion says that the larger part of its three acres was given by Jonathan Hyde, whose farm was close by, and the remainder by the Wiswall family. A schoolhouse was planned there and a noon house was built in 1730 and a
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second later, and the field was used as a training ground. In 1735 another training field was laid out at Newton- ville by Capt. Joseph Fuller, but after the enthusiasm of the Revolution ebbed away training there was discon- tinued and the land reverted to the Fuller family.
Newton people shared in the excitement of the pre- Revolutionary days. Upon the passage of the Stamp Act the town sent instructions to its representative in the Gen- eral Court, Abraham Fuller, declaring its dissatisfaction with the act of Parliament, and asserting the rights of British subjects to a voice in taxation. Fuller was warned not to aid in any way in the execution of the Stamp Act, to use his best endeavor to vindicate the rights of the people, and not to vote any unusual grants of money. Two years later the townsfolk decided unanimously against using imported luxuries, and encouraged home manu- factures in defiance of the Navigation Act, which was intended to check such industries.
In 1768 Abraham Fuller was chosen as delegate to a convention in Faneuil Hall, Boston, to consider measures of safety. The years immediately following brought in- creasing concern. Early in 1772 the town appointed a committee of five "to consider and report what it may be proper for the town to do." The report of the committee late in the year resolved that none should remain silent and inactive when liberty was being threatened, that all taxation by Parliament without representation for the purpose of revenue was unconstitutional, and that the people had a right to complain of the recent acts of the government, especially the increase of an armed force in Boston and the attempt to provide for the support of the governor without legislative grant. Representative Fuller was instructed to try to prevent the royal support of judges.
After the Boston Tea Party of the sixteenth of De-
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cember, 1773, the citizens of Newton in town meeting resolved that they would not submit to the tax on tea or use any of the article, and that a local committee of cor- respondence should be appointed to act with other similar committees. The members of the local committee were Edward Durant, William Clark, Capt. Jonas Stone, Joshua Hammond, and Capt. John Woodward. A committee of fifteen was appointed to collect signatures of individual citizens who would not use tea.
Such town acts as these provoked the Reconstruction Acts, which in 1774 prohibited all town meetings except the annual election of officers in the spring, unless the royal governor gave special permission. But town meetings continued to be held. Then Massachusetts was placed under martial law. Meantime a Middlesex County Con- gress met at Concord in August, 1774. Newton adopted the report of the Congress and chose delegates to a Provin- cial Congress at Concord in October. John Pigeon, one of the delegates, presented Newton with two fieldpieces, and the selectmen were instructed to obtain firearms for the poor of the town, if necessary. The next step was to raise a military force. The town voted to enlist men for the artillery, and a committee of three was appointed to raise a force of thirty-two minutemen with the necessary officers. They were to meet weekly for training through the winter of 1774-75, and those who attended were to be paid. This thoughtful preparation made possible the par- ticipation of Newton men in the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord.
On the morning of the nineteenth of April, 1775, a shot from one of the fieldpieces at Newton Centre an- nounced the march of the British on Lexington. The minutemen quickly gathered, chose Michael Jackson cap- tain when the commissioned officers were slow to move, although he was a heavyweight of two hundred and fifty
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pounds, and marched for the scene of conflict. The thirty- seven men of the Newton company arrived in time to fall in with Lord Percy's reserve near Concord, and followed its retreat towards Boston. Two other companies of infantry belonged in Newton. The West Company, com- manded by Capt. Amariah Fuller, numbered one hundred and five, including thirty-seven "alarm men," who vol- unteered although they had passed the age for military duty. The East Company, numbering seventy-six, was commanded by Capt. Jeremiah Wiswall. Among the older volunteers were five deacons and three captains. Capt. Joshua Fuller was seventy-two years of age, and Noah Wiswall, father of the captain of the East Company, was still older, but they could not remain at home. Col. Joseph Ward of Newton was a teacher in Boston on the fateful day, and when he learned what was going on he hurried home, obtained horse and gun, and rode to Con- cord. Certain individuals who were not enrolled hastened to join the fray, and altogether more than two hundred and twenty men marched twenty-eight miles and had a share in the battle.
Newton men were engaged in the battle of Bunker Hill. Col. Thomas Gardner's regiment, which contained forty-eight men of Newton, was ordered to the field as a reinforcement after the battle had begun, some going to the rail fence and some manning the redoubt during the third attack. Colonel Gardner was killed in the engage- ment. Following the battle of Bunker Hill colonial troops poured into Cambridge until by the tenth of July nineteen regiments were camped there under the command of George Washington. Colonel Gardner's regiment was there, and John Pigeon of West Newton was commissary general. The East and West Companies from Newton helped to man Dorchester Heights when Washington compelled the British to evacuate Boston.
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On the tenth of May, 1776, the General Court of Massachusetts resolved that the citizens of every town ought to instruct its representative whether it would sup- port heartily a declaration of independence, if Congress should take such action. On the anniversary of Bunker Hill a town meeting was held in Newton to consider the resolution of the Legislature. The second article of the warrant read: "That in case the honorable Continental Congress should, for the safety of the American colonies, declare them independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, whether the inhabitants of this town will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in the meas- ure." An affirmative vote was passed unanimously. A few weeks later the town voted a bounty of £6 6s. 8d. to be added to that of the General Court for those who would enlist in the expedition against Canada. Capt. Nathan Fuller's company of eight-month men, which had been in camp at Cambridge, joined in that expedition and shared the hardships of the overland march. Captain Fuller was made a major for his capable leadership.
The Declaration of Independence, adopted by Con- gress July 4, 1776, was read in the churches and spread on the town records. It is worthy of note that one of its signers, Roger Sherman, was born in Newton. Care was taken to see that no person in town should endanger its safety, and a committee was appointed by the town to prepare a statement which must be signed by anyone suspected of being a Tory. Thirty-one patriots willingly loaned money to the town to the amount of nearly three thousand pounds to pay soldiers in the army, when the town was compelled to borrow to meet the obligations that it assumed. Two of the Wiswalls who were in the army loaned £65, and two of the Woodwards who were in the battle of Concord loaned £220.
The colonies engaged in the war had no government
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which could requisition money for the expenses of the war, and the burden fell upon the loyal people of the local com- munities for the most part. It is greatly to the credit of towns like Newton that they did not shrink from their natural responsibility, but contributed of their fortunes as well as their lives. Out of a population of fourteen hun- dred more than four hundred men of Newton had a part in the war, and the town voted again and again to pay its obligations to the soldiers. On the eighteenth of Decem- ber, 1776, the town appointed a committee to consider necessary financing, and the committee reported in favor of a generous policy. It was specified that those who served during the first eight months should receive forty shillings each, those who went to Canada twenty pounds each, those who went to Ticonderoga eight pounds each, and others less amounts for less onerous service. Such taxes should be laid as should be necessary to make these payments. The town accepted the report, amending it to increase certain payments, and voting sums to three of the commissioned officers. In 1778 and again the next year three thousand pounds were voted by the town to supply the sinews of war. The depreciation of money made larger sums necessary, and in 1780 £170,000 were appropriated. In March, 1777, the town appointed a committee to hire soldiers, paying not more than twenty-four pounds to each person who would enlist, and authorizing the town treas- urer to borrow £1,000 if needed for that purpose. Within the week still further inducements were offered. Other similar action was taken during subsequent months.
After the early enthusiasm of the war had passed men were not so eager to volunteer, but Capt. Joseph Fuller of Newton in 1777 raised thirty men to join his regiment against Burgoyne who was operating in eastern New York, and the next year Capt. Edward Fuller raised forty more. Early in 1777 sixty-four Newton men enlisted for three
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years or the war, and in 1780 fifty-four marched to rein- force the Continental army. Newton people had the excite- ment of witnessing the march of the Burgoyne captives through the town on their way to Cambridge. They looked and acted like a lawless mob, dirty and miserable.
Lieut. Ebenezer Brown, who was a minuteman when the Revolution broke out, was wounded in the Burgoyne campaign but served throughout the war. He fought under Lafayette in Virginia and was present in Yorktown at the finish. He lived to the age of eighty-seven at New- ton Corner. Several Newton men were prominent among the officers of the Continental army. Col. Joseph Ward was aide-de-camp to Major-General Ward; Michael Jack- son was colonel and William Hull lieutenant-colonel of the eighth regiment; Ephraim Jackson was colonel of the tenth regiment; Nathan Fuller was lieutenant-colonel of the thirteenth, and others were captains, lieutenants and ensigns. The Jackson, Fuller, Parker, Hyde, Stone and Clark families were represented generously in the ranks of the soldiers. Seven of the Jackson family were members of the Massachusetts Cincinnati, which was organized after the war was over.
Once the colonies had severed their connection with Great Britain, it was necessary for them to organize new machinery of government. On the fifth of May, 1777, the General Court of Massachusetts proposed a state consti- tution, and ten days later the town of Newton appointed a committee to send instructions on the matter to Thomas Parker, town representative. The instructions advised him not to neglect emergency matters for the considera- tion of a state constitution, especially since the soldiers should have a voice in the matter, but if a large majority of the Court were ready for such a constitution, then it should be his duty to secure a bicameral organization of the Legislature, as history showed that despotism and
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tyranny were the result of one man or one chamber gov- ernment. The town did not hesitate to give its representa- tive definite instructions on such vital matters. The first draft of the state convention was submitted to a town meeting in June, 1778, and disapproved by a vote of 75 to 5. In August, 1779, a second draft was approved, but a few months later certain amendments were recommended. The first town meeting under the new state constitution which was adopted cast eighty-six votes for John Hancock as governor and elected other state officers.
A period of financial and social depression naturally followed the Revolutionary War. The people had strained every nerve to win. Many lives had been lost. Money had depreciated in value unless it was in easily negotiable coin. Law was uncertain because colonial and British laws were intermixed and justice was delayed aggravat- ingly. The evils of paper money were deplored by wiser heads, and the tendency of some persons to import lux- uries was condemned. Newton people expressed some of their sentiments on these matters in instructions to Abra- ham Fuller, their legislative representative at that time. By May, 1786, the distress of many, coupled with the restlessness of many former soldiers, produced attempts to overawe the courts in several counties of Massachusetts, and late in the year a large force under the lead of Daniel Shays, a soldier of the Revolution, interfered with the holding of courts at Worcester and Springfield. This was followed by an attempt to seize the Arsenal at Springfield, but the state militia had rallied and the insurgents were dispersed speedily. Six months earlier several inland towns had proposed holding a convention in which New- ton was invited to join. In response the town adopted the report of a committee appointed to draft an answer. The letter deprecated a resort to unconstitutional measures, and condemned the complaints against paying just taxes.
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In conclusion the malcontents were advised to pursue their employments, practise frugality, and support the government, if they would be happy and free. When the height of the difficulty was reached, Newton voted boun- ties to soldiers who would enlist. Thus the community took a firm stand for law and order, as it had stood firmly for independence.
In 1788 Judge Abraham Fuller represented Newton in the constitutional convention met to act upon the federal constitution, and voted for its adoption. Later in the year the citizens cast their first votes for electors for the first president and vice-president, choosing Abraham Fuller and Nathaniel Gorham as electors; Gorham was the choice for Congress from the Middlesex district.
A hundred years had passed between the organization of the town of Newton and the ratification of the new con- stitution of the United States. The colony of Massachusetts Bay had become one of thirteen to win independence from Great Britain, and national unity as well as colonial free- dom had been secured. Like the rest of the country New- ton paused to draw breath before entering upon the next lap of progress. The future was reasonably secure, but it was not yet visualized. Newton was to expand into a group of thriving villages in the next half century, and within one hundred years it would be a city.
III A CLUSTER OF HAMLETS
THE last decade of the eighteenth century brought little that was new to the hamlets along the crooked Charles. People were recuperating from the effects of years of war and agitation. Most of the families were still scattered on farms, and were hardly conscious of civic unity. The farmer who lived in the west part of town had little in common with the villager at Angier's Corner or Upper Falls. Occasionally he met a fellow townsman at gristmill or blacksmith shop, and his family prized the weekly visit to the meetinghouse for the pleasure of social chat as well as for religious inspiration. There were weeks in winter and spring when the country roads were almost impassable from snow or mud, and only the strongest motives could drive the people from their firesides. Fam- ilies living near together in one of the hamlets met more frequently, but neighbors were not always cordial to one another. There was little of the spice of life which comes from broader contacts and the stimulus of many minds.
These conditions of isolation, coupled with the self- reliance and individual independence of the American farmer, made him slow to appreciate the value of the town as a social and political organization. His frugality made him reluctant to pay taxes for town needs. But he must be able to get to mill, market and church; for this the town must construct highways. His children must have schools, for home instruction was no longer sufficient; therefore the town must maintain schools. The fathers had been more ready to pay taxes for religion than for education, and Massachusetts towns continued to recognize an obligation
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to support the parish churches, even though the eighteenth century was less religious than the seventeenth. New Lights and Baptists were not exempt from the support of Congregational churches, except by special license. The town unit was therefore accepted as the normal organiza- tion for community life in New England.
As yet Newton was but an open country community. Population was increasing but slowly. In the thirty-five years from 1765 to 1800 the increase in Newton was from 1300 to 1491, which was less than fifteen per cent. Immi- gration from abroad was slight. Families were not so large as they had been, and the death rate, especially of children, was far higher than now. The west part of town was popu- lated thinly, but there was a Congregational church in the West Parish, and a hamlet was starting about the church as a nucleus. Newton Corner enjoyed the prestige of the place of original settlement, and Newton Centre had the First Parish meetinghouse and cemetery, but neither ham- let could boast of more than a few houses near together. Upper and Lower Falls were beginning to feel the impetus of local manufacturing industries, but each had only a tiny cluster of houses as the nucleus of a village. Else- where was open farming country, with a few homesteads prominent as the homes of leading citizens.
If one would start at the corner of the town where John Jackson settled in 1639 and follow the main high- ways, he could sense the social situation of the community, and get some idea of the relative prosperity of the people. He might be in some doubt as to his starting point. It bore different names in succession as the corner of the township. Daniel Bacon, a tailor from the Old Colony district, purchased land there in 1669, thirty years after John Jackson, and after him the place was called Bacon's Corner. The name was changed later to Angier's Corner in honor of Ensign Oakes Angier, who in 1731 bought from
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Samuel Jackson a piece of land near by, and opened an inn on the Roxbury Road. For half a century he satisfied the thirst of the teamsters who came his way, and they dubbed the Corner Angier's. After the railroad came the Com- pany named its station Newton Corner, and such it re- mained until the rural part of the name was dropped as ill fitting so pretentious a suburb of Boston.
Nonantum Square was the natural centre for the hamlet. There the Roxbury Road made a junction with the Natick Road, or Washington Street, which connected with the farms and hamlets to the west, and with the Ded- ham Road, or Centre Street, which stretched away to the south side of town and beyond to Dedham, which then included Needham. At the junction of the two roads stood Joseph Bacon's tavern, and close by was Murdock's general store, which sold more gallons of rum than pounds of groceries. There was a blacksmith and a watchmaker, John Rogers, who presented to the First Church a clock of his own manufacture. The most conspicuous building at the Corner was a brick house built about the year 1800 by General Hull of Revolutionary fame, who left the village to accept an assignment as governor of Michigan Ter- ritory. Several houses of distinction were rising in the vicinity, but land was still to be purchased at a low price. In 1816 John Fiske bought the whole of Mount Ida for $3,300, and as late as 1830 open fields and scattered houses were common.
Most of the houses were guiltless of paint and out- buildings had a neglected appearance. Considerable land was woodland or worthless for cultivation. Land could be bought at a price varying from fifty to one hundred dol- lars an acre. Farmers were selling milk in Boston, berries were in abundance, blueberries sold for six cents a quart. The orchards yielded pears, peaches and plums, and nuts were gathered from the woods. Strawberries and grapes
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A CLUSTER OF HAMLETS
were rare. Firewood was cut in quantity because houses depended generally upon open fireplaces for heating; only an occasional stove was in evidence. The woods were full of game, wild pigeons swarmed along Washington Street, ducks were shot at Squash End, and snipe at Bullough's Pond. The ponds supplied fish to those who found time to tempt them to hook.
Several small manufacturing enterprises sprang up at the Corner about the beginning of the nineteenth century. One of the first of these was a brewery erected near the river for the manufacture of ale and beer. Within the next thirty years temperance sentiment would frown on such a business, but its owner, General Hull, was well aware that people were not yet ready to abandon the drinking cus- toms of colonial days.
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