USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Maynard > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 35
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Sudbury > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 35
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wayland > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 35
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Sudbury > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland, and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 35
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Wayland > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland, and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 35
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Maynard > The annals of Sudbury, Wayland, and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts > Part 35
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In 1647 the town mark ordered by " ye General Co'te for Horses to be set upon one of ye nere q'trs " [quarters ] was " Sudberry." (Col. Rec., Vol. II., p. 225.)
On page 53 of the town book it is recorded that " the sum of three pounds shall be added to the town's rate for the payment of our deputie's diet at Hugh Drury's at Boston during his attendance at the General Court." Some years later, in 1679, Peter Noyes "openly declared at that town meeting that he freely gave to the town his time, charge, diet, in and about his service at fore said session of the General Court which the town thank- fully accepted."
There is on the carly records an absence of middle names, that indicates that they were little in use along the first years of the town's history, or they were considered too inconse- quential to be written in the town books.
The term " Goodman " was sometimes applied to persons. It was a title to designate excellence of character rather than exceptional gentility. The terms Mr. and Mrs. are not frequently found on the records.
People were called to meeting in early times by the beat of the drum. Besides the ordi- nary Sabbath services, there was a service on some secular day of the week called " Lecture Day." In 1652 a bargain was made with Jolm Goodnow to beat the drum twice every Sab- bath, and also to beat it for service on "Lecture Day."
On August 9th, 1779, a committee that had been appointed to state the prices of such artieles as were not taken up by a convention that met at Concord, reported as follows :
"Coffe by the pound 4.15, country produce - Indian corn by the Bushel 80, Rye by the Bushel £5: 10, Wheat by the Bushel £8: 10, Beaf by the pound 5, Muton, Lamb and Veal by the pound 3 : 6, Foreign Beaf and Pork as sett by the convention, Butter by the pound 11, chese Do 6, milk by the quart 16, English Hay q' hundred 30, men's shoes 61bs, women's shoes 41bs, cotton cloth 4: 6, Labor - teaming under 30 miles 18, carpenter work by the day 60, mason per day 60, maids' wages per week 5 Dollars, Oxen per day 24, Horse Hire 3 per mile."
The grade of prices thus established was made in accordance with a resolve of the con- vention, and the list of prices was in depreciated currency, that was worth in the ratio of about twenty shillings in paper to one in silver. It was declared that "if any one should persist in refusing to accept these prices their names should be published in the public News Paper and the good people of the town should withhold all trade and intercourse from them."
May 17, 1779, a vote was taken to ascertain how many favored the formation of a new constitution, or form of government; 59 voted in the affirmative and 10 in the negative.
The county money rate in 1682 for Sudbury was as follows: "To be collected on the East side the river £5: 48 : 4ª ; on the West side £4 : 88 : 0d "
At the time of the Revolutionary war the town of Sudbury, before the division, had a population of 2,160, with about 500 ratable polls, and it is supposed that during the war some 400 to 500 men performed some service, either in camp or field.
In its first year, 1780, the new town of East Sudbury appropriated for the support of its poor 1,500 pounds : for schools 2,500 pounds.
1781. Six school districts were apportioned off as follows: Nortli District, 21 families ; Street District, 22; Centre, 21; East, 20; Southwest, 14; South, 18.
1782. Men's and women's sides in the meeting-house continued to be recognized.
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APPENDIX TO THE ANNALS OF WAYLAND.
1785. A set of standard weights and measures, and suitable stocks for criminals were ordered.
1794. The town was surveyed, and a copy of the map thus made is among the State Archives.
1795. Guide-posts on roads were first set up by order of the town, and a singing school was supported by the town at an expense of 30 pounds, which was the first singing school to be sustained at the town's expense. The same year the custom commenced of having the winter grammar schools taught by masters, and the summer primary schools taught by mis- tresses.
In 1796, stoves were first used in the school houses.
In 1797, petitioned for leave to have a " base violin " played in the meeting-house to assist in church music, which leave was granted. The same year appropriations of money were for the first time recorded in dollars and cents instead of pounds, shillings and pence.
In 1799, the town was fined $55 for neglecting to send a Representative to the General Court.
1800. A hearse was purchased. It cost $50, and was the first one used by the town. The same year the road from the centre of the town to the house of Zachariah Heard was laid out. It was built by residents on the " Island " or " Farm," and was to be kept in good repair for ten years, they being exempted from highway taxes levied by the town during that time.
The same year a "bridle-way " from the barn of Nathaniel Reeves was established. This had been the travelled way from the Centre to the "Island," diverging to the left nearly opposite the "Russell house," and passing thence to " Farm Bridge."
1804. The old " Training Field," set apart in 1714, and consisting of about nine or ten acres situated in the central portion of the Abel Gleason farm, was sold to Nathan Gleason.
1807. The meeting-house lot was enlarged on the westerly side by the purchase of one acre of land of Nahum Cutler for $150.
1811. Money was appropriated for the purchase of a pall.
1812. A bounty of $6 per month was offered for volunteer enlistments in the army. with $9 additional when ordered to march.
1813. The town voted to build a new meeting-house on land bought of Wm. Wyman.
1816. Hay scales were erected. By these, wagons and their loads were raised from the ground, and their weight was ascertained by means of heavy weights.
The same year tombs in the burying ground were first authorized and erected.
1827. Elm trees were set out on the meeting-house common. In 1827 or 1828 stoves were first introduced into the meeting-house.
1830. The town was surveyed by W. C. Grout.
1831. The town bought the farm of Eli Sherman for a "Poorhouse." Before this, the paupers had been "let out at auction to the lowest bidder " in open town meeting.
In 1831 an organ was purchased for the Unitarian Church.
In 1835, when the name of the town was about being changed, among the names sug- gested were the following : Clarence, Penrose, Fayette, Waybridge, Wadsworth, Elba, Water- ville, Auburn, Keene, Lagrange.
1836. Bell tolling at funeral processions was discontinued, except when specially requested.
1845. The "poor farm " was sold, and the one now owned by the town was purchased of Otis Loker for the sum of $3,130, and in 1889 new buildings were erected on the place.
1850. A clock was placed on the steeple of the Unitarian meeting-lionse.
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APPENDIX TO THE ANNALS OF WAYLAND.
1851. A public reception was given to President Francis Wayland, D.D., by the Way- land people. The address of welcome was made by Hon. Edward Mellen in the church, and responded to by Dr Wayland. There was a collation in Bullard's Grove, where addresses were made by Horace Mann and others.
In 1852, an organ was placed in the Orthodox Church.
1871. Town meetings were ordered to be held, alternating at the Town Hall and at some place in Cochitnate.
1872. The selectmen were unanimously ordered to petition the General Court to have Cochituate annexed to the town of Natick.
PART VI.
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WEI
Homer Rogers,
QUARTER-MILLENNIAL
ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES
SUDBURY AND WAYLAND. AT
SEPTEMBER 4th, 1889.
PROGRAMME.
PROCESSION
Of, and Entertainment for, Children of the Public Schools of Sud- bury and Wayland, at Wayland, at 9 o'clock, A. M., and
Collation at the Unitarian Church Vestry.
ADDRESSES
By Rev. R. Gordon, William H. Baldwin, and others. PROCESSION.
At 12 o'clock, M., a procession will be formed at South Sudbury Railroad Station, and proceed to Sudbury Centre. Music : FITCHBURG BAND. DINNER.
At 1 o'clock, P. M., a Dinner at Sudbury Town Hall.
ALGERNON JAMES, of Waltham. Caterer. ORATION.
At 2 o'clock, P. M., an Oration by Rev. A. S. HUDSON, of Ayer, Historian of Sudbury.
ADDRESSES
By Representatives of the State, and County of Middlesex, and others.
POEM
By James S. Draper, Esq., of Wayland, to the Pioneers, written for thic occasion.
In the evening there will be Fireworks and Illuminations at Sud- bury, and Concert on the Common.
Promenade Concert and Anniversary Ball at Wayland Town Hall.
HON. HOMER ROGERS, President of the day. R. T. LOMBARD, Chief Marshal.
COMMITTEE OF SUDBURY. JONAS S. HUNT. RUFUS II. HURLBUT. E. A. POWERS.
COMMITTEE OF WAYLAND.
R. T. LOMBARD. LAFAYETTE DUDLEY. EDWARD CARTER.
Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary
OF THE
INCORPORATION OF SUDBURY, MASS., SEPT. 4, 1889.
AT the annual town meetings held in the towns of Sudbury and Wayland in the spring of 1889 the towns elected committees and appropriated money for the purpose of celebrating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Sudbury -Wayland, at that time, a part of the town of Sudbury, and remaining so until 1780. The committees were united in their efforts, which resulted in forming and carrying out the programme upon the preceding pages. The weather was all that could be desired, and our citizens joined heartily in making the day a real holiday ; and were also pleased to give hospitable welcome to former residents, and those who from ties of birth and friendship hold the old towns in tender remembrance. The morning exercises were held in the Town Hall at Wayland, and the afternoon exercises at Sudbury, a platform having been erected on the east side of the old church on the common, for the accommodation of the speakers and invited guests. The stand was draped with the national colors, on its front appearing the inscription, " 1639-Quarter Millennial- 1889," surmounted by shields, backed by the American flag. Among the prominent persons upon the platform were the following: Hon. IIomer Rogers, chairman of Boston Board of Aldermen, president of the day ; Rev. Alfred S. Hudson of Ayer, orator of the day ; Hon. Geo. A. Marden of Lowell, State Treasurer of Massachusetts ; Rev. Brooke Herford of Boston; William H. Baldwin, Esq., of the Young Men's Christian Union of Boston ; Rev. Edward J. Young of Waltham; IIon. Geo. S. Boutwell of Groton; Judge Levi Wal- lace and Hon. E. Dana Bancroft of Ayer; Judge James T. Joslyn of Hudson ; Hon. William N. Davenport of Marlboro'; Rev. Robert
-
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Gordon of Wayland, and Rev. D. W. Richardson of Sudbury ; Hon. Charles F. Gerry of Sudbury ; Richard T. Lombard, Esq., of Wayland, chief marshal, and Jonas S. Hunt, Esq., chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, by whom the assemblage was called to order.
ADDRESS OF JONAS S. HUNT, ESQ.
Ladies and Gentlemen - Friends, Neighbors, Brothers and Sisters, Uncles, Aunts, and Cousins : -
IN behalf of the Committee of Arrangements, I take great pleas- ure in extending to you all a most cordial welcome to this celebra- tion of the two hundred and fiftieth birthday of the "good old town of Sudbury "; and right here let it be understood that when we speak to-day of Sudbury we are speaking also of East Sudbury - now Wayland - because for more than a hundred and forty years after the date of incorporation the two towns were one. From its settlement up to the present day no birthday of the town has ever been noticed in a publie manner. Some of us can remember as far back as the two hundredth anniversary, but can recall no public observanee of the day, and I have never been able to find upon the records any reference to the one hundredthi or the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary. Nearly a year ago the subject of this cele- bration was first mentioned, and the two towns having taken appro- priate action, the result is, as you see, this assembling together of the people of the two towns, with many others who have the interest of birthplace, former residence, or as the home of ancestors. Just a word more permit me to say : that this seems a peculiarly appropriate time to celebrate, even if it were not a town birthday, because it marks the completion of an exhaustive history of the town, which has been in the course of preparation for the past ten years by a son of Sudbury, who is soon to address you. As usual upon such occa- sions, we have been somewhat delayed ; we are not quite up to the time announced upon the programme, and as we have with us to-day many orators, statesmen, and divines whom you are all anxiously waiting to hear, I am satisfied that I shall give you more pleasure by cutting short what I have to say than by continuing. I will there- fore only add that I have the honor of presenting to you a very
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promising son of Sudbury, who has been unanimously selected for president of the day - Hon. Homer Rogers, President of Boston's Board of Aldermen.
The President. - In harmony with the custom of our ancestors, which has been rigidly observed for two hundred and fifty years, we will commence the order of exercises by the invocation of the divine blessing, by Rev. D. W. Richardson, of Sudbury.
PRAYER BY REV. D. W. RICHARDSON.
WE render Thee most hearty thanks, Ileavenly Parent, that Thou hast permitted us under such favorable auspices, under a sunny sky, and in such large numbers, to assemble on this natal day of the good old town of Sudbury, that we may commemorate in speech and song and story the completion of two hundred and fifty years of her munic- ipal life. We thank Thee for the precious influences that have come down to us from the stern virtues and religious faith of these ances- tors of ours, who hewed down the rough forest and broke up the rugged soil, and covered these hills and valleys with pleasant homes and fruitful fields. We thank Thee, our Father, that the sacrifices which they made and the hardships they endured nourished in their hearts a faith that was the germ of the martyr spirit, and a deter- mination to maintain at all hazards those great principles for which they had gone into exile. We thank Thee that they were men of intense patriotism and of exalted piety, and that they cherished in their minds earnest thoughts and mighty questionings touching duty and destiny, and out of such thought and research have wrought the great problem of making themselves and their descendants liberty- loving, God-fearing men and women. And we pray, our Father, that the sacrifices which they made and the hardships which they endured for the cause of justice and humanity may nourish in us a love for those great principles which they have bequeathed to us as our richest inheritance and legacy, which shall be undying. And we pray, our Father, that we may have Thy blessing on the services of this occasion, and we may not only feel the spirit of these ances- tors of ours, but that the Holy Spirit may rest upon us as a bene-
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dietion, and that we may have a great uplifting, socially, morally, and spiritually ; that we may have our hearts filled with the deter- mination to live worthy of our noble ancestors, and thus fill up our measure of usefulness on the earth, and finally be accepted in Thy kingdom above for the Great Redeemer's sake. AMEN.
ADDRESS BY HON. HOMER ROGERS.
Ladies and Gentlemen - Citizens of Sudbury and Wayland:
I FULLY appreciate the honor which has been conferred upon me, in being invited by the committee to serve you in this place to-day. I wish to congratulate you upon the event which has called us to- gether, to congratulate the old town on her history ; not alone on the completion of two hundred and fifty years of corporate existence, but for what she is to-day, the legitimate produet of hier history. To-day we shall inspect the records of nine generations of men.
We read in our history that Sudbury was settled by the English in 1636. We are familiar with the conditions which antedate their emigration from the old world. There was no spirit of conquest ; there were no mines of gold, with visions of sudden and fabulous wealth ; no dreams of empire to gratify a vaulted ambition ; no spirit of dis- loyalty to the government of their native land; no desire or expec- tation of finding leisure or plenty ; indeed, none of the conditions which have characterized the colonies of all history were among the motives which brought our ancestors to these shores. They sought another country, not knowing whither they went, assured of one condition, that they might worship their God in harmony with their own convictions. The spirit of the age in which they lived was that of religious intolerance and persecution, and it is not surprising that something of the same spirit marked their earlier history. Their convictions, and cheerful sacrifice of personal comfort, or life even, to maintain them, laid the foundation for our New England charac- ter, which is the proudest feature of our history.
Citizens of Sudbury and Wayland : this is the stock from which we have sprung. I congratulate you on our ancestry. If you would find the purest specimens of this ancestral virtue you need
9
not search for it in our crowded eities, but in country towns like old Sudbury. As you read our history you will find many a name and family whose genealogy is unbroken and unmixed for the two hun- dred and fifty years.
Henee it is, fellow-citizens, that we glory to-day not in our fruit- ful fields, or stately buildings, not in our population or wealth, but in the character and lives of the men and women whom we have raised, and whose influence has blessed the world.
The eities of Massachusetts are owned and governed by the men and women who were born and bred among the hills and valleys of our country towns. The great problem of the age is the govern- ment of our large cities. The ideal republican form of government is the town meeting. A municipal charter granted by the Legislature is in a sense a misfortune. The elements of danger among our people find their home in the cities. If the time shall ever come when the town meeting does not control the state the problem of a govern- ment of the people will be seriously complicated. The form of municipal government is a necessity to a large population, but so long as one-third of the hundreds of thousands who erowd to our shores every year remain within our cities, so long shall we have trouble, because it is impossible to assimilate that immense mass of heterogeneous material and to keep it in harmony with our repub- lican institutions. So I want you to understand that the saving foree of Massachusetts and the nation rests in the hands of you who come to the town hall and cast your ballots for representatives of the state, who are to come to our city and there make laws which control in a measure our cities. It is partially a humiliation to admit it, but I have scen enough of the management of the affairs of our citics to believe that the only safety of the city and the state is in the town meetings of our towns.
This is the day of rejoicing, not of regret. I take our text from the Psalms, not from Lamentations. We are not sighing for the good old eolony times when the people lived under a king. It is a good thing to look back to our earlier records to see what progress we have made. In every element which makes up our civilization the present is an immense improvement on the past. It is the survival of the fittest that we have to-day. We may well congratulate our- selves that we are living in the nineteenth century, and not the six-
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teenth. The history of Sudbury is a good thing to read. Thank God we did not have to live it !
Let us rejoice in all that has come to us from the sterling charac- ter and good works of our ancestors, and, as we review the history of the past, thank God that we are living in these times, which are the direet and natural fruitage of those early days.
The history of Sudbury has been written. The town has done herself great honor in publishing the history of those two hundred and fifty years, and I congratulate you upon that record. It is a great credit to the town, and we are fortunate in having its distin- guished author with us to-day. It gives me great pleasure to intro- duce to you the historian of Sudbury, the orator for this occasion, the Rev. Alfred S. Hudson, who will now address you.
ADDRESS BY REV. ALFRED S. HUDSON.
IT may be thought from the manner in which it was announced on the programme that in this part of the exercises there will be spread before you a lengthy account of the history of Sudbury. There are several reasons, however, that prevent this being done, agreeable though the task might be. First, the history of the town is too great to admit of its being given in detail; second, there are distinguished men present whom you are doubtless impatient to hear, and for whose welcome words suitable time should be set apart ; third, you have your history in printed form. But, though we are called upon by these circumstances to be brief, it is nevertheless appropriate that we should outline what has occurred in the past, that we may be the more impressed with the significance and im- portance of the day we celebrate, and rightly appreciate the found- ers of our town. We stand two hundred and fifty years from the date of Sudbury's birth. It is an interval weighty in its history, and mighty in its far-reaching influence. Many of us are related to it by lineal descent of which we are justly proud. Let us turn, then, to the beginning, and in outline trace down this interval, and see wherein our pride and esteem are natural. The territory of Sudbury was petitioned for in 1637, settled in 1638, and incor-
11
porated as a town in 1639. It received its name from Sudbury, England, from or near which place some of the settlers are sup- posed to have come.
The plan of the settlement originated at Watertown, and the settlers were Englishmen, a large share of whom eame to the planta- tion directly from Europe. The names of some of them still heard on our streets are : Haynes, Goodnow, Howe, Read, Rice, Brown, Noyce, Parmenter, and Bent.
The lands first occupied were along the banks of the Sudbury River, then known as the Musketahquid, the meadows of which stream were very valuable and muehl sought after for pasturage and hay. The territory came to the settlers in three grants from the General Court, and was purchased of the Indians, from whom deeds were regularly obtained. The first streets of the settlement were on the cast side of the river, and the first house-lots have been designated on a map in the history of Sudbury recently published. The settlement, though in an entirely new country, prospered from the very start.
Soon a church was formed and minister settled, and a little meet- ing-house erected on a spot in the old burying-ground in the present town of Wayland. The minister was Rev. Edmund Brown, a man able, brave, and devout. The contraet for the meeting-house was made with John Rutter, and the building was to be "thirty foot long and twenty wide, six windows with four lights apiece, four with thrce lights apiece." The church was organized in 1640, at which time it was supposed Rev. Edmund Brown was settled, and the meeting- house was built in 1642. In a short time after the settlers arrived mills, bridges, and highways were constructed, and the whole town- ship became dotted over with smiling homesteads, where a happy and thrifty people lived. Space forbids the giving of many details of the pioncer life of this people. On the town books, some of whose pages crumble at the finger's touch, many of their aets are set forth. The few following facts, however, we will state before passing on to a con- sideration of the character of thesc founders of our town.
A prominent act a few years after the arrival of the settlers was the appropriation of land to the inhabitants. At the outset each settler, whatever his estate or position, had a house-lot of about four aeres. Then eame a division of the meadow-land, which was largely
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divided on thirce occasions before the close of 1640. Certain portions were set apart as public domain. Notable among these were two extensive cow-commons, which embraced a large portion of the country on both sides of the river, and the division and distribution of which, or the sizing of the commons, as it was termed, subse- quently caused a great tumult throughout the whole town, and for the Settlement of which a committee was appointed by the Colonial Court, and an ecclesiastical council was called. The settlers at first tilled their fields in common. Common planting-fields were set apart and assigned to certain parties to be cared for. The fences were to a certain extent made by ditching, and traces of these ditches may still be seen. The domestic animals were permitted to roam at large, under certain restrictions, as that the swine should be "ringed or yoked," that they might not root. Trade was carried on by barter or an exchange of commodities. The price of labor was regulated in town meeting. Laws were made for the encouragement of industry, a workhouse was provided for the indolent, and the stocks or whip- ping-post for the vicious.
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