USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Sudbury > The history of Sudbury, Massachusetts, 1638-1889 > Part 26
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
Your [Petitioners] thereupon humbly pray that this great and General assembly would please to Grant them the Prayer of their petition, that they may be Empowered to build a meeting house and have a minister settled on their side, in such time as to this Great and General Assem- bly shall seem meet and Yor Petitioners (and as in duty bound) shall pray, John Brigham, John Balcom. In behalf of ye rest.
This petition was more successful, and obtained, in part at least, what it sought; and the following, read in council, the 28th of May, 1708, and read a second time and concurred in, June 24th, the same year, was ordered : -
289
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
Notwithstanding the present difficulties represented by the commit- tee, If the Inhabitants on West side the River think themselves able to Erect a meeting House and support a minister and shall present a Sub- scription to this Court amounting to fifty pounds per annum for his maintenance during the first seven years,
That then the Prayer of their Petition be Granted, to bee a Parish or Precinct by themselves. And that they have liberty to erect a meeting house for the Public worship of God, and to invite and procure a Learned Orthodox minister of good conversation to preach to them.
Always Saving Inviolate, and in no ways Infringing the Contract and agreement of the Town made with Mr. Loring, the present minister, and his maintenance, to be duly paid him accordingly, until the Town in General shall make other Provision or the Court take further Order.
But, although the petitioners received permission to build a meeting-house, years elapsed before they availed themselves of the privilege. Meanwhile the subject was more or less agitated. Various measures for the adjustment of matters were proposed, and failed. At one time there was action by the town, at another by the Court. In 1712-13 there was a town-meeting, " to see if the town will do any thing to bring the house into ye center of ye town, or within a quarter of a mile of ye centre, or as near ye centre as may be conveniant, ye town of Sudbury being seven miles long, and ye meeting house as it now standeth but about a mile and half from ye east end of said town."
In December, 1715, a committee was appointed by the Court, who assigned a place for the meeting-house. Tradi- tion states that a spot about a mile northeasterly of Sudbury Centre, and not far from the Thomas Plympton estate, was once designed for the meeting-house. This may have been the place assigned by the committee of 1715. In 1720 the town voted to remain an entire town ; to have a meeting- house on the west side of the river sufficiently large to accommodate all, and to have it built at or near the Gravel Pit.
June 9, 1721, it was ordered by the General Court that "a new meeting house be erected, built, and finished upon the place assigned by a committee assigned by ye sd Court, in Dec. 1715, and that ye old meeting house be put into good repair." At a town-meeting, Dec. 26, 1721, held at the house
290
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
of Mr. George Pitts, it was agreed "to grant 24 pounds for preaching for the present on the westerly side of the river." It was also decided at that meeting to choose a committee to present a petition to the General Court, " that ye west side inhabitants may have liberty to place their meeting house on ye rocky plaine ; " which request was granted.
The preliminary work of forming two parochial precincts was now completed ; it only remained to adjust ecclesiastical relations to the new order of things, and provide whatever was essential to its success. The church was to be divided, ministers secured, and a meeting-house built. All these came about in due time. After the decision, in December, 1721, " to have the preaching of the word amongst us," and the granting of money to meet the expense, Rev. Mr. Minot was invited to preach six Sabbaths in the west precinct. It may be that about this time Mr. Loring preached some on the west side, since on the town debt, as recorded April 9, 1722, there stands this statement : " To Mr. Israel Loring to ye supporting ye ministry on both [sides] ye river in Sud- bury 80. 0. 0."
But more permanent arrangements were soon made. On the 6th of June, 1722, they extended a call to Rev. Israel Loring, and offered "£100 for his settlement." July 10, Mr. Loring responded to the invitation in the following words : "To the Inhabitants of the west Precinct in Sudbury : I accept of the kind invitation you have given me to come over and settle and be the minister of the Westerly Pre- cinct." A few days after the above invitation the east side invited him to remain with them, and took measures to pro- vide for "their now settled minister, Mr. Israel Loring." The day after replying to the first invitation, he wrote to the east side people informing them of his decision to leave them and settle in the west precinct. Mr. Loring moved to the west side, July 25, 1723. (Stearns' Collection.) He lived about a mile toward the north part of the town, in what was afterwards an old red house, on the William Hunt place that was torn down some years since. He subse- quently lived at the centre, on what is known as the Wheeler Haynes place.
-
THE LORING PARSONAGE, Sudbury Centre.
291
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
The church records by Mr. Loring state as follows: " Feb. 11, 1723. The church met at my house, where, after the brethren on the east side had manifested their desire that the church might be divided into two churches, it was so voted by majority." At the time of the division of the church, the number of communicants on the west side was thirty-two males and forty-two females. (Stearns' Collec- tion.) The Church Records went into the possession of the West Parish. On March 18, 1724-5, the west side people "entered into and renewed " a "holy church covenant," to which were subscribed the following names : -
Israel Loring
David Haynes.
Hopestill Brown
Peter Plympton.
James Haynes Senr
Noah Clap
John Clap Senr Thomas Read Senr
Ephraim Pratt
Joseph Noyes
John Moore.
Peter Haynes. Benjaman Wright, Joseph Goodenow John Rice,
Daniel Estabrooke
Hopestill Brown Jun.
James Craige,
Samuel Willis.
Joseph Brown.
Thomas Read Jun.
Jonah Haynes. Micah Stone.
John Brigham, John Haynes.
Ebenezer Dakin. out of town.
David Parmenter,
John Clap Jr.
Joseph Gibbs, dismissed, David Maynard.
Peter Noyes,
James Haynes.
While ecclesiastical matters were in process of adjustment on the West side, they were progressing towards a settlement on the East side also. It is stated that the East Precinct was organized June 25, 1722. (Temple.) When the effort to secure the services of Mr. Loring proved futile, a call was extended to Rev. William Cook, a native of Hadley, Mass., and a graduate of Harvard College. The call being accepted, Mr. Cook was ordained March 20, 1723, and continued their pastor until his death, Nov. 12, 1760. (See period 1750- 1775.) The town granted eighty pounds to support preach- ing on both sides of the river for half a year.
292
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
NEW MEETING-HOUSES.
An important matter in connection with the new order of things was the erection of new meeting-houses. This work received prompt attention. "At a town meeting January 22: 1723 the town granted five hundred pounds to build a new meeting house on the west side, and repair the old one on the east side, three hundred and eighty pounds for the new, and one hundred and twenty pounds for the repairing the old on the east side." The sum for repairing the old house was at a subsequent meeting made one hundred and fifty pounds. That this grant of the town was followed up by speedy action is indicated by the following receipt, dated Sudbury, May 31, 1725 : ---
Received of Deacon Noah Clap treasurer for the town of Sudbury, ten pounds four shillings and four pence, in full of all accounts relating to the building of the new meeting house in the west precinct of said Sudbury.
This ten pounds, four shillings, and four pence, and former receipts of money, making the sum of four hundred pounds, we say received by us.
ABRAHAM WOOD, JOSEPH DAKIN.
The meeting-house in the West Precinct was placed on the site of the present Unitarian Church in Sudbury Center. The location was probably selected because central to the inhabitants of the West Precinct. The following town rec- ord is interesting, not only because it relates to the location of the meeting-house, but to other familiar landmarks in the vicinity :-
Sudbury. June 12: 1725. laid out to the right of Briant Pendleton, sixteen acres and one hundred and forty rods on and adjoining to the Pine Hill, near to and Northwesterly of the meeting house on Rocky Plain in the west precinct in said Sudbury, southerly partly by a high- way, or road leading from Pantry towards Mr. Wood's mills (at South Sudbury), along by said meeting house, partly by land laid out for a burying place and accommodations for and about said meeting house, and partly by Lancaster road, westerly by land claimed by the Grouts and northerly bounded by land claimed by James Craigs. In part and partly by land claimed by the Maynards, and easterly bounded by said Maynards land.
-
293
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
There is no evidence that when the West side meeting- house was built there was so much as a humble hamlet at Rocky Plain. The presence there at that time of a single house is all that is indicated by tradition or record. In sev- eral instances the records state something about " ye new house on rocky plain." In May, 1722, there was a town- meeting at the new house on Rocky Plain. Oct. 11, 1722, "a meeting was held at the new house on rocky plain " to attend to matters relating to a new meeting-house. The first town-meeting that was held in the new church edifice was on Aug. 5, 1723. At that time it was voted to have the warnings for town-meetings for the future posted on both sides of the river at the two houses of worship.
Near the spot selected for the meeting-house was the burying-ground set apart by " ye Proprietors of ye undivided lands " in 1716-17. (See p. 121.) This reservation may have influenced the people in the selection of Rocky Plain for the new meeting-house ; and the erection of the meeting- house there probably determined the location of the central village of the West Precinct, and in later years of the town of Sudbury. Furthermore, if the town at this time had decided to remain one parish, and erected a meeting-house near the Gravel Pit, for the accommodation of all, the prin- cipal village would have been gathered in that locality, and the town might have remained undivided to this day.
After the setting off of the West parish, it was considered advisable to move the East side meeting-house nearer the centre of the East Precinct. Jan. 29, 1721-2, "the town by a vote showed its willingness and agreed to be at the charge to pull down ye old meeting house and remove it south and set it up again." At the same meeting they chose a com- mittee to petition the General Court for permission. In a paper dated Dec. 28, 1724, and signed by Mr. Jennison, Zechariah Heard, and Phineas Brintnal, it is stated that they were " the committee who pulled down and removed the old meeting house in the East Precinct of Sudbury." About 1725 was recorded the following receipt: "Received of Mr. John Clap, late treasurer of the town of Sudbury, the sum of four hundred pounds in full, granted by said town to
-
294
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
carry on the building of a meeting house in the East Pre- cinct in said town. We say received by us, Joshua Haynes, Ephraim Curtis, John Noyes, Samuel Graves, Jonathan Rice, Committee." This building was located at what is now Wayland Centre, on the corner lot just south of the old Town House. The town instructed the committee "to make it as near as they can like the new house in the West Pre- cinct, except that the steps "are to be hansomer : " it was also to have the same number of pews. There is on record the following description of material used for one of the pul- pits, together with the price : -
Seaming fringe 0=10 = 0 1= 4=0
4 Tassels.
2 yards very fine Silk Plush 2 = 0 = 0.
13 yds Tickn for the Cushn 0= 7=7.
4 lbs. finest feathers, a. § 3 : 0=11 =3. 0= 1=6.
Making Cushn Pill & filling
Thus at last both precincts were provided with new meet- ing-houses, and a matter was settled that had occasioned much interest and more or less activity for nearly a quarter of a century. Doubtless participants in the affair at the beginning and during its progress had passed away, and before its settlement worshipped in a temple not made with hands, whose Builder and Maker is God. The intercourse between the two precincts was pleasant, and for a while the ministers exchanged once a month. For years the salaries of the two pastors were equal, and again and again is there a receipt on the town book for eighty pounds for each.
·
CHAPTER XVI.
1700-1725.
Queen Anne's War; Attendant Hardships. - Father Ralle's War; East- ern Expedition, List of Sudbury Soldiers. - Ranger Service ; Its Nature .- Death of Samuel Mossman .- Imperilled Condition of Rut- land. - Death of Rev. Joseph Willard by the Indians. - Petition for Assistance. - List of Sudbury Soldiers at Rutland. - Captain Wright's Letter. - Lieut. William Brintnall ; His Letter. - Province Loans. - River Meadow. - Causeway. - Roads. - Miscellaneous.
Straggling rangers, worn with dangers, Homeward faring, weary strangers Pass the farm-gate on their way ; Tidings of the dead and living, Forest march and ambush giving, Till the maidens leave their weaving, And the lads forget their play.
WHITTIER.
WHILE ecclesiastical matters were in process of adjust- ment in Sudbury, and business was being transacted to fur- ther the blessed gospel of peace, the community was again stirred by the rude sounds of strife. The red hand of war was once more outstretched for destruction, and requisitions for both material and men were again made on the New England towns. The first war of the period was Queen Anne's, so called from Anne of Denmark, who had ascended the throne of Great Britain. It was waged between England and France, and, like that of King William, continued about ten years. The province, to an extent, conducted the war by campaigns. In 1704, Col. Benjamin Church marched to make an attack on Acadia. He commanded a force of about five hundred men, and designed also to attack the Indians of the
295
296
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
Penobscot and Passamaquody. In 1710 an expedition was formed, commanded by General Nicholson, which recovered Port Royal. In 1711 a campaign was arranged for the cap- ture of Quebec. For these, and other warlike undertakings, the resources of the provincial towns were drawn upon ; and the taxation, deprivation, and loss attendant on these succes- sive drafts became a grievous burden.
During these years Sudbury had its part to bear. Although, being removed from the border it did not suffer attack, it had seasons of suspense. In 1706 it was rumored that a large force was coming to New England; and Chelmsford, Groton, and Sudbury were alarmed. The next year the enemy approached Groton and Marlboro, but still left Sud- bury unmolested. The town is mentioned in a province resolve of May, 1704-5, where it is ordered " that such and so many of the soldiers enlisted in the military companies and troops within the respective towns and districts herein after named, shall each of them at [his] own charge be pro- vided with a pair of good serviceble snow shoes, mogginsons, at or before the tenth of November this present year, which they shall keep in good repair and fit for the service." (State Archives, Vol. I., p. 247.)
The testimony of the town concerning the hardship of the period is given in a protest before quoted, in which the people set forth, as a reason why the parish should not be divided, "the Vast Expenses which the present wars and expeditions attending the same calls and may call for."
Peace came in 1713, by the treaty made at Utrecht, and for a time the land had rest.
But the cessation of Indian hostilities that followed Queen Anne's War and the Peace of Utrecht was not long contin- ned. The war-path was soon again to be trod by the savage, and his freshly made trail was to be followed by the white man to bring back the captives or recover the spoil. The cause of the second war of this period was the encroachments of the savage tribes in the east. The Indians in the eastern part of the province (Maine), instigated, as is supposed, by the Governor General of Canada, and by the Jesuits coming among them, sought to prevent English inhabitants from a
297
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
reoccupation of the former settlements. For this object, the Cape Sable and Penobscot Indians joined with the tribes of the Kennebeck and Saco.
This savage alliance meant hardship to the frontier whites. Predatory bands of the foe lurked in the dark woodlands, and parts of the province were again kept on the watch. Sudbury was in no instance assailed, but its soldiers did ser- vice in other parts. It had men in the eastern expedition, which was fitted out in 1724, to operate against the Indians on the Kennebeck. Upon this river, at Norridgewock, there was an Abenaki village, which had been to the English a source of trouble, and it was determined to destroy it. When the troops arrived, the place was found in an unguarded condition. Ralle, the Jesuit missionary, who had been the chief instigator of the Indian atrocities, fell dead in the furious affray. The chiefs Mogg and Bomazeen also perished, and the tribe was vanquished. Among the soldiers in the eastern expedition are the following, who were in three different companies : -
Elijah Willis,
Jas. Maynard,
Isaac Rice,
Bartho Stephenson,
John Gould, Sargent,
Joseph Woodward,
John Barker, Clerk,
Nathan Walker.
Thomas Gates.
(State Archives, Vol. XCIII., pp. 131-46.)
RANGER SERVICE.
Sudbury rendered the country service, not only by its sol- diers in the conspicuous campaign, but also by its rangers in a less ostensible service, made up of such marchings and scoutings as helped to harass and hinder the foe. They ranged the frontier as a faithful border guard, and stood between homestead and savage invaders, who lurked ready to swoop down on the defenseless home, and make captive or kill the inmates.
In this service one of the Sudbury men lost his life under peculiarly sad and touching circumstances. Says the narra- tor : "At evening one of our men viz : Samuel Mossman of
298
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
Sudbury, being about encamping, took hold of his gun that stood among some Bushes, drew it towards him with the muzzle towards him, some Twigg caught hold of the Cock, the Gun went off and shot him through, he died immedi- ately." (Letter of John White to the authorities. State Archives, Vol. LXXII., p. 230.) Thus a lone grave in the wilderness was prepared for a soldier of Sudbury. What other instances of accident, hardship, and loss may have been sustained in service like this, there are none now to relate ; but the very nature of this border warfare is suggestive of hardship, of hair-breadth escapes, of exposure to wilderness perils, to rough weather and the tricks of a wary foe.
One place in which Sudbury soldiers did valuable service at this time was Rutland. This town was frontier territory, and for thirty years had suffered more or less from savage incursions. As has been noticed, it was settled largely by people from Sudbury (see Chap. IX.); and naturally the town would be interested in their kinsmen or former citi- zens.
About the time of which we write, several of the inhabi- tants had been killed or captured. Among the former was their minister, Rev. Joseph Willard. The circumstances at- tending this death were peculiarly sad. Mr. Willard had been called to the ministry of the Rutland church, and was to have been ordained in the fall. One day in August, being out with his gun hunting, or to collect fodder for his cattle, he was suddenly beset by two Indians. They fired upon him, but without effect. He returned the fire, wound- ing one of them ; the other closed in for a hand-to-hand fight, when three more Indians came to his assistance, and together they gained the mastery, and killed and scalped their victim.
Such was the exposed condition of the early settlers at Rutland in this gloomy period. February, 1724-5, they sent a petition to Governor Dummer for help, in which they stated that "the summer previous they laboured under great difficulty & hardship by reason of the war with the Indian enemy, and not being able to raise their corn and other pro-
299
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
visions, so that they were obliged to travel near twenty miles for the same, and purchase it at a very dear rate, which ren- der it very difficult to subsist themselves and their families, more especially ye soldiers posted there." They desired that more might be added to the five soldiers already allowed them.
This indicates the imperilled condition of the place. Pred- atory bands were lurking about it. The woodlands were a covert from which the savage might suddenly sally, and in whose dark forest retreat he might safely secure his prey. At any time the people might suffer attack. Their harvest, their homes, their households, were alike liable to be devas- tated and swept away. But strong men were sent to defend them, stout hearts were soon there ; and to a large extent these came from the town of Sudbury. Again and again were detachments sent from the place. Some of the soldiers for this service were under the command of Capt. Samuel Willard. In his journal he speaks of mustering at the town of Lancaster one day, and moving on to Rutland the next; of laying by in foul weather, of marching back and forth through the country, and of seeing and following the signs of Indians. The service spoken of was from July to August, 1725. In the course of his narrative he speaks of William Brintnall being siek, and of David How being lame, both of whom he sent home. (State Archives, Vol. XXXVIII., pp. 109, 110.) These two men were soldiers from Sudbury. Another commander under whom the Sudbury soldiers served was Capt. Samuel Wright. (See p. 170.) On a muster-roll of Captain Wright, read in Council, June 17, 1724, are the following names of Sudbury men who had served for several months : -
Daniel How, Lieut.
Hugh Ditson,
Corp. Joseph Bennet,
WVm Thompson,
John Norcross, Gentl.
· Jona Stanhope,
Isaac Gibbs, Daniel Bowker.
Amnill Weeks, servant to Samuel Stevens.
In another muster-roll, consented to in 1724, are the fol- lowing names : Samuel How, Sergt. Joseph Bennet, Corp.
300
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
Hugh Ditson, William Thompson, John Ross, son to James Ross, Amnil Weeks, servant to Samuel Stevens. In another muster-roll of Captain Wright, examined in 1725, are the names of Serg. Daniel How, Mark Voice [Vose], Daniel Mackdonald, Richard Burk. Other rolls examined in 1725 have the names of Daniel Bowker, Abner Cutler, Charles Adams, Elias Parmenter, and Pegin, a Natic Indian. (State Archives, Vol. XCI.)
It was in the year 1724 that an occurence took place which shows the perils of the times, and the nature of the service to which our rangers were called. Says Captain Wright in a letter to the Court : -
These are to inform your Honors that what I feared is come upon us for want [of men] to guard us at our work, this day about 12 o'clock five men and a boy [were] making hay in the middle of the town.
A number of Indians surrounded them and shot first at the boy which alarmed the men, who ran for their guns, but the Indians shot upon them, and kept them from their guns, and shot down three of the men and wounded another in the arm, who got home, the fifth got home with- out any damage.
The men that are killed are James Clark, Joseph Wood, Uriah Ward, the boy missing is James Clark.
(State Archives, Vol. LXXII.)
This matter-of-fact report of Captain Wright is vividly suggestive of the nature of that period. The border settle- ments knew not when they were safe. There was poor encouragement to sow if a foe might destroy the harvest or keep the husbandman from its safe ingathering. Yet so it was. Spring with its sunshine and showers might warm and mellow the soil, the field be well sown, the mid- summer ripen the crops, and the time of harvest promise gladness and plenty. A noontide stillness rests on the fruit- ful fields. The warm, mellow haze of the early autumnal day enwraps nature about, and the landscape is tranquil in the mild air of a New England Fall. All is quiet, save for the motion of the busy harvesters as, moving about amid the rustling maize, they cut the stalks or gather the corn. But the whole scene may suddenly change ; like the haymakers mentioned by Captain Wright, so these harvesters, all uncon-
301
HISTORY OF SUDBURY.
scious of what is near, may be startled by the rushing of sav- age feet, and, before they can make any defense, be slain or carried captive to a far-off place.
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.