USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Sudbury > The history of Sudbury, Massachusetts, 1638-1889 > Part 54
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Then limestones, which are largely made up of the accum- ulations of the remains of animal life, are abundant in this series of rocks. In connection with these latter rocks occurs a peculiar structure which has been thought by some high authorities to be the remains of a low order of animal life and to which the name of Eozoon, or dawn animal, has been applied.
However the question of life in the Eozoic era may finally be settled, we find the next era, the Paleozoic, a term mean- ing ancient life, beginning with an abundance of the lower forms of life in the waters, though we find no evidence of its existence upon the land. Some of these forms were quite highly organized, one being about the same as the horse-shoe
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crab of to-day, and this would cause us to believe that life must have existed for ages before to have arrived at this stage of development.
From the beginning of Paleozoic time to the present there is estimated to have elapsed about thirty-five millions of years. The Eözoic is supposed to have comprised at least as many years.
The Paleozoic has three main sub-divisions, which may be known as the Age of Invertebrate's, during which life consisted entirely of marine forms of animals and plants of the lower orders, except toward its close when fishes and a few land plants appeared ; the Age of Fishes, when these first vertebrates predominated and sharks ruled the seas, when the continents first became covered with forests such as we find in the tropics to-day, and insects appeared as the first land-animals ; and finally the great Coal Age, when the continent was covered with the dense growths of tropical forests which after ages of accumulations have given the coal beds of to-day, which have furnished such an important factor in the progress of our national life.
During all this time the continent had been steadily growing in a westerly and southerly direction, till the shore line, which at the beginning did not extend in either direc- tion further than the limits of the State of New York, had reached on the south into Mississippi and west into Missouri and Kansas, with large islands in the area now occupied by the Rocky Mountains.
In the third of the grand divisions of time, the Mesozoic, middle life, there is found a great change from the preceding ages. Huge reptiles of unwieldy form and bulk predomi- nated over the life both in the sea and on land. Birds inter- mediate in form between the reptiles and birds of the present day also appeared, and toward its close the first faint fore- shadowings of the trees of our present forests. The climate, which at the beginning of this era had been tropical through- out the world, had at its close become much like our present climate, being only a few degrees warmer.
From the beginning of the Mesozoic to the present time from fourteen to seventeen millions of years have elapsed,
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and of these eight or nine millions at least were comprised in the Mesozoic.
In the Cenozoic, recent life, which began at the close of the Mesozoic and still continues, we have mammals the pre- dominating form of life, and somewhere in very recent geological time the introduction of the human race.
Then Cenozoic has two main sub-divisions, the Tertiary and the Quaternary. The latter is again divided into three divisions : the Glacial, Champlain and Terrace. These three it is necessary to notice somewhat more fully. The Glacial Epoch is due to certain conditions that caused the entire northern portion of our continent to be covered with a sheet of ice which over New England reached a thickness of more than six thousand feet, sufficient to cover our highest peak, Mt. Washington. It reached so far south as to entirely cover New England, and its southern termination can be marked by an irregular line drawn through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, etc.
This ice sheet had a constant tendency to move south- ward, and in doing so transported with it all the loose mate- rial which had previously covered the surface of the country in the shape of decomposed rock, soil, boulders, etc. At the same time it ground down, smoothed and polished the sur- face of the rocks over which it passed, leaving it in many cases with a high polish, but almost invariably accompanied by scratches or grooves on the polished surface which are nearly always parallel to each other and have a nearly con- stant direction of S-30-E.
A large portion of the loose material, the earth or drift as it is usually termed, was eventually deposited below the ice, which passed over it and thus compacted and hardened it till it became nearly as hard and as tough as the rocks them- selves. This consists largely of tough, tenacious blue clay, somewhat filled with more or less rounded boulders, bearing upon their smoothed sides the same striations we find upon the smoothed ledges. This portion is known as the lower drift.
The remaining portion of the loose material was borne upon the surface of the ice or incorporated in its mass, and
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when the ice sheet melted and disappeared was left as a thin covering over the surface of the lower drift and is known as the upper drift. The boulders found in connection with this are angular and show little or no signs of wear.
A prominent feature of the lower drift are the hills known as drumlins which are very numerous in some sections, very rare in others. They are round, oval, or lenticular in shape, are largely made of blue clay, and contain no ledges, except in some cases just at their bases. The upper drift covers them with a thin mantle similar to the other surface.
The melting of the ice sheet gave rise to a large amount of water, which caused large rivers, lakes, and floods, both upon the surface of the ice and the country. This worked over the materials of the upper and lower drift, exerted a sorting action upon them and deposited them anew in the three separate forms of gravel, sand and clay. The old river channels were filled with floods, and large masses of the gravel and sand accumulated in them, while the clays were carried away by the rushing water. Upon the surface of the ice rivers wore channels in which accumulated pebbles usu- ally from an inch to a foot in diameter. As the ice melted these were left upon the surface of the country as long and very narrow ridges, often known locally as Indian ridges, to which the term Kame has been applied.
As the waters of the Champlain Epoch subsided the streams cut down into the beds of gravel and sand they had previously deposited in their broad valleys, and thenceforth ran in narrower channels leaving marked terraces on one or both banks, hence giving the name of the Terrace Epoch, which still continues to the present day.
Before considering the special geology of our town it will be well to speak briefly of that of our State as a whole, that we may better understand the general relations of our town. Nearly the whole of Massachusetts is composed of rocks formed during the Eözoic era, but not belonging to its oldest divisions. Nearly the oldest of the Paleozoic, in the Age of Invertebrates, is represented by the area known as the Bos- ton Basin, extending from Medford, Malden, etc., on the north, to Braintree, Quincy, etc., on the south, and from the
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ocean on the east to Waltham on the west. The Age of Fishes is not represented. The Coal Age is represented by an area extending into the State from Rhode Island, in Attle- boro, Mansfield, etc. The Mesozoic era is represented by the red sandstones of the Connecticut Valley, in which have been found numerous evidences of the reptilian life of that time, and by the trap ridges which form Mts. Tom, Holy- oke, etc.
Then in the Cenozoic we have the entire State covered with its mantle of drift, in some places very thin, in others reaching a thickness of three to four hundred feet, as in the southeastern portion of the State.
Now in regard to the special geology of our town. The formation which underlies it is made up of a series of crystal- line rocks, approaching a dark granite in general appearance, which are included in two divisions, diorite and diabase, but so intimately are these mixed that it is not convenient to separate them, and with these are a series of quartzites and baked slates. The crystalline rocks are of volcanic origin, and in those early ages were probably erupted through and between the layers of quartzite and slate which had been formed by deposition under the waters of the sea. These rocks all belong to a period somewhere near the mid- dle of the Eozoic, and from that time to the glacial epoch we have no records to tell us of the history of the town. We know that long before the latter time the Sudbury River had hollowed its channel out of these hard rocks and was flow- ing nearly in its present position on the eastward of the town. That Nobscot and Green Hills were prominent ob- jects in the topography, but that Plympton's Hill, the hill at the Centre, Cutting's Hill, and those near Alfred Thomp- son's, Parker Fairbank's, and Andrew Haynes' had no exist- ence, as we shall see later.
As a whole, Sudbury is a somewhat sandy town, but there are certain areas that are quite rocky. In the north of. the town Captain Jones' small hill, and the high lands north of Cold Brook and west of the railroad are composed of out- crops of the crystalline rocks previously mentioned. The hill between Patrick Lyons' and Calvin Morse's is also largely
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of rock. In the area bounded generally by the road, from Plympton Hill to the river on the north, the river meadows on the east, the Central Massachusetts Railroad on the south, and the road from South Sudbury to the Centre on the west, is the largest series of continuous outerops in the town. In the extreme south, Nobscot rises a solid mass of rock to its summit. There are many other places where small ledges outcrop, but not of sufficient importance to mention in this short paper.
Much of the rock shows stratification, which in some cases is due to its formation in layers under water, in others to successive sheets of lava flowing over each other. Wherever this is shown the prevailing direction is about north-east, south-west.
The rocks at Newbury, containing the ores mined there some years ago, have the same general trend, and belong to the same series. This has caused some search for ores, but nothing of importance has been found, though just over the line in Concord digging was carried on to some depth, show- iug the presence of some lead and silver, but not enough to be of any economic value.
A small amount of limestone is found just to the east of the so-called county road on the north bank of Cold Brook. At some time in the past it has been burned for lime, traces of the burned fragments still being found, but beyond the memory of any one now living. In this I have found slight traces of the structure, eözoon.
So far as my knowledge extends there is no rock in Sud- bury that will ever admit of extensive quarrying for build- ing purposes.
In turning our attention to the drift we find that to it are due many of the features of our landscape. Over many portions of the town the lower, upper and modified drift forms a considerable thickness, but there are no means of measuring its depth.
Those interesting features of the lower drift, the drumlins, are well represented. Perhaps the two more typical ones are the ones known as Cutting's Hill in the northwest portion of the town, and the one a half mile west of Sherman's bridge
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on the Sudbury River known as Fairbank's or Round Hill. The former represents the typical lenticular hill, its longer axis running a little north of west, the latter is nearly circu- lar in outline. On the line between Sudbury and Concord is a somewhat large one, on the top of which is the residence of Andrew Haynes. On the old county road, about a mile and a half north of the centre of the town, is a complex mass made up of two or three drumlins united together. Upon the crest of the lowest is situated the residence of the late Aaron Hunt, while the larger ones rise directly back of A. N. Thompson's. Plympton's Hill and the hill directly back of the Unitarian Church and Town Hall are also well-marked examples. There are also many other small elevations in the town belonging to this type but not worthy of special notice. The southern portion of the town seems to be quite free from them, though I am not familiar with the extreme southwest corner.
The upper drift does not need particular mention, though some portions of the better soil of the town are furnished by it. Boulders of sufficient size to attract attention are rare, a single prominent one being situated on the road leading from the Town Farm to the Centre on land belonging to the town. There are a few others scattered in the woods away from the roads.
The modified drift is an important factor, furnishing the sand-plains which are the most objectionable feature from an economical standpoint. Of these Peakham Plain is the largest, and this is but a portion of the large plain continued west into Marlboro, Hudson and Stow. To this belongs all the area south of the Maynard line, and stretching to the foot of Nobscot, while on the east it is bounded by an irregular line, in some cases reaching nearly to the Old Colony Rail- road. Other smaller but well-marked areas occur scattered over the remainder of the town, one extending along the north road from the Pratt Tavern to the Old Colony Rail- road and about a mile southward, another to the eastward of the residence of the late Andrew Hunt, and a third north- ward from George Taylor's along the river meadows. In the Peakham area are several small sheets of water such as
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Willis Pond, Bottomless Pond, etc., which probably owe their origin to large masses of ice having been left there, around which the sand was deposited by the currents, and later as these masses of ice melted they left the hollows which now hold the ponds.
Kames are not well represented in our town, though there is one very typical example crossing the road directly in front of the house of Elbrit Goding, and continuing north- ward immediately to the east of the road till reaching the northern boundary of the town. This same gravel ridge ex- tends northward nearly through the town of Acton. South- ward it does not cross the north road so as to be plainly seen, though there are traces of it nearly as far south as the Way- side Inn.
In the southern part of the town another kame begins just south of Lanham Brook, and east of Sewell Hunt's, and runs generally parallel to the road toward Framingham till it crosses the boundary of the latter town.
Now in conclusion, taking a hasty review, we see that our town is situated in that part of America that appeared above the waters of the ocean in the earliest ages, and thus ranks in age with not only nearly the oldest parts of America but also of the world ; that from that time to the present it has remained above the sea, forming a part of the dry land of the continent, and hence, though there are no records of all those vast ages preserved, it has witnessed all the grand panorama of the development of life; that during the ice age, which was only about ten thousand years ago, its topography was very much changed and nearly all its hills, which till then had no existence, were formed, and that it was at the close of this latter age that so much of its territory was buried beneath the sand that causes several large areas to be scarcely worthy of cultivation. Immediately at the close of the ice age, if not before, primitive man began roving over the country, and then geological is united with human his- tory.
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continued in office and authorized to take such action as they thought proper to carry forward the recommendations con- tained in their report. The chairman of the committee soon after left town and no further action was taken in the mat- ter. March, 1885, a committee.consisting of Capt. James Moore, Jonas S. Hunt, Esq., and Horatio Hunt was ap- pointed "to confer with Rev. A. S. Hudson in regard to a publication of the History of Sudbury." April 6, of the same year, the committee reported to the town the result of their interview. This was in part that the work be devoted to the annals of the town, but not any part of it to genealogy as it is usually inserted in books of this kind.
April 2, 1888, the town " voted to publish not less than 750 copies of the History as written and compiled by Rev. A. S. Hudson, and to pay him $1500 for his services in writ- ing and superintending the publication of the work; and that the Trustees of the Goodnow Library be a committee associated with him to have charge of the publication of the work." The town also voted at the same meeting $1500 for the publication. The names of the library Trustees are as follows: Hubbard H. Brown, Atherton W. Rogers and Edwin A. Powers.
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRA- TION.
At a meeting held November 1888, the town voted to peti- tion the Legislature for permission to grant money to be ex- pended in the observance of the 250th Anniversary of the In- corporation of Sudbury. Permission having been obtained, at a subsequent meeting the sum of three hundred dollars was appropriated, and a committee was appointed to make and carry out such arrangements as would be appropriate to the proposed celebration. The committee consisted of Jonas S. Hunt, Rufus H. Hurlbut and Edwin A. Powers, who were to cooperate with a committee from Wayland, and the joint committee were to act for the two towns.
The joint committee met at Sudbury and organized with J. S. Hunt for chairman, and R. T. Lombard, Esq., of Way- land for secretary. The following outline of a plan was pro-
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posed, and;left open subject to change if deemed expedient before the day arrived.
1. A gathering of the children of the two towns at Way- land on the morning of Sept. 4, when entertainment and a collation would be furnished.
2. A return by railroad at noon to South Sudbury, when a procession will form and march to Sudbury Centre.
3. Dinner in the Town Hall.
4. Speaking from a platform on the Common, if the day is fair, and, if not, in the Unitarian Church.
5. Fireworks and music in both towns, with ringing of bells morning and night.
It was voted to extend an invitation to Hon. Homer Rogers of Boston, to act as president of the day ; to Richard T. Lombard, Esq., of Wayland, to serve as chief-marshal ; and to Rev. Alfred S. Hudson of Ayer, to deliver the oration.
Ample opportunity was to be provided for addresses by speakers from abroad, who are expected to be present and assist at the celebration.
CHAPTER XL.
CONCLUSION.
IN concluding a work of such magnitude and importance, we naturally pause and reflect over the long, long story of the past, before we leave its pages and close the history. Many notable events have been considered, and many promi- nent persons have been brought to view, who long since passed away. Successive periods have been presented in order, from the beginning of our existence as a town, until we come to a generation amid which we live and of which we are an actual part. It may be difficult to comprehend the changes that the years have wrought, but a passing glance at the chief of them indicates that the town has had a varied experience. First, we behold a small number of settlers making their homes amid the woodlands of a new country. They clear fields, erect homesteads, and let in the light of civilized life; but the scene is soon changed; shadows darken the prospect, the town is invaded by Indians, and all its resources are brought into requisition to preserve its existence. The conflict passes, and there are years of peace. Again the settlement is disturbed by war, and again peace follows. The town makes progress in the succeeding years, and then again, comes a season of strife. Thus alternate sunshine and shadow have played on the scene as the years have advanced, giving to the town a history of mingled pros- perity and adversity. But through all these changes it has maintained a steady growth and developed a more substantial character by these rockings by the storm. As we look back over the scenes of its history there is much for which to be grateful. 1. That our ancestors were of such sterling worth. Few, if any, New England towns perhaps are more favored
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in this respect. The record of their actions is evidence that they did not emigrate to this country as mere aimless or reckless adventurers, but as men with worthy purposes. They evinced a perseverance in subduing the soil and a fortitude in meeting the privations of pioneer life that is commendable in a large degree. Their faith, zeal and stead- fastness in the service of God, and their reverence for things sacred is prominently noticeable in the records ; and upright- ness in their dealings is indicative of like theory and prac- tice. 2. That the town has had such a wholesome and far- reaching influence. Town after town received from Sudbury some of its early settlers, and in this process of colonization, a formative influence was carried forth by her citizens, which has strengthened and widened as the years have rolled by. 3. That the town has never shrunk from bearing its part in the burdens of the country at large. In peace and in war, it has stood ready to meet all the demands that have been made upon it. Even when its own borders were imperiled it did not refuse to furnish aid to others if needed; and the long muster-rolls and the enactments of town meeting are evi- dence of its patriotism. 4. That to so large an extent the traits of the fathers have been transmitted to their posterity. This may be due to the comparative stability of its popula- tion. Generation after generation occupied old homesteads, and, with the lands, the characteristics became as heirlooms in old families. While we have these things for which to be grateful, it is also gratifying to contemplate the historic character of the town. Although, hitherto, it has been con- sidered historie, yet as we have noticed consecutively and in detail its prominent events, we are more and more convinced of the importance of its history. The story of the past is associated with its hills and valleys and plains and streams. Its fields have been fields of battle, its soil contains the bones of the fallen. King Philip once strode over its territory, and there he was stayed in his devastating march towards the sea. The highways of the town were trodden by the militia and minute men on their way to oppose the British at Con- cord. The town's common land was their place of parade, and from its belfry sounded the call to arms.
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Thus the God of our fathers has blest us by giving such founders of our town, by bringing us safely forth from the vicissitudes and exposures and perils of two hundred and fifty years, and by the benign influences of the institutions that our ancestors established and maintained. From the faith of our fathers that was God-given, and that clung so closely to his Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, has come the prosperity, the integrity, the worth of our town, and the wholesomeness of its far-reaching influence. "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," should be our general acclaim ; and together with this devout ascription should be the culti- vation of a cherished purpose to maintain and perpetuate what of good the past has bequeathed. To do this requires the use of the same means which our ancestors employed in pro- curing this good, namely, a reliance on God and His word, a reverence for the Sabbath and love for His church. The Bible to our fathers in the wilderness was literally " the man of their counsel." By it they were led in their daily duties, comforted in the time of calamity, and strengthened in the hope of " a better country, that is, an heavenly." Next to the Author of all good we should bear in grateful remem- brance the privations and hardships endured by our ancestors. Our sunny hillsides and fields were cleared by their toil : let these be objects that quicken to gratitude. Let the places that are designated as historic be suggestive of their depriva- tions. As from the far-reaching and silent past survive the signs of its many changes, may we take knowledge that these are indicative of changes yet to be. It is a law of human destiny that one generation passeth away and another cometh. The old burial places were once new ; and the town's inhab- itants when they set them apart provided as they believed for a far-distant future. That future has come and gone, and they who looked forward to it have joined the silent proces- sion in their march to the city of the dead ; and among the moss-covered stones and monuments, strangers scan the in- scriptions for their names and fragmentary scraps of family history. The new cemeteries will one day be as the old, the resting-place of the generation that set them apart; and in the years that are yet to be, and which to some it may be are
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in a distant cloud-land, the stranger will look for and read other epitaphs, even those which tell of our history.
The paths we travel may be closed and new ones opened, which stranger feet will tread. New dwellings, new man- ners, and new men will be here, and we shall be "only remembered by what we have done." May we then so live that our lives will be associated with as much of good, our memories with as much affection, as those which we have been considering. It is the desire of the author that the record of the past, which is contained in this history, be helpful in this respect to ourselves, to our families, and to those who shall come after us.
ERRATA.
On page 15, read Edmund for Edward.
On page 22, line 20, read Massachusetts for Narragansetts. On page 34, line 30, read Goodnow for Haynes.
Pages 35 and 36. The farm of William Browne at Nob- scot was not the two hundred acres allowed him by special grant of the General Court and referred to on page 62, that land being situated at the north-west corner of the town.
On page 58, line 9, read south for north.
On page 70, line 17, read (W. by S.).
On page 116, line 16, read twenty-five for twenty.
On page 167, lines 2 and 3, read and an ancestor of Dr. Moore formerly president, etc.
On page 212, line 17, read Watertown for Weston.
On page 274, line 29, read Stow for Stowe.
On page 355, line 23, date wrong.
On page 389, line 37, read Fairbanks for Forbush.
On page 399, Haynes for Hamynes.
On page 409, line 5, read June 17th.
On page 487, line 38, read 1855 for 1857.
On page 494, line 28, read north-easterly for northerly ; line 31, read Noyes for Haynes.
On page 609, line 38, read horse for house.
On page 634, line 1, read between for below.
List of Illustrations, No. 6, read Brigham for Haynes.
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