USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Woburn > The history of Woburn, Middlesex County, Mass. from the grant of its territory to Charlestown, in 1640, to the year 1680 > Part 18
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John Russell, Jr., was ordained, as successor of Elder Gould, to the pastoral charge of the First Baptist Church in Boston, July 28, 1679. At the same time, he removed his residence from Woburn to Boston, according to the historian of the Baptists, with whose statement on this point Woburn Records do well agree. For these, while they record the births of John Russell, Jr.'s children till January 1677-8, and his taxes in Woburn till December 1679, the year of his removal to Boston, make no mention of him afterwards, though they record the death of his widow, Sarah, April 25, 1696; who, it seems, after the death of her husband, removed back from Boston to Woburn. At Boston, Elder. Russell appears to have been a zealous and successful laborer in his sacred office; but he was not permitted to continue in it long, being taken away by death, December 24, 1680. Concerning him, Rev. Isaac Backus, the
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historian of the Baptists, observes, " It is evident, that the gifts and graces of Elder Russell were not small; and his memory is precious."
During the short period Elder Russell was in office, he wrote a treatise in answer to some harsh reflections upon the Baptists, contained in a then recent publication of Rev. Dr. Increase Mather, asserting " The divine right of Infant Baptism." This answer was entitled " A brief Narrative of some considerable passages concerning the first gathering and further progress of a church of Christ in Gospel order, in Boston in New England," etc. It was " dated from Boston the 20th. of May 1680"; and, being approved by his church, it was sent, for publication, to London, where a preface to it was written by seven noted Baptist ministers of that day.
The descendants of Elder John Russell, Senr., who continued in Woburn, scem not to have retained his peculiar sentiments as a Baptist, but to have been of the Congregational persuasion ; and when the town was divided into two parishes in 1730, John Russell, his great grandson, was the first Clerk of the First Con- gregational Parish in Woburn, and also Parish Treasurer and a Parish Assessor for several years in succession. But a grand- daughter of Elder Russell, Senr., by his daughter, Mary Brooks, wife of Timothy Brooks of Woburn, was married at Swansea to a gentleman by the name of Mason, by whom she had three sons, Job, Russell, and John Mason, all of whom were esteemed preachers of the Baptist denomination in their day.
In reverting briefly to the civil prosecutions of the Baptists in Woburn above cited, it cannot but be deeply regretted by all who venerate the memory of our pious ancestors, that they should have resorted to the measures they did in this matter. As we view it at this distant day, it would seem that sound policy, as well as consistency with their own professed princi- ples, dictated a far more liberal course. For what had these men done, that they should be compelled to answer for their conduct before the judicial tribunals of the country, and there be admonished as evil doers, fined, and one of them eventually sentenced to imprisonment ? Had they committed any flagrant
14*
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crime ? This is not pretended. Had they been chargeable with factions, seditious conduct, by which the peace of the community was infringed, or the public safety endangered ? There appears but little or no sound foundation for such an allegation as this. The charge against them, which looks most like a civil misde- meanor, is that of turning their backs in God's house at the administration of infant baptism. This charge, all of them who were presented for it, confessed in Court; and I cannot help thinking, that even our candid Baptist brethren of the present day must own that they were blamable for this, as being a sort of rude, irreverent behavior, very unseemly for the time and place, which faithfulness to their principles did not require them to show, and which was calculated to give needless offence to their pious Pædobaptist brethren; and so was in this view a species of wilful disturbance of public worship. For if this were a right and becoming way of manifesting their conscientious scruples about, or rejection of an ordinance, which the great majority of their fellow-worshippers were equally conscientious in obserring, then some similar method might be properly taken to express our dislike of, or objections against something which might be said in prayer or preaching; and in such case, what scenes of disorder and confusion might our churches be rendered by something exhibited to the eye only, without any help from the voice or the foot ? Even this fault, however, seems quite as proper a subject for animadversion from the pulpit, as before a tribunal of justice. And as to all the other charges for which the first Baptists in Woburn were presented to the Court, I am free to express my apprehensions, that there was more wrong done to them than by them. For absenting themselves from Commu- nion, they were rightfully answerable, not to the civil authorities, but to the church of Woburn, of which they were members. And as to the accusations against them and others of their day, that they had withdrawn from the established public worship, and gathered themselves into conventicles and churches which were without, or against the allowance of the civil government ; what had they done in all this, but what our Puritan ancestors had done themselves, or had pleaded for the right of doing,
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or bitterly complained of as an infringement of the rights of conscience, whenever against their own persuasion of what was right they were forcibly prevented from doing, in their mother country ? Consistency, then, required them to show the same tender indulgence to the consciences of their dissenting brethren here, that they had pleaded or claimed should be shown to themselves by the bishops and church officials at home. For otherwise, how could they fulfil the law of love, -to do unto others, as they would have others do to them ?
But while we cannot justify our ancestors in their proceedings against the early Baptists in Woburn, it behoves us in equity to moderate our censures, and to make all those allowances for them, which a due regard to their general character, and to the peculiar opinions and customs of those times demands. A large proportion of the magistrates, ministers and other leading men of that day were indeed among the excellent of the earth, men to whose pious care and benevolent exertions, not only their own, but all succeeding generations have been largely indebted. The sin of persecution, which has been often alleged against them, is not one which lies particularly against them, but was a sin of the times in which they lived. The rights of free inquiry, and of liberty of conscience, are matters which were then at best, but imperfectly understood; and a persuasion was almost universally prevalent of the necessity of uniformity in religious faith and worship in order to the public weal, and of the right and duty of the civil magistrate to maintain it by force. These two principles, understood in the extent to which they were formerly carried, are now generally and justly regarded as erro- neous. Still, they were embraced by the civil fathers of Massa- chusetts with all sincerity. And from the practical influence of these principles upon their minds and measures, rather than from an inhuman, persecuting spirit, proceeded all their rigorous laws and hard dealings towards those who dissented from them in some particulars of their faith and practice. In passing those laws, they seem to have aimed at the purity of the churches, and the maintenance in them of truth and peace; and in the execution of those laws, while the edge of them was severely felt, not only
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by Baptists, but by Episcopalians, Quakers, and by some individuals even of their own denomination, the magistrates who put them in force, appear all the while never to have been sensible that they were violating the rights of conscience, but to have been persuaded that they were only hearing that testimony to the truth, which they were in duty bound to manifest, and by the neglect of doing which, they would not only incur the judgments of heaven themselves, but bring ruin upon the country which they were set to defend and govern. As the renowned father of Woburn, Capt. Edward Johnson, observes in his " Wonder-work- ing Providence," concerning the immediate predecessors of the rulers referred to; "To them it seems unreasonable, and to savour too much of hypocrisy, that any people should pray unto the Lord for the speedy accomplishment of his word in the over- throw of Antichrist, and in the mean time become a patron to sinful opinions and damnable errors that oppose the truths of Christ, admit it be, but in the bare permission of them."
But here lay the error of our pious ancestors and rulers in former days. All men, whether rulers or subjects, are bound to study, and seek after, and embrace and obey the truth of God themselves, and in their several places, and according to their several abilities and opportunities, to promote the reception of it by others. This is the best way of bearing testimony to the truth. But the Word of God nowhere authorizes rulers to employ the sword of persecution or civil force to compel men to believe, profess and follow its sacred dictates. The only sword that is lawful to be used in the Christian warfare against error and sin is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. All other weapons are only carnal weapons, which are strictly for- bidden to be employed, even in defence of the truth. While, then, we admire and honor our ancestors for their many virtues and great excellences, let us not be blind to their faults, or attempt to justify or excuse them. Nor let us be so unjust to them ourselves as to condemn them without measure, after the manner of some, but candidly consider the numerous circum- stances which palliate their failings, and willingly allow them all the weight that is their due.
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Three years from the date of the memorable Declaration of the Church, in 1703, had but just elapsed, when three of those who subscribed it, viz, Deacon Walker, Major Johnson and Major Convers, had finished their course; so that their subserip- tion to it may with reason be regarded as their dying testimony to the faith and order of the Church of Woburn at that day. And as these gentlemen, as likewise the three subscribers who survived them, were all men of great respectability and useful- ness, a brief particular notice of each of them here may not be unacceptable.
William Johnson, Esq., whose name stands at the head of these worthies in their subscription to the Declaration, was the third son of Capt. Edward Johnson, one of the principal founders of the town and church of Woburn. He was born in England about 1630; was brought to New England, when a child, by his father, together with his mother Susanna and six other children of the family, in 1637; and removed with him, in 1641, from Charlestown, his first place of abode on this side of the Atlan- tic, to Woburn, where he continued to reside the rest of his days in usefulness and honor.
His public spirit and talent for business were early discerned by his fellow-citizens, who duly noticed and availed themselves of them. He was chosen one of the Selectmen in 1664, and again in 1672, and each following year in succession, till 1688. That year, also, he was chosen Selectman at the usual time under the Old Charter; but the choice on that day not being allowed to stand by the arbitrary government of Sir Edmund Andros, he appears to have declined a re-election on the day appointed by the Governor and Council for making a new choice; pre- ferring a private station to holding office under the control of a power that was so openly hostile to the liberties of the people.
Shortly before the death of his father, in 1672, he was chosen to succeed him as Recorder or Town Clerk; an office which he held without interruption till 1688, in which year Lieutenant (afterwards Major) Convers was elected. His father had been constantly Town Clerk from the beginning of the town, in 1640, till the year of his death; so that the whole term during
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which the father and son served the town, in this capacity, was forty-eight years.
He represented the town in the General Court in 1674; and again, eight years in succession, from 1676 till 1683 inclusively, either alone or associated with Humphrey Davic, Esq., of Boston, or with his distinguished townsman, Ensign James Convers.
In 1684, and the two following years, he was chosen one of the Board of Assistants, which, under the First Charter, was not only the Senate of the Colony, but the Supreme Court of Judica- ture. But the Colonial Government, being superseded, in 1686, by a President and Council, and quickly after, by a Governor and Council of the King's appointment, Major Johnson lived in retirement till the deposition of the Governor, Sir Edmund Andros, at the insurrection of the people in April 1689. At this interesting crisis, he was associated with other leading men in the community as a " Council for the safety of the people and conservation of the peace:" 14 and the old government, being shortly after revived, till a new charter could be obtained of King William, and the government orderly re-settled under it, he resumed his seat at the Board of Assistants, which had been vacated three years before. For his strong attachment to the Old Charter, and his expected opposition to the New, his name was dropped from the List of Councillors appointed by the Crown in the Provincial Charter in 1691. From this time, the part he took in the management of the public affairs of the coun- try appears to have ceased. But the town of Woburn continued, on various occasions, and in various ways, to enjoy the benefit of his experience and services, till his death ; which took place, after several months confinement, May 22, 1704.
Like his father before him, Major Johnson was eminently skilful in surveying; and of the numerous grants and extensive divisions of the common lands in the town, which were made during the first sixty years from its incorporation, there were but few which one or the other of these gentlemen was not employed to lay out. He was also the largest proprietor of
14 Hutchinson's Illstory of Massachusetts, Vol. I., pp. 381-2.
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land in the town, excepting the brothers, John and Francis Wyman, in his day. In the Town Records, his homestead (situate in " Plain Street," near what has been recently known as Mr. Edmund Parker's farm) and seventy other distinct tracts of land, containing nine hundred acres in all, obtained, some by purchase, and some by inheritance or by grant from the town, are recorded as his. A considerable portion of this great landed estate lay in the northwesterly part of the town, and was eventually settled upon and improved by his children and grandchildren, who were among the principal founders and inhabitants of the Second Precinct, or Burlington.
Major Johnson was highly esteemed for his wisdom and pru- dence as a magistrate. Tradition relates that several persons were brought before him for examination, accused of witchcraft, probably in 1692, the year of the general delusion on this sub- ject. Papers containing an account of these examinations are said, on good authority, to have been once in the hands of his descendants. These documents are now lost. But as none belonging to Woburn appear to have been arraigned and prose- cuted before the Court on this charge, it may be safely inferred that he had penetration enough to discern the imposture or pre- vailing error in this affair, and refused to commit the accused for trial.
He was distinguished for his undeviating attachment to the Old or Colony Charter, under which the people had enjoyed the right of choosing their own Governor, and other privileges of which they were very tenacious, but which had been con- demned, and declared forfeited to the Crown in 1684. Like Cooke, Wiswall, Oakes, and other noted public men of that day, he was for insisting on that charter, or none; expecting proba- bly, that by resolutely refusing to accept from the King any other charter, the people would eventually succeed in obtaining the restoration of the old one. 15 In this expectation, he was disappointed. And by his unwillingness to acknowledge and submit to the government by a President and Council, which
15 Hutchinson's History, Vol. I., p. 414.
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immediately succeeded the Old Charter Government, he not only lost his former influence in the direction of public affairs, but was once in danger of being deprived of his personal liberty. On this subject, Judge Sewall, a friend of his, and an associate under the Old Government, thus writes in his Diary :
" 1686 July 30. About this time, William Johnson Esq. is sharply reproved by the Council for his carriage on the Fast day, staying at home himself, and having a Dozen Men at his House : Told him must take ye Oath of Allegiance : he desired an hour's consideration ; then said he could not take it : but when his Mitti- mus writing or written, he consider'd again, and took it rather than goe to Prison. Objected against that Clause of acknowledging that to be Lawfull Authority which administered ; would see the Seals."
Major Johnson was a professed Christian, and a member of the church of Woburn; and his life appears to have been answerable to his holy profession. In principle, he was a strict Orthodox Congregationalist, as is evident from his subcription to the Declaration of the Church, so often referred to. In his Will, dated May 10, 1695, he distinctly recognizes the doctrine of the Sacred Trinity ; and, after making distribution therein of his worldly estate, he concludes with the following pious exhor- tation : " And thus haveing finished my Will, I doc exort and require all my children to live in peace one with another; and above all, [that] they honor and love the God of their father and grandfather, and to walk in their stepps, so farr as they have walked aright with God; and then I pray the God of love and grace [peace ?] be with you all, Amen."
By his wife, Esther (daughter of Thomas Wiswall, ruling elder of the church of Newton), whom he married May 16, 1655, Major Johnson had nine children, viz : six sons, William, Edward, Ebenezer, Joseph, Benjamin and Josiah; and three daughters : viz, Esther, Susanna and Abigail. Esther was mar- ried to Seth Wyman, and became the mother of Lieutenant, afterwards Captain, Seth Wyman, who distinguished himself at Lovewell's Fight. Abigail was married to Samuel Peirce. Wil- liam, the eldest son, appears to have been at first a shipwright in
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Charlestown, and, after his father's death, to have lived on the homestead in Woburn with his mother, agreeably to a codicil to his father's will. The other five sons all resided in that part of the town which afterwards became the Second Precinct; and among them and their children were found some who were zeal- ous movers for the separation of that parish from the first, and principal supporters of public worship in it.
Deacon Samuel Walker, who was the second to sign the fore- going Declaration, and the direct ancestor of the family of his name, which, springing from this town, has been honorably dis- tinguished in all generations by the attainments and public ser- vices of many of its members, both near and far off from their original seat, was the eldest son of Samuel Walker, Senr., of Woburn.
John Farmer, Esq., in his Genealogical Register, supposes that this Samuel Walker, Senr., was a son of Augustine Walker, of Charlestown, who had a son Samuel, born in 1642. And this hypothesis of Farmer has been adopted by several others on this point. But a decisive objection to this theory is that Samuel Walker, Senr., of Woburn was a much older man than Samuel, son of Augustine, of Charlestown; being, by a testi- mony he gave in at Court, December 28, 1658, forty-three years of age at that time.16 This gentleman may on very plausible grounds be concluded to be a son of Capt. Richard Walker, who was one of the first settlers of Lynn in 1630, was made free- man of the colony, 1634, was chosen ensign of the military company of that town, March 1636-7, and afterwards succes- sively its lieutenant and captain; and was elected, 1640; 1641, and again in 1648, 1649, the Deputy of Lynn to the General Court. He died in May 1687, aged ninety-five years; and his burial is briefly noticed by Judge Sewall in his Diary as follows : " Monday May 16, 1687, I go to Reading, and visit Mr Brock ; and so to Salem. This day, Capt. Walker, a very aged Planter, buried at Lin." Besides two daughters, Capt. Walker had two sons, Richard and Samuel, both inhabitants of Reading.
16 Thomas B. Wyman, Esq., from Court files.
15
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Samuel Walker, Senr., of Woburn, presumed above to have been the son of Capt. Richard Walker of Lynn, was born in England ; accompanied his father to New England, 1630; and after residing with him a while at Lynn, he removed with his brother Richard to Reading, originally Lynn Village; and thence he subsequently appears, for some reasons, to have removed once more, and to have permanently established himself in Woburn, the adjoining town. He is first mentioned as an inhabitant of Woburn in its Records, at the annual election of town officers, February 25th, 1661-2, when he was appointed a Surveyor of Highways for that year. By occupation, he was a maltster; and was approved by the Selectmen, 1675, in order to obtaining a license for keeping tavern, being the first person known to have followed that business in Woburn. He appears to have been much respected in his day; being chosen Select- man in 1668, and appointed by the town the year before on a very important Committee for taking " a List of the persons and estates of the right Proprictors ", among whom, it had been voted to divide a large portion of the common lands of the town. He died November 6th, 1684; when, agreeably to a testimony given by him in Court, and referred to above, he must have been in the 69th or 70th year of his age.
His children (the given name of his wife is unknown) were Samuel, Jr., Israel, and probably Jolin, Senr., of Woburn ; Han- nah wife of James, son of Simon Thompson of Woburn; and Joseph Walker of Billerica.
Samuel Walker, Jr., his son (distinguished likewise in Woburn Records successively by the titles of Corporal, Sergeant, and Deacon Walker), was the second subscriber to the memorable " Declaration " of the church of Woburn above cited, and a gen- tleman of note and influence in his day. He was Selectman in 1679, and served the town in that office repeatedly afterwards. He was a member of the Convention of the Colony, which met in Boston 1689, upon the deposition of the governor, Sir Ed- mund Andros; and after the establishment of the government under the Provincial Charter of 1691, he represented Woburn in the General Court, 1694. About 1692, he was chosen a
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deacon of the church of Woburn, an office which he seems to have retained through life. He died, January 18, 1703-4, aged 61 years.
Deacon Walker married, for his first wife, Sarah "Read," [Reed] of Woburn, 10th September, (or, as the County Records have it, 23d October,) 1662. By her, he had six sons : Edward, John, Samuel, Timothy, Isaac,17 and Ezekiel; and one daughter, Sarah, married, January 12, 1686, [1686-7] to Edward, son of Major William Johnson. His wife, Sarah, dying Novem- ber 1, 1681, he married, for his second wife, April 18, 1692, Abigail, widow of Licut. James Fowle of Woburn : but by her he had no issue.
Among the descendants of Deacon Walker, there have been in all generations numerous individuals useful and respected in their day, and some of them, prominent members of society by their influence, publie services, and high standing in the communi- ties in which they have lived. Of this latter description, in the line of John, the second son of Deacon Walker, may be named,
I. 1. Mr. Edward Walker, son of John, born October 7, 1694; lived on his father's place (as did after him, his son Josiah, and his grandson Josiah, both reputable farmers in their day); married Esther Peirce, March 31, 1718, represented Woburn in the General Court 1745, 1751, '52, '53, '54; and was so highly esteemed by his fellow citizens for his integrity and soundness of judgment, that it was customary to prefix Mr. to his name, an honor rarely conferred in Woburn at that day. He died December 6, 1787, at the advanced age of 93 years. His wife died before him, September 23, 1761, aged 65 years.
2. General John Walker, a grandson of Edward, above named, and a son of Capt. Joshua Walker. He was born in Woburn
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