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 19
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17 The birth of Isaac Walker is recorded in Woburn Town Book, as fol- lows : " Isaac, son of Samuel Walker Senr, born ye Ist. of 9th. mo : 1677." But here, it can hardly be doubted, there is a mistake of the clerk in writing " Senr" for "junr." He married, 20 Feb., 1704-5, Margery Bruce, of Woburn; and he, and his sons by her, Isaac, Jr., Ezekiel, and Timothy, were some time resident at Pennicook, now Concord, N. H. - Sce History of Concord, by Rev. Dr. Bouton.
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Precinct, February 7, 1762, and was appointed, 1798, by the elder President Adams, a Major-General, and commander of the army at Oxford, - the country then seeming to be in imminent danger of a war with France. Subsequently, he took a leading part in the measures adopted to procure a legal separation of his native village from Woburn; and, after it was incorporated as a town by the name of Burlington, in 1799, he ever exerted a powerful influence in the management of its affairs. He mar- ried, January 22, 1784, Miss Lucy, daughter of Mr. Jonathan Johnson, who was a descendant of the fourth generation from Capt. Edward Johnson, a principal founder of Woburn. He died, June 8, 1814, aged 53.
3. Hon. Timothy Walker of Charlestown, a brother of the General's, noted for his business talents and his wealth, and sometime a member of the Senate of this Commonwealth.
4. Rev. James Walker, D.D., a son of the General's; born in 1794; a graduate of Harvard University, 1814; several years pastor of the Unitarian Church of Charlestown; more recently the accomplished President of the University ; and since his resignation of that office, living honored and beloved in retirement.
5. Dr. William Johnson Walker, a son of Hon. Timothy Walker of Charlestown, was graduated at Harvard University, 1810; perfected his medical education in Europe ; and, upon his return to his native land, rose to high distinction by his skill and success as a physician and surgeon. He deceased lately in New- port, R. I., whither he had retired from the practice of his pro- fession.
II. Samuel, third son of the first Deacon Samuel Walker, was born January 25, 1667-8; married Judith Howard, June 1st, 1689 ; occupied many years a house upon Maple Meadow Plain in Goshen, now Wilmington; but, about 1725, he removed to a house, recently standing in the south part of Burlington, where he spent the residue of his days. In 1709, he was chosen a deacon of the First Church in Woburn. But, at the incorpora- tion, 1730, of the Second Precinet of Woburn, now Burlington, within the limits of which he then resided, he became of course a
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supporter of the public worship there, and aided in gathering the Precinct church, and in ordaining Rev. Supply Clap, its first pastor, October 29, 1735. He was one of the ten brethren (including the minister) who subscribed the " Articles of Agree- ment," and the " Church Covenant," adopted on that solemn occasion; and November 10th, following, he was chosen one of the first two deacons of that church. In this office, he con- tinued to serve till his death, which occurred September 28, 1744, in the 77th year of his age. A gravestone in Burlington Old Burial Ground marks the place of his interment. His wife, Judith, dying November 14, 1724, he married Mary, widow of Capt. James Fowle, who survived him. She died at Charlestown, October 23, 1748, æt. 80.
1. Capt. Samuel Walker, son of the second Deacon Samuel Walker and Judith, his wife, was born September 3, 1694; lived in the same house his father had lived in, upon Maple Meadow Plain, in Goshen, (so called) after his father had quitted it, about 1725; was a principal mover in the effort to procure the separation of Goshen from Woburn, and erecting it into a distinct town, which resulted successfully in the incorporation of Wilmington in 1730. By his wife, Hannah, he had twelve children, nine of whom died in less than two months, in 1738, of throat distemper. Capt. Walker died February 13, 1771; Hannah, his widow, died May 13, 1788, æt. 99.
2. Rev. Timothy Walker, son of the second Deacon Samuel Walker, and brother of the above Capt. Samuel Walker, was born within the present bounds of Wilmington, July 27, 1705; was graduated at Harvard College, 1725; was ordained first minister of Penacook, (afterwards Rumford, now Concord, N. H.) November 18, 1730; went three times to England, between 1753 and 1762, to appear before the King and Council, as Agent of the Proprietors of Rumford, in a controversy they had with the town of Bow; and died, universally loved and lamented by his people, September 1, 1782, in the 78th year of his age, and 52d of his ministry. His wife, Sarah, daughter of James Burbeen of Woburn, born June 17, 1701, died February 19, 1778, æt. 77, and lies buried by his side.
15*
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3. Hon. Timothy Walker, son of Rev. Timothy and Mrs. Sarah Walker, was born in Rumford, June 27, 1737; gradua- ted at Harvard College, 1756; licensed to preach, 1759; but after laboring in the sacred profession about six years, he relinquished it for civil life ; was a gentleman of great influence, and often employed both in town and State affairs ; accepted the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in New Hamp- shire, in 1777; was Chief Justice of that Court from 1804 to 1809 ; and died, May 5, 1822, in the 85th year of his age. By his wife Susanna, daughter of Rev. Joseph and Mrs. Esther Burbeen of Woburn, he had fourteen children, ten of whom lived to grow up.
4. Deacon Timothy Walker, son of Capt. Samuel Walker of Wilmington and Hannah his wife, born July 5, 1732, married, in 1758, Eunice, daughter of Joseph Brewster of Duxbury, who was a descendant of the third generation from Elder William Brewster of Plymouth in 1620; was chosen a deacon of the church of Wilmington, and died there May 9, 1809, æt. 77. Eunice, his widow, died June 2, 1815, at. 84 years.
5. Hon. Timothy Walker, a grandson of Deacon Timothy, and a son of Benjamin Walker, Esq. and Susanna (Cook) Walker his wife, was born in Wilmington, December 1, 1802, graduated at Harvard College, 1826; studied law ; settled as a lawyer in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was eventually promoted to be a Judge in one of the Courts of that State. He received from his Alma Mater, in 1854, the honorary degree of LL.D., and died in 1856.
6. Sears Cook Walker, brother of Hon. Timothy above named, and son of Benjamin, Esq. and Susanna (Cook) Walker of Wilmington, was born in Wilmington ; graduated at Harvard College, 1825; eminent on both sides the Atlantic for his scien- tific attainments, especially in Astronomy; and sometime employed by the Government of the United States in the Coast Survey. He resided, principally, it is believed at Philadelphia, and died in 1853.
Joseph Wright, Senr., was son of Deacon John Wright, one of the first settlers of Woburn, and a subscriber to the Town
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Orders, agreed upon at Charlestown, December 18, 1640; a Selectman of Woburn, 1645, and many years afterwards; one of the committee appointed by the General Court's Committee in 1668, for dividing the common lands "into proprieties," and a deacon of the church from 1664 till his death, June 21, 1688. His wife, Priscilla, died April 10, 1687. He left two sons, John and Joseph, born before the settlement of Woburn, and three daughters, Ruth, Deborah, and Sarah, born after. The deaths of his son John and wife are recorded as follows : "John Wright senr. died April 30. 1714 [aged 84 years : Gravestone] Abigail wife of John Wright died Apl. 6. 1726 [aged 84 years. G. S.]
Joseph Wright, third subscriber to the Declaration of the Church in 1703, is called in that Instrument Joseph Wright, Senr., in distinction from his own son, Joseph Wright, Jr., who was born March 14, 1667. Joseph Wright, Senr., was born before the settlement of Woburn in 1641, either at Charlestown, or possibly before his father, Deacon John Wright, had emigra- ted from England to this country. He married Elizabeth Hasell, November 1, 1661, by whom he had a numerous progeny. He was one of the Selectmen of Woburn 1670, 1673, 1692; and a deacon of the church as carly as 1698 (Town Records, Vol. III., p. 124), in which office he continued through life. His death and that of his wife are recorded as follows : "Elizabeth, wife of Dea. Joseph Wright, dicd June 28, 1713." " Deacon Joseph Wright died 31 March 1724."
In December 1671, Joseph Wright, Senr., was presented by the Grand Jury, with his brother John and six others, to the court sitting at Charlestown, for withdrawing from the com- munion of the church of Woburn, of which they all were mem- bers, and for favoring in other ways the sentiments and practices of the Baptists. But, subsequently, being convinced that he had been in an error, he became reconciled to the church of Woburn, accepted the office of a deacon in it, and subscribed the " Decla- ration " made by it, which is decidedly Pædobaptist, in 1703.
James Convers, Senr., familiarly distinguished in the Town Records as Ensign or Lieutenant Convers, and whose name stands next to that of Deacon Wright among the subscribers to
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the above cited " Declaration," was born in England. He came to this country with his father, Deacon Edward Convers, in the fleet which conveyed Governor Winthrop, in 1630; sat down first at Charlestown; and thence removed to Woburn, among its earliest settlers, in 1641. He married, October 24, 1643, Anna Long,18 daughter of Robert Long, of Charlestown, by whom he he had ten children. Through a long life, he was a very valuable and highly esteemed citizen; was repeatedly honored by the town with the principal offices which it had to confer; and sur- viving his son, the Major, he died, May 10, 1715, aged 95 years.19 In his will, dated August 28, 1712, he bequeathed as follows: " To my Reverend Pastor, Mr John Fox, twenty shillings; and to the church of Christ in Woburn, twenty shil- lings to purchase a large flagon withall." The twenty last years of his life were spent in retirement. But he was not one who under any circumstances could live without care or concern for the good of others. As indicative of this, the following anec- dote respecting him seems worth preserving. As Hon. Judge Sewall was once journeying homeward from Newbury to Boston, he took the road through Andover and Woburn, then adjoining towns. His passage through Woburn he notices in his Diary thus : "1702 August 12 .- Right [Wright] conducts me to Wooburn through the Land of Nod [in which he was largely interested]. This is ye first time I have seen it. Got late to Fowl's at Wooburn : Sick there, which made me uneasy. Aug. 13. Visit Mr Fox. View ye Hop-yards. Come home : very hot. Met Mr Converse the Father, & discours'd him under a Shady Tree. Won't give his Grandchildren till after his death, for fear of giving offence. Express'd his Grief that Gov' Dud- ley put men in place that were not good."
In this brief extract from the authentic record above referred to, it is strongly intimated that Woburn, the mother, was once as much noted for that now neglected branch of husbandry, the raising of hops, as her daughters, Goshen or Wilmington, and Shawshin or Burlington, have been in recent times. The
18 Woburn Records of Births, etc.
19 Gravestone.
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" shady tree," likewise there named, was doubtless the far-famed Woburn Elm, which stood near the Convers Mill, in what is now Winchester, and not far from the original house of the Convers family.20 Beneath the wide spread limbs of that lofty tree, upon some block at its foot, methinks I see those venerable Puritans discussing in a friendly manner some knotty point of divinity ; or discoursing with solicitude upon matters which con- cerned the welfare of their families, or of this, their adopted country ; glancing in their conversation, every now and then, with a sigh at that better country, the heavenly Canaan, the longed-for land of every genuine Puritan, as his final abode, the land of his everlasting rest above.
William Lock, Sen., fifth subscriber to the Declaration, was brought to New England, 1635, on board the " Planter," from London, by Nicholas Davis, who, it is believed, was his uncle. He was then a child of but six years old, and was probably born at London, December 13, 1728; seems to have lived at first at Charlestown; came carly to Woburn, after its settlement ; married Mary, daughter of William Clark, of Watertown, November 27, 1655, by whom he had nine children, one of whom (the first) died in infancy ; lived near to Kendall's Mill, in Woburn, on the spot where the late Capt. Wil iam Fox had his dwelling; was of the Board of Selectmen, 1687, 1696; was a deacon of the Church in 1700; and died June 16, 1720. His wife, Mary, died before him, July 18, 1715.
His descendants in Woburn, Lexington, and West Cam- bridge, have been very numerous. Among them was Rev. Samuel Locke, D.D., President of Harvard College. He was the son of Samuel Lock (a grandson of Deacon William) and of Rebecca Lock, his wife; was born at Woburn,21 November 23,
20 This elm stood in the front yard of Deacon Benjamin F. Thompson, a few steps after crossing the railroad in Winchester, upon the left hand side of the road leading to Medford, and was cut down by that gentleman, (he once told me) some twenty years ago [1866].
21 Biglow, in his History of Sherborn, claims him to have been a native of Lancaster. But Woburn Records of Births, Marriages, etc., state that his father and mother at marriage were both of Woburn, and record the birth of this their son Samuel, and the births of four other of their chil- dren, as occurring in the same town.
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1731; gradnated at Harvard College, 1755; ordained pastor of the church in Sherborn, November 7, 1759; installed Presi- dent of the University, March 21, 1770; resigned that office December 1, 1773; removed back to Sherborn, and there died suddenly of apoplexy, January 15, 1778.22
James Convers, Jr., the last of those worthies, who subscribed the above Declaration of the church of Woburn in 1703, and familiarly known in his day as Maj. James Convers, was the eldest son of James Convers, Senr., and was born in Woburn November 16, 1645. He was a gentleman that, for a succes- sion of years, appears to have faithfully and acceptably dis- charged various civil trusts reposed in him by the town.
But he is most celebrated for his services to his country in the military line, and especially for his gallant defence of Storer's garrison at Wells, during the war against the French and East- ern Indians, which began in 1688, and has been called, "The Ten Years War." That exploit of Major (then Captain) Con- vers, is spoken of, both by Hutchinson and by Belknap in their respective Histories, in terms of commendation.23 Mather also, in his History of this War, entitled " Decennium Luctuosum," gives a minute and interesting account of this celebrated action, and as it is highly creditable to this distinguished son of Woburn, an abridgment of it may not improbably be gratifying to the citizens of Woburn at the present day.
It seems that on November 29, 1690, six Indian sachems had agreed at Sagadahock with Capt. John Alden upon a truce till the first day of May 1691, on which day they promised to bring all the English captives in their hands into Lieut. Storer's house at Wells, and there conclude upon terms of a firm and lasting peace.
Accordingly, on the day appointed, Deputy Governor Dan-
n Woburn Records, Savage's Genealogienl Register, Biglow's History.
23 Hutchinson's History, Vol. II., pp. 67, 68, 72. Belknap's History of New Hampshire, p. 135. " But on the tenth day of June, [1691] an army of French and Indians made a furious attack on Storer's garrison at Wells, where Capt. Convers commanded ; who, after a brave and resolute defence, was so happy as to drive them off with great loss."
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forth and certain other gentlemen came from Boston to Wells, suitably guarded, expecting the fulfilment of this engagement by the Indians. But, as Mather expresses it, " the Indians being poor musicians for keeping of time," Capt. Convers went out, and returned with some of them, who brought in six English cap- tives in company, and promised "that in twenty days more they would bring in to Capt. Convers all the rest." After waiting for the Indians beyond the term agreed upon, the Deputy Governor and company withdrew ; and Capt. Convers, suspecting treach- ery, made carnest application to the County of Essex for help to be sent him as speedily as possible; and received from that quarter thirty-five men. This providential reenforcement saved the place. For scarcely half an hour had elapsed from their entering Storer's house on June 9, 1691, before Moxus, a fierce sachem, beset it, with two hundred Indians. But, receiving a brave repulse from the garrison within, he became discouraged and drew off. This gave occasion to Madockawando, another noted Indian sachem, and a virulent foe to the English, to say, as was afterwards reported, "My brother Moxus has miss'd it now; but I will go myself the next year, and have the dog Con- vers out of his hole." The event proved that this was no empty threat; that Madockawando meant as he said. For, on June 10, 1692, just a year and a day from the time that Moxus commenced his attack on the garrison of Wells the year before, the cattle of that place came suddenly home from the woods affrighted, and some of them wounded. Warned by this infalli- ble sign that Indians were nigh, the inhabitants of the place fled for refuge to the garrison house ; and the next morning, an army of French and Indians, from 300 to 500 in number, commanded by Labocree, a Frenchman, and under him, by Moxus, Madock- awando, Egeremet, and other Indian sachems, was discovered lurking around. To defend himself against this host, Capt. Convers had only fifteen men in the garrison, and as many more aboard of two sloops and a shallop in the river hard by, which had recently arrived from Boston with ammunition for the soldiers, and a contribution of supplies for the impoverished inhabitants of that vicinity. So weak and contemptible did the
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Indians account these few opponents, and so sure were they of victory, that one of the first things they did after their arrival was to agree upon a division among themselves of the prisoners and of the spoils.
They then made a violent assault upon the garrison. But meeting there a hot reception, and having no cannon, they were glad to leave it for that time, and try their efforts upon the sloops. So narrow was the river or inlet where these lay, that the enemy could approach them within twelve yards of the land ; and from hence, behind a pile of plank, and a haystack fortified with posts and rails, they discharged their volleys upon them. By means, too, of fire arrows, they succeeded several times in setting the sloops on fire. But the sailors, " with a swab at the end of a rope tied to a pole, and so dipt into the water," con- trived to extinguish the spreading flames; and, encouraged by their resolute commander, Lieutenant Storer, they made such stout resistance, that before night their assailants, disappointed, withdrew. But they soon returned, to try the effect of strata- gem and threatening. In the course of the night, they inquired of the men on board the sloops, Who were their commanders ? And being answered, "We have many commanders," the Indians replied, " You lie; you have none but Converse, and we will have him too before morning." But morning arrived, and found Convers still alive and well within the walls of Storer's house. On that morning, by daylight, the Indians commenced prepara- tions for another assault upon the garrison. They began to march towards it in a body, with great display; and so terrific was their appearance, that one of the garrison ventured to sug- gest the expedieney of a surrender. But Captain Convers, rendered indignant by such a proposal, " vehemently protested that he would lay the man dead who should so much as mut- ter that base word any more." When the Indians had come within a short distance from the garrison, they raised a shout that caused the earth to ring: and crying out in English, " Fire, and fall on, brave boys," they all, being drawn into three ranks, fired in a body at once.
But, violent as this onset was, Capt. Convers was prepared to
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meet it. His men were all ready, waiting his commands; and the female inhabitants of the town, who had fled to the garrison for protection at the approach of the enemy, were not only active in handing ammunition to the men, but several armed themselves with muskets, and discharged them. Capt. Convers had given orders to his men to refrain from firing till they could do it to most advantage; and, when they came to discharge their artillery at his word, such was the execution done, that many of the enemy were swept down before them, and many others were constrained to flec. Baffled in this, their second attack upon the garrison, the enemy now renewed their attempts upon the sloops. They constructed a raft, eighteen or twenty feet square, which they loaded with combustible mate- rials, and then towing it as near as they dared, set fire to it, and left it for the tide to float it towards the sloops. And now the men on board, perceiving their imminent danger of perish- ing by fire, commended themselves to God for help. And suddenly, it is recorded, the wind shifted, and the raft was driven upon the opposite shore, and so much split as to let in water, with which the fire was quenched. By this time, the enemy's ammunition was nearly exhausted, and numbers of them disheartened with their ill success, began to draw off. The rest, after some consultation, thought best to send a flag of truce towards the garrison advising them to surrender. But Capt. Convers sent them word, that "he wanted nothing but for men to come and fight him." The Indians replied, " Being you are so stout, why don't you come and fight in the open field, like a man, and not fight in a garrison like a Squaw ?" The Captain rejoined, " What a fool are you! do you think thirty men a match for five hundred ? No : come with your thirty men upon the plain, and I'le meet you with my thirty as soon as you will." Upon this, the Indian answered, "Nay, mee own, English fashion is all one fool; you kill mee, mee kill you ! No : better ly somewhere, and shoot a man, and he no see; that the best soldier !"
With this, the Indian enemy, from daring Capt. Convers, had recourse to conring and flattery. But, finding him too wise to
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trust the promises of insidious foes, and that all their devices to induce him to surrender, or to draw him from his stronghold, were ineffectual, they were thrown into a rage, and with a horrid imprecation declared, " We'll cut you as small as tobacco before to-morrow morning." But the only reply which the intrepid captain made to this vaporing threat, was, " to bid them come on ; for he wanted work." The enemy themselves, notwithstand- ing their boast what they would do with him, came near him no more. Having now continued before the garrison and in its neighborhood forty-eight hours, and been disappointed in all their confident expectations, and defeated in all their efforts to get the dog Convers (as they had called him) and his men into their power, they first wreaked their vengeance upon all the cat- tle they could light upon, and cruelly tortured to death a poor unhappy captive they had taken on the morning they came to Wells, and then marched off, leaving some of their dead behind them, Labocree, their commander-in-chief, among the rest; thus giving cause of joy and thanksgiving unto God to the garrison, and to the country at large, for so wonderful a deliverance.
For this, his brave and successful action, Captain Convers was promoted the following year, by Governor Phipps, to the rank of a Major, and appointed to the command of all the Massa- chusetts forces then in Maine. Here, and in the Legislature, he still continued to serve his country during the remainder of the war: and shared at last in the honor of bringing it to an end. Towards the close of the year 1698, he and Colonel John Phillips, a member of the Council of the Province, with Captain Cyprian Southack, commander of the Province Galley, sailed from Boston for the Eastern country, intrusted by the Govern- ment with full powers for effecting a peace with the Indians. Proceeding to Casco Bay, they there met with the leading Indian sachems, and persuaded them, January 7, 1699, to accede to and solemnly subscribe a treaty, which was the same, in the main, with the one they had entered into at Pemaquid, but which they had broken, as they alleged, through the persua- sion of the French. Peace had, previously to this, been made with the French by the treaty of Ryswiek, 1697.
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