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 33
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Mr. Fox married Mary, daughter of Hon. Edward Tyng, (one of Sir Edmund Andros' Council, 1687) who having been appointed Governor of Annapolis, in Nova Scotia, "was cap- tured by the French in his passage to that place, carried into France, and there died. Mrs. Fox survived her husband; and died in Woburn February 1764." Their children were,
1. John, born 13 February, 1703 [1703-4]; "who in carly life went to Ireland to live with a wealthy relative."
2. Jabez, born 25 May, 1705, graduated at Harvard College, 1727; studied theology, and commenced preaching; but, on ac- count of feeble health, relinquished his profession ; settled at Falmouth [Portland], where he spent an honorable and useful life, and was for a number of years a member of the Provincial Council of Massachusetts. He died 7 April, 1755, in the fif- tieth year of his age. Anna, his first wife, died and was buried at Woburn, Angust 5, 1746, aged forty-five years. For a second wife, he married Ann, widow of Phinchas Jones, who died June 9, 1758, aged forty-three.
3. Mary, born 26 October, 1706 : married to Rev. Hebijah Weld, of Attleborough, October 17, 1728.
4. Edward, born 26 October, 1708: lost at sea, in his pas- sage to England.
5. Thomas, born 7 April, 1711 ; a goldsmith at Boston.
6. Judith, born 10 August, 1712; married to Rev. Nathan Stone, of Southborough, October 31, 1734, being his second wife.
7. Jonathan, born 26 March, 1716 : married to Ruth Carter, August 17, 1737; lived and died at Woburn, where he was known as Col. Jonathan Fox.5
5 Woburn Town Records. Woburn Records of Birtha, etc. Allen's Epitapha, Vol. I., No. 238, and Vol. II., No. 321. Rev. Joseph Green's Diary, In Collections of William Gibbs, Kaq.
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HISTORY OF WOBURN.
Shortly after the death of Rev. Mr. Jackson, in 1754, and before that of Rev. Mr. Fox, in 1756, an effort was commenced to re-unite the Third Religious Society in Woburn with the First, which eventually proved successful. As the unhappy differences between those reverend gentlemen and their respective partisans had led to the establishment of the Third Society, so at the death of Rev. Mr. Jackson, one main reason for its con- tinuance was removed. Accordingly, at a legal meeting of the First Parish on Monday, April 14, 1755, Dea. Samuel Eames, Lient. William Tay, Mr. Josiah Johnson, Mr. Oliver Richardson and Mr. Isaac Snow were chosen a committee to treat with a committee of the Third Parish on the subject of a re-union with the First. This committee of the First Parish reported, after an adjournment of one hour, that " the Third Parish say they are willing to unite with the First." Whereupon it was voted by the First Parish, " that they stand ready and willing (upon their desire) to receive the Third Parish into union upon reasonable & equitable terms: and desire their disposition thereunto in the like manner." And at a subsequent meeting of the Third Parish, April 28, 1755, they voted that they were " willing and desirous to unite with the First Parish in said Town on such terms as the said Parishes shall agree on." But though both parties were thus ready to signify, that a re-union would be acceptable to them, yet it was found very difficult to agree on the precise terms. At an adjourned meeting of the First Parish, May 21, 1755, they voted the following proposal to the Third, viz: That they will let the "Third Parish in Woburn come into their new Meeting House in common with them, in case they will first pay their full proportion of cost of building their new Meeting House : allowing those persons to hold their pews and seats that will not give them up: provided other grievances shall be removed and satisfied." On the other hand, the Third Parish, at a meeting on the same day with the above, passed the following vote. "May 21, [1755] Voted in the Third Parish in Woburn, that they stand ready and willing to pay their just proportion (with the First Parish in said Town) of what the new Meeting House is worth : Provided
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they can come into said House upon an equal right with the First Parish : and in case the Parishes cannot agree on what the said House is worth, they are willing to leave the matter to men mutually chosen.
Test. JOHN LEATHE, Parish Clerk."
But neither of these two offers was satisfactory to the party to whom it was made. And yet the project of reunion was too advantageous to both parishes to be abandoned or lost sight of. The Third Parish, in particular, found new and strong incentives to continue their efforts for a reunion with the First, in the departure from them of their own minister, and in the settlement over the First Parish of Rev. Mr. Sherman, in 1756. Hence numerous meetings were held, and various proposals were made by both parishes to secure this desirable object, during the years 1756, 1757 and 1758. But nothing effectual was done till March 1759. On the first day of that month, the Third Parish voted as follows :
" Woburn, March the first, 1759. Voted in the Third Parish in said Town, that we of the Third Parish in said Town are willing to unite with the First Parish in said Town, on the following terms. viz: That we will pay into the Treasury of the said First Parish Fifty two Pounds towards the Rev. Mr Sherman's salary in twelve months from the date hereof: Like- wise we are willing to be taxed and pay with you of the First Parish towards the Rev. Mr Sherman's salary from the 28th day of January last ( 1759) : Provided the First Parish mutually petition the General Court with us, to be incorporated into one Parish : p. JOHN LEATHE, Parish Clerk." 6
At an adjourned meeting of the First Parish, on the same day as the above, at Mr. James Fowle's, Innholder, voted as follows : " Having received a Vote from the Third Parish, Voted that they will accept of the vote passed this day in the Third Par- ish in said Town, in order for uniting the said two Parishes, and be incorporated into one Parish : and chose Josiah Johnson Esq. Lt. William Tay and Mr. Isaac Snow to be a Committee
· First Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 44.
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to join with a Committee of the said Third Parish to petition the Great & General Court that they may be so united." 6
In fulfilment of their appointment, the joint committee of both parishes petitioned the General Court to unite them again; and the Court passed on their petition as follows :
" MARCHI 28, 1759.
" A Petition of Josiah Johnson and others in behalf of the First and Third Parishes in Woburn, setting forth, that heretofore they were the First Parish in that Town, but by means of some unhappy contentions were divided and made two separate Parishes : That as these contentions with the causes of them are removed, and as the said Third Parish is destitute of a Minister, both Parishes are desirous of reuniting and being made the First Parish in Woburn upon certain terms mentioned in said Petition, And praying that they may be united accordingly :
" In the House of Representatives : Voted, that the Prayer of the Petition be granted, and that the said First and Third Parishes in Woburn, aforesaid be and hereby are to all intents and purposes reunited, incorporated and erected into one intire Parish or Pre- cinct, and henceforward to be the First Parish or Precinct in Woburn aforesaid, in the same manner as it was before the division thereof into two Parishes : And that the Inhabitants thereof be henceforward invested with the like privileges, Immunities and Powers that any other Parishes or Precincts within this Province are invested withal, any Law or Order to the contrary notwith- standing.
" Provided, nevertheless, that the said Third Parish shall by the first day of March next pay and deliver into the Treasury of the said First Parish the sum of Fifty two Pounds of lawful money of this Province toward the yearly Salary of the present Minister of the aforesaid First Parish, which became due on the 27th day of January last, and from that day forward to be jointly taxed with the said First Parish for their Minister's Salary, and all other Parish or Precinet charges.
" Provided, also, that each of the Parishes aforesaid may and shall severally adjust, settle and finish their own proper Parish Accounts and Affairs, and pay and discharge their several debts respectively due from them, as heretofore they might have done ; and be and hereby are fully impowered for those ends and purposes
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to lay and impose suitable taxes upon the Polls and Estates within their respective parishes sufficient therefor, and may sue and be sued (for any debts already contracted) by the name of the First or Third Parish, in the same manner as if they had not been thus reunited and incorporated together.
" In Council : Read and Concurred.
" Consented to by the Governor." 7
By this act of the Legislature, the reunion of the two parishes, so much desired by both parties, and of such mutual advantage to both, was legally accomplished, after a separation of fifteen years. Agreeably, however, to the last provision of the Court's Resolve, the first parish, as such, held one meeting more, in order to finish their own proper business, receive money due to them, and pay their own debts, in distinction from the Third Parish. On February 29, 1760, a warrant was issued by the Clerk of the First Parish to Mr. Jonathan Lawrence, Collector, requiring him " to warn and give notice to all the Freeholders and other In- habitants of [Woburn] that were of the First Parish in Woburn, before the Third Parish in said Town was united with them, to assemble and convene at the Meeting House in said Parish on Monday the tenth day of March next, at One of the Clock after- noon, then and there to elect and depute Parish Officers, viz. a Parish Clerk, a Parish Committee, Assessors, Treasurer, Col- lector, and all other Officers needful to serve the said Parish, as in their former capacity, the year ensuing," etc., etc.
Of the meeting thus warned, the record begins thus :
" At a legal Meeting of the First Parish in Woburn, in their capacity before the Third Parish in said Town was united to them, on Monday the 10th. day of March 1760, they proceeded as fol- lows." etc., etc.
Having chosen parish officers, as they had been wont, they passed the following votes among others :
" That the money due from the said First Parish shall be paid out of the fifty-two Pounds, due to them from the Third Parish in said Town.
" That if those that were of the Third Parish in Woburn will
. General Court Records, Vol. XXII., 1757-1759, pp. 555, 556.
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provide money to enlarge the Meeting House belonging to the said First Parish, equal as those of the said First Parish have paid for said Meeting House, that they shall have room in said House equal and according to their pay with those of the said First Parish. And if the equal proportion of money be not sufficient to finish the said addition, then it shall be finished at the joint charge of both the said Parishes." 8
This latter vote seems to have been acceded to by the Third Parish : for, from henceforth, both parishes appear to have met and worshipped together in one place, and to have acted together as one society. The above meeting of the First Parish, in dis- tinction from the Third, is the last upon record. The next meet- ing was held, indeed, on the same day as the above; but at that meeting both societies acted as one.
When the question of a reunion of the First and Third Parishes in Woburn began to be agitated, shortly after the death of Rev. Mr. Jackson, in September, 1754, Rev. Josiah Cotton was the settled minister of the Third Parish. But, perceiving the inclination of his people to join the First Parish again, and that his continuance in office might be an obstacle to this good end, he saw fit to call a Council of several churches to meet June 30, 1756, and "to advise & direct him with respect to his removal," etc.9 The Records of the Third Church being now unfortunately lost,10 the particulars of the advice which this Council gave him cannot now be recovered. There can be no doubt, however, that the Council convened at Woburn on the day appointed, advised him, under existing circumstances, to ask a dismission from his people ; and that, in compliance with their advice, he asked and obtained an orderly and honorable dismis- sion from his pastoral and ministerial charge; and shortly after removed his residence from Woburn.
Rev. Josiah Cotton, pastor of the Third Church in Woburn, was son of Rev. Rowland Cotton of Sandwich; a brother of Rev. John Cotton of Newton, of Rev. Nathaniel Cotton of
· First Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 49.
º Records of Church of Woburn Precinct, or Burlington, Vol. I., p. 164.
10 " An extract from the Chh Book belonging to the third Chh in Woburn " is copied in the Burlington Church Records, Vol. I., p. 22.
29
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HISTORY OF WOBURN.
Bristol, R. I., of Col. Roland Cotton of Woburn, and of Rev. Ward Cotton of Hampton, N. H .; a grandson of Rev. John Cotton of Plymouth; and a descendant of the third generation from Rev. John Cotton, the renowned Teacher of First Church, Boston. He was born at Sandwich, in June, 1703;11 graduated at Harvard College, 1722; ordained, October 23, 1728, pastor of a Congregational church at Providence, R. I., which was gathered the same day,12 and continued to minister there till after May, 1736.12 He was installed pastor of the Third Church, Woburn, July 15, 1747;13 and after his dismission from that people in 1756, he was installed at Sandown, N. H., November 28, 1759 ; 14 and there died May 27, 1780, aged seventy-seven.
Rev. Mr. Cotton married Susanna before he came to Woburn. It is not known that he had more than two children, viz : 1. a daughter who died in Woburn, and upon whose grave- stone in the old Burying Place there is inscribed as follows :
" Susanna, daughter of Rev. Josiah & Susanna Cotton, who died . Aug. 3. 1748, aged 10 years." 15
2. A daughter, Sarah, who was baptized (apparently in the Precinct, or Second Church of Woburn) by Rev. Thomas Jones, pastor, November 28, 1756, after her father's dismission from the Third Church, and before he finally left the town. [Sce Bur- lington Chh. Records.]
His brother Roland, it seems, had removed from the town before him. Of this once prominent citizen of Woburn, a brief account may not be unacceptable.
Roland Cotton, Esq., was the third son of Rev. Roland Cotton of Sandwich; was born in that town about 1701;14 graduated at Harvard College, 1719; and upon his first coming to Woburn, sojourned a while at the house of his uncle, Nathaniel Saltonstall, Esq., who was his mother's brother, and brother to Gurdon Saltonstall, Esq., Governor of Connecticut ; and who, at his death, June 23, 1739, is said to have made him
11 Rev. Abel Patten, from Sandwich Town Records.
13 Journal of Rev. Dr. Sewall, Hoston. 13 Boston Weekly News Letter, of July 16.
14 (lenealogy of Cotton Family, N. E. Historleal and Genealogieal Reg'r, Vol. I., p. 165.
1ª Copies of Inscriptions, by Nathan Wyman, Esq.
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sole heir to his large estate.16 He is first noticed as an inhabi- tant of Woburn in the Province Tax List for 1737; and then in the list of the same tax for 1744, by the title of Col. Roland Cotton.17 He was chosen in 1737, and the seven immediately succeeding years, to represent the town of Woburn in the General Court.17 And in 1739, and perhaps other years, he was appointed Clerk of the House of Representatives; and was said to have discharged the duties of that trust " with fidelity and despatch, and to great acceptance." But in consequence, it is supposed, of alleged inconsistency of profession and conduct in his political career, of seemingly arbitrary (not to say, illegal and unjust) proceedings with which he was charged, in the impress- ment of men for military service, and of his settled hostility to Rev. Mr. Jackson, his popularity in Woburn after 1744 rapidly declined. He appears to have left Woburn early in 1754, if not before, and to have gone back to Sandwich, where he built for himself a house, and where he probably spent the remainder of his days.16 He married Deborah Mason, October 3, 1760, who died at Sandwich, August 1766.16 It is not known whether he left posterity.
To his generosity, while living in Woburn, the church of the Second Parish (now Burlington) became indebted for the gift of two handsome silver cups, dated 1740 and 1741, for the com- munion service ; and also previously to him and his uncle Salton- stall for their joint gift of another like cup for the same use, The kind donors have long since ceased from the earth ; but by these sacred offerings, their names inscribed on them, will long be kept in grateful remembrance.
At his house in Woburn, died a maiden sister of his in 1742, of good repute, as " Vertuous, Usefull & Obliging in her Day etc." 16 Upon her grave in the old burying-place in Woburn is engraved the following singular inscription :
16 Letter of William G. Brooks, Esq., from Diary of Josiah Cotton, Esq., brother of Rev. Robert Cotton of Sandwich.
17 Woburn Records,
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"Here lyes the Remains of M". ELIZABETH COTTON, Daughter of the Revd. ROLAND COTTON, late of Sandwich. Decd : who died A VIRGIN October 126. 1742, Ataris 46.
" If a Virgin Marry, She hath not Sinned, Neverth's such shall have trouble in the Flesh : But he that giveth her not in Marriage doth better : 18 She is happier if she so Abide."
Comparing the lists of parish taxes, assessed immediately before and after the reunion of the Third Parish with the First, we find that by this transaction exclusively of non-residents, fifty- five were added, as members of the First Parish, to the one hun- dred and fifty-three that previously belonged to it.19 So large an addition to the parish of taxable inhabitants, with their families, must obviously render necessary, increased accommodations in their house of public worship. Such necessity had been anticipa- ted while the proposals for reunion were pending, and had been in some measure provided for in the votes that finally decided in its favor. But in consequence, probably, of some division of opinion, how much it would be needful to enlarge the meeting- honse, or what proportion of the expense should be borne by those who had belonged to the Third Society, for whose accom- modation principally, such enlargement was required, no meas- ures for this end were attempted till 1769. Then the want of more room in the meeting-house was so sensibly felt, especially by those who had been of the Third Parish, that articles were inserted in the warrants for several successive meetings of the parish, having in view the making of more seats in the meeting- house ; and committees were successively appointed to consider how this object might best be attained. And in the warrant for a meeting called to be June 14, 1770, there was an article " To see if the Parish will hear the Petition of some men that [had been] of the Third Parish in said Town, in order to consult and
I W'Illam Gibbs, Esq. ; taken from Woburn Old Burying III.
19 l'arlah Records, Vol. II., pp. 42-16.
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agree upon some methods and measures that shall be thought and voted most expedient and beneficial, for their having equal and proper room in the parish meeting-house, agreeable to their Petition."20 But at that meeting, and at an adjournment of it, September 3, 1770, after many fruitless proposals, nothing was done, and the meeting was dissolved.
Such a result must needs have occasioned much disappoint- ment and irritation of feeling, especially in the former members of the Third Society, who suffered most from the alleged incon- venience. Seemingly to allay such feelings, a meeting was held only a fortnight after, at which a committee of five was chosen " to seat some elderly men and high payers in the Parish Rates, and [who] have no seats assigned them-to be seated in the unappropriated seats during the Parish's pleasure."21
But this measure, while it made an invidious distinction, could evidently afford only a partial relief from the evil complained of. Hence the question of enlarging the meeting-house, which alone proposed an adequate remedy, did not cease to be agitated. In the course of the eighteen months immediately following, plans for opening the house of worship twelve feet, eighteen feet and a half, and twenty feet, were submitted to the parish and considered; but not one of them all then obtained general and permanent approbation; for though the plan for opening twelve feet was repeatedly voted acceptance, yet it was not long acquiesced in. It was not till March 30, 1772, that the first effectual step was taken towards the desired and much needed enlargement of this House of God. At a parish meeting on that day, it was voted,
" 1. That they will open the Meeting House eighteen feet and a half, and move to the West, the Pulpit being in the Centre.
" 3. That the new Pews that shall be made in the addition to the Meeting House, shall be sold to the highest bidder ; they pay- ing one-third part of the money they bid for the Pew, at the Pew's being struck off to them ; and giving security for the payment of the other two thirds ; viz. one third at the closing up said house, and one third at the finishing the same; with sureties.
30 Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 119.
21 P'arish Records, Vol. II., p. 121.
29*
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"4. And if any of the said Pews be sold or struck off to any Person that hath one of the old pews, he shall immediately resign his old pew to the Parish, to be sold in the same manner that the New Pews are sold." 22
In pursuance of these resolves, the parish voted at an adjourn- ment of this meeting, and at a subsequent one June 8, that they would "have Twenty-two Pews made in the Parish Meeting House, part in the addition of eighteen feet & half, and part in the old house, all on the lower floor; and the Parish Pew moved up to the Pulpit, as it stands now." They also chose Capt. Benjamin Wyman, and Messrs. Jacob and Joseph Wright, a committee to sell the pew ground in the meeting-house, both in the addition, and in the old part of the house, to the highest bid- der at a public vendue, he belonging to the parish, and appointed Mr. Loammi Baldwin, vendue master.23 And at an adjourned meeting, June 22, they appointed a committee of three (viz : Messrs. Jacob Wright, Benjamin Wyman, and Jonathan Fox) to hire workmen to complete the contemplated enlargement ; and made provision for defraying the expense, from the money aris- ing from the sale of pew ground. And finally they voted, that the common seats on the lower floor and in the galleries that are made or shall be made in the meeting-house, shall be com- mon for the people of the parish to sit in, during the parish's pleasure.21
The committee chosen to sell the pew ground at anction dis- charged the duties of their appointment June 22, and June 29, 1772. The whole was sold on one or the other of those days : and each purchaser paid down £4 10s., Old Tenor, as earnest money ; and the remainder with a single exception, by January 1773, or shortly after. The whole amount raised by this sale of pew ground, for twenty-two additional pews on the lower floor of the house, was, £2,125, Old Tenor, or $944}.25
The committee for hiring workmen, employed Messrs. John Tay and Bartholomew Richardson. These two gentlemen cove- nanted on their part with the committee, within three months
" Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 129.
24 P'arish Records, Vol. II., p. 131.
" l'arish Records, Vol. II., p. 130.
33 Parish Records, Vol. II., pp. 133, 134.
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from the date of their contract, viz : July 27, 1772, " to open the Meeting House in said Parish, and move to the West eighteen feet & a half; and move the Pulpit to the middle of the House on the North side; and provide all kind of materials, and fill up the vacancy opened, and finish all parts thercof in the same form & fashion with the Old House, except building the Pews : and wheresoever any part of the Old House is broken or defaced by them, they will make it good, and all the mate- rials for said house and the work shall be good and mer- chantable to the acceptance of the said Committee."
And the committee covenanted on their part, and in their capacity, with Messrs. Tay and Richardson to pay them, for their labor and expense, £150 lawful money (or $500) in all, at three several payments, the last on or before October 10, fol- lowing, or at the finishing of the house.
And to insure the faithful performance of this contract on both sides, each party bound itself to the other in the penal sum of £300 lawful money, "to be well and truly paid by the defec- tive party to the party performing."
Although the fact is not recorded, yet there can be no doubt that the enlargement of the meeting-house thus contracted for was faithfully completed by the time agreed upon, viz : October 27, 1772. Nor is there cause to question but that the pews were built in due season by the several purchasers of the pew ground, as was done in this meeting-house at its erection in 1749, 1750.
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