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 35
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" JOSIAH SHERMAN, Pastor." 37
37 Church Recorda.
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Quickly after this action taken by the Church, a petition was handed in to the parish committee, signed by Deacon Nathan Richardson and others, to call a meeting on April 11, 1775, to see if the parish would do anything to relieve Mr. Sherman under his present difficulties, and make him comfortable among them ; or, if not, to see if they would release him : and also to act upon another request of Mr. Sherman to be released, dated April 3, 1775.
At this meeting of the parish, April 15, 1775, it was voted, " that [they] will not relieve the Revd. Josiah Sherman (accord- ing to his ? Request).
" Voted to dismiss the Revd. Josiah Sherman from his Ministe- rial Relation to them, according to his Request, upon his giving the Parish full and proper discharges." 38
And thus, after a year's altercation, was accomplished the dis- mission of the Rev. Mr. Sherman from his charge in Woburn, much to the grief of a large proportion of the inhabitants, and greatly, it seems, to the detriment of the cause of religion in the place. It cansed the parties concerned to be exceedingly embittered one against the other : so that in all subsequent pro- ceedings of the parish, respecting the employment of candidates to preach, or the re-settlement of the ministry among them, whatever pleased one party, excited the distrust or the opposition of the other; and sufficient union among the people could not be obtained to settle a successor to Mr. Sherman for ten years to come.
Rev. Josiah Sherman was a son of William Sherman, and a brother of Hon. Roger Sherman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, 1776, and of Rev. Nathanael Sherman of Bedford, Mass., and a descendant of the third generation from Capt. John Sherman, a highly respected citizen of Watertown, its represen- tative in the General Court 1651, 1653, 1663, and eminent for his skill as a surveyor of land, in which capacity he was frequently employed by the Colonial Legislature. He was a consin to the distinguished minister of Watertown, Rev. John Sherman, who
38 Parish Records, Vol. II., p. 181.
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died in 1685, as did Capt. Sherman in 1691. They both origi- nated in Dedham, Essex County, England; and both came to New England about 1635.
William Sherman, above mentioned, a son of Mr. Joseph Sherman of Watertown, and a grandson of Capt. John, was a shoemaker by trade; resided successively at Charlestown, New- ton, Stoughton and Watertown; and married at Watertown, for his second wife, Mehetabel, daughter of Benjamin Wellington of that place, September 3, (13 ?) 1715. In the record of this marriage, he is said to have been then of Charlestown. But he soon removed to Newton, where his son Roger was born in 1721; and in 1723, he removed to Stoughton, the birthplace probably of his son Nathanael.
Josiah, fourth son of William and Mehetabel (Wellington) Sherman, the future minister of Woburn, was born at Water- town, April 2, 1729 ; was graduated at Nassau Hall, Princeton, N. J., 1754; studied theology with Rev. Dr. Bellamy of Beth- lehem, Conn. and with Rev. Mr. Graham of Southbury, was ordained at Woburn, January 28, 1756, and dismissed April 11, 1775. From Woburn, he went to Milford, (New Milford ?) Conn. In 1781, after leaving Milford, and residing a short time with his family at Stratford, he was installed at Goshen, Conn. Being dismissed from Goshen, in 1788, he lived a while at Shef- field, Mass., and then received and accepted an invitation to settle over the church and society in Woodbridge, Ct., but died soon after his arrival there, November 24, 1789.
Rev. Mr. Sherman was much extolled in his day as a very eloquent preacher. " His elocution (writes one) was very dis- tinct, tho' fluent & rapid. His voice was excellent. His mind was discriminating. His eloquence was often pathetic, some- times very powerful, and always of such a character as to com- mand the respect & attention of his audience." " While at Goshen, he published several discourses. . . . One was from the text, ' And he fain would have filled his belly with the husks which the swine did eat;' and was addressed to infidels, in consequence of the publication of " Ethan Allen's Theology."
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" The others were on ' the Redemption by Jesus Christ;' and the 'History of Melchizedec." In 1760, while at Woburn, he preached the Artillery Election Sermon from Psalm exlix. 6; but this was not published.
During Rev. Mr. Sherman's ministry in Woburn, and the short period which elapsed from his dismission, April 11, 1775, and November 26th following, the admissions into his church were one hundred and twenty-six; viz, forty-four males, and cighty-two females, of whom one hundred and nineteen were by profession, and seven by letter. The baptisms were three hundred and ninety-one; viz, three hundred and eighty-one infants, and ten adults.
He married January 24, 1757, Martha, daughter of Hon. James Minot of Concord, by his second wife, Elizabeth Merrick, of Brookfield, and by her had issue, viz :
1. Roger Minot, born December 9, 1757 : of Fairfield Conn. : graduated at Yale College, 1794: LL.D., Judge of Sup. Court, Conn.
2. Martha, born December 8, 1758.
3. Elizabeth, born March 26, 1761.
4. Mary, born February 3, 1763.
5. Susanna, born April 7, 1765.
CHAPTER XII.
Revolutionary War, - Sacrifices of Woburn in, both of Men and Money. - Depreciation of Money, and exorbitant prices. - Convention at Concord, to remedy this evil. - Constitutions of this State, and of the United States Government approved. - Colonel Baldwin - Count Rumford.
THE declaration of peace between England and France, in 1763, found the inhabitants of Woburn a loyal people. They were strongly attached to the mother country and its government : and during the war, just brought to a close, they had given sig- nal proof of this their attachment, in freely hazarding their lives, and submitting to many and costly sacrifices, to extend and establish the dominion of Britain. But the unconstitutional enactments and oppressive proceedings of the Parliament of England, which quickly followed the restoration of peace, awa- kened in all her American colonies, especially in Massachusetts, a feeling of distrust and apprehension, which gradually alienated the minds of the people from the mother country, and issued in open dissatisfaction, complaint, and opposition. This feeling occasionally manifested itself in Woburn. For instance, it prompted the people there, at a meeting, October 20, 1766 (in disregard to the King's recommendation or injunction), to direct their representative in General Court, Josiah Johnson, Esq., not to consent to making up the damages, which Lieut. Governor Hutchinson and other crown officers in Boston had sustained the year before, by the violence of a mob, excited by their resent- ment at parliament's passing the Stamp Act.1 Again, it showed itself in their sending delegates (at the invitation of the Select- men of Boston) to a convention assembled at Boston, September 22, 1768, from numerous towns and districts in the province, to confer with one another upon the existing state of public affairs, and to consider what was to be done .? Woburn was represented
1 Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 10, new paging.
" Town Records, Vol. IX., p. 78. Massachusetts Gazette, September 2, 1768. Hatfield e cli ned sending delegates, for reasons. See Massachusetts Gazette, October 6, 1768.
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in that Convention by Mr. Oliver Richardson and Deacon Samuel Wyman. The date of their appointment is not recorded. But at a meeting, March 6, 1769, the town voted them twenty shil- lings each " for their time and expences at the late Convention in Boston." 2
But the most noticeable tokens of their uneasiness and dis- satisfaction at the public condition were exhibited at a town meeting, called January 14, 1773, to consult what measures to take at that "alarming crisis," that would be "most conducive to the public weal."3 At this meeting, a recent communication from the town of Boston, "relative to the publick affairs of Government" was first read, and then a committee of nine was chosen, consisting of Lieut. William Tay, Lieut. Joshua Walker, Mr. Joseph Wright, Lieut. Samuel Thompson, Deacon Samuel Wyman, Capt. Thomas Peirce, Mr. Robert Douglas, Dr. Samuel Blogget, Deacon Timothy Winn, to take into consideration the important matters suggested by the above communication, and to report to the town at an adjourned meeting.3 On the day of adjournment, February 1, 1773, this committee presented to the town a report, consisting of twelve resolutions, in which they acknowledge King George to be their rightful sovereign, profess their attachment to his person, and their confidence in his readi- ness to do justice to his subjects in these colonies, could their complaints be laid before him. They likewise declare their satisfaction with the British constitution; and disclaim all dis- position to cast off their allegiance, or to murmur against the rulers set over them, with a view to obstruct their influence, or weaken their authority, so long as their rulers governed their measures by the principles of the constitution from which their authority was derived. At the same time, they assert their right to petition government for the rectifying of wrongs which they endured, in violation of the constitution of the British govern- ment ; and specify particular grievances which they conceived they were subjected to, by reason of certain proceedings and acts of parliament, contrary to the privileges, to which, as
3 Town Records, Vol. LY., pp. 188-191.
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British subjects, they deemed themselves entitled. Among the grievances complained of, were the following, viz :
The assumption, by parliament, of power to bind them by laws, and to impose on them taxes, without their consent either in person, or by their representatives.
The delivery, by the Governor, of Castle William, which they regarded as the property of the province, under its jurisdiction, and the "key of its defence," into the hands of troops, over whom, nevertheless, the Governor himself had declared, that he had no authority or control.
The exorbitant power of the officers of the Customs.
The extending of the power of the Vice Admiralty Court, so as virtually to deprive the people of this province of their right, in many instances, to a trial by a jury.
The appointment of the Judges of the Superior Court of the province, the grant of their salaries, and the term of their con- tinuance in office, by the King, thus rendering the Judges entirely dependent upon the Crown for their creation and sup- port, and independent of the people, whose property, liberty and lives, do often turn upon their opinions and decisions.3
This report was unanimously accepted by the town; instruc- tions, in accordance with it, were given to Mr. Oliver Richardson their representative in General Court ; 4 the clerk was ordered to return an attested copy of the proceedings of the meeting to the corresponding committee of the town of Boston; and a committee of five was chosen on behalf of Woburn; viz, Deacon Samuel Wyman, Mr. Robert Douglas, Dr. Samuel Blogget, Mr. Loammi Baldwin, and Deacon Timothy Winn, to correspond with Boston, and any other towns they thought proper.4
During the interval which elapsed between the proceedings just recorded, and April 19, 1775, the inhabitants of Woburn gave various tokens of their continued distrust of the govern- ment over them, and of their dissatisfaction with it. They repeatedly manifested apprehensions of the approaching contest, and concern to be prepared for it in season. At a general
" Town Records, Vol. IX., pp. 101, 102.
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meeting, December 23, 1773, they voted to build a house to put their stock of ammunition in; and chose a committee of three, to see that the work was done;5 and subsequently, they appointed the Selectmen a committee to procure an additional stock of ammunition, viz: two barrels of powder, and bullets and flints in proportion, for the use and benefit of the town.5
At a meeting, January 4, 1775, the town chose Dea. Samuel Wyman, a delegate to the Provincial Congress, which was to assemble at. Cambridge, (or some other convenient place,) Feb- ruary 1st. They likewise directed their constable, to pay the moneys which they then had in their hands, or might thereafter be raised by the town to defray "the publick charges of Gov- ernment," to Henry Gardner, Esq., of Stow, till further order be given by the town to the contrary. And agrecably to this direction, Woburn's proportion of the province tax, £75 18s. 5d., apportioned by the General Court, May 25, 1774, and assessed January 11, 1775, was paid by the constables to the said Henry Gardner, Esq., instead of Harrison Gray, Esq., the treasurer of the province, appointed the year preceding by the General Court.6
At the same meeting, a committee of twenty-one was chosen by the town, as a " Committee of Inspection," "to see that the Association of the Continental Congress [the Non Importa- tion Agreement ?] be strictly adhered to."6
And, finally, at a meeting, April 17, 1775, it was voted "to raise a number of Minute Men so called, not exceeding fifty, and they to meet half a day every week in each month the six suc- ceeding months, viz : May, June, July, August, September and October, for Instructing themselves in the military science of handling the firelock; and if called into service, the town voted to each man a Dollar as a premium for their services, exclusive of what they shall be allowed by the government." 7
At length, that momentous day, April 19, 1775, arrived, when commenced the conflict, which issued in the acknowledg-
' Town Records, Vol. IX., pp. 227, 276. 6 Town Records, Vol. 1X., pp. 252, 262. 7 Town Recorde, Vol. 1X., p. 280.
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ment of these United States, as an independent nation. Before daybreak, on the morning of that day, the citizens of Woburn had been notified of the march of the British troops towards Lexington with hostile intent, by means of special messengers, beat of drum, etc., etc.8 At the receipt of this intelligence, while some stayed behind, to protect their terrified families, or to con- vey them to places of greater safety, others, in large numbers, hastened to Lexington, not in military array, but promiscuously, armed or unarmed, by the road, or across the fields,9 as happened to be most convenient, to the defence and aid of their country- men in that hour of peril. Of those who thus went from Woburn, two did not live to return, viz: Mr. Asahel Porter, son of Mr. William Porter, who was shot down by the British in the early part of the day; and Mr. Daniel Thompson, brother of Samuel Thompson, Esq., who was killed by the enemy in their retreat from Concord. They were both young men of promise ; and the following notice of their funerals is extracted from a recent reprint of a sheet published at that period, giving accounts of Lexington fight, taken from E. Russell's Salem Gazette, or Newbury and Marblehead Advertiser of April 21st, April 25th, and May 5th. "Same day [Friday, April 21st] the remains of Mess". Azel [Asahel ?] Porter and Daniel Thompson, of Woburn, who also fell victims to tyranny, were decently interred at that place, attended to the grave by a multitude of persons, who assembled on the occasion from that and the neighboring towns : Before they were interred, a very suitable sermon and prayer was delivered by the Rev. Mr Sherman."
" Mrs. Betsey, widow of Amos Taylor, of Burlington, (whose 1001h birthday was commemorated at her request by religions exercises and an appropriate address at her house, October 31, 1864,) once told me, that while it was yet dark, on the morning of the 19th of April, a messenger was despatched from Capt. Joshua Walker, commander of the then military company of the precinct, to her father, Mr. Jonathan Proctor, the drum- mer of that company, to beat an alarm as soon as possible; for that the " red-coats " were on the march towards Lexington, etc., etc.
" It is matter of authentic tradition, that as Woburn men crossed the fluIds on their way to Lexington, on the 19th of April, the winter rye waved like grass before the wind; Indicating that to be an unusually for- ward season.
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Rev. Mr. Marrett, ordained pastor of the church in Woburn precinct, December 1774, gives the following account of the transactions of this memorable day, in his interleaved Almanacs, " 1775, April 19. Fair, windy & cold. A Distressing Day. About 800 Regulars marched from Boston to Concord. As they went up, they killed 8 men at Lexington meeting house : they huzza'd and then fired, as our men had turned their backs (who in number were about one hundred) ; and then they pro- ceeded to Concord. The adjacent country was alarmed the latter part of the night preceding. The action at Lexington was just before sunrise. Our men pursued them to and from Concord on their retreat back ; and several killed on both sides, but nruch the least on our side, as we pickt them off on their retreat. The regulars were reinforced at Lexington to aid their retreat by 800 with two field pieces. They burnt 3 houses in Lexington, and one barn, and did other mischief to buildings. They were pursued to Charlestown, where they entrenched on a hill just over the Neck. Thus commences an important period."
Two incidents of that eventful day, in which persons belong- ing to Woburn were concerned, and both of which have been transmitted by authentic and reliable tradition, it may not be uninteresting to rehearse.
Mr. Silvanus Wood, then living at Kendall's Mill in Woburn, was awaked while in bed before daybreak that morning, by a messenger who called to him, announcing that a party of British soldiers was on the march towards Lexington, and urging him to go and join Capt. Parker's company then assembled on Lexington Common. He went, and was mustered in Capt. Parker's company, and was in its ranks when the men were fired upon by the British, after they had turned their backs to retreat, in obedience to the orders of their captain.10 When the British continued their march that morning towards Concord, Wood followed with his gun in their rear, accompanied by another person who was without a gun. Upon or near Park-
10 Mr. Wood.
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hurst's Hill, in Lexington, about a mile from the meeting-house, observing a British soldier turn aside from the ranks upon some necessary occasion, he hastened up to him while he was alone, and pointing his gun to his breast, ordered him immediately to deliver up himself and his weapon to him, or he should instantly be a dead man. The soldier, taken thus by surprise, and when unable to defend himself, or receive help from others, obeyed; and Wood taking his musket to himself, and giving his own gun into the charge of his unarmed associate, bade him take that man to such a person (or place) in Lexington; and then pro- ceeded himself in the track of the British, towards Concord. What became of the British private, who, taken in an evil hour had surrendered himself and weapon to Wood, could never afterwards be satisfactorily ascertained. It has been conjectured that the soldier, having a supply of British gold in his pockets. offered a piece of it to the person who had him in charge, and with it successfully bribed him to give him his liberty. Upon the ground of this seemingly unavailing capture however, Wood always claimed the honor of having taken the first prisoner in the American War. And urging this claim at Washington. about the year 1824, he obtained, with the aid of Hon. Edward Everett, then Representative in Congress for the District of Middlesex, a handsome pension for life. 10
Mr. Wood was son of John and Esther Wood, of Woburn Pre- cinct, and a younger brother of the Capt. John Wood mentioned in the chapter preceding. He was born January 27, 1749, O. S .; admitted a member of the Precinet Church, July 5, 1772 ; was a lieutenant in the Continental army, in his brother's company, and in the regiment commanded by Col. Loammi Baldwin; and died on his valuable farm at Woburn, west side, August 12, 1840, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. His son, of the same name, Mr. Silvanus Wood, of Woburn, from whom some of the facts respecting his father in the above brief notice were originally derived, and by whom all were confirmed, still ( 1867) lives.
Upon the evening of April 18th, Hon. John Hancock and Hon. Samuel Adams, having left the Provincial Congress, which had adjourned from Concord on the 15th, came to the house of Rev.
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Jonas Clark, of Lexington, to lodge. But as soon as it was ascertained, very early the next morning, that a party of British soldiers was approaching Lexington, Capt. Parker, Rev. Mr. Clark, or some other friend of the above-named illustrious, but proscribed guests of the minister, put them in charge (it is said) of Sergeant, afterwards Colonel Edmund Munroe, to conduct them to a place of safety; and he, in fulfilment of this charge, directed them (together with Miss Dorothy Quincy, the future wife of Mr. Hancock) to Madam Jones', in Woburn Precinct, widow of Rev. Thomas Jones, the former minister, whose family was on intimate terms with Rev. Mr. Clark's, and whose house was but about four miles from Lexington Centre. And here the good lady of the house, who was a zealous Whig, in honor of her distinguished guests, and to gratify them as highly as possible, exerted herself to the utmost to provide for them an elegant din- ner. Among other delicacies prepared for the occasion was a fine salmon, which had been presented to Messrs. Hancock and Adams, as a rare dainty at that early season ; but which, having been left behind in their hasty flight from Lexington, the coach- man had been sent back, after their arrival at Mrs. Jones', to bring with him on his return.
The hour for dinner being at length come, Mrs. Jones, with her honored guests, and Rev. Mr. Marrett, the recently settled minister of the parish, then boarding at her house, sat down with keen appetites to the repast she had provided for them. But scarcely had they scated themselves at the table, when a man fresh from the bloody scenes at Lexington, rushed into the room where they were, and with uplifted hands and affrighted looks exclaimed, " My wife, I fear, is by this time in etarnity ; and as to you, (addressing himself to Hancock and Adams) you had better look out for yourselves, for the enemy will soon be at your heels." Startled by this unexpected, earnest warning, all the company instantly rose from the table, and prepared for concealment or flight. Their first care was, to put the coach ont of sight, in which Mrs. Jones' guests had been conveyed from Lexington, and which was then standing by the road side in front of the house. This was hurried into Path Woods, in the
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northwest part of the precinct, near the road to Billerica. Mr. Marrett next conducted Mrs. Jones' illustrious visitors to the house of Mr. Amos Wyman, situate in an obscure corner of Bed- ford, Billerica and Woburn Precinct, where were collected the women and children of several of the neighboring families, who had fled thither for safety; fearing that if they remained at home, " the regulars" might come, and murder them, or carry them off. And now, as soon as Messrs. Hancock and Adams had had time to become calm after their flight, they besought Mrs. Wyman to give them a little food; saying they had had neither breakfast nor dinner that day. Their good natured hostess, in ready compliance with their request, took down from a shelf a wooden tray, containing some cold boiled salt pork, and also (it is believed) some cold boiled potatoes unpealed, and brown bread; and upon this plain, coarse fare, they made a hearty meal.11 Upon their return to Mrs. Jones' the next day, they learned that the enemy had not come there in pursuit of them. Either they had never intended it, or else, being closely pursued from Concord by their exasperated and hourly increas- ing Yankee foes, they thought it best to take a prudent care for their own safety, rather than to digress in their march, into the neighboring towns, in pursuit of Hancock and Adams. Not many years since, it was a current report in Lexington, that Hancock, in gratitude to Mrs. Wyman for her kindness to him and Adams at her house, in their flight for fear of the British, made a present to her of a cow.
Through the whole contest with the mother country now begun, Woburn acted a decided and zealous part. At the com- mencement of the war, a few of her citizens were charged with being inimical to the cause of their country.12 But the great
11 Report of Madam Jones, confirmed by Madam Hancock, afterwards Madam Scoll.
12 At a town meeting, June 23, 1777, in pursuance of previous arrange- ments, the Selectmen reported the names of Caleb Simonds and Luther Simonds, as being, in their opinion, "enemies to this and The United States." Whereupon it was voted " that the said Caleb and Luther Simonds he tried, lo see whether they be inimical to this and the United States, agreeably to an Act entitled an 'Act for securing this and the United States against the dangers to which they are exposed by the
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