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 39
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Go, Wanderer, And strive to equal him In Genius and Activity, And us In Gratitude.' " a
. Renwick's Life, Chap. vil., pp 123, 121.
" Renwick's Life, Chap. ix., pp. 166-168; Cbap. xi., p. 201.
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wrote to his mother, requesting her to make a new will, and to devise to Ruth the legacy she had intended for Sarah. 61
Nor did he confine his beneficence to the narrow circle of his family connections and early friends. In the year 1796, being at that time in London, " he presented to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at Boston, five thousand dollars, in the three per cent Stocks of the United States" .... "to the end that the interest of the same may be received from time to time forever, and the amount of the same applied and given, once every second year, as a premium to the author of the most important discovery, or useful improvement, which shall be made and published by print- ing, or in any way made known to the public, in any part of the continent of America, or in any of the American islands, during the preceding two years, on heat, or on light; the preference always being given to such discoveries, as shall, in the opinion of the academy, tend most to promote the good of mankind." 62
" By his Will, Count Rumford bequeathed to Harvard College one thousand dollars annually, and the reversion of other sums, for the purpose of founding a professorship ' to teach, by regular courses of academical and public lectures, accompanied with proper experiments, the utility of the physical and mathematical sciences, for the improvement of the useful arts, and for the extension of the industry, prosperity, happiness, and well-being of society.' The amount of property which came into the hands of the corpo- ration of the College. in 1815, after the death of Count Rumford, was about eleven hundred dollars annually, subject to a deduction of about two hundred dollars a year, payable to the Countess, his daughter, in case she should fail to receive her annuity of two thousand florins from the Court of Bavaria. The University was also to receive the reversion of about four hundred and forty dol- lars annually, after the death of certain annuitants.
" The Rumford professorship was accordingly established in the university, and went into operation in the year 1816. Dr. Jacob Bigelow was the first professor, who occupied the chair eleven years, and was succeeded by Mr. Daniel Treadwell. Hitherto this foundation has produced all the benefits which the liberal donor could have anticipated. A course of lectures is annually delivered to the undergraduates and other students of the university. The aggregate amount of the fund at this time, according to the Treas-
61 Renwick's Life, Appendix, pp. : 07-200.
(1 Renwick's Life, Appendix, p. 202.
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urer's last Annual Report is about twenty-nine thousand dollars. A valuable apparatus, consisting of machines, models and instru- ments, suitable for illustrating the topies embraced in the lectures, has been added to the department." 63
In view of the literary studies, of the diversified labors and saeri- fices of Count Rumford to benefit his fellow-men, as well as of the final disposal of his property, all must acknowledge him entitled to the highest praise, as a practical philosopher and philanthropist, an ardent lover of learning, and friend to the cause of humanity.
In respect to his religious sentiments, Rumford cherished appar- ently unshaken faith in the being and infinite perfections, the universal providence and government of God. In speaking upon this subject, his biographer observes,
"- - Above all, in his inquiries he never lost sight of the most important object of science, its bearing upon the evidences of natural theology ; and, at every new step in his discoveries, pauses to show in what manner they illustrate the power and wis- dom of the Deity. After dwelling upon this subject, he goes on to say, -
" ' But I must take care not to tire my reader by pursuing these speculations too far. If I have persisted in them, if I have dwelt upon them with peculiar satisfaction and complacency, it is because I think them uncommonly interesting, and also because I conceived they might be of use in this age of refinement and skepticism.
"' If, among barbarous nations, the fear of a God, and the prac- tice of religious duties, tend to soften savage dispositions, and to prepare the mind for those sweet enjoyments which result from peace, order, and friendly intercourse ; a belief in the existence of a Supreme Intelligence, who rules and governs the universe with wisdom and goodness, is not less essential to the happiness of those, who, by cultivating their mental powers, have learnt to know how little can be known.' " 64
It is truly refreshing to read the above passage, dictated, as it was, by one so eminent for learning and practical philosophy, as Count Rumford, and bearing his testimony, as it does, to truths lying at the foundation of all true religion. And it would have been exceedingly gratifying to have closed the foregoing brief sketch of him in this History of Woburn, his native place, with an additional statement upon good authority, that he was a pro-
6 Renwick's Life, Appendix, p. 206.
" Renwick's Life, Chap. xi., pp. 196, 197.
35*
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fessed Christian, an exemplary, consistent follower of the meek and holy Jesus. But such a statement, his biography, so often quoted above, does not, in any passage that has been observed, warrant to be made concerning him. It is true that Rumford is once or twice there presented, as calling himself a Protestant, in distinction from the Catholic population around him. Such an avowal is a sufficient proof that he preferred the Protestant to the Catholic understanding of the Christian religion. But it seems far from being equivalent to an express declaration of faith in the gospel of Christ, and a serious, habitual purpose to be governed by its principles and rules.
CHAPTER XIII.
Difficulties in which the Town was Involved at the Conclusion of the Revolutionary War. - Its Opposition to the Return of the Refugees. Its Stand in Shay's Rebellion. - Its Embarrassments by Debt. - Measures for Payment of Debt. - Middlesex Canal. - Schools from 1775 to 1866. - New Orders for School Districts. - New School- houses. - Warren Academy. - Incorporation of Burlington. - Public Solemnities at the Death of Washington.
THOUGH the peace agreed upon, 1783, between Great Britain and the United States had put a stop to the War of the Revolu- tion, yet, the bitterness and animosity which that war had given rise to, were not at once allayed. In particular, the hard thoughts and inimical feelings, which the refugees (as they were termed) had excited in their former brethren and fellow-citizens, against themselves, by fleeing from their native country, and declining to take part with its defenders in their contest for liberty and independence, still rankled in the breasts of multi- tudes. Such feelings were manifested in Woburn, especially on the following occasion.
At a general town meeting, May 12, 1783, " Voted, that the Selectmen draw up a letter, as an answer to a letter received from the town of Boston, relative to the return of Absentees and Conspirators, dated April the 10th. 1783, and send it to said town."
" Unanimously Voted it as their opinion, that the Absentees and Conspirators or Refugees ought never to be suffered to return, but be excluded from having lot or portion among us." 1
At the same time, a committee, consisting of Mr. William Scott, Col. Loammi Baldwin and Capt. John Wood, was appointed to draft instructions to their representative in General Court, upon this and other interesting subjects, and to submit them to
1 Town Records, Vol. X., p. 293.
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the town for its acceptance, on the day that meeting should be adjourned to.
Accordingly, such instructions were laid before the town by the committee at their adjourned meeting, May 26th; and were as follows :
" To Capt. Samuel Belknap.
" Sir,
" The inhabitants of this town, convinced of your integrity, up- rightness, and warm attachment to the cause of liberty and interest of your country ; and having experienced your fidelity, when you last filled that important office, have now elected you their repre- sentative in the Great and General Court.
" We hope you will still persist with that rectitude of conduct which you have hitherto pursued ; and that you, neither being persua- ded by flattery, intimidated by menace, or stimulated by sinister views or personal emoluments, will not deviate from that path of duty, or betray that confidence reposed in you by your constituents.
" The town you represent, have voted your being furnished with Instruction ; and has unanimously voted against the resettlement in this State of all such men, as have, in our glorious contest for liberty, proved inimical to their country, let them be of whatever denomination ; whether stigmatized by the name of Tory, Refugee, Conspirator, or Absentee.
" Although the crimes of some have been atrocious, and that [those] of others attended with less criminality ; yet all, by their good offices, their cash, and counsel to our implacable enemies ; [by] the bent of their inclination to betray their country, or the denial of that assistance which was their duty to perform in the time of danger, have forfeited their claim to our protection, and must frustrate their overtures to become citizens of the State. They chose their Party, they chose their King, and to their own Master let them stand or fall.
" Tho' we are (by the blessing of God) in the peaceable pos- session of a land flowing with milk and honey, yet the Land of Canaan will enjoy no rest, while the Philistines are suffered to dwell amongst us.
" When the British King (like Rehoboam of old) answered our Petitions with threats of whipping with scorpions, and the alarm was sounded, ' To your tents, O Israel : what portion have we in
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David? Neither have we Inheritance in the Son of Jesse (or George) : ' the Whigs obey'd, but the Tories shrank from danger.
" Our burned towns, and the wanton destruction of property, the loss of our blood and treasure, must ever prove an insuperable barrier against such men being reinstated, as became devotees to the shrine of royalty.
" After delivering this compendium of our sentiments, we In- struct you to use every effort to prevent the return of men thus characterized, to their former possessions, whose aims will be, to sow the seeds of discord among us. A little leaven may ferment the whole mass. Principiis obsta, as to vice, is a maxim inculcated by theologists, and amongst physicians, for the early suppression of morbific qualities : the same maxim is applicable in politics inju- rious to the Commonwealth."
" You'll bear in mind, that Congress are obliged only to recom- mend, but they neither can nor will offer coercion.
" We recommend the framing of such Acts, as tend to encourage Learning, Commerce and Agriculture. Lest enormous grants, sala- ries, pensions, etc., should exceed our finances, comparative views are to be taken, and strict economy observed.
" An Application to Congress is highly expedient to recommend their Consolidating their old Emission, and rousing it from its present lethargic state, which causes so much discontent.
" The shutting the Continental Loan Office gives fresh alarm, and National Credit suffers reproach. Reputation, or National Faith once lost, is hard to be regain'd ; its preservation should be guarded with caution.
" You will sacredly observe the foregoing Instructions, provided they do not militate with our Definitive Treaty of Peace.
Signed by Order of the Town,
JAMES FOWLE Junr. Town Clerk.
" The Town voted to accept of the above Instructions; and ordered their Town Clerk to give a Copy of the same to Capt. Samuel Belknap, Representative for said Town, and attest the same in behalf of said Town." 2
At the close of the war, the inhabitants of Woburn were in a depressed and straitened condition. The boon they had
" Town Records, Vol. X., pp. 204, 295.
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fought for was won; but not without great sacrifices of property and life. During the war, heavy losses had been incurred; business had been much deranged; many hopes of worldly prosperity had been disappointed; numerous efforts for acquir- ing, and plans for securing worldly wealth, had failed, or been defeated. The town, likewise, was much in debt. To provide money for paying the bounties demanded, in making up its quotas of men that were at various times called for, to enlist in the public service, the town had been obliged to borrow con- siderable sums of money upon note; 3 of which, when pay- ment was demanded, its narrow finances rendered it unable to refund : so that, in 1786, several executions were issued in court against it.
In view of the unhappy situation the people of Woburn were then in, may be plausibly conjectured the reasons of the part which they took in Shay's rebellion, in 1786-7. Oppressed with their own pecuniary burdens, and suffering the like public grievances, real or imaginary, which their brethren in the west- ern parts of the State were complaining of, they felt more sympathy with them than was meet, when they rose up in resist- ance to the government that was set over them, and to the laws of the land. Hence, when called upon to assist by a military force to suppress the rebellion, the town voted, January 29, 1787,
" Not to act upon the second Article in the Warrant, which Article was, To see if the town will do any thing concerning the Training Band now sent for.
" Voted, not to give any encouragement to the men called for, to go into the present Expedition.
" Voted, not to aid nor assist in the present Expedition." 4 And though a protest was immediately made, and entered in the town book, against the last two votes, by thirty-seven prominent and highly respectable citizens; and though at an adjournment
3 The principal due upon the notes against the town March 1, 1786, amounted to £1304 04. 7jd. For Interest on the name, {133 148. 7.
& Town Records, Vol. X., p. 484.
" Town Records, Vol XI., p. 67.
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of the meeting two days after, these same votes were reconsid- ered by the town itself; yet, at a town meeting, October 22d, following, " It was Voted not to act upon the Article relative to making any consideration to those persons that were draughted to go into the Government's service thirty days under Capt. William Blanchard in Jan' last past." 5 And yet again, at a meeting of the town, May 5, 1788, it was " Voted Not to make any allowance to those persons that hired or went in the Expe- dition from this Town after Daniel Shays in January One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty Seven, agreeable to a Petition signed by William Carter and others." 6
Notwithstanding the appearance of hostility to the govern- ment, and of favoring the rebel cause,. which these votes mani- fest, it is not known that any inhabitant of this town ever openly joined the rebels in their outrageous attempts. The people of Woburn had always hitherto approved themselves as loyal to the government set over them, as those of any town in the State. The votes above referred to were passed in a moment of excitement, and under the pressure of difficulties, which the majority of them had been led, like the rebels, erroneously to ascribe to the government. But when the prudent measures which their rulers adopted had relieved them of those diffi- culties, and time had opened their eyes to their mistake, in supposing their government to have been the cause of them, their former sentiments of loyalty revived ; and they probably would have been ashamed, within no long time after, to repeat the action referred to, on the occurrence of any similar occasion.
To extricate itself from its pecuniary embarrassments, the town had recourse, at different times, between 1783 and 1789, to va- rious expedients.
The treasurer was authorized to put off all the paper money of the new emission in his hands, belonging to the town, to the best advantage; and to deliver all the paper money of the old emission belonging to the town, that was lying in his hands, to Mr. Isaac Johnson, who was to dispose of it in the best manner
" Town Records, Vol. XI., p. 108.
6 Town Records, Vol. XI., p. 154.
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he could; taking care not to allow more than one hundred and fifty puper dollars for one hard one: and both persons to be accountable to the town.7
He was authorized to call in all debts due to the town upon note, from persons he judged able to pay : and to sell, at public auction, certain parcels of real estate, supposed to belong to the town, as the Meeting-house Hill, and the School-house Pond, (so called) with land adjoining, and to give a title or deed of the same.8
The delinquent collectors were required to gather and to pay immediately the sums in which they were deficient; and were authorized to allow a liberal premium to all who would pay in advance, or within a short time, their taxes about to be assessed, in order " to satisfie the Executions" against the town.9
Finally, at a meeting, March 19, 1787, the town voted to raise a tax of £300 lawful money, to be paid in hard money only, to defray the town debts due out of town, and them only.10
By these and similar prudent means, the town was ere long cleared of debt, and began to flourish and prosper. The people were roused from their state of depression; and they began to pursue their wonted avocations with cheerfulness and success.
Among the effects of that spirit of enterprise and improve- ment, public and private, which the restoration of peace to the country, the clearing of the town from its embarrassments by debt, and the revival of business and mutual confidence had awakened or cherished, may be reckoned the Middlesex Canal. Its construction was authorized by an act of the Legislature passed June 22, 1793, by which " James Sullivan Esq'. of Bos- ton, Oliver Prescott of Groton, James Winthrop of Cambridge, Loammi Baldwin of Woburn, Benjamin Hall, Jonathan Porter and others of Medford were incorporated, they and their suc- cessors, as a Corporation forever, by the name of the Proprie- tors of the Middlesex Canal.11 It was at first contemplated to carry the canal only from the waters of the Merrimack River in
1 Town Records, Vol. X., p. 320. "Town Records, Vol. X., p. 435; Vol. XI., p. 152.
9 Town Records, Vol. XI., p. 162; Vol. XI., pp. 6, 7. 10 Town Records, Vol. XI., p. 77. " Special Laws of Massachusetts, Vol. I., p. 465; Vol. II., pp. 20, 241, 342; Vol. ILI., p. 131.
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Chelmsford to those of the Medford River, through Billerica, Wilmington, Woburn, and Medford. But subsequent acts al- lowed the proprietors to continue it to Charles River, and there to open a communication with Boston by boats; extended the time for completing it to three years, from June 22, 1803; and authorized them to demand forever a toll of one-sixteenth of a dollar per mile for every ton of goods conveyed in boats, and for every ton of timber floated on rafts.11 As a considerable part of the canal lay within the bounds of Woburn, much, if not the chief portion of the care and responsibility in constructing it, rested upon that noted citizen of Woburn, and one of the prin- cipal proprietors of the canal, Col. Loammi Baldwin. With him, it was a favorite enterprise. He entered with a warm zeal upon the undertaking, and much of his time and care were spent upon the work. By vote of the directors, he attended Mr. Weston, a skilful English surveyor, whom he had procured from Philadelphia, in surveying the route of the canal from Chelms- ford, in 1794. He was constantly with the numerous workmen employed upon it, overseeing and directing them. And highly was he gratified, doubtless, in seeing it become navigable from the Merrimack to Charles River, in 1803.12 The facilities it afforded for the transportation of timber and country produce to Boston, and of merchandise from the city to its head in Chelms- ford, rendered it a work of great and growing public utility, and for several years a source of increasing revenue to the proprie- tors. But railroads and steam-cars at length superseded it. The year the Lowell railroad went into full operation, the receipts of the canal fell off' one-third. When the Lowell and Nashua road went into operation, the receipts of the canal were reduced another third. Shortly after, the dividends hardly sufficed to pay for current expenses and repairs : 12 and now (1867) a large proportion of the track of the canal through Woburn has been filled up with earth again; and over spots where rafts were once wafted, and boats were seen passing,
12 Historical Sketch, etc., etc., by Caleb Eddy, Esq., agent of the corporation, pp. 4-6. 36
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loaded with goods and persons, houses have been erected, and are inhabited, as on the solid ground by the way-side.
The history of the schools in Woburn, which was brought down in Chapter VII. to the year 1775, will now be resumed.
During the first seven years of the Revolutionary war, begun in 1775, £40 lawful money, or its equivalent in the depreciated paper of that day, was annually raised in Woburn for school- ing. In 1775 and 1776, such a portion of that amount was laid out each of those years, as was sufficient to keep a grammar school in the two parishes nine months in the whole; and the remainder was appropriated to the instruction of children in the extreme parts of the town. But, under this arrangement, it is obvious that the advantages for schooling in the remote quarters of the two parishes must have been very small. To remedy this defect, the town speedily adopted a new method of appro- priating its school money. For the fifteen years immediately succeeding 1776, a school committee to manage the affairs of the schools was but seldom chosen, and no provision was made ex- pressly for a grammar school, except in 1778 and 1787. During that whole period, there was a gradual increase in the sum annually raised for schooling, from £40, to £60, £80 and £90, lawful money, a year. But the decision of the important ques- tions, How shall the money be laid out ? Who shall be employed to teach ? When, and where, and how long, shall the schools be kept ? seems to have been left to a committee for apportioning the money, or to the majority of the inhabitants of each parish, or of the several districts. This committee would first apportion the school money to each parish, " according to their pay," towards the town taxes, and then leave to each parish, or to the several dis- tricts in the First Parish, to determine what was to be done with the portion severally allotted them. The practice of the town on this subject seems, during all this time, to have been agreeable to its vote, March 1, 1779: " That the Second Parish should have their proportionable part of the money that is granted by the town for schooling the ensuing year, to be appropriated to that
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use, and no other; and that cach parish may hire whom they please, and at any season of the year when they please." 13
But in the year 1792, a new era commenced in Woburn, in regard to schools. At March meeting, of that year, a committee, consisting of the two clergymen of the town, Rev. Messrs. Sar- geant and Marrett, and of five other prominent citizens, was chosen, " to examine into the government of the Schools, and to recommend some uniform system of instruction."14 The report of this committee, which was submitted to the town May 7th, was as follows :
" The influence of Education on society, the advantages arising from it in advancing Religion and Morality, in distinguishing between the unlettered Savage and the refinement of civilization, will ever excite towns and other bodies corporate, to be particularly attentive to the System of Education pursued in the Instruction of the rising Generation.
" We have therefore, as a Committee of the Town of Woburn. chosen for the express purpose of forming a uniform System of Instruction in the respective Schools, unanimously agreed to recommend the following : Viz.
" 1st. We recommend an exact attention to the Law of the Commonwealth, as to the choice, recommendation, and literary acquirements of each instructor, as first impressions are usually lasting. We think each Master ought to be a man of morality and education : and we would wish that the Town would be careful in the choice of their School Committee, so that none may be appointed to procure Masters, except such as are capable of judg- ing of the abilities of the Masters, or will take measures to be informed of their characters and qualifications.
" 2d. The School to be opened and closed with Prayers, which we think decent, and becoming creatures dependent on a Creator.
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