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 41
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"5ly. Voted to raise the sum of fifty dollars, to defray the expense that may arise in prosecuting the above object." 24
The committee chosen by the parish to obtain, if possible, a division of the town, seem now to have drawn up a memorial on this subject, and to have presented it to the General Court at its next session. And at a precinet meeting, February 7, 1798 :
24 Parish Records, continuation of, pp. 4, 5.
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HISTORY OF WOBURN.
" After having the proceedings of the Committee made known,
" Voted unanimously, that they approve thereof.
" Voted, that the Memorial presented to the General Court by them [the Committee] is perfectly agreeable to their minds, and that they are anxious to have the prayer thereof granted.
" Voted unanimously, that the Committee chosen in May last to petition the General Court for a division of the Town of Woburn, are empowered generally to act and agree in behalf of said Parish in every matter or thing that may come before the General Court respecting the division aforesaid." 25
And at a still subsequent meeting, March 12, 1798, the parish " Voted, that the Committee already chosen, be requested to proceed agreeably to their Instructions, and to use all possi- ble means in their power to obtain a separation of the town of Woburn, agreeably to their Memorial, or in any other way they shail think proper : and that all the powers that have heretofore at any legal meeting been granted them, are still continued in force." 26
But the majority of the town was decidedly opposed to the contemplated division ; and did not look with unconcern upon the zealous efforts of the people of the Second Parish to pro- cure it. At a general meeting of the inhabitants of the town, at the meeting-house of the First Parish, December 18, 1797, in acting upon an article of the warrant, relative to setting off the Second Parish as a town, it was found that eighty-six were against such a separation, and thirty-nine in favor. Five agents were then chosen to attend the General Court at their next session, to oppose a division of the town, viz :
COL. LOAMMI BALDWIN, SAMUEL THOMPSON, ESQ., MAJ. JEREMIAH CLAPP, Agents.27 DANIEL WYMAN, ABIJAH THOMPSON,
And at a town meeting, April 2, 1798, in relation to a memorial of the Second Parish in Woburn, respecting a division
25 l'arish Records, continuation of, p. 7.
M Continuation of Parish Records, p. 14. 21 Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 250.
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HISTORY OF WOBURN.
of the town, " Voted a Committee of nine Persons to inquire into the grounds of uneasiness of the Second Parish, which has occasioned their application to the Legislature for a Division of this town, and report at the next meeting.
" COL. LOAMMI BALDWIN, SAMUEL THOMPSON, EsQ., MAJ. JEREMIAH CLAPP, CAPT. BENJAMIN WYMAN,
MR. BILL RUSSELL,
Committee." 28
CAPT. JOSEPH BROWN,
MR. JAMES WALKER,
GEN. JOHN WALKER,
CAPT. JOHN WOOD,
7
Mem. Fifty-cight votes for choosing a committee, thirty-five against.
At a town meeting, May 7, 1798, the committee reported as follows :
" The Committee appointed by the town of Woburn to inquire into the grounds of uneasiness of the Second Parish in Woburn, which has occasioned their application to the Legislature for a Division of this Town, have attended that service; and report, that your Committee held a meeting at the house of Capt. John Wood, Jun., in said Second Parish on 23d ultimo, and have previously notified the Committee who had been ap- pointed by the 2d Parish to apply to the General Court for the division of the town, and to attend with such others as might be best capable of giving information respecting the grounds of uneasiness, as required by the town. And after diligent inquiry was made of the Committee of the Second Parish, and many others who attended, your Committee could not find as there were any real grounds of uneasiness existing, neither was there one word of complaint made, but what the Second Parish have had its full proportion of advantages equal and in common with the rest of the town : and it is the opinion of your Com-
28 Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 307.
37*
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HISTORY OF WOBURN.
mittee, that there does not actually exist any real grounds for uncasiness at all; but we have great reason to fear that the present movements and attempts for a division of the town orig- inated altogether in private views.
" LOAMMI BALDWIN. SAMUEL THOMPSON, JEREMIAH CLAPP, BENJAMIN WYMAN, JOSEPH BROWN, BILL RUSSELL, " ZEBADIAH WYMAN, Town Clerk."
Committee.29
The committee's report, as above, was accepted. Three agents were then chosen, viz : Maj. Jeremiah Clapp, Mr. Abijah Thompson and Capt. Joseph Brown, who should attend the General Court, at its next session, to oppose a division, and were directed to remonstrate in writing against it.
Voted, also, that the Representative of the town, Samuel Thompson, Esq., be instructed to use his influence in the Court in opposition to a division of the town.29
But at this stage of the proceedings in reference to a division of the town, the inhabitants of the Second Parish seem to have stolen a march upon those of the First. A general town meet- ing was called, to be held October 1, 1798, at the meeting-house of the Second Parish. One article of the warrant for this meeting was, "To see if the Town will choose a Committee to meet the Committee which is appointed by the General Court,
on a Petition of General Walker and others to view the Town, in order to ascertain the expediency of a division of said Town into two Towns, or into a Town and District. Also to see if the Town will give their Committee, when chosen, any particu- lar instructions respecting the matter, or do any thing in regard to the same, that they may think best when met together." From some cause or other, a large portion of the inhabitants of the First Parish appear to have been absent from this meeting:
" l'own Recorde, Vol. XII., p. 300.
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HISTORY OF WOBURN.
and the consequence was, that votes were then passed, which directly contravened the measures taken by the town in the two meetings next preceding. In acting upon the article above cited, a committee was chosen to meet the Court's committee, consisting of Lieut. Joseph Winn, Gen. John Walker and Mr. John Kendall; and a second committee was appointed to draft instructions for the first, which were accepted by the town, and were as follows, viz :
" That the Committee this day appointed to attend the Com- mittee from the General Court be instructed to attend said Committee, and use their endeavours, in behalf of the Town of Woburn, to have the town divided, agreeable to the Prayers of the inhabitants of the Second Parish in said town, and that all just and equitable measures be taken by them to have the same accomplished as soon as may be ; and that they appear in behalf of said town, at the next session of the General Court, and urge the necessity and utility of the measure in the most press- ing manner they are able, or in any other way they may think most proper to accomplish a division of said town." 30
But at a general town meeting, at the meeting-house of the First Parish, November 5, 1798, the action of the meeting, October 1st, in regard to a division of the town, was entirely reversed.
In answer to the petition of a number of the inhabitants "to see if the Town will dismiss the Committee which was chosen at their last town meeting to attend the Hon. Committee from the General Court upon a Division of the Town ": the house was polled, and eighty-three were for acting on this article, and forty-three against.
" Voted, that the Committee, which was chosen on the 1st Oct. 1798, viz, Messrs. Gen. John Walker, Lieut. Joseph Winn and Mr. John Kendall, for the purpose of meeting the Hon. Committee from the General Court, by a vote of the town this day passed is dismissed from any further service for the town as a Committee.
30 Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 311.
.
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HISTORY OF WOBURN.
" Voted, to choose Agents to attend the General Court, or any Committee that is or may be appointed by the General Court, upon a Division of the Town."
Chose three agents by hand vote : to whom two more were presently added :
COL. LOAMMI BALDWIN,
MAJ. JEREMIAH CLAPP,
MR. ABIJAH THOMPSON, Agents. MR. NATIIAN SIMONDS, CAPT. JOSEPH BROWN,
Voted, that the instructions which Col. Loammi Baldwin has this day drawn up be the instructions for the above agents : which instructions were as follows :
Instructions :
" 1. Voted, to choose a standing Committee of five persons to be Agents for the Town to oppose a Division of the Town, any three of which Committee shall constitute a quorum to do busi- ness, and no more than three are to attend at any one time, at the expense of the town. And the said Committee are re- quested and authorized to attend when it shall be necessary, at the General Court, or before any Committee that has been or that may hereafter be appointed, upon the Division of the Town, and in the name and in behalf of this town, to oppose any division thereof, and to remonstrate against the continuance of those expensive measures which are pursuing against it; and if necessary, to petition the Legislature, to be heard on the sub- ject upon the floor of the House; and generally to do and transact every thing which they may think necessary for the interest of the town, to prevent a measure which appears pregnant with so many evils as that of the division of the town.
" 2d. And it is also further Voted, that the numbers of Voters present at the appointment of said Committee be taken, and a Record thereof made; and the said Committee with the forego- ing Commission shall continue and exist for the term of one year next ensuing this date, if the cause which has given rise for their
429
HISTORY OF WOBURN.
appointment shall continue so long, unless in the mean time they shall be dismissed, or their commission altered, in legal Town Meeting, when there shall be as many Voters at least present as there are now at the appointment of said Committee.
" 3d. Voted, that Samuel Thompson, Esq., who is appointed to represent this town in the General Court, the present year, be instructed, and is hereby instructed, to use his influence and utmost endeavors in the General Court to prevent a division of the town, and if possible, to put a speedy stop to the expensive measures which have been unreasonably pursued against the rights, the interest and happiness of the citizens thereof.
" Voted, that all the instructions and directions given to Messrs. Gen. John Walker, Lt. Joseph Winn and John Kendall, the Committee chosen at the last meeting to attend the General Court's Committee upon the Division of the Town be repealed, and made null and void."31
But all the strenuous efforts of the majority of the town to prevent the contemplated division of it did not avail. Such were the representations made to the Court, on the part of the Second Parish, or such the adroitness of its management for securing the end aimed at, that the Court came at last to the conclusion, that a division of the town was expedient; and on February 28, 1799, incorporated the Second Parish of Woburn as a distinct town, by the name of Burlington. 32
By this act of the Legislature, Woburn lost 7,418 acres of territory, beside the Locke Farm, which was originally included in it, but which, after the incorporation of Burlington, was set off to Lexington.33
Of three hundred and fifty-three persons resident in Woburn, who were taxed there upon the town tax in 1798, there were ninety-six who belonged to the precinct.34
Of a town tax raised in Woburn, 1798, and amounting to $2,703.10, the Second Parish paid $795.20.34
The population of Woburn, Winchester and Burlington was
31 Town Records, Vol. XII., pp. 314, 315.
83 Plan of Burlington, by Bart. Richardson, IS31.
32 Epcelal Laws of Mass., Vol. II., p. 283.
34 Town Records, Vol. XII., pp. 317-343.
430
HISTORY OF WOBURN.
as follows, according to the United States census, in the years named :
1790. 1800. 1810. 1820. 1830. 1840. 1850. 1860. Woburn, 1,727 1,228 1,219 1,519 1,977 2,993 3,956 6,287 35 Winchester,
1,353 1,937
Burlington, 534 471 508 446 510 545 606
N. B. Winchester was incorporated April 30, 1850, from parts of Woburn, Medford and West Cambridge.36
Burlington incorporated February 28, 1799, originally Wo- burn, Second Parish : part of it annexed to Lexington, January 10, 1810.37
The death of General Washington (deservedly called the Father of his Country) in December 1799, excited a universal and profound sensation of grief throughout the United States. At a town meeting in Woburn, January 8, 1800, called as soon as could be after the event was announced, it was voted :
" 1. That a week day be assigned, on which the Town may pay their respects to the memory of the late General George Washington, who died on the 14th of December, A. D. 1799.
"2. That the Selectmen with three other Gentlemen, viz. Col. Loammi Baldwin, Major Jeremiah Clapp, and Dea. Josiah Con- vers, be a Committee to appoint said day, and concert a mode in which the town may proceed to pay their respects to the memory of their friend, Gen. George Washington deceased."
The Report of the Committee, rendered within an hour after, was :
" The citizens of the town of Woburn, being deeply affected at the death of his Excelleney, George Washington Esq. late Gen- eral of the Armies of the United States, who died the 14th Dec. last, do resolve that Thursday, the 16th instant, be set apart to testify their respect to the memory of their late beloved friend and patron, General George Washington.
" And that it be recommended to the Inhabitants of this Town to suspend the ordinary business of labour, and that an Eulo- gium adapted to the occasion be delivered at the Meeting House on said day.
36 Publlo Documents, Annual Statistics, 1864, No. 1, pp. 30, 31.
3 Public Documents, etc., 1561, No. 1. p. 15.
37 Publie Documents, 1864, No. 1, pp. 13, 14.
431
HISTORY OF WOBURN.
" Voted to recommend to all the male inhabitants to wear a black crape or ribbon on their left arm, and the females, black trimming on their head dresses, for the term of thirty days."
This report was accepted by the town, which then chose a committee of nine persons, to make and carry into effect the necessary arrangements for said day, viz :
COL. LOAMMI BALDWIN.
SAMUEL THOMPSON, EsQ.
DEA. JOSIAH CONVERS.
MR. ABIJAH THOMPSON.
CAPT. JOSEPH BOND.
LIEUT. JOSEPH LAWRENCE.
CAPT. BENJAMIN WYMAN.
MR. ELIJAH LEATHE, JR.
MAJ. JEREMIAH CLAPP.38
. Finally, " Voted, in case that an Orator cannot be obtained to pronounce an Eulogium on the day appointed, the above Com- mittee are authorized to appoint another time for said Solemnity, and to give seasonable notice to the Town of the time they may appoint." 38
The services in commemoration of the death of Washington were held January 16th, (the day recommended by the Com- Inittee,) in the old meeting-house on the Common, which was so densely crowded with attendants, that it was found necessary to prop it up. An escort was formed by the military company under the command of Lieut. Stephen Richardson; and by the children and youth of the public schools. Prayer was offered by Rev. Daniel Oliver, then preaching in Woburn. An address, adapted to the occasion, was delivered by Rev. Dr. Morse of Charlestown, founded on the words Deut. XXXIV. 7. " And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." Rev. Elias Smith, of the Baptist society, made the concluding prayer.39
38 Town Records, Vol. XII., p. 358.
3º Communication from Col. Leonard Thompson, by Nathan Wyman, Esq., town clerk.
CHAPTER XIV.
Ecclesiastical History from 1775. - First Church : Rev. Messrs. Sargeant, Chickering, Bennett.
To resume the ecclesiastical history of Woburn, which was brought down in Chapter XI., to 1775 :
At the commencement of the present century, in consequence of the incorporation of the Second Parish as the town of Bur- lington in 1799, the old first congregational parish of Woburn comprehended all the inhabitants of the town, excepting the few connected with the Baptist Society, which had been then but recently formed. To preserve harmony with that society, how- ever, the town entered into an engagement with it, September 28, 1801, to omit taxing its members for the support of Congrega- tional preaching, or any other religious purpose, on condition of its returning every year, by the first of May, to the town asses- sors, a list of those who belonged to it.1 And moreover, it forbore, after 1802, to enter in the town records (agreeably to previous custom) its proceedings relative to raising money for preaching, or to the settlement or maintenance of its ministers, but transferred them to a new volume, termed the " Parish Books" or otherwise "the Ministerial Book of Records." ? The last tax for the support of preaching that is recorded in the town book was raised by the town September 21, 1801, and recorded in the Town Records, Vol. XIII., p. 62-66.
After the dismission of Rev. Mr. Sherman, in 1775, the First Parish was almost ten years without a settled minister. The friends of the dismissed pastor were too much soured and grieved at his removal, to be very ready to agree with his op- ponents in the choice of a successor. Upon two occasions, they manifested much solicitude to have Mr. Sherman invited back and resettled over them. Particularly, at a parish meet-
I Town Records, Vol. XIII., p. 47.
" Town Records, Vol. XIII., pp. 70, 126, 186, 188, 217, 254, 348, 379.
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HISTORY OF WOBURN.
ing, December 8, 1778, in taking steps to determine how many were in favor of giving him such an invitation, the people were found to be very nearly equally divided.3
At a meeting, April 5, 1779, it was voted to set apart April 22d, as a day of fasting and prayer, " in order to the settlement of a Gospel Minister in this Parish ;" and to apply to the follow- ing ministers in the vicinity, viz :
Rev. Messrs. MORRILL of Wilmington,
CLARK of Lexington,
~ 66 THACHER of Malden,
PRENTISS of Reading,
MARRETT of Woburn, Second Parish,
OSGOOD of Medford,
" to assist the Parish, and carry on the work of the day." 4
During the long period which elapsed that Woburn First Parish was destitute of a settled ministry, numerous candidates were employed, with a view to settlement over them. Among the more prominent of these were Messrs. Caleb Jewett, in 1779, William Greenough, in 1780, Jonathan Homer, in 1781, and Phinchas Wright, in 1784. Each of these gentlemen was successively called by the church to the pastoral office; and, in respect to the two named last, the parish voted concurrence with the church, and a salary. But they all declined continuing in Woburn. Mr. Jewett was afterwards settled, it is believed, in Maine; Messrs. Greenough and Homer. in Newton; and Mr. Wright in Bolton.
December 8, 1784, the church made choice of Mr. Samuel Sar- geant for their pastor. With this choice the parish concurred, at a meeting December 13th, when they voted to give him annu- ally £150 salary, so long as he should do the whole work of the ministry in the parish, and £150 settlement. And at an adjourn- ment of this meeting, January 3, 1785, it was voted to pay Mr. Sargeant his settlement one half in one year, and the other half in two years from that time; and to give him £50 annually for his maintenance, so long as he shall be the minister of the parish,
$ Parish Records, Vol. II., pp. 219, 220. ' Parish Records, Vol. II. Page not noted by clerk. 38
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HISTORY OF WOBURN.
should he fail, by reason of age, etc., to do the whole work of the ministry.5
And at an adjourned meeting, January 24th, the parish voted, by forty votes to twenty, their continued satisfaction with their previous proceedings on this head; and appointed a committee " to complete a contract with Mr. Samuel Sargeant," who that day accepted the invitation given him to settle.5
February 14th, a committee of the parish was appointed to meet a committee of the church, to make provision for the ordination ; and also with Mr. Sargeant to determine what churches to apply to, for their assistance on the occasion. The day appointed for the ordination is not named either in the church or in the parish records; but from the Precinct Church Records, it appears to have taken place March 14, 1785, Mr. Sargeant having been received into the fellowship of the Church a fortnight before.
At this time, there were, on the Parish tax lists for 1785, one hundred and twenty-seven resident persons on the west list, and one hundred and four resident persons on the east list, taxed for the minister's salary.5
But scarcely was Mr. Sargeant regularly inducted into the pastoral office, before those troubles commenced respecting him, with which the parish was agitated for nearly fourteen years. The choice of him by the parish, as their minister, was far from unanimous, as is evident from their proceedings at their meeting January 24, 1785, at which they confirmed their previous doings at his election ; and subsequent acquaintance with him, and use to his ministrations did not allay the opposition to him, or increase the number of his friends. At a meeting of the parish May 1, 1786, Mr. Zachariah Richardson, a stanch friend of Mr. Sherman, and who seemed hardly willing to sit under the preaching of any other minister, brought forward a petition that every one might be allowed to pay his parish tax whererer he attended preaching : and though the parish refused, by forty votes to twenty-three, to act on this petition, yet another petition,
5 l'arish Records, Vol. 11.
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HISTORY OF WOBURN.
signed by the same individual and ten others, was presented at a meeting October 29th of the next year, urging that a com- mittee might be chosen, to see if they can agree with the Rev. Samuel Sargeant, that he should quit the desk.5
Before the end of the year 1786, several members of Woburn First Parish had withdrawn from the public worship of their own town, and frequently attended the meetings of the Baptist society in West Cambridge : and though the assessors in Woburn were directed by the parish to assess the parish taxes, as they had been wont to, yet at several parish meetings in Woburn, in 1787 and 1788, it was a matter of debate, what should be done with the parish taxes of those persons; whether they should be paid to the Baptists, who demanded them of the parish treasurer, or not.
Alarmed by these contentions, and tokens of alienation from Rev. Mr. Sargeant on the part of many, several prominent citi- zens procured a parish meeting, to be called January 4, 1790, to see if the parish will act upon the following articles, agreeably to the petition of Bartholomew Richardson and others :
First, " To see if the Parish will take any measures to recon- cile and heal the divisions and uneasiness that do now and have for some time past subsisted between a considerable number of the Parish and the Revd Mr Samuel Sargeant.
"Second, To choose a large committee to wait on the Rev. Mr Sargeant, to confer with him on the subject of a reconcilia- tion and compromise between him and a great number of the Parish, and if possible, to lay a plan for obtaining peace and unity once more amongst us." 6
At this meeting, January 4, 1790, a numerous committee, viz : Dr. Samuel Bloggett, Messrs. Jesse Richardson, Robert Douglas, Elijah Leathe, Deacon Zebadiah Wyman, Messrs. Joseph Winn, Josiah Convers, Lieut. Jeduthan Richardson, Maj. John Hast- ings, Mr. Paul Wyman, Capt. Joseph Bartlett, Samuel Thompson, Esq., and Mr. Daniel Wyman, thirteen in all, was chosen, to take part in the efforts proposed above; and also upon certain
6 Parish Records, Vol. II.
436
HISTORY OF WOBURN.
papers communicated by Mr. Sargeant, and to report at adjourn- ment, January 18th.
At the adjournment, the committee reported that they did not consider the proposals of Mr. Sargeant, contained in his letters communicated to the parish, as sufficient to calm the disaffection.
" That they had waited on Mr Sargeant, and had informed him, as far as was in their power, with regard to the existing uneasi- ness ; that he expressed great grief thereat ; had ever sought their welfare ; was sensible of the burdens of his people ; was willing to sustain an equal share with any of his brethren ; and (with regard to his demands on the Parish) had never exacted interest on his Orders ; on the contrary, had often settled them, after they had been due 15 or 20 months, without any compensation for delay, even when he was paying interest himself for money he had bor- rowed ; that he had never in any year since his residence among them, received, on an average, more than £10 over and above a sufficiency to pay for his own board and horse keeping, at the rate he gave while a Candidate; and that he had never received a farthing of his settlement money since the day it was voted : finally, that if he were chargeable with rash or imprudent speeches, had injured any one, or done any thing inconsistent with the character of a Christian minister or gentleman, he was willing to make any proper satisfaction ; and to submit all matters of uncasi- ness to a Mutual Council of Churches, and abide its decision."
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