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 50
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7ly. "We Resolve, by the help and strength of God, to approve ourselves in our particular callings as becometh saints : shunning idleness, not sloathfull in business, knowing that idleness is the bane of any Society : Neither will we deal h[ardly] or oppressingly with any wherein we are the Lord's stewards. And further? [finally] we promise to dedicate our Children to God, and to teach them the good knowledge of God the Lord, according to the best of our abilities, and to fear and serve him with us, that it may be well with them and us forever.
" These things we solemnly promise, as in the presence of the omniscient Jehovah."
Entered here by Jabez Richardson." Chh. Rec. Vol. I., p. 3.
On the page of the Records next following the above Cove- nant is the annexed List of subscribers to it, or otherwise, of the male members of the Church at the time of its adoption.
1 That is, " of this Church." Anciently, the word Congregation was often used, as synonymous with Church.
536
APPENDIX, NO. IV.
" The Revd. Mr John Fox The Revd. Mr Josiah Sherman
Edward Walker
Nathan Richardson Benjamin Richardson
Deacon Josiah Peirce
Deacon Samuel Eames
Isaac Snow
Samuel Neauards [Nevers]
David Wyman
Joseph Wright John Wright Thomas Richardson
Nathan Wyman
Jacob Richardson
Thomas Wright
Ebenezer Brooks
John Holdwin [Holden] William Tay
Josiah Parker
Samuel Kendall
Josiah Johnson."
Church Records, Vol. 1., p. 4.
COVENANT OF ADMISSION INTO THE CHURCH OF WOBURN.
At a meeting of the Church, 1768, November 13th, " Voted that the following Covenant, or Confession of Faith, should be made use of, and consented to, by all who are received as Members of this Church.
The Church Covenant.
" You do now solemnly and sincerely give up yourself and yours to God in the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the Covenant of Grace, to be for him, and him only; resolving and engaging to make the Word of God the rule of your faith and practice [as it is explained in our well-known Catechism composed by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster]. You do take the ever blessed Jeho- vah for your chief good and last End. You do take the Lord Jesus Christ for your Prophet, Priest and King; the Holy Ghost for your Sanctifier, Leader and Comforter : promising, by the help of God, to walk before him in holiness and righteousness all your days. You do also put yourself under the care and watch of this Church, and the government of Christ herein; and promise to attend duly on the holy Ordinances of Christ here administered for your edification in faith and holiness. This you solemnly engage and promise before God, Angels, and this Assembly.
"Then I signify to you, in the name and with the concurrence of this Church, that we receive you into our sacred Fellowship and Communion ; and do promise, through Christ's assistance, to watch over you, and carry ourselves towards you with such broth- erly affection and Christian regard, as the Rules of the Gospel
537
APPENDIX, NO. IV.
demand and enjoin in such a relation. This we do, imploring our Lord Jesus Christ, that both we and you may be found faithful in his Covenant, and may have grace to serve him with that holiness which becomes his House forever.
" I now declare you to be a member of this Church in full Com- munion -" Church Records, Vol. 1, p. 70.
The words enclosed in brackets in the above Covenant were erased by vote of the Church, June 27, 1785. See Church Records, p. 34. And in this altered form, it continued to be used at admissions as late as 1809.1 Previously to admission and entering into Covenant, however, candidates, it is understood, were required in 1838, and before, to give their assent to the following Confession of Faith, which is of more recent adoption in this Church, viz :
CONFESSION OF FAITH.
" You believe there is but one God, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the Universe ; a Being self-existent and immutable, infinite in power, wisdom, justice, goodness, mercy, and truth.
" You believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were given by the inspiration of God, and are a perfect rule of faith and practice.
" You believe that God is revealed in the Scriptures as the Fa- ther, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and that these three are one, and in all divine attributes equal.
" You believe that God made all things for himself; that known unto him are all his works from the beginning ; that he governs all things according to the counsel of his own will ; and that the prin- ciples and administration of his government are perfectly holy, just, and good.
" You believe that God created man holy, and that he fell from his happy state by sinning against God; that, in consequence of the fall, mankind are born without holiness, and continue alienated from God, until renewed and reconciled by the Holy Spirit.
" You believe that God, as an act of pure mercy, gave his Son to die for the sins of the world, and that Jesus Christ, by his suffer- ings and death, has made an atonement sufficient for the redemp- tion of all mankind; so that God can be just and the justifier of him that believeth ; and that upon condition of repentance and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, pardon and eternal life are sincerely offered to all.
" You believe that mankind do, of their own accord, refuse to
1 Chickering's Dedication Sermon, Appendix, p. 27.
.
538
APPENDIX, NO. IV.
comply with these conditions, to the aggravation of their guilt and condemnation ; but that God, notwithstanding he perceived how mankind would treat the Gospel of his Son, did always purpose to save from deserved ruin, great multitudes of the human race, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
"You believe that without a change of heart by the special agency of the Holy Spirit, no one can be an heir of eternal life.
" You believe in the necessity of such repentance for sin, as arises from supreme love to God ; and of such faith in Jesus Christ, as includes an affectionate submission to him and reliance upon him for pardon and eternal life.
" You believe that men are dependent upon God to give repent- ance and faith, because they are voluntarily and obstinately opposed to their duty ; and that the influence of the Holy Spirit is bestowed, not as a reward of antecedent merit, or well doing on the part of him who receives it, but as a free gift of God ; and yet that this influence of the Spirit is ordinarily so inseparably connected with the careful use of means by the sinner, as creates entire obligation and ample encouragement to attend upon them, and renders all hopes of conversion in the neglect of means eminently pre- sumptuous.
" You believe that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust, when all must stand before the judg- ment seat of Christ, and receive a sentence of retribution, according to the deeds done in the body ; and that the wicked will go into punishment, and the righteous into life, both of which will never end.
" Moreover you believe, that in this world the Lord Jesus Christ has a visible Church, the terms of admission to which are a public profession of faith in Christ, sustained by credible evidence ; that Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances to be observed in the Church to the end of the world ; that none but members of the visible church, in regular standing, have a right to partake of the Lord's Supper.
All these things you truly confess and cordially believe.
(Those who have not been baptized, here receive the ordinance of Bap- tism.)
You will now enter into Covenant with God, and with this Church,
(For Covenant, see above.)
539
APPENDIX, NO. V.
APPENDIX, No. V.
WHENCE WOBURN DERIVED ITS NAME.1
Curiosity may prompt the inquiry, Why was the town at its incorporation called Woburn ? Was it not (it may be asked in reply) from respect for Hon. Richard Russell, who came to Charlestown in 1640, from Herefordshire, England, and quickly took rank among the prominent and most influential citizens not only of Charlestown, (which he represented in the General Court, in 1643,) but throughout the Colony, of which he was many years an assistant, and the treasurer from 1645 till his death in 1676 ? This distinguished gentleman, it may be plausibly supposed, was a relative of the noble family of the Russells, in Bedfordshire, England, who had long been settled at Woburn, in that County, and were proprietors of Woburn Abbey, or of a palace built on its site, which they made their home. If this conjecture be cor- rect, the giving to this town of the name it bears admits of an easy explanation. When Charlestown Village was to be incor- porated, in 1642, and it was asked by the Court, What name it should be known by ? the members from Charlestown, viz : Hon. Increase Nowell, of the Assistants, Capt. Robert Sedgwick and Mr. Francis Willoughby, Deputies for the September Session, or either of them, may be readily conceived to have proposed the name of Woburn, out of regard to their newly arrived but highly valued fellow-citizen, Richard Russell, and also with a view to perpetuate in this town the name of the favorite residence of his noble relatives in the mother country.
Woburn, in England, is described as follows in the " Complete System of Geography," London 1747 :
" Woburn in the Hundred of Manshead is of chief Note for the Palace of the Duke of Bedford, where stood the ancient Abbey, which was founded Anno 1145; and for a Canal before it, that carries a Yacht of thirty or forty Tons, and several smaller pleasure Boats. The 19th. of June 1724, above a hundred of its Houses were burnt down, which are since neatly rebuilt, and a fine Market place erected, intirely at the Expence of the Duke of Bedford; so that the Town makes a handsome Appearance. Here is a Free- school founded by Francis [Russell] Earl of Bedford; and a Charity School for thirty Boys, who are both cloth'd and taught, founded and maintain'd by Wriothesley late Duke of Bedford and his Duchess."
Vol. I. Bedfordshire, p. 132, folio.
1 Chap. 1, Note 26.
540
APPENDIX, NO. VI.
APPENDIX, NO. VI. LAND OF NOD.
See History, Chapter I., Note 38.
The 3,000 acres given up by Woburn, in exchange for land received from Charlestown, according to the final agreement between the two towns, concluded upon July 29, 1650, lay at the northern extremity of the four miles square, adjoining Andover, and within the limits of what is now Wilmington. Though the rights of property in it were yielded to Charlestown, yet for all municipal control and regulations, it was considered as still within the bounds of Woburn. It was called "the land of Nod ;" a name probably suggested, (as Hon. Richard Frothing- ham happily conjectures in his History of Charlestown, No. 3, p. 111) " by a comparison of its forlorn condition, so far remote from Church ordinances, with the Nod to which Cain wandered, when he went from the presence of the Lord, Genesis IV." And by this name it was long known, and still is, by many of Wilmington, at the present day.
This tract of land continued for years in a neglected, unculti- vated state. Its precise location, by suitable metes and bounds, was not determined till June 1671; and it was not till Septem- ber 1674, that Woburn formally resigned her propriety in it, according to the following certificate in Woburn Records :
" The 21 of September, Seventy fower, Charlstowne men, Mr William Sims and Edward Wilson, in the behalfe of the propry- etors of the land of Node, did goe with Woburne Committee, and resaiue their three thousand Acres in the land of Nod, according to bounds giuen under their hands upon Record, bear- ing date the 20: of the 4 mo. [20 June] 71; with which bounds they were fully sattisfied."-Woburn Records, Vol. I., p. 54.
But how happened it that these 3,000 acres were surren- dered, not to Charlestown, to which it was given in exchange by Woburn in 1650, but to the proprietors of the land of Nod ? and who were these proprietors ? It seems that in 1643, one year only after the incorporation of Woburn, and seven years
541
APPENDIX, NO. VI.
before the mutual agreement between Charlestown and Woburn, in regard to their respective bounds, etc., etc., was entered into, Charlestown, considering the land of Nod as already her own, (in consequence, probably, of some previous understanding between the two towns,) parcelled it out among twelve of her prominent citizens, in the following proportions, viz :-
To Robert Sedgwick was granted 300 acres.
Zechariah Symmes
300
Thomas Allen
300
Richard Russell
300
Francis Willoughby
300
John Allen
300
66
William Stitson
250
¥
William Phillips
200
Ralph Woory
200
Robert Cooke
250
66
Thomas Graves
250
Mr. Barnard
200
« 1
But these gentlemen held the land thus given them but in low estimation. Several of them surrendered back their respective grants to the town again. And of the grants thus relinquished, Charlestown in 1652 bestowed five hundred acres upon Francis Norton. Subsequently, Francis Willoughby bought the shares of Francis Norton and John Allen, which, added to his own, made 1,100 acres. In 1683, May 1st, Lawrence Hammond, who had married Francis Willoughby's widow, sold these 1,100 acres to John Hull, of Boston; who dying in September of the same year, his rights in Nod fell to Samuel Sewall, (afterwards Judge Sewall,) who had married Hull's daughter and only heir; and who, for some years, was accustomed to lease a portion of the meadow in Nod, and to receive rent for it. Hearing of this, Charlestown appointed a committee to examine into its rights in Nod. In their Report, dated December 25, 1704, this committee say : " We are informed that there are several per-
1 Frothingham's Charlestown, No. 3, p. 112.
47
542
APPENDIX, NO. VI.
sons that claim part of that tract of land (Nod) which we cannot allow of: for we are very well satisfied, that this tract of land was originally the land that Woburn exchanged with Charles- town for lands then belonging to Charlestown; and we cannot find any record that this land was ever legally conveyed to any particular person." The town accepted this Report; and con- ceiving itself agreeably to it to be the rightful owner of all the territory in dispute, leased to two individuals the whole of the meadow contained in it. This assumption by Charlestown was resisted by Judge Sewall, who wrote as follows to one of the lessees above referred to :
" BOSTON, June 6. 1705.
"Friend : I am informed that some Charlestown Gentlemen have lately Lett to you and Henry Holt of Andover all the Meadow belonging to the Land of Nod. These are to acquaint you that I have a good Right to above a third part of the said Meadow, and am in the actual Improvement of it. I made a Lease of it to Thomas Asten of Andover the 28th. of August last for eleven years. I Lett it before to Oliver Holt by Lease in writing; and for many years before, I Lett it out to others, and received the rent. My Interest in that Land cost a great deal of Money. My Deed is Acknowl- edged, and has been upon Record above Twenty Year. I have an honest and legal Right : which I acquaint you with, to prevent your giving my Tenant any disturbance : and Rest
"Your loving friend, S. S.
"Let your partner in the Lease see what I say to you."
" Sent by Peirson Richardson." 2
In consequence, apparently, of this step taken by Judge Sewall, Charlestown commenced an action at law against him. The case was tried at Cambridge, before a Special Court, September 18, 1705; and again, upon the appeal of Charles- town, before the Superior Court of the Province at Cambridge, July 29, 1706; and on both occasions, the decision was in Sewall's favor.3 Thus the rights of individual proprietors to portions of the land were legally confirmed; and Charlestown was found to be entitled to only a part of Nod, and not the whole, as it had recently claimed. At a meeting of the Pro- prietors, at Charlestown, April 14, 1718, it was voted to divide
2 Sewall's Letter Book, p. 174.
$ Sewall's Diary.
543
APPENDIX, NO. VII.
the whole 3,000 acres; and Capt. Joseph Burnap, of Reading, a noted Surveyor, was employed to do it.3 The work was accom- plished by him November 10, 1718; and on November 25th, Capt. Burnap presented to the Proprietors at Charlestown a Plan of the whole, divided into Shares.3 Lot No. 1 of 300 acres fell to Judge Sewall, who sold it to Samuel Dummer, Esq., a brother or near relative of Lieut .- Gov. William Dummer, Esq .; and acknowledged the deed of it March 9, 1726-7.3 Other proprietors doubtless parted with their interest in it from time to time in a like way. And "a vote of Charlestown May 10. 1742 indicates that a part of the town's share of it has been sold; and a Committee was then authorized to sell the remainder. " 1
APPENDIX, No. VII.
1. LETTER OF MAJOR CONVERS TO GOVERNOR JOSEPH DUDLEY. [Superscription.]
" For His Excy. Joseph Dudly, Esq". Capt". Gen". Gour. In Chiefe, &c. " These.
" Woob". August 14th, 1704. " May it pleas Your Excy.
"I Received Your Excels. Order of ye. 10th, Courrant, I Recd. it ye. same day about 4 in ye. afternoone, for the detaching 45 Soldiers &c : and to post ym. in 3 squadrons under ye. Comand of a Sargt. to Each, viz. Groaton, Lanchester & Malburow. I forthwith sent out my Warrants to all ye. touns in ye. Lower Regamt; the Soldiers were all Impressd yt. night and ye. 11th day and began to March, the 12 day I went and posted them ac- cording to Order, Giueing the sargts. written Orders to obserue till further Orders, directing them to take advice of the Capts. of the Respective touns :
544
APPENDIX, NO. VII.
" At Malburow, John Benjamin sargt. 15 men " Lanchester, Benjamin Wilson sargt. 14 men
" Groaton, Joseph Child, sarg *. 16 men 45.
here is ye. whole Number Your Excelencey sent for, posted ac- cording to order. I think there are too many garrasons in every toune. If these men be Reposted, one at a garrason, and two at another, I shall account my labour lost, and ye. men next to thrown away, Saving alwayes, what is in Obedience to Your Excs. Comand there is nothing lost or thrown away.
" Exct. Sr. I pray for a gracious pardon, and am " Your Very Humble Ready and Obedient Servt.
JAMS. CONVERSE. "
2. LETTER OF MAJOR JAMES CONVERS TO JOSEPH DUDLEY, ESQ., GOVERNOR, &C.
[Superscription.]
" To His Excely. Joseph Dudley, Esq". Capt". Gen11. and Govern". in Chief &c These .-
" For her Majts. Service."
" Woobourne : Jan : 27th. 1704. [1704-5. " May it pleas Your Excely.
" I Recd. Your Excs. Letter to Coll. Ting on tuseday last about ten, and [with] much a-doo I found a Snow-Shoo man, and posted it away, and it got to Coll. Tings (as I understand) about one of ye. clock yt. night, my meaning is, about one of ye. Clock in the morning. I also Recd. your Exels. order about mustering of Sixty men to be in a Readiness at an hours Warning to march to ye. assistance of ye. frontiers &c : this I Recd. ye. 25th. in ye. night, ye. 26. I prosecuted it as far as I could : I have not been so far as ye. next Neighbours hous this fortnight, we cannot goe on horsback nor a foot, the snow is so exseeding deep, but I writ Warrants and sent by my lad to Capt. Johnson and other officers to Rais about sixty, but knowing yt. there was not one third of yt. number of Snow shoos in toune, and most of ym.
APPENDIX, NO. VIII. 545
troopers yt. liue at the farms, I sent therefore to ye. troop officers that are in our toune to muster ym. and I hope Your Excy. will exscuse me, I sent to Majr. Sweyne to provide 35 or 40 more, to be Comanded by Lt. Thos. Nichols of yt. toune [Reading ?] If any thing could be done on horsback, I am Ready, but not else-I am not able. I doubt all these will not make aboue 20 or 30 Snow shoo men. I do not know what there is at Malden and Charlstr. farms and Mistick : I know there are som at Cam- bridg farms and Watter towne, and they liue Neerer yn. we, If your Excy. pleas to Order Coll. Phillips to look after ym. Your Excy. pro [promised ?] Coll. Phillips and Coll. ffoxcroft yt. I should be a perpetual drouge [drudge] to ym. and so I am, I am Willing to do what I can, but not all. Wattertoune and Cam- bridge farms exspect a Call, pleas to let ym. haue it. So Craue- ing pardon, I Humbly subscribe Your Excs. poore and old, but very Ready Willing Servant
" to ye. utmost of my abillety, " JAMS. CONVERSE."
APPENDIX, NO. VIII.
WRIT OF MANDAMUS.1
" Province of the ¿ George, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, Massa Bay. Suffolk sc. 5 Frauce & Ireland King, Defender of the ffaith, &c.
" To Eleazer Flegg Esqr. Joseph Wright John Fowle Josiah Converse James Peirce Yeomen all of Woburn in our County of Middlesex, Selectmen of the sd Town, and to the said John Fowle Clerk of the said Town, Greeting.
" Whereas on the sixth day of July last past Timothy Walker of Woburn aforesª Gent" was hired by you the Select men aforesd, to keep the Grammar School in the Town aforesd, for one quarter of a year, to Commence on Monday the nine- teenth of the same July, at Eleven pounds money for the sd quar- ter, and accordingly Entered upon ye sd service ; and afterwards
1 Copy of the original writ, kindly lent me by its present owner, J. Wingate Thornton, Esq., of Boston.
47*
546
APPENDIX, NO. VIII.
differences arising in the sd Town concerning his appointment to ye sª Office, Upon the 27th day of August last past, the sª Town being convened to make their Election, and settle what schoolmaster they thought proper Elected and Voted ye sd Tim- othy Walker to be ye School Master for the present year, he being before that approved according to Law for the aforesd service, And ye Moderator accordingly declared his Election, and Ordered you the Town Clerk aforesaid to Record ye War- rant for the sd Meeting, and ye Election of the sd Timothy Walker as aforesd. Whereupon ye sª Timothy Walker offered to keep ye sª School, Yet you the sª John Fowle, to whom of right it belongs to Record ye Election aforesd, tho' often desired, have refused and still do refuse to do it. And you the Select- men aforesd, to whom it belongs to admit the sd School Master, tho' often requested have refused & still do refuse to admit ye sd Timothy Walker to keep ye sd Grammar School, tho' he has often offered himself to you to that End. But you have admit- ted and put into ye sd office one Ebenezer Flegg, of Woburn aforesd Gent" to ye great damage & grievance of the said Tim- othy Walker, as we have perceived by his Complaint. Where- upon he has supplicated us that we would provide him suitable Remedy in this behalf. We, therefore, willing as is just to pro- vide for the aforesd Timothy Walker due & speedy Justice in this behalf, Command you, ye sd John Fowle to Record ye War- rant and Election aforesd without delay ; and you the sd Select- men to Remove ye sd Ebr Flegg and admit the sª Timothy Walker to ye place and office of Grammar School Master of ye sª Town of Woburn, without delay, or signify to us the Cause why you do not, least by your Defaults repeated Complaints come to us: And Certify to Us how you have Executed this Precept, Remitting this Writ to Us at Boston before our Jus- tices of our Superior Court of Judicature, Court of Assize, and General Gaol Delivery at Boston within our County of Suffolk on ffriday the 15th day of October next at Eleven of the Clock in ye forenoon of ye sd day. Witness Samuel Sewall, Esqr. at Boston this ninth day of September In the Twelfth year of our Reign, Annoq. Dom. 1725.
BENJ" ROLFE, Clerk."
547
APPENDIX, NO. IX.
APPENDIX, No. IX.
DIARY OF LIEUT. SAMUEL THOMPSON OF WOBURN,
A Soldier in the French War, during the year 1758.
1758 May 24. Set out from home, and went to Concord. Received the Bounty, and went to Bolton, and lodged at David Alexander's,1 Thurs- day night.
25. Went to Worcester, and received our Blankets and lodged.
26. Marched to Leicester : lodged.
27. Saturday, went to Brookfield.
28. Sunday : went to Cold Spring meeting house, and lodged there.
29. Monday : march to old Hadley : lodged.
30. Tuesday afternoon; went over ye. ferry and lodged.
31. Wednesday : Election : took out our provision and ammunition at Northampton and lodged. A rainy storm stopped us 3 or 4 days.
June 1. Thursday : loitered all day at Northampton.
2. Friday : lazing at Northampton & lodged.
3. Saturday. Marched from Northampton into the woods for Pantoocick Fort, where we come to a tavern about ten miles from Northampton, and camped.
4. Sunday : marched all day in the woods over several Rivers.
5. Monday : bad marching, sloughs and mountains, rivers, stumps : very weary, and so camped.
. 6. Tuesday : marched to Pantoosick Fort about 11 o'clock, and took out bread for four days, and then went to Fort Conectecaw and camped.
7. Wednesday, marched to a Dutch place, where we got at 12 o'clock. Stopped 3 hours : then marched over several bad rivers; and poplar 2 was almost cast away. Camped in ye. wood; and Mr. Crosby's arm was put out &c.
8. Thursday : marched to the half way house by 10 o'clock, where we stopped some hours, and then marched till we came over against Albany, one mile East of the River, or thereabouts.
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