First Burial Ground

Another matter of much interest required early attention, namely, the settlement of the boundary between Charlestown and Woburn. This had never been defined. Negotiations were opened from time to time, the initiative always being taken by Woburn until 1650, when the lines were finally established and entered upon the records of Charlesto\\Ti. A'early coeval with the settlement of Rev. T. Carter as minister, the first meeting-house was built. Of this structure little or nothing is known. Johnson, in his history, alludes to it as standing in a " small plain wliere four streets meet." The location is with good reason believed to have been at the easterly end of the Common, near where the soldiers' monument now stands. The house could not have been otherwise than a very plain affair, witliout tower or steeple. Humble as it was, it served the purpose of a place of public worship for about thirty years. A new one was voted by the town in 1671 and completed in 1673. It stood on the sharp spur east of the Common wliich is still known as Mceting-iiouse Hill. It was never dedicated, as tiie Puritan methods were in o])position to all rites and ceremonies in religious matters. This meeting-house was not divided into pews, as became the fashion in after years, - only tlie minister's and the deacons' wives having the privilege of pews allowed them. Thirty or forty years subsecpiently special permission was given to a newcomer from Boston to build a pew at his own cost. This led to requests of the same sort from other persons aristocratically inclined, which being granted, caused such an outbreak of feeling as to induce tiie town autiiorities to revoke tiie order. A committee was appointed to "seat the ])eople," and each person was assigned a regular place. In doing tiiis, reference was to be had to " estate, office, and age." Privilege was, therefore, recognized in the matter of position, if not in the form of pews. This meetinghouse, with one or two enlargements, served the religious uses of the town for eighty years, or until 1753. Rev. Thomas Carter occupied its pulpit for a few years, though for the larger part of his ministry he had preached in the one built about the time of his ordination. In 1678 his growing age and infirmities led the tf)Wii to consider the matter of providing iiim a colleague. An invitation Avas given to the Rev. Jabez Fox to become his associate. Tliis was accepted, and the two clergymen labored together harmoniously and satisfactorily to their people for six years, wlien Rev. Mr. Carter died, in the seventy-fourth year of his age and the forty-second of his ministry. Mr. Carter was born in England, and received his degree at St. Jolin's College, Cambridge. He was emiiientiv a good paslor, sound in doetriiie, and ready witli tender consolal ion and sympathizing words to meet the sjiiritual needs of his people. In illustralion of one of the customs of the town, now hap])ilv remitlcd lo the darkest corners of socici v, I he lolliiuing bill, I'liuiid on the town records, niiling u, th,'

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

Rev. Jabez Fox, associate pastor, now became the sole minister of the church. He continued in his position for twenty-four years, laboring successfully to promote the general interests of the parish. During the ministry of Rev. Mr. Carter, or from 1613 to 1675, Woburn had steadily increased in population, the land had been partially subdued, good crops were gathered, a better class of houses than those built at first had been erected, and some of those industries started which have since made the town so well known. The number of inhabitants cannot be given with accuracy, as no recorded census was taken till nearly a century later; but from the rates levied by the county, and the laws respecting the establishment of grammar schools, it is probable that the population was not far from 500. But this general prosperity Avas soon to receive a serious check on account of the outbreak of the Indian wars. King Philip, who had heretofore been in accord with the colonists, and had agreed by solemn treaty to live with them on amicable terms, now became restive under the restraints imposed by the compact, as well as moved by an ambition to rid the land of an alien race which seemed likely soon to become its sole possessors. He brought into combination his own and two or three other powerful tribes, and began a murderous assault upon all the exposed frontiers. Woburn was too near the central towns of the colony to receive much harm by the direct invasion of the wily enemy. Small raiding parties appeared in two or three instances in the town or its immediate vicinity, and although little loss was incurred by the burning of dwellings or destruction of crops, four persons were killed. This, however, was but a small portion of the suffering and Iiardship that befell Woburn in common with all tiie towns of New England. To carry on a vigorous and successful w'ar, the taxes of the people were enormously increased.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Woburn City - 48,923 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.