Keyes, Jonathan, Sr. House

The surface of the town is broken by numerous hills, the highest of which is Prospect Hill, about tJiree hundred feet above the level of Stony Brook. Others are known as Francis, Providence, Tadmuck, Bear, Sparks, Rattlesnake, Kissacook, Snake- Meadow, Conscience, Flushing, Oak, and Blake's, none of thein of any considerable ])rominence. The pretty little stream that meanders though the town is worthy of a more characteristic name than Stony Brook. Its charming valley below Westford Station appeals to the sense of beauty in every beholder. Several ponds in the north part sparkle in the sunlight of the long summer day. The largest, Nebunnussuck, half a mile from Brookside, has an area of 123 acres. It is much frequented by excursion parties from Lowell and elsewhere. Long-souglit-for Pond comes next, with an area of 107 acres; then Keyes, 40 acres; Bulge's, 25 acres; Flushing, 20 acres. That part of Forge Pond which lies in Westford comprises an area of 104 acres. The soil in the south and east parts of the town is good ; in the north part it is sandy.

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

When the struggle came, in 1775, the people of this town were among the first to leave their homes to drive back the British troops from Concord. In the fight at the North Bridge, April 19, Colonel John Robinson, of this town, stood by the side of Davis and Buttrick when the British advanced upon the Americans, and the first shot sent a ball under Colonel Robinson's arm. Dr. Ripley says that a company from Westford had just entered the bounds of Concord when the fight took place. The state archives in Boston show that two companies left Westford that morning for Concord, and although not present at the first skirmish, they joined in pursuit of the retreating foe, and did good service. The first company consisted of fifty-eight men, and was led by Captain Timothy Underwood. The other consisted of thirty-six men under Captain Oliver Bates. It is stated on good authority that Captain Bates received a wound that day from which he did not recover, but died JiJly 4, 1775. In Colonel Swett's list of companies in Colonel Prescott's regiment at tiie battle of Bunker Hill are the names of Joshua Parker, captain ; Amaziah Fassett, first lieutenant ; Thomas Rogers, second lieutenant. These were Westford men. This shows that the town jiarticipated in the first battle of the Revolution. One of her citizens, Joseph Minot, gave up his life in that battle.

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 Westford Town - 17,609 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.