Lincoln Town

Lincoln Town

HE town of Lincoln is a collection of hills in the heart of Middlesex County. Its centre is about thirteen and one half miles west-northwest from the state house, and its territory is bounded nortli by Bedford, easterly by Lexington and Waltham, southerly by Weston and Wayland, and northwesterly by Concord. Its greatest length is upwards of five, and its greatest breadth about three and one half, miles, and it embraces about eight thousand five hundred acres. The hill on which the meetinghouse stands is four hundred and seventy feet above high-water mark at Boston, and though there are other hills of greater altitude, it is believed to be the highest land in the county whereon men have built themselves habitations. From the summit of this hill, in fine weather, the prospect extends from the seminary buildings in Andover to the churches in Hopkinton, and from Bunker Hill Monument to the New Hampshire hills.

Sandy Pond, a beautiful sheet of water, lies on the western side of the town, and a fine tract of arable land extends from the centre of Lincoln to the borders of Wayland, the quality of which was well known to the Indians, and they repeatedly petitioned to have a town on the easterly shore of Sandy Pond, or the westerly side of Beaver Swamp. The southwestern border of the town is washed for more than a mile by the sluggish waters of Concord River. Brooks which are tributaries to the Concord, Charles, and Shawshiiic rise and flow out, but not a tubful of water comes into the town from any source except the rains and dews of heaven. Two of these brooks acquire sufficient force and volume before leaving the town to furnish water-power for saw and grist mills, and a small mill for sawing marble taken from a quarry near by existed here many years ago ; but the business was not remunerative. Tlie inhabitants of Lmcoln are occupied witli

Tiie town of Lincoln was incorporated April 19, 1754, and went into the contest for freedom and independence on the day it became of age. Although the history of a town may properly be said to commence with the date of its incorporation, it seems as properly to include some account of its parentage. Portions of the present town of Lincoln were, at difi'erent periods of colonial history, parts of the towns of Watertown, Cambridge, Concord, Weston, and Lexington. The grant of the General Court of April, 1635, to Watertown of a tract of land extending eight miles from Fresh Pond west-northwest into the country, and the grant to Concord of September 3, of the same year, of " six myles square of land," overlapped each other about two miles, and included about two thirds of the present town of Lincoln. This gave rise to a controversy between Watertown and Concord, and on the 8th of June, 1638, the General Court ordered, " for the final end of difl"erence between Watertown and Concord, that Watertown eight miles shall extend upon the line between Watertown and Cambridge as far as Concord bounds give leave." This decision gave the principal part of the territory of Lincoln to Concord. Bond, in his history of Watertown, says that " as the land was first surveyed and settled by Concord people, they were allowed to retain it, notwithstanding the prior title of Watertown," but it is not probable there were any settlements here as early as 1638. It is not easy to determine when or by whom the first settlement was made or house built. Natlianiel Billings was probably the earliest settler. Thomas Brooks moved from Watertown to Concord about 1638. His son Joshua jirobably learned his trade of tanner from Captain Hugh Mason of Watertown, whose daughter he married, and moved to tiie easterly part of Concord, between 1650 and 1660.

Lincoln

others, inhabitants of the easterly part of Concord, the northerly part of Weston, and westerly part of Lexington, presented a petition to the General Court, setting forth their difficulties and inconveniences by reason of their distances from their usual places of public worship in their respective towns, and praying to be erected into a separate township. This petition was summarily dismissed ; but, nothing daunted by their failure, the next year, July 2, 1735, John Flint, Simon Dakin, Josiah Parks, and other inhabitants of the easterly part of Concord, northerly part of Weston, and westerly part of Lexington, petitioned to be made a separate township. On this petition the General Court issued the usual orders of notice to the towns of Concord, Weston, and Lexington, to appear on the second Wednesday of the next sitting of the court, and show cause why the prayer of the petition should not be granted. In October the petition was taken up and read again, with the answers of the towns of Concord, Weston, and Lexington ; and the council voted that the prayer of the petition "be so far granted that Francis Foxcroft and Josiah Willard Esqrs., with such as the Hon. House may join, be a committee to repair to the place proposed to be made into a township, and carefully view and consider the situation thereof and the circumstances of the petitioners, and the towns named in the petition, giving seasonable notice to all parties of their coming ; and make report to this Court what they judge proper to be done on this petition, the charge of the Committee to be borne as the court shall order."

To this vote of the council the house of representatives voted a non-concurrence; upon which, the council voted to adhere to their own vote.

The subject was taken up again on the 26th of November and 2d of December, 1735, with like results; each branch voting a non-concurrence with the other. January 2, 1735-36, after a long debate, the house voted a reconsideration of their votes of non-concurrence, and on the 7th voted a concurrence in the vote of the council, and Captain Jeremiah Stevens, Captain Adam Gushing, and Ephraim Leonard, Esq. were joined to the committee of the council. On the 18th of March the committee were directed to report to the next May session. June 2, 1736, the committee submitted the following report : -

" Pursuant to an order of the Great and General Court, on the petition hereunto annexed, the Committee appointed to repair to the place mentioned in said petition, prayed to be a township, to view and consider the situation thereof, and the circumstances of the petitioners, and also of the towns mentioned in the petition, and hear all parties concerned, have carefully performed that service, and are of the opinion that the prayer of the petition be not granted, which is humbly submitted by, Fra' Foxcroft, pr. order."

The report was accepted in both branches, and the petition ordered to be dismissed, and it was further ordered that the' charge of the view, amounting to £54^ 16*. 2d., be paid as follows: £18 to the committee of this court for their attendance and travel by the petitioners, - £18 8*. 4f/. by the town of Concord, and the remainder by the towns of Weston and Lexington in equal proportions. TLj.ojLyofj)

No further action looking to the incorporation of the town took place for several years. August 18, 1744, Joshua Brooks and forty-eight others, iidiabitants of the easterly part of Concord, northerly part of Weston, and westerly part of Lexington, petitioned to be made a separate precinct. On this petition the usual orders of notice were issued, and after various delays a viewing committee was appointed. On the 18th of April, 1746, the committee reported that the prayer of the petition ought to be granted, - which report was accepted, and it was ordered that " the petitioners, together with the persons living within the bounds mentioned in the petition (except such persons and estates as are excepted by the report), be and are hereby erected into a distinct and separate precinct, and vested with all such powers and privileges as other precincts within this province have, or by law ought to enjoy - and that such of the aforesaid exempted persons as shall within one year signify to the Secretary under their hands their willingness to join with the petitioners be together mth their estates incorporated with them, to do and receive alike duty and privilege as the petitioners "

No act of incorporation otlier than this order was passed, but it was voted "that Benjamin Brown one of the principal inhabitants of the Parish this day set off from Concord, Lexington and Weston be and hereby is enabled to call the first precinct meeting in said parish to choose parish officers and to act and do all other things according to Law." This order or precept is still preserved by Deacon Brown's descendants. Under its authority the precinct met at the bouse of Mr.

Edward Flint, May 26, 1746, and chose the following officers : Benjamin Brown, moderator ; Ephraim Flint, precinct clerk; Cliambers Eussell, Esq., Benjamin Brown, Josiah Parks, John Headley, and John Hoar, precinct committee ; Samuel Dakin and Jonathan Wellington, collectors ; Stephen Wesson, treasurer ; Ebenezer Cutler, Daniel Adams, and Ephraim Flint, assessors.

The incorporation of the precinct prepared the way for the incorporation of the town. A committee, consisting of Hon. Chambers Russell, Captain Samuel Bond, and Deacon Joshua Brooks, were chosen in March, 1754, to petition the General Court for an act of incorporation. The reasons alleged in the petition were the inconvenience of being connected with so many towns, and the refusal or neglect of those towns to lay out roads for their convenience.

The petition encountered little opposition, and an act to incorporate the town of Lincoln passed both branches April 19, 1754, and received the assent of the governor on the same day. On the 26th of April the new town held its first meeting, and the following officers were chosen : Hon. Chambers Russell, moderator; Ephraim Flint, town-clerk and treasurer ; Ephraim Flint, Ephraim Hartwell, Ebenezer Cutler, Samuel Farrar, and John Hoar, selectmen; John Gearfield and Joshua Brooks, Jr., constables; Nathaniel Whittemore and Benjamin Munroe, clerks of market.

The ostensible object of those who petitioned for the incorporation of the town and the precinct was to enjoy the preaching of the gospel. They urged, in their petitions to the General Court, and before its committees, the difficulties and inconveniences they labored under by reason of the distances of their usual places of worship. These difficulties and inconveniences will be better understood when it is remembered that they had no carriages in those days, that the Concord and Cambridtiv turnpike was not built till fifty years after the incorporation of the town, and that the only aveimes from the central parts of Lincoln to Concord were the roads from Watertown by Walden Pond, and " the Bay-road " from Lexington to Concord. The road from Lieutenant Samuel Dakin's to the house of Dr. John Prcscott in Concord was laid out shortly before tlic iiicor|)oi;ilion of the town, and the road from Lieutenant Dakin's to the Watertown road soon after. Public worship l\ad been held in private houses, and a liousc of worship projected, before tlie incorporation of the precinct. This house, built and partly finished, was formally presented to the precinct, June 22, 1747, by Benjamin Brown, Edward Flint, Judah Clark, Joseph Brooks, Joshua Brooks, Samuel Bond, Jonatiian Gove, Benjamin Munroe, John Headley, Samuel Dakin, Ebenezer Cutler, Jeremiah Clark, Amos Merriam, John Gove, Jonathan Wellington, Ephraim Flint, Thomas Wheeler, Joseph Pierce, Nathan Brown, Jonas Pierce, Timothy Wesson, and George Pierce, the builders. It occupied the site of the present meeting-house of the first parish, wliile further, and near the summit of the hill, tliree years afterwards, a house was built for Rev. Mr. Lawrence. Beautiful, indeed, for situation was the house of the Lord, and the residence of its first minister "on the sides of the North."

In 1755 the town voted to build a tower, whereon to hang a bell, and a spire to the meetinghouse. They were built in the same year, and a bell, the gift of Mr. Joseph Brooks, was hung in the belfry. This Joseph Brooks died September 17, 1759, aged seventy-eight years. The inscription on his gravestone states that "he was a liberal benefactor to the town of Lincoln, manifested by his generous donations." In his will he gave £ 20 to the church of Christ in Lincoln, to purchase vessels for the communion service, and £10 to Rev. Mr. Lawrence, and, after giving legacies to various relatives, gave the residue of his estate to the town for a school-fund. The amount received was £368.1

Measures were also taken for the formation of a church, and on the 18th of August, 1747, twenty-five male members of the cliurches in Concord, Lexington, and Weston met together, and agreed to embody themselves into a distinct church. The organization took place two days after, the Rev. John Hancock of Lexington, William Williams of Weston, Israel Loring of Sudbury, and Warham Williams of Waltham participating in the public services of the occasion. A church covenant was adopted and signed by the male members of the church the same day, but the names of the female members nowhere appear.

' The statements in Sliattuck's .and Bond's histories that the Joseph Brooks who gave the bell and school fund to the town married Rebecca Blodget and had eight children are erroneous. This Joseph Brooks died before there was any ])reeinct, town, church, or meeting-house here. The Joseph Brooks who gave the bill and school fund to the town married Jane Jeunison, and left no ihiia or widow.

1747 and 1748, without receiving an invitation to settle. April 11, 1748, it was " Voted, That Mr. William Lawrence is the man desired to preach four Sabbaths and the Fast, on probation for settlement in the ministry." On the 18th of May following the church united \vith the prechict in extending a call to Mr. Lawrence. The call was accompanied by an offer of £800, and an annual salary of £400, according to the Old Tenor bills. Subsequently a committee was appointed to treat with Mr. Lawrence in reference to his settlement, and it was agreed that his salary should be regulated upon these prices of the following articles : ^ Indian corn, lo-s. per bushel. Old Tenor; Rye, 20 «. per bushel; pork. Is. 8^/. and beef 1«. per pound, to be stated in the months of November and December. It was also agreed to give ten cords of wood annually, in addition to £400.

The ordination of Mr. Lawrence took place December 7, 1748, the ordaining council being composed of the elders and messengers of the churches in Lexington, Weston, two churches in Cambridge, First Church in Groton, and tlie churches in Waltham and Littleton. Rev. Mr. Hancock was moderator, who also prayed and gave the charge. Rev. Caleb Trowbridge preached the sermon, and Rev. Warham Williams gave the right hand of fellowship. Rev. Nathaniel Appleton and Rev. Daniel Rogers offered prayers.

Rev. William Lawrence, son of Colonel William and Susanna (Prescott) Lawrence was born in Groton, May 7, 1723, and graduated at Harvard College in 1743. He married February 1, 1750 - 51, Love, daughter of John and Love (Minott) Adams. Mr. Lawrence had a family of three sons and six daughters who survived him. Little is known respecting his character, peculiarities, and beliefs. By the inscription on his monument we are told that " he was a gentleman of good abilities and a firm supporter of the order of the churches," and one of his successors writes of him, " had we no other sources of judgment than the records of his church and the character of the men raised up under his ministry, we should be justified in believing that he was an able, judicious,

1 The practice of " stating a salary " was common in New England towns, and arose from the depreciation of paper currency issued by the colonial legislatures, and by the Continental Congress. The relative value of the paper currency to silver in and devoted minister of the gospel." The only stigma that attaches to his memory is a suspicion of toryism. His people assembled at the meetinghouse one Sabbath morning in the fall of 1774, and would not permit him to enter the pulpit. His eldest daughter. Love, was married about that time to Dr. Joseph Adams of Townsend, an uncompromising loyalist, and probably some scandal connected with the marriage was the cause of this ebullition of popular feeling; but whatever the trouble was, it vanished during the week and left no explanation to posterity. Mr. Lawrence died April 11, 1780. Mrs. Lawrence died January 3, 1820, having survived her husband nearly forty years.

After the death of Mr. Lawrence, Messrs. Ebenezer Hubbard, Jr., William Bentley, and Asa Piper were employed to preach, but it does not appear that any of them made a favorable impression on their hearers. Mr. Charles Stearns was first employed to preach in October, 1780, and on the 15th of January following the church voted unanimously to invite him to be their pastor. In tltis vote the town, on the 5th of February, concurred and voted to give him £220 "hard money, or its equivalent," (to which £70 was subsequently added) as a settlement, and £80 and fifteen cords of wood as an annual salary. His ordination took place November 7, 1781, the churclies in Waltham, Weston, Lexington, Concord, Reading, Lunenburg, Leominster, Sudbury, East Sudbury, and Stow being represented in the ordaining council. Rev. Mr. Adams of Lunenburg preached the sermon, which was printed.

Dr. Stearns' ministry, like that of his predecessor, was remarkably free from distracting influences ; their united ministries extended over a period of more than seventy-five years, and no ecclesiastical council was called to settle controversies or harmonize differences. No root of bitterness ever sprang up between minister and people, and no trace of any serious disagreement can be found on church or town records. The secret of the uniform peace and prosperity of the church is doubtless to be found in the fact that the ministers were willing to do the work of the Master, and let sectarian strife alone. During the latter part of Dr. Stearns' ministry, the Congregational churches of New England were disturbed and divided upon the subject of exchanges between ministers holding different views upon matters of faith alone, but Dr. Stearns steadily refused to take any part in the controversy.

Dr. Sprague, in his Annals of the American Pulpitj has classed Dr. Stearns with the Unitarian divines, and doubtless he is rightly so classed. In his earlier utterances may be found statements of doctrines in accordance with the theology of the times, wliich in the wisdom of maturer years he would probably have clothed in different Innguage ; but if he was ever a Calvinist in any sense of the term, neither his sons whom he fitted for college and prepared for the ministry, nor his daughters who were intelligent beyond most women, ever suspected it. " His glory," said Dr. Lowell, " was to be a Congregational minister, and such he was." Dr. Stearns' labors and usefulness ended only witli his life. The first Sabbath in July, 1826, found him at the post of duty, but he was stricken with a disease which terminated his life on the 26th of that month. The town buried him beside his children who had gone before, and placed a marble monument over his grave, on which the distinguishing traits of his character were drawn with force and accuracy by his life-long friend. Dr. Ripley, of Concord. He married Susanna, daughter of Jonathan and Rachel (Green) Cowdrey, of Reading, and had six sons and" five daughters. Four sons and two daughters survived him. His widow died July 24, 1832.

Dr. Stearns was succeeded in the ministry by Rev. Elijah Demond, who was installed November 7, 1827, and dismissed at his own request October 26, 1832. During his pastorate, the organization of the First Parish took place, and the management of ecclesiastical affairs by the town ceased. The second Congregational Society was organized and a meeting-house built by the Unitarians in 1842, and an Episcopal church in 1872.

The old meeting-house was nearly square and was entered by three porches, the front porch being on the southerly side. The tower in which the bell was hung and on which the spire stood were at the westerly end, as the gables ran, and anotlier porcli at the easterly end, a part of which was occn])ied by the stocks, a terror to naughty boys, though it does not appear that they were ever used. The stocks were made of heavy oaken planks, strong enougli to liold a brace of elephants.

Within the house "wall pews" were built around the sides of the house at an early day, space for them being allotted, not to tho.se who would pay most for it, but to those who paid the Iiighest taxes, - Judge Russell being allowed to choose a place for his pew in the meeting-house where he pleased, and to build it when he pleased. He built his pew on the right of the front entrance, nearest the door. The opposite pew was reserved for the minister's family. The body of the house was occupied by long seats ; portions of these were removed at difl'erent times to make room for pews, and a portion of them was assigned in 1771 to the singers; it was fifty years after the building of the meeting-house before the choir could be induced to sit in the gallery. Galleries were constructed around three sides of the building, while the pulpit, with its high sounding-board overhead and deacon's seat in front, was on the northerly side of the liouse. No sharp-witted mortal ever guessed the use of the sounding-board until he was told of it, and one thoughtful urchin, at least, pondered less upon the final destiny of the race than the fate of the preacher, should the iron rods, which held the architectural abomination in its place, let go their hold.

On Sunday, as a rule, the whole population went to meeting. Of the six hundred and ninety persons who composed the population of the town at its incorporation, probably five hundred usually gathered together for worship on the Sabbath. The old and the young, the rich and the poor, the bond and the free, the wise and the sinfple, the halt and the lame, the blind and the palsied, were there. The young men and maidens were intent to hear the prelude to the services, - not in those days a peal from the organ, but a cry from the town-clerk, - and as soon as the young people had time to resume their Sunday faces, the minister arose, and aimounced that the worship of God would begin by singing one of the Psalms of David, which he read in the old version of Sternhold and Hopkins.^ When the reading was finished the chorister " set " the tune, and a venerable deacon arose in front of the pulpit and read the first line of the psalm, which the choir immediately sung ; then another line was read and sung alternately till the psalm was finished. Then came the prayer, the " long prayer," prefaced always by the reading of the notes, when the whole congregation stood up and bowed themselves. The seats being destitute of cushions and hung on hinges, when the people stood up they turned up their seats also, either to iiave better standing-room, or to liear them fall down when the prayer was over, with a noise resembling the discharge of musketry. Then another psahn was read, "deaconed," and sung. After it came the sermon. The regular orthodox length of a sermon was an hour, but that limit was often passed before the venerable preacher's " finally " was reached.

Here we note some of the changes of tlie years. In 176;3 the reading of the Scriptures was first introduced as a part of the exercises of public worship. In 1768 a short prayer was made before this reading. In 1767 "Dr. Brady's and Mr. Tate's version of the Psalms of David, with some hymns of Dr Watts', which are now bound up and published with this version," were substituted for tiie version of Sternhold and Hopkins. In 1795, at the request of some of the brethren who were members of the musical society, a bass-viol was allowed to be used on trial to assist the singers in divine service. After two more seasons of trial it was allowed to be used until further order.

At the time of the incorporation of the town there were within its limits three school-houses. One stood near Mr. Snelling's place, on the south road, near the railroad crossing, another on the Common near the old chestnut-tree. Shortly after the incorporation of the town new school-houses were built in the north and east parts of the town, principally by the subscriptions of individuals residing in those quarters. These were long, low buildings, with a door at one end and a chimney and fireplace at the other; two or three rows of benches with forms extended along the sides of the rooms. Seats with backs and desks with receptacles for books were not found in any of the school-houses till within the last seventy years.

The possession of so many school-houses was found objectionable, and many attempts were made between 1760 and 1770 to agree upon a less number. In 1762 a committee, composed of gentlemen from other towns, was invited to come here and decide upon the location of the schools. This committee, consisting of Messrs. Jonas Stone of Lexhigton, Thomas Barrett of Concord, and Braddyl Smith of Weston, visited the different parts of the town, heard the advocates of various projects, and made a report which was rejected ; but the plan they recommended was adopted a few years later. Since that time there has been no material change in the arrangement of the schools, except the establishment of the high school in 1852.

that there be a school kept in said town, and to remove to three several places, and that the selectmen provide a school-master; " but the first payments do not appear to be in accordance with this vote, Samuel Parrar and Amos Heald being paid, February 14, 1755, £1 6«. 8r/. each for teaching school, and Ephraim Flint and Timothy Wesson, Jr., in March, 1755, £2 13 «. 4r/. each for teaching school two months. During the earlier years of the town " a moving school " was kept, the

Wheeler were chosen a committee to recruit eight men at least to serve the town as volunteers, and the treasurer was authorized to borrow twenty-five hundred dollars for the purpose. October 21, 1865, it was "Voted, To refund to the citizens the money subscribed aud paid by them last spring for procuring recruits to fill the quota of the town." Various other sums were voted during those years for expenses incidental to the war and for bringing home aud burying their dead. Of those who sacrificed their lives for their country in this war, the following deserve especial commemoration : -

First-Lieutenant Thomas J. Parker enlisted as a private at the breaking out of the war, and continued in active service until his death. He was twice promoted for meritorious conduct, and was mortally wounded before Petersburg, March 25, 1865.

1864. He was a young man of fine promise, a graduate of Harvard of the class of 1860, and designed for the profession of law. A faithful delineation of his character may be found in the second volume of the Harvard memorial.

Elijah H. Wellington enlisted in the 44th regiment at the same time as Lieutenant Weston, and died of disease at Newbern, N. C, in the winter of 1862. He was a. young man of excellent character, universally respected and beloved.

The votes of the town given herewith convey, at tlie best, only a faint idea of the spirit whicli animated tlie town during the war of the Eebellion. They were, in fact, only the embodying in legal form and registering the spontaneous outbursts of enthusiasm and patriotism which characterized the citizens' meetings, where measures were discussed and most of the war business transacted. The writer of this narrative served the town on its board of selectmen, as its treasurer, and on all its recruiting committees during the war, and can testify that he never wanted for a dollar, - never asked of any of his fellow-citizens any service or assistance connected with the war, which was not promptly and cheerfully rendered.

Nor were the women of the town wanting on their part. They early enlisted in the work of providing hospital stores and comforts for the sick and wounded soldiers, - a work always "sanctified and ennobled by the blessed spirit which prompted its undertaking, and which kept alive to the last hour of need the earnestness so noticeable in a New England community."

Lincoln furnished seventy-nine men for the war, which was a surplus of four over and above all demands.^ The amount of money raised and expended by the town on account of the war was § 10,385.50, all of which was paid before the close of the year 1865. The town also expended S 3,9 15 for aid to soldiers' families, of which sum $3,205 were reimbursed by the state.

The history of the town to be complete should contain notices of its college graduates and the distinguished men who were born here, and early left their home for more promising fields of usefulness and enterprise. A history of the Brookses and Browns, Farrars and Flints, Hartwells and Hoars, Pierces and Eussells, and others, would of itself fill a volume, and be a valuable contribution to New England literature. But the writer must stop here. He commends the task to some one of the gifted sons of the town, who were trained in the halls of learning, and have the ability and culture to do the subject justice.

1 This number does not include Mr. N. F. Cousins, who enlisted for three years, went to lynufielJ in August, 1862, was prostrated by heat while preparing the camp-grounds, aud came very near losing his life.

Source changes here: from History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, by Drake, Samuel Adams, published 1880; 8,084 words in this source stream.

Bt Villiak T. Vhsblik

HE tows of lincoln is a collection of hilla in the heart of Middlesex County. Its' centre is aboat tliiiteen and oiie half miles west-northwest from tlie state house, and iU territory is bounded north by Bedford, easterly by Lexington and Waltham, southerly by Weston and Wayland, and northwesterly by CiHicord. Its greatest length is upwards of five, ipd its greatest breadth about three and one half, miles, and it embraces aboat eight thousand five htuidred acres. The bill on which the meetii^- home stands is foar hundred and seventy feet above high-water mark at Boston, and though there are other hills of greater altitude, it is believed to be the highest land in the county whereon men have built themselves habitations. From the summit of this hill, in fine weather, the prospect extends from the seminary buildings in Andover to the churches in Hopkinton, and from Bunker Hill Monument to the New Hampshire liilLs.

Saudy Fond, a beautiful sheet of wat«r, lies on the western aide of the town, and a fine tract of arable land extends from the centre of Lincoln to the borders of Wayhind, the quality of which was well known to tbs Lidians, and they repeatedly petitioned to have a town on the easterly shore of Sandy Pood, or the westerly side of Beaver Swamp. The southwestern border of the town is washed for more than a mile by the slug- gish waters of Concord Biver. Brooks vrhich are tributaries to the Concord, Charles, and Shawshine rise and flow out, but not a tubful of water comes into the town from any source except the nins and dews of heaven. Two of these brooks acquire sufficient force and volume before leaving the town to furnish water-jwwer for saw and grist mills, and a small mill for sawing marble taken fcom a quarry near by existed here many years ago ; bnt the business was not remunerative, ^w inbabitants of Lmcoln are occupied with

Tlie town of Lineob was incorporated April 19, 1754, and went into the contest for freedom and independence on the df^ it became of age^ Although the histwy of a town may properiy b»' said to commence with Uie date of ite meoiporation, it seems as properly to include some account of its parentage. Portions of the present town sf Lincoln were, at difiereiit periods of colonial history, parts of the towns of Watertown, Cambridge, Concord, Weston, and Lexington. The grant of the General Court of April, 163&, to Watertown of a tract of land extending eight miles from Fresh Pond west-northwest into the country, and the grant to Concord of September 3, of the same year, of "six myles square of land," overlapped each other aboat two miles, and included about ^wo thirds of the present toint of Lincoln. This gave* rise to a controversy between Watertown and Concord, and on the 6th of June, 1638, the General Court ordered, " for the final end of difference between Watertown and Concord, that Watertown eight miles shall extend upon the line between Watertown and Cambridge as far aa Concord bounds give leave." This decision gave the pert of the territory of Lincobi to Concord. Bond, in his history of Watertown, says that " as the land was first surveyed and settled by Concord people, they were allowed to retain it, notwitbstanding the prior title of Watertown," hot it is not probable there were any settlements here ai early as 1638. It is not easy to determine when or by whom the first settlement was made or hooae built. Nathaniel Billings was probably the eariiJ est settler. Thomas Brooks moved fn»a Watertown to Concord about 1638. His son Joshua probably learned his trade of tanner from Captain Hugh Mason of Watertown, whose daughter he married, and moved to the easteriy part of Concord, between 1650 and 1660.

Lincoln

V, inhabitants of the easterly part of Concord, lortherly port of Weston^ and westerly part of Qgton, presented a petition to the General t, setting forth their difficulties and inconven- 8 by reason of their distances from their usual s of public worship in their respective towns, praying to be erected into a separate tomiship. petition was summarily dismissed ; but^ nothlaonted by their failure, the next year, July 2, », John Flint, Simon Dakin, Josiah Parks, and r inhabitants of the easterly part of Concord, lerly part of Weston, and westerly part of ogton^ petitioned to be made a separate town- On .this petition the General Court issued isiial orders of notice to the towns of Concord, xmi and Lexington, to appear on the second nesday of the next sitting of the court, and erase why tlie prayer of the petition should be granted. In October the petition was t up and read again, with the answers of the i ftf Concord, Weston, and Lexington; and xnmeil voted that the prayer of the petition -o-'far granted that Francis Foxcroft and Jk Willard Esqrs., with such as the Hon. le.'Inay join, be a committee to repair to the t proposed to be made into a township,. and nUy view and consider the situation thereof the circumstances of the petitioners, and the i named in the petition, giving seasonable notice 1 parties of their coming ; and rn^ke report lis Court what tliey judge proper to be done lis petition, the charge of the Committee to be B M the court shall order.'' I this vote of the council the house of repreiives voted a non-concurrence; upon.wliich, lOiincil voted to adhere to their otrn vote. le subject was taken up again on the 26th of »ber and 2d of December, 1735, with like is; each branch voting a non-concurrence &e other. January 2, 1735-36, after a debate, the liouse voted a reconsideration of ' votes of non-concurrence, and on the 7th 1 a .concurrence in the vote of the council, Oaptain Jeremiah Stevens, Captain Adam ing, and Ephraim Leonard, Esq. were joined e committee of the council. On the ISth of | di tlie committee were directed to report to next May session. June 2, 1736, the coms6 submitted the following report : - Ptoiuant to an order of the Great and Gen- Court, on the petition hereunto annexed, the Bsittee appointed to repair to the place mentioned in said petition, prayed to be a township, to view and consider the situation thereof, and the circumstances of the petitioners, and also of the tx>wns mentioned in the petition, and hear all par* ties concerned, have carefully performed that service, and are of the opinion tliat the prayer of the petition be not granted, which is humbly submitted by, Fra* Foxcroft, pr. order/'

Tlie report was accepted in both branches, and the petition ordered to be dismissed, and it was further ordered that the charge of the view, amounting to £54 16#. 9rf.,.be paid as follows: £18 to the committee of this court for their attendance and travel by the petitioners, - £18 is. 4id. bv the to\i7i of Concord, and the remainder by the towns of Weston and Lexington in equal proportions.

No further action looking to the incorporation of the town took place for several years. August 18, 1744, Joshua Brooks and forty-eight others, inliabitants of the easterly part of CoAoord, northerly part of Weston, and westerly part of Lexington, petitioned to be made a separate precinct. On this petition the usual orders of notice were issued, and after various delays a viewing committee was appointed. On the 18th of April, 1746, the committee reported that the prayer of the petition ought to be granted, - which report was accepted, and it was ordered that '' the petitioners, together with the persons living within the' bounds mentioned in the petition ' (except Slicb persons and estates as are excepted by the report)^ be and are hereby erected into a distinct and separate precinct, and yested with all such powers and privileges as other precincts ^nthin this proyinoe have, or by law ought to enjoy - and that such of the aforesaid exempted persons as shall withiii one year signify to the Secretary under their hands their willingness to join with the petitioners be together with their estates incorporated with thiem, to do and receive alike duty and privilq^ as the petitioners''

No act of incorporation other than this order .was passed, but it was voted ^'that Benjamin Brown one of the principal inhabitants of the Parish this day set off from Concord, Lexington and Weston be and liereby is enabled to call the first precinct meeting in said parish to choose parish oflicers and to act and do all otiier things acconling to Law.*' This order or precept is still preserved by Deacon Brown's descendants. Under its authority the precinct met at the house of Mr.

Edward Flint, May 2«^, 1746, and chose the following officers: Benjamin Brown, moderator; Ephfidm Flint, precinct clerk; Chambers BosseQ, Esq., Benjamin Brown, Josiah Parks, John Headley, and John- Hoar, precinct committee ; Samuel Dakin and Jonathan Wellington, collectoesj Stephen Wesson, treasurer; Ebenezer Cutler, Daniel Adams, and Ephraim Flint, assessors.

The incorporation of the precinct prepared the way for the incorporation of the town. A committee, consisting of Hon. Chambers Russell, Captain Samuel Bond, and Deacon Joshua Brooks, were chosen in March, 1754, to petition the Gen* eral Court an act of incorporation. The reasons alleged in the petition were the inconvenience of being connected with so many towns, and the refusal or neglect of those towns to lay out roads for their convenience.

The petition encountered little opposition, and an act ta incorporate the town of Lincoln passed both branches April 19, 1754, and received the assent of the governor on the same day. On the 26th of Aprfl the new town held its first meeting, and the following officers werb chosen : Hon. Chambers Busaell, ' moderator ; Ephraim Flint, town-clerk and treasurer; Ephraim Flint, Ephraim Hartwell, Ebenezer Cutler, Samuel Farrar, and John Hoar, selectmen; John Gearfield and Joshua Brooks, Jr., constables ; Nathaniel Whittemore and Benjamin Munroe, clerks of market.

'Hie ostensible object of those who petitioned for the incorporation of the town nud the precinct was to enjoy the preacliing of the gospel. They itfged, in their petitions to the General Court, aiid before its committees, the difficulties and inconveniracea they labored under by reason of the distances of their usual places of worship. These difficulties and inconveniences will be better understood when it is remembered tliat they had. no carriages ia those days, that the Concord and Cambridge turnpike was not built till fifty years after the incorporation of the town, and that the only avenues from the central parts of Lincoln to Concord were the roada from Watertown by Walden Pond, and "the Bay-road '^ from Lexington to Concord. The road from Lieutenant Samuel Dakin's to the house of Dr. John Prescott in Concord was laid out shortly before the incorporation of the town, and the road from Lieutenant Dakin's to the Watertown road soon after. Public worship had been held in private houses, and a house of worship projected, before the incorporation of the precinct. This house, built and partly finished, was formally presented to the precinct, June 28, 1747^ by Benjamin Brown, Edward Flint, Jodah Chirk, Joseph Brooks, Joshua Brooks, Samuel Bond, Jonatlian Gove, Benjamin Munroe, John Headley, Samuel Dakin, Ebenezer Cutler, Jeie* miah Clark, Amos Herriam, John Gove, Jonathan Wellington, Ephraim Flint, Thomas Wheeler, Joseph Pierce, Nathan Brown, Jonas Pierce, Timothy We.sson, and Geo^ Pierce, the builders. It occupied the site of the present meeting-house of the first parish, while further, and near the sumiiit of the hiU, three years afterwards, a hou^ was built for Bev. Mr. Lawrence. Beautiful, indeed, for situation was the house of the Lord, and the residence of its first minister ''on the sides of the North.''

In 1755 the town voted to build a toWto, whereon to hang a bell, and a spire to the meetinghouse. Hiey were built in the same year, and a bell, the gift of Mr. Joseph Brooks, was hung in the belfry. This Joseph Brooks died September 17, 1759, aged seventy-eight years. The inscription on his gravestone states that ''he was a liberal benefactor to the town of Lincoln, manifested by his generous donations.'' In his will he gave £ 20 to the <;hurch of Christ in Lincoln, to purchase vessels for the communion service, and £10 ta' Bev. Mr. Lawrence, and, after giving legacies te various relatives, gave the residue' of his estate to the town for a school-fund. The amount received was £368.^

Measures were also taken for the formation of a church, and on the 18th of August, 1747, twenty-five male members of the churches in Con* cord, Lexington, and Weston. met together, and agreed to embody themselves into a distinct church. The organization took place itwo days after, the Bev. John Hancock of Lexington, William Williams of Weston, Israel Loring of Sud-* bury, and Warham Williams of Waltham participating in the public services of the occasion. A church covenant was adopted and signed by the male members of the church the same day, but the names of the female members nowhere appear.

^ The ttatements ia Shattack't and Bond's bistoriet thai tht Joiepk Brooks who gave the bell and' school ftind to the town married Rebecca Blodget and had eight children are erroMdna. This Joseph Brooks died before there was anj precinct, town, church, or meeting-house here. The Joseph Brooks who ga^a the bell and school ftind to the town married Jane JenniaoB* left no child or widow.

1747 and 1748^ without receiving an invitation to -ettk. April 11, 1748, it was " Voted, That Mr. William Lawrence is ^he man desired to preach four Sabbaths and the Fast, ou probation for settlement in the ministry/^ On the 18th of May following the church united, with the precinct in extending a call to Mr. Lawrence. The call was accompanied by an offer of £800, and an annual salary of £400, according to the Old Tenor bilb. Subsequently a committee was appointed to treat with.. Mr. Lawrence in reference to his settlement, and it was ^tgreed. that his salary should be regulated upon these prices of the following articles:^ Indian com, 15«. per bushel, Old Tenor; Bye, 20 #. per bushel ; pork, 1$. %d. and beef 1$. per poundix to be stated in the months of November and December. It was also agreed to give ten cords of wood annually, in addition to £400.

The ordination of Mr. Lawrence took place December 7, 1748, the ordaining council being composed of the elders and messengers of the churches in Lexington, Weston, two churches in Cambridge, Fi^st Church in Groton, and the churches in Waltham and Littleton. Eev. Mr. Hancock was moderator, who also prayed and gave the ch3^. Bev. Caleb Trowbridge preached the sermon, and .Bev. Wa^ham Williams gave the right hand of fellowship. Bev. Nathaniel Appleton and Bev. Daniel Bogers offered prayers.

Bey. William Lawrence, son of Colonel William axid Susa9na .(Prescott) Lawrence was born in Groton, May 7, 1723, and graduated at Harvard College in 1748. He married February 1, 1750 - 51, Love, daughter of John and Love (Minott) Adams. Mr. I^wrence liad a family of three sons and six daughters who survived him. Little is l^own respecting his character, peculiarities, and beliels. By the inscription on his monument we are told that "he was a gentleman of good abili* \3g^, and a firm supporter of the order of the churches," and one of his successors writes of him, "had we no other sources of judgment than the records of his church and the character of the men raised up under his ministry, we should be justified in believing that he was an able, judicious,

* Tba pnetiec of " tUting - salaiy -' was commoD in New Enj;- Ind towiit* and arote from the deprectttion of paper carrcncy kmed bj the colonial IrgitlatUFefl, aad by the Coutineatal CongTBM. The relatiTe Talue of the paper currency to silver ' in 1748 waa abont £6 paper currency to £ 1 silver, and in 1781 £75 paper to £ 1 siker. In 1791 the town sold the old paper cvrrDcy in the treasary, amounting to L 2374 17 <. 4 d., for £15 16#. td. "bciag the iriiele fiktt thcRof " and devoted minister of the gospel/' .The only sdgma that attaches to his memory is a suspicion of toryism. His people assembled at the meetinghouse one Sabbath- morning in the fall of 1774> and would not permit him to enter the pulpit His eldest daughter, Love, was married about that tim^ to Dr. Joseph Adams of Townsend, an uncompromising loyalist, and probably some scandal connected with the marriage was the cause of this ebullidon of popular feeling; but whatever the trouble was, it vanished during the week and left no explanation to posterity. Mr. Lawrence died April 11, 1780. Mrs. Lawrence died January 8, 1820, having survived her husband nearly fefty years. .

After the death of Mr. Lawrence, Messrs. Ebenezer Hubbard, Jr., William Bentley, and Asa Piper were employed to preach, but it does not appear that any of them made a favorable impression cm their hearers. Mr. Charles Steams was first employed to preach in October, 1780, and on the 15th of January following the church voted unaniv mously to invite him to be their pastor. , Li thia vote the town, on the 5th of February, concurred' and voted to give him £220 '^ hard money><or its equivalent/^ (to wliich £70 was subsequently added) as a settlement, and £80 and fifteen cords of wood as an annual salary. His ordination took place November 7, 1781, the churches in Waltham^ Weston^ Lexington, Concord, Beading, Lunenburg, Leominster, Sudbury, East Sudbury, and Stow being represented in the ordaining council. Bev. Mr. Adams of Lunenburg preached the aennon, which was printed.

Dr. Steams^ ministry, like that of his prede^ cesser, was remarkably free from distracting influ* ences; their united ministries extended over a period of more than seventy-five years^ and no ecclesiastical council was called to settle controversies or harmonize differences. No root of bitterness ever sprang up between minister and people, and no trace of any serious disagreement can be found on church or town records. The secret of the uniform peace and prosperity of the church is doubtless to be found in the fact that the ministers were willing to do the work of the Master, and let sectarian strife alone. .During the latter part of Dr. Steams^ ministry, the Congregational churches of New England were disturbed and divided upon the subject of exchanges between ministers hold* ing different views upon matters of faith alone, but Dr. Stearns steadily refused to take any part in the contioversy^

Dr. Sprague, in his Annals of the American Palpity has classed Dr. Steams with the Unitarian divines^ and doubtless he is rightly so classed.* In his earlier otteraiices may be found statements of doctrines in accordance with the theology of the times^ which in the wisdom of maturer years he would probably have clothed in different language ; bat if he was ever a Calvinist in any sense of the term, neither his sons whom he fitted for college and prepared for the ministry, nor his daughters who were intelligent beyond most women, ever suspected it. " His glory," said Dr. Lowell, " was to be a Congregational minister, and such he was." Dr. Steams' labors and usefulness ended only with liis life. The first Sabbath in July, 1826, found him at the pest of duty, but he was stricken with a disease which terminated his life on the 26th of that month. The town buried him beside his children who had goae before, and placed a marble monument over his grave, on which the distinguishing traits of his character were drawn with force and accuracy by his life-long friend. Dr. Ripley, of Concord. He married Susanna, daughter of Jonathan and Bachel (Oreen) Cowdrey, of Beading, and had six sons aad five daughters. Four sous and two daughters survived him. His widow died July 24, 1832.

Dr. Steams was succeeded in the ministry by Bev. Elijah Demond, who was installed November 7, 1827, and dismissed at his own request October 26, 1832. During his pastorate, the organization of the First Parish took place, and the management of ecclesiastical affairs by the town ceased. The second Congregational Society was oi^nized and a meeting-house biiilt by the Unitarians in 1842, and an Episcopal church in 1872.

The old meeting-house was nearly square and was entered by three porches, the front porch being on the southerly side. Tlie tower in which the bell was hung and on which the spire stood were at the westeriy end, as the gables ran, and another porch at the easterly end, a part of which was occupied by the stocks, a terror to liaughty boys, though it does not appear that they were ever used. The stocks were made of heavy oaken planks, strong enougli to hold a brace of elephants.

Within the house "wall pews'* were built around the sides of the house at an early day, space for them being allotted, not to those who would pay most for it, but to those who paid the highest taxes, - Judge Bussell being allowed to choose a place for his pew in the meeting-house where he pleased, and to build it when he pleased. He built his pew on the right of the front entrance,* nearest the door. The opposite pew was reserved for tfie minister's family. The body of the h'ou^ was occupied by long seats ; portions of these were n^ moved at different times to make room for pews, and a portion of them was assigned in 1771 to the singers; it was fifty years after the building of the meeting-house before the choircould be induced to sit in the gallery. Galleries were constructed around three sides of the building, while the pulpit, with its higli sounding-board overhead and dea* con's seat in front, was on the northerly side of the house. No sharp-witted mortal ever guessed the use of the sounding-board until he was told of it, ind( one thoughtful urchin, at least, pondered less tipon ' the final destiny of the race than tfie fate of the preacher, should the iron rods, which held the' architectural abomination in its place, let go their hold.

On Sunday, as a rale, the whole population went to meeting. Of the six hundred and ninety persons who composed the population of the town at its incorporation, probably five hundred usually gathered together for worship on the Sabbath. The old and the young, the rich and the poor, the bond and the free, the wise and the simple, the halt and the lame, the blind and the palsied, were thoeJ; The young men and maidens were intent to hear the' prelude to the services, - not in those days a pc&l from the organ, but a cry from the town-clerk, - and as soon as the young people had time to resume * their Sunday faces, the minister arose, and announced that the worship of God would begin by singing one of the Psalms of David, which he read in the old version of Stemhold and Hopkins.* When thfc reading was finished the chorister " set '' the tuiic, and a venerable deacon arose in front of the pulpit and read the first line of the psalm, which the choir immediately sung ; then another line was read and ^ sung alternately till the psalm was finished. Then came the prayer, the " long prayer,'^ prefaced always by the reading of the notes, when the whole congregation stood up and bowed themselves. The seats being destitute of cushions and hung on hinges, when the people stood up they turned up their seati? ioilso, either to have better standing-room, or to hear them fall down when the prayer waar

1 Dr. Ripley, in his half^xnturr discoane, Nofember 16, 1828» layt of this Tenioii : "Many parts of it coald scarcdj now bt raid with sobriety in the assembly."

OTeTj with a noise resembling the dischai^ of masketrj. Then another psalm was read> '^ deaconed/' and sung. After it came the sermon. The regular orthodox length of a sermon was an bour^ but that limit was often pass^ before thevenerable preacher's '* finally '* was reached.

Here we note some of the changes of the years. In 1763 the reading of the Scriptures was first introdnced as a part of. the exercises of public worship. In 1768 a short prayer was made before this leading. In .1767 "Dr. Brady's a^id Mr. Tate's version of the Psalms of Davids witli some hymns of Dr Watts'^ which are now bound up and published with this version/' were substituted for the version of Stemhold and Hopkins. In 1795^ at the request of some of Uie brethren who were members of the mnsical society, a bass-viol was allowed to. be used on trial to assist the singers in divine service. After two more seasons of trial it wi|s allowed to be used until further order.

At the time of the incorporation of the town there were within its limits three, school-houses. One stood near Mr. Snelling's place, on the south roaid, near the railro^ crossing,, another on the Common pear the old chestnut-tree. , Shortly after the incorporation of the town new school-houses were bnilt in the north and east parts of the town, principally by the subscriptions of individuals residiAg in .those quarters. . These were long, Iom' boildings,. with a door at one end and a chimney and fireplace at the other; two or three rows of benches with forms extended along the sides of the rooms. . Seats with backs and desks with receptacles for books were not found in any of the school-houses till within the hst seventy years.

The possession of so many school-hou&ijes was found objectionable, and many attempts were made between 1760 and 1770 to agree upon a less number. In 1762 a committee, composed of gentlemen from other towns, was invited to come here and decide upon the location of the schools. This committee, consisting of Messrs. Jonas Stoqe of Lexington, Thomas Barrett of Concord, and Braddyl Smith of Weston, visited the different parts of. the town, heard thc^ advocates of various projects, and made a report .which was rejected ; but the pla^ they recommended was adopted a few years later. Since that time there has been no material change in the arrangement of the schools, except the establishment of the high school in 1852.

that there be a school kept in said town, and to remove to three several places, and that the selectmen provide a school-master; " but the first payments dp not appear to be in accordance wit^this vote, Samuel Farrar and Amos Heald being paid, February 14, 1755, £1 6^. 8^. each for teaching school, and Ephraim Flint an4 l^mothy Wesson, Jr., in March, 1755, £2 13f. 4^. each for teaching school two months. During the earlier years of the town ''a moving school*' was kept, the teachers usually teaching in one school-house from six to ten weeks, and then going to another, according to the directions of the selectmen.' No school committees were chosen till 1808, and e*^- cepting that year till 1813, the duties of school^ committees being performed by the selectmen.

Among the teachers employed in the - earlier years of the town were Micah Lawrence, Jacob Bigelow, Timothy Farrar, Sainuel Williams, Joseph - Willard, and Fisher Ames, and in later times Bev. Drs. Hosmer and Hill. Mr. Micah Lawrence waa a cousin of Bev. William ; he afterwards taught in Worcester, and, later in life, was settled in the ministry in Winchester, N. H. He was a more pronounced loyalist tlian his Lincoln cousin, and, after a third council, -was dismissed from the ministry because he was, unfriendly to the war. Mr. Bigelow, afterwards minister of Sudbury, .taught here three years. He; was not only popular as a teacher, but also succeeded in gaining the affec-*^ tions of. Miss Sarah Hart well, to whom he was'; married January 14, 1773, . Timothy Farrar, afterwards a distinguished judge and civilian in New Hampshire, was a native of the town. . .

But what graphic pen shall describe the schools, the teaching, the poverty of the appliances of learning? Lead pencils, steel pens, and ruled paper were unknown in those days. The exercises of the ^liool consisted of reading from the spellingbook and psalter, spelling, the study of arithmetic, and learning to write. Arithmetic was the sole science taught in those days, and the .method of teaching it was somewhat peculiar; the teacher orfiy was provided with a text-book, usually Cock-

^ The statements in Shattuclc's history, " that at its iucorporatioA in 1754 Lin(^oln was divided 'into three school districts/' and "in 1770, and some other yfairs, the gmmmar school was substituted for oil others/' are ineorrcct. The town never was divided into school districts, and the votes of the town, May 28, 1770, "that the' grammar schooKbe kept in the middle of the town 4he ensuing year, and that there shall be womans' schools set up in the eitreme parts of the town," were reconsidered July 80 oC tjw same year.

er^s or Hoddei^s,^ and his biismess was to set sums for his pupils on their slates or in their manuscriptbooks: Tlie rules of arithmetic were copied from the text-book of the teacher into the manuscripts of the scholars, and the exatnples set down under the rule^. Now, taking into consideration that this was the method of teaching, it seems incredible that the schools of Massachusetts should have gone on for one hundred and fifty years without the invention of a bkckboanl. These exercises, and the discipline of the school, - which was usually in accordance with the maxim of Solomon, - occupied the session.

Improvement was slow until 1793, when Morsels Oeographjf was first published, and soon found its wny into the schools, both as a reading-book and as a text-book in geographv. Webster's Third Part was published about the same time, and the Sekolat^t Arithmetic^ the meaning of the title of which has ceased to be understood, in 1801, which marks a new era in the history of common-school instruetioa.

The Liberal School,^ an institution* differing in name only from the academies of the time, was establish^ here in 1793. The house was built bv an association of some of the principal men of the town, and Mr., afterwards Dr., Stearns taught the school. Instruction was given in rhetoric, astronomy^ and the higher branches of mathematics, and in the principles of religion and morality, textbooks upon these subjects being prepared by the teacher and transcribed by the pupils. The Latin and Greek languages were also taught, and particular attention was paid to the manners and morals of the pupils. This school gave a new impulse to the cause of education, and tended to elevate the character of the town. In it Samuel Famr, Esq., Professor John Farrar, Hon. Samuel Hoar, Nathan Brooks, Nathaniel Bemis, Francis Jackson, Winslow Lewis, and other distinguished men received instruction preparatory for admission to college. The first exhibition was given September 27, 1793, Misses Anna Harrington, Hannah

» Copiei of tliese text-books are in pMsetsion of the writer. Cocker's wet Uceased ia 1653. printed in 1009. Hodaer'i. n later and more generally used book, is a small duodecimo, printed ia London in 1719. The titlc-pagw reads, " Hodder's Arith- or that necessary art made most en§y. Bcin^ explained ia a way fiuniliar to the capacity of any that desire to learn it in a little time. By James Hodder. writine-master. The twentyci^th edition, revised, augmented, and above a thousand faults tmeaded, by Heniy Mose, late servant and succesaor to the MdK>r."

Fiske, and Sasaosa Hoar being assigned the honorary parts. TIk innovation of allowing yonng ladies to speak in public provoked a good deal of discussion and some censnre, but Dr. Steams was able to sustain himself and his school, and the people became leoonciled to it.

No part of the history of the town is more in- * teresting or instructive than the part taken in the struggle for indqpendence. Shnttnck, in his history, says,* "in this controversy [with England] it became earlj eiiUsted, and uniformly on the popular side, and miis distinguished for its ardent, decided, and independent patriotism, and for its intelligence ami originality,'' - statements which will bear the scmtiny of history, and the judgment of posterity. On the 15th of March, 1770, the town " VoteJ^ That we will not purchase any one article of anj person that imports goods contrary to the agreement of the merchants of Boston ; " and, in a long answer to a circular sent to the town, they say, February 8, 1773, "We will not be wanting in oar assistance, according to oar ability, in the prosecuting of all such lawful and constitutional measures as sliall be thought proper for the continuance of all our rights, privil^^, and liberties, both civil and religious; being of opinion that a steady, united, persevering conduct in a constitutional way is the best means, under God, for obtaining the redress of all our grievances."

A committee of correspondence consisting of Samuel Farrar, Heazer Brooks, and Abijah Pierce was chosen November 2, 1773, and a similar committee was chosen every year till 1784; several documents emanating from this committee have been preserved, and will bear comparison with any state papers of tbe time.

December 27, 1778, the town " Voted, That we will not purekasc or use any tea or suffer it to be purchased or nsed in our families so long as there is any duty laid on such tea by act of the British Parliament, and we will hold and esteem all such as do naie soch tea as enemies of their country and will treat them with tlie greatest neglect.'' Afterwanls the - following agreement was signed by eighty-two of the principal inhabitants. " We, the subseribers inhabitants of the town of Lincoln do sincevdy and truly covenant and agree to and with eack other, that we will not for ourselves, or any far or under us, purchase or consume any goods, wares, or manufactures, which shall be imported fitom Great Brittain after the thirty-first day of August 1774^ until the Congress of Deputies from the several colonies shall determiBe what articles if any, to except, and that we will thereafter, respecting the use and consumption <of such British articles as not be excepted, religiously abide the determination of said Ck)n-

At the annual meetings March 6, 1775, the town " Foi^dyThsit £52 4«. be granted to provide for those persons who have enlisted as minute-men, each one a bayonet, bclt^ cartridge box, steel-rammex, gunstock, and knapsack ; and that they attend military exercises four hours in a day, twice a week, till the first day of May next. In case any one refuse to., attend, 2$. for each four hours, and in proportion for a less time, shall be deducted from their wagfs/' -

Cempani^ of minute-men existed at this time in most, if not. all, of the towns in Middlesex County ; those ill the central part of the county had been organized into a regiment, of wliich Abijah Pierce of Lfincoln was colonel. William Smith was captain of the minute-men. Samuel Farrar was captain of the military company, and Samuel Hoar and James Parks were lieutenants ; these officera were chosen by their men, but were witliout commissions. Eleazer Brooks, tlie last captain commissioned by the royal governor, had thrown up his commission and renounced the king's service.

Suchwa? the condition of things in the spring of 1775. The. Provincial Congress Iiad collected a qoanti^ of .military stores at Concord, and an attempt to seize and destroy those stores was daily expected. On the evening of the 18th of April a c^Btachment of the king's troops under, tlie command of Colonel Smith was sent for the purpose.

The main road from Lexington to Concord, called in early times " the Bay-road,'* passed through the northerly part of Lincoln and by Captain Smith's house. Probably he was the first to receive intelligence that the royal forces were in motion. At about three o'clock in the morning the church bell was rung, and . no one mistook its meaning. The officers and men soon beiran to gatlier at the meeting-house, and early in the morning took up their march for Concord to participate in the events of tlie day. After the departure of their husbands and sons for Concord many of the women gathered up 'their silver and best clotliing, took their children and Bibles, and hid in the woods. Tlie British soldiers passed up the north road between the hours of six and seven in the morning; the retreating column re-entered t)ie town about noon in good order. From the foot of Hardy's Hill, the first considerable ascent on the returning route, to the tin-vard which was near the foot of tlie next hill, the road was the dividing line of Lincoln and Concord. At the southwest comer of the tan-yard the line of the town left the road and turned northward. Eastward from the tan-yard the road ascends a sharp acclivity and bends northward also. The rains, travel, and repairs of a century had worn a deep cut in the road at this place, and^on its easterly side was a dense forest which., afford^ a covert for the provincials, while the. curves in the road exi)osed the British to^ a raking fire from both» rear and front. Two of the enemy were -killed in this defile, and five others a little further on. At or near Cornet Ephraim Hartwell's house, Captsin Jonathan Wilson of Bedford^ Nathaniel Wyman of Billerica, and Daniel Thompson of Wobum were slain. It was now past noon and the heat was excessive for the season. The British continued their flight and passed the line of the town upon the run. Six hours before, they liad crossed that line in all the pride and pomp of war 1 Six hours, big with destinies of men and nations, had parsed, and they were in ignominious flight 1 At it short distance below the line of the town, where a precipice juts into the road, Smith lialted and made a resolute attempt- to re-form his column, winch wfis [Kirtially successful. A few minutes afterwards he, was severely wounded. Pitcairn, the evil genius of the day, was reserved for the bullets, of Bunk^ Hill. The other events of the day belong to the Iiistory of other towns. The bodies of three BriV. ish soldiers were buried by the side of the road.- Five other bodies were gathered up the next day and buried in the old bur3ing-ground in Lincoln^ One of these had on a fine ruffled shirt, (md a queue tied with a silk ribbon. He was supposed, to have been an officer. Tradition says that two others were buried in a knoll near Lexington line, but the endence is not sufficient to warrant the assertion.

To write in detail an account of the doings of the town and the services and sacrifices of its men and officers in the field and at home during the eight eventful years that followed, would require a much larger space than is allotted to the history of Lincoln in this work. A few events may be noticed. A new onninization of tlie militia

History Op Middlesex Covntt

WM made in February, lt76, and Concord, Lexugton, Weston/ Lincoln, and Acton were assigned to the Third regiment; Eleazer Brooks was commissioned colonel, February 14, 1776, and held that office till October 13, 1778, wli^n he was appointed brigadier-general. Samuel Farrar was oommissioned captain, and Samuel Hoar and James Parks lieutenants of the Lincoln company February 14,'' 1776, and were in office March 7, 1780. Colonel Brooks commanded a regiment in the expedition to Ticonderoga, and Samuel Hoar was a lieutenant in that expedition; both were at the surrender of Burgoyne. Colonel Brooks commanded a regiment of Middlesex men at White Plains in 1776, and Samuel Hartwell was his quartermaster. Colonel Brooks' regiment behaved with |;reat bravery in the battle of White Plains, and received especial commendation from General Washington. Samuel Farrar commanded a company at the suttender of Bui^oyne's army in 1777. This appears to have been a volunteer company oomposed of Lexington and Lincoln men. John Hartwell was a lieutenant in Colonel Dyke's regiment in 1776, and a captain in the same regiment in 1777. Thirteen men from Lincoln were in Captain Hartwell's company, and six others from Lincoln in the same regiment.

There were thirty-six calls upon the town for men during the war, besides repeated calls for provisioiis, clothing, and bknkets. In 1780 £33,840 were granted to hire men for the army and £8,500 moi^ to purchase provisions and clothing, and in January, 1781, £16,240 more were granted for the same objects. Afterwards, when men were called for, the town was divided into as many classes as there were men called for, each class being required to furnish a man. In this way individuals, as well as the town, became greatly embarrassed. pnring the years of depression and gloom which foUowed the Bevolutionary war, the people of Lincoln continued steadfast and loyal in their attachment to the government they had labored so liard to establish, and Shays and Shattuck found but one sympathizer and no followers here. The efforts of these deluded men to stay the proceedings of the courts and overthrow tlie government were regarded with abhorrence.

The same spirit which animated the people of the town in the contest with England was manifested in the War of the Bebellion. In the former war a few men were suspected of toryism, and one wealthy and influential man left the town on the

19th of April, 177S» never to return. But not'ao in the War of the Bebellion ; secession had here no sympathizer or qnlogist, and no one - man, woman, or child wgarded the contest with indifference'.

The first town-Meeting to act on matters per* taining to the war wis held May 13, 1861, and it was ^* Voted, T\\sA two thousand dollars be appropriated to provide boanty, arms, aminunition, clothing, provisions, and extra pay for such of the inliabitants of the Iwwn as have eidisted. or maf hereafter enlist, into the military service of the United States, and fer aid to their families.''

July 28, 1863, ob motion of Charles L. Tarbell, the town " Fofed, That eighteen hundred dollars be raised to pay nine men who may enlist as our quota of soldiers in the service of the United States, and that said eiglitern hundred dollars be forthwith assessed upon the taxable property^ of the town, and as much of it as may be necessary be expended by the committee appointed at a citizens' meeting in secnril^ said recruits; and that all persons be requested to pay the same to the collector on the presestation of their tax bills, on or before the first day of September next." This vote was passed in a full meeting without, a dis«' senting voice or vote; and, although it was known that the town could not enforce the payment df this tax, it was immediately assessed and mote tiian nine-tenths of it was paid upon the presentation of the bills. Four weeks afterward, the town " Voted, To pay eadi volunteer who shall enlisl for nine moiiths, and be mustered in and credited to the quota of the town, a bounty of two hundred dollars," and the suae committee which recruited the volunteers for three years' service was requested to recruit the nine months' men. At the annual meeting in March, 1863, six hundred dollars were appropriated for the payment of aid to soldiers' families ; and at the November meeting the treasurer was authorized to settle with the state treasurer for the town's proportion of the volunteer bounty-tax. In the spring of this year town officers were forbidden to pay bounties, and the government resorted to drafts.

April 25, 1864, fonrteen hundred dollars were voted to refund the money raised by subscription and paid for recruitrng tea volunteers in December and January last. Seven hundred dollars were voted at the same time to pay the veteran volunteers belonging to Lincoln. June 13, 1864, Samuel H. Pierce, Fnmcis Smith, and William F.

Wbeder .weie^chosen a committee to recruit eight men at least to serve the town as volttuteers, and the treasnier was authorized to borrow twenty-five hundred dollars for the purpose. October 21^ 1S63, it was '^FoUd, To refund to the citizens the money subscribed and paid by them last spring for procuring recruits to fill the quota of the town." Various other sums were voted during those years for expenses incidental to the war and for bringing home and burying their dead. Of those who sacrificed their lives for their country in this war, the following deserve especial comm.emoration : -

First-Lieutenant Thomas J. Parker enlisted as a private at the breaking out of the war, and continued in active service until his death. He was twice promoted for meritorious conduct, and was mortally wounded before Petersburg, March 25, 1865.

1864. He was a young man of fine promise, a graduate of Harvard of the class of 1860, and designed for the profession of kw. A faithful delineation of his character may be found in the i^econd volume of the Harvard memorial.

. Elijah H. Wellington enlisted in the 44th regiment at the same time .as Lieutenant Weston, and died of disease at Newbem, N. C, in the winter of 1862. He was a young man of excellent character, universally, respected and beloved.

The votes of the town given herewith convey, at the bestj only a faint idea of the spirit whicli animated tlie town during the war of the fiebelHou. They were, in fact, only the embodying in legal form and registering the spontaneous outbursts of enthusiasm and patriotism which characterized the citizens' meetings^ where measures were discussed and most of the war business transacted. The writer of this narrative served (he town on its board of selectmen, as its treasurer, and on all its recruiting committees during the war, and can testify that he never wanted for a dollar, - never asked of any of his fellow-citizens any service or assistance connected with the war, which was not promptly and cheerfully rendered.

Nor were the women of the town wanting on their part.. They early enlisted in the work of providing hospitsd stores and comforts for the sick and wounded soldiers, - a work always ''sanctified and ennobled by the blessed spirit which prompted its undertaking, and which kept alive to the laat hour of need the earnestness so noticeable in a New England community.''

Lincoln furnished seventy-nine men for ijie war, which was a surplus of four over and above aU demands.^ The amount of money raised and expended by the town on account of the war wap $ 10,385.50, all of which was paid before the close of the year 1865. The town also expended S 3,915 for aid to soldiers' families, of which sum $3,205 were reimbursed by the state.

The history of the town to be complete should contain notices of its college graduates and the distinguished men who were bom here, and early left their home for more promising fields of usefulness and enterprise. A history of the Brookses and Browns, Farrars and Flints, Hartwells an/1 £(oars^ Pierces and Bussells, and others, would of itself fill a volume, and be a valuable contributioQ to New Ejigland literature. But the writer. must stop here. He commends the task to some on^ of the gifted sons of the town, who were trained in the halls of Ieaming,>nd liave the abiUty and culture to do the subject justice.

^ Thii number does not include Mr. N. F. Coiuliu, whs enliited for three years, went to Lyimfield in August* 186li, W)h prostnted by beat wbilc preparing the comp-groundi, and came very near bsing his life.