Lunenburg Town

Lunenburg Town

In a former account of the grant and survey of the Walker and the Adams farms it was stated that they fell into the possession of James Kibby, of Reading, several years before the grant and settlement of the town. Soon after acquiring possession of these grants Mr. Kibby became insane and for several years no reference to the owner or to the grants is found. In the mean time, unconscious of the existence of any prior rights, the committee had overrun the obscured boundaries and had completely absorbed both grants in the distribution of land in that portion of the town. Soon after the incorporation of the town Zachariah Fitch, the guardian of Mr. Kibby, demanded possession of the two tracts of land owned by his ward. To protect the titles of the new owners who were in possession, the proprietors compromised with the guardian by giving him one hundred and two pounds and a grant of three hundred acres in the southwest part of the town. This land, known for many years as the Fitch farm, was next north of the committee faim of cne thousand acres, and was bounded on the west by the west line of Fitchburg and on the south by a line four hundred rods from and parallel to the Leominster line. It was subsequently purchased by William and Joseph Downe. In this proceeding, in addition to money paid, the proprietors had suffered the loss of three hundred acres and again sought indemnity of the General Court. The appeal was not in vain. A grant of four hundred acres was immediately made, which in two parts was located on the east bank of the Connecticut River. This land was subsequently deeded to Josiah Willard and Edward Hartwell in consideration of the money paid the guardian of James Kibby. By the conditions of the grant of the township two hundred and fifty acres each was reserved for the benefit of Harvard College and for schools. In 1729 the proprietors gave Harvard College two hundred and fifty and forty-one hundredths acres which was located in the northeast part of the town, adjacent to Townsend, but did not extend east to the line of Shirley. In 1774 the college sold the lot to Joseph Bellows for one hundred and twenty pounds. One hundred and sixty-nine acres of the school lot was located in 1764 on the easterly side of Pearl Hill. In 1764 a part of this lot fell in the limits of Fitchburg. The remainder of the school lands was located by a vote of the proprietors " at a place called Tofiet swamp " now in the south part of Fitchburg. For ministerial lands the proprietors laid out four lots. The town, apart from the proprietors, assumed control of the school and ministerial lands, and near the close of the past century disposed of them in small parcels.

Torrey, in his admirable sketch of Fitchburg and Lunei\burg, expresses surprise that with a grant of six miles square, the proprietors managed to secure a township so large. The General Court expressed an equal surprise one hundred years earlier, and ordered them to make a new measurement and report. What was subsequently done is briefly told in the Court records :

November 28, 1729. A petition of Josiah Willard, Esq., and others, a committee of the town of Lunenburg, in the county of Middlesex, showing th.at the inhabitants have been at the charge of a new and more exact survey of the said Town and find thereby that they have Four thousand and one hundred and ninety-seven acres of Land within the limits of their Township above the original grant of six miles square, and forasmuch as they have been at great expense and Difficulty in their settlement by reason of the War; Therefore praying that the plan of said Town may be accepted and confirmed notwithetandiug the said overmeasure.

In the House of Representatives read and ordered that the said plan be accepted and that the land therein delineated and described be and hereby is confirmed to the Grantees of Lunenburg, their Heirs and Assigns, provided it exceed not the contents set forth and does not interfere with any former grant.

In this measurement no account was made of three thousand acres in the Woburn and Dorchester grants. They were included in the municipality ; but they were no part of the six miles square granted the proprietors. The ponds also were excluded. By the surveys of 1830 and 1831 Fitchburg has an area of 17,879 acres; Lunenburg, of 17,494 acres; and estimating the area donated to Ashby at 1627 acres, the amount is 37,000 acres. Then to six miles square add the confession of the proprietors and the two independent grants, - the amount is 30,237 acres. Compared with other ancient surveys, the excess is not unusual. Not that acres then were larger than now, but that the practice of the time was liberal, and the methods of measurement not as exact. In the early surveys there was also an intentional allowance for uneven ground and generally one rod in fifty for what the early surveyors styled "swag of y° chain."

The proprietors continued an organization over one hundred years and as long as any undivided land remained in Lunenburg, Fitchburg or a defined portion of Ashby. At a meeting in May, 1833, they adjourned to meet the next May at the house of Dr. Aaron Bard, and there the record ends. They received the grant from the General Court in community, and sold or donated It to individuals, and in their proceedings is vested the title to all the real estate within the original township. Except to receive the school and ministerial lands, the town, as an organization, had no part in these proceedings. In two or three instances the proprietors sought the friendly offices and the superior influence of the town, which, through a kinship of interest, was invariably granted. In this manner a few votes relating to matters purely proprietary appear in the early records of the town.

On the day following the act of incorporation the General Court adopted an order instructing Captain Josiah Willard to call the first town-meeting. Im- mediately the inhabitants of Lunenburg were duly warned to meet at the house of Ensign Jonathan Willard. This house was on the Lancaster Road and not far east of the Woburn grant. The first election ever made in this town called Captain Josiah Willard in parliamentary terms to the chair, but more probably he sat upon a block or stood throughout the meeting. The selectmen were: Lieutenant James Colburn, Captain Josiah Willard, Mr. Hilkiah Boynton, Mr. Ephraim Peirce and Mr. Samuel Page. Lieutenant Edward Hartwell was town treasurer, and for minor town officers choice was made of Isaac Farnsworth, Noah Dodge, Joshua Hutchins, Jonathan Willard, Nathan Heywood, Eleazer Houghton, Samuel Johnson, James Jewell, John Fisk, Jeremiah Norcross, Jacob Stiles and Jonathan Whitney. Isaac Farnsworth, who was the town clerk the first nine years of the town's history, made a record of the meeting and probably was chosen at this time, but either through modesty or carelessness he made no record of his first elt'ctiou. The record of the meeting preserves the names of many who were residents of Lunenburg in 1728. Others who are known to be residents at this time are: Rev. Andrew Gardner, Philip Goodridge, D.avid Peirce, David Gould, Moses Gould, Benoni Boynton, Jonas Gillson, Daniel Austin, John Grout and the sons of Samuel Pa?e and Philip Goodridge. The town increased rapidly during the years immediately ensuing, introducing many new names, but quite nearly all who were here at the date of incorporation are included in the foregoing list. The Hecond town-meeting, to raise money to meet public charges and to direct the building of the first meeting-house, was convened in September. The next meeting assembled in January, 1729. " It was voted and chose Capt. Josiah Willard Agent for y" Town of Lunenburg aforesaid to Join with Such other men as y' several neighboring towns shall appoint to Consider what may be best in order to divide y° Cofinty of Middlesex into two Counties." This proposition was met in 1731 by the incorporation of Worcester County. Excepting Woodstock, Conn., which, for some years, was considered a part of the county and State, Lunenburg in the order of age was the thirteenth and youngejt town in the new county.

Omitting mention of many roads extending from house to house within the town, one of the earliest exploits of the town was to make a road or amend the existing bridle-path, from Lunenburg Centre to the line of Lancaster. In 1743 a road was cut to the west line of the town " for the accommodation of Dorchester Can.ada (Ashburnham), Ipswich Canada (Winchendon) and the towns above us." In 1745 the town voted that the men living in Captain Hartwell's company build a bridge over the North Branch "in the way that goes to David Goodridge's," and another bridge over the North Branch " in the way that goes to David Page's." The first place was at or near the bridge at South Fitchburg, and the other at the bridge on Laurel Street, in Fitchburg. At the same time the men residing in Captain Willard's company were directed to " build a bridge over Mullepus, in the way by or near Hezekiah Wetherbee's, and a bridge over said Mullepus in the way that goes to Townsend below Widow White's Mill." Subsequently, money was r.aised at short intervals for repairing and building bridges at these points, but after the Indian wars the militia was not again detailed to do the work. The town refused to build a short piece of road for the accommodation of John Scott, and on his petition the court appointed a committee, who reported in 1754 that, '' having viewed the said road, have laid out y'' same to y" great satisfaction of Mr. John Scott and the owners of the land the road goes through, who freely gave their land for the road." This was a short and unimportant piece of road wholly within Fitchburg, and is described in the court records as " beginning at the land of said John Scott and running northeast on John Bridge's land, described by marked tree'", then on land of Mr. Mead, then on land of Joseph Eaton, then on land of Joseph SpoflTord to the road that comes from Isaac Gibson's." The presumption that it was a thoroughfare from Lunenburg Centre to the house of Mr. Scott is not sustained by the record.

In the building of the Northfield road the town did not participate, yet this ancient road receives frequent mention in the records. In 1733 a township bounding on Northfield was granted to Josiah Willard and his associates, many of whom were residents of Lunenburg. The early name of the grant was Earlington and Arlington (now Winchester, N. H.), and the road became known both as the Northfield and the Earlington road. It was conditioned in the grant of the township that the grantees within two years " clear and make a convenient travelling Road, twelve feet wide, from Lunenburg to Northfield, and build a house for receiving & Entertaining travellers on said Road, about midway between Northfield & Lunenburg afores''. - And for the Encouragement of a Sutable Family to settle in s"* House, It is resolved that there shall be granted to him that shall Dwell in s* House for the space of seven years from the Grant one hundred and fifty acres of land."

Many residents of Lunenburg, of Townsend, and of " the lower towns " were employed, and the road was nearly or quite completed in the summer of 1733. There yet are many traditions handed down through several generations from ancestors who, in perpetual fear of the Indians, were engaged in this enterprise. The farm of one hundred and fifty acres on which was the house of entertainment was surveyed by Nathan Heywood, and located not far from where the west line of Winchendon was subsequently established. The survey was made October 7, 1733. In the autumn of 1734 Benjamin Bellows, Hilkiah Boynton and Moses Willard, a committee of the grantees of Arlington, petitioned the General Court for another traci of land on which to build another house of entertainment at a convenient point on the line of the road. This petition sets forth that the road from Lunenburg to Northfield is forty-two miles; that about twenty-four miles from Lunenburg there " is a house of entertainment set up to the great ease and comfort of persons travelling that road, and your petitioners, apprehending it would greatly accommodate Travellers, more especially in the winter season, to have another House of Entertainment between Lunenburg and that already set up." The General Court promptly granted four hundred and fifty acres, which was surveyed by David Farrar and located on the line of the road in the northwest part of Ashburnham. In 1735 a house was built, and for a few years a family occupied it. The Enos Jones farm is a part of this grant. After the obliterating influences of one hundred and fifty years, an attempt to accurately trace this ancient thoroughfare cannot be wholly successful. The ready voice of tradition offers too many .suggestions, and frequently points out roads that are known to have been built subsequently, and for other purposes. At several points the location is well-established by contemporaneous ricords. The old Northfield Eoad began at a point more than a mile southeast of the centre of Lunenburg, and probably on and using the Lancaster Road, it continued past the Old or South Cemetery, and bearing northerly as far as the North Cemetery, and near that point making an angle, its course was nearly due west to near the present line of Fitchburg; then, possibly to avoid the rivers beyond, it bore north, and passed where John Fitch was subsequently captured, now the residence of Paul Gates, in Ashby ; thence it bore we-terly, and from the west line of Lunenburg, now in Ashby, to the east line of Northfield, it was cut through a wilderness of unappropriated land. The survey of an ancient grant in Ashburnham locates the road in its continued course at a point not far from where the present road from Rindge to Fitchburg crosses the line between Ashburnham and Ashby. Then passing north of the North Branch of the Nashua and the South Branch of Miller's Rivers, its course, by the farm (formerly) of Enos Jones in Ashburnham, and near Spring Village in Winchendon, is established by early records.

In ] 757 an effort to divide the town was inaugurated. The eastern section was first settled, and continued to be the most populous. Here was the meetinghouse, the pound and the stocks. Here was the repository of the records and of the standard weights and measures, and, in fact, the seat of government. The situation clearly demanded that in the event of a division by a north and south line, the western portion must be created into a new town. In harmony with these conditions the issue was made. While the incorporation of a town was solely within the province of the General Court, the petitioners desired to fortify their solicitations by the consent and approval of the whole town. For a few years public sentiment was divided by the proposed geographical line of division, and the larger number of voters in the eastern section denied the early petitions for a new town. The etfbrt was continually renewed and vigorously prosecuted, until in January, 1764, the consent of a majority of the whole town was obtained, and a line of division substantially the present town line was agreed upon.

Immediately the inhabitants of the proposed town instructed John Fitch, Amos Kimball, Samuel Hunt, Ephraim Whitney and Jonathan Wood, who had been prominent in this affair, to obtain from the General Court an act of incorporation. Their mission was eminently successful, and Fitchburg, including more than one-half the area of the original township, was incorporated February 3, 1/64.

The limits of this sketch, excluding voluminous material and many interesting events and incidents in the early history of the town, has forbidden a frequent repetition of the names of committees and many other prominent characters ; but no appreciative chapter of the early annals of Lunenburg can fail to associate the actors with the events, and to give some account of the early residents of the town.

Of the committee of the General Court prominent in the early proceedings, Hon. William Tailer was a member of the Council, and the remaining four were members of the House of Representatives. Hon. William Tailer was boi^i March 10, 1677. He lived in Dorchester, where he died March 1, 1732. He was prominent in the early Indian Wars. In 1712 he was chosen commander of the "Ancient and Honorable Artillery." He visited England, and returned with a commission as Lieutenant-Governor, and subsequently he was acting Governor of the Province. The name is here written "Tailer" to correspond with the usage of his time. Samuel Thaxter was of Hingham, and a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Jacobs) Thaxter. He was a colonel, a magistrate, and from 1716 to 1719 a delegate or member of the House of Representatives. He died previous to 17-11.

Francis Fullam was a magistrate and an influential citizen of Watertown. He was a member of the House of Representatives 1717-24, and a selectman of Watertown many years. At the incorporation of Weston his homestead fell in that town, where he died subsequent to 1752. He was the cltrk of the committee and his clear, ornate penmanship is preserved. He wrote his name as here given, but in many records it is Fulham. Francis Fullam, who was residing in Fitchburg at the date of incorporation, was his grandson.

John Shepley was a son of Thomas, and was born in Charlestowu. He settled in Groton, where he died September 4, 1736. He was a prominent citizen and a member of the House of Representatives many

Benjamin Wtiittemore, the fifth member of the committee, was born in Charlestown, September 1, 1669. He was a son of John and Mary (Upham) Whittemore, of Charlestown and of Cambridge. Benjamin settled in Concord, where he became an active citizen, a selectman and a Representative several years. He died September 8, 1734. At the meetings of the committee Mr. Tailer was sometimes absent. The others, almost without exception, were present.

Samuel Page, tlie first settler in Lunenburg, was born in Groton, June 4, 1672. He was a son of John and Faith (Dunster) Page. In 1719, when the committee surveyed the township, they found him residing on the province land and were entertained at his house. This Selkirk of the wilderness began a clearing on the Marshall place in 1718 or a year or two previously, and when discovered by the committee his family consisted of a wife Martha and seven children, the youngest an infant of ten months. Five other children were born in this town. In the admission of grantees, he and his son Joseph became original proprietors of the town. He was a selectman, 1728 and 1731; collector, 1732; and School Committee, 1738. The first pound was at his homestead, and he was chosen pound-keeper. He died September 7, 1747. In sketches of the man and in tradition he is styled " Governor " Page, in recognition, perhaps, of the fact, that while his family constituted the population of the locality he was the chief executive officer of the domain, but there is no evidence that the title was employed during his life. Very probably, it is one of the pleasant fictions of tradition.

Josiah Willard, whose active career would fill a volume, was a son of Henry and Dorcas (Cutler) Willard. He was born in Lancaster, 1695. He removed to Lunenburg, 1723 or the following year, and was foremost in the affairs of the settlement. He was a captain on the frontiers and subsequently was a colonel and for a season was commandant at Fort Dummer. In 1733 he obtained, with others, many of them residents of this town, the grant of a township adjacent to Northfield (now Winchester), N. H., and thither he removed, probably in 1737. During the remainder of his life his active energies .and achievements are conspicuous in the annals of New Hampshire. He died December 8, 1750. The following lines are copied from a journal announcing his death : " He was a gentleman of superior natural powers, of a pleasant, happy and agreeable temper of mind, a faithful Iriend, one that paid singular regard to ministers of the Gospel, a kind husband and tender parent. His death is a great loss to the public and particularly on the western frontiers."

Edward Hartweli, son of John and Elizabeth (Wright) Hartweli, was born in Concord May 25, 1681. In early life he lived a few years in Lancaster, where he was a sergeant in the Indian wars in 1722, and a lieutenant a year or two later. He was in Lancaster in the spring of 1725, but in August of that year he wrote the Governor of the Province that he had removed to Turkey Hills, where he had built a house and made improvements upon his land. He closed the letter with an assurance that at his new home he was " in a good capacity to serve his King and country." He was one of the grantees of the town, and probably he had been engaged in clearing land and building a house during a part of the years 1721-24. He settled on the Lancaster Road, over three miles from the centre of the town.

He was a man of great size and physical strength and power of endurance. Possessing an equally strong mind, energy and force of character, he continually exercised a commanding influence over the rising fortunes of the settlement. In the troublous times on the frontiers he was much employed in the service, and rose to the rank of major. He was a deacon of the church, selectman, town treasurer, School Committee and frequently was elected to important committees and to other office in town affairs. He was a Representative many years, serving in this capacity at eighty-five years of age.

From an early date he was a magistrate, and in 1750 he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas, succeeding Judge Joseph Dwight, and was continued on the bench until a reorganization of the court, in 1762. In addition to these accumulating trusts and responsibilities, it is a surprise that a single life-time afforded opportunity for his well-managed private affairs and many other active employments. With Colonel Willard and Colonel Benjamin Bellows, he was a manager of the Northfield Road, and was a grantee of several townships. Among the proprietors of Dorchester Canada (Ashburnham) he was a controlling spirit from 1736 to '44, serving on nearly every committee, and was one of the men who cut a road from the Lunenburg line to the centre of the town. For many years he was the clerk of the proprietors of Lunenburg, and recorde4 the original title to every lot of land in the township, except a small area of undivided land, which remained unsold at the time his successor was chosen. He died February 17, 1785, " as full of piety as of days." He lives in every page of the early records, and there is found his only monument. He rests in an unknown grave.

Isaac Farnsworth, son of Benjamin and Mary (Prescott) Farnsworth, was born in Groton July 4, 1701. He settled near the centre of the town in 1724. At this time his home was enlivened with a wife and one child. Six children were born in this town. He was an influential man, and was the first town clerk, serving nine years. He wrote a fair hand, and had more regard for the laws of orthography than many of his associates. About 1740 the JM family returned to Groton. ^

Widow Jane Boynton came to this town in 1724 or '25, bringing witli her the memory of a deceased husband and lourteeQ living children. She did much to advance the settlement. She and her family came from Rowley, and, owing to the number of her grown-up sons, they settled in several places. One of her daughters became the wife of John Grout, a useful citizen, the owner of house-lot No. 83. and a selectman several years. Another daughter married Zachariah Whitney, who died in this town, 1781.

David Page, a son of Samuel, who settled in the western part of the town, and often said to be the first settler in Fitchburg, married a daughter of this numerous family. Mrs. Boynton, the mother, died in 1761, aged only a few days less than one hundred years. Benoni Boynton, probably the eldest son, settled nearly a mile north of the North Cemetery. He married in Rowley, and lived a few years in Groton before he came to Lunenburg. His name is frequently met in the early records. He died December 30, 1758.

Hilkiah Boynton, another son, was much employed in town affairs, and was connected with some of the land speculations of his time. He died November 16, 1745.

Philip Goodridge, born in Newbury in 1668 or '69, settled here about 1724, and died January 16, 1729. On his tomb-stone is engraved " The first man interred here." His descendants to the present day have been numerous in this town, and are found throughout New England. This name is frequently written Goodrich. They have been distinguished by industry, ability and character.

Benjamin Goodridge, eldest son of Philip, was born in Newbury February 3, 1701. He lived in the southwest part of the town, and was a most active and influential man, and prominent in both proprietary and town ati'airs. The number of his elections to office is without a parallel in the history of the town. He was a selectman thirty years, town clerk twenty-two years, and constable, collector, member of School Committee and a magistrate several years, and a captain in the French and Indian War. He died April 19, 1773.

Samuel Johnson, son of Edward and Esther (Gardner) Johnson, was born in Woburn, February 21, 1692. He was an influential man in the afl'airs of the settlement, the first deacon of the church, a town officer many years, and by occupation an inn-holder. He accumulated a good estate and was one of the proprietors of several townships in New Hampshire.

Nathan Heywood, son of John and Sarah Heywood, was born in Concord, September 24, 1698. He was a noted surveyor, and his name is attached to the surveys of many townships. He was one of the first settlers of the town, living at No. 175 on the Kilburn map. He was a town officer, a lieutenant and a deputysheriff. He was living here at the beginning of the present century, but there is no record of his death.

Thomas Prentice, born in Lancaster, 1710, a son of Rev. John Prentice, was a man of ability, and while he remained here he was evidently popular and respected. About 1750 he returned to Lancaster, and subsequently removed to Newton. His mother, by a former marriage, was the mother of Rev. Andrew Gardner, the first minister of Lunenburg.

Ephraim Wetherbee early settled in this town. He was a captain, a town ofiicer and actively engaged in land speculations. His name appears in the lists of grantees of townships in New Hampshire. He died in Boston, November 7, 1745.

Benjamin Bellows, son of John and Mary (Wood) Bellows, born 1677, married, 1704, the widowed mother of Col. Josiah Willard. They resided in Lancaster (now Harvard), where their four children were born. In 1728, or immediately following, the family removed to this town. He settled in the centre of the town, on the estate known as the Dr. King place, and in a i'evi years he owned many acres of land in this town. One daughter married Moses Gould, another married Fairbanks Moore, and the youngest became the wife of Ephraim Wetherbee. He died 1743 ; his widow died September 8, 1747.

Col. Benjamin Bellows, only son of Benjamin, wag born in Lancaster, May 26, 1712, and removed to Walpole, N. H., 1752, where he died, July 10, 1777. From the time of his majority until he removed from this town he was the recipient of many honors, and in the conduct of public affairs he was associated with Col. Josiah Willard, Major Edward Hartwell, Benjamin Goodridge, Esq., and other worthies of the town, and among them all, except in years, he found no superiors. He was a surveyor, a farmer and was earnestly enlisted in the land speculations which were rife in those times. His subsequent career in Walpole and the eminent public services of many of his descendants enliven the annals of New Hamjishire.

Chapter Xcvil

From the time a number of men, sufficient to attract the vigilant attention of the colonial government, had gathered in the settlement until the declaration of peace in 1763 the town was almost continuously represented in the military service. In addition to stated service in the wars of the period, rumors of the presence of Indians at a near or remote point, and the frequent necessity of scouting through the unsettled country to the north and the west were continually calling the hardy settlers to arms. In seasons of more imminent danger the men at work in the fields weie attended by an equal number of soldiers, and sometimes the harvests of the town were garnered by armed men going in a body from fleld to field. Many of the military rolls are not preserved, and the history of much of this desultory service cannot be recalled. The military affairs were directed by the government, and ignoring the agency of towns, it made demands upon the able-bodied men of the province at large. For this reason the local records furnish very little information of an important feature of the history of the time. Beginning with the French and Indian Wars, many of the rolls are preserved in the archives of the State, and these contain the names of many Lunenburg men. In a record of deaths is found the name of one of the sons of the first settler of Lunenburg, who was a soldier in the unfortunate expedition under Admiral Vernon to the West Indies : " John Page, the son of M' Samuel Page, of Lunenburg, Dyed at Jamaica, Being there in y'^ Spanish Expedition, December y° twenty-ninth A. D. 1740, as they hear.''

It is certain there were several Lunenburg men in Col. Samuel Willard's regiment, who participated in the capture of Louisbourg in the summer of 1745; among these was Jonathan Hubbard, who was recommended for promotion and who subsequently was a major. He lived in Lunenburg from 1732 to 1756. He was a deacon, a town officer and a mest influential citizen. Immediately after the capture of John Fitch, Capt. Jonathan Willard, of this town, was ordered by Col. Samuel Willard to scout through the " upper towns." The following Lunenburg men were in this service July and August, 1748: Jonathan Willard, captain ; Timothy Bancroft, Thomas Brown, John Dunsmoor, Isaac Gib.son, David Goodridge, Nehemiah Gould, Samuel Johnson, Amos Kimball, Ebenezer Kimball, Ephraim Kimball, Jonathan Page, Samuel Poole, William Porter, Thomas Stearns, Samuel Stow, Jonathan Wood, Paul Wetherbee, Ezekiel Wyman and Zachary Wyman. This John Dunsmoor subsequently was a noted physician in this town. Jonathan Wood was a captain in the Eevolution, and several of these men were then residing in the west part of the town, now Fitchburg. Between 1736 and 1744 a considerable number of families had settled in New Ipswich, Rindge, Ashburnham and Winchendon. Their presence on the border lent a feeling of comparative security to the dwellers of Lunenburg, who for a season were protected from the dangers of the extreme frontier.

In 1744 the younger towns were deserted and again Lunenburg assumed her former position on the border. For the defence of the undeserted frontier a series of block-houses or garrisons on the exterior llne< of Townsend, Lunenburg and Westminster were built, and here a line of defence was drawn. Soldiers under the pay of the province were detailed for the support of the garrisons. In 1748 a company of forty-seven men, under command of Captain Edward Hartwell, was raised for this service, and, while under one command, were distributed along the border of the defended towns. Ten of this company were assigned to the block-houses in Townsend, ten to Lunenburg, fifteen to Westminster and three to Leominster. The remaining nine was a staif of inspection, comprising the officers and a body-guard. Fortunately, the official roll is preserved : Edward Hartwell, captain ; John Stevens, lieutenant ; John Holden, sergeant ; James Johnson, clerk ; Joseph Baker, Timothy Hall, Fairbanks Moore, Jr., corporals; Abner Holden, William Bemis, Jonathan Farnsworth, Elias Stone, Ephraim Dutton, Simon Farnsworth, Ebenezer Hadley, John Thomson, Elisha Pratt, Ebenezer Wood, Jonathan Pett, Zaccheus Blodget, Samuel Wood, Joseph Jennings, Stephen Farnsworth, John Nichols, Nehemiah Wood, Benoni Boynton, Benoni Boynton, Jr., Jos<iph Platts, Nicholas Dyke, Abel Platts, William Smith, James Preston, Ephraim Stevens, Joshua Benjamin, John Rumrill, Nehemiah Holden, Oliver Barrett, William Gilford, James King, William Graham, Jonathan White, Joseph Wheelock, Thomas Wilder, Thomas Stearns, David Dunster, Joseph Holden, Jr., Stephen Holden, Eli-sha Bigelow. Of these, thirty enlisted in April, two in May, the eight last named June 24th and the rest in June, July and August. In the column of expiration of service Zaccheus Blodget and Joseph Jennings are marked " .luly 5 ;" five were discharged at different date>( and the remainder were mustered out the middle of October. A minute upon the muster-roll announces that the five last named were added to the Westminster detail, making fifteen -in all, and that Jonathan White, Joseph Wheelock and Thomas Wilder were stationed in Leominster.

Notwithstanding these measures of precaution, on the morning of the 5th of July the Indians made a sudden attack upon one of these fortified places. The one selected by the enemy was the most northern of the garrisons upon the line of Lunenburg, which stood where Paul Gates now resides in the present town of Ashby.

The house was on the Northfield road, seven miles from Lunenburg Centre, and was owned and occupied by John Fitch, whose family consisted of a wife and five children. The ages of the children were: Catharine, thirteen years; John, eleven years ; Paul, six years and six months ; Jacob, four years; and Susannah, sixteen months. Four soldiers were stationed at this house or garrison, but, on the day of the assault, only Zaccheus Blodgett and Joseph Jennings were present. The story of the capture has been told many times, and generally with the Surdody embellishment. Admitting that Surdody is a good name for an Indian, it remains very probable that the Indians made an attack at the most exposed and solitary point in the line of defense, and if they came in the last stages of their march over the Northfield road, they were led directly to the point of attack. Previous to the moment of the assault no considerable number of the Indians had been discovered at any point in tlie line, while during the following flays they were found in several localities in this immediate vicinity. Mr. Fitch, in a petition to the General Court December 10, 1749, says he had no neighbors within three and one-half miles to join with him in fortifying his house, " yet divers of the inhabitantsof Lunenburg, knowing the great security that a garrison at his plape might be, urged him to build one and assisted him iu it." After making known that four soldiers were stationed at his garrison, in 1748, he proceeds in modest terms to give a narrative of the eventful day: "And on the fifth of July in the same year, by reason of bodily infirmity, there were but two soldiers with him, although others with tlie scouts were to come in that day. On that day, before noon and before the scouts came, the Indian enemy appeared and shot down one soldier upon being discovered and immediately drove him [John Fitch] and the other soldier into the garrison. And after besieging the same about one hour and a half, they killed the other soldier through the port-hole in the fl inker. Then your petitioner was left alone with his wife and five children and soon after he surrendered." The Indians burned the house, killed an ox and conducted the family to Canada. It has been stated that the family were ransomed by " friends in Bradford, where he formerly resided." It has not been shown that Mr. Fitch ever lived in Bradford, and the fact is he was returned by the French with others at the suspension of hostilities. In company with five French officers and other prisoners, he arrived in New York, by the way of Albany, September 23, 1748, not yet three months after his capture. When the complete exchange of prisoners was made ii not known, and the feeble health of his wife might have delayed his progress home. She died in Providence, R. I., December 24, 1748. The capture was probably made and the house was in flames about noon, yet it is current tradition that no resident of the town was informed of the event until the following day. This is improbable. It is certain, however, that Captain Hartwell called his company together and that an alarm and great excitement pervaded the town. On the 8th of July, 1748, the inhabitants of Lunenburg and Leominster joined a petition to Governor Shirley setting forth that the Indians " very lately have beeu among us," and earnestly praying for an additional number of soldiers. Four days later the commissioned officers and selectmen of Lunenburg forward a similar petition announcing that the family of John Fitch was captured and two soldiers killed on the oth instant, and that on the 7th instant the Indians " discovered themselves in a bold, insulting manner three miles further into town than was the garrison which they had destroyed, where they chased and shot at one of the inhabitants, who narrowly escaped their hands." They further state that three days the people were rallied by alarms and hurried into the woods after the enemy. It was '

David Goodridge who was the hero of this exploit, and the scene was within the limits of Fitchburg. Mr. Goodridge subsequently was a lieutenant in one of the Crown Point expeditions.

Joseph Jennings, one of the soldiers slain at the Fitch garrison, was a drafted man from Western (now Warren). He was an apprentice to Samuel Bliss, and when he came to Lunenburg he brought Mr. Bliss' gun, which fell into the hands of the Indians - perhaps the hands of Surdody. Mr. Bliss sent a communication to Governor Shirley alleging that the gun was worth ten pounds, and beside, that he had lost the time of his apprentice, and made it apparent that all in all he was neither blissful nor satisfied. The government was tender and compassionate, and while there appeared to be no spare men on hand, they sent him a new gun.

Zaccheus Blodget was probably from Dracut. Oliver Blodget was residing there in 1749 and gave an order for the wages due his deceased brother, " who was killed by the Indians last year."

John Fitch was born in the part of Billerica now in Bedford, February 12, 1707-8. His father, Samuel Fitch (a son of Samuel, grandson of Dea. Zachary Fitch, of Reading), married Elizabeth Walker and settled on a part of the Winthrop grant in Billerica, which he inherited from his maternal grandfather. Job Lane. John was the sixth of nine children. He was a second cousin of Zachariah Fitch, who was the guardian of James Kibby. Joseph Fitch, the father of the wife of William Downe, was a brother of Zachariah. John Fitch came to Lunenburg a few years after the date of incorporation. He married Susannah Gates, a daughter of Simon and Hannah (Benjamin) Gates, of Stow, and in 1735 he purchased a part of an original house-lot, No. 66, adjoining the lot of Ephraim Pierce, about two miles south of the centre of the town (near No. 188 on the Kilburn map). Here he lived until 1739, when he bought of Ephraim Wetherbee one hundred and twenty acres " at a place called Rendevous in Lunenburg and adjoining Townsend." This land, now in Ashby, is the homestead of Paul Gates. Subsequently he bought a considerable adjoining land. Upon his return from captivity he built a house on or very near the site of the garrison, and there resided over twenty years. He married, February 14, 1750-1, Elizabeth (Bowers) Peirce, widow of David Peirce, ef Lunenburg. About this date he received a substantial legacy from the estate of Simon Gates, the father of his first wife. By the division of Lunenburg in 1764 his homestead became a part of Fitchburg, and in 1767 it was included in the new town of Ashby. Occupying the same house, he was a citizen of three towns within a short space of time. He was the chairman of the committee to procure an act dividing Lunenburg and creating a new town, and in his honor the name of Fitchburg was bestowed. In his estate he was prospered, and for several years was one of the few names on the taxi70

Iist8 assessed for mouey at interest. He was moderator of the first town-meeting in Asliby, a constable and a member of the first Board of Selectmen. He became engaged in land speculation, and deeds of land bought or sold by him are very numerous in the registry of Worcester County and Cheshire and Hillsborough Counties in New Hampshire. In 1772 he removed from Ashby to Rindge, N. H., where he lived until 1779, when he removed to Harvard. In 1780 he removed to Jaflrey, N. H. His wife was living in 1774. She probably died in Rindge or in Harvard. Alone and aged, and for some cause in poverty, the closing and fading scene of an active, eventful and useful life only remains. In 1785 he returned to Ashby, and finding a home in the family of a relative, he was supj)orted in part by the town. He died April 8, 1795, aged eighty-seven years.

Succeeding these stirring times, a truce was maintained a few years between England and France, and until 1755 very few men from this town are found in the service.

In Col. Willard's regiment (a part of the expedition to Crown Point) was a company commanded by Capt. Samuel Hunt, containing twenty-four men from this town, eight from Townsend, four from Leominster and ten from other places. These men were in the service from August 11, 1755, to January 1, 1756. The names of the Lunenburg men are as follows: Samuel Hunt, captain ; Samuel Poole, ensign ; Jonathan Bradstreet, sergeant ; Gilbert Thornton, sergeant ; Samuel Hutchins, corporal ; Samuel Stow, Timothy Bancroft, Archelaua Mcintosh, Phinehas Divol, Thomas Wetherbee, Stephen Foster, Timothy Darnell, Ephraim Peirce, Nathaniel Carlton, Jonathan Stevens, Moses Spofford, Scripture Frost, Thomas Stearns, Thomas Rand, Bezaleel Wood, William Chadwick, Eliphalet Goodridge, Jewett Boynton and Thomas Holt.

An undated roll in the Crown Point service, and probably a part of this expedition, bears the names of Ebenezer Hart, Nathaniel Page, Silas Button, Abijah Wetherbee, Jonathan Wetherbee, John Martin, Solomon Bigelow, Samuel Cummings, Jr., Reuben Wyman, Simon Smith, John Henderson and William Kimball. The last named was a servant or an apprentice of George Kimball, who enlisted under a name borrowed of his master.

Among the rolls of the following year a company commanded by Cai)t. James Reed, containing thirtyeight men, was in Col. Ruggles' regiment at Fort Edward. The roll is valuable, containing the name, age, birth-place, residence and occupation of each man.

The names of the Lunenburg men are Thomas Brown, ensign; John Harriman, sergeant; John Moffet, clerk ; Samuel Hutchins, corporal ; Nehemiah Bowers, Timothy Darling, Joseph Gilson, Manassah Litch, Joseph Platts, Joseph Reed, Robert Spear, John Scott, Bradstreet Spofford, Reuben Smith, Benjamin Scott, Jonas Tarbell, Michael Wood, Phinehas Wheelock, William Holt. In this company Philip Goodridge was lieutenant, but he was sick and not with the company when the foregoing pay-roll was made up. John Harriman died in the service. On the roll two others are reported dead who are known to have returned.

On the rolls of 1759 are many I^unenburg names. These men were also in the Crown Point service, and omitting names who are found in the preceding roll, there remain David Pierce, David Carlile, Moses Page, Patrick Delany, Jonathan Peabody, Moses Eitter, Jr., Moses Platts, Dean Carlton, Zephaniah Buss, Simeon Burnham, Samuel iQibson, Samuel Parker, Nathaniel Page, Jr., Samuel Hammond, Josiah Dodge, Jr., David Chaplin, Jr., Benjamin Gould, Richard Fowler, John White, Patrick White and John Wyman. Jidin Wyman died in the service. During the years 1760 and 1761, and in the final and successful effort for the conquest of Canada, a martial record is continued. Among the names of new recruits appear the names of William Kendall, Samuel Hutchins, Moses Platts, Samuel Hilton and Nathan Platts, and in the company of Captain Aaron Brown, of Littleton, were John Martin, sergeant, Jonathan Boynton, Samuel Downe, Timothy Parker, John Simonds, Ezekiel Simonds, William Simonds and Simon Smith; also in the company of Captain Beaman, of Lancaster, Joseph Reed and Samuel Wyman are reported among " the invalids brought home from the westward." Other men in this company were Daniel Carlile, Patrick Delany, Joseph Gilson, John Hogg, Aaron Hodgkins, Jonathan Page, Samuel Peabody, Daniel Ritter, Ebenezer Wyman, Reuben Wyman, Oliver Powers. About this time John Spear and Silas Wyman died in the service. Five Lunenburg men in 1761 were in the company of Captain Aaron Willard: Jeremiah Stiles, drummer, John Hill, William Henderson, Joshua Page and Israel Wyman. These extended lists do not contain the names of all the residents of Lunenburg who were in the service, yet the most of them have never appeared in print before. With limited space at command, in some instances only one enlistment is given of those who entered the service again the succeeding year. It will be found that many of the persons named were subsequently rtsidents of other towns, but they lived in Lunenburg at the time the service was performed.

The Revolutionary history of Lunenburg should include a series of patriotic resolutions which were debated and adopted during the mouths of active thought and excitement immediately preceding an open declaration of hostilities, and which, with the space at command, cannot be quoted. They cover several pages of the records and are clearly expressive of a sentiment and purpose that animated and sustained the patriots of Lunenburg through the trials and sacrifices of the war. Two companies of twentyseven men each, exclusive of officers, were organized October 25, 1774. In the choice of officers all males over sixteen years of age were allowed to vote. The town approved of the selection made by the men as follows: George Kimball, captain ; David Wood, first lieutenant ; Jonathan Peirce, second lieutenant, and Benjamin Redington, ensign of the first company. Abijah Stearns, captain ; Jared Smith, first lieuten ant; Moses Ritter, second lieutenant, and Phineas Hutchins, ensign of the second company. The terms first and second did not have an ordinal significance. A geographical line divided the town in two parts and a company was organized in each section. On the 18th day of April the minute-men were called out for drill and a practice in the manual of arms. After a dinner, provided by the officers, they were marched to the meeting-house, where a sermon was delivered by Rev. Zibdiel Adams, from the text: "Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear." - Psalm xxvii. 3.

The spring of 1775 was unusually warm and forward. On the morning of the 19th of April, the farmers of Lunenburg were sowing grain and plowing their fields. On the preceding day they had learned from their chosen commanders the discipline and from their esteemed pastor the duties of the soldier. In arm and mind the rustic toilers became the patriot soldiers. As they toiled on the war had begun, yet they knew it not. The swift messages of the morning were not long delayed. Some time in the forenoon, tradition says at nine o'clock, the alarm was fired in this town.

A full company from Lunenburg marched for Concord - tradition says so early that they reached Concord and beyond that evening, but the muster-roll would indicate that they proceeded with more preparation and deliberation :

'- A Muster Roll of a company or party of men that marched from Lunenburg on y"^ 20"" of April, 1775, for the Defense of the Colony against the ministerial troops under the Command of George Kimball, Cap' of a company in Lunenburg, who marched in Consequence of an alarm made the lO"" of April, 1775. George Kimball, captain ; David Wood, first lieutenant; Samuel Kimball, second lieutenant; Boman Brown, sergeant; John Searle, do.; Benj. Darling, do.; Samuel Farrar, do.; Samuel Hutchinson, corporal ; Samuel Hilton, do.; Daniel Holt, do.; Barnabas Wood, do.; David Chaplin, drummer; Silas Gibson, John Wood, Abijah Page, Nathan Johnson, Isaac Bailey, Andrew Mitchell, Edward Richards, Moses Sanderson, Charles Gilchrist, Pearson Eaton, John McCarty, Benj. Redington, William Prentice, Jacob Stile-', Solomon Hovey, Eli Dodge, Zebulon

Wallis, Moses Ritter, Thomas Simonds, David Houghton, Jonathan Peirce, Obediah Walker, William Gilchrist, Jacob Sanderson, John Dole, Nehemiah Lane, Nathaniel Hastings, Joseph Hartwell, Joshua Reed, Benjamin Goodridge, Asa Carlton, Amos Page, Thomas Wetherbee, Thaddeus Cummings, Phinehas Divol, Benoni Wallis, George Henry, John Little, John Campbell, Joseph Foster, Caleb Taylor, Jeremiah Willard, Curwin Wallis, William Goodridge, Samuel Johnson, Joseph Priest, Nathan Chapman, Seth Harrington." Here are sixty names, and beside some who hastened forward independent of organization, there were two officers and five men from this town in the Leominster company, as follows : Joseph Bellows and Thomas Harkness, lieutenants ; Noah Dodge, Phinehas Carter, Israel Wyman, Richard Fowler and Jonathan Martin.

From the men and companies thus gathered at Cambridge and from new recruits constantly arriving an army for the siege of Boston was organized. A full company, composed of Lunenburg and Fitchburg men, were in Colonel Asa Whitcomb's regiment a part of the time at least and remained in the service at Boston until the close of the year. The roll is as follows : John Fuller, of Lunenburg, captain; Ebenezer Bridge, of Fitchburg, lieutenant; Jared Smith, of Lunenburg, lieutenant.

Men from Fitchburg: - Jonathan Hunt, Edward Hartwell, Thomas Gary, Joseph Gilson, Ebenezer Harrington, Joseph Policy, Eleazer Priest, Nathaniel Gibson, William Bean, Ebenezer Policy, Samuel Downe, Jonathan Gibson, Daniel Harris, Stephen Bailey, Joseph Farwell, Thomas Platts, Roger Bigelow, John Goodridge, Clark Bancroft, Stephen Fuller, Aaron Hodgkins, Thomas Kimball, also John Taylor, of Hillsborough; Thomas Ball, of Concord ; and Charles Raley, residence not stated on the roll.

In the same service and in Colonel Doolittle's regiment Captain Jo iah Stearns, of Lunenburg, commanded a company of sixty-one men. In this company William Thurlo, of Fitchburg, was lieutenant and the following were Lunenburg men : John Searle, Joi-ihua Martin, John Hall, Jacob Stewart, Barnaby Wood, Joseph Chaplin, Benjamin Bailey, John Brown, William Clark, Levi Dodge, James Darling, Pearson Eaton, Asa Jones, John MoB'at, William

Prentiss, Thomas Peirce, John Ritter, John Stearns (died in the service), Joseph Siraonds, Moses Sanderson, Aaron Taylor, Seth Wyman, William Wyman, Joab Wetherbee; also five from Fitchburg and thirty from other places.

There were other men from this town in the service during the summer and autumn of this year. The residence is stated upon the original rolls and there is no room for doubt concerning the identity of the men. While the following list increases the number of Lunenburg men who served in the siege of Boston, it is not presumed to include everyone: Elnathan Sawtell, Timothy Darling, Joshua Goodridge, Samuel Priest, Kichard Gilchrist, Elijah Gould, Nathan Pushee, Joshua Reed, Peter Davis, Abraham Ireland, Abner Mitchell, William Hennessey, Joseph Chaplin, Joseph Chaplin, Jr., Thomas Hovey, Isaac Baily and Zebulon Willis. The last named probably is the same person as Zebulon Wallis in the roll of minute-men.

1776. - At the annual election of town officers in March a Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety was chosen. They were: William Stearns, Abijah Stearns, George Kimball, Benjamin Redington, Joseph Hartwell, Joaiah Stearns and Daniel Gardner. From this time town-meetings were no longer called " In His Majesty's Name," but " in the name of the government and the people of Massachusetts Bay," they found a greeting more congenial to a sentiment of independence. By a vote of the town Stephen Gorham was allowed " to take earth Irom undtr the meeting-house for to make saltpeter.'' During the remaining years of the war the inhabitants often assembled in town-meeting and the records furnish abundant evidence of a continued and patriotic effort in raising men to renew the decimated ranks of the army and in meeting the increasing burdens of taxation. The enlistments in 1776 were many and the rolls, to a considerable extent, repeat the names of the preceding year. A partial list of the soldiers for a longer or shorter period during the succeeding years include: William Pope, Aaron Buss, John Fuller, George Kimball, David Carlisle and Joshua Martin, who were captains in the service, and also the following lieutenants: Thomas Harkness, Jared Smith, David Wood, Jonathan Peirce, Benjamin Redington, Moses Ritter, Phinehas Hutchins and John Little. A partial list of soldiers not yet named are: Thomas Wetherbee, Zephaniah Wood, Abraham Lowe, Thomas Hill, David Wallis, Benoni Wallis, John Buss, George Landers, Benjamin Stewart, Abijah Wetherbee, Ebenezer Wallis, Jonathan Messer, William Lowe, Ephraim Wetherbee, Daniel Wetherbee, Nathaniel Ha'^tings, Isaac Wetherbee, Calvin Graves and George Martin ; Peter Bathrick, Abraham Carlton, Jr., .Tames Carter, William Gilchrist and Charles Gilchrist, who died in the service.

Col. Abijah Stearns was prominent in military affairs during the Revolution, and during a residence of many years in this town he was an active citizen and a worthy man. He was the youngest brother of Rev. David and Dea. William Stearns, of this tpvvn, and was born in Watertown, December 19, 1724. He came here as early as 1751, living at the centre of the town. He was often elected to office and during the war he commanded a regiment in two or more campaigns. He died November 6, 1783.

Col. Joseph Bellows, a son of Col. Benjamin, the founder of Walpole, N. H., and a brother of Gen. Benjamin Bellows, was born in this town June 6, 1744. After the family removed to Walpole he returned in early manhood to this town. He was a captain in the Revolution and commissioned lieutenant colonel of the militia by Governor Hancock. He was a man of influence and popular among his townsmen. Being bondsman for some failing contractors, his property was attached and his pride was humiliated in the loss of the paternal acres. Feeble health and discouragement unfitted him for active life, and from 1784 until his death. May 13, 1817, he lived near his relatives in Walpole.

Hon. Josiah Stearns, another of our Revolutionary worthies, was the son of Thomas and Abigail (Reed) Stearns. He was born in Littleton, July IS, 1747, and removed to this town several years before the Revolution. He commanded a company of minutemen and was a captain in the siege of Boston. He waM a selectman fifteen years, treasurer nine years and a School Committee, collector and town clerk, as well as a deacon and a magistrate. He was a representative four years, and in 1792 he was chosen to the Senate to fill a vacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. Abel Wilder, of Winchendon, and was subsequently elected. He was a member of the Governor's Council, 1797 to 1799. He died April 7, 1822.

Dr. John Dunsmoor, who was a surgeon in the army, was a native of Scotland, where he was born in 1720. He was a physician of skill and ability and occupied a prominent position among the profession. Apparently he enjoyed the esteem of his townsmen and he was many times nominated on committees, but he generally declined to serve and probably tbund full employment in his calling. After a practice of many years in this town, he died November 22, 1794.

Dr. John Taylor was a man of brilliant qualities. He was a controlling spirit in the town and a leader in the colony. He was born 1734 and probably in Townsend. Preceding Dr. Dunsmoor, he was the first physician of note in this town. Finding active employment in his other business and in public affairs, it is probable that he was not engaged in active practice many years after the arrival of Dr. Dunsmoor. He was frequently chosen to town office, and was twice elected from this town to the Provincial Congress and excepting General Ward, his name appears upon the journals more frequently than that of any of his associates. At the session which convened at Cambridge, February 1, 1775, it was through his influence, as stated by his colleagues, that an adjournment to Concord was accomplished. He was named on the most important committees, being associated with Colonel Prescott, Governor Brooks and Vice-President Gerry. He was a brilliant debater, and in all the deliberations of the convention he displayed an ability of thought and expression that permitted few superiors. He was a member of the committee which drafted the spirited reply to the proclamation of General Gage extending a promise of pardon to all except Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and also one of the commission that took the historic depositions concerning the afiray at Lexington and Concord, which were sent to Dr. Franklin, then in England. Preceding and in the midst of this loyal and brilliant service Dr. Taylor, however successful in his professional treatment of his fellow-men, did not subdue in himself a deep-seated fever for land speculations, and omitting mention of many transactions of considerable magnitude, in 1774 he bought a tract of land in Maine containing thirty-four thousand five hundred and sixty acres, now the town of Union. He employed many men to clear and improve the land, and by frequent visits he personally directed the work. During the Revolution he removed from this town and in 1780 he was residing in Pomfret, Conn. Subsequently he removed to Douglas, and was a delegate from that town to the convention of 1788, which ratified the Federal Constitution. From the printed proceedings it is ^nown that he opposed the Constitution and made a vigorous objection to several articles. Following the announcement of the final vote, standing one hundred and eighty-seven to one hundred and sixty-eight, he said that " while he had uniformly opposed the Constitution, he would now go home and infuse a spirit of love for the measure and harmony among the people." ' The closing years of Kis life were neither prosperous nor peaceful. About 1780 he sold his township in Maine, and in this and other business transactions he met accumulating troubles and became involved in vexatious and endless litigation. Several times he was committed to jail, and for a season, at least, his courage was undaunted. He died at Dudley from an overdose of laudanum April 27, 1794.

General James Reed, who was a captain in the French and Indian Wars, and whose name appears in the early part of this chapter, was a resident of this town several years. He was a son of Joseph and Sarah (Rice) Reed, and was born in Woburn, 1723. He came from Brookfield to Lunenburg, 1751, and lived a part of the time at or near the centre of the town. (Jn the earliest military roll on which his name is found he is described by occupation a " Taylor." Subsequently he was a licensed inn-holder, and in

April, 1758, the selectmen petition foi' a license to Joshua Hufchins " in place of Captain James Reed, who is now going into His Majesty's service." In 1756 he was a captain in Colonel Ruggles' regiment. He held the same rank in two or more subsequent campaigns. He w^as a selectman of Lunenburg, 1763 and 1764, being elected the last time in March, and a full month after the incorporation of Fitchburg, and in a conveyance of land executed March 4, 1765, he is called James Reed, of Lunenburg. These records are not propitious to a current tradition that during these years he was living at the site of the City Hall in Fitchburg. He removed to Fitzwilliam, N. H., before the close of the year 1765. In June, 1775, he was appointed colonel of a New Hampshire regiment, and the following year was named by Congress a brigadier-general. In an illne.ss, at Cr.iwn Point, he lost his eye-sight and was retired from active service soon after his promotion. He subsequently resided in Keene and in Fitzwilliam, N. H., several years, and later he removed to Fitchburg, where he died February 13, 1807.

Lunenburg, in the War of the Rebellion, was in full sympathy with the unexampled patriotism that pervaded the loyal States. The ardor and zeal of April, 1861, the ready response of the volunteers to the call of the President, the voice of loyalty upon the street and in public meetings and many general features of a patriotic record require no assertion. It would be a thankless task and a useless offering to summon the record in support of such a measure of good works, the summary of which will crowd the limits of this chapter. On the morning of April 22, 1861, a flag was raised on Mount Pleasant by Micah W. Boutwell, Andrew Riley and Albert S. Marshall, and another, later in the day, between the Congregational and Unitarian Churches. Within a few days thirty-eight flags were displayed within the town. Attending the second flag-raising a public meeting was organized, with Cyrus Kilburn chairman and George A. Cunningham secretary, and a series of resolutions, after several speeches, were adopted. Other meetings, both informal and oflicial, followed, and in the proceedings appear the names of Nathaniel F. Cunningham, Daniel Putnam, Cyrus Kilburn, Thomas Billings, George A. Cunningham, James Putnam, Frederic M. Marston, Lemuel Pitts, Daniel Liwe, Otis P. Abercrombie, John Howard, Merrick Wetherbee, William Baker, 'Ephraim Jones, Charles A. Goodrich and other citizens of the town. Five men enlisted for three months, as follows : Charles Kilburn, John E. Lyons, George H. Stall, Ansel W. Stall and Russell O. Houghton.

Seventy-six enlisted upon the early calls of the President for three years' men. They were : Joseph C. Riley, Alfred Billings, Amos Billings, Charles C. Walker, Charles D. Litchfield, William F. Harris, Thomas Larghee, George L. Curtis, Henry L. Burnell, B. Frank Clark, Henry O. Adams, Francis A.

On the call of August 4, 1862, for three hundred thou.sand men for nine months', twenty men volunteered : Henry P. Kilburn, Forester M. Jewett, George A. Howard, Levi Parker, George E. Brown, Clark Dutton, Henry H. Whitney, Frederic J. Lawrence, Benjamin F. Marshall, Samuel Wallis, Franklin O. Cady, Oliver F. Brown, Edward E.Carr, Levi, W. Goodrich, George W. Conant, Merrill B. Carlton, Andrew J. Green, Jesse A. Sargent, George H. Stall, Noble Fiske.

Thirty-three re-enlisted veterans and new recruits were credited upon the early calls of 1864 : Alfred Billings, Charles C. Walker,. Charles D. Litchfield, George L. Curtis, John E. Lyons, James M. Hildreth, George V. Ball, Samuel Hartwell, Luther A. Lancey, Gilbert Cook, Dana P. Spaulding, James D. Fairbanks, William D. Perrin, J. Franklin Boynton, Albert Houghton, Joseph R. Graves, Charles H. Neal, Orlando Holman, William H. Wyeth, John F. Butters, Charles E. Oliver, Richard H. Wyeth, Eli S. Lancey, who were veterans. The following were new recruits: Edward C. Goodrich, Richard F. Burton, Thomas Billings, Josiah S. Houghton, John Snow, Albert Stall, Edward P. Hadley, George N. Burrage and Drs. C. C.-Topliff and E. C. Merriam, who were commissioned assistant surgeons.

Seven volunteered in response to the call of July 5, 1864. There were also twenty hired recruits, whose names are not included in this record. The volunteers were : John J. Ramsdell, Charles Boynton, Martin Sanderson, George C. Jewett, Albert L. Heywood, William R. Neal, Jesse A. Sargent. The whole number of credits upon the several ijuotas, including re-enlistments and hired recruits, is one hundred and sixty-one, and the number of residents included in this record is one hundred and two. Of these, thirty died in the service or immediately after their return, from wounds or from disease contracted in the service; fourteen survived wounds, and fiftyeight were discharged at expiration of term of service without wounds or serious disability.

Chapter Xcviii

To build a meeting-house and settle a minister were among the first duties of a New England settlement. The requisites were a hill on which to set the primitive house of worship and a learned orthodox minister. Generally a hill and a minister of a suitable elevation were selected with rare unanimity. In these proceedings the dutiful pleasure of the settlement was enjoined by the General Court and incorporated in the grant of the several townships. In accepting the grant of Turkey Hills the settlers were " obliged to build a good, convenient house for the worship of God within the term of four years.'' The conditions of the grant for several years remained unfulfilled. This failure, on the part of the proprietors, did not pass unnoticed. In November, 1727, the committee of the General Court, who had continued to exerrise a certain supervision of the settlementi ordered that " The Proprietors shall forthwith proceed to the erection of a meeting-house, to be not less than forty-five feet in length and thirty-five in breadth." Immediately succeeding this action of the committee of the General Court, and before there was an opportunity to enforce the command, the proprietors secured an act of incorporation. By this procedure the resident proprietors and settlers of Turkey Hills became the independent inhabitants of the town of Lunenburg. Liberated from the conditions of the grant, and from the authority of the committee of the General Court, our worthy ancestors proceeded at once to perform voluntarily that which they had neglected to do when enjoined.

September 24, 1728, not yet two months after the date of incorporation, the town voted "Two Hundred Pounds Money for y" building and finishing of a meeting-house in said town, so far as it will do or answer therefor." The site of the first meeting was where the orthodox church now stands. Concerning the progress and manner of building this primitive structure the records are silent until early in the year 1731, when money was raised and a committee appointed ''to build a pulpit and as many seats as there is convenient room for." In accordance with a recognized custom of the time, it was not intended by this sweeping vote to build " seats " in front of the pulpit and through the central part of the floor. This space was reserved for more dignified structures, denominated pews, which were constructed at the expense of the individual, and located by a conimiltee according to the wealth and dignity of the I'uiure occupant. Possibly through fear that their committee would not mauifest a proper regard for the dignity of their minister, our worthies took primary action in this particular. It was ordered in town-meeting that the" ministerial pew be located adjoining to y" foot of y" Pulpitstairs, at y" Right hand of y'" Pulpit." In the same spirit, they next promptly granted a request, and courteously recognized the dignity of Mr. Gardner, their former pastor, who still remained a resident of the town. For his accommodation it was ordered that there be reserved " a Place in y" meeting-house at y' Eight hand of y'= Great Doors to build a Pew." These proceedings toward the building and completion of the first meeting-house occupied the space of four years, and while they were in progress it is reasonably certain that the edifice had been occupied for public worship from and after the summer of 1729.

The names of the early and occasional preachers in the settlement are not known. The first settled minister was Rev. Andrew Gardner, who was installed over the church then organized, May 15, 1728. This date is over two months previous to the act of incorporation and a year or more before the building of the meeting-house. By the terms of the grant of the township, Mr. Gardner, at his settlement, came into possession of one right of land, which he subsequently sold, and enjoyed the benefit, if any, of the use of the ministerial lands, and in addition he was promised twenty pounds as a settlement and a salary of eighty pounds. Of the character of the ministry of Mr. Gardner and the causes which led to an early dismissal, little is known. The records are silent. Torrey's '- History of Fitchburg and Lunenburg," written after one hundred years had obscured the facts and weakened the voice of tradition, says :

Tlie reasons of his dismission, so fur afi I have been able to learn them, appear to be these: - He was not a man of that grave and sober demeanor, wliich the people of his time thought essential to the sacredness of his othce. He was apt to indulge in a levity of niaODer ou the Sabbath which was not in keeping with the solemnity of the day. He hail also quite a predilection for hunting, and, it is said, wild turkeys and other game, even on the Sabbath, sometimes bore evidence of his skill as a uiarksmaD. For the truth of these reports I cannot vouch.

This estimate of Mr. Gardner has been frequently quoted, and sometimes with the omission of the last sentence, which qualifies and mitigates the severity of the whole. One important fact demands attention. The first reference to any dissatisfaction found in the records appears in the letter of Mr. Gardner, asking a dismissal, and while he admits the existence of considerable indifference on the part of the people, he boldly assumes the initiative in reference to a dissolution of the pastoral relation. The letter bears date of September 18, 1730. It should be read in connection with the fact that the town, only three mouths previously, had voted him his annual salary, without any espres.sed hesitation or qualification.

Beloved Brethren: - I cannot but think, from what I have heard and also from what I have observed of the transactions and behaviour of tliis people, relating to me and my affairs, that there is not that affection borne towards me that there should be from a people to their Gospel minister; or that there is where a people are likely to profit under their minister. The consideration whereof has been very grievous and discouraging to me, and, therefore, think it best to separate. I do, therefore, propose a separation. And if effectual care betaken that my dues be hoTiesfly paid me, the first settled minister's lot with its appurtenances put upon record and attested, and a sufficient pew at the right band of going in at the great doors of the meetiug-house, - I shall be free to be dismissed from my pastoral relation, office and obligation to you, as soon as it can regularly be performed.

In the event the conduct of the pastor had grieved the faithful and either the church or the parish desired a separation, no recorded action appears until February 7, 1732, or nearly a year and a half after the suggestive letter of Mr. Gardner.

At this time the town in its capacity as a parish " voted and granted to Rev. Andrew Gardner a dismission from his pastoral or ministerial office, according to his request." At the same meeting the selectmen were instructed to pay Mr. Gardner whatever was his due. Possibly the money was raised with difficulty, but it was not paid until the following October. The sum paid at this time was three hundred and ninety-four pounds, twelve shilling.^ and three pence, which included twenty pounds due him for a settlement and the amount of his salary from the beginning. It was the first money the poor man had received from the aggrieved inhabitants of Lunenburg. If it is true, as alleged by Torrey, that he was frequently in pursuit of wild turkeys and other game, it is probable that hunger taught him " skill as a marksman," and "that he was oftener compelled by necessity than enticed by a love of the chase. However, the full sum was paid, and the church took the necessary action for the dismissal of their early pastor Xovember 3, 1732.

Rev. Andrew Gardner, the first minister of Lunenburg, was born in Brookline, 1694. He was a son of Rev. Andrew Gardner, the third minister of Lancaster, who began his ministerial labor in that town, 1701, and previous to an installation he was accidentally killed during an Indian alarm in October, 1704. His widow, Mary, however, became the wife of Rev. John Prentice, the fourth minister of Lancaster. A daughter of this marriage was the wife of Rev. Job Gushing, of Shrewsbury, and the mother of Rev. John Gushing, D.D., of Ashburnham. Rev. Andrew Gardner, Jr., was graduated at Harvard University, 1712, and was ordained the first minister of Worcester in the autumn of 1719, and was dismissed October 31, 1722. After preaching in Rutland, and possibly in other places, he was settled over the church in Lunen- burg, as heretofore stated, from May 16, 1728, to November 3, 1732. While a resident of this towu he built a house near Clark Hill, where Martin Johnson resides, which was considerably in advance of the dwellings of his time, and which, with its quaint windows and after-years of dilapidation, is remembered by many still living. After his dismissal he remained a few years in this town, and was at times employed by the town as " Grammar Scliool Master," the school being held at his house. In addition to the land granted the first settled minister, he acquired many acres by purchase and apparently maintained close business relations with Benjamin Bellows, Josiah Willard, Edward Hartwell, and his half-brother, Thomas Prentice. He was one of the grantees of Charlcstown, N. H., under the Massachusetts charter, which subsequently was vacated. In 1737 he removed to Earlington or Arlington, now Winchester, N. H., where he was a prominent citizen, receiving frequent and honorable mention in the records. Occasionally he was employed as chaplain at Fort Dummer, where he met many of his early associates from Lancaster and Lunenburg. About 1746 he removed to Charlestown, N. H. In 1761 his name was first in the list of the grantees of Bath, N. H., and thither he removed about 170.5, and became a controlling spirit in the new settlement. He lived between the Central and Upper Villages, and overlooking the scene of his declining years Gardner Mountain perpetuates his name and memory. He lived to an advanced age, but a record of his death has not been found.

At a meeting assembled November 10, 1732, one week after the dismissal of Mr. Gardner, the town chose " Dea. Samuel Johnson, Dea. Ephraim Peirce and Isaac Farnsworth a committee to provide a minister, from time to time, to supply the town with preaching." Kev. David Stearns was immediately employed, and that the first impressions of the can-' didate were not unfavorable is found in a record of a meeting on the -Ith of the following month, when it was ordered that the committee hire Mr. Stearns to preach two months, after an existing engagement had expired. The conditions attending the frontier settlements at this time reminded them that ihe approach of a winter season would defer the ordination until another spring. A call was extended in February, and the candidate was ordained April 18, 1733. The pastorate of Mr. Stearns was the continued succession of palmy days. The town increased in population, the people were prosperous in temporal aflairs, and the church, preserved from any serious contention, was increased in membei'ship. The town voted him £300 as a settlement, and a salary of £120 the first year and £5 added yearly, until itreached thesum of £110. In 1736, and a few subsequent years, an additional sum was voted to make good the depreciation of the currency in which his salary was paid. At the close of twentyeight years of successful labor he died, March 9, 17G1.

(Fiske) Stearns, was born in Watertown December 24, 1709; graduated at Harvard University, 1728. He married, April 7, 17.36, Ruth Hubbard, a daughter of Major Jonathan and Rebecca (Brown) Hubbard, of Lunenburg. She married (2d), November 9, 1768, Rev. Aaron Whitney, of Petersham, who died September 8, 1779, and she died in Keene, N. H., at the home of lier youngest daughter, November 1, 1788. Rev. David Stearns was intimately connected with many families of the town. He was a brother of Colonel Abijah, Benjamin and William Stearns, and the wives of Benjamin Bellows, Joshua Goodridge and Samuel Johnson, Jr., were his sisters. His wife was a sister of John and Jonathan Hubbard, Jr., and of the wife of Colonel Josiah Willard. Mr. Stearns lived north of and near the present Methodist Church, where William Howard now resides. There is remaining evidence that he was a man of good ability, a faithful and devoted minister, a i'riend of the people, and laborious for the public good. It is the testimony of Rev. Zabdiel Adams, who wrote with a full knowledge of his life and character, that " he lived gi'eatly beloved, and died no less lamented."

In 1736 the town " voted and granted all that Room behind y" sects in y" Front Gallery in y° Meeting- House in Lunenburg to Jonathan Wood, Samuel Reed, Phinehas 0-good, Ezekiel Wyman, David Page, Stephen Boynton, John Fitch, Jonathan Abbit for to Build a Long Pew or Seet for themselves and wives forever to set in." The vote savors of a protracted meeting, and in it and in other measures of a similar character providing for an enlargement of its seating capacity is read the doom of the first meeting-house of Lunenburg, which already was too small for the accommodation of the growing settlement. The building of the second meeting-house was a prolific subject of town legislation. No less than forty-three votes concerning the location, manner of building, appropriations and disposal of the pews were passed and recorded within the space of three years, and doubtless an equal or greater number of motions were made and seriously debated that did not pass and were not recorded. Omitting reference to many votei that were reconsidered at a future meeting, the narrative is abbreviated. May 22, 1749, the town " voted that they will Build a new Meeting-House in said Town," and May 25, 1752, it was ordered " that they will meet in the new Meeting-House Next Sabbath day come fortnight to attend the public worship there." It was finally determined that the building should be located " in the end of the lane by the school-house," which was within the limits of the present Common and opposite the residence of the late Sawyer Kimball. The necessary land was donated in part by Benjamin Bellows, and the remainder was purchased of Thomas Prentice. It was a spacious house, sixty by forty-five feet, having porches on the east, south and west, and containing fortyeight pews on the floor and twenty-one in the galler-