Malden City (part 2 of 4)

It was not long after the Spragues passed over the land before the '^ uncouth wilderness" became attractive to the new-comers. In 1633 the territory between Island End Biver and Maiden, or North Biver, " and soe vpp into the country," was granted to the town of Charlestown ; and the next year an allotment of land was made to the several inliabitants. This land, wliich was afterwards known as the five-acre lots, was apparently lea-land, and lay between the forest and the marshes in the extreme southern portion of the grant which now began to be known as Mystic Side and Mystic Field, and was, long after the foundation of the new village, within the bounds of Charlestown. About the same time four hundred acres of land upon the west side of '' the North By v, otherwise called the Three Myle Brooke," were .granted to Bev. John Wilson and Increase Nowell, and Ua . many years separated the towns of Maiden and Medford. At this time several had actually settled upon the ground. Gt>vemor Cradock's men liad crossed the Mystic and built the first house upon its northern bank at Wilson's Point ; and il

Maiden

In 1636 a commission laid do>vn the line of Boston and Charlestown, ''from the inked tree TpoQ the rocky hill above Bumney Marshe, neere the written tree nore-nore west vpon a straight Ijne by a meridean compass vpp into the countries^ This line, running from near Black Ann's comer in linden, has never been changed, and is still the eastern limit of Maiden and Melrose. The rocky hill, called in 1635 '' a point of rock, on the side of the high way to Mistick,'^ may still be recognized, and is a prominent feature in the landscape; but the ''marked tree,^' an ancient pine, after having been a landmark more than a century, disappeared many years ago.

In 1638 another division of Mystic-Side lands was made, and a large tract was set apart for " desirable persons,'' and " for such as may come with another minister.'' The southern border of this tract was " at the head of the five-acre lots," and "ran in a straight line from Powder-Hom Hill to the. head of North Biver"; and to this reservation " three hundred acres above Cradock's farm " were added.

Settlers now increased; and the building of a dam by Thomas Coytemore, in 1640, at Black Bock, on Three Myle Brook, and the establishment of a mill soon after, prove a growing community. The. first comers appear to have located upon the hills . in the easterly vicinity of the landing-place at Sandy Bank, near the burying-ground. Traces of early habitation could be found here within a few years, bat improvement has obliterated them. Among these early settlers we may recognize John Greenland, who was granted, in 1640, his petition " to plant upon a five-acre lot in Charlestown bounds on Mistick side." About the same time came Joseph Hills, who was a landholder here in 1638, and his son-in-law, John Wayte. With the names of these men, who were ever foremost in its affairs, the early history of Maiden is iudissolubly connected ; and the story of their lives is the story of the founding of a town. William Sai^^ant, a " haberdasher " and a preacher, who is described by Edward Johnson as a " Godly Christian," was here as early as 1643. His lands, which were possessed by his descendants nearly two centuries, were in the southern part of the town. With these men came others across the ^lystic from the parent town. Settlers began to push northward up thQ valley between Mount Prospect and the western hills, whither the Spragues had led; and the sparse population, in their advance, met others coming from Lynn and settling around the ponds in Beading. The " Salem path to Mistick ford" now began to be intersected by other ways ; and in 1640 the P^nny Ferry was established, which existed until . it was superseded by Maiden Bridge in 1787. fn 1643 Thomas Caule represented that he " Dwelleth by the water at the Ferry-place on mistidc side, many people having occasion to come that way "; and he did " humbly request leave to sell bread, beare, and other victualling for the refreshing of such." The road to the ferry lay along the edge of the marshes between the buiying-ground and Mystic Biver.

In 1647 the public convenience demanded a new way from Beading to the ferry at Winnisimmet, which was not finally laid out until ICf&S. This winding way may still be traced from th^ Chelsea line to the Beading ponds, although la^ portions of it have been abandoned many years. Chelsea and Bucknam streets, in Everett, and sections of Madison, Main, and Forest streets, in Maiden, are the relics of the " new way." Abov^ - Forest Street, in the still wild hills, although r long disused, its marks are seemingly of yesterday ; and the curious pedestrian may cross a little brook on a rude stone bridge which served the men of two centuries ago.

All the elements of an independent community might now be found at Mystic Side ; and that the element of religion made all others subordinate, ,, and was the power which gathered tpgether the people in the formation of a town, was character- . istic of our Puritan fathers. Se])arated "by the broad spreading river of Mistick," as Johnson records, from the Christian privileges of the parent town, the outlying settlers " gathered into a church some distance of time before they could attain to anv church-ofiicer to administer the Seals unto them," and were edified bv the ministrations of " a godly Christian," William Sargeant, " who did preach the Word unto them, and afterwards, they were supplied at times with some young Students from the Colledg."

Having the foundation of a church, measures to sqjarate from Chariest oami naturally followed; and, " loving terms of agreement " having been happily made, the Court of Assistants passed, May 2^ 1649, O. S., tin* following vote of incorporation :^^ "U^jon the petition of ^listick-side men, they are

It is not known wlio signed the petition as '^ Mistick-side men "; bat a document in relation to the churchy written in 1648^ may be supposed to contain the names of the leading men of Maiden. Tfiey were Joseph Hills, Ralph Spragne, Edward Carrington, Tiiomas Squire^ John Wayte^ James Greene^ Abraham Hill, Thomas Osborne, John Lewis, and Thomas Caule.

Joseph Hills, who, as we have seen, was an early settler here, was a man of ability and was honored in the colony. He had been engaged in important commissions with the leading men of the government, and in 1647 had been speaker of the hoose of deputies. He Iiad just completed the fitmous revision of the Massachusetts laws which was printed in 1648,. and which was the first code ojt laws established by authority in New England. He came, with his wife fiose, from Maldon, in EsseX| England, and in compliment to him Mystic- Side is supposed to have received its new name. The present incorrect form of the word was not generally used until near the middle of the last century ; and, until that time, the usage of the bestinformed persons, both in written and printed documents, shows that the town was, during its first century of existence,. known as Maldon.

The line between Charlestown and the new town appears to have been that laid down ^* at the head of the five-acre lots^' in 1638, running from near Powder-Hom Hill, in a northwesterly direction, to the North Biver; and Stephen Fosdick, Thomas Whittemore, William Sargeant, and Kichard Pratt are mentioned as abutters thereon. This division left to Charlestown the southwestern portion of the present town of Everett, which retained the old name of Mystic-Side ; and its inliabitants are known to us as ''our Charlestown neighbors.^^ Charlestown retained a right in the burying-place at Sandy Bank and the landing-place near by, and exempted the inhabitants of Mystic-Side Arom church charges for three years.

The first records of the town are lost, and the antiquary must gather from widely scattered sources the story of its birth and early years of growtL The authorities are documents and records, indefinite and unsatisfactory, - ])apers made for a purpose soon past, and not intended to convey information to a distant age; but, in the vagueaess and uncertainty of the light they shed, we may tee a sparse and sturdy population overcoming a wiUemess and laying deep the foundations of the institutions we enjoy. Of the doings of the town in its first essays at self-^vemment we know but little. Joseph llills was chosen its fir^t deputy, which position he filled until his removal to Newburjr in 1665, with the exception of five years when the town was not represented in the General Court John Wayte was the first townclerk J and Thomas Squire, William Brackenbury, John Upham, John Wayte, and Thomas Caule were selectmen. Bichard Adams was constable.

As the desire to establish and maintain church privileges was a leading cause of tlie separation from Charlestown, so that establishment and maintenance became prominent, and fills an important place in the story of the early days. Qosely interwoven as was the religious idea with the secular life of the people, we shall find it coloring and influencing all their doings, and shall perceive the history of the church and that of the town to be inseparable.

Hardly had the men and women of Maiden begun to enjoy their new privileges, before troubles came from the blessings for which they had labored. This affliction was brought about by the unfortunate settlement of Marmaduke Matthews, a clergyman who, for aught that can be discovered; was a man of piety and ability. Certain words, which savor of transcendentalism rather than of ungodliness, and give evidence of a spiritual rather than tii a material theology, which did not appeal in its subtle meaning to the popular mind of that age^ brought u]^>on liim the censure of tlie civil power; and the independent action of the church in his ordination exposed it, likewise, to the wrath of authority. In the proceedings which followed, which concerned both the right of individual thought and expression, and the independetice of the churches, - rights which more tlian any others had been stoutly upheld in Enghind by the Puritans, - the people of Maiden showed a spirit of selfreliance and strength which proved them worthy champions of freedom. Though many were found in the churches and colony to uphold, in some measure, the Maiden church, yet, practically, it stood alone in the contest, and was forced by the power of the state to submit. The principle of state authority in church government and in matters of doctrine was fixed beyond dispute ; and the court completed the work by the passage, in 1653, of an act '' against preaching \ritliout approbation.'' Against this act the Salem' ehuich iMued a fervent remouatrauoe; ras too late, and thenoeforth, for many years^ il magistrate ordered the things of God. Uattbews did not remain long in Maiden^ nnied with several of his chnrch to England. same vicar of St. John's in his native Swanlere be remained until the Restoration^ when in gave proof of his sincerity and independjr leaving his living rather than to subscribe tyrannical Act of Uniformity. He remahied inaea, where he lived by the bounty of his I and with the love of the people, and died, ; attained a ripe old age, about the year ing a chnrch of their own, and a town govity the people of Maiden waited not long for r concomitant of English populations ; and Q 1651 a ))etition was made by the selectiid the constable, Kichard Adams, for the tment of Thomas Skinner as keeper of an ry " for the Accomodacon of Travellers and iJE:e occasions.'' John Hawthorne, how- Bceivcd the favor of the court and the ap- but, having ap])arently incurred the sore of his neighbors for certain testimony ; ilr/Matthews, the court afterwards licensed fias Skinner to keepe an ordinary there in Mne and stead of John Hawthorne." Later lectmen asked a broader license for ''our homas Skiiier,'^ that he might " sell Strong- And wine to Supplie the necessitys of the aiid Travellers." In 1657 the town was it an inn ; and " A Bro' of tlie Church tliere r Abraham Hill" was allowed ''to keep dinarie there. As Allso to draw win^ for stter Accomodating both the church and ie.'' The house of Abraham Hill was tlie Bor of. a line of taverns kept by the Hill , the last of which, venerable in years but its appearance, is still in existence. For Aian a century it occupied the site of tlie toose, and was known, in its ])almy days, as iaiug tingle. Its rival, the Half- Moon, for ime kept by Daniel Newliall, and lastly by Kettell, stood near by. A relic of the latter f the seventeenth century, it was razed many igo ; but its well, at which generations of id beasts have drunk, is that, so well known, : comer of Main and Salem streets. sr the departure of ^Ir. Matthews, Maiden d a minister who was destined to spend a Fe with her people. This was Michael Wigrth, who was then about twenty-two years of age, and who had been graduated at Harvard College, at the head of his class, in 1651. He is supposed to have preached here in 1654; but he supplied the pulpit nearly two years before he accepted the call to become the teacher of Malclen and was ordained. Tlie custom of the New England churches recogiiized both pastors and teachers ,* and, although the colleagues of Mr. Wi^lesworth were pastors, the title was liot applied to him until the later years of liis ministry, and it is probable that he never assumed it. Soon after his ordination a sickly constitution, which liad manifested itself while he was at college, so prevailed upon him that for a long period, variously supposed to have been from twenty-one to twenty-eight years^ he was unable regularly to attend his pulpit duties. Shut out from the more active affairs of his offite, he turned his attention to literary labors; and his ])oems, The Bai/ of Doom, and Meat out of lii Eater, tliose " grim utterances of the past/' muf known only as literary curiosities of an age of thought and belief now departed, attained a popularity which we of the present, with more generoua' views of God and man, can hardiv understand. A modem writer says of his muse: "Homely and coarse of speech as she is, her voice probably sunk, into the liearts of those who listened to her rude melody, leaving there an impression deeper than a(iy which the numbers of some of our modem bards may ever produce"; and his biographer says: " There arc passages in his writings which are traly poetical, botli in thought and expression, and which show tliat he was capable of attaining a higher position as a poet than can now be claimed for him."

In 1663, while Mr. Wigglesworth was absent in Bermuda, Bev. Benjamin Bunker was ordained as "Pastor in Maldon." As Mr. Wigglesworth's' colleague he gained the Maiden teacher's love and esteem ; and the friendship wliich a companionship brated by tlie poet in an elegy which rebuked the sins of "Maldon" while it praised the departed saint. After the death of Mr. Bunker, there is no reconl of any other than Mr. Wigglesworth having preached at Maiden until 1G74-, when Rev. Benjamin Blackman began to preach. He continued here four years, and then removed to the banks of the Saco River, where he became a large landproprietor and a prominent man. He is supposed to have died in tlie vicinity of Boston. The next colleague of Mr. Wigglesworth, and the third pas- tor of Maiden^ was Rev. Thooias Cheever^ who began to preach in 1680. He was a son of Ezekiel Cheerer^ the celebrated New England schoolmaster, who h^d been urged years before to come to Maiden as its first pastor. He had recently been graduated at Harvard College, like Mr. Wigglesworth, at the head of his class, and, after pteaching about a year and a half, was ordained, July 27, 1681. In 1686 a charge was brought against him concerning certain scandalous words, the cliaracter of which is not now known, but which are supposed to have been of a theological nature. .So much strife ensued that, at the desire of the church, a council assembled which, at its final meeting, advised the church to grant Mr. Cheever '^a loving dismission,'' it seeming probable tliat his continuance would not '^ tend to y* peace of that place, or to y* edification of y* church, nor to his own comfort.'' Mr. Cheever retired to a pleatant &rm, overlooking the sea at Bumney Marsh> which was in the possession of his descendants many years, t Here he often preached to the sparse population gathered around him; and in 1715 he was settled as the first pastor of the church at Bumney Marsh, afterwards Chelsea. Here he remained during a long pastorate of over thirty-four years, and died beloved and honored, after having served his Master to the last, at the mellow age of ninety-one years. Of the long line of ministers, descendants of him alone remain in Maiden.

Much division and many troubles appear to have occurred after this time. Perhaps some embers of the fire kindled in the time of Mr. Matthews still remained; and there are indications tliat Mr. Wigglesworth was considered as one having no chiim upon the town and church. Although a -salary was regularly voted to Mr. Cheever, and a provision made for his wife in the event of his death, yet no action is recorded for many years in behalf of the teacher; and it was not until 1694 that a salary was voted to him, and that he was given the use of the parsonage. The other clergymen had resided in the '^ ministrv-house" : and Mr. Wi^lesworth in the mean time lived in his own house, which stood in an easte.ly direction from the parsonage, and the locatic.i of which could a few years ago be readily found. It was burned in 17S0,'While Mr. Emerson was preaching the lost sermon delivered in the old meeting-house, having been fired by a negro who ^'as hung at Cambridge in consequence of the act.

The parsonage, standing upon four acres set apart for that purpose in 1651, had been occupied by Mr. Wigglesworth in the early years of his ministry. After his death his widow continued to reside here a sliort time ; and it was occupied by the succeeding pastors, David Parsons and Joseph Emerson. During tlie occupancy of the latter it was burned, with a large part of his substance. A new house was built, eiglit or ten rods north of the old site, which was inhabited by tlie successive ministers of the First Parish until the close of the pastorate of Bev. Sylvanus Cobb in 1837. In this house the celebrated and noble Burman missionary, Adoniram Judson, was bom in 1788. It is now m the possession of George W. Wilson, who carefully cherishes it as an heirloom of the past to the present age.

Mr. Wigglesworth preached at his first coming in the building in which Mr. Matthews liad uttered his '^ inconvenient " words, and in which the church was probably originally gathered. . It stood on the southerly slope of Bailey's Hill, perhaps a little to the westward of Bell Bock, and near the site upon which Job Lane contracted in 1658 to build the second meeting-house. This ''Artificial meeting House," which had not been completed in June, 1660, was thirty-three feet square, and cost about one hundred and fifty pounds. The contract specified a turret in which the bell, which then hung in a frame on Bell Bock, was to be placed; but it probably was not built for thirty yeara, as ji vote was passed in 1693 to hang the bell ''one the top of y* meting-house." In the course of forty years the congregation became straitened in the house which they had built, and an addition of fourteen feet was made upon the south side of the building. The "Charlestown neighbora" contributed thirty pounds towards the cost of the addition, and received in return "free liberty to com jnto y* s* metinghous to heare y* word of god." Cobnel Nicholas Paige, who, with others of Wiunisimmet and Bumney Marsh, appears to have attended divine service in Maiden, gave six pounds to the same object.

In 1662 Joseph Hills and other inhabitants, complaining tliat "the Bounds of our Town are Exceeding straight," petitioned for a tract of land "About fowre Miles Square at A pUce Galled Peiiycooke," on the Merrimack Biver. Tliis petition was not granted, as the General Court had other views in relation to Penacook, and had reserved it as a township for actual settlers ; and a grant of one thomand acres had jost been made for the benefit of the Maiden miuistry. This grant was laid oat in the present towns of Shrewsbury^ Bojbton, and Holden ; and it was a fruitful source of lawsuits and troubles for near a century^ not only with the towns in which the land was located, bat also between the precincts into wliich Maiden was afterwards divided.

In common with all towns of the colony, the people of Maiden had early attended to the matter of a regukr military organization ; and, at the time of the incorporation of the town, we are informed tbat '' the Band of Maiden, being as yet a Young Town, who have not chosen their Officers, are led by Mr. Joseph Hills.'^ Joseph Hills appears to have commanded this company until his removal to Newbury about 1665, when his son-in-law, John Wayte, who liad been lieutenant since 1654, succeeded bim in that office. Not all the available military force of the town was enrolled in the foot company, as a portion of the men, probably those 'of the better class, were members of a company of cavalry kiiown as the Three County Troop. This company consisted of '^ Troopers Belonging to the Townes of Maiden, Bedding, Bumney marsh and Linn,'' and was formed in 1659. Its standard of crimson damask displayed a naked arm bearing fdoft a sword. It furnished its quota during King Philip's War, and was in existence under Captain William Green in 1689. Of its latter history nothing is knowii, save that dissensions existed in its ranks, and it probably dissolved not far from the beginning of the kst century.

The military power of the colony, which had not seeti service since the Pequot War, began, about the year 1667, to receive more attention, and was soon to be called into action. It was then that the fears '' concerning Philip and his Indians," which were so terribly realized eight years later, began to be geileral. Portents were not wanting to add to the general akrm; and, on a clear, still morning ''diverse Persons in Maldon" heard in the air the souiid of a great gun, and "the report of small Guns like musket shott, discharging very thick,'' and the flyin|g; of bullets over their heads ; " and, after this, they heard drums passing by them and going Westward." In tlie bloody war wliicli preceded the dea(h of King Philip, the men of Maiden performed their duty, both in service and by contribution of their substance. In October, 1675, seven country rates were ordered, in consideration of" the great mnd dayly growing charge of the present warr against the Indians." Of this levy the proportion of Maiden was £15 10«. for a siiigle rate ; and this was no small burden to the farmers of that day, whose currency often consisted only of the products of the soil. During the summer and fall of that year soldiers of the town were in active service ; several as troopers under Lieutenant William Hasey of Bumney Marsh, the commander of the Three County Troop. Early in December seven Maiden men marched with the company uhder Captain Samuel Mosely for the Narragansett country. In the battle known as the Narragansett Fight, which soon followed, and where nearly seven hundred Indians are said to have perished, this company was the first to enter the enemy's fort; and two of the nineteen men which it lost in slain and wounded were of Maiden, - Edmund Chamberlain among the former, and James Chadwick among the latter. At the same time another Maiden soldier. Lieutenant Pliineas Upham of Captain Isaac Johnson's company, received a wound from the effects of which he died in a few months. During the next year Maiden soldiers served under several captains ; and in a settlement made in August of that year the town was credited with the services of twenty-nine men. Tliis war, which came to a close in the fall, was productive of much suffering in all parts of the colony, but not to so great an extent in Maiden as in towns nearer the frontiers. There are extant petitions which portray cases of individual hardships ; and fourteen families, comprising fifty-two persons, received aid in Maiden from the Irish Charity, a contribution sent from Ireland for the relief of those who had suffered by the war. After the war the records indicate that, in common with the bther towns of the colony. Maiden gradually gained in strength, and added to her intellectual and moral power as well as to her material stature in the season of general recuperation into which the country entered.

It may be supposed that a school was early established here ; and in 1663 one William Godden, after sundry indi\idual bequests, left the residue of Iiis estate for schooling poor children of Charlestown and Maiden. In 1671 a school was maintained at the charge of tlie town, and Captain John Wayte appeared in court and declared that "Maldon'' was "provided with a schoolmaster according to law.*' No other reference to schools has been found prior to April 1, 1691, when the simple entry, " Ezekiel Jenkins continuing to be the Townes Scoule master/' proves tliat the school btd not ceased to exist In 1693 John Spragae ynm chosen master, which position he filled, at times, for nearly twenty years. In 1703 Ezekid Jenkins resumed tlie rod, and taught until his death in 170S. His graTestonc informs us that ** Mauldens Late School Master From a Painfull Life is Gone to Take His Best His Lord Hath Called Him Whome." Nathaniel Way te ako taught scteral years, and was at times '' Improued ^' as a moderator of town-meetings. The salary of the master in 1701 was fifteen pounds, and he was afterwards granted a nominal sum and the ^^ Benefit of the Scolars." In 1703 the school was kept '' jn y* watch-hous,'' and under Ezekiel Jenkins it was couTcned ** at his one hous.^' Later, it was hdd in houses in different parts of the town. In 1710 the town was presented '' for not haueing a gramar School as the Law directs^'; but, it appearing that the inhabitants were ''many of them needy rather than Capable of Supporting a gramar School,'' the complaint was dismissed ''as to a gramas School,'' and the selectmen were ordered ^to provide them selues of a good able sufficient Schoolmaster to teach their Children to write and Bead." In consequence of this order the town finally engaged Samuel Wigglesworth, a sou of the Ber. Michael Wigglesworth, who, during his two years' residence here, practised medicine and studied divinity in addition to his school labors. He was afterwards settled as the minister at Ipswich Hamlet, where he died after fifty-four years of service. His diaiy, covering the period of his residence in Maiden, is still in existence. Tlie first schoolhouse, an edifice twenty feet long and sixteen feet wide, was built in 1712; and the next year the town voted to use it " for a wach hous when ther js an ocasion And nott To disoblige y* school jn s' house at aney time." After tliis there was much trouble in keeping the teacher's place filled by a suitable person, and the town was several times arraigned for its neglect. For nearly forty years the roll of masters is filled with the names of many persons, who in their brief seasons probably taught with varying success, until, in 1781, the shoemaker, Nathaniel Jenkins, who had prepared for the situation by a year's study at the parsonage, assumed with hesitancy the honors of the school-house. This was the "Master Jenkins" of yore, who taught the youth of Maiden for nearly a quarter of a century, and whose vigorous \ methods of enforcing discipline led one who had suffered under him to write in his old age, " The

In the latter years of the seveateenth eenr^ the town appears to have been 6ee from the turbiug influences which had embr6iled and I assed its inhabitants in the early days of their l istence as an independent church and municiiiai:. After the dismission of Mr. Cheever from the |> torate, and the recovery of Ur. Wiggleswon. health, a period of peace ensned; and the t]ur. records of the time are full of entries which indir a general advance in the prosperity which the stir yeomanry were -shaping out of the wilderii:- Boads were laid out or made more definite, co: mons were surveyed and divided, church supi - were voted, and regulations for the pieser%'at! and lidvancement of morals and property' were cc sidered and fixed. Moreover, the people of Mai. were not wholly engrossed by the work which tl. found to do within their own borders, "but tl cheerftllly assumed and bore their share of the b:* den which the common weal imposed upon tlic In the differences which at that early day cxiswith the mother couutry, they were with the ])n: of liberty ; and the name of their represeutnti Captain John Wayte, soon after speaker of : house of deputies, stands on the rcdl of ho:. among those patriots who were denounced by : infamous Edward Bandolph in his "ATticle> high misdemelinour." Later, in 1689, tlicir. of Maiden were not unrepresented in the cTcr: which, pouring from the country into the stri of Boston, overthrew the government of Anuand the authority of the Stuarts in New Englo Betuming, they met in town«^meeting ; and, c. ing upon the charter officers, who had been cl placed by Andros in 1686, to resume their poxrc they promised and engaged to "aid and assist tl. to the utmost of our Power with our Persons n estates."

In the gloom and terror oi the days of ICi when the delusion and insanity which reached strongest development in Salem threatened spread over New England, the town, in the p sons of its inhabitants, did not wholly e^v Elizabeth Fosdick of Maiden and Elizabeth P -: of Mystic-Side were arrested and placed in &i jail on a charge of witchcraft practised on ' bodies of those much-bewitched young reprobn*' Mercy Le>vis and Mary Warren of Salem Viilv Peter Tufts of Mystic-Side, who many times ui ing a long life appears in the conrt records 05 ttot desirable' neighbor, also complained of them ''for acts of Witchcraft by them Committed on his negro Woman/' . Captain John Floyd was also arrested and committed to prison. Fortunately the delusion spread no fardier here, and the accused trere set at liberty in the general jail-delivery which followed.

hi 1695 a division of the town commons, consisting of about twenty-three hundred acres, Avas made among seventy-four freeholders. In this division a large part of the present to\iii of Melrose became proprietary land, and many lines then laid down may still be recognized.

On Sunday morning, June 10, 1705, Rev. Michael Wigglesworth " Finnished His Work and Entre^ Apon an Eternal Sabbath of Rest." Of his cbaracteristics . as a poet I have before spoken. That he was offered the presidency of Harvard College evinces the esteem m which he was . held by his contemporaries. His sermons were marked by a modest, though energetic, clearness of thought, which, joined to the natural polish of his manners, made him to be respected and beloved by his people ; and his memory long remained fragrant in the town and church, and outlived the generation of those who had known him. Within the memory of the living his name has been a sacred one in many families. As. a physician he is mentioned as *' attending the Sick, not only in his own Town, but also in all those of the Vicinity ^' ; and, on his gravestone, he is styled " Mauldens Physician For Soul And Body Two.''

After the death of Mr. Wigglesworth the spirit of strife again revived; At times the town refused to raise money for the ministry, and at others failed to concur with the church in the choice of a pastor. The civil power again interfered in the ecclesiastical affairs of the town ; and it was not until the fall of 1708, after nine mhiistcra had been considered as candidates for the pulpit of Wigglesworth, that the town and church were able to come to a 'Moving Agreem*'' in the choice of Mr. David Parsons. Even this was not a unanimous act ; for twelve freemen entered their dissent to .the *' procedens,*- for the reason that, bv order of the court, ncsrotiations had been entered ui)on with Mr. Thomas Tufts, and the town was not *' abl to mantain two ministers at once." Mr. Parsons, however, was settled, and remained here nearly twelve years. He was an eccentric man, of strong passions and a quarrelsome temper; and his labors' in Mahlen do not apix?ar to have been altogether peaceful. His dqiarture.

in 1721, was preceded by a dismissal He became the fint minister of Leicester, whose people expressed their utter unwortliiness of " so great a Blessing"; but tlie fourteen years of his settlement with them Tiras a period of bitter strife. He died in Leicester in 1743. The curse which went with him through life might almost seem to have followed him to«a not honored grave. The mound beneath which he was laid to rest was long since broken by the 2}lough ; and the stone which alone remains as his memorial is utilized as the cover of a chimney ash* hole. The removal of Mr. Parsons was attended by that of many of his younger parishioners.; and the names of Green, Lynde, Waite, Newhall, Sargeant, Whittemore, and others of Maiden origin still remain in Leicester. ^ '

The church and town were not long in filling the place left vacant by Mr. Parsons. They very soon concurred, on the same day, in the choice, of one who, like lilr. Wigglesworth, was to }jass with them a long and useful life. Joseph Emerson was bom at Chelmsford, April 20, 1700, and enter^ Harvard College at the early age of thirteen yeara. He was graduated iu 1717, and at that time'^l^gan to preach to general acceptance.^' Having spent four years in teacliing and preaching at various places, he was ordained at Maiden, October 31, 1721.' Here he labored nearly forty-six years; and such was his rare good health and strength that, during this long period, he was absent from his pulpit but twq Sabbaths. During his pastorate a Ipng and bitter dissension, resulting in a division^ occurred in his parish; but he so lived that'Mie was not reproached bv any as being the cause.'' He died suddenly in 17G7. The town record thus quauitly pays a tribute to his memory : " The Rev. Joseph Emerson consort to Mrs. ^lary Emerson who had been in the judgment of charity a faithful mmister here, and that for the space of forty and five years Deceased in the evening of the 13 day of July 1767, very soon after lying down to sleep wlw was cheirly and in health before.*' On his gravestone he is called *' learned, pious, and* faithful '* ; and one who writes of lum says, " He was just, amiable, kind, and benevolent." Tlie record of his life presents no points of interest to the careless obser\'er; but those who love the simple, earnest, and faithful lives oP the clergv of the colonial i)eriod mVi ftnd much that will refresh tliem therein. Like tho most of his contcm|K>rarie!, he was strongly attached to tlie doctrines of Calvin, which he made to hold no secondary place in his sermons. He looked upon piofcjr in practice as' the only sure foundation of a happ7 Ufe ; and he made the Bible his daily companion, that he might gain wisdom at the fonntainhead of truth. He never entered upon affairs of importance without seeking the blessing and imploring the guidance of Grod* We are told that istt the tender age of ei^ht years he conducted futfily wohhip in the absence of his father, '' to the astonishment of thos6 who attended on the exercises of the family '' ; and that through his life '' at stated tim^ he every day addressed himself to Heaven/' *' Such was his humility/' writes his biographer, ''that when unguarded words fell from his lips, he would ask forgiveness of his children and servants/' His son, the Bev. Joseph Emerson of Pepperell, thus emphatically describes his character: ''He was a Boanei^^es, a son of thunder, to the workers of iniquity ; a Barnabas, a son of consolation, to the mourners in Zion.^'

As has been intimated, the course of church affurs during the settlement of Mr. Emerson was not such as would induce great spiritual peace. From the incorporation of the town " our Charlestown neighbors,'^ or those who dwelt at Mystic- Side within the limits of Charlestowu, had enjoyed church privileges with the inhabitants of Maiden. As members of- the church they were entitled to vote in its afiE&irs ; but as inhabitants of Charlestown they had no voice in the complementary transactions of the town. It may be readily seen how, under these conditions, a town-meeting, although nearly, if not entirely, composed of church-members, might refuse, as often happened, to concur with the church of which they were a part. Before the ordination of Mr. Emerson steps had been taken for the annexation of Mystic-Side ; but, in consequence of the opposition of Charlestowu, and perhaps for other reasons, it was not consummated until the spring of 1726, when the General Court passed the necessary act in answer to the petition of Joses Buckuam, Jacob Wilson, and Jonathan Barret. This act ceded to ^lalden all the territory of Charlestowu on the northerly side of Mystic Biver and the easterly side of North fiiver, except a small strip of kind at Penny Ferry which still forms a part of Cliarlestown. This tract comprised about one half of the present town of Everett, and thirty-four years later it was inhabited by thirty families.

It was not long before the sections came uito conflict The meeting-house near Bell Bock had become too small for the town, and it was proposed in 1727 to build a new one. Two locatioiis were considered, one upon the town land near the old house, and the other upon a knoll in the parsonage orchard. These were soon abandoned, and the town voted to build '^ betweeA Lewis's Bridge and the Pound on the west side of the Country Boad." It was afterwards found tliat " the Southerly Inhabitants were Somethings uneasy" ahout the matter ; and " they Said if they Gould have a Committee of wise, indifferent men to determine the matter they Should be intirely easy/' -Itie other inhabitants, in a conciliatory spirit, "notwithstanding the former vote, readily consented^'; and, at a town-meeting held November 17, 1727, a committee was chosen, which was composed of five eminent men of the colony, to whom the three localities mentioned were submitted for their decision. The committee reported in Cftvor of the location near Lewis's Bridge ; but their report fell into the hands of those of the selectmen who were of the south side, who refused to put it upon the record. At this point the Gfeneral Court interposed, and ordered the record to be made and to become obUgatory upon the town, in accordance with the vote bv which it had constituted the committee. This was not a settlement favored by the southern selectmen, who at once called a townmeeting, which the other side " thought to be a manifest Contempt of Authority''; and to the number of hearly seventy they "entered their Dissents." The meeting was held, however, and the men of the south decided against the recording of the report. Tlie factious party appear to have had their own way for a while ; and nothing more was done about the new house for more than a year and a half, when the Greneral Court passed an order that the house should be placed on tlie location most favored by the people of the northern section, between Lewis's Bridge and the pound, on tlie site now occupied by the church of the First Birisli. Tlie land for this purpose ^I'as given by William Sprague, and was a portion of tliat which had been known as the " clay-pits," in reference to which a fine was kid in 1699 to " pmiish transgressors y* shall intrench on y* highways jn diging of clay." Bricks were made near by many years after ; and the Frog Pond, well remembered by Maiden boys who are on the writer's side of forty, was a relic of the clay-digging days. The frame of the new meeting-house was raised, no doubt with libend compotations, August 28, 1729. A rude groundpkn of the house was made some years ago by one who had known it in its latter jean. It was nnpainted^ both inside and outside. The pulpit stood on the north side^ opposite the great south door^ which was the principal entrance. Another doorway, on the easterly side^ gave additional facilities for ingress and ^ress. In two comers stairways gave access to the gallery; and the description quaintly adds, ^' The east stair was for women and die west stair for men, and they could not get together in the gallery without getting over the railing."

While the newly admitted inhabitants of the soathem portion of the town were strivii^g with their neighbors of the elder section, several families of the north end presented their complaints. Hie great distance at which they lay prevented attendance upon the ministry, except in the finest weather ; and many of tliem preferred the nearer way to Beading. Seven of them were members of the Heading church as early as 1720. They petitioned to be set off in 17£6, but for some reason their application was not successful. A proposition to erect two churches in Maiden appears to liave been made about this time ; but a negative vote of the town caused the petition to be renewed in 1729; and ten families, and '^some of the wealthiest/' with their farms, were annexed to Beading with the free consent of the town. Tlie section thus lost shortened the town about a mile, and is now known as Greenwood. The peculiar configuration of the southern portion of Wakefield clearly shpws the extent of territory wliich the old town of Heading then gained.

The new meeting-house was nearly a year in building. On its completion, a town-meeting was held, and 'Hhere. was a unanimous Vote to meet therein to carry on the Worship of God for, the future." To this the inhabitants of both sections, joining freely in the vote, assented. It was claimed that the house was near the centre of the town and much more convenient fox the southern than for the northern people, " both by Reason of the nearness of the Uouse and Gpodness of the Boads.^' Although the people of the southern district had taken a part in the passage ^of the vote just mentioned, their pacification M'as far from being real. The first sermon in the new house was preached by Mr. Emerson, August 16, 1730; and, four Sabbatlis bter, the malecontents held a ser\'ice by themselves. After this their meetings, were frequent; and some attempts to maintain stated preaching appear to have been made, although np

While the people of the south district absented themselves from the town's meeting-house, thqr continued, as tliey were legiiUy bound, to contribute to the support of Mr. Emerson, and to this matter of fancied injustice they often alluded, with emphasis, in their frequent petitions for a separation* At length, in 1733, they petitioned to be made " a distinct Townsliip or Precinct,^' with Pemberton^s Brook as its northern bound. Tliis was asking a liberal division, as the new meeting-house, to which thirty families, living within the bounds of the proposed new town, still resorted, w^ within tliirty rods, and was the first building nprth q| Lewises Bridge. The town opposed a division, as being a measure which would " necessarily, tend to the impoverishing the Town and bring them into the utmost Difiiculty, Confusion, and laying Such Burdens as will be grievous to us and our Posterity." The petition was unsuccessful; but, the next year, the seceders took another, step forward, and a council of neighboring churches embodied what was for fifty-eight years known as the Maiden South Church ; and a meeting-house was soon after raised upon land given by Jonathan Sargeant for that. ])urpose. This location was upon the height since known as Nelson^s Hill, near the centre of the farm which had descended from William Sargeant, who first " broke the seals V to the infant church of Maiden ; and it was reached by a way twenty-six feet wide which led frpm the highway. Tlie meeting-house was never fully completed, and it is said to have been in a very dilapidated condition in 17S7. The members (^ the new church afterwards compkined that, having bonie their part " at great Cost in Erecting a fine substantial meeting-house'' for the other part of the town, and having ''waded thro* so great a Charge,'' they were " oblidged to Erect a nother.*' A second petition for separation representing that they had " been, at the chaise of building a; meetiug-House for the publick worship of God and for Several Years past maintained a Gospel Minister amongst them for the Comfort. and Conveniency of-. them and tlieir Families," was made in April, 1735 ; but it met the fate of the former. " /

Eev. Joseph Stimpson of Charlestown was ordained as the first pastor of the South Church, September 24, 1735; and an unsuccessful attempt was made to have the town assume the payment of the salaries of both ministers. A season of quiet ensued for a few months until December^ 1737, when the petition for separation was renewed by fiftj-three individuals ; and their persistence was rewarded bj the division of the town into two precincts '^for the Promotion of Beligion and the Peao^ of the Town«'' By the 'act of separation eight persons with their estates, some of which were near the centre of the new parish, were allowed to continue with the North Precinct. The ministry-hmds were to be equally divided, except that Mr. Emerson was to have the use of the parsonage-house and ground during his continuance in the ministry in Maiden.

The history of the South Church, so far as known, shows no prolonged season of prosperity. Frequent quarrels with the North Parish in relation to the miuistry-hmds, and repeated .efforts to prevent ^e secession of its members to tlie sister church, make up the staple of its substance. Mr. Stimpson continued its minister a few yean, and was dismissed in 1744; but he remained an inhabitant of the precinct, and resided there in 1752. The church had no settled pastor mitil 1747, when Bev. AajK)nCleavelaud,who had been settled at Haddam. Conn., was called to the vacant pulpit, which had been offered to others. As aa encouragement to Mr. Cleaveland to remove, the precinct voted to purchase a parsonage for his use, the cost of which was advanced by Benjamin Hills, a leading member of the parish, who became dissatisfied a few years later, and was set off, with others, to tlie North Precinct. Mr. Cleavehind was installed in June, 1747. He was a native of Cambridge, and a graduate of Harvard College, and is said to liave been ** a prodigy of physical strength and agility.*' He remained in Maiden but three years, and removed to Halifax, N. S., where he became an Episcopalian. Hp died in 1754, in Philadelphia, in the house of his friend, Benjamin Fmnklin, who '^ honored and praised him.''

Soon ^ter the departure of Mr. Cleaveland the church and precinct called Rev. Eliakim Willb, who was a native of Dartmouth, and had been graduated at Harvard College in 17;}5, in the same class as his predecessor. There was much opposition to liis settlement, " on account of their jnability to support him and the Prosi)ect of the two Parishes being united again if his Settlement [be] deferred.'' About the same time the North Parish unanimously voted that ^' the north meeting house mite be pidled down and Set up at the dd spot which was the cans of the south drawing of provided the South would Joyn with them to Carring on the worship of god with them there "; but ** the South did Befusc Complying with So good a proposal "; and Mr. Willis was ordained, probably in the summer of 1752. Fifteen |iersons, ''many of whosie estates were as large as any in the Parish," addressed the ordaining council, '' signifying their Disappro'bation." Mr. Willis, though an able man, beloved by his parishioners and respected by the whole town, was unable to stay the downward course of the affairs aof his precinct. In 1757 it was represented that they '' find by long Experience that they are not able to support the Gospel among them and are greatly in arrears to their minister," and that they were '' greatly impoverished by supporting a minister among them, and by contending' with the north Parish '^* and twelve persons of considerable estates petitioned to be r^tOred to the old church. Some ligltt is thrown upon the inter-^ nal condition of the precinct by the report made by a committee to the General Court, which declared that this petition was ''a Design to break up y* South Parish." Though the petition was refused and the malecontents forced to remain, for a time at least, with the South Church, matters grew no better, but steadily tended downward ; and the course of a few years witnessed an almost total loss of interest and an inability to raise tlie means' wherewith to meet the expenses of public worship. The salary of Mr. WilUs was unpaid, and the parsonage estate was relinquished to him in settlement. Mr. Willis thereafter, during the existence of the South Precinct, depended upon his kbor as a farmer for a livelihood, preaching upon the Sabbath for the scanty contributions which his people and strangers might make.

A generation was now coming into the world which was destined to 'achieve the independence of the colonies and to found a great empire ; and in the military movements which now began to enlist the patriotism of the men of that day the inhabitants of Maiden prepared to take a part. Since the days of King Philip they had always borne their share in the various expeditions which were sent forth. Maiden troopers, under Captain William Green, whilom of the Three County Troop, marched on an expedition against the Indians in 1695 ; and Edmund Chamberlain, a son of that Edmund Cliamberlain who fell at the Narmgansett Fight, who was bom after his father was shtin, died from disease contracted in the expedition to Port Boyal in 1710. : Abeat the same time James Hoyey wa3 a prisoner in the hands of the French and Indians in Canada^ Later nine young men from Maiden laid down their lives in the performance of their duty in the celebrated si^ of Louisburg^ in 1745.^

In the' successive campaigns of the French war, which began in 1755 and extended over a period of nearly eight years, the men of Maiden took an active part, although no full company was recruited here^ Lieutenant Simon Wade was wounded in the futile expedition against Crown Pointy <nnd was blled at the capitulation of Fort William Henry, in 17jS7, when the savages of Montcalm's army, in the presence of their French allies, inhumanly massacred the greater part of the unfortunate garrison. Li a company commanded by Dr. Ebenezer Marrow 0|f Medford, in 1758, were Lieutenants Samuel Burditt and Darius Green, with thirty-one fion-commissioned officers and privates of Maiden. This company was sent to the westward with the forces under Gkneral Abercrombie, and participated in the unsuccessful and bloody attempt upon T^conden^, in which the colonial troops exj^erienced a heavy loss and were afterwards much reduced by sickness. The Maiden men who died in this campaign were James Whitteihore, John Burditt, Jr., Ezekiel Floyd, Joseph Jenkins, and Nathaniel Wayte. In a company in service in 1762, commanded by. Captain Moses Hart of Lynn, were eleven men of .Maiden ; and individuals were scattered in various regiments during the war. This war was the nurserv of the armv of the Eevolution; and there seems to have been a growing foudness for military life, at this time, among all classes. , The enrolled militia of Maiden in 1758 was one hundred and thirtv-four men, under the command of Captain John Dexter. In 1763 its officers were Captain Ezra Green, Lieutenant Jabez Lynde, and Ensign Thomas Hills.

As we tread the threshold of the Bevolution it may not be unprofitable to inquire into the state of the town as it approached the close of the colonial period. Materials to satisfy such an inquiry,, though scattered, are happily not insufficient for our purpose. In common witli the great body of the people of Massachusetts Bay, the inhabitants of Maiden were alive to the great dangers of the time. They were heartily in sympathy with the cause of liberty, and evinced their readiness to act in its. defence. Their actiou at a later period we sliall consider in its place. The inhabitants of the town, in 1765, were divided into one hundred and seventy-four families, inliabiting ^ne hundred and forty-four houses. Of the aggregate number of nine hundred and eighty-three, fortyeight were negroes and four hundred and sixteen were under sixteen years of age. During the next eleven years the population increased to one thousand and thirty. In 1767 seven* work-houses ^or shops are mentioned \ and £ 244 was the value di the " Trading Stock *' of the community. Of money at interest £1,169 6*. 8rf. api)ears; and the live stock of the farmers consisted of eighty-four horses, one hundred oxen, and four hundred and eighty-six cows, besides sheep and a few swine. The taxable products of the Land were fifty-eight hundred and thirty-nine bushels of grain and six hundred and fifty-two barrels of "Cyder,'* with one thousand and fifty- t>\'o tons of liay, of Which but two hundred and thirty-four tons were of English grass, the salt marshes then, and in earlier years, furnishing a large pro]X)rtion of the hay obtained. By these figures the sparseness of the population of the territory now covered by the towns of Maiden, Melrose, and Everett may be understood. Tlie simplicity of their (condition may appear in the fact that, eight years before, one ' chaise and fourteen chairs were the wheel calriages sufficient for the wants of this community.- Travelling was performed U2X)n foot and on horseback;' ' and a few years earlier the purchase of a '^shay" was the plentiful source of spiritual disquiet in the soul of Mr. Emerson.

Slavery existed in a mild and- patriiatchal form; but it was still a real slavery wherein human beings* had a monev value and were sold like cattle or the ^ ground d\i which they trod; The names of a few of these servitors have come down to us ; - but the names of Bmhma Bucknam and Cato Lyiide, of Phyllis Willis and Tiolet Hills, belong to a day and a condition wliich have jjasseil away.* The compar-' ativc value of human flesh in Maiden may be known by the inventory of Deacon John Pratt, which' was made in 1742, when an "oald negroman '' and a cow were valued alike at £10 each. The inventory of the estate of Ezra Green, made in 1768, valued "a Negro man named Jeferre^' at £20, while the more youthful "Negro Boy Named Simon ' was invoiced at £ 83. A " Negro Garl Named Vilot," increased the inventory only by the amount of £ 10 13^. 4r/. Several individuals who had been slaves remained in Maiden within the last fifty yeargf the last of*whom was Simdn

Kniglits, who, with his worthy and industrious wife, is w6ll remembered by many. He Iiad been a sbtre of Bernard Green, and was a sincere and consistent Christian and a member of the Baptist Church.' He lived many years in a small house, as black as himself, which stood in Haskin's Jjane, not &r from the site of the Unitarian Chapel, and died in July, 1847. His funeral service, wliich was held in the Baptist Church, was attended by the towns*peopIe as that of a neighbor and friend. '

At the death of Mr. Emerson, in 1767, the Nortli Precinct and church again entered upon a season of discord upon the question of the ministry ; and it wis three years before one was found worthy to wear the mantle of Wigglesworth and Emerson. This was a young man who had recently been graduated nt Harvard Coll^,.and who, at the early age of eighteen years, was ordained by the Maiden church. Peter Tliacher came of a race of ministers who had upheld the faith of tlie churches both in England and America. So uncommon was his gravity, and such his fondness for books of piety and religious conversation, that it was said of him that he had never been a child. Though plain of speech and manners, even to roughness, in his daily b'fe, yet, in the pulpit, a melodious voice and fervent speech, joined with a rich glow of fiancy, held the attention of the cultivated and won the applause of the multitude. Tlie celebrated Whitefield esteemed him as the ablest preacher in America, and looked upon him as one bom for the defence of New England Orthodoxy. Nor was he backward in the patriotic endeavors of the day, but placed himself at once in the front rank of those who in the pulpit and by the i)en grive direction and strength to the growing spirit of liberty. His mind and energy gave form to the feelings of the town in several paj^ers of note for their deep and earnest patriotism and their fearlessness of utterance. In an address voted bv the town to the inhabitants of Bosto?\ in 1773 he wrote : " May the great Over-ruler and Disposer of all events, so direct and succeed your wise endeavors, as that the yoke of tyranny may be entirely broken, and New England yet enjoy her invaluable privileges inviolate to the latest generations.^^ At a meeting held September 23, 1774, the town adopted instructions to their representative, Captain Ebenezer Hamden, in which they procbimed " our firm, our deliberate resolution, rather to risque our lives and fortunes thm to sahmit to tiiese unrighteous acts oi the

British Parliatnent wUeb pretend to regulate the government of this province''; and they closed with a sentence whidi is full of the spirit of freemen who dare to be free : ** We are determined in the strength of our God, that we will, in spite of open force and private treachery, live and die as becomes the descendants of such ancestors as ours, who sacrificed their all, that they and thei^ posterity might be free."

While the tongue and pen of the minister bore testimony to the patriotism of his people, the men of Maiden were not backward in more active expressions of their determination. The militia became the subject of town ordinances, and frequent drills were ordered. The regular company of militia, under Captain Benjamin Blaney, was placed upon the alann-list as minute-men, being about one-quarter of the enrolled miUtia, as prescribed by an order of the Ph>vincial Congress. On tlie alarm of April 19, 1775, they marched for the scene of conflict with seventy-five men, bearing doubtless arms that had seen service at Ticonderoga and Cape Bieton, and the bayonets which Captain John Dexter purchased in 1758. They were under orders to report at Watertown; but, on the way, they were intercepted by a general officer, who ordered them to proceed towards Lexington. At West Cambridge they came upon a provision train, which had followed the detachment General Grage had sent out undi^r Lord Percy for the relief of Colonel Smith, and by the aid of others it was captured. Dr. Gordon states that this exploit was performed under the leadership of Bev. Phillips Payson of Chelsea ; but the testimony of Bernard Green, who was present, gave Uie honor to the Maiden company. It is not improbable that a gathering of the country-people had followed in the pursuit, and that Mr. Payson was among them and took a part in the affair. The Chelsea company that day was commanded by Captain Samuel Sprague. The Maiden company joined, in the pursuit and followed the enemy to Charlestown. As they passed over Winter Hill they saw a portion of the Essex regiment coming through Medford. This regimeiit, in less than six hours, had marched from Salem, a distance of twenty miles. Another portion arrived later and passed the night at Maiden. It was early evening when Captain Bbney readied the vicinity of Chariestown Neck, and his men saw the rearguard of the British on the western slope of Banker HilL

. iJuriiig the afternoon and evening of the day many inhabitants of Charlestown fled for safety across Penny Ferry, and they remained in Maiden during the siege. Such as were able to do militaij daty were obliged to join the militia of the town for its defence. Two days after the battle several field-pieces were ordered to be removed from Newburyport and placed in the hands of Captain John Dexter of ]ilalden for coivcealment. This was for the double purpose of placing them out of the reach of the enemy upon the sea-coast and bringing them near Boston, which the militia of the country was now gradually placing in a state of si^e. About the same time the inhabitants of Maiden and Chelsea were " absolutely forbidden to fire upon, or otherwise injure, any seamen belonging to the navy under the command of Admiral Graves, unless fired upon by them.'' This injunction was soon withdrawn, and they were directed "to put themselves in the best state of defence, and exert the same in such mamier i^s under their circumstances their judgments may direct'' ; and two companies, under Captain Benjamin Blaney of Maiden and Captain Samuel Sprague of Qlielsea, were ordered to be raised " for the defence of the Sea Coast of those Towns." These companies participated in the affair at Noddle's Island, May 27 and 28, when the live-stock of the island was driveu.'OfT, and the Americans captured from the enen\y who opposed them twelve swivels and four small cannon. Tliis has been called the battle of Noddle's Isbnd, and it contributed not a little to prepare, the way for the attempt to fortify and hold the heights of Charlestown.

Besides tlie company of Captain Blaney another company had been formed in Maiden, under the command of Captain Naler Hatch. This com^xiny was attached to the regiment of Colonel Tliomas Gardner; and, on tlie ever-memorable June 17, it was stationed at Sweetser's or Beacham's Point, in the southern part of tiie town. From this spot the whole eventful scene of battle was in view, and the advance and retreat of the contending forces, and all the details of the conflict were discernible. Tliere Peter Thacher saw the events, a statement of which he afterwards prepared, at the request of the Committee of Safetv, for transmission to England i and for. the information of posterity. While the I battle was in progress, and afterward, the few inhabitants of the southern portion of the town rcmoveji the^ families and effects to less exposed locationsj - some going as far as Beading and others along the old Salem road to Black Ann's Comer and the secluded nooks of Scadan. From the favoring crest of Wayte's Mount many of the inhabitants of the northern and central parts of the town witnessed the distant battle. A number of wounded men were brought to the tavern of Dr. Jonathan Porter. This old house, unpainied and weather-worn, stood upon Salem Street, about a third of a mile from Main Street, and was demolished in 1844.

After the battle the southern portion of the town was embraced within the American lines^ which extended from Chelsea to Dorchester, and^ earthworks were thrown up at Beacham's Point and near the present junction of Main and l^vt streets. Some traces of the latter were visible a few years since. Tlie defence of these slight works was assigned to the company of Captain Hatch. This force not being adequate to a proper guard-^nty upon the river, the northern shore of which w open to incursions from Charlesiown, a small company, under Captain Eleazer Lindsey, from Essex County, was afterwards stationed at Penny Feny. Sunday noon, August 6, a party of regulars landed at the ferry, burned a house near by, and caused a general alarm along the American lines. Captain Lindsey '^ fled with his company and got before the women and children in his flight" ; but a fieldpiece well served at Ten-Hill Farm, up the river, caused the enemy to retire, and Captain lindsey and his men returned to their station. They rer covered from tliis BuU-Kun affair, however; and a few days later they drove two baizes down the river by the ser\ice of their musketry. The damage to property in Maiden during the investment of Boston was estimated at £262 13 «. 4^.; tlie greater part of which was probably in the more exposed portion along the Mystic River.

In the spring of 1776 the subject of independence became prominent in the minds of the people ; and the inhabitants of ^falden expressed their wishes in a spirited document, written by Mr. Thacher, in wliich, after recalling the time " when we loved the King and tlie People of Great Britain with tin affection truly filial," thev declared that "It. is now the ardent wish of ourselves, that America may become Free and Independent States " ; and they instructed their representative, Ezra Sargeant, to give the Continental Congress " the strongest assurance that if thev should declare America to be a Free and independent Republic, your constituents! will support and defend the measure to the Last

' The removal of the armj from around Boston carried the scenes of strife from this vicinity ; tut Maiden still bore her part in the conflict. Many nden were scattered in various parts of the service antii the peace. In the summer of 1776 twentynine men were sent as the town's quota of the levy ordered for the jeinforcement of Washington, who was threatening the enemy in New York. In September nine men were drafted ; and, with Sergeant Bernard Green and Corporal Timothy Tufts at tlieir head, they marehed with Captain John Walton of Cambridge to the American camp at Hoifse Neck^ and were at the battle of White Plains, October 28. Sergeant Green became one of the most influtotial men of the town, and died in 1834, at the age of eighty-two years. After the defeat at White Plains, Washington passed into New Jersey, where the victories of Trenton and Princeton aroused the flagging hopes of the American people. A company of eighty-eight men, of whom Diiie privates were of Maiden, was drafted from the first regiment of Middlesex militia, and marched under Captain Benjamin Blaney, in December, to join thd army.

The next year another call for soldiers was made, and the town responded with thirty men, who enlisted for three years ; and she furnished her proportion of men for service in Bhode Island, which was then threatened by a British force. At the head of the quota of 1779 stands the name of Pomp Magus. Old residents of Maiden will remember him as the aged negro inmate of the almshouse, who on Independence days indulged in reminiscences of his campaigning life by donning his ragged and faded regimentals and shouting '^ Cambridge ! '' Under a demand for four thousand men from ^fasjBachusetts in the fall of 1780, Maiden promptly famished her quota of thirteen men ; and the next year seven men are enumerated who enlisted for the war. Substitutes were often furnished by men liable to be drafted. In one case, in 1781, the 8um of "Twelve Pounds Solid Coin *' was paid for a substitute for three years; and in 1782 the sum of sixty pounds was paid for the same service.

Among the militia-men who marched with Captain Blaney on the day of the battle of Lexington was Daniel Waters, a master-mariner, who resided in the southeasterly portion of the town, where Waters' spring still preserves his memory and reftedies the thirsty traveller. He then performed his only service upon the land. Immediately upon the investment of Boston he was appointed by Washington to the command of a gun-boat doing guard-duty in Cliarles Biver ; and in January, 1 776, he was promoted to the schooner Lee. 'Die name of this little vessel, of eight six-ponnd^rs and fifty men, fills an important |)lace in thb history of the American navy ; for under the noted Captain John Manly, in the preceding year, it was the first vessel which sailed with the authority of the rising nation, and the prizes which it made were the first in the long list which has become the glory of the American flag. Captain Waters retained the command of the Lee about a year, in which time he distinguished himself by bringing the prize ship Hope, which had been captured by the gallant Mugford, into Boston Harbor in the £eu» of the British fleet, and by assisting in the capture of a number of transports, in one of which' was the colonel and a portion of the British 71st regiment. These captures, laden with supplies of all kinds, were of inestimable value to the continental service. On the recommendation of Wash*- ington, ''who wrote of him in terms of high approbation,*' he was appointed by Congress a captain in the navy of the United States, March 15, 1777, and received orders to build a twenty-gnn ship for his command ; but, difiiculties appearing, the matter was postponed, and he sailed with his friend. Captain Manly, as^a volunteer, in'the Hancock, with the undet'standing that he should be given the first ship captured. He had not long to wait ; for, when a few days out. Captain Manly cap(- tured the British frigate Fox, of twenty-eight guns, of which Captain Waters, with a crew of sixty men from the Hancock, took command. Soon after, the two ships, in company with the Boston, Captain Hector McNeil, boldly looked into the harbor of Halifax, where lay a British fleet under the command of Sir George Collier. In the action which followed, the Pox was captured, after a sharp resistance, by the Flora, of superior force. In this engagement the Hancock was also taken, but the Boston escaped. Captain McNeil, who could perhaps have prevented the capture of the Fox, was afterwards dismissed from the service for his conduct in the affair. Captain Waters was taken to New York, where he was detained a prisoner until April, 1778, when, with Captain Manly and others, he was exchanged. His return to Boston is mentioned in the Boilon Gazette of April 27, 1778. In March, 1779, he was in command of the United

States brig General Qates, and sailed from Martinique, acting as commodore, in company with Cap. tain John Foster Williams of the Massachusetts state brig Hazzard. The General Gates arrived at Boston, April 17, with a prize brig which the consorts had taken on the voyage.

In the summer of 1779 the state of Massachusetts fitted out an expedition to dislodge the British under Colonel McLean, who had taken possession of a point upon the Penobscot Biver, where they commenced the erection of fortifications. This enterprise was very popular Mith the people, and a fleet of nearly forty vessels was brought together for its purpose. Tlie ship General Putnam, a privateer of twenty guns and one hundred and seventy men, which had just arrived in the harbor of Boston from a very, successful cruise, was seized by the state and placed under the command of Captain Waters. The fleet, which was commanded bv Commodore Dudley Saltonstall, arrived before the enemy^s. works July 25, and disembarked the land forces under General Lovell. It was soon found that success could scarcely be hoped for, owing to the utter incompetency of Commodoi^ Saltonstall, who failed to co-operate or agree Mith General Lovell or to heed the advice and remonstrances of his rown officers. Under tliese circumstances, it was seriously proposed forcibly to depose him, and place .the command in the hands of n more competent officer. Captain Waters was one of those spoken o{,in this conuectioh, the others being Jolm Foster Williams and Hoysted Hacker. A general attack, which at one time could hardly liave proved otherwise than successful, was deferred from day. to day. until it was too late, and a fleet under Sir Geoige Collier appeared in tlie mouth of the river. The American vessels were destroyed by their crews or taken by the enemy^ and the forces straggled back to Massachu^tts through the wilderness, as best they might. Captain Waters drew up an account of the expedition on his return, and the afluir became the subject of an investigation which resulted in the severe censure of Commodore Saltonstall.

Tlie lack of public ships and tlie exigencies of the times compelled many naval officers, as Captain Manly and others, to take command of ))rivate vessels; and in December, 1779, Captain Waters sailed on a cruise in the armed ship Thorn, of eighteen guns and one hundred and twenty men, belonging to Lee and Sewall of Marblehead. About tlie same time the British brigs Tryon and Sir

William Erskine sailed from New York, oflerpigwhat the tory papers called '' A Glorious Chtoce * for a fortunate cruise.^^ On Christmas morning they encountered the Thorn, when the Tryon hailedj and demanded by what right she wore the thirteen stars in her pendant. Captain Waters replied^. "I '11 let you know presently,'* and gave the qu^ tioner a broadside at short range. The Tlioni sustained the united cannonade of the two brigs about an hour, when the Tryon attempted to carry her by boarding, which was prevented by tb^ Yankee mariners; and, in the words of an e]r&- witness, "the British sailors were seen runuing about deck with pikes in their backs instead of their hands.'' The Tryon fired a few more broad* sides, and struck the fragments of her flag; whife the blood running out of lier scuppers gave proof of the slaughter which liad taken place upon her decks. Tlie Erskine, seeing that her consort had struck, made shift to escape. After a chase oC about three hours she was overtaken, when, after a few shots, she surrendered. The English brigs were of a force much superior to the Thorn, carrying thirty-four guns and one hundred and sevensone men. The Thorn lost eighteen men killied and wounded; and among the latter was Captain Waters, who received a wound in the right knee; frpm the effects of which he became permanently lame. After the chase the Tryon was descried, hull down, making away ; and in the darkness of the night, wliich was squally, she disappeared. A quantity of wreckage being seen in the morning, it was supposed she had foundered, and no farther search was made for her. It was afterwards ascertained that she reached Antigua, hi a shattered condition, with a remnant of her crew. A crew was put on board the Erskine and she was sent to Boston, where slie arrived safely. The manning of the prize left Captain Waters with only sixty men, with whom he proceeded u]X)n \\\^ cruise. In January, 1780, he fell in with the ship Sparlin, of eigliteen guns and seventy-five men, from Liverpool for New York, wliich was taken after an action of forty minutes. The next, and probably last voyage of Captain Waters was as commander of the armed sliip Friendship of Boston, to which he was appointed in January, 1781. After the war he retired from the sea and lived upon his farm in Maiden, where he died Marcli 26, 1816, at the age of eighty-five years.

the merchant senrioe before he was twenty years of age^ deserves mention as a snccessfal naval officef. hi the latter part of the year 177i8 he was captain of the private armed brigantine the Hawke^ of ten guns and eighty men. In May of the next year the Hawke was taken into the service of the state, and sailed^ with other vessels, in company with Captain Manly, on the disastrous cruise which lias been mentioned. Captain Oakes was more fortunate than his more powerful consorts ; for, being separated from them, he escaped their fate and took several valuable prizes. The Hawke's armament being increased, he continued in her until 1779. (making at least three important captures in the year 1778), when he purchiised an interest in the armed brigantine Thomas, of which he took command. Early the next year he made a short cruise in the ship Favorite, of ten guns ; and on his xetum he took command of the letter-of-marque Patty, of which he was an owner. In the latter vessel, in April, 1781, he took the British brig Betsey, bound from New York to Lisbon. After the war he made several mercantile voyages, and in 1796 was in Paris as agent for the influential hoose of John and Bichard Codman of Boston. He retired from the seafaring life soon after this, and became prominent in town affairs. He was chosen representative to the General Court twelve times. Tliis service, though not unbroken, is unparalleled in the history of the town by any other, except that of Captain John Way te, who represented the town during an uninterrupted term of eighteen years, crowned at its close by the office of Speaker of the House. Captain Oakes died August 16, 1818, at the age of sixty-seven years.

Dr. John Sprague, who acted as surgeou^s mate in Bridge's regiment in the early part of the war, entered the naval service as a surgeon, in which capacity he was taken prisoner in 1777, in the schooner Active, Captain Andrews Grardner, one of the ill-fated fleet of Captain Manly. He was exchanged about the same time ns Captain Waters, and became surgeon on board the state sloop Winthrop, where he remained until the close of the war. He practised medicine in Maiden until his death in 1803, and is remembered as a man of ready, but rough wit, of whom many stories are yet told by the old inliabitants.

Dr. Ezra Green, who was graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1765, was a son of Ezra Green, and was, at the opening of the war, settled ifc Dover, New Hampshire, in the practice of his profession. During the siege of Boston he attached to Beed's New Hampshire regiment as sargeon ; and, after the evacuation, he went with the array to New York, and thence to Ticonderoga and Canada. After the retreat of tlie nortiiem army he returned to Doifer, and in October, 1777, was appointed surgeon of the ship Banger, which was commanded by the afterwards celebrated Paul Jones. It was during the cruise which followed that Jones carried terror and alarm along the British coasts, and made his famous descent upon Whitelmven and his more famous call upon the Countess of Selkirk. Dr. Green was attached to the Banger until the close of the summer of 1779. He afterwards made two cruises in the Alexander, and returned to Dover in 1781. In the practice of his profession and in the exercise of the kindly ministrations of life he passed far beyond the usuid bounds of man's life, and died at Dover, July 25, 1847, "at the very advanced age of 101 years and 28 days ; retaining, to his last hour, a clear, unclouded mind.''

Besides the persons whom I have mentioned other inhabitants were engaged upon the sea during the war ; and the names of Isaac Smith, Naler Hatch, and Nathan Nichols appear as commanders of armed vessels.

The population of Maiden at the clbse of the war was about the same as at its commencement. In a valuation, taken in 1784, one hundred and two dwelling-houses are mentioned. Three hundred acres of tillage-knd supplied the crops of the scanty population ; and about the same number of acres of " English and Upland Mowing,'' with a thousand acres of fresh meadow and salt marsh land, furnished the Avinter sustenance of their meagre herds. Tlie residue of the improved land consisted of twenty-five hundred acres of pasturage ; while about the same number were in wooded and wild Lind. " An Acco* of Every persons Stock in Trade " amounted to the not princely sum of £210. Ninety-three horses and eight hundred and thirteen oxen and cows constituted the herds of the Mxdden yeomanry; and their flock of one hundred and fifty-three sheep and goats furnished wool for winter weaving and cloth for their wear.

The bridge over the Mystic Biver was formally opened to the public " by firing of a cannon and the regailing of the workmen at the expense of the proprietors," September 29, 1787. Tliis bridge, affording a direct way to Charlestown and Boston, was of immediate benefit to Maiden and the towns above it^ which were formerly obliged to follow a circuitous route tlirough Medford or seek tlie inconvenient passage at Wiunisimmet or Penny Ferry. Hie building of the bridge, which was strongly urged by the Maiden people, was bitterly opposed by the inhabitants of Medford, who lost both reason and temper in the contest. '^ Fools/' '^ Maiden miserables/' and ^' ignoramuses " were some of tlie names which the staid Bev. Dr. Osgood of Medford applied to liis neighbors, whom lie represented as '' distracted creatures,'^ who '' leave their corn unhoed^ and their grass not cut, to carry petitions to court for a bridge,'^ in consequence of which ''their families next winter will Iiave no bread and their cattle no liay.'^ The opening of the bridge was followed, before the close of the century, by the building of a direct road to Black Ann's Comer in East Maiden, which liad been reached by a winding way through Chelsea. Later still, the Newburypprt turnpike traversed the town from its northeastern borders to the bridge, and increased travel by offering a well-made road which avoided the many niindiugs of its predecessors.

In the winter of 1784-85 Rev. Peter Tiiacher, who was the most 2K>pular preacher ever settled in Maiden, removed to Boston in consequence of a call from the Brattle-Street Church. This removal was the cause of a number of communications in the Massaeiusetti Centiuel ; those signed by ''A Country Booby " and "A Country Minister '^ being the most noticeable. A poetical epistle, which appeared in the same paper, has been several times reprinted^ That the Maiden po])le felt the removal keenly, is shown in a letter of the church in which they complain that their wealthier neighbor '^has wounded us in a tender part,'' and declare that '' our Distress, anxiety, and trouble are great indeed"; and they ''most earnestly entreat" the Boston church tp endeavor ''to reinstate us in timt quiet and happy condition in which your papers found us." In the settlement of the difficulty the Boston church paid the debt of its distressed neighbor^ and gained a minister who proved to be not the least in the brilliant line of preachers who graced the honored pulpit of Brattle Street.

After remaining without a pastor about eighteen months, the church called Bev. Adoniram Judson. A violent opposition wa? made to this call; and six months cbpsed and four councils were held before Mr. Judson was ordained. He was held as one of "Bade Hopkintonian Princi]x;ls/' wliosc settlement would otfer "au Effectual Barrier in preventing the mutually wish^ for Union of the Two Parishes in this Town both of which have severely felt Their Separation and thus Bemaining will Probiblv Terminate in the Buin of both.^ A strong protest, signed by Captain John Dexter and twenty-one others, which was presented to th^ or« daining council, proving of no avail, the signers, mostly men of influence, withdrew to the South Parish. This secession carried an element of strength from the North Church, and induced a temporary throb of life in its expiring neighbor. The unfinished meeting-house, which had become almost a ruin, was repaired ; and Mr. Willis, after more than thirty years of discouragements and.ois-' appointment, found himself mi\\ something like a society under his charge. Mr. Judson proved uoh able to control or quiet the distracted church over which he was placed. His religious sentiments^ which are said to have materially diffeiJed not only from those of his people but also " from the Established Doctrines of the Neighboring Minsters and Churches,^' counteracted the influence of "his moral virtues and his meek and pious demeanor.^ After a settlement of four years of discord he was dismissed in 1791. In his latter years he joined the Baptist denomination ; and he died at Scituate in 1826, requesting at the last tliat he might be buried from the church of his early faith. His son, the celebrated missionary to Burmah, was bom in Maiden, August 9, 1788.

With the retirement of Mr. Judson a way was happily opened for a reunion of the parishes. On the return of Captain Dexter and his associates to their own church they carried \nth them the pastor and people of the South Precinct; and March 25, 1792, Mr. Willis became the sole minister of Maiden. He was then near fourscore years of age, and had i>assed through a life of disappointments, gaining a reputation as a good and worthy man. In the eighty-eighth year of life, in the quie* and gentle ministrations of his office, death found him at his i)ost; and he fell on sleep with the love of his own i)eople and the resi)ect of the neighboring churches. His Bible, which was used maiiy years in the pulpit of the First Parish, has been thrust aside; and the books which he left as the fouucbtion of a parish library have disappeared,

Mr. Willis was succeeded by Rev. Aaron Qttxxk, who had been ordained as his colleague, September 30, 1795. He was the son of Ezra Green of this to\vii ; and was bom January 4, 1 765, and was graduated at Harvard College, 1789. Like his bmthennPr. Ezra and Benurd, he Teached « good <dd age. He aurrived all his class, and died at Andover, December 23, 1858, at the age of eigktynioe jeais. During his pastorate the parish became subjected to a process of disint^tation vhich in the end resulted in a total change of its doc> trines. Aa early as the settlement of Mr. Judson doabts had been entertained by many of the validity of iofiint baptism ; and several embraced the priaei^es of the Baptists, i. semiOR, preached in

1797 by the venerable itinerant, Samuel Shepard, irhich is said to have been tlie first Baptist discourse delivered in the town, was received with much &vor; aod waa followed by a revival which TCsoIted in regular Sabbath services being held in a school-house tliat stood under a large buttonwood tree where Sprague Street now enters Salem Street. These regular services were commenced in 1800, and received much bitter opposition from those of the " standing order." Finding tlie schoolbouse at last closed to them, the " Schismatics," as they were called, took refuge in a bam belonging to Beojamin Faulkner, which until within a few ycmn stood on Salem Street; and here, December 27, ISai, the First Baptist Church, with a membenhip of foi^-two peraons, vaa recc^nixed by a council of three neighboring churches. To counteract this movement, Dr. David Osgood of Medfotd preached two energetic sermons, in defence of infant baptism and tha validity of sprinkling, in the pulpit of the old churcL These sermons were miwh esteemed at the time, and were printed in two rival editions with a title-page stating tliat they were " occasioned by the setting ttp of a Baptist Society." Nevertheless, the new church and society prospered ; and the next year they built a meetkig-house on Salem Street, then, and for half a century after, known as Baptist Bow, on a site now enclosed in the Salem Street Cemetery. This exceedingly plain honse, with its large windows and square belfry, was occupied until 1843, when a new church was built at the comer of Jlain and Salem' streets. The present church building is the third whicii has stood upon that site, the others having been destroyed by fire.

While the town and parish were thus distracted they found time and means to replace tlie old meeting-house, which had become unfit for its purpose, by a more commodious house built of brick, which, although several times remodelled, is that now occupied by the First Parish. This house, which was estim^^ to cost 35,019, was completed in the latter part of 1802. It was originally snrmounted by two cupolas, in one of whieh hung a bell presented by ttie eccentric, so-called '.' Lord " Timothy Dexter.

Hardly had the animosities caused by the Baptist movement been allayed, before the ^urch suffered depletion by the withdrawal of a laige part of the people of North Uahlen and tlie formation of a Methodist society tiiere. This was the direct result of a strong Federal sermon, preached in. 1813, at n time when Bepublicanism was not unlikely to become heated by opposition, which irritated the majority of the north-end people, who were of the latter party. This society, itself the offspring of political excitement acting upon minds already prepared for a change by the preaching of Jesse Lee and other early Methodists, was the parent of the Methodist Episcopal Chureh in Maiden Centre, the formation of which was caused by the removal of a member of the North Church to that locality, and a revival which, originating at the north end, spread to the other parts of the town. A class of Methodists had been formed nearly thirty years before by the celebrated Jesae Lee; but time and other causes had nearly de^

Source changes here: from History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, by Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Ed, published 1890; 17,676 words in this source stream.

Malden City

But notwith.standiug this petition and a subsequent further confession of Mr. Matthews, the Court refused to remit the fine, and in October, 1G51, arraigned the Maiden Churcli for persisting in the ordination of their minister. In their answer to the ariaignment the church said, " We know of no law of Christ or of the country that binds any church of Christ not to ordain their own officers without advice of magistrates and churches. We freely acknowledge ourselves engaged to any that in love afford any advice unto us. But we conceive a church is not bound to such advice, any farther than God commetds it to their understanding and conscience. Our laws allow every church free liberty of all the ordinances of God according to the rule of the Scripture ; and in paiticular, tree liberty of election and ordination of all their officers from time to time, provided they be pious, able and ortbodo.x, and that no injunction shall be put upon any church officer or member in point of doctrine or discipline, whether for substance or circumstance behides the institutions of the Lord."

The answer was of no avail, and on the 31st of October, 1651, a fine of fifty pounds was levied on the estates of three of the members of the church, who were required to iissess the sum on the remainder of the oflVnding brethren. Finally the fine of the ten pounds against Mr. Matthews was remitted, and teu pounds of the fine levied on the church members were remitted, and in the course of the ten following years the remaining forty pounds were paid.

In ltj52, Mr. Matthews left Maiden, and after preaching a short time in Lynn, returned to England, where he became vicar of the St. John Church in his native town of Swanzey. After the acce.ssion of Charles the Second to the throne, under the Act of Uniformity, passed in 1662, he gave up his living rather than yield to the requirements of the law. After twenty years, during which, as he said, he was " comfortably maintained by the children of God, by his own children and by the children of the world," he died in 1683.

Though it is no part of the writer's plan to present in this chapter anything more than an outline of the ecclesiastical history of Maiden, leaving to the pen of another the delineation of its details, the experience of the Maiden church in its earliest pastoral relations is here included as essential to a correct portrayal ot the methods and principles of the government by which Massachusetts Colony was controlled, and under which the various towns came into being.