Malden City (part 1 of 4)

Malden City

In 1636 a commission laid down the line of Boston and Charlestown, " from the iiiked tree vpon the rocky hill above Rumney Marshe, ueere the written tree nore-nore west vpon a straight lyiie by a meridean compass vpp into the countrie." This line, running from near Black Ann's corner 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-Horn Hill to the head of North River " ; 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 Rock, on Three ^lyle Brook, and the establishment of a mill soon after, prove a growing community. The first comers appear to have located upon tiie 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, but 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 indissolubly connected ; and the story of their lives is the story of the founding of a town. William Sargeant, 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 Mystic from the parent town. Settlers began to push northward up the valley between Mount Prospect and the western hills, whither the Spragues had led ; and the sparse population, in their advance, met others comhig from Lynn and settling around the ponds in Reading. The " Salem path to Mistick ford" now began to be intersected by other ways; and in 1640 the Penny Ferry was established, which existed until it was superseded by Maiden Bridge in 1787. In 1643 Thomas Caule represented that he " Dwelleth by the water at the Ferry-place on mistick 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 burying-ground and Mystic River.

In 1647 the public convenience demanded a new way from Reading to the ferry at Winnisimmet, whicli was not finally laid out until 1653. This winding way may still be traced from the Chelsea line to the Reading ponds, although large 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." Above Forest Street, in the still wild hills, although 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.

AO the elements of an independent community migiit now be found at Mystic Side ; and that the element of religion made all others subordinate, and was the power which gathered together the peojjle in the formation of a town, was characteristic of our Puritan fathers. Separated "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 any church-officer to administer the Seals unto them," and were edified by the ministrations of " a godly Christian," William Sargeant, " who did preach the Word unto them, and afterwards they were supplied at times \ritli some young Students from the CoUedg."

Having the foundation of a church, measures to separate from Charlestown naturally followed; and, " loving terms of agreement " having been happily made, the Court of Assistants passed. May 2, 1649, 0. S., the following vote of incorporation: "Upon the petition of Mistick-side men, tiiey are

It is not known who signed the jjetition as " Mistick-side men"; but a document in relation to the church, written ni 1648, may be supposed to contain the names of the leading men of Maiden. They were Joseph Hills, Ralph Sprague, Edward ('arrington, 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 tlie house of deputies. He had just completed the famous revision of the Massachusetts laws which was printed in 1648, and which was tiie first code of laws established by authority in New England. He came, with his wife Rose, from Jlaldon, in Essex, England, and in compliment to him Mystic- Side is supposed to liave 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 C'linrlestown and the new town appears to have been tlinl hiid down "at the head of the five-acre lots" in l(i.']8, running from near Powder-Horn Hill, in a northwesterly direction, to tlie North River; and Stephen Fosdick, Thomas Whittemore, William Sargeant, and Richard 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 inhabitants are known to us as " our Charlestown neighbors." Charlestown retained a right in the burying-place at SaTidy Bank and the landing-place near by, and exempted the inhabitants fif Mystic-Side from ehurt'h charges for three years.

Tiic first records of the lown arc lust, and the antiquary must gallicr rnnii widrly scatlcred sources the story of ils birlh and v\\x\\ years of growth. The authorities are documents and records, indefinite and unsatisfactory, - pa])ors made for a purpose soon jiast, and not intended to convey information to a distant age; but, in the vagueness and uneerlaiiity of (he light lhe\ shed, We may see a s])arse and sturdy i)(>])idaliijii cucrcoming a wilderness and laying deep the foundations of the institutions we enjoy. Of the doings of the town in its first essays at self-government we know but little. Joseph Hills was chosen its first deputy, which position he filled until his removal to Newbury in 1665, with the exception of five years when the town was not represented in the General Court. John Wayte was the first townclerk ; and Thomas Squire, William Brackenbury, John Upham, John Wayte, and Thomas Caule were selectmen. Richard Adams was constable.

As the desire to establish and maintain church privileges was a leading cause of the separation from Charlestown, so that establishment and maintenance became prominent, and fills an important place in the story of the early days. Closely interwoven as was the religious idea -Bitli 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 of a material theology, which did not appeal in its subtle meaning to the popular inind of that age, brought upon him the censure of the civil power; and the independent action of tlie 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 independence of the churches, - rights which more than any others had been stoutly upheld in England by the Puritans, - the people of Maiden showed a spirit of selfreliance and strength which proved liiem worthy champions of freedom. Though many were found in the churches and colony to uphold, in some measure, (hi' Maiden church, yet, practically, it stood alone in tlie contest, and was forced by tlie power of the state to submit. The principle of state autliority 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 ])rcaching without ap])robation." Against this act (he Salem church issued a fervent renioustrauce ;

Mr. Matthews did not remain long in Maiden, but returned with several of his church to England. He became vicar of St. John's in his native Swansea, where he remained until the Restoration, when he again gave proof of his sincerity and independence by leaving his living rather than to subscribe to the tyrannical Act of Uniformity. He remained at Swansea, where he lived by the bounty of his friends and with the love of the people, and died, having attained a ripe old age, about the year 1683."

Having a church of their owti, and a town government, tlie people of Maiden waited not long for another concomitant of English populations ; and early in 1651 a petition was made by the selectmen and the constable, Richard Adams, for the appointment of Thomas Skinner as keeper of an ordinary " for tlie Accomodacon of Travellers and such like occasions." John Hawthorne, however, received the favor of the court and the appointment; but, having apparently incurred the displeasure of his neighbors for certain testimony against ilr. Matthews, the court afterwards licensed "Thomas Skinner to keepe an ordinary there in the roome and stead of John Hawthorne." Later the selectmen asked a broader license for "our Bro' Thomas Skiiier," that he might " sell Strongwaters And wine to Supplie the necessitys of the Towne and Travellers." In 16.57 the town was without an inn ; and " A Bro'' of the Church there namely Abraham Hill " was allowed " to keep an Ordinarie there. As AUso to draw wine for the better Accomodating both the church and countrie." The house of Abraham Hill was the precursor of a line of taverns kept by the Hill family, the last of which, venerable in years but not in its appearance, is still in existence. For more than a century it occupied the site of the town-house, and was known, in its palmy days, as the Rising Eagle. Its rival, the Half- Moon, for a lifetime kept by Daniel Newhall, and lastly by James Kettell, stood near by. A relic of the latter days of the seventeenth century, it was razed many years ago ; but its well, at which generations of men and beasts have drunk, is that, so well known, at the corner of Main and Salem streets.

After the departure of Mr. Matthews, Maiden received a minister who was destined to spend a long life \vith her people. This was ]\Iichael Wigglesworth, who was then about twenty-two years of age, and who had been graduated at Har\ard College, at the head of his class, in 1651. He is supposed to have preached here in 105-1; but he supplied the pulpit nearly two years before he accepted the call to become the teacher of Maiden and was ordained. Tlie custom of the New England churches recognized both pastors and teachers ; and, although the colleagues of Mr. "Wigglesworth were pastors, the title was not applied to him until the later years of his ministry, and it is probable that he never assumed it. Soon after his ordination a sickly constitution, which had manifested itself while he was at college, so prevailed upon iiiin 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 office, he turned his attention to literary labors ; and his poems. The Bay of Boom, and Meat out of f/ie Eater, those " grim utterances of the past/' now known only as literary curiosities of an age of thought and belief now departed, attained a popularity which we of the present, with more generous views of God and man, can hardly understand. A modern writer says of his muse : "Homely and coarse of speech as she is, her voice probably sunk into the hearts of those who listened to her rude melody, leaving there an impression deeper than any which the numbers of some of our modern bards may ever produce " ; and iiis biographer says : " There are passages in his \\ritiiigs wiiich are truly poetical, both in thought and expression, and which siiow that 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, Rev. 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 wiiich a companionship of six years in the ministry had cemented was celebrated by the poet in an elegy which rebuked tlie sins of "Mnldon" while it praised the departed saint. After the death of ilr. Bunker, there is no record of any other than Mr. Wigglesworth having preached at Maiden until 1674, 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 the vicinity of Boston. The next colleague of Mr. Wigglesworth, and the third pas- tor of Maldeiij was Rev. Thomas Cheever, who began to preach in 1680. He was a sou of Ezekiel Cheever, the celebrated New England schoolmaster, who had 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 preaching about a year and a half, was ordained, July 27, 1681. In 1686 a charge was brought against liim concerning certain scandalous words, the character 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 that 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 pleasant farm, overlooking the sea at Eumney Marsh, which was in the possession of his descendants many years. 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 Eumney 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 that Mr. Wigglesworth was considered as one having no claim upon the town and churcii. 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 " ministry-house" ; and Mr. Wigglesworth in the mean time lived in his own house, which stood in an easterly direction from the parsonage, and the location of which could a few years ago be readily found. It was burned in 1730, while Mr. Emerson was preaching the last sermon delivered in the old meeting-house, having been fired by a negro who was 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 short time ; and it was occupied by the succeeding pastors, David Parsons and Joseph Emerson. During the occupancy of the latter it was burned, with a large part of his substance. A new house was built, eight or ten rods north of the old site, which was inhabited by the successive ministers of the First Parish until the close of the pastorate of Rev. Sylvanus Cobb in 1837. In this house the celebrated and noble Burman missionary, Adoniram Judson, was born in 1788. It is now HI 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 had uttered his " inconvenient " words, and in which the churcli was probably originally gathered. It stood on the southerly slope of Bailey's Hill, perhaps a little to the westward of Bell Rock, 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 Rock, was to be placed ; but it probably was not built for thirty years, as a 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 neighbors " 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." Colonel Nicholas Paige, who, with others of Winnisimmet and Rumney Marsh, appears to have attended divine service in Maiden, gave six pounds to the same object.

In 1662 Joseph Hills and other inhabitants, complaining that "the Bounds of our Town are Exceeding strcight," petitioned for a tract of land " About fowre Miles Square at A place Called Peliycooke," on the Merrimack River. This 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 thousand acres had just been made for the benefit of the Maiden ministry. This grant was laid out in the present towns of Shrewsbury, Boylston, 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, but also between the precincts into which Maiden was afterwards divided.

In common with all towns of the colony, the people of Maiden had early attended to the matter of a regular military organization ; and, at the time of the incorporation of the town, we are informed that " the Band of Maiden, being as yet a Young Town, who have not chosen their Officers, are led by Mr. Josepii Hills." Joseph Hills appears to have commanded this company until his removal to Newbury about 1665, when his son-in-law, John Wayte, who had been lieutenant since 1654, succeeded him 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 known as the Three County Troop. This company consisted of " Troopers Belonging to the Townes of Maiden, Redding, Rumney marsh and Linn," and was formed in 1659. Its standard of crimson damask displayed a naked arm bearing aloft 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 known, save that dissensions existed in its ranks, and it probably dissolved not far from the beginning of the last century.

The military power of the colony, which had not seen 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 general. Portents were not wanting to add to the general alarm; and, on a clear, still morning " diverse Persons in Maldon " heard in the air the sound of a great gun, and "the report of small Guns like musket shott, discharging very thick," and the flying of bullets over their lieads ; " and, after this, they heard drums passing by them and going Westward." In the bloody war which preceded the death 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 and dayly growing charge of the present warr against the Indians." Of this levy the proportion of Maiden was £15 lOs. for a single 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 Rumney Marsh, the commander of the Three County Troop. Early in December seven Maiden men marched with the company under 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 Phineas Upham of Captain Isaac Johnson's company, received a wound from the eff'ects 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. This 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 other 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 individual bequests, left the residue of his estate for schooling poor children of Charlestown and Maiden. In 1671 a school was maintained at the charge of the town, and Captain John Wayte appeared in court and declared that " Maldon " was " provided flitli 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 that the school had not ceased to exist. In 1693 John Sprague was chosen master, wliich position he filled, at times, for nearly twenty years. In 1703 Ezekiel Jenkins resumed the rod, and taught until his death in 1705. His gravestone informs us that "Mauldens Late School Master From a Painfull Life is Gone to Take His Eest His Lord Hath Called Him Whome." Nathaniel Wayte also taught several 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 convened " at his one hous." Later, it was held 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 grainar School," the complaint was dismissed " as to a gramar School," and the selectmen were ordered " to provide them selues of a good able sufficient Schoolmaster to teach their Children to write and Read." In consequence of this order the town finally engaged Samuel Wigglesworth, a son of the Rev. Michael Wigglesworth, who, during his two years' residence here, practised medichie 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 diary, covering the period of his residence in Maiden, is still in existence. The first schoolhouse, an edifice twenty feet long and sixteen feet wide, was built in 171;i; 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 this 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 tiieir brief seasons probably taught with varying success, until, in 1781, the shoemaker, Nathaniel Jenkins, wlio had prepared for the situation by a year's study at the parsonage, assumed with hesitancy the houdrs of the school-house. This was llic " Masicr .Iciikiiis" of yore, who taught the ymiih nf M;ihlrn for nearly a quarter of a century, and whose vigorous metliods of enforcing discijjline led one who had suff'ered under him to write in his old a^e, " The

In the latter years of the seventeenth century the town appears to have been free from the disturbing infiuences which had embroiled and harassed its inhabitants in the early days of their existence as an independent church and municipality. After the dismission of Mr. Cheever from the pastorate, and the recovery of Mr. "Wigglesworth's health, a period of jDcace ensued ; and the quaint records of the time are full of entries which indicate a general advance in the prosperity which the sturdy yeomanry were shaping out of the wilderness. Roads were laid out or made more definite, commons were surveyed and divided, church supplies were voted, and regulations for the preservation and advancement of morals and property were considered and fixed. Moreover, the people of Maiden were not wholly engrossed by the work ^\hich they found to do within their own borders, but they cheerfully assumed and bore their share of the burden which the common weal imposed upon them. In the diff'erences which at that early day existed with the mother country, they were with the party of liberty; and the name of their representative. Captain John Wayte, soon after speaker of the house of deputies, stands on the roll of honor among those patriots who were denounced by the infamous Edward Randolph in his " Articles of high misdemeanour." Later, in 1689, the men of IMalden were not unrepresented in the crowds which, pouring from the country into the streets of Boston, overthrew the government of Andros and the authority of the Stuarts in New England. Returning, they met in town-meeting ; and, calling upon the charter officers, who had been displaced by Andros in 1686, to resume their powers, they promised and engaged to "aid and assist them to the utmost of our Power with our Persons and estates."

In the glo(un and terror of the days of 1692, when the delusion and insanity which reached its strongest development in Salem threatened to spread over New England, the town, in the persons of its inhabitants, did not wholly escape. Elizabeth Fosdick of Maiden and Elizabeth Paine of Mystic-Side were arrested and placed in Salem jail on a charge of witchcraft practised on the bodies of those much-bewitched young rejirobates, Mercy Lewis and Mary AVarren of Salem Village. Peter Tufts of Mystic-Side, who many times during a long life appears in tiie court records as a uot desirable ueiglibor, also complained of them " for acts of Witchcraft by them Committed on iiis negro Woman." Captain John Floyd was also arrested and committed to prison. Fortunately the delusion spread no farther here, and the accused were set at liberty in the general jail-delivery which followed.

In 1695 a division of the town commons, consisting of about twenty-three hundred acres, was made among seventy-four freeholders. In this division a large part of the present town 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 Sabbatli of Eest." Of his characteristics as a poet I have before spoken. That he was offered the presidency of Harvard College evinces the esteem in 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 tlie memory of the living his name has been a sacred one in many families. As a physician lie 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 towTi ; and it was not until the fall of 1708, after nine ministers had been considered as candidates for the pulpit of Wigglesworth, that the town and church were able to come to a " loving 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, by order of the court, negotiations had been entered upon with Mr. Thomas Tufts, and the town M'as 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 Maiden do not appear to have been altogether peaceful. His departure.

in 1721, was preceded by a dismissal. He became the first minister of Leicester, whose people expressed their utter unworthiness of " so great a Blessing "; but the fourteen years of his settlement with them was a period of bitter strife. He died in Leicester in 1743. The curse which went with liim 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 plough ; and the stone which alone remains as his memorial is utihzed as the cover of a chimney ashhole. The removal of Mr. Parsons was attended by that of many of his younger parishioners ; and the names of Green, Lyiide, 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. Tliey very soon concurred, on the same day, in the choice of one who, like Mr. Wigglesworth, was to pass with tliem a long and useful life. Joseph Emerson was born at Chelmsford, April 20, 1700, and entered Harvard College at the early age of thirteen years. He was graduated in 1717, and at that time "began to preach to general acceptance." Having spent four years in teaching 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 tiiat, during this long period, he was absent from his pulpit but two Sabbaths. During his pastorate a long and bitter dissension, resulting in a division, occurred in his parisli ; but he so lived that " he was not reproached by any as being the cause." He died suddenly in 1767. The town record thus quauitly pays a tribute to his memory : " The Eev. Joseph Emerson consort to Mrs. Mary Emerson who had been in the judgment of charity a faithful minister here, and that for the space of forty and five years Deceased in the evening of tlie \'i day of July 1767, very soon after lying down to sleep who was cheirly and in health before." On his gravestone he is called " learned, pious, and faithful " ; and one who writes of him says, " He was just, amiable, kind, and benevolent." The record of his life presents, no points of interest to the careless observer; but those wiio love the simple, earnest, and faithful lives of the clergy of the colonial period will find mucii that will refresh them therein. Like the most of his contemporaries, he was strongly attached to the doctrines of Calvin, winch he made to hold no secondary place in liis sermons. He looked upon piety in practice as the only sure foundation of a happy life ; and he made the Bible his daily companion, that he might gain \risdom at the fountainhead of truth. He never entered upon affairs of importance without seeking the blessing and imploring the guidance of God. We are told that at the tender age of eight years he conducted family worship in the absence of his father, " to the astonishment of those who attended on the exercises of the family " ; and that through his life " at stated times 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 Eev. Joseph Emerson of Pepperell, thus emphatically describes his character : " He was a Boanerges, 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 coarse of church affairs 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 Charlestown, had enjoyed church privileges with the inhabitants of Maiden. As members of the church they were entitled to vote in its affairs ; 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, althougli nearly, if not entirely, comjjosed of church-members, miglit 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 consc(|Ucuce of the opposition of Charlestown, and perhaps for other reasons, it was not consummated until the spring of 17'26, when the General Court passed the necessary act in answer to the petition of Joses Bucknam, Jacob Wilson, and Jonathan Barret. This act ceded to Maiden all the territory of Ciiarlestown on tlie northerly side of Mystic River and the easterly side of North River, oxce])t a small strip of laiiil at I'cuiiv Vvvvx whirli still forms a ]>arl of Charlestown. This trart comprised about one iialf of the |>ivseiit town of Everett, and thirty-four years later it was inhabited by thirty families.

It was not long before the sections came into conflict. The meeting-house near Bell Rock had become too small for the town, and it was proposed in 1727 to build a new one. Two locations 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 " between Lewis's Bridge and the Pound on the west side of the Country Road." It was afterwards found that " the Southerly Inhabitants were Something uneasy " about the matter ; and " they Said if they Could have a Committee of wise, indifferent men to determine the matter they Should be intirely easy." The 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 favor 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 General Court interposed, and ordered the record to be made and to become obligatory upon the town, in accordance with the vote by which it had constituted the committee. This was not a settlement favored by the southern selectmen, who at once called a townmeeting, M'hieh the other side " thought to be a manifest Contempt of Authority"; and to the number of nearly seventy they "entered their Dissents." The meeting was held, however, and the men of the south decided against the recording of the report. The 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 General Court passed an order that the house should be placed on the location most favored by the people of the northern section, between Lewis's Bridge and the pound, on the site now occupied by the church of tiie First Parish. The land for this purpose was given by William Sprague, and was a portion of that which had been known as the "clay-pits," in reference to which a fine was laid in 1609 to " punish transgressors y' shall intrench on y" highways ju diging of clay." Bricks were made near by many years after ; and the Frog Pond, well remembered by Maiden boys wlio arc on the writer's side of forty, was a relic of the elay-digging days. The frame of the new meeting-house was raised, no doubt with liberal compotations, August 28, 1729. A rude groundplan of the house was made some years ago by one who had known it in its latter years. It was unpainted, 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 egress. In two corners stairways gave access to the gallery; and the description quaintly adds, " The east stair was for women and the west stair for men, and they could not get together in the gallery without getting over the railing."

"Wlhle the newly admitted inhabitants of the southern portion of the town were striving with their neighbors of the elder section, several families of the north end presented their complaints. The great distance at which they lay prevented attendance upon the ministry, except in the finest weather ; and many of them preferred the nearer way to Eeading. Seven of them were members of the Reading church as early as 1720. They jietitioned to be set ofl:' in 17:J6, but for some reason their application was not successful. A proposition to erect two churclies in Maiden appears to have 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 Eeading with the free consent of the town. The section thus lost shortened the town about a mile, and is now known as Greenwood. The peculiar configuration of the soutliern portion of "Wakefield clearly shows the extent of territory which tlie old town of Eeading then gained.

Tlie new meeting-house was nearly a year in building. On its completion, a town-meeting was held, and "there was a unanimous Vote to meet therein to carry on the Worship of God for tlie future." To this tlie inhabitants of both sections, joining freely in the vote, assented. It was claimed that the liouse was near the centre of the town and much more convenient for the soutliern than for the northern people, " both by Reason of the nearness of the House and Goodness of the Roads." Although the people of the southern district had taken a part in the passage of the vote just mentioned, their pacification was far from being real. The first sermon in the new house was preached by Mr. Emerson, August 16, 1730; and, four Sabbaths later, the malecontents held a service by themselves. After this their meetings were frequent; and some attempts to maintain stated preacliing appear to have been made, although no

While .the people of the south district absented themselves from the town's meeting-house, they continued, as they were legally 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. xV.t length, in 1733, they petitioned to be made " a distinct Township or Precinct," with Pemberton's Brook as its northern bound. This was asking a liberal division, as the new meetuig-house, to which thirty families, living within the bounds of the proposed new town, still resorted, was within thirty rods, and was the first building north of Lewis's 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 Difficulty, 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-eiglit years known as the Maiden South Church ; and a meeting-house was soon after raised upon land given by Jonathan Sargeaut for that purpose. 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 " to the infant church of Maiden ; and it was reached by a way twenty-six feet wide which led from the highway. The meeting-house was never fully completed, and it is said to have been in a very dilapidated condition hi 1787. The members of the new church afterwards complained that, having borne 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 charge of building a ineeting-House for the publick worship of God and for Several Years past maintahied a Gospel Minister amongst them for the Comfort and Conveniency of them and their Families," was made in April, 1735 ; but it met the fate of the former.

Rev. 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 mouths uutil December, 1737, when tlie petition for separation was renewed by fifty-three individuals ; and their persistence was rewarded by the division of the town into two precincts "for the Promotion of Eeligion and the Peace 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-lands were to be equally divided, except that Mr. Emerson was to have the use of the parsonage-house and ground during his continuance hi 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 Parisii in relation to the ministry-lands, and repeated efforts to prevent the secession of its members to the sister church, make up the staple of its substance. Mr. Stimpson continued its minister a few years, and was dismissed in 1744'; but he remained an inhabitant of the precinct, and resided there in 175^. The cliurch had no settled pastor until 1747, when Rev. Aaron Cleaveland,who had been settled at Haddain. Conn., was called to the vacant pulpit, which had been offered to others. As an 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 parisli, who became dissatisfied a few years later, and was set oft', with others, to the North Precinct. Mr. Cleaveland was installed in June, 1747. He was a native of Cambridge, and a graduate of Harvard College, and is said to have been " a prodigy of physical strength and agility." lie remained in Maiden but three years, and removed to Halifax, N. S., where he became an Episcopalian. He died in 1754, in Philadelphia, in the house of his friend, Benjamin Prauklin, who " honored and praised him."

Soon after the departure of Mr. Cleaveland the cluirch and precinct called Rev. Eliakim Willis, who was a native of Dartmouth, and had been graduated at Harvard College in 1735, in the same class as his predecessor. There was mucli opposition to his settlement, "on account of tiieir jnability to support him and the Prospect of the two Parishes being united again if his Settlement [be] deferred." About the same time the North Parish unanimously voted that " the nortli meeting iiouse mite bi^ pulled down and Set up at the old spot which was the caus of the south drawing of provided the South would Joyn with them to Carring on the w'orship of god with them there "; but " the South did Refuse Complying with So good a proposal "; and Mr. Wilhs was ordained, probably in the summer of 1752. Fifteen persons, "many of whose estates were as large as any in the Parish," addressed the ordaining council, " signifying their Disapprobation." 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 afiiiirs of 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 restored to the old church. Some light is thrown upon the internal condition of tlie precinct by the report made by a committee to tlie 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 steaddy tended downward ; and the course of a few years witnessed an almost total loss of interest and an inability to raise the means wherewith to meet the expenses of public worship. The salary of ilr. Willis was unpaid, and the parsonage estate was relin(|uished to him in settlement. Mr. Willis thcrcalier, during the existence of the South Precinct, depended upon his labor as a farmer for a livelihood, preaching upon the Sabbath for the scanty contributions which his people and strangers miglit 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 1C95 ; and Edmund Chamberlain, a son of that Edmund Chamberlain who fell at the Narraganselt Fight, who was born after his father was slain, died from disease contracted in the expedition to Port Royal

States brig General Gates, and sailed from Jlartinique, acting as commodore, in company with Captain 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 River, where they commenced the erection of fortifications. This enterprise was very popular with tiie people, and a fleet of nearly forty vessels was brought together for its purpose. The 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 by 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 Commodore Saltonstall, who failed to co-operate or agree with General Lovell or to heed the advice and remonstrances of his own officers. Under these circumstances, it was seriously proposed forcibly to depose him, and place the command in the hands of a more competent officer. Captain Waters was one of those spoken of in tliis connection, the others being Joiui Foster Williams and Hoysted Hacker. A general attack, whicii at one time could hardly have proved otherwise than successful, was deferred from day to day until it was too late, and a fleet under Sir George Collier appeared in the mouth of the river. The American vessels were destroyed by their crews or taken by the enemy, and the forces straggled back to Massachusetts through the wilderness, as best they might. Captain Waters drew up an account of the expedition on his return, and the affair became the subject of an investigation which resulted iji the severe censure of Commodore Saltonstall.

The lack of public ships and the exigencies of the times compelled many naval officers, as Captain Mauly and others, to take command of private vessels; and in December, 1779, Captain AVaters 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 the same time the Britisli briijs Trvon and Sir

William Erskine sailed from New York, offering what the tory papers called " A Glorious Chance for a fortunate cruise." On Christmas morning they encountered the Thorn, when the Tryon hailed, 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 questioner a broadside at sliort range. Tiie Thorn sustained the united cannonade of the two brigs about an hour, when the Tryon attempted to carry her by boarding, whicli was prevented by the Yankee mariners; and, in the words of an eyewitness, "the British sailors were seen running about deck with pikes in their backs instead of their hands." Tiie Tryon fired a few more broadsides, and struck the fragments of her flag ; while the blood running out of her scuppers gave proof of the slaughter which had taken place upon her decks. The Erskine, seeing that her consort had struck, made shift to escape. After a chase of about three liours 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 seventyone men. The Thorn lost eighteen men killed and wounded; and among' the latter was Captain Waters, who received a wound in the right knee, from 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, which 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, in a shattered condition, with a remnant of her crew. A crew was put on board tiie 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 upon his cruise. In January, 1780, he fell in with the ship Spariin, of eighteen guns and seventy-five men, from Liverpool for New York, which was taken after an action of forty minutes. The next, and probably last voyage of Captain Waters was as commander of the armed ship 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 service before he was twenty years of age, deserves mention as a successful naval officer. In the latter part of the year 1776 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 has 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 purchased 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 return 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 house of John and Eichard Codman of Boston. He retired from the seafaring life soon after this, and became prominent in town aff'airs. He was chosen representative to the General Court twelve times. This service, though not unbroken, is unparalleled in the history of the tnwii by any other, except that of Captain John AVaylr, 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 surgeon's mate in Bridge's regiment in the early part of the war, entered tlie naval service as a surgeon, in which capacity he was taken prisoner in 1777, in the schooner Active, Captain Andrews Gardner, one of the ill-fated fleet of Captain Manly. He was exchanged about the same time as Captain Waters, and became surgeon on board the state sloop Winthrop, where he remained until the close of tlie war. He practised medicine in Maiden until liis death in 1803, and is remembered as a man of ready, but rough wit, of whom many stories are yet told by the old inhabitants.

Dr. Ezra Green, wiio 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 at Dover, \(\v TIaui])sliirc, in (he ijractiec of his profession. During the siege of Boston he was attached to Eeed's New Hampshire regiment as surgeon ; and, after the evacuation, he went with the army to New York, and thence to Ticonderoga and Canada. After the retreat of the northern army he returned to Dover, and in October, 1777, was appointed surgeon of the ship Ranger, 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 Whitehaven and his more famous call upon the Countess of Selkirk. Dr. Green -nas attached to the Eanger 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 usual bounds of man's life, and died at Dover, July 25, 181^7, "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 tlie 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 close 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-land sujjplied 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 winter sustenance of their meagre herds. The residue of the improved land consisted of twenty-five hundred acres of pasturage ; wiiile about tlie same number were in wooded and wild land. " An Acco' of Every persons Stock in Trade " amounted to the not princely sum of £210. Ninety-tliree horses and eight hundred and thirteen oxen and cows constituted tlie herds of the ^laldeii yeomanry ; and their flock of one hundred and fifty-tiiree sheep aiul goats furnished wool for winter weaving and cloth for their wear.

Tlie bridge over the Mystic River was formally opened to the public " by firing of a cannon and the regailing of the workmen at the expense of the proprietors," September 20, 1787. Tliis bridge, alTording a direct way to Charlestown and Boston, was of inimedinle benrlit to "Maiden and tlie towns above it, which were formerly obliged to follow a j circuitous route through Medibrd or seek the incon- j venient passage at Wiiinisimmet or Penny Ferry, i The building of the bridge, which was strongly urged by the Maiden people, was bitterly opposed , by the inhabitants of iledford, who lost both reason and temper in the contest. " Fools," " Maiden miserables," and " ignoramuses " were some of the names which the staid Rev. Dr. Osgood of Medford applied to his neighbors, whom he 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 have no bread and their cattle no hay." Tiie opening of the bridge was followed, before the close of the century, by the building of a direct road to Black i Ann's Corner in East Maiden, which had been , reached by a winding way through Chelsea. Later still, the Newburyport turnpike traversed the town from its northeastern borders to the bridge, and increased travel by offering a well-made road which avoided the many windings of its predecessors.

In the winter"of 17S4-S5 Rev. Peter Thaclier, who was the most popular 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 \!a.Q Massachusetts CentUiel ; 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 people felt the removal keenly, is shown iu 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 to endeavor "to reinstate us in that quiet and happy condition in which your papers found us." In tlie settlement of tiie 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 Rev. Adoniram Judson. A violent opposition was made to this call; and six months elapsed and four councils were held before Mr. Judson was ordained. lie was held as one of "Bade Hopkintonian Principels," whose settlement would offer " an 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 Remaining will Probibly Terminate in the Ruin of both." A strong protest, -signed by Captain John Dexter and twenty-one others, which was presented to the ordaining couucil, 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-iiouse, which had become almost a ruui, was repaired ; and Mr. Willis, after more than thirty years of discouragements and disappointment, found himself with something like a society under his charge. Mr. Judson proved unable to control or quiet the distracted church over which he was placed. His religious sentiments, which are said to have materially differed not only from those of his people but also " from tlie Established Doctrines of the Neighboring Ministers 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 that he might be buried from the church of his early faith. His son, the celebrated missionary to Burraah, was born 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 with 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 passed through a life of disappointments, gaining a reputation as a good and worthy man. In the eighty-eighth year of life, in the quiet and gentle ministrations of his office, deatli found him at his post; and he fell on sleep witii the love of his own people and the respect of the neighboring churches. His Bible, which was used many years in the pulpit of the First Parish, has been thrust aside ; and the books which he left as the foundation of a parish library have disappeared.

Mr. Willis was succeeded by Rev. Aaron Green, who had been ordained as his colleague, September 30, 1795. He was the son of Ezra Green of this town ; and was born January 4, 1 765, and was graduated at Harvard College, 1789. Like his brothers, Dr. Ezra and Bernard, he reached a good old age. He survived all his class, and died at Andover, December 23, lSo3, at the age of eightynine years. During his pastorate the parish became subjected to a process of disintegration which in the end resulted in a total change of its doctrines. As early as the settlement of Mr. Judson doubts had been entertained by many of the validity of infant baptism ; and several embraced the principles of the Baptists. A sermon, preached in

1797 by the venerable itinerant, Samuel Shepard, which is said to hii\-e been the first Baptist discourse delivered in liie town, was received with much favor; and was i'ollowed by a revival whicli resulted in regular Sabbath services being held in a school-house that stood under a large buttonwood tree where Sprague Street now enters Salem Street. These regular services were commenced in 1800, and received much bitter op])osition from those of the " standing order." Finding the schoolhouse at last closed to them, the " Schismatics," as they were called, took refuge in a barn belonging to Benjamin Faulkner, which until within a few years stood on Salem Street; and here, December %1, lSfi:5, the First Baptist Thureh, with a membership of forty-two persons, was recognized by a council of three neighboring churches. To counteract this movement, Dr. David Osgood of Medford preached two energetic sermons, in defence of infant baptism and the validity of sprinkling,, in the pulpit of the old church. These sermons were much esteemed at the time, and were printed in two rival editions with a title-page stating that they were " occasioned by the setting up of a Baptist Society." Nevertheless, the new church and society prospered; and the next year they built a meeting-house on Salem Street, then, and for half a century after, known as Baptist Row, on a site now enclosed in the Salem Street Cemetery. This exceedingly plain house, with its ge windows and square belfry, was occupied until 1843, when a new church was built at the corner of Main and Salem streets. The present church building is the third which 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 the old meeting-house, which had become unfit for its purpose, bv a more commodious house built of brick, which, dthough several times remodelled, is that now (Kcupied by the First Parish. This house, which \\as estimated to cost S 5,019, was completed in the latter part of 1802. It was originally surmounted by two cupolas, in one of which hung a presented by the eccentric, so-called " Lord " rnnothy Dexter.

Hardly had the animosities caused by the Bapist movement been allayed, before the church sufled depletion by the withdrawal of a large part of the people of North Maiden and the formation 111 a Methodist society there. This was the direct result of a strong Federal sermon, preached in 1813, at a time when Republicanism 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 ofl'spring of political excitement actitig upon minds already prepared for a change by the preaching of Jesse Lee and other early Methodists, was the parent of the Methodist Episcopal Church 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 ilethodists had been formed nearly thirty years before by the celebrated Jesse Lee; but time and other causes had nearly do- stroyed it. Tlie class whicli was now formed held its meetings at first in the liouse of the late James Howard, and afterwards in the hall of tlie brick scliool-house, which was built in 1822 on School- House Hill, upon the site where stood, until 1875, the Centre Grammar School, where they worshipped until 1825, wlien tliey built a liouse on Main Street. This unpretending building, which they occupied until 1843, and wliich is now used as a dwellinghouse, was irreverently called "the duck-pen." The early members of this church found many prejudices in their way and many crosses to bear. Of them it was truly said : " Tliey have moved onward under the guidance of the day-star of hope, and sat down in tears, amid the darkness of clouds of disappointment." But they were not lost in the tempest and the gloom ; and the little church of 1820 is now one of the most prosperous of the churches of Maiden.

After the formation of the Baptist and Methodist churches it became evident that other clianges were in tlie near future. There liad been a gradual falling away from the old beliefs as expounded by Joseph Emerson and Eliakim Willis. Mr. Green, whose sermons were rarely doctrinal, but mainly on the practice of piety and the efficacy of good works, was of the Arminian school ; and it is said that his preaching was not displeasing to a majority of his hearers. There was, moreover, in the society a leaning towards the doctrine of universal salvation, which was preached at times in the scliool-house hall and in private liouses by such men as Thomas Whittemore, tlien on the threshold of life, and others. Another disturbing element was found in the fact that, under the law, the members of the antagonistic churches had not ceased to be members of the parish ; and their votes could be given, as they doubtless often were, in a maimer unfavorable to the church. It is said that Mr. Green foresaw that dissensions and troubles were likely to come, in consequence of the circumstances I have stated, and that his prudence urged him to avoid that which he could not hope to avert. However this may have been, he resigned his charge in 1827, and a struggle over the choice of a pastor at once commenced. It was ended the next year by the election of Rev. Sylvanus Cobb, a Universalist clergyman, who had attained some reputation as a controversialist. Mr. Cobb was installed in the face of a strong opposition, July 30, 1828; and a portion of the church withdrew from the communion. The seceding members met at first in Sargent's Hall, in the building now standing at the corner of Salem and Ferry Streets; but they afterwards held their services in the hall of the schoolhouse. They claimed to be the old church in all respects, while their opponents stood upon all the rights of the original parish and the church connected with it. The controversy which followed not only divided the church and parish, but spread throughout the community, and was the fruitful cause of strife wliich lasted many years ; and a long series of lawsuits over the property of the parish did not tend to quiet the evil spirit of contention. Time, which removes or hides all evils, has happily cast the veil of oblivion over the angry strife of fifty years ago ; and none but the most injudicious could wish to raise it and expose the scars of wounds which long ago were healed. The new society was formally organized in 1832, under the name of the Trinitarian Congregational Society, and Rev. Alexander W. McClure, who had occupied the puljiit, was ordained its first pastor. The church had become strengthened by an accession of members ; and a house erected at the corner of Main Street and Phillips's Lane, now Haskins Street, was dedicated the next year. This building, after standing in its original location many years, was removed to a site on Main Street, near the square, where it was destroyed in the great gale of September 8, 1869.

The old society, though it has departed from the faith of the fathers, still retains the name of the First Parish, and occupies the venerable meetinghouse of 1803, which seems to bear an ever-present air of youth. Its people have received the blessings of prosperity in common with their brethren of the other churches.

The history of the First Parish now ceases to be intimately connected with that of the town ; and, for the purposes of a sketch of the general history of Maiden, the ecclesiastical concerns of its people henceforth become of little interest; but I may linger a moment over the names of two clergymen whose memories are cherished and honored in the churches and town which they loved. The Rev. Alexander W. McClure, the caustic wit of the Trinitarian society, and the Rev. John G. Adams of the First Parish, revived in the nineteenth century, for a while, the pastorates of the olden time. Both heartily earnest in their work, they became as one with the people of their charges, and were, to the rich and the poor alike, faithful pastors and sympathetic friends. Nor were they less earnest in their duties as neighbors and townsmen in the daily and secular affairs of life. Antagonistic as they were in their religious beliefs, with the memories of the recent conflicts of their societies still alive, they stood stoutly shoulder to shoulder and hand in hand in the many reforms which they instituted or promoted, and cemented a friendship which time did not destroy, which is still green in the heart of the survivor, and which may make more joyous the meeting on the shores of life.

In the temperance cause, in charitable work, and in educational matters they urged reforms and introduced new methods by which the interests of the people were advanced and their prosperity promoted.

During the period occupied by these ecclesiastical affairs, which nearly includes the first half of tliis century, the people of Maiden were gradually increasing in numbers and wealth. Situated remote from the trunk-roads and isolated from the usual routes of travel and traffic, they remained for many years a sparse and rural population. In 1800 they numbered but 1,059 souls, - a very slight growth over the poj)ulation of more than sixty years before; but during the next decade a large increase took place, showing a population of 1,38 1 at its close. This increase was owing to the enterprise of the Odiorne family and AVilliam Barrett, who established trades here which flourished many years and added seii-sibly to the wealth of the town. The Odiorne firm, composed of three brothers, George, Thomas, and Ebenezer, purchased land and water-power in 1806 upon Three-Mile Brook, and established themselves at Black Rock, where Thomas Coytemore built a mill in 1640. This enterprising company made tlie first nails which were cut and lieaded at one operation. Though this was an cxpiiiim nl, made at much loss and in the face of popular prejudice, it was ultimately successful and was a profitable business for many years. William Ikrrett commenced the business of silk-dyeing in 1803, on the site still occupied by his sons. This business, bcgiui at a time when little or no competition existed, was also very profitable, and is continued iit the present day. Other branches of business improved as these cntcr))rises increased in strength ; and other manufacturers followed those who were now established. The manufacture of shoes became an important industry, and articles of block-tin and tin-plate were quite extensively made, and were distributed by wagons sent far around into tlie country. In 1837 the population had increased to iJ,300, and the gross value of articles manufactured was over $350,000 per annum. A gradual reduction of tolls upon the bridges, and the establishment of lines of omnibuses and expresses, brought the town into a more close connection with Boston, and assisted in the growth of trade and population. But a stronger impetus was given both by the openhig of the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1845, which had a very marked influence upon the growth of the town in many ways. The number of the inhabitants, which iu 1840 was 2,514, was 3,520 in 1850, not including a population of 1,260 souls which had been set off from the town during the precedhig year. This division of the town, by which North Maiden became Melrose, was made by an act of the legislature in 1849, and was not o])posed to any extent by the inhabitants of the other sections of the town. In its separate existence Melrose has participated in the prosperity which has attended the parent town, and has not proved unworthy of its origin.

The opening of the railroad and the cheapness of land gave birth to various enterprises, which were more or less successful in the various objects for which they were originated. One of these was the formation of the Edgeworth Company, which j)urcliased the Newton farm on the west bank of the river and a tract of land on the highlands. These lands were laid out for business and building purposes, and great inducements were offered to purchasers. On a portion of this property has grown up the district of Edgeworth, where several large manufacturing establishments are located, whose total products in 1875 amounted to $2,000,000 in value. Meanwhile the town advanced in all directions in population and in wealtii ; and its religious and educational interests kept pace with its material prosperity. On the eve of the Rebellion the population was 5,865, and the valuation of tlie town was $3,365,101.

In the stirring years which followed the opening of the Rebellion the men of Maiden proved that (liey had not forgotten the traditions of their fathers, and that tlie spirit which had led her sons to fields of duty and honor in the bygone years had not ceased within the limits of the ancient town. Out of the peace and calm of wliat liad almost seemed an inane present, all the heroism and fervor of the past arose, and it was seen that the old-time patriotism had only slumbered until the occasion

" Resoloed, Tliat^we believe it to be the duty of every lover of his country and his race to assist iu crushing out the rebelhon and treason now existing in the Southern States.

" Resoloed, Tliat the town of Maiden, true to its ancient liistory, v/ill furnish the men and the means to the extent of iier abihty for tliis object ; and we recommend the immediate formation of a company of volunteer imlitia to aid in preserving the government of these United States."

An enrolment of volunteers for three years was at once commenced, and a liberal subscription made for equipments and supplies ; and tlie town, a few days later, authorized the expenditure of ten thousand dollars "for the comfort and support of the families of tiiose who have been or may be called into the naval or military service of the United States, and who shall be inhabitants of Maiden."

Tiiereafter tiie town in its corporate capacity, and the people, botli in organizations and as individuals, labored to the utmost in the spirit of their resolves. The volunteers were formed into a company, under Captain Joseph E. Simonds and Lieutenant Ivory N. Richardson, and drilled in the town-hall until Jidy 10, when, as Company K, 17tli Regiment, they went into camp at Lynnfield. Of this company, which was mostly composed of citizens of Maiden, and which saw much hard service in North Carolina during the war. Sergeant Henry Foskett, Corporal James R. Gilchrist, and privates Charles M. Eagan, Oscar Biebier, Tiiomas H. Speed, Albert W. Crockett, and James M. Powers perislied in rebel prisons. The first Maiden citizen who was slain in the war was Sergeant Gordon Forrest, a member of the 1st regiment, who fell at Blackburn's Ford, July 18, 1861, in one of the skirmishes which preceded the battle of Bull Run.

The six hundred men who were sent by Maiden into the service upheld her honor through many scenes of trial and danger, and bore their part manfully on land and sea. It is to be regretted that no steps have been taken to preserve their names from the common lot of man, and that much in relation to them has already passed beyond the reach of him who -would gather it up.

The town expended in war charges the sum of $60,000, which was exclusive of $33,000 which was disbursed as state aid and was refunded by the commonwealth ; and a large sum, supposed to have been not less than §25,000, was raised at

Since the close of the war, and during the great business prosperity which preceded the panic of 1873, the town has received its largest growth. In 1865 the population was 6,840, and the valuation $3,733,993. This was not a large gain over the statistics of 1860, but the increase had just begun.

By an act of the legislature, March 9, 1870, the southern portion of Maiden, with 2,200 iidiabitants, was allowed to become a seimrate town, by the name of Everett. The territory thus taken comprised all that which had been gained from Charlestown in 1726, with the southeastern portion of the original town, and was substantially that which had formed the Second Precinct. The inhabitants of this section had never been quite easy as citizens of a town in which the will of a minority was subordinate to that of the whole ; and complaints of injustice, which are natural to a growing community, jealous of its rights, were often made. For near a quarter of a century they had agitated the question of a separate township, and had made six ineffectual endeavors to obtain an act of incorporation. The division was stoutly opposed by the town ; and the meetings in which the question was considered, and where the rival sections met, were as stormy as declamation could make them. Whatever may have been the short-comings of tiie people of South Maiden in the days of their real or fancied wrongs, as citizens of Everett they have managed their affairs with judgment, and have rejoiced in a common prosperity with their brethren of tlie elder town.

The division of the town left Maiden with 7,370. inhabitants, and a valuation of §4,999,272, which has now increased to 10,831 souls, and a valuation of $10,138,800. In 1870 the water-works connecting the town with Spot Pond were completed, and a copious supply of pure water was introduced. This measure, which was subjected to a strong opposition in its earlier stages, has proved to be of great advantage and a real benefit to the community. Daring this period a remarkable rise in real estate occurred, and a corresponding activity in building operations was observed ; and several flourishing villages, as at Faulkner's and at Linden, sprung up with great rapidity. Though much of this increase was fictitious, and has disappeared imder the pressure of the times, it added to the resources of the town, and lias left at least the foundation of a solid prosperity which the coming years will consummate. In 1S77 a portion of Medford, comprising about two hundred acres of land with one hundred iidiabitants, was annexed to Maiden.

Retaining about one third of its original territory, ilalden is bounded southerly by Everett^ westerly by Medford, northerly by Melrose, and easterly by Saugus and Revere. Its greatest length from east to west is about three miles, and its average width about one and one half miles. Its northern portion comprises a region of rocky hills, which, a few years since, were generally wooded, and which abound in many natural beauties. This section has, in recent years, been invaded by the builder, and has afforded many j^leasant and romantic sites. The eastern division, where the thriving villages of Faulkner's, Maplewood, and Linden - stations upon the Eastern Railroad - have, as before mentioned, grown with great rapidity, is probably that which will receive the largest growth in the early future, as its romantic scenery and the comparative cheajniess of its lands offer inducements which will not be uinioticed in the return of general prosperity. At Belmont, on the highlands at the southern border of the town, and at Oak Grove, at its opposite extremity, similar growths have occurred, with fair prospects of the future ; while at Edgeworth a vigorous community of mechanics and laborers has gathered around the manufactories which are there established.

At the latter section the extensive works of the Boston Rubber Shoe Company are located. This corporation, which was established in 1853, has enjoyed a remarkable degree of prosperity. Under the vigilant and intelligent direction of its treasurer, Elisha S. Converse, its interests have steadily advanced ; and the variety and value of its products now place it among the largest establishments of its kind in the country. These works were destroyed by fire, November 29, 1875, at a time when the then existing depression caused the liveliest concern for the welfare of those who were suddeidy deprived of their accustomed means of livelihood ; but, by the aid of the benevolent and the care of the corporation, the winter passed without the extreme inconvenience and suti'ering which were anticipated ; and larger buildings and improved machinery soon gave evidence of the enterprise and courage of the company and its managers in the face of disaster and the discouragements which then prevailed.

Besides rubber goods, the principal articles manufactured here are leather of various descriptions, sand and emery papers, and shoe-lasts. Other goods are made to a limited extent ; but, with the exception of the articles mentioned, the products of the town are not of unusual importance. The number of persons employed in manufactures in 1875 was 1,063, and the goods produced were valued at $2,664,484.

While their material interests have advanced, the people of Maiden have not neglected those interests which enhance the grosser forms of prosperity. In its schools of all grades the town has taken a high rank, and it has not been niggardly in its expenditures to that end. "While unwise counsels have at times prevailed, it has, upon tne whole, performed its work in the interests of education with ability and discretion. Its twelve churches, of various denominations, are prosperous, and enjoy that best adjunct of prosperity, freedom from internal strife and external opposition. Its charitable bodies and its societies of reform are of large membership and are ably directed ; and they watch over the various matters which they have in charge with spirit and success. A bequest by John Gardner, a native of the town, has been made the foundation of a public library, which, though of recent birth, has, by a large and increasing circulation of carefully selected books, already proved its great urility and insured for itself an ultimate liberal support and a permanent endowment.

Source changes here: from History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, by Drake, Samuel Adams, published 1880; 16,391 words in this source stream.

Malden City

N 1629 Balph Sprague and his brethren, who had recently landed at Salem, jia^sing through the couiitri" on the easterly bnnlr nf the Mystic River, found it " an uncouth wilderness " and "full of stately timber." Its inliiibitants, n remnant of the I unce powerful tribe of the Paw- ^ tuckets, were under the nominal rtile of Wonohtiiiuaham, or Siigi John, a chief "uf gentle and good di$I>osition," whom Tliomas Dudley described as "a handsome young inaii, conversant witli us, affecting English apparel and liouses, atid speaking wi'll of our God." He dwelt upon the creek whicli runs from- the marslies between Fowder-Horn Hitl and 'Winnisimmet into the 5Ij-stic at Sweetscr'a or Beacham's Point, in Everett. His tribe, at the <UwD of fttttbeutic bistoiy, were led by the Sachem

Nanapashemet, who lived on the borders of the iride marshes which stretch from the easterly portion of Maiden through Severe to the sea. From the Atlantic to the Connecticut Biver the savage tribes owed him a rude allegiance ; but the combined attacks of the Tnrratines, whom Mr. Lewis styled the *' Goths and Vandals of aboriginal New England," and the plague, which Tliomas Morten of 5Icrrv Mount called "the hand of God," reduced his tribe to a feeble remainder. He retired from the banks of Bumney Marsh to a hill near the headwiiters of the Mystic, where he ^ras slaiu in 1619 by his old enemies the Tnrratines.

After the death of Nanapashemet and the retirement of the Tarralincs, his people again gathered around the Mystic and Eumney Marsh under the general government of his widow, the Squaw Sachem, and the local rule of his sons, Wonohaqna* ham and Montowampatc, or Sagamore James of Saugus. Tbit Squaw Sachem appears to have beco equal to the task of ruling the barbarous bands of tiie PkwtuckMs; and she succeeded in re-establishing and maintaining authority over the domain df her deceased husband to the Connecticut Biver.

In 1632^ says Increase Mather^ '' the Indians began to be quSctrrelsome touching the Bounds of the Land which they had sold to the English^ but God ended the Controversy by sending the Smallpox among the Indmns at Saugust^ who were before that time exceeding numerous." Whole Tillages were swept away by this new enemy ; and Wonohaquaham and Montowampate died^ with the most of their people. The former, at his own request, ** was taken among the English, promising if he recovered to live with the English and serve their Qod/^ By the death of the Sagamores/ their brother Wenepoykin, then about seventeen years of age, became chief of* the few Indians remaining in this vicinity. He was known to the English as George Bumney ]ilarsh, from the place of his abode near Powder- Horn Hill, on the southern borders of this town. He had one son, Manatahqua, and three daughters,* who were named by the whites Cicily or Su-Greorge, Sarah, and Susannah; but who were collectively styled by their own people Wanapanaquin, or the Plumed Ones.

George Bumney Marsh appears to have lived in friendship with his English neighbors until 1661, when he produced evidence of ''his interest and just Title to the Lands of his late brother deceased on mistick side,^' and '' the Ground about powder hohie hill,'' which, in the words of the record, were "wrongfully detayned from him." In his petition he prayed ** that now at last out of your Great demency and compastion towards your poore Indian and Petitioner you will be pleased to vouchsafe him somme small parte parcell or proportion of his inheritance for himself and company to plant in.'* He was advised by the General Court, in answer to his petition, to prosecute his claim in some inferior court ; and the worldly wisdom of such advice was proved by the fact that he was twice defeated in attempting to recover his own. The matter was finally set at rest by an order of the court to '' lay out twenty acors of good plantinge land in some convenient place for Sagamore George to make vse o£F.'' Whether this land was ever laid out or not is unknoTin; but the Indian's friendship for the English thereafter was not strong. Having by the death of the Squaw Sachem in 1667 become chief of the Pawtuckets, and the nominal if not the real head of the Nipmucks, who occupied the knd toward the Coniiectieat Biver, lie joined King Philip in the bloody war of 1675-76. At the same time the Bumney Marsh Indians left the Mystic and the Abousett and retired to the Pawtucket Falls at Wamesit, now Lowell.' Wcncpoykin was taken prisoner, and was sent, with other captives, a slave to Barbadoes. By some means he was finally enabled to return to Massachusetts Bay, and he died in 1684 in the house of Muminquash, or James Bumney Marsh, the scm of his sister Yawata, at NaticL With him the line of the Pawtucket sachems came to an end. His English surname survived many years, and an Indian of that name did military service as late as 1740.

Tradition has preserved the memory of the red men in Maiden, and still points with uncertain' finger to the place of their habitation on the high lands of the tract long known as the Nichols hxm; and, to enforce this vague testimony, the pickaxe of the laborer has at times uncovered the mouldering bones of the former lords of the forest There still remains the Nichols farm-house, a relic of the days of the seventeenth century, within whose time-worn walls the visitor may see the spot where household legend says the axe of the settler . clove the head of an Indian and insured safety to the wife and child who were hidden from sight in the ample fireplace near by.