Weston Town (part 1 of 2)

Weston Town

HE town (if Weston was incorporated January 1, 171:J-13, by an act of the General Court ciittini^ off from the west end of Watertown about one half of its territory.

For nearly six years after its settlement in 1630, the western limits of Watertown remained undefined, the town extending indefinitely westward into the country and up the north or left side of Cliarles Kiver. The first definite boundaries were arranged with the people of Newtown in April, 1635 ; September 3, of the same year, orders passed the General Court for tlie settlement of tlie towns of Concord and Dedham, adjoining Watertown upon the northwest and southwest respectively. March 2, 1635 - 36, the western limit was fixed by an order of the court declaring that " the bounds of Watertown shall run eight miles into the country from their meeting-house." The grants to Concord and to Dedham were found to overlap tlie grant to AVatertown, and " for the final end of all differences between Watertown, Concord, and Dedham," the court ordered, on the Sth of June, 1638, "that Watertown eight miles .-^h.dl be extended upon the line between tiiem [U'atiTtown] and Cambridge, so fur as Concord /i<iiiii(l.'< (fire leave; and tliat their bounds by the river shall run eigiit miles into the country in a straight line, as also tiie river dulii for the most part run, and so to take in all the land of that [north] side of the river, whicli will not fall into the square five miles granted to Dedham ; and that the neck on the same [north or left] side of the river near to Dedham town, .shall be cast into the said s(piare of five miles to make up the same, so as the said s(piare is lo be accounliMJ bv (|uanlitv an,! bv Mlualinn, Imt.m.s,. Hi,, plar,'. uill n,it ailinil It ; and lliat Hi, ir ei-l,! iinh's in,i,i Wal.'rtown mirtnig-house shall \w by a line between both (lie other lines."

The extreme southwestern portion of the territory, that lying beyond Stony Brook, appears to have been from the beginning the favorite portion with the farmers. Only a fortnight after the first landing at Dorchester-field, Watertown, by Captain Roger Clap and his nine com])anions, May 30, 1630, and less than a week after his own arrival at Salem, Governor John AVinthrop, with a small party, " went to Alattachusetts to find out a place for our sitting down, .... for Salem, where wee landed, ])l,'ased vs not. And to that purpose some were scut t,) thi; Bay to search vpp the riuers for a conueiii,iit place, who vppon their rcturne reported to have found a good place vppon Mistick ; but some other of vs seconding theis to approue or dislike of their judgement; wee found a place liked vs better three leagues vpp Charles riuer." ^

" This," says Dr. John G. Palfrey, in his //«- iori/ of N fir Eii(//iiii(J, "would correspond to what is now Wallli.iiii or llrston, and I think it very likely to have bc'U near tlie mouth of Sfoiii/ Brook, which divides those two towns."

Winthrop's party liked this locality so well that it was resolved to make this the place of settlement for the whole company, and to name it Boston. "And there vj)])oii," says Dudley, "unshipped our goods into other vessels and with much cost and labour brought them in July to Charles Towne; but sick of feaver and the scurvy and wee thereby unable to carry vpp our ordnance and baggage soe farr) wee were forced to change our counsaile and for our present shelter to plant dispersedly, some at Charles Towne which standeth on the north Side of mouth of Charles Riner; some on the South Side, which place wee named Boston (as wee intended lo have done the jilace wee first resolved on) some of vs vppon Mistick, whicli place wee named I Mradl'ord ; some of vs westwards on Charles Riuer, f,.ur mihs from Charles Towne, which jjlace wee nanu'd WatcMoune."

careful observer, gave the following description of this section in a letter written in 1686 to his fatlier-in-law, giving an account of a ramble made by a party from Boston to attend the annual sermon preached to the Indians at Natick. The men rode upon horseback, each having a lady companion upon tlip pillion of liis saddle as " luggnge." Dunton was fortunate in escorting tlie "Widow Brick, a fair lady whom he calls " the flower of Boston." They started early, and arriving at TYatertown, " we alighted," lie says, "and refresh't our Luggage, and wliile otliers were Engaged in Frothy Discourses, the Widow Brick and I took a View of the Town, which is built upon one of tlie branches of Charles River, very fruitful, and of large extent; watered with many pleasant Springs, and small Rivulets : The refresh't our selves at Water-Town, we mounted again, and from thence Ave rambled thro' severall Tall Woods between tlie Mountains, over many rich and pregnant Yaliies as ever eye beheld, beset on each side with variety of goodly Trees : So that had the most Skilful Gardner design'd a shady walk in a fine Valley, it would have fallen short of th.it which nature here had done without him." This description is understood to apply to the road through Waltham and Weston, and is nearly as applicable to-day as when written, when it is remembered that the " pregnant vallies " have swallowed up the " tall woods."

The territory of the original town of Watertown was so extensive that its several parts were very early known by distinct and peculiar names. The lands next west of Beaver Brook were called " the lots in the Further Plain," or the Great Plain (and later Waltham Plain). The Remote or West Pine Meadows were probably in the southern or southeastern parts of Weston. The Lieu of Township Lots, or lots beyond the Further Plain, were west of Waltham Plain, south of the Great Dividends, and extended beyond Stony Brook. The Farms, or Farm Lands, included what remained as far as the Sudbury and Dedham bounds, comprising the main portion of Weston.

These names, applied in general terms to divisions of the territory of the original town of Watertown, are used in the early grants to the freemen ; the names of the grantees, and the number of acres allotted to each, are given by Dr. Bond in the first appendix to his Il/stoiy of IFateiiown.

or West Pine Meadow, divided and lotted out to all the Townsmen then inhabiting, being 114 in number, allowing one acre for a person, and likewise for cattle, valued at 20 lb. the head, beginning next the Playne Meadow, and to go on until the lots are ended." These meadows. Dr. Bond, who gave the matter careful and thorough investigation, thinks were probably in the southern and southeastern part of Weston.

July 17, 1638, it was "Ordered, that all the Land lying beyond the Plowland [lots in the Farther Plain] and the lots granted in liew of f Towneship [extending west of Stony Brook], having y' great dividents on the one [north] side, Charles River and Dedham bounds on the other [south] side, and the Farme lands at the further end [west side] of it, shalbe for a Common for Cattle, to the use of the freemen of the Towne and their heirs forever, & not to be alienated without the Consent of every freeman and their heirs forever." This order is particularly noticeable as being the first instance upon the records where the term " Farm lands" is applied to the territory now Weston.

Three months later, October 14, 1638, it was " Ordered, that the Farmes granted shall begin at the nearest meadow to Dedham line, beyond the line that runneth at the end of y^ great dividents parralell to the line at the end of the Towne bounds, and so to go on successively from Dedham Bounds in order as they are given out, as they w*^"* are deputed to lay them out shall see good & appoint, the proportion of meddow being twenty Acres to One Hundred & fifty Acres of upland."

November 27, 1639, the Freemen's Common was disposed of to the Farms by the order "y' if the Land in View for Farmes shall not suffice to accommodate the rest of the Townsmen that are behind, that then they shall have their Farmes out of the Freemen's Common upon the same condition that the rest have theirs."

At the meeting held October 14, 1638, it was " Ordered, y' Daniel Pattrick, Abram Browne, John Stowers, Edmund Lewis, and Simon Eire, or the maior part of them, shall lay out these Farms as they are ordered."

In the files of the County Court, is a schedule dated May 10, 1642, containing a list of names of persons to whom ninety-two farms, containing 7,674 acres, were allotted, and mention is made of " farms laid out formerly." The names of the committee do not appear on this schedule, but they do appear, with some half-dozen others, in connection with a range of lots on the south side of the highway. " The first lot in the range, adjoining the Sudbury Line, was that of Bryan Pendleton, by him sold to Peter Noyes, and very early purcJiased by George Munning." Adjoining this on the east were tlie lots of Daniel Pattrick, Simon Eire, Jolm Stowers, Abraham Browne, Jolm Whitney, Edward How, Jeremiah A'orcross, and Thomas Mayhew, who thus appear to have been the earliest proprietors of lands in Weston. The allotment committee seem to have provided farms for themselves and a few friends in advance of the general allotment of May, 1643.

From 1647 to 1G63 there was much dissatisfaction and contention about the early allotments of the Kemote Jleadows, the lands in lieu of township and of the farm lands, and in the latter year this portion of the town was re-surveyed and plotted by Captain John Sherman for a new allotment. It contained 1,103 acres, bounded on the south by Dedham, west by Natick and Sudbury, and on other sides by the farm lands. This "district is fi'eqnently referred to in early deeds as " the laud of contention."

The westward growth of tlie town - particularly the taking up of the farm lands (in Weston) - removed the farmers so far from the meefinu-h<uise (from five to eight miles), that it was incDnvcniriit for them to attend service there, and a consiilciablc number of them united with the church in Sudbury, whicli was much nearer to them, but they were taxed for the support of the ministry in Water-

The earliest mention in the records of a boundary between the Farms and the rest of Watertown is March l:j, 168.3 -Sli, when it was voted that " those that dwell on west of Stony Brook be freed from school tax in IGS.'J."

The Farms were afterward kno«n for a few years as the Farmers' Precinct, sometimes as the Tiiird Military Precinct, or the precinct of Lieutenant Jones's company, sometimes as the Westernmost I'lrrinrt.

In lr,'.)3 a toun-m.Mtin- wav brld I,, d.rlde upon a .site for a new mceliMg-hoiise, but the freemen were too much divided in sentiment to come to an agreement. An exciting controversy followed, and the governor and couacil were called upon to settle the matter.

Their decision did uot please all, and at a townmeeting held May 9, 1691.^ an earnest protest, signed by eighty-two men and women residing in the eastern part of the town, and by thirty-three men and women residing at the western part, in the Farms, was presented against following the advice of the governor and council. At an irregular town-meeting held October 3, 1694, Beaver Brook was made the eastern boundary of the Farmers' Precinct ; but the General Court, at their May session, 1699, fixed it at Stony Brook. At this meeting it was stated that the farmers were "upon endeavors to have a meeting-house among themselves."

January 9, 1694-9.5 tlie farmers met, and agn'ed to build a meeting-house thirty feet square, and ti. jilace it on the land of Nathaniel Cooledge, Sr., liy the side of the road, at the head of Park - burst's nicadnw, a little to the west of the present tlag-jHilc. The iii-xt year agents were chosen to contract with workmen to buihl the liouse, which was to be called the Farmers' ileeting-house. Tile «(irk was begun by subscri])tion, money being contributed " Some time in August, 169.3," bv sundry pii-soiis for the purpose of ])resentiiig a petition to thr (leiieral Court, jirayiiig for leave "to set up the pulilic worship of (iod amongst the inhabitants of tbe west end of said to«n " (Watertown). This petition was granted at the May session of 1698. In February, l(i'.t7, the farmers were exempted from ministerial rates in the town. Votes were passed at precinct meetings in A^ovember, 1698, August, September, and November, 1699, making provision for completing the meeting-house. February 14, 1700, the precinct voted to have a minister to ])reaeh in the meeting-house, to begin the second Sabbath of tbe ensuing Marcli, so that it was five years from the time the farmers voted to build a, meeting-hoiise bebu'e it was so far eomjileted as to lie usable; and from a vote passed Mai-eli -'Sll, 1710, granting money to finish the meet iiiu-housr, it ajipears not to have been fully liiiisbed until ten years later, fifteen years being thus eoiisniiied in erecting a building thirty feet

March U, 1700, money was granted lo support ]ireaching, and grants continued to be made at successive periods for the same purpose, but it was

Mr. Thomas Symmes, graduated at Harvard College in 1698, was chosen minister October 8, 1700, but he did not accept, llarch 10 and September 1£, 1701, the committee of tlie precinct was directed to provide a man to preach with them. December 19, 1701, they voted that Mr. Joseph Mors (H. C. 1695) should continue in order for settlement, and July 6, 1702, they gave him a call by a vote of thirty to twelve. September -Z'S, they renewed their call, granting an annual salary, and promising to build him a house 40 X 20 feet. November 2-"}, he accepted the call, conditionally, and the precinct accepted liis answer January 8, 1702-3, and voted to begin the promised house, which was raised October 4, following, and put into Mr. Mors's possession the year after. Difficulties arose, and be was not settled. Perplexing delays followed, and the precinct finally decided to purchase Mr. Mors's " housing and lands," indemnifying him against pecuniary loss, and that lie siiould leave tliem in tlie spring of 1706. An agreement was not easily reached, as Mr. Mors did not convey the premises to the committee until December .'il, 1707. Ineffectual efforts were earnestly u)ade to bring about a reconciliation between Mr. Mors and iiis opposers.

In 1706 the precinct was presented at tlie Court of Sessions for not having a settled minister. February 11, 1707, the precinct chose Mr. Nathaniel Gookin to be their minister, but he declined the call, preferring the position of librarian at Harvard College, which he held from 1707 to 1709. The presentment still lay before the court, and tliey had to make two returns in April and June, 1707. July 16, 1707, they called Mr. Thomas Tufts, of the class of 1701 at Harvard; he declined. January 14, 1703, was observed as a day of fasting and prayer. February 4, 1708, they gave a call to Mr.^Yilliam Williams (H. C. 1705), who, after the adjustment of preliminaries, accepted, August 3:3, 1709. A church was gathered and organized, and Mr. Williams was ordained November 2, 1709, "about eleven years and a half after the Farms iiad become a distinct precinct."

"The church consisted at first," says Dr. Samuel Kendal, " of eighteen male members, - nine from other churches, and nine who had not been communicants." He gives their names as follows : " Nathaniel Cooledge, Thomas Flagg, Joseph Lovell, John Parkhurst, John Livermore,

Francis Fullam, Abel Allen, Ebenezer Allen, Francis Pierce, Josiaii Jones, Thomas Wright, Josepii Allen, Josiah Jones, Jr., Joseph Livermore, Joseph Allen, Jr., Samuel Scaverns, Joseph Woolson, and George Eobinson." Josiah Jones and John Parkhurst were chosen the first deacons.

May 7, 1708, the freemen of Watertowu appointed a committee " to run a line between tlie town and the Farmers' Precinct, referring to the ministry." This was done May 28, and the line began at Charles River, followed up Stony Brook to Beaver Pond, " and from said pond to a black pine, at the bounds where Cambridge and AVatertown and Concord meet ; said Farmers' Precinct being on the west side of said brook."

A committee, consisting of Captain Francis Fulham, Lieutenant Josiah Jones, and Daniel Estabrook, presented a petition at the town-meeting held May 12, 1712, and, December 2, following, the town "did by a free vote manifest their willingness that the said farmers should be a township by themselves, according to their former bounds," wath the proviso and conditions : 1. That the farmers continue to pay a due share of the expense of maintaining the Great Bridge over Charles River; 2. That they pay their full and due share of the debts now due by the town; 3. That they do not in any way infringe the rights of proprietors having land, but not residing among the farmers.

When the Indians began their attacks upon tlie settlements in 1675, the men of the Farmers' Precinct were ready not only to defend their own homes, but to assist in the defence of the colony. In December, 1675, a warrant was issued to the militia of Watertown to furnish "twenty soldiers, with provisions, arms, ammunition, and good clothing," for the defence of the colony. Upon Captain Hugh Mason's return to this warrant appear the names of thirty persons (including himself) who appeared in answer to the summons convening the company, the names of seven wiio did not appear, and a list of twenty names of persons "rationly most fitt to goe upon the servis." Mr. C. H. Fiske, in his oration, July 4, 1876, gives the names of the following seven persons " who lived in the Farmers' Precinct and who are included in the above list "

A.t the attack upon Sudbury, April IS, 1G7G, Captain Hugh Mason and his band from Watertown, in which were doubtless included the farmers just named, " aided by citizens of Sudbury, were the first who engaged the assailants, on the east side of the river ; but after a severe contest they were obliged to retreat." Tradition relates that, at the time of this attack, in order to carry out their threat to burn Watertown as well as the other settlements, the Indians "penetrated the western j)art of the town and burned a barn, standing on the farm now owned and occupied by Mr. Naluun Smitli, on the back road, leading to Wayland, but it is not knowu that any one was killed."

At the famous Lovewell's Fight with tlie Pigwacket tribe of Indians, which took place at Pigwacket (Fryeburg), May 8, 17^5, Jacob Fulliam, who was a sergeant in Captain LovewelPs company, was killed. " A sergeant named Fulham, and an Indian, distinguished by his dress and activity, singled out each the other, and both fell, mutually slain by their antagonist's weapon." This Jacob Fulham was tlie eldest son of Major Francis Fulham, who was justice of the peace of Watertown Farms; one of tlie selectmen of Watertown from 1710 to 1711 ; and one of the committee chosen to secure the incorporation of the town of Weston, in which town he afterwards held numerous responsible ollices, and was for a long time the most iiilliiential man, owning numerous parcels of laud in tile soutliwest part of the town. Me lived to an advanced age, and as "Colonel Francis Fulham" was moderator of a town-meeting, March 2.5, 1751. Ill 1 7 1 it the records of Natick were in his keeping, and March 30, \l'yl, he resigned his agency for cnllcetint; rents for th(- ])rnprietors of tliat town, lie was' f,,r years, betu.'en 17I;i and 17.17, the representative of Weston in the ( nneral Court, .lune 111, 17:11, he, with Jonas of Waterlown, and Franeis n,,wm;,n of Lexingt.m, -to he ConnnisMoners .,f S.wers,"

Osgood, in Belerica bounds, to the cart-bridge in Sudbury." He was a chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas of Middlesex County fromJ.719 to 1755, when he resigned his place upon the bench.

Piev. William Williams ordained, as already stated, November :2, 1709, remained pastor of the church nearly forty-one years, until October 2-1, 1750, when he was dismissed by a mutual council, but the cause of his dismissal does not appear. He is briefly described by Dr. Kendal as a " scholar and a good preacher." A printed sermon of his, preached after the death of his wife, is deeply imbued with the spirit of piety and resignation. He was a graduate of Harvard in the class of 1705, being a classmate of President Edward Holyoke. He was twice married, and was the father of eight children. William Williams, his eldest son, born May U, 1711, graduated at Harvard College, 1720, was one of the first settlers of Pittsfield, a judge in Berkshire County, and a colonel distinguished in the French and Indian wars. After his dismissal, ^Ir. AVdliams continued to reside in the town until his death, March C, 17G0, at the age of seventy-two years. He was buried in tlie old burying-ground.

There is a vote of the town, recorded March .'5, 1755, excusing " Mr. William Williams from paying rates to be made so long as he remains in the town of Weston, provided he discharge said town in full of all demands n|ion sml town of any arrears upon the account of delieieney of their grants to him, or getting his fire wood, etc., while said Williams was in the work of the ministry in said town"; and Mr. Williams accepted this settlement of the arrears of his salary overdue nearly five years, and entered his receipt in full upon the town record.

The first congregation assembled in their little thirty-feet-square church, wliich stood within a few rods of the geographical centre of the town, I'or about thirteen years, gathering not at the soiuid of the bell, - "no such music in that earlier time broke the stillness of Sabbath morning," - but "at the beat of drum," as was becoming the soldiers of Christ. inside llu'chureh tluMV were no one side, 'the women on lli.' other, and the boys bv themselves, with a lilhini,'-nian, or constable, in their midst to keep th<in in ,inler.

a hare's tail on the other. These were to keep the people awake. If any woman went to sleep, the constable touched her on the forehead witli tlie hare's tail ; but if a small boy nodded, he was rapped with the other end not quite so gently.'^

Tlie church at Weston, at a meeting held April 27, 1726, voted that " turning y* back towards y' minister to gaze abroad, and laying down y* head upon y® arms (in a sleepy posture) in y'^ time of public worship (extraordinary cases excepted) are postures, irreverent and indecent, and whicli ought to be reformed, where any are faulty therein, and carefully avoided."

In March, 1718, a motion was made in townmeeting to build a new mei'tiug-liouse, but the matter was deferred. October i'-i, 1721, a vote was passed by the town to build a new meeting-house, and to appropriate their proportion of the bills of credit issued by the General Court to this object. In the summer of the following year the new house was raised. It stood a little to the rear of the first one, and was more commodious, with square pews and galleries, and seats on hinges, to which the name "slam-seats" was sometimes given. This house was repaired in 1800, a steeple and two porches erected, and a bell procured. About fifteen years later the pews were altered from tlie square to the modern long form. It remained in constant use until 1810, reaching the good old age of one hundred and eigliteen years, and every pastor of the society had ministered at its altar, " wlien it was pulled down, and the present Unitarian house erected still farther back and across the county road, which intersects our common." It is said tiiat when the din and clatter of the " slam-seats," at the " amen " of the devotional service, was loud and universal, it was specially pleasing to tiie ministers of those days, as indicating a full and earnest congregation.

The Rev. Samuel Woodward succeeded Mr. Williams as pastor of the churcii. He was ordained September 25, 1751, and held the position until his death, October 5, 1782. Allowing eleven days for the change from Old Style to New Style between his ordination and death, his pastorate continued thirty-one years less one day. Dr. Samuel Kendal, his successor and son-in-law, says of him, " He died greatly beloved and lamented by the people of his charge, by his brethren in office, and by an extensive circle of acquaintance. He was a serious, sensible, practical preacher; cheerful and facetious witliout lessening his dignity as a minister, or Christian. Xo man could more happily blend the cheerful with the grave in conversation, men seem to have inspired a profounder respect or a warmer love." He was born February 1, 1727, and graduated at Harvard College in 1748. He was the son of Deacon Ebenezer Woodward, of Newton, who occupied the original homestead near the Upper Falls, grandson of John Woodward, an early settler of that town, and great-great-grandson of Richard Woodward, a freeman, and one of the earliest proprietors of Watertown and a grantee of one hundred and twenty-five acres in the distribution of the " Farme Lands."

Rev. Samuel Kendal, D. D., was ordained successor to Mr. Woodward, November 5, 1783, just thirteen montlis after the death of his predecessor. In his century sermon, delivered at Weston, January 12, 1813 (to which the writer of this sketch is greatly indebted for important material), he says of himself that he had " not been kept from the house of worship but one Sabbatli, either by sickness or inclemency of weather, for thirty years ; nor had he left the pulpit without a supply, on his own private business, but two Sabbaths within the term."

Dr. Kendal was greatly respected and loved, not only in his own parish, but in all the neighboring churches. "He was," says Rev. Edmund H. Sears, "the friend and associate of the elder Ware, at a time of unparalleled religious activity in Massaclmsetts, and when the spirit of sect was beginning to divide the churches asunder. Dr. Kendal preached the great truths of Ciirist, free of scholastic dogmas and the spirit of sect and party, and he enforced them with a power and fervency whicli met the deeper wants of the spiritual nature. No schism took place. The pews were filled full, both on the floors and in the galleries, and persons still living speak of the stillness that pervaded them under the fervent appeals of the pulpit. His style of composition was easy and flowing, his person large and manly and expressive of the vigor of his mind, and his voice, of unusual compass and power, searched every corner of the house and commanded audience. He lived through times of the hottest political strife, had very decided opinions on questions which agitated the country, and preached them without reserve. His influence extended much beyond his parish. His century sermon, preached near the close of his life, re-echoes and prolongs the strain of Pliillips at Watertown, near two hundred years before." lie graduated from Harvard College in the class of 1 782, and the iionorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Yale in 18UC. He died February 16, 1814.

After the death of Dr. Kendal, Isaac Fiske, then chairman of the parish committee, invited Joseph Allen, who had not completed his course of studies at Cambridge under the elder Ware, to supply their vacant pulpit as a candidate for settlement. Shortly after Mr. Allen's health broke down, and he took a long journey on horseback to the medicinal springs at Ballston, New York, returning late in the summer with health still impaired. Finding, as winter set in, that he could not fulfil his engagement, he requested and obtained a release from it. Accordingly, the committee sent for young Joseph Field, a graduate of Harvard in 1809, still pursuing his studies in theology, and after hearing him a few Sundays gave him a call, which he accepted. He was ordained February 1, 1815, President Kirkland, of Harvard College, preaching his ordination sermon. Mr. Allen and other fellow-students rode over from Cambridge, though the mercury was eight degrees below zero, to witness the ceremony and to congratulate liim on what they considered, and what proved to be, liis good fortune. The same day Professor Henry Ware, Sr., rode from Cambridge to Lunenburg in an open sleigh, setting out, accompanied by his son and eldest daughter, that bitter cold morning before daylight, reaching Lexington before sunrise, driving a distance of some forty miles, and preached the sermon at the ordination of David Damon at Lunenburg, returning to Cambridge the same day. Allen and Damon were college classmates of Edward Everett, all being members of the class of 1811 at Harvard.

Dr. Joseph Field was born in Boston, December 8, 1788, fitted for college under Dr. Gardner, and pursued his theological studies under Dr. Kirkland. He served as ciin])liiin in the army in 1812, in the 3d regiment of iid'antry. He was tiie first distinctly Unitarian minister in Weston, and remained at tliis post for fifty years, till 186.^), wlicn lie resigned as active ])astor, but, at llie earnest iT.iurst'nf his peiiplc, e,mlinu(,l to i.r iheir seni.ir |Mst,,r till his death, XoveinlHi- 11, ISC'.I. \\v ivirivcd the iionorary ih'give of Doctor of Di- \iniiy IVdni iiis Alma iVIatcr in IS 10. He was at oncliiMi- a member of the Hoard of Overseers of llarvanlColle-e. He was greatly lioiuurd and l..ve,l by his people, " ami In a wid'e eiirle of fru nds, for his genial spirit and amiable social qualities. He wrote with ease ; his sermons were terse, clear, and compact ; and in the day of his highest intellectual vigor he was regarded in his own vicinity as among the favorite preachers of his denomination. .... He was not a man to be ever forgotten by those who knew him in his best days." The semicentennial of his settlement was celebrated with appropriate ceremonies, and the proceedings, including his sermon on the occasion, were published.

Eev. Dr. Edmund H. Sears, born April 6, 1810, graduated at Union College in 1834, and at Cambridge Theological School in 1837, was the successor of Dr. Field. He was settled in Wayland, February 20, 1838, removed to Lancaster, December 23, 1840, and returned to Wavland in 1848. In May, 1865, he was installed as colleague pastor with Dr. Field in Weston, where he remained until his death, January 16, 1876. His last sickness began with a fall, October 19, 1874, while working in his gMi'deii, by which he received injuries from whieli lie ii(\ir recovered. He was "a most fascinating writer," and is widely known by his books, of^'whicli TIw Foin-lh Cn.^prl t/,e Heurt ,f C/irisl, is perhaps the iiidst pupiilar. The exquisite poems, beginning, "Calm on the listening ear of night," and "It came upon the midnight clear," will be held as classics of our language, and are "enough to make a poet's reputation." ]\'o stronger eulogy could be pronounced over any man than is given by Dr. Chandler Eobbins in his commemoration sermon, in 'which he says he yet speaks " by the memory of his lessons, by the force of his example, by the total impression of his life, by the concentrated infiuence of his character."

From the settlement of Mr. Williams in 1709, to the death of Dr. Sears, a period of one hundred and sixty-seven years, there have been only five ministers settled over this ancient church, all of whom died here, where they so faithfully toiled and lived, and now lie buried in our graveyards, almost within a stone's throw of each other.

The first Baptists in Weston began to gather together in a small company about 1776, meeting at each other's houses, mutually encouraging and exhorting each other, when no pr("aeher eould be liad, under the h-ad of Deacon Oliver Hastings, who was baijtized in Fraiiiiiii,'liani in 1772. March

Seaverns - contracted to erect and cover a frame building thirty-one feet square. The building, though unfinished, was first used October 1,178-i, and was finished in 1788. July 14, 1789, a church of sixteen members was recognized by an ecclesiastical council. They had no settled minister till January 30, 1811, when they united with the church in Framingliam, and Rev. Charles Train was ordained as pastor of the Baptist Church of Christ in Weston and Framingliam. They separated. May 3, 18:i6, Mr. Train remaining with the Framingham church, the Weston church numbering at this time about forty members. The present church-building was dedicated October 8, 1828. June 30, 1830, Rev. Timothy P. Ropes, a graduate of Waterville College in 1827, was ordained as pastor, and remained three years. The parsonage was erected from the material of the old church-building during the latter part of his stay. From small beginnings the church has grown to be the largest in the town. Since Mr. Ropes the successive pastors have been : Rev. Joseph Hodges, Jr., a graduate of Waterville College, 1830, "settled in 1835, resigned in 1839; Eev. Origen Crane, educated at Newton Theological Seminary, settled in 1840, resigned in 1854; Rev. Calvin H. Topliff, graduated at Brown University, 1846, settled in 1854, resigned in 1866; Rev. Luther G. Barrett, graduated at Harvard College, 1862, settled in 1867, resigned in 1870 ; Rev. Alonzo F. Benson, settled in 1870, died July 15, 1874; and Rev. Amos Harris, the present pastor, settled January 1, 1873.

In 1798 a Methodist meeting-house - simjjly a boarded enclosure, with a platform for the preacher, and rough board seats - was put up in the north part of the town, "about si.'cty rods northeast of the present ilethodist Church, on the chapel belonged comprised, besides the town of Weston, the towns of Needham, Marlborough, Framingham, and Hopkinton ; the whole at first under the charge of one preacher, Rev. John L. Hill. The number of preachers was afterwards increased to three. The first trustees of the Methodist Church of Weston were Abraham Bemis, Habakkuk Stearns, Jonas Bemis, John Yiles, and Daniel Stratton. Their present church-building was erected in 1828, and dedicated in 1829." By an act of the General Court, approved by Governor Lincoln, February 28, 1829, the trustees of the First Methodist Episcopal Society in Weston were incorporated. In 1833 this church was constituted a station, with a regularly appointed preacher, Waltham and Lincoln being included in the station for a few years. Waltham became an independent station in 1839, and took away some sixty members of the church, reducing the number of members to about eighty.

A century ago there was thought to be more travel over the " great road " from Waltham through the middle of Weston, - it being the post-road from Boston to New York, - than on any other, of equal distance from any capital city, in the Union. For many years this was the great thoroughfare over which passed the supplies and manufactures sent in from the northern and western sections of New England to Boston. By the old meeting-house passed large droves of cattle on their way to Monday's market at Brighton. Large teams transported several hundred thousand chairs annually to the city, and thousands of loads of all kinds of country produce. The number of iims is an index to the amount of travel through the town, and of these there were four in the grouj) of houses that, straggling along both sides of the road, constituted the " Road Town " of early times. It was not until after the opening of the West Boston Bridge to Cambridge, and the Mill-dam Road, and the establishment of railroads, that this stream of travel was diverted to other channels, and with the change the business of the taverns ceased to be profitable, and they were closed.

When Washington visited the Eastern States in October, 1789, he lodged and breakfasted at the tavern of Captain John Flagg, where he was called upon by several prominent citizens. Here Captain Fuller's company of horse met him, and escorted him through Waltham and Watertown to Cambridge.

October 25, 1765, the town voted not to give any instructions to its representative to do anything concerning the Stamp Act, but later the people became fully aroused. " At a Meeting of the People of Boston, and the neighboring Towns, at the Old South Meeting-House in Boston, on Tuesday, December 14, 1773, and continued by adjournment to Thursday, 16th of said Month, occasioned by the perfidious Arts of our restless enemies, to render ineffectual the late Resolutions of the Body of the People, Mr. Samuel Phillips Savage,' a Gentleman of the Town of Weston, was chosen iModerator." Samuel Hobbs, of Weston, a farmer, and also a tanner and currier by trade, while working as a journeyman in the employ of Simeon Prattj of Eoxbury, joined the famous party whicli, in disguise, threw overboard tlie tea in Boston Harbor.

Samuel Phillips Savage owned and occupied at this time "the liousc standing on the Deacon Bigelow farm, so called, in tlie north part of Weston, near Daggett's corner." lie was commissioned a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Middlesex County, November 2, 1773. He and Josiah Smith represented tlie town in the Provincial Congress held at Concord, October 2, 1774. He-w'as the president and an active member of the Massachusetts board of war during the Revolution.

His father^ Arthur Savage, married a daugliter of Samuel Philliiis, distinguished among booksellers in Boston one hundred and eighty years ago. Thomas, the father of Arthur, was born in lOiO, tiie second child of Thomas Savage who emigrated from England, and his wife, Faitli, daughter of William and the famous Ann Hutchinson. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Joshua Scottow, a merchant of Boston, and the autiior of two curious tracts in the latter part of the seventecntli century.

The growth of the town in population after its incorporation was very slow, but the farmers increased in wealth and prosperity. It has always been a farming town, and retains its primitive condition to a more marked degree than any otiier within the same distance from Boston. A chair manufactory and a macliine-shop are the only industrial establishments within its borders. Many of tlie farms, in wiiole or in ])art, remain in the possession of the original settlers. The schools have always been good, and a new high-school house lias been erected, within two years, at a cost of §15,000. There has been but one store in the town for a portion of the last century. Two or three blaeksmith-sliopshavclM'cn in the Upiiam family for a hundred years. I':\(r]jtiiig Ihe old tavern bars there has never been a (lr,iiii->li(.|) in tlu' town, nor an apothecary shop, the ph\sici;ins canviiiLr their drugs aiul potions in tiu'ir s;i(h!l(-b.ii;s.

the Centre & in considerable parts not above half so much, & great part of the land very poor, rocky and barren not capable to be inhabited. That there are but about a hundred families in all, & many of them in Low Circumstances. 2. That the Said Town hath lately been at great Cost and Charges to build & finish a Decent Meeting house for the publick worship of God not oidy of sufficient Dimensions for the whole town, but it is not near fil** when assembled together and this Meeting-house stands by the great Eoad & as Surveyors find by the Piatt within a few Eods of the Centre of the Town. So tiiat the Petitioners liave little more Reason to complain of the Distance or Diihculty than their Neighbors who live at the South End of the town. That the Petition aforesaid Takes from Weston near Twenty families (tho' severall of them do not subscribe) & Some of the best livings in the town." The remonstrants carried their point at tliis time, but nineteen years later, by the incorporation of Lincoln, April 19, 1754, AVestou lost a good slice of its territory.

" A large part of tlie farm of Mr. Alonzo S. Fiske, in the north part of tlie town, was conveyed, October 1, lU7o, to Lieutenant Natlian Fiske, his direct ancestor, in whose family it has since then remained."

"Tlie house of Jlr. Oliver R. Robbins, in the south part of the town, is supposed to be from one hundred and fifty to two hundred years old, and is probably the oldest house in Weston."

The residence of Mrs. A. H. Fiske was built in 1753 by Mr. Woodward, the minister, and occupied l)y him and his family. Two houses near the Weston slalioii of the Fitchburg Railroad have been in the possession of the Hobbs family for many years. Next to one of these - the house of Mrs. Samuel Hobbs - was the old tan-yard, carried on by members of this family for a cenliiiy and a quarter. The business Avas given up, and the tannery removed in 1862.

In Ihe soulhcrn ]urt of the lowu is an old house, liuih probably in 1787, or earlier, standing iilion the farm formerly owned by I/ieuteiiaiit- (lovcrnor Moses Gill, that has belonged succes- sivelj to Joseph Curtis of Eoxbury, Ward Nicholas Boylston, and John Quiucy Adaras, and is now owned by some of Mr. Adams's great-grandchildren.

In the southeastern part of the town, near the present residence of Mr. Frederick T. Bu^h, are still to be seen the remains of the foundation and cellar of one of the first houses built in the town. It was without doubt built by Samuel Seaverns, who was baptized in Watertown, November 28, 1686, and who married, December 20, 1699, Rebecca Stratton. His son Samuel, born July, 1706, used to tell his grandchildren that when he was a boy, and was sent by his father to get the cows at night, he was accustomed to climb the trees and stumps and cautiously watch for Indians, before venturing into the clearing. His great-grandson, Mr. William Seaverns, narrates this incident to the writer as he has heard it frequently told by his grandfather, Joseph, sitting in whose old rushbottomed chair the writer pens this account. One corner of the residence of Mr. Bush can be traced back more than one hundred and fifty years, having been built probably by Samuel Seaverns. Dr. Josiah Starr, of Weston, was born in this house, " and married (published October Q, 1762) to Abigail Upham. In 1773 he was the owner of two slaves. This house was remodelled in 1856 and iu the walls was found a copper coin of the reign of George II.

Samuel Seaverns, born October 30, 1779, was so bitterly opposed to the passage of the Boston and Albany Eailroad through his farm, that for nearly forty years after the road was built he could not be persuaded to enter the cars, and as they passed through his farm would turn his head to avoid seeing them. ilr. Hale, superintendent of the road, once attempted in vain to put him aboard a train.

In 1753 one Prince Jonah, a slave of Abraham Biglow, of Weston, found in Waltham a leather pocket-case, with tickets of land lying in Gardner, Canada, east of Northfield, belonging to Joe Williams; also one dollar, one pistareen, and two coppers, and an empty money-bag. This was so extraordinary an occurrence that it was entered upon the town records, and there stands a witness to the sterling honesty and intesjritv of the fathers.

In response to the alarm, "The British are coming ! " sounded from town to town and from house to house, on the morning of April 19, 1775, " Capt. Samuel Lamson hastily forms his company from those who otter themselves for this emergency, among whom is Mr. Woodward, who shows by this act that he means to put his preaching into practice." They started for Concord and joined in pursuing the retreating regulars as far as West Cambridge. The muster-roll of this company is given in Lexingion Alarms, \o\. XII. p. 170, headed by Samuel Lamson as captain, Jonathan Fiske and Matthew Hobbs, lieutenants, four sergeants, two corporals, a drummer, and ninety-three privates, - a total of one hundred and three, nearly one half of the number of polls in the town. The majority served at this time for three days, some for two, and a few joined their comrades for one day.

Captain Lamson became major of the Middlesex regiment, under the command of Colonel Eleazer Brooks, of Lincoln. The Weston company was attached to this regiment, with Jonathan Fiske promoted to the cajrtaincy, and was in the service at Dorchester Heights, White Plains, Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and other places, and " was probably in the service till the close of the war." Matthew Hobbs was captain for a while, with two Livermores as lieutenants. The muster-roll shows that Captain Fiske and fifty men served five days in the public service " at y" Heights of Dorchester."

General Burgoyne and his army, while on their way to Cambridge as prisoners of war after their surrender, are said to have encamped one night along the old stage road in Weston. These Convention troops, five thousand strong on the day of their surrender at Saratoga, October 17, 1777, worn out by their long march, shoeless, footsore, and decimated by desertions along the route, must have been a motley array when they reached their destination.

That the town had no sympathy for those of its citizens who were of Royalist proclivities, is shown by their vote of October 15, 1778, instructing Mr. Joseph Roberts, their representative, to use his best endeavors in the Great and General Court to have such laws made as may " prevent y" return of any of those persons into this Town or State who have sought and received protection from the British army."

the successive names of Independent Weston Company and Weston Independent Light Infantry, continued till May 13, 18:31, a period of almost half a century, when it was disbanded. It was attached to no regiment, reporting only to the commander of the brigade." Its successive captains were Abraham Biglow, Artemas Ward, Jr., William Hobbs, Alplieus Bigelow, Nathan Fiske, Josiah Hastings, Isaac Hobbs, Thomas Bigelow, Nathan Upham, Isaac Ciiilds, Isaac Train, Charles Stratton, Henry Hobbs, Luther Herrington, Marshall Jones, S("w;dl Fiske, and Elmore "fiussell. The cfiin|i;iiiy ;iih iiiliil the reception given to General L;ifau'tte at Ciiuford, September 2, IS'li, and was esjK'cially noticed by him.

In the Constitutional Convention of 1788 the votes of a majority of the delegates from Middlesex County were given against the ndo])tion of the Federal Constitution, seventeen delegates voting in favor of the adoption and twenty-five against. The delegates from Weston were among those voting in the affirmative.

In the War of 1812 Weston was equally as ready as in the Uevolution, and furnished her proportion of men and means for the naiioiial defence. Cooper Gaffield, one of her soldiers in this war, lived to be over one hundred years old, and died the last day of the year 1875, in the poor-house, where he had spent the last thirty-six years of his life in old age and infirmity.

With a population of but 1,2 1;5 in I860, the town furnished for the AVar of the Rebellion one luuulred and tjiirty-one men, a little above ten per cent (if tlie wliolc jjopulation, which was a surplus of tifteen over and above all demands. Six were commissioned officers. The total amount of money appropriated and expended by tiie town on account of tlie war, exclusive of state aid, was $12,528.90. In addition to tliis the citizens raised by subscription for encouraging recruiting and the payment of bounties, $5,101.95. The amount of state aid to soldiers' families, raised and ex])ended in the town and repaid by the state, was $2,-'].")S.(;(l, niiiking a total of $19,992.51, nearly tweiit\ jxr cent u[ the valuation ofllm town in I 8r.().

Weston lies about thirteen miles west of Boston, upon the eastern side of the range of hills that slope towards the Charles River and form its basin. The affluents of the Charles drew the first settlers along its fertile margin and up through its valleys, and the same love of " pleasant springs running like rivers through its body " drew them to Weston, along the meadows of Cherry Brook, and the gentle slopes that rise from the two brooks that flow each side of the village and main street, and form the swell along which they built their early dwellings.

The present size of the town is 10,967 acres, including SO acres in roads and 155 acres in ponds, leaving 10,732 acres of land by actual survey. It measures about five miles in length, north and south, by four east and west. It is in general an uneven, and in some parts a broken tract of land, and high ledges of rock are found within its limits. A considerable portion of the territory rises above the level of the surrounding country, and from White's Hill, in the southwesterly part, an extensive view may be had. The soil in the elevated and rocky parts of the town is in general a deep red, strong loam, very favorable to the growth of fruit trees. There are some small tracts of level land, but of no considerable extent. The hills are full of springs, and are very little subject to frost or drought. Tiiere are no stagnant waters, but several tracts of meadow that abound with excellent peat. Notwithstanding its roekv appearance, it contains a hn-v amount (,f good land.

To this day foxes are often seen in the town ; raccoons have been killed within two miles of Charles RiviT; mink still inhabit the brooks, and the whippoorwdl whistles his shrill note within sound of the city bells.

Sialislies show Weston " to be as healthy a spot as an\ in the known world. Perhaps lU) ])lace in New Miigland could present fairer proof of the salubrity of its air and sitmition," said Dr. Kendal, a generation ago. The ])roportion of inhabitants reaching fourscore, and even ninety to oiu' hundred years of age, is niinsiially large. The peaceliil ,|uiel of lile within its borders eoiuluces to by Governor "\Tiiithrop. The scenery around it is very picturesque. Opposite the Stony Brook depot is a hill called Snake Rock, from the rattlesnakes Avhich used to abound at the foot of its precipitous western side. In the face of this high rock is a horizontal cave, some twenty feet in depth, called the Devil's Den. In this cave negro slaves concealed themselves in the summer of 1780, to avoid the draft.

Some of the prominent citizens of the town deserve more tlian a passing notice, from positions held by them, from individual peculiarities, and for other reasons.

Captain Josiali Jones, admitted a freeman April 18, 1690, was one of the original members and one of the first deacons of Weston church. He died October 9, nii. From his commanding- the Farmers' company, the Farms rcecivrd the name of "the precinct of Lieutenant Jones's Company. "

His son Josiah, also a captain, was elected deacon, February 13, 1714- 15, as successor to his father, but he refused to accept. /Abigail, the only daughter of tliis son, became tlie second wife of Colonel Ephraim Williams, of Newton (father by his first wife of Ephraim Williams, tlie founder of Williams College), to whom siie bore five children. Her daughter Abigail married as her second husband General Joseph Dwight, of Great Barrington, by whom she had two eluldren, the elder, Mary, marrying Hon. Theodore Sedgwick, and becoming the mother of Theodore, Henry, and Charles Sedgwick, all distinguished lawyers, and of Catherine M. Sedgwick, the eminently distinguished authoress.

Isaac Jones, son of Captain James Jones, born September 29, 1 7-2S, kept a tavern and store, but was such a loyalist as to bring down upon himself tlie following denunciation from the Whig Convention of Worcester County, held in 1775 : -

"Resohed, Tliat it be earnestly reconiincnied to all the inhabitants of this county, not to liave any coinmereial transactions wilb Isaac Jones, but to shun liis house and erson, and to treat him with the contempt he deserves."

He died in 1813. His tavern was probablv the one called the Golden Ball, mentioned by Charles H. Fiske, Esq., in his oration delivered in Weston, July 4, 1876.1

^ One of the best centennial addresses delivei'ed on that memorable day. The writer acknowledoies his deep indebtedness to it in preparing this sketrh, and returns thanks to Mr. Fiske for his courtesy in allowing its free use.

medicine, and became a physician. He joined the British army at Boston soon after the battle of Lexington, and was sent by General Gage to Nova Scotia for supplies for the troops. He was captured on the jjassage, and committed by the Provincial Congress to jail at Concord. After a few months he was released. He again joined tlie British, and was appointed to a position in the commissary department. In 1782 he settled at Sissibo, Nova Scotia, as a lawyer. He obtained half-pay from the British government. He was first judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Annapolis County for several years. He died at Annapolis in 1825. He was a man of education and ability. His property in Massachusetts was confiscated.

It will be acknowledged that Rev. Dr. Samuel Kendal's estimate of tlie people of the town must be a correct one ; he says : " The inhabitants of the town are mostly industrious farmers, a class of men which, in a country like ours, merits the high consideration and esteem of every other class. The character of its inhabitants would not suff'er by a comparison with those of almost any other town in the commonwealth, of no greater advantages." They have had some of the ablest men in New England as pastors of their churches, and the followhig list of college graduates, natives or residents of the town, unfortunately almost exclusively limited, by the means of information at hand, to those from Harvard College only, includes many names of which the commonwealth is justly proud.

Colonel William Williams, one of the first settlers of Pittsfield, was the eldest son of Rev. AA'illiam Williams, born in Weston, May 14, 1711, graduated at Harvard College in 1729. "He was a jovial military man, and was very much distinguished in the French and Indian \yars. He held the office of colonel in 1758, and was in the memorable attack on Ticonderoga," on the 5th of July of that year, of which he gave a thrilling account in a letter to Dr. Thomas Williams of Deerfield, dated July 11, 1758. He was an eminent man, much beloved, and was chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas in Berkshire County. In 1771- he was a member of the General Court, among those friendly to the king, "who," snvs Hutchinson, "in common times would have had great weight on the other side ; but now, the great superiority in number against them caused them to despair of success from their exertions, and in most cases tliey were inactive." He was afterwards a captain in the military service of the crown. He was chosen chairman of the delegates from Pittsfield to the Constitutional Convention of 1779. He was tlie earliest recorded preserver of the old elm of Pittsfield Common, saving it wiien a "staddle" from the axe' of one of his laborers when his workmen were clearing his land.

He was married three times ; first to Miss Miriam Tyler, second to Miss Wells, and third to Hannah Dickinson. He died April 5, 1784-, aged eigiity-three years, and a monument to his memory stands in the new cemetery of Pittsfield.

Nathan Fiske, born September 9, 1733, graduated at Harvard College in 1754, in the same class witii John Hancock. He received the honorary degree of D. D. in 1792. He was settled as the pastor of tiie Third Church in Brookfield, May 28, 1758. He died November 24, 1799. His deatli was very sudden. He preaclied on tlie Sabbath from Proverbs iv. 18, "The path of tlie righteous is as the shining light," and died that night in his bed. "He was a critical and learned scholar, though not a popular preaciier." He wrote a number of papers for the Massachitselk Spy, Massachusetts Magazine, and The Philatith rapist. He published in 1775 a sermon on the H,-ttlei,i<-nt and Growth of Broolfeld ; in 1781, an oration on the capture of Cornwallis ; a volume of sermons in 179 !-; a Dudleian lecture in 1796; and the Murat Monitor appeared in 1801 as a postluuiinus work.

Daniel Jones, born July 25, 17J.0, fifth son of Colonel Elisha Jones, graduated at Harvard College in 17511. He was a lawyer and judge of the Court of Cnnimon Pleas at Hinsdale, New Ilampsiiire, whrrr hr died February 11, 1786. From liis obituary ill thr I'ntnnittian Sentinel \\k learn that the attiiidinils at his " funeral-solemnity " were " CTitertaincd witli those consolations which the best religion all'ords, in a pathetick prayer by tlic Rev. Mr. lliibliard of Norlhfield, and an intreiiiniis as

Phineas Whitney, born April 23, 1710, was graduated at Harvard College ui 1759, was ordained June 23, -1762, the first settled minister at Shirley, and continued in office more than fifty years. His ministry was peaceful, harmonious, and prosperous. His only controversy with his people was on the question of salary, which at his ordination was £66 13*. M. Owing to the depreciation of currency after the Revolutionary War began, this sum in jjaper currency was insufficient for his support. His request for more was answered by temporary additional grants, "and a method of equalizing the salary by the price of grain." He managed his scanty income so carefully, that he was able to give his children a good education and leave them some ])roperty. For the last eight or nine years of his life he was troubled with paralysis, and unable to fulfil the duties of his office. He died, December 13, 1819, in his eightieth year. He was a trustee of Grotoii Academy from its fouydation till his death. He was highly esteemed by the clergymen of his time, and, like most of them, was liberal in his views.

Ephraim Woolson, born in Lexington, April 11, 1740, was graduated at Harvard College in 1760; he became a physician, and after a successful practice of forty years in Hanover, New Hampshire, died in January, 1802.

Samuel Savage, son of Samuel Phillips Savage, born in Boston, August 22, 1748, was graduated at Harvard College in 1766, received the degree of Master of Arts in 1777, that of Doctor of Medicine in 1808, and was a fellow of the Massachusetts Medical Society. He died at Barnstable, June 28, 1831.

Stephen Jones, born ^fareli 5, 1751, graduated at Harvard College, 1775, was a half-pay British ollicer in the King's American Dragoons. He went to Nova Scotia at the close of the war, and at his decrase was the oldest magistrate of the comity of Annapolis. He died at Weymouth, Nova Scotia, in 1830, aged seventy-six, and was the last survivor of fourteen sons. His youngest brother, Charles, entered Harvard College during the Revo- lutionary "War, but did not graduate. His father, Colonel Elisha Jones, was for many years a magistrate, colonel of a regiment of militia, and member of the General Assembly. He died in Boston, February 13, 1775, aged sixty-six. "In the many departments in which be acted, he eminently showed the man of principle, virtue, etc."

He was the grandson of Deacon Josiah Jones, and occupied the old homestead of his father and grandfather. He married, January 'H-, 173.3 -;31., Mary Allen, by whom he had fifteen ciiildren, - fourteen sons and one daughter. He was representative in 1754, 1756-1758, 1760-1763, 1773, 1774. He was a Royalist, and several of his descendants imbibed his principles.

Samuel Woodward, eldest son of tlie E«v. Samuel Woodward, second pastor of the church in AVeston as already stated, born July 11, 1756, graduated at Harvard College in 1776; was a surgeon in the army in the Revolutionary War; afterwards settled at Newburgh,New York, as a physician ; married in February, 1784; died March 29, 1785, leaving an only sou wIk) died in infancy.

Abraham Biglow, brother of Isaac (H. C. 1709), was born September 18, 176£; graduated at Harvard College in 178;i, in the same class with Rev. Samuel Kendal; married. May 'li, 1785, Hepzibah Jones, and settled in Cambridge, living in the house occupied, until recently, by Mr. John Owen. He was the clerk of the court of Middlesex County. During the Revolutionary War he let liis servants live as usual, but pinched iiimself and family as closely as possible, avoiding the use of all luxuries of the table.

Hon. Artemas Ward, born at Shrewsbury, January 9, 176:J, son of Major-General Artemas Ward, the first major-general in the army of tiie Revolution, graduated at Harvard College in 1783, settled at Weston in the practice of the law, where he married Catharine Maria Dexter, December 18, 1788. He represented the town in tiie General Court from 1797 to 1801. He removed to Charlestown, and subsequently to Boston, where lie practised law, and was several years a member of the executive council and of the legislature. He was elected and re-elected to Congress. From 18:J0 to 1839 he was cliief justice of the Court of Common Pleas throughout the state. He received, in 184:J, the honorary degree of LL. D. from his Alma Mater, of Aihich he was one of the overseers thirty-four years. He was eminent as a lawyer, distinguished for his learning and courtesy, respected on the bench, and esteemed in domestic and social life. He died at Boston, October 7, 1847, in his eighty-sixth year.

Tliaddeus Fiske, second son of Jonathan and Abigail Fiske, was born June -l-l, 1762 ; was fitted for college by Rev. Samuel Woodward ; graduated at Harvard College in 1785, in the same class with Henry Ware, Sr. He tauglit school for a short time in Lexington, returned to Cambridge, and studied theology under Dr. Wigglesworth, then professor of divinity in the college. He was ordained pastor of the church in West Cambridge, April 23, 1788, which position he held for forty years, resigning April 23, 1828. His ordination sermon was preached by his uncle. Rev. Dr. Nathan Fiske, of Brookfield. In 1821 he received the honorary degree of D. D. from Columbia College, New York. He lived to see five successors ordained over the society which he faithfully served for so many years, three of whom died before him. He reached the ripe age of ninety-three, spending the last few months of his life in Cliarlestown, wliere he died, November 14, 1855. He was, at the time of his death, tlie oldest clergyman in Massachusetts. He occupied a seat on the board of overseers of Harvard College for a period equal in lengtii to that of his ministry. He married Lucy Clark, daughter of Rev. Jonas Clark, of Lexington, and lived like other country ministers till his son died, in 1829, and left him a fortune. He published a Thanksgiving discourse in 1795 ; a discourse on the twenty-first anniversary of iiis settlement, 1809 ; and his sermon at the close of his ministry, 1828.

Ebenezer Starr, born August 24, 1 768, graduated at Harvard College in 1789, in the same class with President John Thornton Kirkland; received the degree of M. D. in 1825 ; settled in Newton Lower Falls in 1790, as a physician, where he died August 24, 1830. He was a member of the legislature from 1815 to 1817, and a justice of the peace. His father. Dr. Josiah Starr, born November 3, 1 740, at Dedliam, was educated for the medical profession, and settled in Weston ; occupied the house and place now belonging to Frederick T. Bush, Esq., in the southeast part of the town, and known as "Brookside Farm." He married Abigail Upliam, November 25, 1762; died hi 1782.

for several years. He was ordained pastor of a church at Jackson, Waldo Co., Maine, September 1(5, 1812, but owing to dissatisfaction witli liis views on tiie part of a portion of his people, he being a liberal of the old school, his pastoral relation continued only about ten years. He continued to reside in tiie town teaching and fanning, while a strong constitution prolonged his days and a cheerful temperament " sustained him under the privations of straitened circumstances." He died Jaimary 7, 1856, aged eighty-eight.

Isaac Allen, born October 31, 1771, was the youngest of liis father's family. Two of his brothers served during the Revolutionary War, and one of them was engaged in the battle of Bunker Hill. At the age of thirteen he received an injury from a fall on the ice whicii crippled him for life. He intended to learn the trade of a carpenter, but finding himself unable to endure bodily fatigue and labor, he turned his attention to study. He entered Harvard College after coming of age, and graduated in the class of 1798, having as classmates Judge Story, Rev. Dr. Channing, and Rev. Dr. Tuckerman. He studied theology witli Rev. Samuel Kendal. In 1803 he received a unanimous call from the cimrcli in Bolton, indorsed by an almost unanimous vote of tlie town, to become minister of tli;it town. He accepted, and was ordained March 11, 1801., Mr. Kendal preaching his ordination sermon. He remained in tiiis charge forty years, being the sole pastor for tiiirty-nine years ; and during this period he was prevented from preaching, on account of indisposition, but one Sunday.

During the last year of his life he had as colleague Rev. Richard S. Edcs. He died March 18, iSM., four days after the fortieth anniversary of his settlement, in liis seventy-third year. He never )narried. Tlirougliout liis ministry he was chairman of the scliool committee of the town. He was one of the most honest and conscientious of men, naturally a humorist, and " would iiave been a favorite of the Sped alar."'' Being present on one occasion when a number of clcrgynicn were discussing the (piestion how sin eami' into the world, lie tersely remarked, " When T lind ;i licnl of cattle in my corn, I nr\cr stop Id lind (uil \w\\ tlic\ y-ol in, I go to work and drive Ihcin onl." liis earlier ])reaching was in East Sudbury, and he enjuved telling his cx[)erience there as a candidale. " I came very near being settled there," \w said, "and ther,' was only one thing (hat prevenled." " Well,

Isaac Fiske, born December 4, 1778, was the youngest brother of Rev. Thaddeus Fiske, by whom he was fitted for Harvard College, where he graduated in 1798, in the same class with Judge "Fay, who was his chum and intimate friend, Joseph Story, William EUery Channing, and Sidney Willard. He studied law in the office of Hon. Arteinas Ward, then a prominent lawyer of Weston, and was admitted to the bar in 1801. Upon the removal of Mr. Ward to Cliarlestown he succeeded to his large and lucrative business. In 1817 he was appointed by Governor Brooks register of probate for Middlesex County, whicli office he successfully filled for thirty-four years, transacting all its varied business with great accuracy and desjiatch. He was removed from his position in iS.jl, in consequence of a political change in the admiuistratiou of the government of the state. He represented the town in the state legislature in 1808, 1812, 1813, and 1814, and in 1820 was a member of the State Constitutional Convention. He was a justice of the Court of Sessions until that court was superseded by the ap])ointmeiit of county cinnniissioners. He died in Cambridge, March 11,1861, at the age of eighty-two. His ancestors and brothers were remarkable for their longevity.

Charles Train, born January 7, 1783, was graduated at Harvard College in 1805. He was the preceptor of Framingham Academy in 1808, and afterwards a trustee. January 30, 1811, he was ordained pastor of the Baptist Church in Weston and Framingham, which office he held until the cliuvelies separated in 1820, after which he remained in Framingham till 1839. He was a rcjiresentative to the state legislature in 1822, and the seven following years, except 1827, " when by way of rebuke, as he understood it, he was allowed (o stay at home, for having preached two sermons on the subject of Temperance of a more stringent character than at that time suited the taste of the people." He was afterward a state senator. He was the first to move in the ])lan of forming a legislative library, as well as in the more important matter of a revision of the laws relating to common schools. He was active in procuring the charier for ,\inherst College. In 1S:',3 he was injured by a fall, and for sixteen years following, till his decease, was never for a inonieiil without pain, lie dud Seplendier .17, I M9, aged sixty-six years.

He was keen, witty, courteous, and social ; a good guest and a genial host ; easy of speech, witii a good fund of thought and anecdote; on all practical subjects eminently judicious; and he devoted his life "to the advancement, first of religion, next of learning." His son, Charles R. Train (Brown University, 1837), has been district attorney for Middlesex County, a member of the governor's council, and attorney-general of the commonwealth.

Benjamin Rand, born April IS, 1785, graduated at Harvard College in 1808, in the same class with Richard H. Dana. He was a gentleman of the highest eminence in legal attaimnent, and one of the most distinguished members of the Suffolk bar. He died in Boston, April 26, 1852, aged sixty-seven. Charles Sumner entered his office as a student, January 8, 1834. Li the autumn of the same year Mr. Rand visited England, where he was well received by lawyers and judges. His partner, Mr. A. H. Fiske, remained in charge of their office. He was " a lawyer having a large practice, but was distinguished rather for his great learning and faithful attention to the bushiess of his clients, than for any attractive forensic qualities."

Alpheus Bigelow, born September 38, 1784, graduated at Harvard College in 1810. He fitted for college under Dr. Kendal ; studied law with Hon. Isaac Fiske, of Weston, and Tyler Bigelow, of Watertown; was admitted to the bar of the Court of Common Pleas at the December term of 1.815, and to that of the Supreme Court at the March term of 1817. He was a member of the House of Representatives in 1827-28, and was for several years chairman of the selectmen of Weston, and held other town offices. He was a thorough musician, and the founder of the Pierian Sodality, of Harvard College. Under the rule of the college requiring the music arranged for Commencement to be first submitted to the president for approval, he, on one occasion, handed in several pieces of music, which were duly approved, with one or two exceptions, and returned to him. The pieces were taken in haste by him from the miscellaneous pile lying on his piano, and tossed back to their place after the approval, \\'hile he went on witJi his preparation of the Commencement music as he had planned it.

Ebenezer Hobbs, Jr., born April 17, 1794, graduated at Harvard College in 1814, having as classmates William H. Prescott, Benjamin A. Gould, Gamaliel Bradford, James Walker, and other notable alumni. He took the degree of M. D. in 1817, and immediately settled in Waltham. He married, in 18 19, Mary Derby, of Weston. He was the chief agent of the Boston Manufacturing Company for nearly forty years, and an honored resident of the town. In the latter years of his life he contributed to the Sentinel and Free Press several interesting papers concerning the local history of Waltham, valuable and reliable by reason of the fund of information at his command, accumulated during a residence of forty-five years in the town. He died, December 11, 1863, from an epileptic shock in the autumn of 1862. Two of his sons died young, while in college.

Frederick Hobbs, sou of Isaac Hobbs, Jr., was born February 28, 1797, graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1817, having George Bancroft, Caleb Cushing, and other distinguished men as classmates. On his mother's side he was a lineal descendant of Rev. John Cotton, minister of the First Church in Boston, and as such descendant was entitled to and received, while an undergraduate, benefits accruing from bequests to the institution from the Cotton family. After graduating he read law in the office of Daniel Webster, in Boston. In 1820 he went to Eastport, Maine, opened an office, and soon entered upon an extensive practice, gaining a high position at tlie bar of Washington County. He was elected to various municipal offices in Eastport, and was sent to the legislature one year. He once received the Whig nomination for representative to Congress from the Eastern Congressional District, and received the solid vote of his party ; but, it being in the minority in that district, he failed of an election. He removed to Bangor in 1836, and became emhiently successful in his profession, having up to the time of his last illness more business in the United States Court than any practitioner east of the Kennebec River. He was equally prominent in the municipal aff'airs of his adopted city, was president of the Musical Association, and a great friend to horticulture, being among the founders of the Bangor Horticultural Society, and for some time its president. " He was a good and useful citizen, of stern integrity, of strict honesty, and highly exemplary in all his habits." In February, 1849, while engaged in an important case before the Supreme Court of Mas- sachusetts, he was stricken down with a sudden attack of blindness and dizziness. Rallying from tins, he continued his labors for three years, until February, 1852, when he was attacked by paralysis as he was finishing a written argument to be delivered before the United States Court at Washington. During his last illness he presented a rich silver communion service to the Unitarian Church where he worshipped, in Bangor. He died October 10, 1854, aged fifty-seven.

Nathan Welby Fiske, born April 17, 1798, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1817, and was a tutor there from 1818 to 1820; studied at Andover Theological Seminary, and in 1823-24 spent a winter in Savannah, Georgia, in missionary labors ; was Professor of the Greek Language and Literature at Amherst College from 1S24 to 1836, when he was transferred totiie chair of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. He was " a man justly esteemed for his eminent talents as well as his virtues." Speaking of him and his associates, Dr. H. B. Hackett, at the semi-centennial of Amherst College (1871), made use of these words: "The age is heroic that produces heroic men ; and it was these early trials of courage, faith, and disinterestedness, which gave us such characters as those of Heman Humphrey, Edward Hitchcock, Nathan W. Fiske, and others. I account it one of my greatest obligations to the college that it gave me the benefit of the example and teachings of such men. I can truthfully say that my remembrance of their disinterestedness, fidelity, and self-denial has ever been among the best inspirations of my life." He died in Jerusalem, May 27, 1847, while on a journey in Palestine for the recovery of his health, and his body was buried in a small cemetery on Mount Zion, near the tomb of the Psalmist David. Five years later Dr. Hackett, on his visit to Jerusalem, made arrangements for the planting of two cypresses over the gr;i\c of his lioUDnil teacher and well-belovi'd IViciKJ. .V l,atni epitaph, setting forth his cliaracter in just terms, is inscribed upon his tonihslone. He published a )l,nni,il of ClaHs'u-al ]/il,'mlin;-, based upon the (lernian work of J. J. Kschcnbnrg, with liiige addiiions and a suppletnentary vohnne of plates, I'Inladelphia, 1830 (fourth edition IS 1.3); also YoiDiff Peler's Tour aroninl l/n' ll'ar/J, and Utori/ of Aleck; or, llldory of Pilau m'.s island.

Bradford Eussell, born N^ovember 17, 1796, was graduated at Harvard College in 1818. He studied law with Hon. James Prescott, of Grotoii, three years ; was admitted to the bar, and established himself in the practice of his profession in Groton. He died July 8, 1864, in Clinton, Massachusetts.

Henry Payson Kendal, youngest son of Rev. Samuel Kendal by his second wife, was born January 31, 1800 ; baptized as Payson, and afterwards had Henry prefixed to his name. He graduated at Harvard College in 1820, and died in Weston, at the house of his mother, February 4, 1832.

Charles Flagg, born April 25, 1799, graduated at Harvard College in 1820. He became insane, and was placed in the McLean Asylum, December 3, 1825, where he died August 26, 1832.

Augustus Henry Fiske, born in Weston, September 19, 1805, was fitted for college at Framingham Academy, and graduated at Harvard in 1825. He studied law at the Law School in Cambridge, and with his father, and established himself in Boston, where he met with remarkable success. He entered into a partnership with Benjamin Rand, which continued until the death of the latter. Charles Sumner was a student at their office. " He was a most thoroughly read lawyer, and his practice was extensive, almost without a j)arallel in Boston." He married Miss Hannah R. Bradford, daughter of Gamaliel Bradford, by whom he had ten children. He died in Boston, March 22, 1865.

Josiah Quincy Loring, born in Boston, April 10, 1811, was fitted for college at the Boston Latin School; entered Harvard College in 1825; left at the end of his Sophomore year, but rejoined his class at the beginning of the Senior year, and graduated with them in 1829. He spent one year in the Law School ; tried teaching and the mercantile business, but finally removed to Weston, where he purchased a farm, and engaged in agriculture the remainder of his life. He married Miss Christian W. Rcnton, daughter of Dr. Peter Renton, of Boston. He died April 6, 1862. He donated a fine set of the ancient classics and several rare volumes to Harvard College Library.

Source changes here: from History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, by Drake, Samuel Adams, published 1880; 12,664 words in this source stream.

Weston Town

1 HE town of Weston iras incorporatedJaniiary 1, 1712-13, by an act of the General Court cutting off ftoin the treat end of Watertown about one half of itfl territoty.

For nearly six yean after its ' settlemeTit in 16-30, the irestem limits of Watertown rcmnined undefined, the town extending indefinitely westward into the country and up tlie , north or left side of Charles River. The first defi. nite boundaries were arranged with the people of Newtown in April, 1635; September 3, of the same year, orders passed the General Court for the Kttleaient of the towns of Concord nrnl Dedham, adjoining Wateitowh n^n the nortlin-est and southwest respectively, ^farch 2, 1635 - 36, the irestem limit was fixed by an order of tlie court declaring that " the bounds of Watertown shall run eight milea into the country from their meeting-house." The grants to Concord anfl to Dedtiam were found to overlap the grant to Watertown, and " for the final end of all differences between Watertown, Concord, and Dedham," tlie eonrt ordered, on the ,8th of June, 1638, "that Watertown eight miles shall he extended upon the line between them . [Watertown] and Cambridge, to far aa Concord bonxdt giee leave; and that their bounds by the rirer shall mu eight miles into the country in a straight line, as also the river doth for the most part mn, and so to take in all the land of that . [north] side of the river, which will not fall into the square five miles granted to Dedham ; and that the neck on the same [north or left] side of the river near to Dedham town, sliall be cast into the said square of five miles to make up the same, so as the said square is to be accounted by quantity and not by sitmition, becanse the place will not admit of it; and that their eight miles from Watertown meeting-house shall be by a line between both the other lines." The extreme soatliwestem portion of the territory, that lying beyond Stony Bnwk, ippeais to have oeen from the beginning the favorite portira with the farmers. Only a fortnight after the fint landing at Dorchester-field, Watertown, by Captain Roger Clap and bis nine companions, May 30, 1630, and less than a week after bis own arrival it Salem, Governor John Wintbrop, with a small party, " went to Mattachusetts to find oat a place for our sitting down, .... for Salem, where wee landed, pleased vs not. And to that pnrpois some were sent to tlie Bay to search vpp the riowi for a connenient [dace, who vppon' their retune reported to liave found a good place vppon Mistiek; but some other of vs seconding theis'to apptooe or dislike of their judgement; wee found a place liked vs better three leagues vpp Cliarles riuer."'

"This," says Dr. John G. Palfrey, in his Hitiorj of New England, " would correspond to what is now Walt&am or IFeilon, and I think it very likely toliave been near the mouth of Slonji Brook, which divides those two towns."

Winthrop's party liked this locality so well tbt it was resolved to make this the place of settlement for the whole company, and to name it Botln. " .\nd there vppon," says Dudley, " anshipped our goods into other vessels and with much cost and Uibour brought them in July to Charles Towne; bnt sick of feaver and the scurvy and wee thereby anable to carry vpp our ordnance and bs^age soe fan) wee were forced to change our counsaile and for our present shelter to plant dispersedly, some at Charles Towne which standeth on the north Side of mouth of Charles Riuer ; some on the South Side, wliich place wee named Boston (as wee in* tended to have done the place wee first resolved on) some of vs vppon Ifistick, which place wee named Meadford; some of vs westwards on Charles Biuer, four miles from Charles Towne, which place wee named Wafertoune."

careful observer, gave the following description of this section in a letter written in 1686 to his father-in-law, giving an account of a ramble made bj a party from Boston to attend the annual sermon preached to the Indians at Natick. The men rode upon horseback, each having a lady companion upon the pillion of his saddle as '' luggnge." Dunton was fortunate in escorting the Widow Brick, a fair lady whom he calls '' the flower of Boston/' They started early, and arriving at Watertown, " we alighted,^' he says, " and refresh't our Luggnge, and while others were Engaged in Frothy Discourses, the Widow Brick and I took a View of the Town, which is built upon one of the branches of Charles River, very fruitful, and of large extent; watered with many pleasant Springs, and small Eivulets : The Inhabitants live scatteringly. . . . - Having well refresh't our selves at Water-Town, we mounted again, and from thence we rambled thro' severall Tall Woods between the Mountains, over many rich and pregnant Vallies as ever eye beheld, beset on each side with variety of goodly Trees : So that had the most Skilful Gardner design'd a shady walk in a fine Valley, it would have fallen short of that which nature here had done without him/' This descnption is understood to apply to the road through Waltham and Weston, and is nearly as applicable to-day as when written, when it is remembered that the " pregnant vallies " have swallowed up the " tall woods/'

The territory of the original town of Watertown was so extensive that its several parts were very early known by distinct and peculiar names. The lands next west of Beaver Brook were called " the --lots in the Further Plain/' or the Great Plain (and later Waltham Plain). The Bemote or West Kne Meadows were probably in the southeni or southeastern parts of Weston. The Lieu of Township Lots, or lots beyond the Further Plain, were west of Waltham Plain, south of the Great Dividends, and extended beyond Stony Brook. The Farms, or Farm Lauds, included what remained ais far as the Sudbury and Dedham bounds, comprising the main portion of Weston.

These names, applied in general terms to divisions of the territory of the original town of Watertown, arc used in the early grants to the freemen ; the names of the grantees, and the number of acres allotted to each, are given by-Dr. Bond in the first ap|)cn(li;!L to his Histortf of IFaieriown.

or West Pine Meadow, divided and lotted out to all the Townsmen then inhabiting, being 114 in number, allowing one acre for a person, and likewise for cattle, valued at 20 lb. the head, beginning next the Pbyne Meadow, and to go on until the lots are ended." These meadows. Dr. Bond, who gave the matter careful and thorough investigation, thinks were probably in the southern and southeastern part of Weston.

July 17, 1638, it was ''Ordered, that all the Land lying beyond the Plowland [lots in the Further Plain] and the lots granted in liew of y* Towneship [extending west of Stony Brook], having j* great dividents on the one [north] side, Charles Biver and Dedham bounds on the other [south] side, and the Farme lands at the further end [west side] of it, shalbe for a Common for Cattle, to the use of the freemen of the Towne and their heirs forever, & not to be alienated without the Consent of every freeman and their heirs forever.^ This order is particularly noticeable as being the first instance upon the records where the term '' t*arm lands '^ is applied to the territory now Weston.

Three months later, October 14, 1638, it was " Ordered, that the Farmes granted shall begin at the nearest meadow to Dedham line, beyond the line that runneth at the end of y* great dividents parralell to the line at the end of the Towne bounds, and so to go on successively from Dedham Bounds in order as they are given out, as they w*** are deputed to lay them out shall see good & appoint^ the proportion of meddow being twenty Acres to One Hundred & fifty Acres of upland.^'

November 27, 1639, the Fre^en's Common was disposed of to the Farms by the order '* y* if the Land in Yiew for Farmes sliall not su£Sce to accommodate the rest of the Townsmen that are behind, that then they shall have their Farmes out of the Freemen's Common upon the same condition that the rest have theirs/'

At the meeting held October 14, 1638, it was "Ordered, y* Daniel Pattrick, Abram Browiie,* John Stowers, Edmund Lewis, and Simon Eire, or the maior part of them, shall lay out these Farms as thev are ordered/*

In the files of the Cbuntv Court is a schedule dated May 10, 1642, containing a list of names of persons to whom ninety-two farms, containing 7,674 acres, were allotted, and mention is made of " faifais laid out formerly.'^ The names of the committee do not appear on this schedule, but they do appear, with some half-dozen others, in connection with a

Tan^ oMots on the south side of the highwn j. '' Tlie first lot in the range, adjoining the Sudbury Line, was that of Bryan Pendleton, by him sold to Peter Noyes, and very early purchased by George Muntaing/' Adjoining this on the east were the lots of Daniel Pattrick, Simon Eire, John Stowers, Abrahaml Browne, John Whitney, Edward How, Jeremiah Norcross, and Thomas 3Iayhew, who thus 'appear to have been the earliest proprietors of laiids in Weston. The allotment committee, seem to have provided farms for themselves and a few friends in advance of the general allotment i>f May, 1642.

* ' From 1647 to 1663 there was much dissatisfaction and contention about the earlv allotments of the Bemote Meadows, the lands in lieu of township and of the farm lands, and in the latter year this portion of the town was re-surveyed and plotted by Captain John Sherman for a new allotment. It contained 1,103 acres, bounded on the south by Dedham, we^ by Natick and Sudbury, and on other sides by the farm lands. This district is frequently referred to in early deeds as '' the land of contention."

The westward growth of the town - particularly the taking up of the farm hinds (in Weston) - removed the farmers so far from the meeting-house (from five to eight miles), that it was inconvenient for them to attend service there, and a considerable number of them united with the church in Sudbury, which was much nearer to them, but thev were taxed for the support of the ministry in Watertown.

The earliest mention in the records of a boundarv between the Farms and the rest of Watertown is March 13, 1682-83, when it was voted that '' those that dwell on west of Stony Brook be freed from school tax in 1683."

The Farms were afterward known for a few vears as the Farmers' Precinct, sometimes as the Third Military Precinct, or the precinct of Lieutenant Jones's company, sometimes as the Westernmost Precinct.

November 10, 1685, the town "voted tliat the fanners' petition should be suspended, as to an answer to it, mitil it pleaseth God to settle a minister amongst us,'' from which, i)erhaps, it may be inferred that they had asked to be exempted from the tax for the support of a church which they could not attend.

In 1692 a town-meeting was held to decide upon a site for a new meeting-house, but the freemen were too mnch divided in sentimeni to cone to an agreement An exciting controversy followed, and the governor and council were called upon to settle the matter.

Their decision did not please all, and at a townmeeting held May 9, 1694, an earnest protest, signed by eighty-two men and women residing in the eastern part of the town, and by thirty-three men and women residing at the western part, in the Farms, was presented against following the advice of the governor and council. At au irreguhr town-meeting held October 2, 1 694, Beaver Brook was made the eastern boundary of the Farmers' Precinct ; but the General Court, at their May session, 1699, fixed it at Stony Brook. At this meeting it was stated tliat the farmers were *^ upon endeavors to have a meeting-house among thenh selves." .

January 9, 1694-95 the farmers met, and agreed to build a meeting-house thirty feet square, and to place it on the land of Nathaniel Cooledge,^ Sr., by the side of the road, at the head of Parkhurst's meadow, a little to the west of Iffae present fiag-pole. The next year agents were chosoi to contract with workmen to build the house, which was to be call^ the Farmers' Meeting-bouse. The work was begun by subscription, money being contributed " Some time in August, 1695," by sun* dry persons for the purpose of presenting a petition to the General Court, praying for leave " to set up the public worship of God amongst the inhabitants of the west end of said town " (Watertown). This petition was granted at the May session of 1698. In February, 1697, the formers were exempted from ministerial rates in the town. Votes were passed at precinct meetings in November, 1698, August, September, and November, 1699, making provision for completing the meeting-house. February 14, 1700, the precinct voted to have a minister to preach in the meeting-house, to begin the second &bbath of the ensuing March, so that it was five years from the time the farmers voted to build a meeting-house before it was so far completed as to be usable; and from a vote passed March 30, 1710, granting money to finish- the meeting-house, it appears not to have been fully finished until ten years later, fifteen years being thus consumed in erecting a building thirty feet square.

Mnrch 5, 1700, money was granted to support preaching, and grants continued to be made at successive periods for the same purpose, but it was

Mr. Thomas Symmes, graduated at Harvard College in 1698^ was chosen minister October 8, 1700, but he did not accept. March 10 and September 12, 1701, the committee of the precinct was directed to provide a man to preach with them. December 19, 1701, they voted that Mr. Joseph Mors (H. C. 1695) should continue in order for settlement^ and July 6, 1702, they gave him a call by a vote of thirty to twelve. September 28, they renewed their call, g^nting an annual salary, and promising to build him a house 40 X 20 feet. November 23, he accepted the call, conditionally, and the precinct accepted his answer January 8, 1702-8, and voted to begin the promised house, trhich was raised October 4, following, and put into Mr. Mors's possession the year after. Difficulties arose, and he was not settled. Perplexing delays followed, and the precinct fiiuilly decided to purchase Mr. Morses ''housing and lauds,'' indemnifying him agajust pecuniary loss, and that he aliould leave them in the spring of 1706. An agreement was not easily reached, as Mr. Mors did not convey the premises to the committee until December 31, 1707. Ineffectual efforts were earnestly made to bring about a reconciliation between Mr. Mors and his opposers.