Woburn City (part 4 of 4)

Some notice should be taken of two men who have made Woburn conspicuous as being the place of their birth, - Benjamin Thompson (Count Bumford) and Colonel Baldwin. Loammi Baldwin was bom in the north part of the town, Januar}* 21, 1745. In his youth he disclosed those qualities of character for which he afterward became eminent. Tlie natural bent of his mind was toward mathematics and physical science. In this lie resembled his friend and boyish neighbor, tlie future count. In his early school-days he was a pupil of Master Fowie, the noted teacher in Woburn at that period. Not having the opjiortunities of ' securing a collegiate education, he took advantage of all chances to add to his positive knowledge.' In company with young Thompson he walked to Cambridge to hear the lectures of Professor Winthrop on astronomy and other sciences at Har^rd College. To show the interest these young men felt for their studies, it is said that upon returning home from these lectures fliey made various rude instruments for their own use, with which to verify the experiments and problems of the professor.

At the opening of the Revolutionary War, in 1775, Baldwin enlisted as a private in the regiment commanded by Colonel Gerrish. His promotion was rapid, as in the cour:>e of a few months he was advanced from post to post till he was made commander of the regiment. This was stationed about Boston as a part of the investing forces of Washington. After the evacuation of tliat city by the British, Colonel Baldwin followed his chief to New York. There he was placed in command of tbe main guard at the Battery. Upon the retreat of the' army from New York to a positioii behind flic Delaware, his regiment made part of the forces. Wlien Washington recrossed the river and performed that brilliant action at Trenton, Colond Baldwin and his men were an important elefhent in its success. During the following year, and before any other leading event in the war had occurred, he asked and received an honorable discharge from service, on account of seriously im- , paired health. Betuniing to his native town, he ' continued to exercise his talents and influence in support of the inde])endehce of his country. In 1780 he was appointed high sheriff of Middlesex County, and was the first who held that responsible office under the new state constitution. He was several times elected as representative to the General Court, and became a candidate for the offices of senator, lieutenant-governor, and elector of president. Being of the minority party, he was unsuccessful in his candidacy, but had the satisfaction of receiving, with one or two exceptions, the solid vote of his fellow-townsmen. At the' time of Shays' Rebellion, 1786-87, when Woburn in a fit of despondency over the state of affairs voted not to assist with men or money in its suppression, Colonel Baldwin and a few others made such an earnest protest against this action of the town that the vote was in a very few days rescinded.

In 1703 the construction of the Middlesex Canal was authorized by the legislature. Colonel Baldwin was an active promoter of this enterprise, a^^d one of the persorflr namfed in its charter. Although an English engineer was employed to survey the route from Chelmsford to Charjestown, Colonel Baldwin attended the survey thfcUghout, and thoroughly supervised the l6cation. The canal was not completQ4' until 180*%:wHeh it became a matter of extensive notoriety, aiyi was visited by hundreds of persons from different parts of the country. The canal traversed l^e townof^obum through its central part, an4 during th^ time of its most active business (a period of about thirty years) it presented a picturesque ^nd animated scene. After the construction of tlie Boston and Lowell Railroad the canal fell into disuse, and its bed is at the present time nearly obliterated. To Colonel Baldwin the public is indebted for the introduction of the famous Baldwin apple. ' He did not '' invent " it, or grow it out of wild stock, but he discovered it on a tree on the farm of J. Butters, in Wilmington, and being attracted by its fine flavor and free bearing, secured scions from it for his own use, and afterward freely distributed them to all the neighborhood. Colonel Baldwin died on the 20th of October, 1807, at^he age of sixty-three.

Benjamin Thompson, afterward widely and honorably known as Count Bumford, was bom fn the north village of Wbburn, in March, 1753. His ancestor, James Thompson, was one of the original settlers of the town, and- one of its first selectmen. The father of young Thompson, who was also named Benjamin, died when his afterward JEtmous son was but one and a lialf years old. The early boyhood of the son was. spent on his father's farm, but at the a^e of eleven he was sent to school at Medford ; 'he was also a pupil of Master' Fowle, of the Wobuni grammar schopl, and in attending it was the intimate friend of Colonel Loammi Baldwin. Not Jiaving the qualities of character that suited the vocation of farming, he was sent to Salem at the age of thirteen, as an apprentice to an importer of English goods. This employment was as unsuited to his nature as that of farming, as he was continually busy with tools and instruments, with drawing and music. He continued at Salem for three years, at the end of whiqh time he had matured greatly more in philoaophy and machinen than in the mysteries of trade. But he was sent again in a few months to the dry-goods tra<h in Boston. While there the historical Blassacre took place, in which it was said Thompson wis conspicuous amoi^ tlie excited populace. The business of the city being now nearly suspended, he returned to Wobum, and began the study of medicine with a Dr. Hay.

It was %t this period that he attended the scientific lectures ati^Harvard College, given by Professor TTinthrop, in company with young Baldwin. He afterward took up the occupation of teaching, and was invited to take cliaige of a school in Concord, New Hampshire, then called Bumford, in 1770. While thus engaged he became acquainted with Mrs. Sank Bolfe, widow qf Benjamin Bolfe, to whom he ms married in 1772. By this union he came into possession of considerable property. The new social position acquired brought him in contact with Governor Wentworth, of that state, who, recognizing his talents, gave him a commission as major in thq 2d New Hampshire Begiment. This promotion over tlie heads of officers already in the ^service claused the bitterest feelings on their part towards him, ^hile the attitude of loyalty to Great Britain hfid by the governor caused his friends, Thompson tf^ong them, to be held as " unfricndlj to the cause of liberty/' Major Thompson had also about this time given shelter to two deserten from the British army in Boston ; but, on learning that they wished to return, he interceded with General Gage for this purpose, and asked, as a precan- ^*on, that he (Tlnmipson) might not be known in the matter. The transaction leaked out, however, and Thompson was brought before the " sons of liberty '* to answer to the clmrge of torj-ism. TIk chai^ was not sustained, but he was the object of constant suspicion, and at length his house was mobbed by a party of excited patriots, and he fied in haste to Wobum. Just before this his daughter, afterwards the Countess Sarah, was bom. Thompson found, on his arrival at his native place, that be had reached no harbor of safety. The suspicions against him had travelled to the town before him. An arrest and examination before a committee of his townsmen resulted in his discharge, and a recommendation to public confidence. But, feeling insecure, he went for a time to Charlestown. At this time the war had opened, and no evidence is offered from any quarter to show his hostility to the patriot cause. He applied to Washington fo: a commission in the army, which was not given. The refusal is believed to have been founded on the animosity of the officers of tlie New Hampshire regiments. This rebuff touched him deeply, and the feeling was intensified when, on his retuni to Wobum, a company was sent to arrest him. His persecutors were foiled by the presence of mind of his friend Baldwin. Thompson wrote to his fatherin-law at Concord that he " had done nothing to merit such cruel usage, and he could not bear any longer the insults that liad been offered liim." He determined, therefore, to leave the vicinity, if not the country. He left Wobura quietly for Newport, ilhode Island, where he was taken on board a British frigate, which soon after came to Boston. Here he remained through tlie winter. Upon the evacuation of tlie town, in March, he was despatched to England as bearer of the news. He was immediately taken into favor, and a place was made for him in the office of Lord George Germaine, one of the Enghsh ministers. In four years from the time of his arriving in England he was appointed an under secretary of state. Toward the close of the war he was commissioned as a colonel of dragoons, and came to America in tlie service of England. For a little time he was in South Carolina, and acted as a partisan commander against General Marion, and was afterwards stationed on Long Island, at the head of a regiment of refugee dragoons. He s<iw but httle active service, and on the declaration of peace returned to England. Obtaining leave of absence for the continent of Europe, he visited Austria with a view of obtaining military service against the Turks. He was warmly received by the em|)eror ; but the war soon closing he came to Munich, where he entered the service of the elector of Bavaria, whom he had previously met at Strasburg, and who had been favorably impressed by his talents and accomplishments. As grand chamberlain of the prince he at once set about im|)ortant reforms in the government. He thoroughly reoi^nized the military department, not only introducing a better standard of discipline and economy, but founded army worksliops and military gardens, where the soldiers could employ their time and talents in mechanical and agricultural pursuits, to their own personal advantage as well as the benefit of the state. Tliese things being accomplished, he set about reforming the system of beggary pervading Munich and its suburbs. This mendicancy was of the most sliamelcss and extortionate character, and needed a wise and firm hand to control it. Thompson was fully equal to the emei^ucy. He made such careful preparations for the execution of his projects, that the whole body of beggars was arrested on a certain day, and consigned to a large and well-arranged workhouse, and the lazy and troublesome vagabonds set to useful employment. Sir Benjamin (he had been knighted by George III. on leaving England) also instituted other social reforms, greatly improved the breed of ho