History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

above it, which were formerly obliged to follow a
circuitous route through Medibrd or seek the incon-
venient passage at Wiiinisimmet or Penny Ferry, i
The building of the bridge, which was strongly
urged by the Maiden people, was bitterly opposed ,
by the inhabitants of iledford, who lost both reason
and temper in the contest. " Fools," " Maiden
miserables," and " ignoramuses " were some of the
names which the staid Rev. Dr. Osgood of Med-
ford applied to his neighbors, whom he repre-
sented as " distracted creatures," who " leave their
corn unhoed, and their grass not cut, to carry peti-
tions to court for a bridge," in consequence of
which "their families next winter will have no
bread and their cattle no hay." Tiie opening of
the bridge was followed, before the close of the cen-
tury, by the building of a direct road to Black i
Ann's Corner in East Maiden, which had been ,
reached by a winding way through Chelsea. Later
still, the Newburyport turnpike traversed the town
from its northeastern borders to the bridge, and
increased travel by offering a well-made road which
avoided the many windings of its predecessors.
In the winter"of 17S4-S5 Rev. Peter Thaclier,
who was the most popular preacher ever settled in
Maiden, removed to Boston in consequence of a
call from the Brattle-Street Church. This removal
was the cause of a number of communications in
\!a.Q Massachusetts CentUiel ; those signed by "A
Country Booby " and "A Country Minister " being
the most noticeable. A poetical epistle, which ap-
peared in the same paper, has been several times
reprinted. That the Maiden people felt the removal
keenly, is shown iu a letter of the church in
which they complain that their wealthier neighbor
" has wounded us in a tender part," and declare
that " our Distress, anxiety, and trouble are great
indeed " ; and they " most earnestly entreat " the
Boston church to endeavor "to reinstate us in that
quiet and happy condition in which your papers
found us." In tlie settlement of tiie difficulty the
Boston church paid the debt of its distressed neigh-
bor, and gained a minister who proved to be not
the least in the brilliant line of preachers who
graced the honored pulpit of Brattle Street.
MALDEN. 131
,
j
j
preventing the mutually wish* for Union of the
Two Parishes in this Town both of which have
severely felt Their Separation and thus Remaining
will Probibly Terminate in the Ruin of both." A
strong protest, -signed by Captain John Dexter and
twenty-one others, which was presented to the or-
daining couucil, proving of no avail, the signers,
mostly men of influence, withdrew to the South
Parish. This secession carried an element of
strength from the North Church, and induced a
temporary throb of life in its expiring neighbor.
The unfinished meeting-iiouse, which had become
almost a ruui, was repaired ;
and Mr. Willis, after
more than thirty years of discouragements and dis-
appointment, found himself with something like a
society under his charge. Mr. Judson proved un-
able to control or quiet the distracted church over
which he was placed. His religious sentiments,
which are said to have materially differed not only
from those of his people but also " from tlie Es-
tablished Doctrines of the Neighboring Ministers
and Churches," counteracted the influence of "his
moral virtues and his meek and pious demeanor."
After a settlement of four years of discord he was
dismissed in 1791. In his latter years he joined
and he died at Scituate
the Baptist denomination ;
in 1826, requesting at the last that he might be
buried from the church of his early faith. His
son, the celebrated missionary to Burraah, was born
in Maiden, August 9, 1788.
With the retirement of Mr. Judson a way was
happily opened for a reunion of the parishes. On
the return of Captain Dexter and his associates
to their own church they carried with them the
pastor and people of the South Precinct; and
March 25, 1792, Mr. Willis became the sole min-
ister of Maiden. He was then near fourscore years
of age, and had passed through a life of disappoint-
ments, gaining a reputation as a good and worthy
man. In the eighty-eighth year of life, in the quiet
and gentle ministrations of his office, deatli found
him at his post; and he fell on sleep witii the love
of his own people and the respect of the neighboring
churches. His Bible, which was used many
years in the pulpit of the First Parish, has been
After remaining without a pastor about eighteen
months, the church called Rev. Adoniram Judson. foundation of a parish library have disappeared.
A violent opposition was made to this call; and Mr. Willis was succeeded by Rev. Aaron Green,
six months elapsed and four councils were held who had been ordained as his colleague, Septem-
before Mr. Judson was ordained. lie was held as ber 30, 1795. He was the son of Ezra Green of
one of "Bade Hopkintonian Principels," whose this town ; and was born January 4, 1 765, and was
settlement would offer " an Effectual Barrier in graduated at Harvard College, 1789. Like his
thrust aside ; and the books which he left as the