History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

34.2 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
that they may be set off a distinct, and separate
town, and be vested with all the powers and privi-
leges of a Town, and the Inhabitants of Charles-
town, by their Agents, having consented to their
being set off accordingly. And a committee of
this Court having viewed the northerly ])art of the
said Town of Charlestown, and reported in favor
of the Petitioners : Be it therefore enacted, by the
Lieutenant Governor, Council and Kepresentatives,
in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same; That the northerly part of the said
Town of Charlestown, That is to say, XW the lands
lying on the east side of Woburn, the south side
of Reading, the west side of Maiden, and the north
side of the Fifth Range of the first Division of
Charlestown Wood-lots, be and hereby is, set o(f
and constituted, a separate Township by the name
of Stoneham. And that the inhabitants of the
said Town of Stoneham do, within the space of
two years, from the publication of this act erect
and furnish a suitable house for the Public Worship
of God and as soon as may be procure and
settle, a Learned Orthodox minister, of good con-
versation and make provision for his comfortable
and honorable support and likewise provide a
school master to instruct their youth in writing
and reading, and that thereupon they be discharged
from any payments for the maintenance of the
Ministry and School in the Town of Charlestown."
The bounds at the southerly line were set,
March 2:i, 17^5, nine months previous to the act of
incorporation, by committees chosen from Charlestown
and the proposed new town of Stoneham.
The first town-meeting was held December 24-,
17.25. Timothy Bolden, Sr., was chosen modera-
tor, and Daniel Gould, Jr., clerk. The next
vote passed was " To chouse a commity To treat
with Mr. Nathaniel Rencook to preach with us."
They also chose a committee of three to survey
the meeting-house at Lynn End. It wSs voted,
January 4, 1726, to build a meeting-house thirty-
two feet wide and thirty-six feet long, with twenty-
foot posts, but subse(|uently the dimensions were
changed to thirty-six feet in width and fortv feet
in length. The third meclint,' was held Mareli 7,
172G, at which time the lolloumi,' Uiinicd persons
were chosen a board of scliclincii : Ciptain
Benja-
min (ieary, (Japtain John \'iiil(iii, Mr. Peter Hay,
Mr. Timothy Bolden, and LicnlciKint Timothy
Wright. For many years the board consisted of
five persons, who received no compensation for
their services. 'J'he eonimittcc for building llu'
meeting-house was also instructed to select the
site. Tliere was considerable contention in regard
to this, some being anxious to build at the easterly
part of the town, on the plain, which for a long
time was owned by the heirs of the late Captain
Daniel Green. It was, however, finally decided to
have it stand between the black-oak tree and the
red-oak tree, upou the hill, near the end of the
school-house ; and the building was raised about the
last of November, 1726. The lot of land on which
it was erected is now owned by Jlr. Charles Buck,
and is situated on the east side of Pleasant Street.
For furnishing the meeting-house, " the sum of
£5 \\s. dd. was given by the women of Stoneham,
£1 1*. G(L by the Maiden Gentlewomen, and
£1 1*. Gi/. by the gentlewomen of Woburn and
Reading." About ten years after its completion
a vote was passed that family pews might be built
which should be lotted out to such men as ap-
peared to be the highest in rate and right, and
by the subsequent distribution the preferred indi-
viduals were the Hays, the Goulds, and the Greens.
The old burial-ground was purchased of James
Hay for £13 o*., the deed being dated July 11,
1726.
" The only public building in existence previous
to the erection of the meeting-house was the school-
bouse. The town well organized, and the meeting-
house built, measures were next taken to procure
a settled minister and to secure the services of a
schoolmaster. The former was considered a ques-
tion of such vital importance to the welfare of the
people, that it was voted in town-meeting assembled
to set apart a day for prayer to seek God's direction
in the choice of a minister, and so strong was their
religious faith, that they doubted not their jjrayers
had been answered when, in the following month,
they elected the Rev. James Osgood." '
Mr. Osgood received Ids call from the inhabi-
tants of the town to settle, October 29, 1728, and
gave an afRrinative answer, April 21, 1729. The
church was organized July 2, 1729, and Mr. Os-
good's ordination occurred on the lOlh of the
following September. The first marriage solem-
nized by him was that of John Tidd, of Woburn, to
Abigail Gould, of Stoneham, November 26, 1729.
The town continued gradually to increase m
population, and consetpunitly in the demand for
more tenements, land, and additional highways or
bridle-ways, so that about 1731 the road now
known as Wyoming Street was built, passing ou
• W, H, SU'veiis' onilion.