History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

with Captain Wadsworth in his desperate struggle
with the savages on tlie 21st of April, as they must
have been the chief body that fought the Indians
the day before. On the side of the Indians were
their bravest and most trusted warriors, under their
most powerful braves, led either by One-Eyed John
or Sagamore Sam. In all coming time the Green
Hill fight will be referred to as one of the most
desperate and well-conducted battles ever waged
between civilized and savage soldiers.
Having spoken of the Haynes garrison-house,
it should be said that there were three noted houses
north of the npper causeway ; and another on
the road to Framingham in the south part of
the town, where Mr. Luther Cutting now resides.
These garrison-houses were usually very massive,
and bullet-proof. Professor Young, having person-
ally examined it, describes the AYalker house thus :
—
This house, " now owned by the venerable Wil-
lard Walker, was built by his great-grandfather
two hundred years ago, and has been in the pos-
session of the family ever since. There is one
beam in this house measuring twelve by fourteen
inches. The building is covered on all sides with
four-inch plank of pitch-pine, which is set up end-
wise and reaches to the roof, and is held on the
inside by wooden pins. The chimney, likewise, is
immense, and has several enormous flues ; while
the fireplace was large enough to contain logs that
were eight feet long. The windows were originally
of diamond-shaped glass set in lead ; but these
SUVBURY.
Haynes Garrison-House.
307
have been removed. It is a most unique curiosity
and an invaluable relic which should never be de-
stroyed." This is the only one of tiie three garri-
son-houses still remaining, the Haynes house hav-
ing been demolished quite recently.
In the Revolutionary War, in 1776, when the
Declaration of Independence was made, and the
war formally begun, Sudbury was the most popu-
lous, and in many respects one of the most impor-
tant towns in Middlesex County. At that date
the population was 2,160, while that of Waltham
was 870; of Watertown, 1,057; of Cambridge,
of this sort on the west side of the river : the 1,586; of Charlestown, 360; of Concord, 1,3-11
Walker house in the southwest part of the town, of Lexington, 1,088 ; and of Marlborough, 1,55-1.
called Peekham ; the Haynes house on Water Eow, The records show that Sudbury was in advance of
almost all the towns round about in furnishing men,
horses, cattle, hay, and many other supplies for the
army. As in these respects Sudbury was such a
leading town, the action of the voters on any meas-
ures of public moment was sought, as carrying
great weight with it.
It is evident that Sudbury at that time had sev-
eral men of great ability, while the whole people
were loyal to the core, and ready to bear their ])art
in the ])rosecution of the struggle. For a long
time before the war broke out there were in the
town two companies of minute-men, — one on the
east and one on the west side of the river, — and
an alarm-company composed of old men exempt liy
age from service, and of those too young to enter
the regular militia service. These companies met
frequently for drill, often in the evening, and in
the meeting-houses, and frequently by the light of
pine-knot torches. The town used to pay a small
;