History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

394 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
the bodies of Captain John Lovewell, Ensign Jona- the first Parish in Dunstable, voted that the Place
than EobbinSj Ensign Joim Harwood, and Robert for a fleeting House for the Publick worship of
Usher, of Dunstable ; Sergeant Jacob Fulhairij of God, in this precinct be on the west of Merrimack
Weston ; Jacob Farrar and Josiah Davis, of Con- River, near Mr. James Gordons mills, where a fraim
cord ; Thomas Woods, Daniel Woods, and John is erected for that Purpose. Also Voted to accept
Jefts, of Groton; Ichabod Johnson, of Woburn ; the Fraim that is Now on the spot. Jlessrs. John
and Jonathan Kittrcdge, of Billerica. They also Tyng & Jonathan Tyng came to the meeting, and
found the body of the chieftain Paugus.
gave the Precinct, Glass for the meeting house.
The house of Colonel Eleazer Tyng seemed to be Voted to raise twenty-seven pounds to finish the
a kind of rendezvous for the friendly Indians, as meeting house, also voted the precinct Committee
that of his father had been before him, and it is
not without interest that we read this record in the
journals of the General Court —
:
"Nov. 6, 1725, Col. Tyng presented an account
for Expences in Keeping old Christians Squaw and
young Christians Squaw from June 9 to Nov. 5,
£10, lO.s. he was allowed £5, 5*. — and the next
year, he was allowed for keeping old Christians
Squaw from Nov 6 to Jan 28, 1726."
The name of " Christian " was Joseph. He was
a ilohawk Indian, and long acted as a guide to the
English in their marches through the wilderness.
He died July 10, 1725, at Dunstable.i
By the state line, established in 1741, the pres-
ent territory of Tyngsborough was thrown into
Massachusetts, and the people for a while acted in
church affairs with those of Dunstable, Massachu-
setts, forming, as they did, a part of this munici-
pality. The Indians had long since ceased to
molest them, and nothing of consequence occurred
to interrupt the even tenor of their way.
In the expedition under Sir William Pepperell
to Cape Breton, in 17 IS, Benjamin, son of Lieu-
tenant Joseph Bnttirfield, was lost.
Lieutenant Timothy Bancroft, a fanner of note,
settled in what is now Tyngsborough about the
year 1730, married for his first wife Elizabeth,
daughter of Deacon Henry Farwell, and died
November 4, 1772. Two of his sons, Ebenezer
(born April 1, 17:38) and Jonathan (born August
11, 1750), settled in Dunstable and became
prominent in public affairs. Ebenezer married.
May 5, 1753, Susanna, daughter of Deacon Joseph
Fletcher, of Dunstable, and in 1755 entered the
provincial army and served through five campaigns.
His brother Jonathan was a deacon of the church
and soldier in the Revolutionary army. Soon after
the orgiiniziiliim of th(' parish in 1755 a meeting
was held, the procredings of which are thus recorded
—
:
" August 20, 1755. At a loyal Mrrling held in
* Kidder's Ej-prdiliona nf Captain Joint Loimcll, ji. S.
to see the work done.
"Eleazer Tyng, Moderator."
The meeting-house was erected, having two
porches and a tall steeple, near the site of the
present Unitarian Church. Of it the Hon. John
Pitts is said to have written : —
"A very small meeting-house,
A very tall steeple,
A very proud parson,
A queer sort of people."
In 1756 Eleazer Tyng, Simon Thompson, and
Oliver Farwell were appointed a committee " to
sett off the pew ground to those that have given
& Pay** most toward building Said house." In
1757 the parish raised £11 "tn hiic< piiMrhing";
and recent graduates of Harvard ( tilUgc were gen-
erally employed to occupy the ])ulpit. The elders
sat upon an elevated scat in front of the pulpit,
and tithing-men were employed to keep the you)ig
people in order.
The selectmen for 1760 were Eleazer Tyng,
Major John A. Tyng, and Joseph Danforth, all of
whom were of the First Parish in Dunstable,
that is, the present Tyngsborough. The members
of this jjarish, in 1762, were: Eleazer Tyng, John
Tyng, John A. Tyng, James Tyng, William H.
Prentice, Wdliam Gordon, Robert Fletcher, Sam-
uel Gould, Joseph Butterfield, Reuben Butterfield,
Jolni Perham, Joseph Perham, James Perham,
Jncdh I'lrtchcr, Kli|ah Flrlchir.Zaccheus Spaulding,
S;niiu,l (l.uild, Th.unas Jewell, Benoni Jewell,
John Ingles, Jonathan Perham, Samuel Fletcher,
John Littlelmle, Abraham Littlehale, Timothy Ban-
croft, Jonathan Butterfield, Jonathan Farwell,
Joseph Winn, Eleazer Farwell, lieujamin Farwell,
Simon Thompson, Nathan Thompson, Ezra Thomp-
son, Silas Thompson, Asa Thomjjson, John .Vlls,
Thomas Estabrook, Thomas Estabrook, .Ir., Tiiiio-
thv Barron, William Barron, Robert Send, Jacob
Reed, John Scott, Willard Hale, John Lewis,
Reuben Lewis, Archibald Robinson, Joseph French,
Esq., Lieutenant John Varnum, James Littlehale,
—