History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

cinct; not granted. In 1713 the east-side inhabi-
tants proposed to move the meeting-house " as near
as possible to the centre of the town " ; not ac-
cepted by the west-siders. In 1711 tiie west-side
people petitioned the legislature " to be erected
into a new township." Tin's was not granted; but
October 28, it was ordered "that tiiere be a dis-
tinct Precinct and a meeting-house erected for the
public worship of God, on tlie west side of Sud-
bury River." The formal organization of the
"West Precinct took place December 18, 17;J1,
when it was voted " to have the preaching of the
word of God amongst us"; and Mr. Minott was
chosen to preach for six weeks. Tiie East Pre-
cinct was organized June 25, 1722, and at once
proceeded to make the necessary provision for
"their now settled minister Mr. Israel Loring."
But they had been anticipated by the West Pre-
cinct, which on the 6th of June had voted " to give
the Rev. Mr. Loring an invitation to come over
and settle and be their minister," otieriug him
£100 for his "settlement," etc. July 10, Mr.
Loring writes : " To the inhabitants of the West
Precinct in Sudbury : I accept of the kind invita-
tion you have given me to come over and settle
with you and be the minister of the Westerly Pre-
cinct." The next day, July 11, Mr. Loring an-
nounces by letter to the East Precinct his decision
to leave them and settle on the west side. " Feb. 1 1
1728. The church met at my house, where, after
the brethren on the east side had manifested their
desire that the church might be divided into two
churches, it was so voted by a majority." [Church
Records, by J. Loring.)
Rev. William Cook was ordained as the suc-
cessor of Mr. Loring, March 20, 1723. He was a
native of Hadley; a graduate of Harvard in 1716,
and librarian of that institution for a time. He
was a fine scholar, and a man of ardent piety.
He died November 12, 1760, aged sixty-six.
In 1725-26 a new meeting-house — the fourth
— was built. It was located at what is now the
Centre. The committee was instructed " to make it
as near as they can like the new house in the West
Precinct," — only the " steps " were to be " hand-
somer," — with the same number of pews.
Rev. Josiah Bridge, born at Lexington (H. U.
1758), was ordained November 4, 1761 ; died
June 19, 1801, in the sixty-second year of his
,
WAYLAND. 469
their families as pioneers into most of the frontier
settlements in Worcester and old Hampshire
counties, and consequently felt a personal interest
in the welfare and perils of these exposed towns.
Many of our men did service in the so-called
Father Ralle's War, 1723-26. Sergeant Daniel
How and ten men joined Captain Samuel Wright's
Rutland scout, and were out from November 10,
1723, to April 10, 1724. Sergeant William Brint-
nall, with seven men, was in service from August 1
to October 27, 1725. Four of our men joined the
expedition to the West Indies in 1640.
On the breaking out of the French and Indian
War of 1744 the Sudbury Troop, — forty-four
men, — commanded by Captain Josiah Brown, contained
representatives of most of our families, and
was ordered in 1746 to the defence of Number
Four. Our men were drafted for garrison duty at
the forts in Hampshire County, and volunteered
for service in the numerous expeditions of this war.
A similar record can be made of service in the
last French and Indian war, ] 754 - 1763. Twen-
ty-five men were out in the Crown Point expeditions
of 1755. A larger number served in the cam-
paigns of 1756. By a return dated April, 1757,
it appears that there were on the Alarm List forty-
seven men, and on the Active List seventy-four
men, living on the east side of the river. To this
is to be added the Troopers. Most of these men
turned out on the "Alarm about Fort William
Henry" in August. Lieutenant Samuel Curtis
and eighteen men joined Captain Samuel Dakin's
company, which marched on the Canada expedi-
tion May 24, 1758. Both these officers were
killed at Half-way Brook, July 20 ;
7
William Grout,
Jonathan Patterson, and Nathaniel Moulton were
reported missing ; Samuel Abbot died October 2.
Nine of our men were with Captain John Nixon
in the invasion of Canada, under General Amherst,
in 1759.
The Revolution. — In March, 1775, the active
militia of Sudbury was organized into the North
Company, Captain Aaron Haynes, sixty men (west
side); the East Company, Captain Joseph Smith,
seventy-five men (east side); the Lanham Com-
pany, Captain Moses Stone, ninety-two men (both
sides of the river); the Troop, Captain Isaac Loker,
twenty-one men (both sides); the East Company of
minute-men, Cajrtain Nathaniel Cudworth, forty
age and fortieth of his ministry. " He was a great men ; the West Company of Minute-men, Captain
and good minister."
Indian TFars. — This town had sent its sons and
John Nixon, tifty-four men. All these companies
marched to Concord on the memorable 19th of