History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

43 HISTOBY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
was made in February, 1776, and Concord, Lex-
ington, Weston, Lincoln, and Acton were assigned
to the Third regiment ; Eleazer Brooks was com-
missioned colonel, February 14, 1776, and held
that office till October 15, 1778, when he was
appointed brigadier-general. Samuel Farrar was
commissioned captain, and Samuel Hoar and James
Parks lieutenants of the Lincoln company Feb-
ruary 14, 1776, and were in office March 7, 1780.
Colonel Brooks commanded a regiment in the ex-
pedition to Ticonderoga, and Samuel Hoar was
a lieutenant in that expedition; both were at
the surrender of Burgoyne. Colonel Brooks commanded
a regiment of Middlesex men at White
Plains in 1776, and Samuel Hartwell was his quar-
termaster. Colonel Brooks' regiment behaved with
great bravery in the battle of White Plains, and
received especial commendation from General Washington.
Samuel Farrar commanded a company
at the surrender of Burgoyne's army in 1777.
This appears to have been a volunteer company
composed of Lexington and Lincoln men. John
HartAvell was a lieutenant in Colonel Dyke's regi-
ment in 1776, and a captain in tiie same regiment
in 1777. Thirteen men from Lincoln were in
Captain Hartwell's company, and six others from
Lincoln in tlie same regiment.
There were thirty-six calls upon the town for
men during tlie war, besides repeated calls for provisions,
clothing, and blankets. In 1780 £33,840
were granted to hire men for the army and £8,.500
more to purchase provisions and clothing, and in
January, 1781, £16,240 more were granted for the
same objects. Afterwards, when men were called
for, the town was divided into as many classes as
there were men called for, each class being re-
quired to furnish a man. In this way individuals,
as well as the town, became greatly embarrassed.
During tiie years of depression and gloom which
followed the Revolutionary war, the people of Lin-
coln continued steadfast and loyal in their attachment
to the government they jiad labored so hard
to establish, and Shays and Shattnck found but
one sympathizer and no followers liere. The ef-
forts of these deluded men to stay the proceedings
of tiie courts and overthrow tlie government were
regarded with abhorrence.
The same spirit which animated the people of
the town in tlie contest with England was mani-
fested in the War of the Rebellion. In the former
war a few men were suspected of toryism, and one
wealthy and influential man left tlie town on tlie
19th of April, 1775, never to return. But not so
in the War of the Rebellion ; secession had here
no sympathizer or apologist, and no one — man,
woman, or child — regarded the contest with indif-
ference.
The first town-meeting to act on matters per-
taining to the war was held May 13, 1861, and it
was " Voted, Tiiat two thousand dollars be appro-
priated to provide bounty, arms, ammunition, cloth-
ing, provisions, and extra pay for such of the
inhabitants of the town as have enlisted, or may
hereafter enlist, into the military service of the
United States, and for aid to their families."
July 28, 1862, on motion of Charles L. Tarbell,
the town " Voted, That eighteen hundred dollars
be raised to pay nine men who may enlist as our
quota of soldiers in the service of the United States,
and that said eighteen hundred dollars be forth-
with assessed upon the taxable property of the
town, and as much of it as may be necessary be
expended by the committee appointed at a citizens'
meeting in securing said recruits; and that all
persons be requested to pay the same to the col-
lector on the presentation of their tax bills, on or
before the first day of September next." This
vote was passed in a full meeting without a dis-
senting voice or vote ; and, although it was kno^^^l
that the town could not enforce the payment of
this tax, it was immediately assessed and more
than nine-tenths of it was paid upon the presentation
of the bills. Four weeks afterward, the town
" Voted, To pay each volunteer who shall enlist
for nine months, and be mustered in and credited
to the quota of the town, a bounty of two hundred
dollars," and the same committee which recruited
the volunteers for three years' service was requested
to recruit the nine months' men. At the annual
meeting in March, 1863, six hundred dollars were
appropriated for the payment of aid to soldiers'
families; and at the November meeting the treas-
urer was authorized to settle with the state treas-
urer for the town's proportion of the volunteer
bounty-tax. In the spring of this year town offi-
cers were forbidden to pay bounties, and the gov-
ernment resorted to drafts.
April 25, 1SC4, fourteen hundred dollars were
voted to refund the money raised by subscription
and paid for recruiting ten volunteers in December
and January last. Seven hundred dollars were
voted at tlie same time to pay the veteran volun-
teers belonging to Lincoln. June 13, 1864,
Siiinuel 11. Pierce, Francis Smith, and William F.