History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

accept the call. Mr. Thomas Carter was then
urgently requested to become their pastor, amid
much discouragement caused by the previous un-
successful calls, and the faint-heartedness of several
who felt that the new enterprise would have to be
abandoned ;
all of which difficulties are set down in
the quaint manner of Edward Johnson in the town
record, and in his notable book entitled IFouder-
IForking P rovidetice of Zion's Saviour in New
England. To the great joy of the colonists, Mr.
Carter at length fell in with their desires, and was
ordained as the first minister of Woburn, December
2, 1GJ:2. In anticipation of this event
those persons who were connected with the church
at Charlestown had asked for a dismission from
that body, with authority to found a new one.
"With some reluctance this was acceded to, and the
new church was organized in the previous August.
Through the m^e than two centuries which
have followed it has had vital and permanent influence
in the town and vicinity, and is still known
as the First Congregational Church of Woburn.
In the interim between the founding of the church
and the settlement of the pastor, a petition had
been presented to tiie General Court for the incor-
poration of the town. The court received the
petition favorably, and an act was passed at the
September session, 1642, couched in the following
brief words, which gave to "Woburn its corporate
existence : " Charlestown village is called Woo-
burne." Neither Edward Johnson, who is es-
pecially the early chronicler of the town, nor any
other person, has given a reason for the adoption
of the name. The suggestion of it is probably
due to Richard Russell, of Charlestown, who, it is
believed, was a relative of the distinguished Russell
family in England, to whom had been given the
abbey and park at "Woburn, in Bedfordshire, as
a place of residence. Tlie desire on the part of
Mr. Russell to perpetuate the name of a town so
honorably associated witli his noble kinsman was
a very natural one, and the disposition of the
people to accept it from so prominent and popular
a person is an equally })lausible one. The town
thus authorized was situated seven miles north
and west from Charlestown, and ten miles from
Boston. Although the grant specifies a plot " four
miles square," without definite bounds, it must
have been practically much larger than that. Con-
taining within its limits the present towns of
Wilmington, Burlington, and Winchester (or the
greater portion of them), the area of the town must
WOBUEX. 527
have been nearer ten miles square than four. Its
surface was pleasantly varied ; the greatest eleva-
tions were Horn Pond Mountain, Rag Rock, and
Locke Hill. Its principal streams, or rivers, were
the Aberjona and the Shawshine; and its water
basins were Horn Pond, Wedge Pond, Sandy
Pond, etc. In the curtailment of the town by
setting off portions to other municipalities, Locke
Hill and part of Horn Pond Mountain, Wedge and
Sandy ponds, and the Shawshine River were taken
from Woburn. The remaining sheet of water,
Horn Pond, while supplying facilities for boating,
furnishes many thousand tons of ice for shipping
and local use, and is a charming feature in its
present landscape. It was something more than
a year after the town received its title to corporate
existence before a meeting of the inhabitants was
held. This occurred in November, 1643. Com-
mittees were chosen for various purposes, but the
first town officers were not elected until the follow-
ing April. April 1.3, 1614, seven persons were
chosen as selectmen, and as they were the leaders
in the town, their names are given : namely, Edward
Johnson, Edward Converse, John Mousall,
William Learned, Ezekiel Richardson, Samuel
Richardson, and James Thompson. It was not
requisite to choose a town-clerk annually, hence
Edward Johnson, who had been originally chosen
as clerk of the commissioners, was retained in that
office until his death hi 1672, without re-election.
The town treasury was managed by the selectmen,
with the exception of one year (1695), until 1719.
The duties of assessors and school committee were
also discharged by the selectmen. The town
having now an organization, there were many
things to be done to make the situation of the
people as comfortable as possible. House-lots
were to be laid out and streets opened, and the
"common lands" (of which there were four hun-
dred acres) were to be divided among the inhabi-
tants. A house for the minister was also to be
provided, as well as a meeting-house for public
worship.
Another matter of much interest required early
attention, namely, the settlement of the boundary
between Charlestown and Woburn. This had never
been defined. Negotiations were opened from time
to time, the initiative always being taken by Woburn
until 1650, when the lines were finally established
and entered upon the records of Charlesto\\Ti.
A'early coeval with the settlement of Rev. T. Carter
as minister, the first meeting-house was built. Of