History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

demand was made upon the government to issue
bills of credit. The clamor was gratified, and
£50,000 were issued; Woburn's share under this
rule was £634. This sum was received in instal-
ments, and placed in the hands of three persons
nominated by the town, with authority to re-loan
it to such citizens as could give security for its
payment. Tiiis was in 1731. The scheme was
apparently successful, for it is believed that all the
money was returned, on call of the government,
from the citizens to the town, and from that to
the state treasury. Having felt the use of tliis
money in its stimulus to a su])posed prosperity,
a demand sprung up for a new loan of a like char-
acter, but larger in amount. Again the General
Court fell in with the popular call, and in 1728
authorized the issue of £60,000, to be distributed
in like maimer as the first. The allotment to
Woburn was about £750, though the exact sum
is not given in tlie records. This amount was
treated in the same way as the former loan, and
placed in the hands of trustees, to be let to citizens
on the same terms. The matter ran along for half
a dozen years in a quiet way, when the people
began to think of tlie town's responsibility, and
required tlie trustees to report on the condition
and safety of the funds. Nothing seems to iiave
come of this, for two years later, in 1738, a com-
mittee was appointed to proceed and collect the
money in the hands of the trustees, and report at
tlie general town-meeting to be held a few months
hence. In the mean time the colonial authorities
called for a portion of the loan (about one third) to
be refunded. The money was, however, distrib-
uted about, and could not be summarily collected,
and the treasurer of the province being imperative,
the town was obliged to resort to a special tax to
meet the emergency. Accordingly a rate was laid
for the sum of £250 Is. 6d. This was a severe
burden for the general inhabitants to bear, as only
a small number had realized any benefit from the
loan. But the money was not easily collected from
tlie trustees or their constituents, for in 1730, in
1711, and again in 1712, new and increased efforts
were made by the town to recover the amount ; for
the debtors were to be " prosecuted in law to the
final judgment if need be." Presumably the whole
sum was eventually paid by those who held it, al-
tliough the town records do not anywhere state the
fact. But the uneasiness produced by the town's
responsibility, the uncertainty of receiving the whole
amount from the parties who had borrowed it, and
woBURN. 533
the strain of extra taxation to make good the demand
of the province, were a combination of evils
quite as hard to bear as were those induced by the
poverty the loan was made to alleviate.
Sckuols. — Among the varied interests to which
the early attention of the colonists was called, was
that of education. Tiie leaders were for tlie most
part graduates of English colleges, and they saw
the importance, in a state such as they proposed
to establish, of providing for the general education
of children at the public expense. The people of
Woburn do not appear to have taken this view
very earnestly, for it is not until 1673 that any
record is found for tlie payment of money for
school purposes. In that year and the few follow-
ing ones small sums were paid to different persons
for this service. Ten shillings was the common
annual amount given to the teacher. From this it
is very apparent that tlie advantages of common
schools were not held in high estimation. But
that education in its higher forms for a select
number of persons was regarded of great impor-
tance, is shown by the liberal donations made to
Harvard College. On two several occasions, 1655
and 1669, the contributions of Woburn — one for
its general support, and the other to build a new
college — were greater than those of any other
town in the colony but five. The necessity of an
educated ministry was the stimulant to this liberality.
The instruction of youth for the common
walks of life was deemed of much less importance.
It was fortunate that the ministers and the cul-
tured people generally were in favor of universal
and compulsory schooling. Hence laws were early
passed, requiring schools of the lower grades to be
kept in all the towns, and when a population
reached to one hundred families a grammar-school
was to be maintained, for neglect of which a heavy
penalty was to be exacted. One point in vindica-
tion of the people may be made from the fairly
presumed fact that in many families the children
were taught by the parents, and in others the min-
ister or some educated person was employed. In
1685 Woburn had gained the number of families
(one hundred) required to support a grammar
school. Mr. Samuel Carter, a son of the minister,
was appointed as its first teacher, but not a scholar
came forward to receive his instructions. His £5
salary was easily earned. The town, however, felt
its superfluous payment, and reduced the salary to
30*. if no pupils appeared, though £5 were to be
paid if the school was kept up. Matters went on