These early books of the town's records have been constantly referred to and studied in the preparation of this work. They are not expressly cited, except in a few instances, because it was thought better to allude generally, once for all, to an authority which, if referred to in every instance, would appear on almost every page of this book. It has been deemed wise to present the thoughts and acts of the men who lived in the times here treated of, to a considerable extent in their own language; and, with this in mind, many extracts from original records and documents have been included, in the printing of which the utmost care has been exercised to reproduce the original as closely as possible. These extracts should be read without regard to spelling or punctuation, both of which, judged by our standards, are as bad as they could well be; but these are only slight obstructions, after all, to one who carefully seeks for the meaning of what is written. The subject is in its nature local, and the larger history of the colony has been treated of only when it was found to be closely connected with that of the town, or when reference to it was deemed necessary for a more complete understanding of the position and relations of the town and its people to the world without. The author cannot flatter himself with the expectation that his work will be found free from errors, or that, in weighing men and events of two centuries and a half ago, his readers will always take the same point of view, or draw the same inferences, as are here presented. Earnest efforts have been made to present the facts accurately, to distinguish between knowledge and inferences, in short, to present the subject in the light of truth, without exaggeration or suppression of any facts of public interest. CONCORD, April, 1884. LIST OF AUTHORITIES CITED. Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay. Billerica Town Records. Bond's (Henry) Genealogies and History of Watertown. Concord Town Records. Drake's (Samuel A.) History of Middlesex County. Emerson's (Ralph W.) Historical Discourse in 1835. Foster's (Edmund) Littleton Century Sermon. 1815. Gookin's (Daniel) Historical Account of the Doings and Sufferings of the Christian Indians. Reprinted in vol. ii. 423– 534, of the Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society. Hazen's (Henry A.) History of Billerica, Mass. Hotten's Lists of Emigrants to America. Hubbard's (William) Narrative of the Indian Wars in New England, 1677. Hutchinson's (Thomas) History of Massachusetts, 1628–1750. Johnson's (Edward) Wonderworking Providence of Sion's Saviour in New England, 1654. Reprinted in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 2d series, ii. 49, et seq. Lechford's (Thomas) Plain Dealing: or Newes from New England, 1642. Reprinted in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 3d series, vol. iii. Liberties of the Massachusetts Colony in New England, The, 1641. Reprinted in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 3d scries, viii. 191–237. Manuscript Records of the General Court preserved in the State Archives. Massachusetts Records. Mather's (Cotton) Magnalia Christi Americana, 1702. Memorial History of Boston. Middlesex County Court, Records and Files. Middlesex Records of Deeds. Palfrey's (John G.) History of New England. Ripley's (Ezra) Half-century Sermon, 1828. Savage's (James) Genealogical Dictionary of New England. Gleanings for New England History. Printed in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 3d Series, viii. 243, et seq. Sewall's (Samuel) Diary. Printed in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 5th series, vol. v. Shattuck's (Lemuel) History of Concord, Mass., 1835. Shattuck's (Lemucl) Papers preserved in the Library of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Shepard's (Thomas) Cleare Sunshine of the Gospell, 1648. Reprinted in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 3d series, v. 25-67. Suffolk Probate Records. Suffolk Records of Deeds. Wheeler's (Thomas) Narrative of an Expedition with Capt. Edward Hutchinson into the Nipmuck Country, and to Quabaog, now Brookfield, Mass., 1675. Hampshire Historical Collections, ii. 5. Reprinted in New Winthrop's (John) History of New England from 1630 to 1649 (Savage's ed.), 1853. |