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SUDBURY was first settled in 1638, and incorporated in 1639. The original number of sharers and settlers was
54. Mr. Edmund Brown, the first settled minister, was ordained Aug., 1640; died June 22, 1677. Mr. Sherman began
to preach in Sudbury in 1677; in 1705, he was deposed from his pastoral office. Mr. Israel Loring was ordained
pastor in 1706. Upon the division of the town, by the general court, the inhabitants of the west side of the river
invited him to come over and settle with them, in 1722. In 1765, the number of houses on the west side of the river
was 151; the number of families, 187; the number of inhabitants, 1,047; the number of church members, 203; of whom
76 were males and 127 females.
Sudbury is divided on the east from Wayland by Sudbury river, on which large tracts of low land are annually overflowed.
There are 3 churches, 2 Congregational and 1 Methodist. There are about 30 houses in the central village. Distance,
7 miles south west of Concord, 24 north east from Worcester, and 19 miles westward from Boston. Population, 1,388.
There is a paper mill in this town. In 1837, there were 50 tons of stock manufactured; value of paper, $5,463.
The following is a western view of the monument of Captain Wadsworth and others, sianthng in an open field, about
thirty rods eastward of the road, and a mile south of the Congregational church in old Sudbury, in the central
part of the town. It stands near a growth of pines and oaks, and the soil on this spot is light and sandy. On the
south and west there is a prospect of the meadows on Sudbury river. The following is the inscription on the monument:
"Capt. Samuel Wadsworth of Milton, his Lieut. Sharp of Brooklin, Capt. Brociebank of Rowley, with about 26
other souldiers, fighting for the defence of their country, were slain by ye Indian enemy, April 18th, 1676, lye
buried in this place."
The following account is taken from Holmes' Annals.
"This town was for some time a frontier settlement, and suffered much from the Indians during King Philip's
war. On the 18th of April, 1676, the day after they had burned the few deserted houses at Marlborough, they violently
attacked Sud bury, burned several houses and barns, and killed ten or twelve of the English who had come from Concord
to the assistance of their neighbours. Captain Wadsworth, sent at this juncture from Boston with about fifty men,
to relieve Marlborough, after having marched twenty five miles, learning that the enemy had gone through the woods
toward Sudbury, turned immediately back, in pursuit of them. When the troops were within a mile of the town, they
espied, at no great distance, a party of Indians, apparently about one hundred; who, by retreating, as if through
fear, drew the English above a mile into the woods; when a large body of the enemy, supposed to be about five hundred,
suddenly surrounded them, and precluded the possibility of their escape. The gallant leader and his brave soldiers
fought with desperate valour; but they fell a prey to the numbers, the artifice, and bravery of their enemy. The
few who were taken alive were destined to tortures unknown to their companions, who had the happier lot to die
in the field of battle.
"Some historians say that Captain Wadsworth's company was entirely cut off; others, that a few escaped. Some
represent his company as consisting of 50; some, as consisting of 70 men. All agree that 50 at least were killed.
Captain Broclebank and some others 'fell into his company as he marched along;' and this accession may account
for the difference in the narratives. President Wadsworth, (of Harvard College,) a son of Captain Wadsworth, who
fell on this occasion, caused a decent monument to be afterward erected over the grave of these heroes."
FROM:
Historical Collections Relating to the
History and Antiquities of
Every town in Massachusetts with
Geographical Descriptions.
By John Warner Barber.
Worcester
Published by Warren Lazell.
1848
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