Acton in History traces the town’s development from its beginnings as Concord Village in the seventeenth century through its emergence as a modest industrial community. It gives particular attention to the religious life of the town, including the building of early meetinghouses and the long ministries of figures such as the Rev. John Swift and the Rev. James T. Woodbury. The work devotes substantial space to Acton’s role in the Revolution, especially the events at the North Bridge in 1775 and the loss of Captain Isaac Davis and his company of minute-men. It also follows the growth of local industries, from blacksmithing and cooperage to the far-reaching effects of the Fitchburg Railroad after its arrival in 1844. Later chapters include brief sketches of notable residents in the 1880s. Throughout, the narrative weaves in discussions of Acton’s everyday life, civic engagement, and social values.
Acton in History
Contents
Note: Pages start at 238 which is the page number in the original History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
Colonial Period, 238
The First Meeting House, 241
Rev. John Swift, 243
The Cemeteries, 246
The Brooks Tavern, 247
The Fletcher Homestead, 247
The Skinner Homestead, 247
The Old Parsonage, 249
Rev. Moses Adams, 249
Rev. Marshall Shedd, 250
Revolutionary Preliminaries, 250
The Faulkner Homestead, 253
Col. Winthrop E. Faulkner, 255
Capt. Isaac Davis' Route to North Ridge, 255
Luther Blanchard, 256
James Hayward, 257
Abner Hosmer, 257
Mrs. Mehitable Piper, 257
Rev. J. T. Woodbury's Speech, 257
Capt. Isaac Davis, 261
Capt. Isaac Davis' Wife, 261
Men of the Revolution, 263
The French and Indian War, 264
The Second Meeting House, 264
William D. Tuttle's Sketch, 266
A. A. Wyman's Sketch, 269
Mrs. John Hapgood's Sketch of West Acton, 270
A. and O. W. Mead & Co., 271
Horace F. Tuttle's Map Sketch, 272
Lithographic Map, See Below
The Davis Monument, 274
The War of 1812, 277
Schoolhouses, 278
By-ways and Nooks, by Bertha Hosmer, 279
Geologic Sketch, by George H. Barton, 280
Artist's Sketch, by Arthur F. Davis, 280
Game in Acton, 282
The 19th of April, 1861, 283
The Davis Guards' Reception, 284
The Civil War Record, by Luther Conant, Esq., 284
Memorial Library, 287
Hon. William A. Wilde, 288
The Tablet List, by Julian Tuttle, 289
The Congregational Church, 290
Rev. James T. Woodbury, 290
Universalists, 293
The Baptists, 293
Business Firms, 294
Town Officers, 296
Graduates at College, 296
Physicians, 298
Lawyers, 299
Deaths of the Oldest Persons, 301
Biographical Sketches
- Henry Skinner, 1
- Joseph Brabrook, 1
- Bradley Stone, 3
- George Cleaveland Wright, 4
- Moses Taylor, 5
- Simon Blanchard, 6
- Luther Conant (insert)
Map of Acton
Historical map of Acton, showing the occupants of the old homesteads, and the old town ways, with dates of laying out, as known from the old records and the recollections of some of the oldest inhabitants. Compiiled and drawn by Horace F. Tuttle in 1890.
Illustrations
Source
Fletcher, James, Rev., Acton in History, Compiled for the Middlesex County History, Philadelphia and Boston : J. W. Lewis & Co., 1890.