taken in what is now Sterling, where a hard conflict ensued, in which nine of their number, and two of our men were slain. In one of their packs was found the scalp of the unfortunate Miss Goodenow, which was the first intimation that was obtained of her melancholy fate.

Nothing worthy of record is preserved of what took place between this period* and the incorporation of the westerly part of Marlborough, then called Chauncey Village, and including what is now Westborough and Northborough. The act of incorporation is dated November 19, 1717, O. S. or, in our present reckoning, November 30.

In the fall of 1718, the first meeting house was raised, which stood near the northern limits of Westborough, not far from the public house kept by Mr. Silas Wesson. It was not, however, till October 28, 1724, or nearly seven years after the town was incorporated, that a church was gathered, and the Rev. Mr. Parkman, the first minister of Westborough, was ordained.

It was at this house that our fathers, the first settlers of Northborough, worshipped for more than twenty years, some of them being accustomed to walk every Sabbath the distance of five or six miles.

At length, October 20, 1744, the town of Westborough, consisting at that time of one hundred and twenty five families, was divided into two precincts; the north part, to use the words of Rev. Mr. Parkman, "being indeed very small." The number of families set off to the north precinct was only thirty eight; while eighty seven families remained attached to the old society. Nor was the separation effected without much opposition, and mutual recrimination, the unhappy effects of which lasted many years.

Having arrived at that period of our history, when Northborough became a separate precinct, we proceed to give some account of its boundaries, dimensions, face of the soil, &c.

*I find, from a record kept by Col. Williams, of Marlborough, that Jonathan Johnson was slain by the Indians, October 12, 1708, but at what place, and under what circumstances, I have not been able to ascertain.

+ The act of the General Court, setting off the north part of Westborough as a separate precinct, provides, "that the Inhabitants of said north part should give security to Rev. Mr. Parkman, their present pastor, to give him £100, lawful money, settlement, and £50, like money, per annum, in case he should incline to settle with them, agreeably to what they now promise; or otherwise, £12, 10s. like money, if he chooses to continue in the south part." It is unnecessary to add, that Rev. Mr. Parkman chose to remain the minister of the old parish. He died Dec. 9, 1782, in the 80th year of his age, and the 59th of his ministry.

BOUNDARIES, &C.-A plan of the town was made in 1795, by Mr. Silas Keyes, surveyor, then an inhabitant of the place. According to this plan, Northborough contained 10096 acres, including ponds and roads. Since that date, that is, Feb. 15, 1806, the dividing line between this town and Berlin, was by mutual consent, altered so as to bring both towns into a better shape; and in June 20, 1807, the line between Northborough and Marlborough was altered, so as to include the farm of Deac. Jonas Bartlett, within the limits of this town. In its present state, the town contains about 10,150

acres.

The boundaries according to the plan made in 1795, are as follows* :-Beginning at the southwest corner, at a heap of stones on Shrewsbury line, it thence runs east, nineteen degrees north, four hundred and eighty nine rods, to a stake by the river Assabeth; thence, in a northeasterly direction, as the river runs, one hundred and seventy six rods, to the County road, near the dwelling house of Phineas Davis, Esq.; thence, by said river, one hundred and ninety four rods, to a stake and stones; thence east, twenty degrees north, eight hundred and sixty four rods, to a stake and stones on Southborough line. (The above are the boundaries between Northborough and Westborough.) From the last mentioned bounds, the line runs north, thirty two degrees west, one hundred and forty rods by Southborough, to a stake and stones at the corner of Marlborough. (The above are the boundaries between Northborough and Southborough.) From Marlborough corner the line ran, according to the plan of Mr. Keyes, north, thirty degrees forty five minutes west, one hundred and eighty seven rods, to a stake and stones; thence north, forty degrees thirty minutes west, one hundred and ten rods, to do. ; thence north, twenty two degrees thirty minutes west, one hundred and forty eight rods, to do.; thence north, thirty two degrees west, forty rods, to a swamp white oak; thence north, twenty nine degrees west, seventy two rods, to a stake and stones; thence north, thirty degrees west, sixty four rods, to do. by the County road; thence north, thirty one degrees forty minutes west, seventy seven rods, to do.; thence north, twenty eight degrees fifteen minutes west, one hundred and twenty eight rods, to a walnut tree by the river; thence north, thirty three degrees thirty minutes west, sixty eight rods, to a large oak tree marked; thence north, twenty seven degrees west, forty seven

* For the alterations referred to above, see Massachusetts Special Laws, Vol. IV. p. 3 and 112.

rods, to a pine tree marked; thence north, thirty one degrees thirty minutes west, one hundred and twenty nine rods, to a stake and stones by Berlin line or corner. (The above were the former bounds between Northborough and Marlborough ; for the alteration see note.) From Berlin corner, the line ran north, thirty degrees west, one hundred and forty eight rods, to a heap of stones; thence east, thirty two degrees north, ninety rods, to the Long Stone, so called; thence west, sixteen degrees north, eight hundred and ten rods, to a heap of stones on Boylston line. (These were the former bounds between Northborough and Berlin; for the alteration see note.) Thence south, sixteen degrees west, eight hundred and sixty eight rods, to a heap of stones at Shrewsbury corner. (This is the line between Northborough and Boylston.) Thence south, sixteen degrees west, one hundred and forty nine rods, to a heap of stones. (This is supposed to be on or near the old Marlborough line, which extended thence in one direction to the northwest corner of Marlborough.) Thence south, twenty four degrees east, one hundred and eighty two rods, to a great oak; thence south, twenty one degrees east, one hundred and fifty rods, to a heap of stones; thence south, one degree east, twenty rods to the County road; thence, in the same direction, three hundred and seventeen rods, to a red oak; thence south, twenty eight degrees thirty five minutes east, one hundred and ninety four rods, to where it began. (These are the bounds between Northborough and Shrewsbury.)

Besides what was originally a part of Marlborough, this town includes a large triangular tract, lying north of the old Marlborough line, (of which the Coram Farm and the Brown Farm made a part) and containing, as has been estimated, between two and three thousand acres. This tract, with several others now in the westerly part of Westborough, was surveyed in January and February, 1715-16, by Wm. Ward, and annexed to Chauncey Village by a grant of the General Court, before the latter was separated from Marlborough.

In March and April, 1721, this tract was again surveyed by James Keyes; and a committee, consisting of John Sherman, David Brigham, and Joseph Wheeler, was appointed to lay it out in forty five shares, according to the number of the proprietors, which shares were afterwards divided among them by lot.

Besides the above tract, the principal part of the farm of Deac.

7

Caleb Rice, of Marlborough,* which lay without the original boundaries of the town, with another tract nearly as large, adjoining the former, falls within the limits of Northborough, forming the southwest angle of the town.

Northborough is of an irregular form, its average length being about five miles, and its average breadth somewhat more than three miles.

SURFACE, SOIL, &c.-The principal part of the town consists of a valley, environed by the hills of Marlborough on the east, Berlin on the north, and Boylston and Shrewsbury on the west, and opening into Westborough on the south, which town is an extension of the same low grounds. The surface of this valley is, however, diversified by numerous hills, some of which are so considerable as to be distinguished by names. The northwest corner of the town, comprehending five or six good farms, and more than 1000 acres of land, forms part of the ridge of high land, running from Berlin, through Boylston and Shrewsbury, and is commonly called Ball's Hill.t

Liquor Hill is a beautiful eminence, rising with a gentle declivity from the great road, nearly opposite to the church, skirted with forest trees, while its summit and its northern and southern declivities are open to the view and form a rich and pleasing prospect. Edmund Hill, about a mile in the northerly direction from the church, and Cedar Hill, in the southeastern part of the town, are similar in form to Liquor Hill, but less open to observation.

Northborough is well supplied with streams of water. The principal stream is the river Assabeth, which, rising in Grafton, and crossing an angle of Westborough, flows diagonally in a northeastern direction, through this town, crossing the great road, about half a mile east of the church, and turnishing several valuable water privileges.

Cold Harbour Brook rises in Shrewsbury, crosses the southeast corner of Boylston, and enters this town. Having received a small

*Deac. Caleb Rice was the father of the late Josiah Rice, of this town, who died 1792, aged 92, and who came into possession of the farm abovementioned, and was one of the greatest landholders in the town. That farm alone contained above five hundred acres, besides which, he owned several hundred acres in other parts of the town.

+ So called from two brothers, James and Nathan Ball, from Watertown, who settled there about the year 1720, and where some of their descendants still live. James, the father of the late Doct. Stephen Ball, and grandfather of the present Doct. Stephen Ball, Sen. died 1756, aged 62. Nathan, father of Nathan Ball, died 1768, aged 73.

tributary stream from Rocky Pond, in Boylston, and supplying water for a Grist and Saw Mill, it flows in a very circuitous route through a tract of rich intervales and extensive meadows, crossing the road at Cold Harbour bridge, a few rods south of the church, and having received another small stream from the west, on which a Saw Mill is erected, it falls into the Assabeth, a little below where the latter crosses the great road.

In the easterly part of the town, a small stream, called Stirrup Brook, issuing from Little Chauncey Pond, furnishes a supply of water for a Saw Mill, and is bordered by a rich intervale and meadows.

Another small stream, called Hop Brook, from the abundance of wild hops which formerly grew on its banks, rises in Shrewsbury, crosses the southwest angle of this town, furnishing water for two Saw Mills and one Grist Mill, and falls into the Assabeth, soon after that river enters the town. It appears, therefore, that all the waters of Northborough fall into the Assabeth, which conveys them to the Merrimack between Chelmsford and Tewksbury.

The two principal ponds in Northborough are the Little Chauncey, in the southeastern part of the town, containing sixty five acres, and Solomon's Pond, in the northeastern part, containing twenty six acres. Little Chauncey takes its name from Great Chauncey, in Westborough, with which it is connected by a small stream. It is a beautiful sheet of water, well stored with fish, its borders in part fringed with woods, while to the east, it opens towards cultivated fields. Solomon's Pond, so named from Solomon, an Indian, who was drowned in it, is not destitute of beauty, and is encompassed by a tract of excellent land.

The soil is in general rich and productive, the poorest being, as Whitney justly observes, that "which appears as we travel the great road." In the northern part of the town, the land is rocky and hard, though it produces good crops of hay and grain. In the middle and southern parts the land is more level, and if not more productive, is cultivated with much less labor and expense.

ROADS, &c.—The principal road is the old Worcester Post road, which passes through the middle of the town, about forty rods south of the Meeting House. The distance to Boston from this town is 34 miles; to Worcester 10 miles. Four Stages, furnishing a daily Mail from the east and from the west, pass on this road every day, Sundays excepted.

The old County road from Framingham to Worcester, also leads