History
of the Town of Lancaster, Massachusetts -
From
the First Settlement to the Present Time 1643 - 1879 by
Rev. Abijah P. Marvin - published in 1879. 798 pages. First edition
From the INTRODUCTION of the book - “At a town meeting [Lancaster,
Massachusetts] held in the year 1871, Rev George M Bartol, Mr
Henry Wilder and Rev A P Marvin were chosen as a committee to obtain
from the heirs of the late Joseph Willard, Esq., of Boston, a
manuscript history of the town of Lancaster. ‘
.
By 1876, after no manuscript had been found, a committee engaged A P
Marvin to write the history of Lancaster, Massachusetts.
At the annual meeting in 1877, the committee made a report, with
suggestions, to the effect that the town should raise the sum of $1,500
to pay expenses; print six hundred and fifty copies; and give a copy of
the book to every family belonging to the town. The copies remaining
were to be sold for $4.00 each.
It appears the book was ready by February 1 of 1879. It is FILLED with
many interesting details - such as a the inscriptions from the Old
Burying Yard. Another interesting section is the members of the
regiments with comments about individuals.
Pages (39 to 42) (145-160) have come loose. Several pages show soiling
and water stains. Binding is coming loose in some parts of the book.
Book is in fair condition.
Published in 1879. 798 pages.
First
edition. If I am reading the introduction correctly only six hundred and fifty copies were
printed. - If
this is the case, this is a VERY RARE publication.
Book # 963
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For New Brunswick, Canada connections:
On the morning of the 19th of April 1775, Abijah Willard of
Lancaster, the largest town in Worcester County, Massachusetts placed
seeds in his saddle-bags, mounted his horse and headed for his
farm in Beverly, to spend a few days, supervising the planting and
sowing of the crops on the farm that he had recently purchased for
£2,756.
Before reaching Concord, it is supposed, he learned that the British
troops were drawing near.
His heart was divided between his sovereign and his country. A decision
had to be made. He chose the Loyalist side, and in so doing gave up his
home in Lancaster, which he never saw again.
Col. Abijah Willard was a man of character and influence and was
greatly respected by his fellow citizens. He was considered to be the
wealthiest citizen of Lancaster, Massachusetts. He kept six horses in
his stables and dispensed liberal hospitality in the mansion inherited
from his father, Colonel Samuel Willard.
For his first wife, he married Elizabeth, sister of Colonel William
Prescott; for his second wife, Mrs. Anna Prentice and a third partner
was Mrs. Mary McKown of Boston.
He was no stranger to war as he commanded a company under his
father in 1745 at the capture of Louisburg and led a company under Col.
Monckton in 1755, at the reduction of the French forts in Nova Scotia.
The Archives & Research Library of the New Brunswick Museum has a
copy of "The Journal of Abijah Willard" edited by Dr. J. C.
Webster.
An officer of so well-known skill and experience as Abijah Willard was
deemed a valuable
acquisition and he was offered a colonel's commission in the British
Army but refused to
serve against his countrymen. At the evacuation of Boston, he went to
Halifax, Nova Scotia, having been joined by his own and his brother's
family.
At the close of the war in 1783, he petitioned for and received a grant
of land at Spruce Lake. He named the parish ‘Lancaster’ in remembrance
of his beloved birthplace and here he died in May of 1789, having been
an influential member of the New Brunswick provincial council.
His family returned to Lancaster, Massachusetts, recovered the old
homestead and, aided by a small pension from the British government,
lived in comparative prosperity. His son, Samuel Willard died on
January 1, 1856 aged ninety-six years and four months. His
widowed sister, Mrs. Anna Goodhue, died on August 2, 1858 at the age of
ninety-five.
Detailed information on the Willard and other families was included in
the Rev. Abijah P. Marvin’s 798 page book ‘History of the Town of
Lancaster, Massachusetts - From the First Settlement to the Present
Time 1643 - 1879', which was published in 1879.