Billerica, Massachusetts in the 1670s

Work

Corn before war

Farm work was central enough that, when men were absent in military service, the selectmen ordered constables to get the soldiers’ corn dressed¹. The settlement was still a farming town of about forty-eight families⁶.

Faith

Minister in every household

Reverend Samuel Whiting had been here since 1658^7,5, and in 1674/5 the selectmen ordered all children, youths, and single persons over eight to go to him for instruction. Church membership was not just private belief: the Half-Way Covenant question¹⁰ touched baptism and civic belonging.

Law & power

Town consent mattered

Power lay in selectmen, town meeting, church discipline, and the Massachusetts Bay authorities. Land was watched closely: a right in common land could not simply be sold outside the community without the town’s permission³.

In the air

Covenant and loyalty

The sharp religious argument was over baptism, covenant, and civic standing¹⁰. Politically, Billerica had recently joined other towns in assuring the General Court of loyalty to the colonial government after the Restoration of Charles II.

What people feared

Garrisons and suspicion

The great fear of the decade was King Philip’s War: Billerica set up twelve garrisons⁸ and made Whiting’s house the main refuge⁹. The town escaped destruction, but nearby violence and the mistreatment of Wamesit people made fear and suspicion part of daily life.

Home & table

Small and scattered

This was not yet a dense village; wartime Billerica had only about forty-eight families and forty-seven houses⁶. A child’s home life was watched by adults beyond the family, because parents and masters had to send older children and servants to Whiting’s instruction⁷.

Money

Pounds and land

Land rights show the scale of money: a 450-acre grant sold for thirteen pounds sterling⁴ in 1673, and a 300-acre right sold for twenty pounds⁴ in 1678. Whiting’s support was reckoned against a promised seventy pounds per year¹⁰.

Who lived here

English and Wamesit neighbors

English settlers lived among older Native places, including Nutting’s Pond and Indian Hill². Nearby Wamesit people withdrew toward Penacook in 1675, while English fear often blurred friendly and hostile Indians together¹.

Year by year

1. 1670Samuel Whiting complained that Billerica had not increased his maintenance beyond the promised seventy pounds per year. here¹⁰
2. 1673Edward Goffe sold a 450-acre grant to Billerica for thirteen pounds sterling. here⁴
3. 1674Billerica ordered children, youths, and single persons from eight years old upward to attend Reverend Samuel Whiting’s instruction. here⁷
4. 1675King Philip’s War began after violence at Swansea and spread alarm through Massachusetts towns. the country^2,9
5. 1675Billerica established twelve garrisons, with Whiting’s house as the chief refuge in extremity. here⁸
6. 1675Wamesit people withdrew toward Penacook rather than be drawn into the war. nearby²
7. 1676Lancaster and Groton were burned or attacked during the war, keeping Billerica under alarm though it was spared. nearby^2,9
8. 1678John Stedman sold a 300-acre right to Billerica for twenty pounds. here⁴

What the sources say

• Before incorporation, English records referred to this place as Shawshin or the Shawshin wilderness. from the sources^3,4
• Billerica was incorporated as a Massachusetts town in 1655, so in the 1670s it was still a young English settlement. from the sources^5,6
• Around the period of King Philip’s War, Billerica was said to have about forty-eight families and forty-seven dwelling houses. from the sources⁶
• In December 1666 Billerica required town consent before an individual could sell or give a common-land right to a non-inhabitant, and even many transfers to residents were regulated. from the sources³
• A later 1685 deed described Billerica as lying on both sides of the Shawshin River and both sides of the Concord River, bounded north by the Merrimack, northeast by Andover, south by Woburn, and west by Concord. from the sources²
• Town records and local tradition placed Native fields, graves, and a wigwam site near Nutting’s Pond, Indian Hill, Jaquith Brook, and the Concord River. from the sources²
• On March 19, 1674/5, Billerica selectmen ordered parents and masters to send all children, youths, and single persons from eight years old upward to Reverend Samuel Whiting for instruction. from the sources⁷
• In 1675 Billerica, with colonial advice, established twelve garrisons for protection during King Philip’s War. from the sources⁸
• During King Philip’s War, Whiting’s house was described as the main garrison and last refuge in case of extremity. inferred⁹
• Billerica was spared a direct destructive attack during King Philip’s War, although neighboring towns such as Groton, Chelmsford, and Lancaster faced violence or alarm. from the sources^2,9
• In June 1676, Billerica selectmen ordered constables to see that the corn of men away in country military service was dressed, even by impressing labor if necessary. from the sources¹
• Billerica men connected to King Philip’s War service included Samuel Hunt, John Needham, James Paterson, Nathaniel Rogers, John Shed, John Sheldon, John Stearns, and Joseph Thompson, whose heirs later shared in Narragansett land grants. from the sources¹
• The Wamesit people lived nearby on the Merrimack, and in summer 1675 many withdrew toward Penacook to avoid being drawn into the war. from the sources²
• Wannalancet, sachem of the Wamesit, was credited by Hazen with restraining young warriors and helping keep Chelmsford and perhaps Billerica from attack. from the sources²
• English fear during the war often made little distinction between friendly Christian Indians and hostile forces; Hazen says many colonists treated every Native person as an enemy to be dreaded or distrusted. from the sources¹
• A party from Chelmsford wounded five Wamesit women and children and killed one boy after falsely blaming them for local fires; juries did not convict the accused English attackers. from the sources¹
• Reverend Samuel Whiting came to Billerica in 1658 and was the town’s first settled minister. from the sources^7,5
• The town’s early church questions included the Half-Way Covenant issue: whether baptized but not full-communicant adults could have their children baptized and enjoy civic standing. from the sources¹⁰
• In 1670 Whiting complained that the town had not fulfilled its agreement to improve his support beyond seventy pounds per year as estates improved. from the sources¹⁰
• The town’s first known schoolmaster, Joseph Tompson, was chosen in 1679–80 and taught for more than thirty years. inferred¹¹
• In 1673 Edward Goffe sold a 450-acre Cambridge grant to Billerica for thirteen pounds sterling. from the sources⁴
• In 1678 John Stedman sold a 300-acre right to Billerica for twenty pounds. from the sources⁴
• The online sources opened here do not preserve a detailed 1670s description of ordinary Billerica houses, furnishings, food, or clothing. not known
• No local 1670s price list for everyday goods in Billerica was found online in the sources opened here. not known

Sources

1. History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical Register, Part 13. A. Williams and Co.; transcribed at LDSGenealogy, 1883
2. History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical Register, Part 12. A. Williams and Co.; transcribed at LDSGenealogy, 1883
3. History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical Register, Part 19. A. Williams and Co.; transcribed at LDSGenealogy, 1883
4. Billerica Town, Middlesex County, Massachusetts - history and chapter guide. Blockbefore, reproducing Hazen’s History of Billerica, 1883
5. History. First Parish UU Billerica
6. 1848 - Billerica. Greenerpasture, excerpting historical gazetteer material, 1848
7. History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical Register, Part 7. A. Williams and Co.; transcribed at LDSGenealogy, 1883
8. Celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of Billerica, Massachusetts, Part 2. Billerica town anniversary publication; transcribed at LDSGenealogy, 1855
9. Samuel Whiting. WeRelate
10. History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical Register, Part 17. A. Williams and Co.; transcribed at LDSGenealogy, 1883
11. Joseph Tompson. Billerica Wiki

Billerica in other decades

Nearby, about the same time