# Billerica, Massachusetts in the 1670s

> A small Puritan farming town on the Shawshin and Concord rivers lived under church discipline, town orders, and wartime fear.

- Place: Billerica, Massachusetts (42.558, -71.269)
- Years: 1670 to 1679
- Page: https://yorehistory.com/place/billerica-massachusetts/1670s
- Step into it (interactive): https://yorehistory.com/?step=Billerica%2C%20Massachusetts&at=42.5584,-71.2690&year=1675

## Looking around

You stand in a town still remembered as the former Shawshin wilderness[3][4], made a Massachusetts town only fifteen to twenty years ago[5][6]. Around the meeting place is a scattered farming settlement, not a later industrial village: about forty-eight families and forty-seven dwelling houses[6] are here by the time war comes. The land is organized by grants, rights, and common consent; even a sale of a right to an outsider needs the town’s permission[3]. Roads and house lots lead toward the Shawshin River and Concord River[2], with old Native fields and place-names at Nutting’s Pond and Indian Hill[2]. The minister’s authority reaches into households, because children and servants eight and older are ordered to go to Reverend Samuel Whiting[7]. In 1675 the ordinary work of crops is interrupted by twelve garrisons[8], with Whiting’s house serving as the main refuge in extremity[9].

## 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 dressed[1]. The settlement was still a farming town of about forty-eight families[6].

## 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 question[10] 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 permission[3].

## In the air: Covenant and loyalty

The sharp religious argument was over baptism, covenant, and civic standing[10]. 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 garrisons[8] and made Whiting’s house the main refuge[9]. 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 houses[6]. 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 instruction[7].

## Money: Pounds and land

Land rights show the scale of money: a 450-acre grant sold for thirteen pounds sterling[4] in 1673, and a 300-acre right sold for twenty pounds[4] in 1678. Whiting’s support was reckoned against a promised seventy pounds per year[10].

## Who lived here: English and Wamesit neighbors

English settlers lived among older Native places, including Nutting’s Pond and Indian Hill[2]. Nearby Wamesit people withdrew toward Penacook in 1675, while English fear often blurred friendly and hostile Indians together[1].

## Year by year

- **1670** (here): Samuel Whiting complained that Billerica had not increased his maintenance beyond the promised seventy pounds per year.[10]
- **1673** (here): Edward Goffe sold a 450-acre grant to Billerica for thirteen pounds sterling.[4]
- **1674** (here): Billerica ordered children, youths, and single persons from eight years old upward to attend Reverend Samuel Whiting’s instruction.[7]
- **1675** (the country): King Philip’s War began after violence at Swansea and spread alarm through Massachusetts towns.[2][9]
- **1675** (here): Billerica established twelve garrisons, with Whiting’s house as the chief refuge in extremity.[8]
- **1675** (nearby): Wamesit people withdrew toward Penacook rather than be drawn into the war.[2]
- **1676** (nearby): Lancaster and Groton were burned or attacked during the war, keeping Billerica under alarm though it was spared.[2][9]
- **1678** (here): John Stedman sold a 300-acre right to Billerica for twenty pounds.[4]

## 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 sources)[6]
- 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 sources)[3]
- 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 sources)[2]
- 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 sources)[2]
- 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 sources)[7]
- In 1675 Billerica, with colonial advice, established twelve garrisons for protection during King Philip’s War. (from the sources)[8]
- During King Philip’s War, Whiting’s house was described as the main garrison and last refuge in case of extremity. (inferred)[9]
- 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 sources)[1]
- 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 sources)[1]
- 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 sources)[2]
- Wannalancet, sachem of the Wamesit, was credited by Hazen with restraining young warriors and helping keep Chelmsford and perhaps Billerica from attack. (from the sources)[2]
- 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 sources)[1]
- 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 sources)[1]
- 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 sources)[10]
- 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 sources)[10]
- The town’s first known schoolmaster, Joseph Tompson, was chosen in 1679–80 and taught for more than thirty years. (inferred)[11]
- In 1673 Edward Goffe sold a 450-acre Cambridge grant to Billerica for thirteen pounds sterling. (from the sources)[4]
- In 1678 John Stedman sold a 300-acre right to Billerica for twenty pounds. (from the sources)[4]
- 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. https://ldsgenealogy.com/MA/books/History-of-Billerica-Massachusetts-with-a-Genealogical-register-part-13.htm
2. History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical Register, Part 12. A. Williams and Co.; transcribed at LDSGenealogy, 1883. https://ldsgenealogy.com/MA/books/History-of-Billerica-Massachusetts-with-a-Genealogical-register-part-12.htm
3. History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical Register, Part 19. A. Williams and Co.; transcribed at LDSGenealogy, 1883. https://ldsgenealogy.com/MA/books/History-of-Billerica-Massachusetts-with-a-Genealogical-register-part-19.htm
4. Billerica Town, Middlesex County, Massachusetts - history and chapter guide. Blockbefore, reproducing Hazen’s History of Billerica, 1883. https://blockbefore.com/town-billerica-town-middlesex-ma.html
5. History. First Parish UU Billerica. https://www.uubillerica.org/history
6. 1848 - Billerica. Greenerpasture, excerpting historical gazetteer material, 1848. https://greenerpasture.com/Places/ShowNews/41501
7. History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical Register, Part 7. A. Williams and Co.; transcribed at LDSGenealogy, 1883. https://ldsgenealogy.com/MA/books/History-of-Billerica-Massachusetts-with-a-Genealogical-register-part-7.htm
8. Celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Incorporation of Billerica, Massachusetts, Part 2. Billerica town anniversary publication; transcribed at LDSGenealogy, 1855. https://ldsgenealogy.com/MA/books/Celebration-of-the-two-hundredth-anniversary-of-the-incorporation-of-Billerica-Massachusetts-May-29th-1855-part-2.htm
9. Samuel Whiting. WeRelate. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Samuel_Whiting_(12)
10. History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical Register, Part 17. A. Williams and Co.; transcribed at LDSGenealogy, 1883. https://ldsgenealogy.com/MA/books/History-of-Billerica-Massachusetts-with-a-Genealogical-register-part-17.htm
11. Joseph Tompson. Billerica Wiki. https://billerica.wiki/Joseph_Tompson

## The same place in other decades

- [Billerica in the 1710s](https://yorehistory.com/place/billerica-massachusetts/1710s/md)

## Nearby, about the same time

- [Duxbury, Plymouth County, Massachusetts in the 1670s](https://yorehistory.com/place/duxbury-plymouth-county-massachusetts/1670s/md) (76 km)
- [Plymouth County, Massachusetts in the 1680s](https://yorehistory.com/place/plymouth-county-massachusetts/1680s/md) (77 km)
- [Plymouth in the 1650s](https://yorehistory.com/place/plymouth-plymouth-county-massachusetts/1650s/md) (83 km)

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Researched by Yore's AI historian (gpt-5.5) on 2026-10-13 from the sources listed. It is about the place and the time, not about any person. Statements marked "inferred" are conclusions, not records. Cite as: Yore, "Billerica, Massachusetts in the 1670s", https://yorehistory.com/place/billerica-massachusetts/1670s