serving as long, if not longer, than any of the town clerks of
Massachusetts, certainly, I believe, the longest of any present living
town clerk.

There are many interesting things connected with the history of this
town. It bore its part in the Indian Wars. Here was organized an Indian
fighting expedition that went to the North, and, though some of the men
in that expedition were lost and the expedition was not altogether
successful, it showed, the spirit, the resolution, the bravery, and the
courage which animated the men of those days.

Mr. Young has referred to that day in Massachusetts history that we are
all so proud of, the Nineteenth of April, 1775. But you had an
interesting event here in this town leading up to that great day.
General Gage was in command of the British forces at Boston. There had
been gathered supplies for carrying on a war out here through Middlesex
County and out to the west in Worcester. History tells us that he sent
out here Sergeant Howe and other spies, in order that he might find out
what the conditions were and whether it would be easy for the British
troops to come out here and seize those supplies and break what they
thought was the idea on the part of the colonists of starting a
rebellion. Sergeant Howe came out here, went to the hotel, where, of
course, the landlord received him hospitably, but informed him that
probably it wouldn't be a healthy place for him to stay for a very long
time, and sent him away in the dead of the night. He went back to Boston
and made a report to the General in which he said that the people of
this vicinity were generally resolved to be free or to die. That was the
spirit of those times; and he advised the Britishers that if they wanted
to go out to Worcester they would probably need an expedition of ten
thousand men and a sufficient train of artillery, and he doubted