The history of Weston has been long and interesting, beginning, as your town seal designates, back in 1630, when Watertown was recognized as one of the three or four towns in the Commonwealth; set off by boundaries into the Farmers’ Precinct in 1698, and becoming incorporated as a town in 1713.  There begins a long and honorable history.  Of course, the first part of it gathered to a large degree around the church.  The first church was started here, I think, in 1695, and I believe that the land on which it was to be erected was purchased of a man who bore my name.  Your first clergyman seems to have been settled about 1702; and the long and even tenor of your ways here and your devotion to things which were established is perhaps shown and exemplified in the fact that during the next one hundred and seventy-four years, coming clear down to 1876, you had but six clergymen presiding over that church.  You have an example here now, along the same line, in the long tenure of office that has come to your present town clerk, he having been first elected, I believe, in 1864 and having held office from that time to this, probably 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